Chapter 282
Chapter 282
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: Winter Serenade
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The heavy snowfall period was over.
The snow that had piled up like mountains melted and piled up again in cycles until midwinter finally arrived.
As long as those insane snow blasts didn't come pouring down again, we could probably keep heading out to hunt at this pace until winter ended.
Rustle, rustle.
I stepped onto the snowy path.
"Hey, Kobson. Where we headed today?"
"Thinking of going a bit farther today. Heh heh heh. I did some research on owl bear habits. Just trust me."
"What habits?"
Today it was Kobson, Meria, and me again—the same three-man party leaving through the castle gates. No need for anyone else. We'd synced up before, and they were trustworthy comrades. That was enough.
Kobson, brimming with enthusiasm, took the lead to hunt an owl bear.
Meria seemed to know a fair bit about owl bears too. They swapped opinions as they moved.
"By the way, how's it going with your girlfriend?"
Partway through, Meria asked out of boredom.
"Not girlfriend. Wife."
"Mom? Already married?"
"Something like that."
I didn't know much about marriage customs in this world. At any rate, Meria—ever interested in that stuff—started firing off questions left and right. Kobson, listening from the side, turned stone-faced in an instant.
I kept talking as I watched him.
"That's why. To win a woman's heart, nothing beats a gift."
"A gift?"
"Wasn't talking to you. Why're you answering?"
"I'm interested too."
Anything else, Kobson—you gotta quit gambling before you'll ever land a girl.
"Hmm, a gift..."
Meria struck a thinking pose. Normal for any woman to be curious about that sort of thing.
"Find a guy you like? Go full throttle. Hit him hard."
"Like that?"
"Then, barbarian—what do you do when you find a girl you like?"
Kobson cut in.
"Go full throttle. Hit her hard."
"What a nutrient-free answer."
We bantered like that as we pushed through the snow.
Never forgot to stay alert around us the whole time.
We'd run into bandits on our first winter hunt, after all. Sure, we'd made a killing and felt great, but nobody wants to bump into trouble like that every day.
We walked for a good while before picking a spot to rest.
No snow today, but the temperature was lower. Actually a good thing. Any warmer, and the ground would've been a sloppy mess. Frozen solid was way better.
Crackle.
We lit a fire like usual and had our meal.
"So. How far we going this time?"
"Keep straight, then veer off—there's a small lake. Owl bears love fish, so high chance of a nest nearby."
"Yeah?"
Pretty convincing explanation.
"Kobson's right. I've heard that too."
Seemed like only I, the outsider, was in the dark.
Truth was, all I knew about owl bears was they were strong monsters. No real intel. I asked for details, and Kobson answered while chewing jerky.
"Owl bear uses? Hmm. Hide, feathers, claws, bones, beak, eyes... tons of parts valuable. Gallbladder even works for alchemy. That's the rundown."
Practically no waste.
To make real money off byproducts, gotta hunt the strong ones. Catch goblins or kobolds all day, and it's worthless.
"But seriously—can three people even take one?"
That'd been nagging at me.
Kobson had to have some ace up his sleeve to even suggest it.
Makes sense he'd only pitch it after sizing things up. If he was the reckless type, he'd be dead already.
"Usually two or three skilled swordsmen can handle it."
"What's 'skilled' mean?"
"About my level, I'd say."
"Fucking vague."
If it takes two or three swordsmen... probably tougher than an orc on sight. From what they said, the locals around here are just shy of two meters.
Figure my height's about the same. Not something a sword couldn't handle.
"Don't sweat it. Trust my shield. This was back home—I vaguely remember the vigilante uncles banding together to hunt one when I was a kid. Think it came down to the village?"
Meria warmed her hands by the fire and thumped her shield.
"Honestly, those vigilante uncles weren't anything special... but going by numbers, three at our skill level should be plenty."
"Hmm... guess so."
Thought it'd be way tougher.
But armed humans outclass most monsters anyway. Their take sounded solid.
Set Meria as tank, Kobson as bait, and I'd unload DPS. Should work.
With reliable comrades and my own strength, what was there to fear? If it looked bad, bail and hunt something else.
We chatted a bit more, then set off again.
"This way, and the lake should pop up."
Not long after, Kobson started veering into rougher terrain. I followed without a word.
About thirty minutes in...
Chill.
The temperature plunged out of nowhere.
The unmistakably colder air seeped into my face.
What the hell.
"Hey, Kobson. Hold up."
"What?"
"Getting cold, right?"
"Hmm... yeah, kinda. Been cold the whole time, though."
I scanned around.
Overall jagged terrain.
Nothing stood out, but for some reason, it felt eerie. Just a snow-blanketed world, bare frozen branches, and snow weighing them down.
"Not just cold—feels colder here."
"We've been out forever? Let's keep moving. Farther out means hustle back."
"Right."
I chalked it up to imagination and pressed deeper.
That was when...
Swish.
