Chapter 12 - Snowy Mountain (1)
The snowfield was dazzling.
The glare was so sharp that if you squinted, you'd get the illusion of seeing individual grains amidst the sparkling snow.
Whether the terrain had always been this flat, or if it just looked that way because of the snow, Agnes didn't know, but she thought:
"It's really empty."
That the snowfield was both dazzling and empty.
"Get your face off the window."
Deltain said to Agnes with his arms crossed.
The reason he was scolding her was simple.
It was because Agnes was sitting on Deltain's lap, looking out the window.
Even though the seat on the other side was empty.
Agnes only then turned her head to look at Deltain.
He was glaring at her with a deeply furrowed brow.
"You don't like it?"
"Yeah."
"Even though I'm this pretty?"
Agnes rested her hand on her cheek and leaned forward.
Her face, even with a gentle smile, possessed a beauty that was, as she said, more dazzling than the snowfield outside, but humans are creatures of habit, aren't they?
Aren't they just creatures of adaptation?
"Get off."
Deltain was now a man who wouldn't even blink at the sight of her face.
Snorting, Deltain uncrossed his arms and pushed Agnes's forehead away with his index finger.
At that, Agnes pouted as if dissatisfied.
"Your love has cooled."
"I never loved you to begin with."
"This is why people say not to get married. I've heard it before. Men act like they'll give you their liver and gallbladder when they're dating, but once they get married, they toss you aside. I guess they lose interest in the fish they've already caught."
She said this while wiping under her eyes like a tragic heroine, but to Deltain, it was absurd.
"How is it that there isn't a single correct thing in that long sentence? Sorry, but I've never married you, never dated you, and I've never given you my liver or gallbladder."
"You're petty. You could just let it slide."
"This? You want me to turn a blind eye to my dating life and marriage being fabricated?"
"I think you could."
Agnes said that and curled up in Deltain's arms.
Then, she took Deltain's arm and wrapped it around her body.
As Deltain parted his lips to speak, Agnes spoke first.
"Because it's cold."
"Don't make me laugh. The inside of the car is perfectly temperature-controlled."
"My heart is cold."
"...."
Deltain tried to continue but gave up.
He understood why Agnes was being so clingy.
"Just hold on for three more days. Then you can get out of the car."
It had been about a week since they left the capital.
In other words, that was how long she had been trapped in the car.
No matter how much expansion magic was cast on it, it was still inside a car.
It was natural for her to feel stifled, having just regained the ability to walk and wanting to stretch her legs.
"Once we reach the land of the barbarians, you won't have to worry about demons or magical beasts. I'll let you walk to your heart's content then."
"That's an interesting story. Tell me more."
Agnes said that and fiddled with Deltain's hand.
"Why don't the demons go there?"
"Because the barbarians of the snowy mountain are under the protection of the spirits."
"Protection?"
"Nothing special, just some wide-range mental protection."
"That sounds like a big deal. It's like Saint Hall."
"Because I modeled Saint Hall after that."
Agnes made an "Ah" sound.
"Then you were imitating the spirits?"
"All creation begins with imitation."
"You don't deny it. Copycat Deltain."
"Because it's nothing to be ashamed of."
A giggle escaped Agnes's lips.
Since she was laughing with her head resting on Deltain's chest, the vibration was being transmitted to him.
Deltain felt unnecessarily uncomfortable with her squirming, so he said:
"Get off now. Your head smells."
"I think it's a good smell."
"There's no such thing as a good-smelling head."
"There is."
"There isn't."
Agnes shoved the top of her head right in front of Deltain's nose.
"Waaaang~."
Deltain held his breath.
Then he glared at Agnes.
Agnes peeked up and said with a grin.
"Neat-freak Deltain."
"Copycat, neat-freak, you're calling me all sorts of things, huh?"
"Picky-eater Deltain. Tone-deaf Deltain."
"...Are you picking a fight?"
"No, I'm not."
Deltain sighed.
A deep sense of fatigue was spread across his face.
"Please, just stay still."
There was something Deltain had been thinking about for the past week.
It was nothing other than the thought that Agnes didn't seem much different now than when she had regressed to the age of five.
Especially the way she couldn't stay still, twisting her body out of boredom and bothering the person next to her.
"You know how to make me stay still."
At her words, Deltain's eyebrows raised.
"Are you really five years old?"
"I just haven't lost my childlike innocence."
There was only one reason for this kind of conversation.
It was because the "way to make her stay still" that Agnes was talking about was holding her and patting her back.
Like soothing a child.
"You're really annoying."
"You say that with your mouth, but you'll do it in the end anyway."
"If I don't, you'll just throw a fit again."
"That's right."
Agnes curled her body up even more into a ball.
Deltain wrapped his arms around her and patted her back.
Agnes began to close her eyes gently.
"I feel at ease when we do this."
"Is that so? My heart feels uncomfortable."
"That's because your heart is fluttering."
"Does your heart flutter and make you want to vomit? That's a new fact I've learned."
"It's because it's fluttering so much that your body isn't listening to you."
The conversation gradually died down.
It was because sleepiness had begun to seep into Agnes's voice.
Agnes feels a sense of security when being held gently and having her back patted.
This was a fact Deltain had realized five days ago.
'Affection deficiency?'
It looked like that, too.
It was puzzling considering how dearly Duke Levadein cherished her, but this reaction could definitely be considered affection deficiency.
If one were to look at it from a strictly medical perspective, that was the case.
'The cause is a lack of physical contact. Perhaps because her body weakened and she spent so much time lying down, her loneliness deepened. The Duke would be going to work at the Imperial Palace, and the Duchess...'
Because she was already dead.
As those thoughts continued, Agnes had already fallen asleep.
Deltain confirmed it and scattered the thoughts that had come to mind.
And snorted.
'...None of my business.'
Deltain cast his gaze out the window.
*
It was the day before they reached the snowy mountain.
Now, if he cast his gaze into the distance, the snowy mountain rising through the clouds was clearly visible.
Deltain left Agnes in the car and got out to look at the Hounds who had approached.
Their bodies were caked in blood.
Perhaps they had tried to wash it off with snow, as there was moisture lingering in places.
"Seolto Tribe?"
"We took care of them! A few tribes possessed by demons rushed at us!"
Caltara said, giving a thumbs up.
Hanging from her waist was Cargo, who had become as thin as Deltain now.
"Oh Lastoria... Please save this sinful servant... save me... save me..."
Cargo was half out of his mind, continuing to pray with his hands clasped together.
It was a sight not seen in a long time since the war.
Then again, considering Caltara's fighting style, it wasn't incomprehensible.
Deltain didn't bother to pay any more attention to it and continued his thoughts.
'It's certain that the demons are targeting us.'
He had to think about his policy.
He could enter the snowy mountain as it was, but considering the return trip, that was a problem.
Since the demons had started to move in groups in earnest, it was obvious that if he left enemies behind here, he would be constantly looking over his shoulder while taking care of business.
"I should do some cleaning up."
Deltain judged so and gave the order.
"Galan, Caltara, Cargo. You guys stay and rest. Pobler, Jebis. You two follow me. We're going to subjugate the demons nearby."
Cargo's complexion brightened.
"Th-thank you!"
The sight of him tearing up at the fact that he could finally rest was pitiful, but because his appearance was such a mess, the thought that he looked pathetic came before any such sympathy.
"...Get in the car. You smell, so go wash up."
Cargo scrambled into the car.
*
<2nd-tier magic: Fly is being activated.>
Since the land was entirely white, finding demons wasn't difficult.
It was just a matter of floating in the sky and looking for groups of black dots.
Even if they tried to cover themselves by digging under the snow or hiding under trees, they were still demons.
