Boukensha Ni Naritai To Miyako Ni Deteitta Musume Ga S Rank Ni Natteta Chapter 9

This must be a dream, Belgriff thought while looking at the darkness from above. His body did not respond, and he could not move from where he was. Despite the darkness, his vision had not been affected. At first glance, the interior of that place seemed to be that of a dungeon.

After a while, he could hear the footsteps of several people approaching. It was a party of adventurers and all of them looked very young, barely eighteen or seventeen years old. They wore fairly new equipment, each of them carried their own weapons, and they advanced with steps full of confidence and expectations. Those were the firm steps of youth.

A young man with straw-colored hair walked in front of the group, his face reflected an intelligent mind. The young man was talking with the people behind him, and the conversation seemed quite heated despite the fact that they spoke in low voices. Behind the leader, a red-haired boy responded with a bitter smile on his face. While a young girl with silver hair and a boy with brown hair followed them with blooming smiles.

Careful!, Belgriff wanted to scream. But the words did not come out of his mouth. The young group continued to advance while laughing happily. Belgriff finally managed to shout at them, trying to stop their advance, but his voice did not reach them.

Eventually, “That” came out of the darkness and pounced on the young man at the front. The young man, in his surprise, tried to draw his sword, but his initial movement was slow and it was unlikely he will make it in time. At that moment, the red-haired boy stepped forward and pushed the blonde boy aside…

Belgriff wakes up with a sharp pain in his right leg, even though it was no longer there.

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A huge amount of snow is falling from the sky, forming a carpet that seems to absorb every sound. Actually, everything is too quiet. Nothing is heard aside from the sound of firewood burning in the fireplace, and a sizzling kettle hung over the fire.

Despite the number of snow clouds, the sky is annoyingly bright. Because of that, the snow is so white that it hurts the eyes.

Belgriff is sitting in a chair by the fireplace, carding some sheep wool. With weather like this, there is not much to do outside. The most important thing is to remove the snow that gathered on the roof of the house and on the path that leads to town, apart from that, Belgriff leaves his home from time to time just to gather more wood. However, if more snow falls, even those simple tasks will become quite difficult. During winter the ch.o.r.es are carried out inside the house, the grains are separated and the wool is carded.

In Tornela, many houses have sheep. The house of Kerry, for example, has many animals and even a workshop to card the wool. While in other houses, wool is carded in one place and then taken to another to be woven and make clothes. Although Belgriff has no sheep, Kerry always separates some wool and gives it to him. The same wool that is carded to form a rope. So it can, later on, become yarn.

It's been four months since he started doing jobs like these. It is about time to start seeing some signs of the upcoming spring, but in this place, the snow does not seem to stop any time soon.

“…Ha.”

Belgriff puts aside the wool, stands up, and begins to tremble unexpectedly. Despite the fact that the fireplace burns intensely, the acc.u.mulated snow appears to be freezing everything around it.

It is almost noon.

Belgriff takes a piece of wood and puts it in a fireplace, and with a *Crack*, a spark flies out. Then, he takes a container he has left over the fire. When he removes the lid, a slightly inflated piece of dough can be seen. The yeast does not seem to work well with this cold. Belgriff kneads the dough lightly, slices it a couple of times and shapes it. After that, he takes the pieces of dough, mixes it with some oil, puts them back into the container and, after covering it whit the lid, places it again on top of the fire.

In a saucepan placed next to the container, some beans and dried meat stew are still cooking slowly.

“It really is quiet…” murmurs Belgriff while stroking his beard.

It is the fifth winter since Angeline had departed.

When she was still at home, she would stick to Belgriff whenever it snowed. Her hands and feet would get cold easily, and when the weather was as it is now, she would get into Belgriff's bed, who was always startled by the coldness of her limbs. During those cold nights of insomnia, he would sit by the fireplace, place Angeline on his knee and read the same book of ill.u.s.trations over and over again.

After thinking of all that, Belgriff eats a light meal of bread and stew.

When the dishes are clean, he places a special snowshoe on his prosthesis, puts on gloves, a coat, scarf, and a hat that covers his ears and goes outside. Even though it snowed only in the morning, the garden is completely covered in white. Also, a great number of icicles of different sizes hang from the eaves.

Belgriff walks through the snowfield transporting wood from the deposit to his house. Then, he opens a trapdoor that was hidden under the snow. Inside the excavated soil, there are potatoes and j.a.panese radishes (daikon) that are preserved in a mantle of straw.

