## Chapter 552 – The Little Match Girl

Ominous premonitions always come true.

“Fucking hell, it’s snowing again.”

I woke up to a dark morning and yanked open the curtains to find that snow, that son of a bitch, was pouring down as if its mother had died and it was weeping tears. I could almost fathom the depth of its grief at losing its mother.

It looked like the white trash was already piling up on the streets.

I stared blankly at the inhuman scene for a moment, then opened the window as if possessed and reached my hand outside.

I couldn’t accept reality unless I touched it myself.

—Swish.

The fluttering snowflakes touched my hand and melted.

“Ugh, son of a…”

At the same time, a cold breeze tickled my muscles. It was a chilling sensation that jolted me awake. That goddamn winter had come again.

“It’s cold… Close the door quickly…”
“What are you doing, Blackie… Close the door quickly…”
“Ah, sorry.”

If there was anything different from last winter, it was that I had three more wives. Risha and Winia hugged each other and burrowed into the blankets, speaking with strained voices.

I immediately closed the window and returned to my spot.

“Katt… you’re cold…”

As soon as I got into the blanket, Claudia, who was about to hug me, turned her body to the other side and hugged Karin instead. Karin also rubbed against Claudia, saying quietly,

“…Is it snowing?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
“I see…”

Anyway, it’s hard to move on a cold day.

For some reason, a strange urge to participate in snow removal operations gripped my heart, but when I thought about it, there was no need for me to do such a shitty thing at my rank.

“Ah.”

It’s already been about ten days since I made Liztina my woman. I also got the key to the Martial Artist Guild from her. She said I could come anytime, so I often visited and took her.

But I haven’t introduced her to my wives yet.

Both sides needed to prepare themselves.

Come to think of it, the Saintess told me to visit sometime.

It would be good to visit in celebration of the full-fledged start of winter. If you laze around at home just because the first snow has fallen, you’ll become lazy. I should visit the church today.

As soon as I got out of bed, I grabbed my underwear and shorts and drew my sword.

“Katt…? Training?”
“Yeah. I’m wide awake now. I have to move.”
“Hehehe, then I’ll sleep more.”

This was a kind of ritual. A ritual to raise my Ki to its peak throughout the winter. Leaving her in the blankets, I went down to the first floor and out to the backyard.

As soon as I went out, I raised my sword and created a sword aura.

—Patzut!

Perhaps because I had been practicing every day without fail, the sword aura burst out with a more ferocious momentum, covering the blade. At this speed, it would be possible to use it in actual combat.

I had already raised the duration of the sword aura and the casting time to my liking.

—Boongtzooboongtzoo!

I did physical training and swordsmanship training in the snow with my bare body. I had to do it every morning if possible, rain or shine.

Soon my body started to heat up and sweat flowed down.

—Swirl.

Then, steam rose from my whole body, melting the surrounding snow. Now, shall I check my physical condition?

I immediately slammed my sword into the ground, did a handstand, and then did push-ups in that position.

—Fwoosh.

Then, I jumped using only the strength of my arms to check the condition of my muscles. As usual, my strength was overflowing. I slowly repeated that jumping motion for twenty minutes without rest, then finished various muscle exercises and went inside to wash up.

My body is also strengthened in proportion to the increase in my mana pool.

Today, my physical condition was at its peak.

“I’m going to the church.”
“Hey, hey. It’s your day off, where are you going, you little shit. Just stay home. Where are you going in this cold? Come here. I’ll hug you.”

When I went back up to the second floor, Karin raised her upper body and said.

I immediately crawled over and buried my face in her breasts, grabbing and squeezing her butt at the same time.

“Aww…! You cute little thing. Did you go to the backyard and train? Here, you worked hard, so can I give you a reward?”
“Hehehe, it’s not a reward, you do it every day.”

If you want to reward me, just wear something lewd and dance for me. I really like that, but it’s a little hard to ask for it.

“Anyway, I’ll be back in a bit. The Saintess told me to come sometime.”
“Well… if that’s the case, come back quickly. It’s my day off, I don’t want to spend the morning without my husband.”

As soon as I fell out of Karin’s arms, Winia asked.

“Is the Saintess keeping you long?”
“Yeah. She told me to come sometime in case something might happen.”
“Ugh… I don’t want to move in the winter…”

I don’t want to go far in the winter either.

“Well, I don’t know what’s going on yet. I’ll go and ask.”
“Katt… have a good trip.”
“Come back safely… Ah, and yesterday I saw that we were running out of groceries. Buy some when you come back. I’m going to sleep a little more…”

Then my wives told me to have a good trip, kissed me on the cheek, and stroked my fully erect thing. Anyway, I’ll buy some groceries on the way back, get dressed, and go outside.

—Swish.

It’s snowing a lot, really.

I immediately put on the hood attached to my cape and walked.

As I walked, the landscape of Isbant, which had become unpleasantly white, came into view.

Everyone was wearing snow removal equipment and making roads. The carriages were moving busily as if trying to settle things before the heavy snow fell, and the adventurers leaned against the eaves of the stores, chatting and giggling among themselves.

In the meantime, a familiar girl caught my eye.

“What? Isn’t that Lina?”

Lina, holding a push broom, was diligently clearing snow while wearing something like a raincoat. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this kid too.

“Oh, Oppa?”
“It’s you. Were you clearing snow?”
“Yes. Because it’s winter. Ah, more than that… Hello.”

Lina bowed 90 degrees. I looked at her with satisfaction and asked.

“Yeah, are you doing well?”
“Yes. Thanks to Oppa’s help, I’m doing well. If I clear snow every day in the winter, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“Is that so? That’s good. You’re not starving, are you?”
“Fortunately.”

