First Glance (2)

Breath!

A revolution in snow removal tools!

In an instant, we cleared a path down the hill. The speed is incredible. This amount of snow would take many soldiers days to clear.

“You… I’m so tired… Haaah… Haaah…”

“Hey, don’t breathe weirdly. If you’re tired, just keep your mouth shut.”

“My mouth hurts!”

Rurin, who did the work of about a hundred soldiers, started to moan.

Anyway, we cleared the path from beyond the orchard to the restaurant. Of course, the width isn’t that wide because Rurin’s breath in human form isn’t that wide.

So, there’s still snow up to my thighs on both sides. But the heat from the breath melted a lot of the snow on the sides too.

“Hello!”

“Hello!”

As we were doing that, familiar voices came from the entrance. The voices belonged to Linte and Mate. They seemed to have waded through the snow with their pants completely soaked.

They’re really diligent brothers. I’d heard they come to work earlier than anyone else.

“Wow, the path is cleared! Brother!”

“It really is. Could it be… Mr. El?”

The two brothers looked at me with sparkling eyes. Strictly speaking, I didn’t do it. It was thanks to my formidable snow removal tool.

“It’s nothing special. Just a simple magic. Magic.”

It’s already an open secret that I’m a wizard. Of course, they probably think I’m just a human-level wizard, not a 9th-class wizard.

“That’s amazing!”

Mate raised his hand with a childlike expression. His face and actions match perfectly.

“Let’s go up. Amazing is amazing, but we have work to do too!”

“Yes, brother…!”

Mate and Linte bowed 90 degrees to me and Rurin, grateful that the path was cleared, then started climbing up the hill.

“Those guys are fools.”

“Why are they fools again?”

“There are just things like that.”

Rurin said something incomprehensible, opened and closed her mouth as she stretched, then tilted her head when she noticed the gloves on her hands.

“You, I was just sleeping, but I’m wearing gloves and a hat! I’m amazing.”

“What nonsense. I put them on for you. Let’s go up.”

“Got it. Since I worked, I’ll eat and sleep.”

I tried to climb the path with the dragon again. But then, a scream came from above.

“Aaaaah!”

Linte slipped down the hill from the top, sitting on his butt, and halfway down, he crashed into the snow.

“Look at that, those guys are fools. Fools. Hahaha!”

Rurin shrugged and started laughing as if to prove her point. From my perspective, it was honestly a funny scene. Every time Rurin laughed, the bells on her fur hat jingled.

Clearing the path was good, but the surface melted by the breath had frozen again, creating an ice sheet up the hill.

“Broooother!”

Calling out to Linte, Mate also started sliding down the hill. This was basically a sledding scene.

“Aaaah.”

Thud.

Since they weren’t using a sled, they spun around and crashed into the snow piled up next to the cleared path.

The path was a complete ice sheet, so it was a miracle not to slip. Since there were people watching, I couldn’t use breath or magic.

But I couldn’t keep repeating Linte and Mate’s clumsy actions. So the best thing was to quietly disappear.

“Rurin, let’s teleport to the restaurant. We’ll slip countless times if we go up there.”

“Got it!”

Thud, thud, thud! Thud!

Rurin ran to me and bumped her head against my chest, then used magic.

After that, we used teleportation once again. We brought a lot of sand from the beach and started maintenance work to make the hill path less slippery.

As we were doing that, Mrs. Seral, Miltain, and Mr. Ment also arrived for work. Seeing that none of them slipped, it seemed the sand we hastily spread was quite effective.

Clearing the path in a hurry depleted the morning.

And then, around noon.

Mrs. Seral, saying she wasn’t prepared to cook, led all the ranch people down to the restaurant. It seemed she was buying, as Miltain looked very happy.

Moreover, Mr. Knoll and Mrs. Rayne also came up to the restaurant.

“Mr. El! We were worried about the hill, so we came up to see you. We barely managed to clear the path in front of the butcher shop all morning, so we thought we couldn’t open for business. This guy said we should help you clear the snow on the hill, but it’s already done! Hoho. So we thought we’d just eat and go.”

“When did I say to help? This wife of mine?”

“Say you didn’t?”

“I might have said something similar.”

“Looks like I need to have a word with him outside. Just a moment, Mr. El.”

“No! No! No! What talk? El! I just want to drink some soju… Ouch, don’t pull my ear!”

Mrs. Rayne pulled Mr. Knoll’s ear as a form of retribution.

“Hello…!”

After them, Ms. Elena appeared hesitantly. Despite the sand, she seemed to have fallen, as there was some dirt on her clothes.

“Ms. Elena? You came too? What’s going on today?”

“Yes? Well… I was worried because of all the snow, so I came up! Thankfully, the path was clear… It was a bit slippery though. But it’s fine. I’m relieved.”

Ms. Elena sighed in relief by herself.

In short, she came up because she was worried about me. Well, it’s a nice gesture.

So many people are thinking about me.

