"Why do you have so many things you can't tell me? I made up my mind a long time ago that I would absolutely become your support, but you..."
"I am really grateful for your trust and help, you know. But life always has some troublesome things, and even the closest people will hide a few small secrets, right?"
"I don't have any, Lord Ash. That's not fair."
"Really?"
"Really. Whatever you want to know, I can tell you."
"The weather is pretty nice today," Even if there really were things he wanted to ask, he could not possibly ask them. He gazed at the world ahead, being ruthlessly ravaged by violent wind and snow, and murmured softly, "Tomorrow will probably look just as peaceful as this."
"It's impressive that you can say something like that while looking straight at a blizzard."
The endless snowflakes were swept along by the raging wind, roaring in like an overwhelming tide. Fern had barely lifted her head before she was frozen and shrank back against his back, yet she could not help bumping her forehead lightly against him.
'Because I never thought this level of wind and snow was a big deal in the first place, and isn't it actually pretty nice like this now?', As a warrior, Ash had no complaints at all about the blizzard.
Even though there was an empty space behind him because of the oversized frontal armor, overall it was unexpectedly warm, and it even came with a scent.
Especially now that Fern had grown up and was so close to him again, he really had no room to complain. After pushing aside stray thoughts, he even began praying in his heart that the blizzard would last a little longer.
And although Fern was complaining about him, in reality she had her eyes closed and was lying peacefully on his back, with a bit of anticipation that tomorrow the wind and snow might continue as well.
Only, their companion, Frieren, held a different opinion.
She curled up like that, following behind the two of them, shivering as she kept praying nonstop for the blizzard to stop soon.
"I'm really, really going to die. Why is the blizzard here still so cold after all these years? No, this is definitely colder than before!"
With both hands tucked into her sleeves, her body shrunk up like a boiled shrimp, and her words trembling, Frieren was now more worried about freezing to death herself than about Fern catching a fever.
She even regretted it a little, thinking she should not have let Ash carry her in the first place. After all, being warm for a short while and then getting cold again was just like getting out of bed in the middle of freezing winter to go to the bathroom. Pure misery.
Apart from the howling wind and the sound of footsteps crunching through snow, there was almost no other sound around them.
On this white wasteland, Ash and Fern seemed like the only two beings left, isolated from the world yet tightly connected to each other.
So even in such harsh conditions, the two of them felt pretty good. It was just that something behind Fern was a bit too obvious, making him somewhat aware of it. And also...
"Come to think of it, did I forget something?", Ash unconsciously noticed how quiet it was around them, the atmosphere a little too harmonious, and instinctively looked around.
"Something is missi... ah?"
"Did we lose Frieren?"
Fern suddenly snapped out of it, and Ash instantly realized who he had accidentally forgotten.
That Frieren, who should have long since started shouting to switch places, had gone completely silent, as if she had met with an accident. When he turned back, he could not find that familiar figure no matter how hard he looked.
Fern also anxiously scanned their surroundings, trying to find any trace in the vast whiteness. When she found nothing, she was so anxious she was about to cry.
"What do we do, Lord Ash! Lady Frieren must have fallen somewhere and has no idea where she is!"
"Calm down, Fern. Even though that girl is very afraid of the cold, she probably won't die that quickly!"
"Please don't say things like that at a time like this! Lady Frieren! Where are you? If you can hear us, answer quickly!"
Fern shouted anxiously, but the howling wind and snow seemed to swallow all sound. Their calls sank like stones into the sea, with no response at all.
The fierce blizzard reduced visibility to almost nothing. You could barely see a few meters ahead.
Just as Ash unconsciously started thinking about whether he might need to use some extreme measures to search for a possible casualty, he stopped and turned around, only to suddenly feel something slam into his stomach.
When he looked down in surprise, he noticed that Frieren, who was small to begin with and normally could not be seen without looking down, was bent over and had headbutted his stomach. Her trembling fingertips were weakly tugging at the hem of his clothes.
"I see. So you were here. The wind was so strong, I thought it was just the snow hitting my clothes."
