>>5970762>>5970770>>5970862>>5970948>>5970187>>5970006>>5969884Your way back is, unfortunately, one that takes you a good deal longer than the way here took. The ice fields have drifted in frustrating ways, some of them moving together too quickly to dart past. The shards seem more numerous than before, likely a result of the titanic icebergs smashing into each other and splintering, and it requires a lot more careful movement to avoid them with the ship. Even then, you note that the sails get some minor cuts in them that'll need to be addressed later. At the very least, you were able to make sure nobody aboard the ship got slashed.
This slower pace through the fields affords you a better appreciation for the likely-unintended beauty to be found in a place like this. One particular moment where you're surrounded on all sides by pristine glaciers and can see little else other than drifting reflections of the Gleamrunner and its inhabitants sticks with you. It almost feels like you're trapped inside of some kind of spacial anomaly, the world fractured all around. You idly wonder if Space magic could possibly do something as terrifying as that.
"Tell me." You speak up, if only to break the monotony of the trip. It's already been at least an hour of navigating the damned ice, you could at least get some measure of entertainment out of it. "Are you three at all familiar with Ether distillation?"
"Theoretically." Yuzu confirms with a nod.
"Nope!" Jun shakes his head.
"They never proved that I was." Aito chuckles.
"What?" You look at him strangely, not sure what he meant by that.
"Oh, you know...just a bit of slang from older times, I guess. Eldingar went through a phase where alcohol was prohibited when I was in my twenties, and back then we'd call any kind of spirits 'ethers' if we wanted to be <span class="mu-i">subtle</span> when talking about 'em." Aito explains, looking a bit wistful. Which strikes you as odd, since it sounds like it'd be a fairly oppressive time to live in.
"I see. So..." You trail off, unsure if he knows about actual ethers or not.
"It's only mildly more difficult than normal distillation, sonny. Depending on what materials I have to work with, I could whip up a fairly hands-free Ether Distiller if you really wanted me to. And if you funded the project, of course." He pinches his fingers together as he says this, grinning. "A bit of a waste of my talents though, if you ask me."
"About that...it's more so we can ensure that one of our crewmates can satisfy a, uh, dietary requirement." You feel increasingly awkward about broaching the subject. "We recruited a rare docile demon, and as long as she has access to ethers, she can remain nonviolent apparently."
