Fortnight Since Reunion
Two weeks had passed since the reunion. Etching each character onto the snow with the tip of my root, I reflected on the time that had gone by.
Time has flown by like this...
I recalled the day I first learned the words "sky" and "snow." From that moment on, every single day had been filled with new discoveries. Oldin taught me letters by drawing them with his staff, while Lien introduced me to words related to nature, one by one.
But the hardest part was...
The conversations I shared with Marianne every evening. She truly believed in Lady Michael with all her heart. But the Michael she spoke of... was different from the one I knew.
"Lady Michael is merciful. She never desires blood."
"She cherishes all life."
Whenever she said things like that, I thought to myself, You don't know. The true Lady Michael... the one who was moved by the festival of blood.
But for some reason, seeing her sincere prayers made a strange ache stir in my chest. Do I really know Lady Michael's will? When such doubts crept in, I threw myself even more fiercely into training.
To repay the kindness of their diligent teaching, I became their training partner. At first, they couldn't even stand properly under the killing intent of my bugs, but now they could hold their own to some extent.
That's weird.
The humans' levels were rising little by little. I initially thought it was due to experience points, of course. But experience points only come from killing enemies, right? Oldin's explanation was this:
"We humans grow through training and enlightenment. Simply killing enemies doesn't lead to growth."
His words shook my worldview. I definitely level up by accumulating experience points like in a game. But humans are different. They don't even have numerical levels; they just rank themselves from strongest to weakest.
It felt like I was the only one in this other world who existed inside a game. What the heck am I...?
Status windows appear for me, stars and levels are visible... I looked at my clever butterflies, but even they seemed clueless. My butterflies, who handle roles like advisor, network manager, strategist, and more, don't know the answer either.
Ah... maybe I should ask Master after all.
Suddenly, thoughts of Master came to mind. She hadn't shown herself once in these two weeks. Every time I gazed at the snow mountains, wondering maybe..., a pang hit my chest.
No way... she wouldn't really release me, right...?
Lost in fruitless worries, my head grew complicated. In times like these, there's only one solution...
<Training! Start!> I boldly etched the words onto the snow with my root tip.
As always, the adventurers' faces stiffened in an instant. Even after two weeks, they still couldn't relax in my presence.
"Already... training again...?" Brian said in an exhausted voice. I could see his sword trembling faintly in his grip.
"Can we rest just a bit..."
Before Kevin could finish, green pollen danced across the sky. His growth was the slowest, inevitably. He couldn't use his specialty, fire magic, at all.
<Fire. Use. Death!>
Those words from the first training session had likely become a lifelong trauma from one mistake. Fire was a double weakness against my ice/bug-type bugs and ice/grass-type self! Wait, am I not ice-type? I only have Freezing Blockade as an ice skill. Still, with [Inferno Stigma], I was critically weak to fire.
In any case, the bloodthirsty gazes of hundreds of bugs were still fixed on him.
<Fight! Now!>
The Blizzard Hornets took flight in unison. I felt proud seeing them form perfect formations at a single command.
"Brian, behind you!"
"Got it!"
Kevin fell back and cast ice magic. His once pathetic ice spells now flew in with real weight. But his eyes still burned with thirst—the frustration of not using his true specialty, fire magic.
"Here I go!"
Hafel's greatsword cleaved through the hornet swarm. Impressive, how she who once couldn't read their movements now predicted even their flight patterns.
As expected... A-rank is different.
"Such remarkable growth," Lien said as she drew her bowstring. "Getting this strong at this rate..."
"Indeed..." Oldin gripped his staff tightly. "But isn't this growth just the price of our lives...?"
Price of our lives? Ridiculous. How kindly I've been training them.
<Marianne! Forward!>
Marianne stepped forward with trembling legs. The holy symbol around her neck glowed faintly.
<Offer blood to Lady Michael!>
"No!" Marianne's cry echoed across the snow mountains. "Lady Michael... Lady Michael would never demand that. Offering blood? That's..."