“Master!”

Even Baron Greek showed up. Because of the heavy snow, he deployed soldiers to start snow removal and brought them here to clear from the top of the hill.

Mate, who was the only one here aware of Baron Greek’s identity, was shocked and didn’t know what to do, but soon Baron Greek approached him and explained the situation.

Of course, Rurin also knew Baron Greek’s identity, but to her, it didn’t matter whether he became a lord or an emperor.

“Since so many of us are gathered, just having a meal isn’t fun. To celebrate the first snow, I’ll give a reward.”

“A reward?”

“A reward?”

“Oh my?”

The restaurant soon buzzed with excitement at my words.

“It’s just a fun game, really. We’ll put various ingredients into this pot and boil it. Each person takes a turn eating, and if they can’t finish and spit it out, they’re out. The last one standing wins. The winner gets this! A tax exemption certificate for Greek City!”

“What?”

“Really?”

The people buzzed again, especially surprised at the mention of a tax exemption certificate.

“Haha, it’s issued directly by Baron Greek, the Acting Lord of Greek City. Whoever has this is free from taxes for a year.”

“How do you have something like that?”

“I got it by helping the Lord.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

People’s eyes started to shine. Whether in the modern world or here, taxes are always mercilessly taken from one’s earnings. A tax exemption certificate is a welcome right for both those who earn a lot and those who earn little.

“I will definitely win it, Master!”

Even the issuer was enthusiastic.

This exemption certificate was issued by Baron Greek himself not long ago.

He had suggested holding a festival with a tax exemption certificate as a prize once a year to bring joy to the people. After discussing it, we decided to try something similar, which is how it ended up in my hands.

So, it’s a genuine item, stamped with the Lord’s official seal.

“If I win it, it will disappear.”

Whispered Baron Greek. That must have been his motivation.

“You, I don’t really need that.”

“I’m the host, so I can’t participate. It would be nice if you could win it for me.”

“For you? Then I suddenly want it. Hehe, do you need that?”

“Well, it’s good to have, right?”

“Then I’ll win! If I get that, you have to do something for me too?”

Even the dragon, more interested in the side benefits than the prize, declared her participation. As the host, I couldn’t participate for fairness, so whatever.

Rurin’s participation isn’t a bad thing.

“Then let’s start boiling.”

I smiled meaningfully and started boiling water in the pot, adding various ingredients. After that, I drew lots for the order.

The result was Miltain as the first, Mr. Knoll second, Linte third, Mrs. Seral fourth, Ms. Elena fifth, Mate sixth, Rurin seventh, Baron Greek eighth, Mrs. Rayne ninth, and Mr. Ment as the tenth.

People gathered around the boiling pot placed on the table for four. I took a blindfold out.

“Okay, first up is Miltain.”

“Ah! Why am I first? I really have no luck.”

Miltain, who was eager to save on taxes to buy a gift for his girlfriend, walked over to me with a frustrated face.

I put the blindfold on Miltain. It’s a blindfold that completely blocks vision. Then, I gave him a fork and stirred the pot while holding his arm.

“You just need to eat the food the fork points to. I’ll feed you, so just point with the fork, don’t try to stab.”

Miltain nodded at my explanation, carefully stirred the pot, and then stopped.

“For reference, there are some strange things in here. Nothing that will kill you, but you might get a bit of a shock if you eat the wrong thing. Still, it’s harmless. Just tingly or spicy stuff.”

“Why are you saying that right when it’s my turn! Sniff, sniff! Helly, I’ll definitely buy you a gift!”

Calling out the name of who I assume is his girlfriend, Miltain ate the food I fed him.

“Aaaah!”

“Oh no! Senior’s new girlfriend too…”

“What?”

People around started making a fuss. Mate added a comment too. Then Miltain froze with the food in his mouth, unable to chew.

“If you can’t chew within ten seconds, it’s considered a forfeit?”

I declared and started counting.

Miltain gritted his teeth and started chewing whatever was in his mouth.

“Ew! What is this!”

Miltain spit out whatever was in his mouth into the prepared bowl.

“It’s too mushy to chew!”

“Disqualified! This is called a marshmallow, made of sugar. It’s a delicious snack.”

“What?”

Miltain looked at the spat-out marshmallow in disbelief. When blindfolded, people’s fear is amplified, and not knowing what it is makes it hard to chew. Especially if they’re faint-hearted.

There’s a big difference between eating something knowingly and unknowingly. An interesting difference.

“Isn’t he a fool? Just eat it.”

Mr. Knoll shook his head in disbelief.

“No! You can’t just eat it like that. Maybe if it was a familiar texture…”

“Alright, disqualified participants, just watch from the back. Haha!”

Miltain stepped back. Next up was the confident Mr. Knoll.

Mr. Knoll put on the blindfold with a confident face and started stirring the pot. Then he stopped.

“Honey, no matter what, just swallow it. Got it?”

Mrs. Rayne’s warning naturally followed.