"W-why...", Frieren raised her head shakily, her expression so stiff it was hard to make out her features. Her teeth chattered nonstop as she forced out unclear words, "Why... you two..."
"Why we didn't abandon you?"
"Huh?", Frieren had only wanted to ask why they could forget her so completely. His righteous-sounding reply completely confused her. She blinked blankly for a long time, unable to make a sound.
Suppressing the urge to seriously correct him, Ash instead slapped a hand on her head and said righteously, "What are you even saying! How could we possibly leave you behind by yourself!"
"N-no, that's not—"
"Alright, alright, don't worry! We won't abandon you! You don't have to worry!"
"N-no... hey, wait?"
Before Frieren could finish, he scooped her up sideways and even gave her a bright, sunny smile.
"It's fine! Let's all leave here together!"
"Hah!"
That strange experience, paired with the cheerful smile of someone who was at least half responsible, made Frieren feel like she should be angry. But in the end, she let out a long breath, forced herself to calm down, and said slowly, "What I wanted to say... there's a small cabin nearby... can you please not keep... keep going around and around and around in circles..."
"I don't want to go in circles either, but we're lost, aren't we?"
"At least I know there's a cabin nearby... so... please! Stop circling!"
She had wanted to tell him this the whole time. But Ash had been carrying Fern and circling around ahead, completely absorbed in their own little world. She could not catch up, her words were swallowed by the wind and snow, and she was almost frozen stiff on the spot.
Honestly, earlier she had really been tempted to use attack magic to stop them, even if it might cause an avalanche.
"If you knew there was a place to take shelter nearby, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Do you think I didn't want to say it? You were walking so fast in front, I couldn't catch up at all! And, you completely forgot about me! You didn't care about me at all, did you?"
Frieren looked extremely resentful toward him now, so much so that she was almost unable to resist giving him a good beating.
"Is it possible that because you're so small and walk so slowly, that's what caused this tragedy?"
"Is it possible that if you keep dragging this out, I'll end up killing you!"
"Sorry! Sorry! Don't get worked up yet. Calm down and tell me which way we should go."
Feeling guilty about having forgotten Frieren, he shut his mouth and said no more, following the direction indicated by her trembling fingers.
And Fern, who had been feeling guilty the whole time for accidentally forgetting Frieren, buried her face silently behind Ash. She did not say a single word, like an oversized hand warmer.
Held against his chest, Frieren felt some warmth at last. She shivered slightly, curled up in his arms, and stared up at him with a gaze that seemed to carry tangible resentment, asking in confusion, "You and Fern... what were you even talking about? How could you forget me so completely?"
"I was thinking about some complicated things."
"So what exactly were they!"
"If there's a chance, I'll talk to you properly about it. But I hope there won't be such a chance."
"Since when did you also start saying such weird things?"
That deliberately mysterious answer left Frieren completely baffled. She was so tempted to pull out her staff and smack him on the head.
After all, freezing her half to death was one thing. Now he would not even give her a reason?
But the trouble brought about by Fern's growth was something Ash truly could not discuss with anyone. Otherwise, he would have to worry about being treated like a pervert. Especially when the other party involved was currently living on his back.
———
Even though they were lost, Frieren's memory was unexpectedly good. She pointed out the correct path for them through the wind and snow.
With Ash's pace, it did not take long before he brought the two of them to the foot of a mountain, where they quickly spotted a lonely little wooden cabin.
"Looks like there's someone inside?", From a distance, Ash sensed some movement within.
Fern, still clinging to his back, was clearly too embarrassed to be seen like that. As soon as she heard this, she jumped down.
Frieren had also recovered quite a bit while being held, but... she really did not want to experience again that feeling of being dragged out of a warm bed in the dead of winter. She had no intention of moving and even wanted to just fall asleep like this.
But as Ash walked up, eager to get inside and warm up more, Frieren reached out and pulled the door open.
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~ Yes! Very good! It's warming up! Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm—huh?"
A bare-chested middle-aged man was inside, continuously doing squats and making strange noises.
