Chapter 66

About two kilometers away from Isberg Village—though in reality, that was only the distance as the crow flies. Being amateurs in the snowy mountains, the group had to navigate steep slopes, invisible drops, and long detours, eventually walking nearly three times that distance before they found it.

A quaint cottage perched atop a small hill.

Below the hill sat the village, and in the opposite direction was a gentle slope that looked perfect for sledding. At the bottom was a frozen lake that seemed ideal for fishing. Further back stood Mount Isberg, one of the largest snowy mountains in the Kingdom. The coniferous forest (Schwarzwald) spreading at the foot of the mountain radiated a cold, solemn presence with its deep black hues amidst the snow.

“This is… someone has very good taste.”

The cottage was situated in such an exquisite spot between raw nature and leisure that Senega couldn’t help but let out a normal remark. It was the kind of location you’d see in a book—if someone asked if you’d like to live out your retirement in a place like this, you’d feel more than a little tempted.

However, if one had to point out a problem—

“Haa!! Ha!! To have a house… in a place like this… in the middle of a snowy mountain far from civilization… what kind of stamina does Busse-kun have?!”

—It was the fact that Caliban, who had been plowing through the snow alongside Pero to find this place, was currently on the verge of death.

“Waf.”

“Don’t you ‘waf’ me and act like I’m pathetic…! I’m a bipedal human who’s a beginner at snowy mountains!! Unlike you and your 4WD!! Ugh, now that I’ve stopped moving, the sweat is making my body freeze instantly…!!”

“We were trailing along behind you and we’re still freezing. By the way, what’s a ‘four-double-dee’?”

4WD was a term for four-wheel drive vehicles, but in a Kingdom where the prevalence of vehicles powered by anything other than horses was effectively 0%, the term’s recognition was also effectively 0%. Akina seemed to have a vague understanding of it, but she ignored it as if it were irrelevant and headed toward Busse’s house.

“No smoke coming from the chimney. I thought he might have actually been smart enough to scurry back to his own house… Tch, making me go through all this trouble.”

“…Actually, Captain Akina’s reasoning might not be entirely off the mark.”

“Woof!!”

“Eh? You smell something burning…?”

“Near the lake. I can’t see the exact spot because it’s hidden by the trees, but there’s a faint trail of smoke rising.”

Senega’s gaze and Pero’s nose pointed to the exact same location.

She had caught the faint wisp of smoke rising into the cold sky, and Pero had picked up the scent.

Unless you’re burning live plants, firewood actually produces a surprisingly small amount of smoke. If they hadn’t made it this far, they wouldn’t have been able to confirm that faint trail with the naked eye.

“Ah, you’re right. Which means… the only person who’d be building a fire in a snowy mountain like this is young Busse!!”

“Hah! So he ran off wanting to be alone, but ended up coming to his own place anyway. Then he decided that just going inside and staying quiet felt too much like running away, so he moved a little distance away from the house! Sorry, kid, but I’ve already analyzed that pattern!!”

“Oh, the Captain is actually making a statement that shows an understanding of a child’s psyche for once! …Wait, where did you get the data for that ‘analysis’?”

“Because, to tell you the truth, I was exactly that type!! Being relatively close to home is proof that deep down, you have a desire to be found!! It’s exactly like the old me!! I’ve seen right through you! Haa-hah-hah-hah-hah!!”

“So the Captain actually had a cute phase like that—”

“Who are you calling an unprecedented ‘Tsundere Moe Girl’, you moron!!”

“I wasn’t overestimating you that much, and you aren’t exactly at an age to call yourself a ‘girl’—buhoh?!”

Gwon!! Captain Akina’s roundhouse kick, delivered with the weight of a swinging axe, scored a clean hit. Given his current state of utter exhaustion, Caliban stood no chance of parrying the strike and was sent flying through the air.

…Incidentally, it was a strike that Dr. Pheles could have parried with a soft stance, Varna could have diverted in mid-air to land gracefully with zero damage, and Chef Tamae could have met with a brilliant counter to deal a fatal blow to Akina. Of course, since those three were superhumans of close-quarters combat, they served as no reference at all.

Caliban traced a beautiful arc without being able to break his fall. Seeing where he was headed, Akina broke into a cold sweat as she realized she’d messed up.

“Ah… Crap.”

With a massive BAGYAAAAA!! Caliban smashed right through the front door of Busse’s house.

Akina, the woman who lived for craftsmanship—in addition to assaulting a colleague, she had now destroyed a civilian’s private property. For her, it was a very rare moment of regretting a short-sighted action.

How much time had passed?

Busse realized his fingertips had turned bright red and wouldn’t move properly from the cold. He went to add more wood to the fire, only to realize he had very little left. He let out a long, white sigh.

The shack by the lake, shaped like the tip of a pen, was something his grandfather had built as a little rest area because he wanted to eat freshly caught fish. It had walls, but they were full of gaps. Usually, they would pack those gaps with snow to turn it into an igloo-like hut, but there were no snow walls right now.

When Grandpa was alive, he would pack it with snow as soon as it started falling. That way, the snow would act as a wall all the way until spring. But it felt like it had been a very long time since Busse had used the place since the old man died.

The fish they ate together had been delicious. It wasn’t anything special in terms of seasoning, but that indescribable satisfaction of saltiness soaking into a body frozen by the cold was something he would never forget. But for some reason, the taste of the fish he had eaten alone just once after his grandfather died felt terribly lacking.