“Hmm… they're slightly frozen.”

Those that are closest to the surface have suffered due to the cold air. He puts aside those in worse condition and takes some that seem to be edible. He then separates more straw from the barn and puts it over the vegetables. After that, he closes the trapdoor. The food he has in store for winter had drastically reduced.

“Even something like this takes a long time…”

After returning home, Belgriff pours himself a gla.s.s hot water from the kettle and mixes it with some distilled liquor. The aroma of the liquor rises and stabs the back of his nose. And when he slowly drinks it, the inside of his body finally warms up.

“Well, time to go.”

Belgriff puts his sword on his hip and walks outside his house with a long cane in hand.

Even if these cold days don't seem to end, Belgriff keeps doing his walks and patrols around the village every day. Most of the wild animals hibernate during the winter, but that is not always the case with magic beasts, who could take advantage of the cold to approach the village. Belgriff did not see it, but apparently, an Ice Hound had approached the village during the summer. It is clear that the number of magic beasts is far larger than in previous years. And during the winter, it's normal for evil ice spirits to come near populated places, so it is a good idea to be careful.

When his breath goes through the scarf it becomes white fog, which flies through the air for a while before disappearing. If he had not placed the special snowshoe, the sharp tip of his prosthesis would sink into the snow.

“Today it's colder than other days. I also have to remove some snow little by little.”

There are no children playing outside due to the intolerable weather. Belgriff walks around the town using the barely visible fence as a guide, taking care not to step on the crop fields. The wheat field outside the town is completely covered in snow and is nothing more than a silver-colored valley. Under the snow, wheat sprouts silently grow enduring the cold, waiting for the winter to end.

The mountains and distant forests are covered with snow. Seeing this, Belgriff remembers how he used to take these walks with Angeline in the past. She always had red cheeks and a running nose, but she would never complain about anything while following him.

Belgriff's shoulders slightly tremble and he calmly removed the snow that had acc.u.mulated on them without him noticing. He then exhales heavily and watches as the white fog disappears with the wind.

Suddenly, Belgriff feels a presence behind him and quickly turns around while narrowing his eyes.

He sees several small figures just outside the town. There are around six of them, holdings hands and forming a small circle, moving around as if they are dancing. Belgriff also clearly listens to a song, unlike anything he has listened to before.

Belgriff approaches silently while holding the hilt of his sword.

Once he is close, it becomes clear that the dancing figures are children. They appear to be around 7 or 8 years old. They are wearing snow-white clothes and furry hats that matched their outfits. Although the dance seems almost frenetic, upon a closer look, he notices that their feet don't touch the ground and do not leave tracks while dancing.

“Yukinko*?,” says Belgriff while removing his hand from his sword.

There are several types of ice spirits. Some are dangerous to humans, others are harmless and some others are similar to natural phenomena. The Yukinko belong to this last group. These guys, or possibly girls, are like the representation of winter. They do not favor humans, but they are not hostile towards them either. For now, the best thing to do is to remain calm and not disturb them.

Belgriff watches the dance of the Yukinko for a while. It turns out to be quite a sight, it even seems to generate even more tranquility in the surroundings. After discovering that there is no immediate danger, the scene turns in something magical.

Suddenly, a strong wind starts to blow, and the snow swirls violently. Belgriff involuntarily closes his eyes and covers his face with his arms.

“Wow…”

The wind roars for a short time and then it dies down as if nothing had happened and the snow falls again undisturbed. Everything has gone silent once more. At that moment, Belgriff sees a tall figure on the other side of the dancing Yukinko.

It is the figure of a woman. She is tall and slender, wears a pure white coat and covers her head with a fur hat. She has a beautiful face, but her expression seemed somewhat inhuman. In the vicinity, there are another 10 or 12 Yukinko, different from those that, until a moment ago, were dancing.

“The Winter Lady,” murmurs Belgriff.

She is the mother of all the Yukinko and is the existence that can be considered as the embodiment of winter itself. It is extremely rare to even see her, and there is no way to defeat her. Because it would be as if someone wanted to eliminate the winter from this world.

But Belgriff feels no fear.

The Winter Lady is like nature, and like the Yukinko, she doesn't favor nor hates humans. What's more, Belgriff has met this powerful spirit once before.

The Lady looked at Belgriff fixedly.

