Expulsion at Midnight
"No need to drag this out with a long, rambling explanation. Let's get straight to the most important part."
With that, Lethe flipped to the very last page of her notebook.
"And that would be?"
"The true nature of this deep freeze."
She gave the quill pinched between her fingers a lazy wave.
"The brutal cold swallowing this whole region right now is neither the Snow Woman's wrath nor some temporary shift in the climate."
"Then what do you think it is?"
The corner of her mouth curled up.
"A Dungeon Anomaly."
It was a concept Simon already knew.
The moment a dungeon manifested on the continent, inexplicable, unnatural disasters began occurring in the surrounding area—calamities no natural force could account for. The continent had a name for it: a Dungeon Anomaly.
"Have you ever been inside a dungeon, by any chance?"
"Yeah. Just recently, actually."
Simon had seen a Dungeon Anomaly with his own eyes.
The volcanic island they'd sailed to for the Advancement Assessment, the final exam of their first year. It had supposedly been a peaceful island where native villagers lived in harmony—until a massive eruption tore it apart, despite the island's geology making a volcanic eruption flatly impossible. And then the portal to a dungeon, revealed in the very heart of the magma. He could still remember, vividly, the entire first-year class diving into the molten rock.
"Then that speeds things right up."
Gripping her quill, Lethe began sketching the cave at the mountain's summit into her notebook with quick, fluid strokes.
"When I lit up the mountain with white magic a few days ago—the cave you claim you saw—it looked something like this, yes?"
"...Is there anything you actually can't do?"
Her sketching was genuinely skilled, too. She tapped the cave drawing with the tip of her quill.
"I believe this cave is the entrance to the dungeon."
Simon crossed his arms and nodded.
"That's my read as well. If this prediction is right, then destroying the dungeon should end this anomaly too."
"I'd say so."
Lethe closed her eyes and slurped down a sip of her steaming tea. It smelled of warm grain.
"This dungeon has likely gone uncleared for quite a long time. The anomaly reaches all the way over the mountains to Kula, after all. I'd wager it's been decades at minimum."
"Then what about the Snow Woman legend and the Misenaishi people?"
"I told you the fairy tale earlier, remember? What do you think the purpose of these Misenaishi people is?"
Simon closed his eyes and fell briefly into thought.
"Revenge."
At last, his mouth opened.
"Revenge against Kula Village—the people who drove them out into these frozen mountains."
Instead of answering, Lethe simply held out her palm with a deadpan expression. The two of them slapped a high five with a satisfying crack!
"Correct. Kula was originally land where the Misenaishi people lived. But they were deceived by the people of Kula and driven out into these snow mountains, and they've been nursing a grudge against the village ever since."
She raised her quill and circled the cave she'd drawn, round and round.
"While sharpening the blade of their revenge, they stumbled upon this dungeon in the snow mountains one day. And they decided to exploit the anomaly the dungeon produces. The Snow Woman legend? The Snow Woman's wrath? It's all a story the Misenaishi made up. A deception, cooked up to hide the dungeon's true nature."
In the Holy Federation as well, when a dungeon was discovered, they gathered paladins, priests, and treasure hunters to dispatch a strike force.
Which meant the Misenaishi people must have hidden the dungeon desperately. If the dungeon were destroyed, their revenge against Kula would become impossible.
"Here, these."
Lethe dropped a handful of torn paper scraps from her subspace bag.
"These were stuck to the rocks when we were searching the snow mountains yesterday."
"What are they?"
"Talismans. A barrier built on pure elemental magic. Their effects create illusions and make people lose their way."
Simon quietly ran his eyes over the talisman remains.
"The Misenaishi's handiwork. They've been using magic to wall it off so that no one can ever approach the dungeon."
Lethe nodded.
"Hmm, but I still don't quite get what the 'sacrifice' is supposed to be."
"I think that's their means of proving—and maintaining—the Snow Woman's existence to the villagers."
In the worst case, Simon thought, it was human sacrifice. A ritual of offering people to the Snow Woman. It had probably served as a way to eliminate anyone who slipped out of the Misenaishi's control or witnessed their secret. The teachers who had come before them were likely sacrificed the same way.
