Frigid Land, A New Encounter

“S-so cold!”

Teleported to an unfamiliar place by the Fairy King Oberon’s ancient magic, Jonah hugged his own body and shivered from the intense cold.

And for good reason—the surroundings were covered in snow, and a blizzard was raging.

“I-I want to teleport, but without knowing where this is…”

Jonah’s Ancient Magic 【Tedit】 allows teleportation anywhere by specifying coordinates centered on his current position or by placing a marker magic circle at the destination.

If he doesn’t know his current location, he cannot teleport.

“I-I’m sleepy…”

His body temperature dropping, Jonah was suddenly assaulted by drowsiness.

If he knelt down and fell asleep like this, it would be easier.

Just when he thought that.

Oh my… You’ve had quite a rough time because of that Fairy King Oberon, haven’t you?

“…Shut up.”

The voice he heard was that woman’s.

Despite him suffering so much, she spoke in a somewhat amused tone, so Jonah snapped at her.

Well, Oberon is the king of fairies, so he’s the most whimsical and prank-loving of all—nothing to be done about it. More importantly, if you stay like this, you’ll freeze to death, you know?

“I-I know that! That’s why I’m desperately looking for a settlement right now.”

Hohoho. Oh, is that so?

“Yes, it is!”

The woman’s dry laughter was infuriating.

In his anger toward the owner of the voice, Jonah somehow forgot both the cold and the oncoming drowsiness.

Well, I’ll just pray that Jonah doesn’t die.

“Mind your own business!”

Fortunately, due to Oberon’s inexplicable consideration, there was somehow a leather bag at hand.

Jonah took the bag and began pushing through the accumulated snow.

“Haa… Haa…!”

The wind and driving snow gradually stole Jonah’s body heat.

The effects of the ‘Fairy Dust’ bestowed by the fairies in the ‘Stygian Forest’ still lingered, so it wasn’t painful, but it was still harsh nonetheless.

Even so, stopping here meant death. Jonah shielded his face from the snowy wind with his arm and advanced one step at a time.

Then.

“Woo! Woo!”

Approaching wolf howls.

Jonah stopped and strained his eyes toward the direction of the sounds.

Of course, raising his hand ready to cast ancient magic at any moment.

But.

“…!? Could that be a child!?”

What followed was a boy’s voice.

Jonah lowered his raised hand, let out a sigh of relief, and collapsed to his knees.

“Woo! Woo!”

“Wh-what are you doing in a place like this!? And without any cold-weather gear!?”

“A-ahaha…”

A boy dressed in warm-looking fur, cold-weather clothing, and hat, riding a large barking silver wolf, came before Jonah and raised a surprised voice.

His point was completely valid, so Jonah could only smile bitterly.

“A-anyway, you’ll die like this! Here, get on Kuu’s back!”

“Y-yeah! Thank you!”

With the boy’s help, Jonah climbed onto the wolf… Kuu’s back.

Kuu was far larger than the wolf encountered in the border forest of the Benedia Kingdom, with plenty of room even carrying both Jonah and the boy.

“Kuu! We’re heading back to the village right away!”

“Woo!”

Responding to the boy’s call, Kuu dashed through the silvery white.

‘Wow…! So fast!’

Jonah gritted his teeth against the cold, but his heart leaped at Kuu’s incredible speed.

After passing through the forest of leafless, bare trees, a small settlement came into view in about ten minutes.

It seemed to be the settlement where this boy lived.

“Oh, Henrik, you’re back early. Finished gathering firewood?”

“That’s not the issue, Grandma! I picked this guy up in the forest!”

“Oh my.”

Called out by an old woman they passed at the village entrance, the boy answered loudly.

His name seemed to be Henrik.

“This is serious. Hurry along.”

“Yeah!”

Jonah’s lips, unprotected from the cold, had turned purple, and it was dangerous to continue like this.

Seeing Jonah’s face and realizing this, the old woman urged Henrik to hurry.

And then.

“Haa… I’m revived…”

In front of the blazing fireplace, wrapped in a blanket, Jonah wore a cozy expression.

However, suddenly entering a warm house made his hands itchy, so Jonah kept rubbing his palms.

“Here, drink this too.”

“Th-thank you.”

Receiving a wooden cup filled with warm soup from Henrik, Jonah blew on it before sipping.

“…! Delicious!”

“Hehe, of course! It’s my mom’s special recipe, after all!”

Seeing Jonah’s face light up, Henrik rubbed under his nose a bit proudly.

“By the way… why were you in a place like that dressed like that?”

“Uh, w-well…”

He couldn’t exactly explain being teleported by Oberon, so Jonah stammered.

Jonah hadn’t wanted to be in such a place either.

“…Well, whatever. But don’t underestimate the snowy forest—you’ll get in big trouble. It’s not just freezing cold; there are magical beasts there too. A runt like you would get eaten in no time.”

“…! I-I’m not a runt!”

Jonah had been told all sorts of things in the Langheim house, but he couldn’t let a comment about his height slide.

Jonah stood up and protested fiercely.

“No, you are a runt. Look, I’m this much taller.”

“Muuuu…!”

Indeed, Henrik was a full ten centimeters taller than Jonah.

Faced with an undeniable reality, Jonah puffed out his cheeks greatly.

“Now, now, don’t sulk so much. More importantly, you don’t have anywhere to go, right? Then stay at my house for a while.”

“…Is that okay?”

“Yeah! But in exchange, you’ll help me out a bit.”

“O-of course!“

For Jonah, who was at a loss not knowing where he was, Henrik’s words were extremely welcome.

Overjoyed, Jonah bowed repeatedly.

“S-stop that. More importantly, what’s your name?”

“Ah, that’s right. I’m Jonah—nice to meet you!”

“Got it. I’m Henrik—nice to meet you!”

Illuminated by the fireplace flames, the two boys smiled and shook hands.