## Chapter 557 – The Little Match Girl

“Exactly one week.”

After much deliberation, I answered.

“I’ll spend that much time, just once, going there and back. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just give up there and then.”

Winter was quite long.

Since it was a season when I couldn’t do any proper work anyway, it was better to do something when I could.

If it didn’t work out, so be it.

But I thought I could still do it, so I would.

To achieve my ambition of wealth and glory, I had to move now.

Saintess Kadia was like an older sister who had my back. So, the only way was to solve the task she gave me exceptionally well and score points. If I came back having solved an unexpected problem, wouldn’t she be pleased and adore me?

“No! You’ll freeze your black ass off! We found traces! Just write a report based on that and finish it! Just stay home and play with me!”
“Me too! I can’t let my husband suffer in this cold weather! Shut up and play with me at home! The guild will be closed even on weekdays when it snows a lot!”

As I conveyed my intentions, Winia and Karin stuck to me, pushing their breasts forward and shouting. No, if you seduce me like this, my heart will melt.

“Huh? Blackie, play with me at home?”
“Karin doesn’t want to be apart from her husband!”
“Goodness.”

They were both even acting cute, which was too lethal. However, they couldn’t break my will, which had been tempered like steel.

“Winia, Sis. This is a request from the Saintess. I’ll see her face every day if I go to the capital, so I have to do the tasks she gives me well in advance to gain her trust. If I want to live well later, I have to prepare diligently from now on.”
“No, damn it, Karin doesn’t want to be apart from her husband! Don’t you love me? If you don’t love me, I’ll kill you.”

Seriously, this sister.

“Of course, I love you like crazy. But Sis, huh? I want to go. I’ll shower you with affection when I get back, so please let me go just this once.”

I slipped my hand inside Karin’s panties and grabbed her butt hard, causing her waist to bend and a moan to escape her lips.

“H, hey…! W, who told you to ask while touching my butt, you little shit…!”
“I’ll be back soon. Okay? Sis.”

In that state, I subtly moved my fingers and caressed Karin’s cute vulva, causing her body to tremble violently.

“Hng, ha, haaah… Okay, who can stop my husband’s stubbornness? Well, there has to be this kind of flavor to be a real man… Go and come back. But don’t get hurt. Keep your promise when you come back.”
“Hehehe, of course.”

Karin seemed convinced.

This sister can’t refuse if you ask strongly. I don’t want to force her, but this job is important for the future.

“Blackie, are you really going? Even though I’m telling you not to go like this?”
“W, well, of course, I want to do as Winia says… Winia?”

In contrast, Winia seemed quite angry. No, of course, I want to do as Winia says, but…

“But this is important for our future… you know! Aah! Winia, don’t get angry! Just one week! I’ll stop after that! Winia, please allow me!”
“Blackie, really…!”
“Winia, Mama!”

I hugged Winia’s waist, who was about to get angry, and rubbed my face against her abdomen. Immediate action was the only way to break her guard!

But I was surprised that my chest was resting on her head right now.

“Winia, Katt is asking you so much. Huh?”
“No, Sis?”

As I was groping Winia’s waist, Claudia came and said.

“…This humble one is worried, but I don’t think I can restrain him when he wants to do it this much. It would be even more painful… This humble one’s honest feeling is that I want to let him do what he wants to do to his heart’s content.”
“Li, Risha, Sis too…”

Risha, who came next, knelt down and matched my eye level as I rubbed my face against Winia’s abdomen.

“This humble one believes in you. Of course, I believe you will do well, but if things don’t work out as you expect, then you can give up as promised.”
“Risha…”

Thus, Claudia and Risha were in a situation of persuading Winia.

“…Haa.”

Winia, who was watching that, soon sighed.

“Then, I’ll go with you.”

Winia, who reached out her hand, hugged my head. But she’s going with me?

“I can’t send Blackie alone.”
“Wi, Winia? Are you okay! It’s cold! I’ll just go alone!”
“Even if I freeze to death, I’ll freeze to death with Blackie.”
“Aah!”

At that surprisingly affectionate words, my heart seemed to melt.

I knew Winia had a hard time in the winter, so I didn’t want to make her suffer. I just wanted to call Hilde and have them solve it and come back.

Anyway, Winia said she would go with me tomorrow. Honestly, if that’s the case, there’s nothing to worry about. She was a skilled magician.

“Katt, it’s one week. I believe you’ll do well because it’s something Katt is doing himself.”
“Claudia…”

Once the decision was made, Claudia said.

“I want to go with you, but… it’s too cold. A day is okay, but more than that is too hard. My physical abilities really deteriorate. I can’t allow that.”
“As I always say, don’t worry and wait.”

I immediately conveyed my intentions to her.

“I’ll solve it and come back this time too. I have to do the Saintess’s work well.”

In the end, we narrowed down our opinions like that, hugged all the wives tightly all night long, woke up early in the morning, finished preparing, and set off.

It was no different from traversing a snowy mountain, so various preparations were necessary. I also stopped by the general store, bought all the necessary items, and packed them into my backpack like military gear.

From the start, I wasn’t particularly afraid of the cold. The Prince of Snow Removal, Kim Katt, had only cleared snow throughout his military life.

Snowy mountains and snow couldn’t be my opponent.

“Ah, damn it. Blackie, I’m so cold.”

What I was worried about was Winia.

“Winia… I’m sorry. I’m making you suffer because of my stubbornness.”
“I said I’d come with you. I have to understand that you want to get into the Saintess’s good graces.”
“Thank you!”

I felt like I was soaring into the sky the moment she said she understood. With this kind of feeling, there’s no problem working.

First of all, it’s better to dress lightly while moving. It’s better to take out an extra coat from the backpack and wear it when resting. Fortunately, the weather was good today.

