Chapter 178 – My Love, My Eternity (4)

Winter is not always good for Roshoir’s army.
The only people with complete immunity to cold are Roshuar’s blood relatives.
He was accustomed to stepping through ice and snow with military boots studded with iron pieces, but the soldiers under him were also human.

“Shit… !”

Siegfried, who was sitting on the frozen corpses of demons, took out pemmican, a mixture of moose meat and whale oil, and dried it from his back pocket.
As I chewed the hardened meat, melting it with my saliva, I kept swearing.

“If this continues, we’ll be the first to get kicked out.”

At that time, a woman holding a spear of hers walked with her graceful steps.
It was Esther, the ice and snow worker wearing Roshyar’s livery and cloak.

“Who are the injured?”
“There are more than one person with frostbite. “I don’t think it will be possible to hold out for long.”

The direction of his gaze as he casually told the truth was not towards the north, where the demons were coming from, but slightly above.
Even the soldiers of Lake Senrir, who were strong against the cold, found the battlefield with the two ice and snowmen difficult.

‘I’m sure Lord Soga is still holding a grudge over what happened back then.’

The knight’s beard was starting to turn gray, and there was a look of anxiety in his eyes.
As I caressed the pommel at the end of the sword on my waist, the memory of trying to drag Adella to Rochear came to mind.
At the time, she was a woman who was a disgrace to her family and had no aptitude for being a wizard.

‘Did being hit on the head at that time cause your talent to blossom?’

It was a thought that came to mind when I saw the floating island floating in the sky.
A huge flock of ducks crashing down on the heads of the demons.
It was a truly bizarre sight, but the coldness they emitted as they exploded instantly turned the situation in their favor.
Thanks to this, unlike the Ravier defense line, which is still struggling, Lake Senrir has a lot of leeway.
Even soldiers who were not directly attacked were collapsing from the cold, so they were worried.

“If this continues, the damage on our side will actually increase. “Can you please stop me?”
“…”
“Or you could go the other way and push up to Helzeb. “If it were there, I wouldn’t mind running wild.”

In fact, the floating island was moving forward little by little and was about to cross the border with the demon world.
Esther looked up at the young black shadow in the middle of the battlefield.
Through the ice I picked up with my spear, I could feel another group of demons circling the outskirts of the lake under the cover of dusk.

“Prepare for withdrawal.”
“Are you serious?”

Siegfried secretly expected Esther to order an advance.
Conquering the North was her long-cherished wish, and now was the time when Roshoir’s power was surging.
Since she and her younger sister had joined her, she believed that this time she would take her first step into the demon world.
Surprisingly, she seemed to be planning to persuade Adela.

“From the moment she first broke my heart, she said she would never send me to battle.”
“No way… “That man?”
“Looks like something happened.”

Esther went up to the floating island where Adela was presumed to be.
A flock of ice ducks fluffed up their fur, but lowered their tails before her emotionless gaze.
Unlike the castle built on the lake below, there was a clumsy igloo lying around.
Like the square made by ancient people with spears and shields, the ice picks sticking out from between them reminded me of a hedgehog.

Esther entered her only open entrance and faced Adela sitting on her chair.
Her pale complexion and murderous look in her eyes were not what she remembered of her sister.

“Soldiers are having a hard time. “We don’t need you here anymore, so go back to the academy.”
“… “The teacher collapsed.”
“I see, I’ll come visit you when I have time. Take red ginseng with you when you go. “I said I would give it to you last time, but I was busy so I couldn’t send it.”
“My sister, there’s nothing wrong… ?”

The bloodless white eyes twitched.

“The teacher got hurt by those guys down there!? I heard it all! I’m going to freeze everything. After this, let’s go to Seongguk…”
“Adella.”

Adela’s body trembled slightly as her cold hand touched her cheek.
At the Grand Duke’s meeting, she remembered what Louis had said as she left to persuade the Duke of Illusion.

— Because Adela has you.

At that time, Esther finally left Adela’s persuasion to him.
She is the exact opposite of her, a pure younger sister.
Because she believed that she was emotionless and could not understand.

“Sorry.”
“… !!”

But it was different now.
Esther was able to show her at least one thing.
Even if she doesn’t feel anything, it’s just that she cherishes Lewis.
She was able to convey it through actions, not words.

“The most important thing for Rochear is a restrained and calm attitude, but there is no indifference to the cold we created.”

The two people’s breaths breathed together.
Esther’s spear was spinning in the air, using its magic power to follow the movements of the demons that had bypassed the lake a little while ago.

“A violent, angry cry filled with cold magic screams every time the ice cracks.”

The sisters stared at each other, their long hair embroidering the floor overlapping.
Following the blood system.
Rochear’s unique magic sword inherited through blood.
The best performance they achieved with their own long-held wishes proves that they are the rulers of the North Sea.

“The sound sinks beneath the abyss, drowned out by the death knell of the enemy. But that doesn’t mean everyone can’t hear it.”

The spear floating in the air was shot out in the blink of an eye and split the lake.
The ice broke along the window’s path, and soon the entire space was enveloped in silence, as if frozen.

Eventually, a spear suddenly flew in and stuck at the feet of the demons.
They were already frozen and dead.

〈Esdel Sylvester de Rocheire Gojimado: Ice Snow Orchid 〉
〈Absolute zero ⌜Absolute zero⌟〉

“Adela, can you hear me?”

Adela slowly nodded her head as her older sister wiped away her tears.

“Yes…”

She heard it clearly in her ears.
When Louis asks Esther about her season, she says that she only uses it for her demons and that he has never been hit.

“I heard it.”

