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Chapter 33
Ruso Hezeit, who had seemed cold enough to throw Arileti out immediately, finally accepted her proposal after thinking about it for three days. He decided to take Arileti up to the icy cliff where the snow monster lived.
To be honest, it was not so much that he had changed his mind. Arileti, tired of waiting, had packed her bag and tried to climb the mountain alone. She was caught before she could go far.
“You really intend to go?”
“Yes.”
The child, who had not even managed to take ten steps toward the foot of the mountain before being dragged back, stared at him with fierce determination.
Even if I have to go alone!
She did not say it out loud, but it felt as if her stubborn thoughts were shouting.
“Arileti, the summit is truly dangerous. It’s nothing like the foothills!”
Glen grabbed her bright yellow bag and tried to stop her, but it was useless.
“You stay here, Young Lord. I’m going.”
“This is driving me crazy. Fine. We’ll go together!”
Ruso looked around in disbelief. The knights, including Commander Tombel and Vice-Commander Duncan, were staring at him with teary eyes.
“My lord, may I come as well…?”
“It would only take three or four days to go up and back…”
“Our baby sage is only five years old…”
What had happened while he was away that she had become “our baby”?
In the end, Ruso let out a long sigh.
“…Bring the horses. Only ten people will go, including Glen and me.”
They finished their preparations the next day.
Horses loaded with five days’ worth of food stood in front of the castle gate, along with ten knights holding the reins.
Is this really the right thing to do?
While Glen was worrying, a clear little voice called out.
“My lord.”
He looked around for the small sage.
He could hear her voice, but where was she?
Because she was so small, it took him a while to find her.
Arileti was standing in front of the count with her arms stretched wide.
Pick me up.
Those words were written plainly in her eyes.
Ruso stared down at the short little child who barely reached his knees.
She was bundled in thick cotton clothes, wearing earmuffs, blinking innocently. A small icicle hung under her nose.
People nearby gasped.
She asked the lord to pick her up.
Ruso Hezeit was known for being so strict that even strong grown men would cry in front of him. The only person who had ever softened him was the countess, who had passed away over ten years ago.
No one in the territory would dare tell him, “Carry me.”
Arileti sensed the cold atmosphere.
Ah, maybe I made a mistake.
Without thinking, she had treated him the way she did Glen and Duncan.
“Please carry me.”
Her tone became polite.
The count ignored her and turned away.
“Tsk.”
Her lips stuck out in a pout.
She had no experience winning over a grandfather.
She gave up climbing onto the large man and hurried after him. Then she tripped over a stone hidden in the snow and fell flat.
“Ouch.”
“Oh dear, our teacher.”
Glen rushed over to lift her out of the snow.
But Ruso, who had been walking ahead, turned back even faster. Arileti, lying spread out in the snow, was suddenly lifted into the air.
“Puh.”
Her face was covered in snow as she shook her head. Right in front of her was Ruso Hezeit’s face.
He looked nothing like Glen.
Glen was cheerful and handsome, with a warm and friendly face. Ruso, on the other hand, had a square jaw, sharp eyes, and a well-trimmed beard.
He looked like a handsome bandit.
The lines around his eyes and mouth showed the weight of years. No matter how she looked at him, he did not resemble Glen at all.
Are they not blood-related? But they seem close.
“Take care of the child, Glen.”
The count roughly wiped her nose with his sleeve and held her out.
No. I have to stay here. I don’t know what might happen to him.
Arileti quickly clung to his arm.
“Let’s go together, Grandpa.”
She called the lord Grandpa!
Duncan and Tombel grabbed each other’s hands in shock.
Afraid that he might hand her to someone else, Arileti hugged his thick neck tightly and hung onto him.
Glen stepped in, slightly annoyed.
“Come here, Teacher. You might fall.”
“Do you not trust me, Glen?”
“No. You don’t even know how to hold a child properly.”
“Hmph.”
The count adjusted Arileti in his arms as if to prove him wrong.
Her bottom hurt a little, but she decided to endure it. He was the oldest person she had ever met, even counting both her past lives.
An adult.
If this wise adult stayed by Glen’s side for a long time, Glen would have someone to rely on.
Then he would not have to struggle alone like before.
So I must protect this grandfather too.
Glen followed closely behind them, nagging.
“Wrap her tightly in your cloak. She’s sick right now. Can’t you see her cheeks are red with fever? Aril, if you feel uncomfortable, come to the wagon anytime.”
“I’m okay.”
“I’ll wipe your nose. It’s frozen.”
Clicking his tongue, Ruso mounted his horse with the child in his arms. Unlike Glen, who kept worrying, Arileti looked completely relaxed.
Who was taking care of whom, really?
Ruso pointed toward the thick fir forest ahead.
“We go only as far as that forest, little one.”
“Yes.”
“I will show you how harsh this place truly is. Then you will understand how foolish your proposal was.”
The mountain path leading toward the icy cliff was well formed. For hundreds of years, the Hezeit family had traveled this way to hunt monsters, and the path had naturally developed.
But as they climbed higher, the wind grew sharper and the temperature dropped quickly. It was impossible to reach the summit in one go. When night fell, they had to rest in shelters built along the way.
Two more days passed.
March 26.
Finally, they reached the last slope before the summit.
“Beyond this lies the icy cliff. Since you have come this far, take a good look. It is a sight you may never see again in your life.”
The slope leveled out. Beyond the thick fir forest, everything was white.
After passing a few more trees, the great scene appeared.
“Wow…”
Before Arileti’s eyes spread a vast canyon and snowfield.
A beautiful landscape formed by thick layers of ancient ice over rock.
A few steps ahead was a steep cliff covered in deep blue ice, as if a giant from legend had sliced it cleanly with a blade.
Across from it lay a crescent-shaped canyon.
To the west of the canyon was the northern sea with floating glaciers. To the east stretched an endless snowfield.
“Do you see that hollowed area halfway up the canyon? That is where the snow monster lives. Even a single pebble falling nearby would alert it, and it would summon a storm. This is the closest anyone can safely approach… Are you listening?”
Arileti, nestled in his arms, was eating chocolate like a squirrel saving food for winter.
I must not collapse at an important moment.
“…Glen, your child must be hungry. Take her down to a shelter and feed her.”
The count reached to pull back the cloak covering her.
Arileti quickly finished a handful of chocolate and crumpled the wrapper.
“Young Lord.”
“Yes?”
“Hit this with your aura and throw it over there.”
Her frozen nose and mouth made her words sound unclear.
Instead of giving detailed instructions, she tossed the small crumpled wrapper to Glen.
Without thinking, Glen struck it with the sheath of his sword. The small ball, hit by a flash of blue aura, flew across the cliff and disappeared into the distance.
Arileti clapped happily. Glen looked briefly proud.
“Wait.”
The count’s eyes widened.
“Wouldn’t that wake the snow monster…?”
“Ah.”
Glen froze with a smile still on his face.
His smile slowly turned into confusion, then horror.
The ground beneath them began to shake.