Judging from his muttering, he seemed to be trying to warm himself through exercise, but—
"If the indoor temperature is extremely low, doing squats bare-chested might cause your body temperature to drop rapidly. Only when the indoor temperature is moderate or high is it suitable to be bare-chested. And right now it's clearly very low. So are you cold, or are you not cold?"
Ash naturally asked the man, who instinctively looked over. Frieren, who was still surveying the interior, looked up with a face full of speechlessness.
"Why are you analyzing it? Hurry up and go inside."
"Sorry! Sorry! I forgot you're still very cold," He apologized casually and stepped forward to enter the cabin. However...
Before he could take a single step inside, Fern grabbed the back of his collar, dragged him back, and slammed the door shut, scolding him sternly, "Lord Ash and Lady Frieren! Let's go find another place!"
"Why?"
"Because there's a pervert inside!"
"You're occasionally very harsh with your words, even when you're not talking to me. Is this a lack of education?"
Ash lowered his head silently and looked at the elf in his arms, only to be met with her cold gaze.
"Why are you looking at me for that? Isn't this your problem?"
"Fine, for now let's just—", Before he could finish, the door opened again.
The bare-chested man stepped out into the wind and snow and looked over the three who had not gone far.
"Didn't expect to be called a pervert! By the way..... you're an elf?"
"Hm?", Only then did Frieren notice his long ears. Ash, meanwhile, could not hide his curiosity.
"I'm kind of surprised too... there are middle-aged elf men."
"Because I've lived a bit long. By the way, humans and an elf, huh? It kind of feels..."
The elf man looked at Ash, then at Frieren in his arms, and frowned unconsciously.
"You'd better separate sooner rather than later. If this keeps up, none of you will be happy."
"Separate? You're surprisingly old-fashioned."
"I don't want this either," The elf man stepped out of the cabin and looked at them with an earnest expression, "But I don't want to see one of my own kind suffer for the next thousand years."
"But isn't it rude to suddenly say something like that?"
"Because you're leaving anyway, right? If I don't say it now, there won't be another chance."
"That's true, but..."
"What? You still don't want to separate? Aren't you thinking about the future at all?"
"No, what I'm saying is, Frieren and I aren't that kind of relationship."
"Then why didn't you say that earlier?", The elf man's brain froze for a moment. Feeling like a fool for seriously having this conversation, he could not help shouting, "Shouldn't you have denied it from the start?Why did you seriously argue with me about it?"
"Because it felt pretty interesting! Also, I wanted to say earlier, are you really not cold, standing bare-chested in a blizzard like this? The sweat on your body is already freezing."
"Do you even have to ask? Of course I'm freezing to death!"
Facing Ash's calm expression, the elf man instinctively shrank his body. His miserable cry echoed through the blizzard.
Frieren and Fern closed their eyes in unison and sighed softly. Having no intention of joining the conversation from beginning to end.
If possible, they both kind of wanted nothing to do with these two people. Whether it was the one earnestly advising about something that did not exist, or the one seriously debating something that did not exist.
———
Inside the forest cabin, whose builder was long lost to history, Frieren squatted by the roaring fireplace with a look of pure enjoyment on her face.
The elf man from before had also put his clothes back on. Shivering beside them, he looked at Fern, who was organizing their luggage, and thanked her with a trembling voice.
"Little girl... thank you for helping light the fire. I lost my firestarter while crossing the mountains. If I hadn't met mages like you, I don't know how long I would've kept exercising here. I might've frozen to death."
"You're welcome," Fern, who still held some prejudice against the strange-sounding man from earlier, quietly moved farther away from him, hiding behind Ash to avoid his gaze.
This made Ash laugh as he patted the man on the shoulder.
"You know, you look pretty strong. Why didn't you just start a fire by drilling wood? You ended up like this instead."
"Drilling wood? What's that? And who do you think caused this, anyway?", The elf man turned back with a gloomy face. But Ash simply looked casually at the snow outside the window.
"The weather's fault. And you going outside bare-chested in a blizzard."
"There's probably one very important problem you didn't mention."
"Is there? Ahh! You mean you started lecturing as an experienced elder without asking things clearly first?"
"I do have my own problems, but you should have made things clear from the beginning."
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