Ah, there she goes again.
The tiresome sermon began. Every time, I thought the same: Marianne knows nothing about Lady Michael. How devout a follower am I! With the trait [Michael's Flower] and even [Michael's Cheers], I'm her true devotee!
Yeah, yeah. Just because you've believed longer doesn't mean you know her better. How much can humans with their short lifespans understand Lady Michael anyway? So why does my chest keep feeling so tight?
The training continued. But that day, I couldn't focus as well as usual. Marianne's words kept circling in my mind.
Then it happened.
Ugh...!
Suddenly, my entire body began to tremble. My detection radar picked up nothing, but instinctively, my petals quivered.
This sensation... this feeling...
The thrill of reuniting with someone I'd longed for wrapped around me.
What... is this...?
An emotion I couldn't rationally grasp flooded my body. Joy, delight, longing... And in that moment.
A presence appeared on my detection radar.
M-M-Master...!
Just as before, with her silvery hair shining like moonlight and her perfect beauty intact. Our reunion after two weeks.
Yes! She didn't abandon me after all!
Joy burst forth. Though it felt like seeing her for the third time, my body already knew. Memories of those three years together... Even if they weren't in my mind, perhaps this body hadn't forgotten.
Ah...
I realized it suddenly. This overflowing loyalty, this overwhelming emotion—it was all natural. The rightful feelings toward the Master who raised and cared for me. The three years deeply etched in my subconscious seemed to revive through my entire being in this moment.
Master...
My joy-soaked petals sparkled under the moonlight.
The air around us froze in an instant. My whole body went rigid. An absolute terror of death, incomparable to the intimidation from the flower Ricoris, crushed us. It was like a massive glacier plummeting from above, an overwhelming presence that pinned us down.
As an A-rank adventurer who'd faced countless dangers, this was a fear I'd never known. I felt my shield trembling in my hands.
Hundreds of bugs halted their movements all at once. The Blizzard Hornets, usually soaring boldly, stuck to the ground like ice statues, while the Icysis Flies folded their quivering wings and hid behind Ricoris.
I slowly raised my head. The being emanating this aura must be...
The ruler of Sia Kalt Labyrinth... Frostia.
The legendary name weighed heavily on my tongue. I'd adventured in Sia Kalt for decades, but I only knew that entity slumbered in the labyrinth's deepest depths. To witness such an absolute being directly...
The ice dragon landed gracefully beside Ricoris. The air around us whitened with frost, and the rime rising from her breath adorned the surroundings beautifully. Her form was the goddess of winter incarnate.
Is this... even possible...?
I couldn't believe the scene unfolding before my eyes. The massive ice dragon transformed in an instant into human form. Long silver hair shimmering like moonlight fluttered in the air, her snow-white skin pure as fresh snow. Her dress, seemingly woven from transparent ice, sparkled in the moonlight. Her eyes were cold and clear as glaciers, yet infused with an indescribable elegance. That gaze, as if infused with centuries of time, left me breathless.
So that's how it is...
Ricoris's overwhelming power finally made sense. We'd thought her just a peculiar monster, but that flower belonged to Sia Kalt's ruler. For a monster raised personally by the labyrinth's absolute sovereign, this level of strength was only natural.
"Rico. My lovely flower, have you been well?"
Her voice carried a gentle affection like a spring breeze. Ricoris's entire body quivered happily. But the moment passed quickly.
"And who might you be?"
Her gaze toward us turned icy cold in an instant. It pierced like subzero chill through our bodies. I tried to speak, but no voice came.
This... this is the power of a true absolute...
Beside me, Hafel's hand trembled on her greatsword, and Oldin's staff was encased in frost. We A-rank adventurers—on the cusp of S-rank—shook like children.
Frostia's gaze shifted to the bug monsters around us.
"Oh ho... these children..."
Seeing the smile on her lips, I realized: The Ricoris we'd faced until now was merely the tip of this immense iceberg.