Lina scratched her cheek, smiling awkwardly. It seems she has adapted to the adventurer life to some extent.

“How is it, is the adventurer life going well?”
“Yes. But to be honest, I’m making money from portering or gathering rather than killing monsters… But I think I can live well enough.”
“You’re doing well.”
“Are you going to work today, Oppa?”
“You could say that. Well, I’ll call you if I see you when I think of you.”

I don’t think I’ll be dragging kids around in the winter. But she’s a good kid to order around when I see her sometimes.

I immediately parted ways with Lina and headed towards the church.

But seeing Lina reminds me of Kopson and Meria. Are they doing well? Last winter, I went winter hunting with them, sliced up murderers, and fought fiercely with Naias.

They’re not the type to starve anywhere, so I think they’re doing well. If they’re D-rank, they’re veterans. They may have moved to another city to work.

Come to think of it, I wonder if that bitch Naias is doing well?

Before long, I arrived at the church.
As soon as I told them my business, the nun asked.

“The Saintess seems to have a lot of personal things to ask you to do?”
“Yes. She assigns me to do this and that as a quasi-priest. Hehehe, I’m half a believer, aren’t I? I’m just grateful.”
“Hoh, that’s right. She’s probably in her room, so go up.”

I naturally entered the church and went up the stairs. Everyone I met greeted me warmly, which made me feel good.

This winter will be warm.

—Knock. Knock. Knock.

I arrived in front of Saintess Kadia’s room and knocked on the door. After waiting for a while, I heard a faint voice telling me to come in, so I opened the door and went inside.

“Oh? Was it the quasi-priest? An unexpected visit.”
“Hehehe, have you been well?”

Inside, Saintess Kadia, neatly dressed in her Saintess uniform, was sitting and working. I felt like I would be drawn to her slender figure, but I endured it with superhuman patience.

“I’ve been suffering from overwork, so I can’t say I’ve been well. But you’ve come at a good time. Do you remember when I said that something might happen soon?”

It seems like she has something to ask me to do.

“That’s why I came now.”
“You come just in time when I really need you. I like that very much. If there were more talents like the quasi-priest, I could sleep an hour more a day.”
“How many hours do you usually sleep?”
“Four hours.”
“Oh my god! That’s terrible!”

I immediately knelt down on the spot and tore at my hair.

It was a reality that could only be shocking.

To be in such a high position and only be able to sleep four hours a day, if there was such a reality, no one would try to get promoted.

Originally, people in high positions should show a relaxed and playful appearance so that subordinates try hard to get promoted. A comfortable high position is the greatest wealth and glory that humans desire.

If it’s a work hell even if you go up, no one will try to go up except for inhuman ambitious people.

“Please sleep a little more! Your beautiful skin will be ruined!”
“Hoo, I feel a little stronger when I receive your concern. Anyway, I hope our quasi-priest can relieve some of my suffering, but let’s sit down and talk first.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Ah, no. I just do it habitually.”
“What kind of habit is that… The more I see the quasi-priest, the more amazing he is.”

Ah, shit, it could happen.

I sat down right away. The Saintess rummaged through the drawer and took out some documents and laid them out on the desk.

“Quasi-priest, do you know the monster called Sasquatch?”
“Sasquatch?”

I know it’s a monster similar to the Yeti. But I’ve never seen it because it doesn’t seem to live nearby, and I’ve only heard rumors about it.

“They are monsters with primitive intelligence.”

The document the Saintess handed me contained a sketch of the Sasquatch and some general information. I read it and asked.

“Like Orcs?”
“I would say it’s lower than Orcs.”

Then aren’t they stupid?

Well, rather than being stupid, it would be reasonable to see them as having intelligence close to that of wild monsters. Monsters are not very stupid.

“Currently, after hearing the news that demons have appeared, ominous people are gathering from all over the place. The paladins and the lord’s soldiers have arrested some of those people. But unfortunately, most of them were killed immediately after being arrested.”

The Saintess began to explain what seemed to be background knowledge.

“Did the paladins kill them?”
“Even though I ordered them to be sent to the city, they couldn’t stand it and killed them. There are even reports that the lord’s soldiers attacked the procession escorting the heretics and killed them indiscriminately. They really don’t listen to me. They’re our believers, but their eyes turn when they see heretics, which seems to be both a strength and a weakness.”
“Hehehe, but they did it with good intentions, so don’t say it too harshly.”

It seems that the paladins killed heretics or those with evil intentions as soon as they found them. Still, it’s a little amazing that they attacked the soldiers, stole the prisoners, and killed them.

It was a kind of inhuman urban legend.

Can’t they resist the urge to kill?

“So I’m saying this because it seems like more things will happen, quasi-priest. You can’t find out the evidence or the purpose properly, can you? It’s a very tiring thing.”
“That’s right. But why are you telling me that?”

Does that mean that the Sasquatch has something to do with those ominous bastards?

“Sasquatches have primitive intelligence, so they also have a primitive religion. We barely secured interrogation content that people from who knows where are trying to use it. I want our quasi-priest to investigate that.”
“Can you tell me specifically?”
“Read the document more.”
“Okay. But I know there are no Sasquatches around here.”

I immediately picked up the document and turned a page.

“It’s written there in detail. I’m saying this because they’ve appeared.”

As she said, the document contained various information. It seems that the contents of the reports written by some paladins and priests were collected and organized.

The main point was that a Sasquatch, which is hard to see around here, was discovered, and a person with a suspicious aura was arrested and interrogated. They connected those two things and conducted a direct investigation.

I slowly read it to figure out what was going on.