Chapter 417
Whooooooooosh—!
Simon and Lete were climbing a snow-covered mountain, enduring the harsh cold.
‘God, I’m going insane.’
The chill pierced through his collar, and his snot froze halfway down his face.
All that was visible ahead was an endless white, sloping path.
His feet kept sinking deep into the snow, making it hard to walk. On top of that, there were constant attacks from snow mountain monsters. His stamina was rapidly depleting.
Even Simon, who hailed from the mountainous region of Leshill, had never experienced such a dangerous climb.
“Lete! Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
A spirited reply came from a short distance away. Surrounding her were the corpses of snow monsters.
At this point, she seemed more like the Saint of Blood than the Saint of Stars.
Everywhere she walked, the snow was dyed crimson. Yet her white robe and hair remained flawlessly clean.
“They’re really persistent, aren’t they?”
Her cheeks red from the cold, she blew into her cupped hands.
“Lete, today’s cold is too harsh for climbing.”
Simon finally decided to voice what had been lingering on his lips for a while.
“Why don’t we retreat for now, and come back another time?”
“When’s that ‘another time’, exactly?”
Her response was icy.
“This cold will last for months. Going back will just add more excuses. It has to be today! If we don’t find Escaille Village today, we go freeze to death with that mindset.”
“...Are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m serious.”
Simon was impressed.
He had a wealth of experience with mountain treks, so it wasn’t as exhausting for him. But Lete, who had spent her whole life on flatlands, must be having a much harder time. Yet she hadn’t complained once—just silently cut down monsters as they climbed.
Powpowpowpowpow!
Lete’s holy arrows burst through the monsters’ skulls.
“Fighting at least keeps my body warm.”
She walked over, exhaling warm breath again, having drenched the area in blood.
“Need another blessing to raise your body temperature?”
Simon shook his head.
“I’m good. I can do it on my own now.”
“...What?”
Warmth.
A white magic blessing that keeps out the cold and maintains body temperature.
At the start of the climb, Simon had carefully studied the magic circle Lete cast for him. And throughout the journey, he had practiced whenever he had a moment. And finally—
<Warmth>
Flash!
He succeeded in casting the blessing on his own. Lete gave a small laugh.
“I was wondering what kind of nonsense you were up to...”
A necromancer using white magic. Even as the event unfolded before her eyes, Lete couldn’t quite believe it.
Was this man really a necromancer?
—Then how about thinking of it like this? What if Simon isn’t a necromancer, but something else entirely?
Come to think of it, back on the Holy Train, that impostor who claimed to be from Efnelle—Senior Ellen—had said something like that.
Something else entirely.
Now that she thought about it, that might be true. This guy... he’s just too...
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Simon suddenly asked, startling her into stumbling back.
“G-Gah! You scared me!”
“?”
Lete growled, glaring at him, then huffed and turned her head.
“You’re blasphemy incarnate. That’s what you are.”
“...Where did that come from?”
“Hold still for a sec.”
She stepped in and opened the front of Simon’s coat. Flustered, he tried to pull back, but she gripped his chest and glared as if telling him to stay still.
“You said you cast Warmth, right? Do you feel warm?”
“...Now that you mention it.”
He was cold.
His current stack of Warmth was down to two layers, so he’d cast it again himself to keep it at three. But it didn’t feel particularly warm.
“Use your eyes and look.”
She pointed to the magic circle on Simon’s chest.
It was at two stacks. Only Lete’s blessing remained—his own casting had not registered.
“What? I know I did it right.”
“What rune did you use?”
“Wasn’t it Kensurium?”
“What formula? Did you use White Code and Flat Note?”
“What are those?”
She let out a tiny sigh.
“To stack blessings, they have to align precisely. You necromancers seem to deliberately twist formulas to make them hard to dispel, but blessings don’t work that way.”
She pressed both her palms gently to his chest.
Her hands felt warm—probably because of the Warmth cast.
She then closed her eyes and recited a chant softly.
‘Ah.’
The existing two layers of Warmth vanished, and a new three-stack version was applied.
“That’s a modified version.”
She removed her hands and gave a gentle smile.
“Warm, right?”
“.....”
Just as Simon was about to say thank you, Lete turned around.
“I’ll teach you properly once we reach the village. La Escrime.”
Her words instantly snapped Simon to attention.
“...R-Really?”
“If we complete this mission, you’ll get compensation from Lady Israfil anyway, but you’re still doing all this for the Holy Federation. I can at least offer this kindness.”
But then her face suddenly twisted with irritation.
“Ah! And let’s be real, the La Escrime you used at dawn was so bad! I was embarrassed just watching it! If you’re going to use my original spell, at least do it right! ”
The sudden mood shift made Simon step back and laugh.
“I’ll get it right next time.”
“Don’t go around saying you learned it from me! That’s embarrassing!”
Lete turned her head with a snap and walked ahead.
‘She helps, is nice, then gets mad—just does whatever she wants.’
But more than anything, