Chapter 12 - Snowy Mountain (2)
Things moved quickly after the demon was dealt with.
From that moment on, Deltain's Sedan didn't take a single second of rest, racing toward the snowy mountain the entire time, and arrived at the entrance of the snowy mountain exactly 10 hours later.
"Get out."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's the Spirit's territory from here on out."
Agnes looked out the car window at the snowy mountain. No matter how much she tilted her head up, she couldn't see the end. It was because the peak was hidden by clouds.
An exclamation of awe escaped her lips on its own.
"We're going all the way to the top, right?"
"I'm not going to make you hike."
"Are you going to carry me?"
"Kaltara will."
"I don't want to."
"What?"
Deltain furrowed his brow.
Agnes clung to Deltain just like that and said.
"You carry me."
"What kind of stubborn nonsense is this now?"
"Kaltara is too hard, so the ride isn't comfortable."
As if she had no intention of hearing an answer, Agnes latched onto Deltain.
Deltain let out a faint sigh of annoyance, but soon adjusted his hold on her and got out of the car.
The reason was that he didn't want to waste time on pointless bickering.
Click.
The car door opened, and a cold wind swept over the two.
"Whoa, it's cold."
"Wait."
<4th-Tier Magic: Activate Subspace.>
Deltain summoned a black pit and pulled a fur cloak out of it.
It was a pitch-black, fluffy cloak, and its size was enough to wrap around Agnes's entire body.
Agnes looked at it for a moment and said.
"Should we wrap it around both of us?"
"Forget it."
"Why? Aren't you cold?"
"I don't feel heat or cold. Mana supports my body."
"That's really convenient."
Even while such conversation was going on, Deltain's hands were busy wrapping Agnes's body in the fur cloak.
Having turned into a caterpillar before she knew it, Agnes made an 'Oh' sound and said.
"It's really fluffy. Why did you make something like this? For me?"
"It's something I used to wear."
It was from back when he couldn't even properly use 3rd-tier magic.
Deltain shuddered at the memory of wandering for a week relying solely on this cloak to find a chapter boss hidden in the northern snowy plains, and Agnes giggled.
"So even an Archmage wasn't perfect from the start."
Deltain didn't bother to answer.
"...Let's go now. Gerhart, you stay behind and guard the car."
"Yes."
Crunch.
With the sound of snow being trampled, Deltain disappeared into the snowy mountain.
*
The terrain of the snowy mountain was rugged, and the path was winding.
That wasn't all. Because the blizzard that raged at every opportunity erased all the footprints they had walked so far, one would easily get lost if they let their guard down even for a moment.
In such a situation, Agnes asked from within Deltain's arms.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"We can't go the right way. Not us."
Agnes blinked.
"Then shouldn't we not be moving?"
"We have to move. We're not looking for the path; we're gathering the savages."
Every time Deltain spoke, his breath flowed out in long plumes.
"The space here is twisted due to the Spirit's protection. The only ones who can find the path properly here are the savages who have received that Spirit's protection. So, we have to lure those guys and catch them."
"Ah, so you're trying to make them guide us?"
"Yeah."
Deltain said that and spread his mana wide.
'There are guys loitering nearby, but...'
They don't seem to have any intention of approaching.
Then again, if they were the type to get caught so easily, Cuckoo wouldn't have gone out of his way to leave a message saying he had to come here himself.
'What should I do...'
The savages of the snowy mountain were highly vigilant, so one couldn't just attack them recklessly.
Because if you accidentally touched even one of them with a sloppy attack, they would all disappear immediately.
If that happened, the only thing left would be to drift in this snowy mountain and freeze to death.
Deltain looked at Kaltara.
Even in this cold, she was wearing only a thin layer of clothing and yawning widely, looking truly carefree.
"Kaltara."
"Hmm?"
"Can you catch one and bring it here?"
"I don't think I can bring one back alive! If a corpse is fine, I'll go!"
Kaltara laughed heartily.
Deltain clicked his tongue.
It was at that moment.
Crunch.
The sound of snow being trampled arose from close by.
Immediately after, a small noise, "Hick!", came from the direction the sound was heard.
A clear sign of a person's presence.
The moment they realized that, the Hounds moved.
"Oops!"
The first to dash out was Kaltara.
She leaped up with a roar as if to cause an avalanche, went behind where the presence was felt, and blocked the escape route.
The ones who went out next were Jebis and Pobler.
The two blocked both sides where the presence was felt to surround it, and Galan blocked the front, perfectly securing all four sides.
"Did you catch it?"
"Seems like it."
Deltain walked leisurely into the encirclement.
What was there was.
"...A kid?"
It was none other than a young child.
Dark brown skin, jet-black hair and eyes, and a blue fur coat wrapped tightly around the whole body were characteristic.
The child's eyes trembled as if there were an earthquake.
The way the child was clutching a small bow in their hand looked like they were trying to put up some kind of resistance, but that demeanor vanished the moment Kaltara grabbed them by the scruff of the neck.
"P-please spare me-!"
A scream that rang out so long it cracked.
However, there was no one to help.
'They all ran away.'
Because all the other savages had fled as soon as the child was caught.
Perhaps realizing that, the child's face turned deathly pale, and their jaw trembled.
"A-am I abandoned...?"
Rather than abandoned, it would be more accurate to say they went to ask for help.
That made sense, as the direction all the savages fled was the same.
However, Deltain had no intention of telling the truth.
'I can use this.'
The child's complexion turning pale as soon as the presence disappeared showed that the child was timid.
