Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Where We Come From

Bloom for Bliss

While Mana had not heard the warning of the archive keeper before she left, she somehow came to the very same conclusion. She had to clutch herself by wrapping her hands around her chest and shoulders. Konoha was very peculiar with its seasons, spring and winter changed around, the seasons went and gone like normal but it was either warm enough to walk in one's casual clothes or it got slightly below freezing temperature when the winter came. That was why while in theory there were four seasons, Konoha only felt two of them, half of the year was warm but not hot, the other half was cold but not freezing.

The other parts of the world had it much more extreme, the air got much hotter to the East, the Wind Country had it pretty bad as they barely saw any snow and the desert was searing hot. The people in Sunagakure had to deal with both the blinding sandstorms and the searing heat. 

It was up to the North where the weather was the oddest – the Snow Country was the coldest place in the world where one could easily freeze to death unless prepared for the freezing cold, however farther to the north laid the Lightning Country – a large mountainous wasteland that was surprisingly hot and then Kumogakure which was almost as hot as Sunagakure in the Wind Country when it was hot and almost as cold as the warmer spots of the Snow Country during the winter. Kumogakure was a country of extremes both weather-wise and as far as the reputation of the personality of its people went.

Mana wasn't really sure just what kind of weather was around Kirigakure, based on what she heard and read it was mostly just damp rainy days all year long. It wasn't that the place saw much heat, it was that it was too wet and gloomy to not get a major case of seasonal depression. No wonder the people there had their children kill each other in order to graduate the Academy... So much rain and mist could've driven anyone mad. However some of the Kirigakure's Archipelago of islands were quite tropical, they were supposed to be quite popular tourist hotspots if the advertisement was to be trusted...

Still rubbing her arms and shoulders Mana finally reached the Kirikuzu workshop. Meiko's father was sitting in the workshop and resting at that time, his work for the day must've been already finished. The girl bowed upon her entry to show respect, for some reason she felt like the man didn't quite like her based on their first impression but surprisingly enough his reaction to the young magician looked quite warm.

"Oh, magic girl! You look pale and cold, I'd give you some sake to warm up but you are just a kid. Maybe my wife can make some green tea... Mari! Make some green tea!" the man roared so loudly that Mana had to clench her ears for a moment. Normally she'd have wondered if anyone inside the home which was right behind the workshop, connected to it with a system of small corridors and halls would've heard it but having the strength of the man's lungs in mind the whole neighborhood must've heard him.

After the woman called "Mari" came in Mana instantly realized that Meiko must've been the daughter of those two – the woman was of average height, wearing a black casual tracksuit and she had long red hair, even her eyelashes were bright red and extremely thick! Her facial features were much kinder and slicker than the strict and sharp edges of her husband and the color of both Mari's hair and her eyes matched that of Meiko's. The girl blacksmith must've been the child of the two, having inherited her mother's hair and eyes as well as her looks and taken her father's muscular structure and several stricter features like sharper cheekbones and a longer and pointier nose.

"I've already prepared a cup for you, you always drink your tea after work, would the young lady care to wait for a moment?" the woman smiled politely at Mana with an apologetic look as if feeling bad for not predicting the girl's arrival.

"This is Mana – Meiko's new best friend..." the hulking blacksmith informed the woman after spilling a small gulp of sake into his green tea and flipping the cup down before handing it to his wife.