"Let's be careful. We could become targets ourselves just as easily."
"Right."
Lethe let out an enormous yawn.
"Then I'll grab a bit of shut-eye, and we'll set out before dawn again. I'm worried about how Kula's holding up too—I want to find that dungeon as fast as possible and end this."
"Okay."
Just as she was about to head into the inner room, Lethe whipped back around to face Simon.
"You've still got a sour look on your face. Something bothering you?"
"If the Snow Woman legend is something the Misenaishi fabricated..."
Simon crossed his arms, brow furrowed.
"Then who's the gray-haired woman I keep seeing?"
"Ahh."
Lethe smiled sweetly.
"You mean the woman standing behind you?"
Every hair on his body stood straight on end.
Gritting his teeth against his stiff neck, Simon turned around.
Wheeeeeeng—!
No one was there.
When he turned back, Lethe was clutching her belly and howling, 'Ahaha!' Simon's face burned crimson with embarrassment.
"Lethe!!"
"Payback. For teasing me at the cathedral with all that saintess nonsense."
She stuck her tongue out—actually, stuck her lips out in a pout—and bolted into the inner room. Simon let out a sigh.
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it."
Just then, her voice drifted out from the room.
"Who it is that's been dressing up as the Snow Woman to frighten us. To warn us off."
The dead of night, when everyone slept.
Simon and Lethe bundled up tightly in their outer coats and slipped out of the lodging. Glancing warily around to make sure no one was about, they ran silently through the darkness.
"The village is awfully quiet tonight."
"Well, everyone's asleep, so that's probably why."
Taking the shortest route, they cut straight across the fields to the village's entrance.
The barrier was invisible, save for a faint bluish glow at the exit leading outside.
"Let's go."
Simon strode ahead and passed through the barrier.
And then—
"...!"
His face froze in shock.
No—Lethe! If you come through now—!
He tried to stop her, but Lethe had already landed right beside him. Her pupils were shaking too.
"..."
"..."
Every single person in Eskyle Village stood outside in their fur coats, glaring at them with murderous eyes.
"We told you."
Tap. Tap.
And out from among the crowd of villagers, leaning on her cane, came the leader of this village.
"Never leave the village until the matter is settled, we said."
It was Nenia Mizzenaci.
She fixed Simon and Lethe with a long, hard stare.
"...You two teachers have broken the village's rules. For what purpose did you come to this village?"
There was no turning back now.
The moment Lethe bristled and opened her mouth to say something, Simon pressed a hand to her shoulder and stepped forward.
"We came to teach the children."
"Still lying, even in the face of this. We knew all along that you two kept sneaking outside the barrier to do suspicious things."
Nenia stretched out her arm and pointed to the side.
One of the guards who had kept watch over the barrier lay collapsed, badly wounded. On his chest was a mark of frozen claw—made to look like the Snow Woman's work—and the barrier itself had been damaged.
"You've provoked the Snow Woman's wrath!"
With someone's cry as the spark—
"We asked you to stay!"
"Because of you two, innocent villagers are suffering!"
The fury and protests of the enraged villagers came pouring down.
Lethe stole a glance at Simon. Simon was looking at her too. The two of them exchanged a look.
"Yes. We're terribly sorry."
Lethe spread her arms wide and spoke.
"We'll accept whatever punishment you see fit. For instance—"
Her mouth twisted.
"Offering up the young ones to the Snow Woman as 'sacrifices' to appease her wrath."
At those words, the surrounding murmur died instantly.
Lethe glared at Petria, who stood beside Nenia. Petria couldn't even meet her eyes, hanging her head like a condemned criminal.
"Petria. You said there are no children your age in the village, didn't you? The ones most terrified of being cast out of the village for breaking discipline would never walk out on their own two feet. And the outsider teachers have gone missing too. Which means this is—"
"Silence!"
Nenia Mizzenaci stamped her cane and took another step forward.
"So you did come investigating the disappearances of the previous teachers. You won't find them, most likely. They broke the village's rules too and were cast out of the barrier. They froze to death somewhere in these snow mountains."