Something.
I saw something.
Some bizarre thing flitting around like a butterfly.
Way too early for spring butterflies. Not a moth or any insect, either—way too big for that.
Whirr, whirr, whirr.
A small blue thing floated along, drifting slowly.
We flat-out froze at the sight.
Poot?
It was an ice spirit.
"S-Spirit! Ice spirit!"
Kobson shrieked like a maniac!
"Kyaaaaah!!!!!"
"Killer spirits!!!!!!!"
Meria yanked up her shield. I panicked, drew my sword, and ducked behind her. "Uwaaaah!!" Kobson bolted behind a tree. Meria and I scurried after him!
"Fuck, we're fucked! Ice spirit!"
"You fucking shits! Why're you here!"
"Run!"
The party morale cratered at the arrival of these mythical killer spirits.
Spirits.
What a terrifying, horrifying word.
Spirits were inherently powerful monsters. They might look small and fragile, but at their core, they were nothing but killer pests armed with pro assassin skills.
They wielded magic matching their element. Yeah. Monsters casting spells. Danger incarnate.
And above all, their forms were vague, ethereal.
Rare as hell—you only heard rumors—which made them nightmare fuel for low-rank adventurers.
The moss spirit I'd seen before turned out overhyped on combat power, but even that one used hypnosis magic. Rumors said ice spirits slung ice-attribute spells.
"Fuck...! They're coming!"
Kobson yelled, sword drawn and trembling.
Sure enough, two tiny ice spirits had spotted us and were drifting closer. They looked like demon-carved chunks of twisted ice, ringed in sky-blue aura that screamed death.
Too late to run...!
I made the call and bellowed!
"Meria! Shield up! We're killing them!"
"Y-You sure?!"
"Yeah! Kobson! Watch our backs!"
"Got it...!"
Meria stepped out by the tree, shield forward. I took position behind her, Kobson covering our flanks and rear from behind me.
Shara-la-rak.
"Look at that fucking thing!"
Then, around the floating ice spirit—in midair—ice spikes the size of a kid's arm started forming! Yeah! Casting magic!
Pashot!
The razor-sharp ice spikes rocketed toward us!
Crack!
"Blocked it!"
Terror hit, but the spikes couldn't pierce Meria's iron shield! Good! We had a shot! I roared a challenge.
"Nice! We can block! Meria, charge!"
"Got it!"
Meria and I surged forward together. Pyashot! Four more spikes flew, but all ricocheted off her shield. And the regenerating ones... slow cast time!
"Take 'em together!"
Pa!
We split and lunged like arrows at our targets.
Kwang!
Meria spun once and slammed her accelerated shield into one ice spirit. At the same instant, I zeroed in on the other dumbly hovering midair.
Soccer-ball size—easy to target.
Power flooded my sword grip. Muscles honed to the limit screamed and exploded! Had to end it in one brutal strike!
Swaek!
My blade cleaved the frigid air and smashed the ice spirit in a flash!
Thud!
The hand feedback was heavy!
The ferocious slash landed as impact at first, but my strength and the blade's edge overwhelmed its durability—it shattered and split clean through!
Dead!
"Meria! Confirm kill!"
"On it!"
Glancing over, Kobson and Meria were pounding the one smashed to the ground. Meria bashed the trying-to-rise spirit with her shield's edge; Kobson hurled a head-sized rock he'd grabbed from somewhere.
Kwak!
That was it.
The mangled ice spirit shattered and perished.
"Haa... haa... We killed a spirit! A spirit!"
"Woo-hoo!!!"
The two idiots cheered and danced like morons.
"Whew. We won."
Compared to our freakout, they were nobodies.
Uninformed folks always panic at anything magical.
That's why spirits were feared. But up close? Not so scary.
Ice spirit shot ice spikes with magic, sure—but couldn't dent a metal shield. Fire spirits probably same deal.
"Turns out spirits are chumps!"
"Means we're stronger now, Kobson."
"Swapping shields was smart."
Feeling good, we yakked happily while hunting loot.
Spirits dropped cores usable as magic items. I'd seen a moss wisp core before.
Recalling that, I searched...
Swishhh...
A dark blue-green bead emitting eerie chill caught my eye.
Had to be the ice spirit core.
"This... the core?"
Meria knelt, peering in wonder.
"Heh heh. Heard they're pricey."
"Fuck, better haul than expected?"
I carefully scooped it up and slipped it into my pouch.
"Lucky break. Thought we were goners."
"Same. Thought I was toast."
Worth the trek, at least.
Especially proving ice spirits were pushovers.
Our adventurer XP up, we agreed to hunt more ice spirits nearby instead of owl bears or whatever. Kobson guided us toward the lake.
Not long after, we found a small lake frozen solid like a skating rink.
That's when we spotted it.
"Hey... fuck, that's..."
In the center of the frozen little lake—
"..."
"..."
A girl in cold colors stood there.