The fact that the child immediately thought of the assumption "I was abandoned" in that situation showed the child's usual behavior.
More than anything else.
'Looks stupid.'
The stupidity of getting caught without even maintaining a safe distance.
This could definitely be exploited.
Deltain approached the child and made eye contact.
And said with a small smile.
"Yeah, it looks like you were abandoned."
"Gasp!"
"That's too much. Those people. They're supposed to be your comrades and family, yet they left you behind without even looking back."
A sense of betrayal began to surface on the child's face.
"I, I...!"
"You were just trying to stop the intruders who suddenly invaded. I think this is a terrible way to treat you. Stay strong."
As Deltain uttered words of comfort, the child began to tremble, making a "Heup!" sound.
It was at a level where one wondered if it was okay to be this gullible, but what could he do?
'This is why savages are easy to handle.'
An uneducated human is no different from a beast.
This was a maxim Deltain had realized vividly since falling into this game.
A closed environment transmits only limited knowledge.
The lack of intellectual level caused by that leads to carelessness.
Savages were the ones at the extreme end of such habits.
"Hey, kid."
The child raised their head.
What was reflected in the child's eyes was this.
A man with bright red hair that didn't match this snowy mountain even a little bit was smiling with his golden eyes shining.
In his arms, the most beautiful woman the child had ever seen was blankly looking at the man.
The fact that he had just comforted them, and the fact that he wasn't immediately resorting to violence.
The child made a judgment that these people might not be dangerous.
"Y-yes...?"
"What's your name?"
The child flinched at those words, then carefully spoke.
"...Orga."
"Yeah, Orga."
Deltain placed his hand on the child's shoulder.
And said in a truly sweet voice.
"How about you. Don't you want revenge?"
Agnes let out a "Pfft!" laugh.
However, the child, Orga, had a blank expression.
"Revenge?"
"Yeah, taking revenge on the tribe that abandoned you."
Deltain said, tightening his grip on the arm holding Agnes.
"Proving that you were right and they were wrong."
Unconditional affirmation and support.
This was the most powerful weapon in dealing with a child.
Orga's eyes lit up.
"I, I'm right...!"
Stupid Orga.
Deltain thought that and deepened his smile.
Then Orga said.
"I want revenge! Let me do it!"
Deltain nodded.
"Yeah, I'll help you."
"Yeah!"
Agnes finally burst out laughing.
*
Stupid Orga began to guide Deltain and his party to the place where the tribe was.
Orga was at the very front, and Deltain was at the very rear of the procession.
Agnes asked.
"But don't you think they might be tricking us? They're being tricked too easily."
"Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"That kid is a Spirit Adapter."
Agnes tilted her head.
Then Deltain said.
"It's 6.2. That kid's Spirit Affinity."
Before she knew it, a target mark that looked like it was made of dots had appeared on Deltain's retina.
<3rd-Tier Magic: Identifying is active.>
『Physique: 2.1
Mental Defense: 1.3
Mana Affinity: 2.2
Spirit Affinity: 6.2』
A Spirit Affinity that ranks among the top even among Spirit Masters.
This meant only one thing.
"They're probably a pretty important kid within the tribe. That's why all the tribe guys went to call for reinforcements."
"Does that have anything to do with your certainty that they aren't tricking us?"
"Spirit Adapters have to be pure."
This was one of the pieces of information Deltain had obtained only after entering the game.
Spirit Adapters must be pure.
Because if there is a lot of doubt, greed, and negative emotions, the Spirits won't try to build a relationship of trust.
Therefore, those destined to be Spirit Masters are educated never to harbor doubt or negativity, and this inevitably leads to a temperament that is easily deceived by others' words.
Having heard all of Deltain's explanation, Agnes made a "Hmm" sound and asked further.
"But you planted it. Negative temperament."
"I didn't plant it. That kid doesn't even know what revenge is."
Orga is a kid whose eyes light up more at the words "I'm right and you're wrong" than at the word "revenge."
One had to assume that the concept of themselves putting the tribe's people in danger didn't even exist in that short kid's head.
Agnes giggled.
"Bad Deltain."
"Shut up. And why did you laugh at that timing earlier?"
"I can't help it if it's funny. You said 'Don't you want revenge?' with a serious face; wouldn't you find it funny if you were me?"
Deltain had nothing to say.
Naturally, his mouth shut tight, and his cheeks were slightly flushed from the shame that welled up belatedly.
At that moment, Orga shouted.
"We're here!"
When Deltain raised his head, what he saw was a small village with huts stretching out.
It was Orga's tribe.
Above it, a translucent grayish-white membrane was wrapped around it.
'A barrier.'
It was probably a Spirit's barrier.
It must have been installed to block physical external threats.
"Orga-!"
At that moment, an old man's shout came from inside.
Following that, a gaunt old man and the soldiers guarding him came out in front of the barrier.
"Father!"
Orga shouted with a bright face.
Father, seeing them call someone who looked like the chief "Father," Deltain could also grasp Orga's position.
'The next chief, huh.'
It seemed the information that the chief was someone who resonates with Spirits was correct.
"What are you going to do now?"
Agnes's question.
Deltain set her down, rolled his stiffened shoulders once, and said.
"First, we have to go inside."
Saying that, he stepped forward.
He approached Orga, who was still waving their hand at their father and smiling.
Immediately after.
Grab!
He wrapped his arm around Orga's neck and lifted them up.
"Ack!"
Orga struggled, and the faces of the chief and the soldiers turned deathly pale.
Deltain grinned and said.
"If you want to save your kid, open the door."
A sense of betrayal surfaced on Orga's face.