And when I think of him, the sadness and anger I put into the tip of the spear just a moment ago.
It seeped through my sister’s cold hands.
Adela squeezed the slender awl in her hand.
I felt like I knew a little bit about what I wanted to freeze.

***

Caroline Magdalena had a vague but small wish.
It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was, but it was a blueprint for the future that anyone who had a hard day had.
Sometimes, he rose to the position of leader of the Blood Gate Brigade and held a coronation ceremony at the Luvier Shrine.
Another time, she opened a small bakery in a quiet village and lived her peaceful life after retirement.
She grew up in the back alleys, so she had an attachment to her house, and basically wanted it to be a small, cozy shack.
She wanted to settle down in an unfamiliar land with no ties to religious denominations, where she could naturally live a life far from religious doctrines.

The problem is that there was no future for her, not even a fingernail, of marrying another man and having sweet children.
It wasn’t Ho-oh’s problem, it was a story from another world that didn’t fit her life in the first place.

If I were to be honest, I would say it’s similar to a retired adventurer starting a family.
The Blood Gate Brigade is an iron-blooded heretic inquisitor who, just by mentioning the name of the Monarch people passing by, five out of ten will faint and the remaining five will urinate, begging for their lives.
Is there a man in the world who would not reflect on the past of a woman who burned warlocks without mercy?
She herself was not very interested in men in the first place, so she lived half of her life without paying attention.

“Ha, fuck… Driving me crazy.”

Therefore, thick swear words flowed from her mouth as she lit her cigarette.
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now and have no idea what time it is.
How to wake up a fallen Lewis again.
If all her methods failed, there was only one way she could think of to make it happen.

“…”

Normally, Caroline would have vented her displeasure by chanting for her goddess, but now she knew better.
That God does not accept anyone’s foolishness.
Did Hella hate him so much that she took away his oracle?
It was simply because Cassel had completed all the preparations necessary for the ascension of a new hero through the Rubier Shrine.
It is not right to extort in the name of the goddess the noble product of Nikolaus Kassel’s will, desire, and mad obsession.
In that case, Caroline had to have the same mindset and get what she wanted from the goddess.

We need to wake up Louis.
Until the newly summoned warrior holds the sword and gains new beliefs through the brainwashing magic of the Blood Gate Brigade.
To survive the threat of the Holy Kingdom.
For the future of a continent that may degenerate into a distorted utopia.
Or–

“Cigarette… Should I quit?”

I don’t want him to die like this.
Now, I want to fulfill my wish, which has changed a bit.
Caroline folded her hands and wished for her second Holy Spirit, 〈 Little Miracle 〉.
And then she walked towards the room where Lewis was sleeping.

***

Looking back, even though I wasn’t that smart, I had something that could be called a talent.
All I had to do was lie down anywhere.
Now that I’m used to it, I can live quite comfortably even in my dreams.
It was pretty good except for the space changing all the time.

“Hmm, this place…”

Scandal.
To be exact, Uzet’s Great Library.
Just a moment ago, I was in the basement of the cafeteria, and had arrived by train to a place that was days, or even centuries, away.
The place where I had read books with Liv for several days was now empty.
Perhaps because it was in my head, most of the books on the shelf were blank when I opened them.
Only the words that Liv had asked and told me earlier were sticking out and wriggling like earthworms after the rain.

“After all, no matter what you do, you won’t become smarter.”

I was actually glad that I was able to give up early on the idea of ​​spending this boring time studying.
I didn’t come here to find out how to make a microwave oven in the first place, so it didn’t really matter now.

The full-length window that should show the outside is instead showing the outside, which is linked to my field of vision, like a bucket in a basement.
Since the ceiling was attached to the wall, the world was strangely distorted.

“Ha…”

I leaned back on the sofa and rummaged through my pockets out of habit.
As expected, there were no cigarettes.
Come to think of it, I smoked my first cigarette from Caroline in Uzet.
Did you say it is a product produced only in the Holy Kingdom?
I remember continuing to look for that product ever since.
It’s a dream, but it’s a shame that I can’t make cigarettes.

Slam!

At that time, there was the sound of someone opening the door and coming in.
This time, I was curious about what kind of woman she was.
The one who visited the most was Liv, and Darling often poured tasteless potions into her mouth.
Lehel would sometimes come and beat me while I was lying down, and Dawn Entera would quietly place her hand on her forehead.

When Adela was there, she was a little worried because her basement was so cold that she was on the verge of freezing to death.
But surprisingly, this time it was Caroline.

“Cigarette.”

A word that came out without me even realizing it.
I felt like there would be no wish as long as I just put it in my mouth.
Even soldiers who die on the battlefield are left with a lit cigarette on their graves.
If it’s Caroline, there’s a chance.
She has a lot of common sense rather than the archdukes who sometimes behave incomprehensibly, so she will definitely know what I want.

“…”

Caroline approached her with stiff steps and made eye contact with her.
The deep red eyes behind her bangs were as beautiful as plum blossoms in the snow.
The tips of her roughly trimmed hair stood out like thorns, making her look like a rose.
The scent emanating from the milk tomb, which could not be hidden from such a difficult subject, was as sweet as ripe grain, and it made me feel dizzy.

But I pulled myself together and desperately sent a sign.
Even just smoking a cigarette can make your head dizzy.
Did my earnest prayers work?
She nodded her head slightly as if she was making a promise and disappeared from sight.
Is this really the power of a saint who can even hear the voice of God?
It seemed like my intentions had finally been conveyed and I went to get cigarettes.

Slam!

But after a while, Caroline did not leave her room but came straight back.

“Huh?”

Instead of smoking, I just locked the door.