There was snow piled up, but it wasn’t extremely cold. Winia and I left the castle gate appropriately dressed.

“Hildegard is here! Huh? Isn’t Claudia here today?”

When the number of people decreased, I called out Hildegard. She also looked warm, dressed in the clothes I bought her.

“Yeah. I’m going to search for a long time today. Claudia is an elf, so she’s very weak to the cold.”
“Hmph… Is that so? Anyway, are you going the same way today?”
“Until the middle.”
“Then let’s go. Winia-nim. Give me that bag. I’ll carry it.”
“It’s okay. I’ll carry it.”
“Hehehe, don’t do that. I’m okay, okay?”
“…”

Hildegard skillfully took the bag from Winia and put it on her shoulder. Perhaps because of her sociable personality, she treated Winia without any hesitation.

And so, we headed north as we had been doing for the past few days.

“Blackie, you said those guys are coming south from the Dodens Barony?”
“Yeah. As far as I know. That’s what it said in the report Saintess Kadia gave me.”
“Give me the map for a second.”

I immediately handed the map to Winia.

“We’re going to be camping and moving from now on, so we have to go at least this much a day. And if those guys are coming south… maybe this way? Let’s set our course here and go.”

Winia, looking at the map, skillfully marked the distance and location and set the direction. Winia is the best at this kind of thing anyway. She’s a smart magician who’s been through the field.

Since I said I would do it, I’m going to make a full-fledged travel plan.

“Winia is the best!”
“Winia-nim is so cool!”
“Hey, you guys… Then let’s go. We don’t have time.”

We carried out a snowy mountain march as we had been doing so far. I, who had inhuman strength, didn’t need to say anything, and Hildegard, who flew around, was fine too.

And Winia, who was a magician, also had more than twice the stamina of ordinary people. She was also a woman who had lived through the field.

We ate in the middle and moved diligently, and before we knew it, we arrived in a new area. Until now, we had been thinking of day trips, so we hadn’t come this far.

“This is a new road from here. Blackie, what are you going to do? Should we start preparing for camping soon? It’s a snowfield, so we have to prepare a little early.”
“This area isn’t very good. Let’s go a little further and prepare. It’ll come out as we go.”
“Okay.”

I immediately went down the ridge and looked for a road. Isn’t there a valley around here? It doesn’t seem like the water would freeze solid in this weather. It’s better to go if we have a chance.

And so, we found a suitable place and immediately camped. There were some trees around, so it seemed perfect for setting up a tent.

I immediately made the floor flat, laid out the mat, broke off branches, and set up the tent. I brought all the necessary supplies.

“Wow, Katt-nim. Are you going to sleep inside here today? I want to sleep with you too!”

Hildegard was the first to inspect the inside of the tent and gave that impression.

“It’ll be cold? Should you go back to where you were?”
“That’s surprisingly a bit of a magic consumption.”

That means calling her is inefficient. No, but still, sleeping with a strange woman in one tent is a bit…

“Winia-nim. Can I sleep with you too? I’m a colleague today!”
“This is really… nonsense. No way.”
“I can use magic that can make my surroundings a little warmer. It’ll be warmer if I use that. And I won’t do anything you’ll have to worry about, okay? Please allow me!”
“Ugh…”

Winia reluctantly nodded. That small-scale heating magic seemed to shake her heart. Of course, me too. The more heaters in the tent, the better. Anyway, before we went into the tent to sleep, we lit a fire to eat and heated up a lot of flat stones.

After finishing our meal, we brushed our teeth and did a simple face and foot wash with the toothpaste we brought and the water we melted from the snow.

After that, we threw the heated stones into the tent and entered.

It was a bit cramped for three people to enter, but it seemed warm enough.

Of course, compared to the outside.

“Oohuhu! Katt-nim! I’m so happy! Ah, my heart is pounding! It’s like a dream to be able to sleep with Katt-nim!”

Hilde, who entered first, shouted happily.

“Hey, be quiet because Winia is here.”
“Hehehe, Winia-nim, the more I see you, the more cute and pretty you look. Your breasts are also very big. You’re really so beautiful.”
“What are you praising me for… Blackie, make this succubus be quiet.”

At Winia’s insistence, the lying position became Hilde, Winia, and me in that order. Hildegard was constantly harassing Winia.

Well, we can’t just sleep right away when three people come in. Winia went into the blanket and snuggled up to me, acting cute, and Hildegard kept opening her mouth and continuing various stories.

And so, we spent a night appropriately in the tent.

We crossed the snowy mountains for several days, making tents and sleeping like that. Winia set the direction all the way. We went to places where the guys might be, but it didn’t seem to be caught on Hilde’s radar.

It was at that time.

“Katt-nim…! I feel something!”
“Dejaaaht!!”

Coming this far, we finally found something. Winia also couldn’t hide her joy for a moment.

Still, finding something meant we had to prepare for battle.

I immediately transformed my happy heart into a fighting heart and followed Hilde towards the source.

“…Katt-nim, Winia-nim, down there.”

That `something` was a little far away, that is, it was found down there.

ㅡKuoohhhhhhhh!
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

We immediately lay flat on the floor, crawled slowly, and peeked out our heads to witness the crazy situation happening down there.

ㅡKuwaaaaaaaaaaa!
“Keuhhhhhhh!!!!”

Down there, a battle was taking place.

“Guwaaaaaaaak!!!”

But it wasn’t an ordinary battle.

ㅡKeuohhhhhhhh!!

Many Sasquatches were roaring madly and rampaging like crazy, and even more people wearing black clothes were fighting with the Sasquatches, using strange purple magic while holding their respective weapons.

It was a very fierce battle.

People wearing black clothes were flying, and there were Sasquatches who were kneeling or running away after receiving continuous cooperation.

We held our breath and watched the spectacle.