Since they were usually made of red and black flesh, if he focused a little, they were visible.
It was 30 minutes later that Deltain found a group of demons.
It was in the pure white forest at the foot of the snowy mountain.
'Fifty of them.'
There were quite a lot.
But it wasn't a dangerous level.
Because not a single named demon was visible.
'Let's just deal with them roughly and go.'
Deltain snapped his fingers.
<3rd-tier magic: Flare Storm is being activated.>
Whoosh.
Flames stretched behind Deltain's body.
The flames, which had been swirling like a vortex, soon turned into a massive pillar of fire and began to ripple.
Since it was an all-white snowfield, the color stood out particularly well.
Deltain saw the demons moving busily.
'Too late. Idiots.'
When Deltain waved his hand, the vortex of flames rushed forward.
There was no other noise.
The sound of the wind caused by the pillar of fire sweeping across the snow.
The sound of water as the snow melted and splashed up.
But even with that quietness, the visual destructive power was immense.
Whoooosh!
The moment the pillar of fire reached the forest, everything around it melted.
There was no crackling, no exploding—it just melted.
Starting from the point where a faint "Kiiiik" sound of a demon's cry rang out, Deltain withdrew the magic.
And he told Jebis and Pobler via communication magic.
[Finish it up and come back.]
Deltain turned away.
*
Jebis walked along the path where the ground was exposed by the 'Flare Storm'.
He was even humming a tune.
Of course, it was naturally more comfortable to go leisurely and finish off the dying demons than to run around subjugating the Seolto Tribe.
The forest he arrived at with a light step was in such a ruined state that it could no longer be called a forest.
Everything had melted, leaving only traces of what used to be trees and the melted corpses of demons scattered about.
"I'll go that way."
Pobler said.
He was already picking up a demon and chewing it up.
"Is it well-cooked?"
"It's well-done."
"Oh."
Pobler said that and disappeared.
Jebis giggled for a moment, then turned his head here and there to look for living demons.
Among them, he looked for a 'Demon of Lust'.
A strange desire was etched in his eyes.
"Where could it be..."
To explain the reason for this look, one needed to understand the man named Jebis, the sex addict.
It wasn't a very long or complicated story.
This was just one of the tragedies that existed everywhere on the continent during the demon invasion five years ago.
Jebis that day was a trainee knight in a rural territory who had just turned 16.
The reason a young man who might have lived a life like anyone else became a Hound was because of that single Demon of Lust that signaled the beginning of the invasion that day.
Click!
His prosthetic leg, which had all sorts of weapons built into it, was attached to replace the leg that had been sucked into the demon's genitals and torn off that day.
The gynophobia he had was due to the shape of that grotesque creature that was tearing off his leg that day.
The reason he became a Hound who didn't know when he would die was because he had lost his family, friends, and lord to that demon.
Therefore, he hated demons, especially the Demon of Lust.
And he hated himself for crawling away from that demon.
Jebis, who was completed by the mixture of such hatreds, came to feel a strange heat whenever he met a Demon of Lust.
"Found you."
Jebis smiled whitely.
Right in front of his nose was a demon shaped like female genitalia, its surface charred black and twitching.
Intermediate Demon of Lust.
As soon as Jebis discovered it, he rolled up his pants, revealed his prosthetic leg, and shoved it into the demon's hole.
Crunch.
As he pressed down with force, blood and pus gushed out from the demon.
At that moment, Jebis felt a stiffness in his waist.
"Hnnng..."
Jebis narrowed his eyes and began to manipulate mana.
Boiling mana wrapped around the prosthetic leg.
The prosthetic leg made a 'click' sound.
An ominous vibration arose.
What followed after the 'rumble' sound was a sight that would make anyone who saw it frown.
"The pussy..."
Splatter!
An explosion occurred on the surface of the prosthetic leg.
The demon was shredded to pieces and scattered in all directions.
"Bang~!"
Jebis's smile blossomed.