His stomach growled, demanding a meal.

But the smoked fish they used to make there often wasn’t around.

And the reason there was no firewood was that he hadn’t bothered to restock it, since he never had an occasion to use the place.

He could have had everything he needed if he had just managed things properly. Busse hated himself for how nothing went right at times like this.

“…Maybe I should go home.”

The cold and the hunger—those were more than enough reasons to go back.

But what would he do once he got home?

His family was gone, so no one was waiting for him to return.

If he started a fire alone—oh, that was right. He was already out of matches.

When he went down to the village to buy matches, everyone looked at him with those strange, curious eyes.

It was never a pleasant feeling. In fact, if he tried to strike up a conversation, they would brush him off with vague excuses. He hated the anxiety that came with it, so he had bought a large supply of matches all at once. But when the seasons turned and he tried to use them, they had become damp and useless.

He wondered why, since he had stored them properly. A dark imagination flickered in his mind, but he shook his head and denied it. Surely, he hadn’t done anything to deserve such petty malice. Ever since then, he hadn’t felt much like buying matches in the village; he had been using a flint instead.

He wondered how the knights started their fires. When he had caught a glimpse of the Knight Order’s kitchen, they weren’t using a hearth, but a device called a “stove” that he had never seen before. He had promised to ask the cooking squad how it worked once they had a moment, but he had stood them up because he came to a place like this for such a trivial reason.

Maybe he should go back, even now. To that place that wasn’t his house or the village, but a place that accepted him.

“But I…”

When Busse thought about heading toward those strangers, it felt like he was truly starting to hate the villagers, and it scared him. But if he went back, he would definitely have to face Akina. After getting so close to her, she was the one person he was afraid to see right now.

It wasn’t because she would be angry; it was because he didn’t want to hear the truth she spoke.

He still didn’t know why his grandfather had hated the villagers so much, but he wondered if the problem lay with the old man being so stubborn. If that was the case, then the only reason they didn’t accept Busse was that they didn’t really know who he was yet.

So, as long as he stayed in the village, his love for the place was bound to reach them eventually. Someday—someday—someday… but when was “someday”?

“…I guess as long as I’m worrying about things like that, I’m not ready yet… haha.”

He felt like he was just making excuses to himself. He realized that if he said “I feel like” out loud, it would turn from a feeling into the “truth,” so he blocked out his own heart with a dry laugh.

“Let’s go. Home…”

Being alone solved nothing, and it wasn’t like anyone was going to visit.

Still, it was no use if he froze to death in a place like this.

Suddenly, he wondered: if he really did freeze out here, would anyone come to help him?

After a moment’s thought, he decided to think about nothing at all.

“I’m not lone-ly~ ♪ I’m not all by my-self~ ♪”

When someone doesn’t want to think, singing is the best remedy.

Whether it’s just putting on a brave face or hollow cheer, singing changes the mood.

Singing as happily as he could, Busse climbed the slope toward his house.

A place where no one was. A place where no one came. His very own—.

“—?”

He heard someone’s voice coming from the house. Was he hearing things? Sometimes the way the wind blew around there made sounds like human voices. But as he got closer, the volume increased, and his suspicion turned into a certainty. What’s more, there was more than one voice.

Who on earth would be at his house? Usually, only a few specific people from the village would show up, and even then, only rarely.

Confusion outweighed the joy of having visitors. He peered out from the shadows to see what was happening.

What he saw was—.

“Mwahaha… How’s that! Look at it!! Take it in!! When it’s in the hands of the Engineering Squad Captain, Akina-sama, a door repair is as easy as washing your face in the morning!!”

“No, no-no-no-no!! What is this chaotic mess of a door?! What are these spikes?! Why is there a bell as big as the one in the church?! And why is there a peephole and an arrow-launcher built into the back of the door?! Also, it’s blinding!! What is with this metallic yellow color scheme?!”

“According to her, the spikes are for bears, the bell is for bears, and the arrows are for bears, Caliban.”

“How much bear-paranoia does she have?! And I told you to stop her if she tried to attach anything weird!!”

“Don’t be stupid! You should have seen how freakishly fast she was with these modifications!! It was a perfectly normal door literally one minute ago! I never expected her to be carrying her own items and paint on her!! Aw man, Captain, there’s no way we can explain this to young Busse!!”

“Technically, it’s Caliban’s fault for getting blown through it in the first place~. And it’s your fault for being cheeky~. Besides, Busse is a kindred spirit; I’m sure he’ll be moved to tears by how cool this design is!! Once I start selling these after my artistic sense explodes, it’ll be a huge hit!! One for every home—the Anti-Monster (Killer Bear) Door!!”

“What kind of post-apocalyptic city is this supposed to be?!”

There stood the entrance to his house, transformed into a gaudy, over-the-top mess that retained none of its original form—incidentally, the design was inspired by Rai’s aesthetic sense from his biker gang days.

“My… my front door!! Noooooooooo!!”

A tragic scream echoed across the white mountains.

“Th-this is so cool… You did this for me, Akina-san?! It’s amazing! I don’t know if it’ll actually work, but with the warning colors and everything, the bear countermeasures are perfect…!!”

“Exactly! It is amazing! Hmph, told you so, didn’t I?”

“What?! You’re one of those people too?!”