It Was Warm

Crack… crack…

"Hnnngh…!"

"Cold?"

"Freezing…"

"Whoa, I think this is the first time I've ever seen snow here…"

"It's kind of pretty, isn't it?"

After Nya-nya's battle with the mysterious hero had ended, the entire mountain—nest and all—had frozen over, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the heroes clustered tightly around me.

The Red Mountain I called home kept a mild, pleasant temperature year-round, but the climate had shifted drastically thanks to the fight just moments ago.

Whoooosh…!!

A blizzard howled through the air. Without layers, it was the kind of weather that could freeze a person solid.

I built a small campfire deeper inside the nest, and the heroes thrust their hands toward the flames as if their lives depended on it.

"Man, what kind of weapon just rewrites the weather…"

"So this is the power of a legendary-grade armament."

"I could've gotten it too… tch."

As the heroes marveled at the staff's might, Haring—one knee hugged to her chest—poked at the fire with a stick for no particular reason and muttered under her breath.

These were treasures I'd spent ages carefully collecting. If they didn't perform at least this well, I'd be the one with a problem.

I crossed my arms and gave a satisfied nod.

"The snow staff is one of the better pieces in the hoard. Nya-nya picked well."

"Are the other weapons all this strong too?"

"Some are about the same. Some aren't."

I couldn't call the snow staff the absolute best, but plenty of weapons rivaled it—or carried renown of their own. Among them, the snow staff held the power of the glacier that had given birth to the Ice Elves. In the Ice Elf Kingdom, it was treated as a national treasure—a kind of sacred relic.

"Nya-nya."

"Yeees…? Hnnnngh…!!"

"Don't take that thing anywhere near the Ice Elf Kingdom. The second they see it, they'll try to snatch it."

"Wh-whaaat…? W-why…?"

"Because I was supposed to give it back, but I got lazy and never did."

I'd meant to use it for a while and return it, but the kingdom sat so far away that making the trip again felt like too much trouble. I hadn't had much reason to visit the northern continent since then, either—and the Ice Elves never came knocking at my nest to demand it back.

At that, Haring tilted her head.

"Isn't it just that they were too scared of you to say anything, Lady Lea?"

"Nope. I treated them nicely. The atmosphere was warm, even."

"Wasn't it just warm because you're a fire dragon…"

"It was not."

We all got along great, okay? We ate delicious food, threw a banquet, and everyone laughed and carried on. When I left, the elf king himself even came out to the castle gates to see me off.

"That 'warmth' was actually more like smoked-smoked…"

"You little—"

Smack!

My fist connected, and Hidene clutched his head as he rolled across the floor.

This brat had gotten awfully cocky lately too.

Shiver shiver shiver…

Nya-nya trembled violently. Even wearing three layers of clothes and wrapped in a blanket scavenged from the treasure vault—an expensive one gifted by an emperor, no less—she still couldn't shake the cold.

"Hnnngh…"

"What's wrong with Nya-nya?"

"You can't use the snow staff unless you have a special constitution or at least four mana cores."

It was a weapon treated as a sacred relic, after all. No half-baked wielder could handle it—not even a hero chosen by the Goddess. If someone unqualified tried to force it, the catastrophic result would be freezing themselves solid.

"I did teach her how to use it for a short burst… but I guess it was still too early for her."

"I'm cold…"

"Want me to bring more blankets?"

"…I-it's cold on the inside. Covering up d-doesn't really…"

"Well, of course it's cold on the inside."

The snow staff fundamentally channeled magic through the mana cores. No matter how tightly you bundled up, thawing a frozen mana core still took time.

"…I-is there any way to warm the inside?"

"Hmm… it's not that there isn't one."

"Lady Lea could just breathe fire on her!"

"Oh, that's perfect! The cold would vanish in one shot and—"

"—and you'd get grilled Nya-nya."

I shook my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head at the heroes spouting nonsense. Blast ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fire at something frozen without thinking and it would shatter more often than not. On top of that, her mana star had only just been formed—still unstable. Pouring my flames into cold that deep?

"The mana star would crack. Then the inside of Nya-nya would be an even bigger mess, and in the worst case she'd die or end up a cripple."

"Hhk."

"…Then what do we do?"

"There is one method."

I rose to my feet in a single motion. With every eye on me, I stepped right up to Nya-nya's face. She was still trembling, still radiating pure white cold.

I cupped her frigid cheeks in both hands.

And then—

"Hahk, no way..!"

"Oh my, oh my."

"Eeeeeeeek?!!!"

"…?"

Fwoooosh…

Gentle residual embers flowed from my palms and wrapped her skin in a soft, cozy warmth—spreading evenly across the surface without sinking inside.

"Huh…?"

Color returned to Nya-nya's deathly pale face.

"Warm, right?"

"…I'm not cold. Well—not that I'm not cold at all, but. Oh."

"Bearable?"

"Yes…"

"It's a stopgap. I'm artificially tweaking your skin's senses so you don't feel the chill."

"Ah…"

"Your mana star is still frozen solid, so no magic for a while. And do not take that staff out under any circumstances."

"Yes."

Pat pat.

I gave her cheeks a couple of light taps, ruffled her hair, and turned away.

…Why was everyone reacting like that?

Haring had half-covered her eyes with her fingers. Yugi was staring at me with a look of pure disappointment. The other heroes mostly just looked stunned.

"What."

"Ah—nothing."

"It's nothing, ma'am."

"So close…"

"?"

Crack… crack…

Nya-nya fidgeted with her hands, color back in her face, then eventually lowered her head. She looked drained—slumped, somehow deflated.

"Haa…"

"What. Still cold?"

"No. It does feel like I swallowed a mountain of ice, but I can manage."

"Then why?"

"…Because I'm sorry. You went through all the trouble of teaching me magic, and all I did was defend until I got hit."

"Mm."

"I could have won without even using Frost's End, but I was too scared to attack…"

"That happens."

Who starts out good at everything? Even the heroes who'd cut down countless monsters and felled legion commanders had been useless in a fight at first. They'd freeze up, run away, or sit there bawling that they couldn't do it.

"The legendary heroes of the previous generation were terrified at the start too. But in the end, if they decided to try, they managed."

"…I see."

"That kind of thing fixes itself once you get used to it. And if it doesn't, you train until it does."

If it really didn't work out, quitting was fine too. This wasn't the old days—heroes were more common now than ordinary mercenaries. One Nya-nya walking away wouldn't shift the balance of the world.

"What about Bahamart?"

"That one just killed everything from the start."

A kid who'd been casually punching monsters to death bare-handed since the age of five. There was a reason the legion commanders shook in their boots and even the Demon King feared him.

"He's an exception."