"..."
"The same goes for you. We will not punish you. We will not lay a finger on you!"
Crack!
Part!
The villagers split apart in unison, opening a path.
"We hereby banish you from the village. Leave. Now."
In truth, casting them out at midnight into the freezing snow mountains was no different from simply leaving them to die.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
But the two of them walked away with calm, even steps. The villagers' stares burned, but Simon let nothing show on his face.
This had been coming eventually.
"Teacher Shawn! Teacher Shawn!"
"No! Teacher Lea!"
Right at that moment, the village children came running, wailing at the top of their lungs.
"Wh-what's gotten into you all?"
"Anda!"
The adults tried to hold them back, but the children shook off their parents' hands and clung to Simon and Lethe.
"Teacher! Don't go! Don't die!"
"No! Teacher! Hic! Sob!"
At this utterly unexpected scene, silence fell over the crowd.
Simon and Lethe crouched down, stroked the children's heads, and smiled.
Even if their life in this village had been an act, teaching the children had been done with all their heart.
Feeling a warmth spread through one corner of his chest, Simon smiled at the children.
"We're not going to die. You'll see us again someday. I promise."
Just then, a chill of cold magic swept over the children's bodies and pulled them away from the two of them. The children were dragged off, sobbing, and beyond them the Misenaishi mages stood with palms outstretched.
"Leave. Now."
Nenia Mizzenaci slammed her cane against the ground as she spoke.
And so Simon and Lethe were banished from the village.
Wheeeeeeeeeeng!
A night of bitter cold and driving blizzard.
Simon and Lethe charged madly through the storm, divinity blazing through both their legs.
"Getting turned into a time attack out of nowhere, but hey—works for me!"
Lethe called out with a grin.
"Let's clear the dungeon within the day and put an end to this miserable freeze!"
"That's the plan."
They hadn't spent all that time wandering the snow mountains for nothing.
Running through the snowdrifts, Lethe spotted a boulder and thrust out her arm.
"Holy Volt."
Her holy magic smashed into the rock, and the air around it split apart with a deafening crack and burst to pieces.
"First obstacle, cleared."
Next, an avalanche came surging down a hillside. Simon stretched out his arm.
"Corpse Explosion."
The zombies he'd hidden at the point the night before lit up and detonated in a burst of light. The unstable slope collapsed inward, and the avalanche poured down into the gap.
"Second one's cleared too."
Beyond that, they threw the corpses of monsters they'd caught in advance to draw other monsters' attention, shattered illusions, and walked dead-straight through a warped maze spell—overcoming obstacle after obstacle.
The fruit of experience.
The two of them had kept hunting for shortcuts and analyzing traps across the snow mountains all along.
"Let's check our bearings around here."
When Lethe activated a magic circle, light flickered from the very peak of the mountain range, half-buried in the blizzard.
Illumination—the light magic she'd planted in the cave beforehand—was marking the way.
"This way!"
"Okay!"
Six obstacles cleared in three hours.
Even they hadn't expected things to go this smoothly.
Now they were climbing steadily toward the steep peak of the mountain.
"There's the cave, I see it!"
And at that very moment—
Thump! Thud!
Something seized their legs. The snow floor heaved upward, and a massive ice golem burst out.
"What the—?!"
The ice golem hurled the two of them off the sheer black cliff whose bottom could not be seen. Their screams faded into the distance.
—...
Having disposed of the intruders as commanded, the golem shifted its stance and curled its body back into the snow.
However.
FWOOOOOOM!
Abruptly, the very two it had just dropped came rocketing back up.
On the right, Lethe clung to her newly transformed divine beast; on the left, Simon came scaling the cliff atop Akalion.
"Don't get in our way!"
"Don't get in our way!"
Boy and girl leapt down from their divine beasts in perfect unison, launching kicks.
Lethe's leg slammed into the golem's head; Simon's struck its chest, where the core lay.
CRACK!
The golem shattered and scattered to pieces on the spot. The two landed neatly on the ground and recalled their divine beasts into their subspace of divinity.
"Alright. We're here!"
"So we are."
Before the two of them yawned the black mouth of the cave.