“You've grown old in a very short time,” A cold, solemn voice reaches his ears. But he doesn't know if it came from his mouth or it's generated directly from the atmosphere.

For her, an existence that lives for eternity, human beings die in the blink of an eye. Belgriff twisted his beard with a bitter smile.

“Please, don't measure time from your perspective, eternal Lady. It's been ten years.” The Lady seems surprised with Belgriff's statement.

“Ten years?“

“The season has come around ten times already. But for you, who only knows winter, it is difficult to notice.”

“Your lives go by rather fast, don't they? But, why did you come out again in this cold?“

“I'm patrolling, humans are afraid of magic beasts… Although, if you're here, I don't need to worry…”

The Winter Lady doesn't harm nor help the magic beasts. It's as if, from the beginning, she was not interested in them. But the magic beasts are terrified of her. Her strength was comparable to that of a Rank S magic beast. So, it is safe to say that magic beasts will not cause problems as long as the Winter Lady is here. However, she is accompanied by snowstorms and cold weather, which can also represent huge problems.

Belgriff leans all his weight on his cane. Apparently going out on patrol has been a waste of time. But he met the Winter Lady yet again and could remember what happened ten years ago.

The Yukinko star dancing in even bigger circles.

“Where is the little human**?” asks the Winter Lad while looking at her own children.

“Didn't I just mentioned that it's already been ten years? She moved to the capital and became independent, she has become a great adventurer.”

“You humans are always in a hurry.”

“Well, maybe you're too carefree.”

“I still think we just met a few days ago…By the way, why did you point your sword at me back then?“

Ten years ago, when he met the Winter Lady for the first time, he stepped in front of her brandis.h.i.+ng his sword in order to protect Angeline. The Lady, who from the beginning seemed uninterested, stopped his attack with just one finger.

A smile of frustration appears on Belgriff's face when remembering that.

“I was trying to protect my little girl because I thought you were a magic beast.”

“Oh, is that so…?“

There is a Rank S magic beast known as the Ice Queen. She looks like a beautiful woman, but she is an extremely dangerous magic beast that hates humans. Meeting her is just as difficult as seeing the Winter Lady, and since both respond with merciless attacks when confronted, most adventurers cannot distinguish the differences between them and end up mixing them up. Not even Belgriff could differentiate them at that moment.

After the encounter, one of the village elders taught him about the Winter Lady. Afterward, Belgriff could help but to feel embarra.s.sed by his prejudices and narrow mind.

Belgriff took off his gloves and breathed on his hands.

“…I thank you for not killing back then. Although, you might have not done because of a whim. “

The Lady smiles a little after hearing Belgriff's words.

“There's no reason to kill a parent who protects their child, right?“

“…You speak the truth. Just like you protect your own children, honorable Lady.”

Seeing the Yukinko dancing while shouting happily, Belgriff could not help but smile. Angie had basically saved him ten years ago.

The snow continues to fall without weakening. Belgriff s.h.i.+vered because of the cold. If the Yukinko are having so much fun in this place, the Winter Lady will stay here for a while.

“If you're here, I do not have to keep patrolling, so I'll go home.”

“I am not a guardian deity of this town, human.“

“I'm just going to take advantage of your presence in this place, please don't get upset.”

“… I'll give a warning.” Suddenly her voice becomes even colder. Belgriff, who is already facing the other way, turns again with careful movements, narrows his, and stares at the Winter Lady. The Lady is looking directly at Belgriff.

“Those who tried to rule everything, even the winter, are about to wake up.“

“… Does that have anything to do with the increasing number of magic beasts?”

“We are not concerned with things like that.”

Belgriff continues to look at the Lady directly in the eye.

“Lady… what will you do? Do you want us to do something about it?”

The Winter Lady shakes her head gently.

“We are just pa.s.sing on a message.”

“… Thank you for your warning. I'll keep it in mind.”

This powerful spirit wouldn't say something like that without a deeper meaning. But, perhaps due to the cold, Belgriff's head cannot think clearly. For now, he must return home and warm up a little.

Belgriff turns on his heels and walks away with slow, thoughtful steps.

The joyful voices of the Yukinko continue to resound in the snow.

*The Yukinko are winter spirits related to the Yuki-onna. You can learn more about both of them HERE.

**The Winter Lady refers to humans as, “beings who disappear in the blink of an eye”. But I thought it would be somewhat uncomfortable to read, so I changed it to “humans”