The Cliff and the Frozen Woman
I’m fucked. If things keep going like this, I’m done for. And not just a little—I’m going to crash and burn hard. Within six months, I’ll be completely ruined. That damn teahouse has already buried me in debt. Twenty million gold? Fifty million? Ugh, my head hurts. Just thinking about the money makes my chest feel tight.
Anyway, I need to find a way to turn this disaster around right here, right now. I have to escape this total mess… Hoo. This is exhausting.
Standing on a high cliff with my feet planted on a rock, I looked down below. Hoo. The view’s nice, at least. This is the Forest of Barcanus. It’s full of ridiculously tall trees and sheer cliffs, so people rarely come here. Why did I come, you ask?
I’m Kailon Bladehart. Twenty-five years old. My job is… teahouse owner. I came here to gather ingredients for tea. Most proper teahouses hire professional foragers to collect materials from the forest, but a guy running a tiny place with only five tables can’t afford that kind of luxury. The owner has to do it himself.
Let’s see… Hoo. Hoo. Huh? Th-this is… Lumina leaves!
While wiping sweat from my brow on the cliff’s edge, I spotted some quality tea ingredients and quickly plucked the leaves, stuffing them into my backpack. Lumina tea brewed from these leaves is pretty popular. Hehe… At least the trip wasn’t a complete waste.
Still, if I don’t start pulling in customers to the teahouse and pay off this debt soon, I might end up sold into slavery. After gathering a huge bundle of Lumina leaves, I headed down in the opposite direction from where I’d climbed up.
Aigo. My legs are killing me. It’s been a while since I went hiking. Huh? Huh? Whoa—
While descending a steep slope, I nearly pitched forward. Damn it. Why does the path have to be like this? This really is the Forest of Barcanus. The terrain is so rough that even hunters avoid it unless they have to. That’s exactly why the tea ingredients grow so abundantly here—hardly anyone sets foot in the place.
Huh? Wh-what’s that? Emerald Moss?
Tea brewed from the roots of Emerald Moss can be sold for a fortune. No, not just a fortune—an absolute premium price. But… ugh. Of course it’s growing on the rock face directly across from me.
If I sprint from here and make a running jump, I might be able to land on it. Alright. Let’s give it a shot. I’ve always had decent athletic reflexes. And right now, this body can’t afford to be picky about hot water or cold.
I set my backpack down and stretched my muscles. Spitting into both palms, I took a deep breath and stepped back. Then I broke into a full sprint.
“Here I coooooome!!!”
-Thud thud thud thud!
Just wait for me, Emerald Moss! I’m coming!
The moment I leaped off the cliff—
-Twist.
Huh? Oh no. I’m screwed.
The instant I jumped, my right ankle rolled slightly. I failed to complete the long jump and simply plummeted through the air.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Is this where my life ends? Fuck.
Mmm… What the…? Where am I? Is this heaven?
I opened my eyes without thinking and looked around. I was in a narrow crevice between cliffs. What? I fell from that height and didn’t die? This isn’t a dream, is it?
I lightly pinched my cheek, then stood up and looked upward. Aha. Tough-looking vines had grown like spiderwebs all across the gap between the cliffs. I had fallen from an insane height, but those vines stretched like a net and absorbed the impact. There were clear signs where the vines above my head had torn away. Did I survive by some miracle? Heh.
I got to my feet, brushed the dirt off my clothes, and prepared to escape this unpleasant ravine as quickly as possible. Whether my luck was good or bad, I started searching for a way out.
Huh? What’s this?
Ice?
After walking about fifty steps, I stopped. A chunk of ice was embedded in one side of the cliff. And it was crystal-clear, like glass. Was it even cold enough for ice to form? It hadn’t felt that chilly. Let’s take a closer look.
I reached out and wiped the dust off the ice—
Wh-what? What the hell is this?
A p-person? There’s a person trapped inside the ice. No, frozen solid. And it’s a woman? It’s hard to see clearly, but she looks young. Completely naked, curled up with her knees hugged to her chest, frozen exactly like that inside the ice.
What is this? Some woman who froze to death long ago? But the pose looks way too natural for someone who died struggling. Hmm… What should I do?
Well, even if it’s a corpse, a meeting is still a meeting. It feels like the polite thing to do would be to take care of her remains. I wonder what happened to make a young woman end up like this.
Luckily, I had a flint in my pocket that could start a fire. Hmm… It looks like I won’t be able to find a way down the mountain before nightfall anyway. I might as well build a campfire here, melt this ice, and camp out for the night.
I busily gathered every burnable piece of firewood I could find nearby. Since this ravine had been untouched by humans for a long time, there were so many dry branches that I kept kicking them with my feet.
-Crack! Crack!
After piling up a huge amount of kindling and dry leaves, I struck the flint to start a fire.
Ah. That’s warm.
The campfire roared to life in an instant. Good. If I keep this burning until tomorrow, the ice beside it should melt too. The narrow ravine was enclosed on both sides by cliffs, so the heat couldn’t escape. The area warmed up quickly.
Sure enough, water droplets began dripping from the cliff walls, and the ice that held the woman started melting little by little.
But how on earth did this woman end up frozen to death in a place like this? It does get a bit chilly at night, but not cold enough to create ice like this. Hmm.
While I was thinking, my stomach let out a loud growl. Damn. What was that noise? I’d been so distracted I hadn’t even noticed I was hungry. Come to think of it, I’d left my backpack up top when I fell.
I rummaged through my pockets and pulled out some peanuts I’d brought as emergency rations. Looks like I’ll have to make do with these today.
A whole day passed. I must have just thrown more firewood onto the fire and fallen asleep. After yawning and stretching, I casually glanced to the side and jumped in surprise.
Wh-what? The ice melted faster than I expected? Hmm… Was the campfire really that strong?
I stared at the remains of the fire, where only a thin trail of smoke was rising. That was some strange ice. Since it hadn’t completely melted yet, I picked up a rock lying nearby and started smashing it.
-Whack! Whack! Crack!
As the ice shattered, the woman inside gradually came into view. But… she’s definitely dead, right? Why does her complexion and skin look so alive?
After hammering away at the ice for a while, her skin finally became visible. W-wait. Let me check something.
With a trembling finger, I gently poked her skin.
-Poke.
Wh-what? It’s warm? It doesn’t feel like decayed skin at all. D-don’t tell me she’s still alive?
Right then, the woman inside the ice suddenly opened her eyes wide.
Huh? What is this? What the—
The moment I stumbled backward in shock—
-KABOOM!!!
The ice shattered with a deafening roar. No, it exploded. A flying piece of ice struck me in the face. I flinched and collapsed right where I stood.
Whoa. What the hell is going on…?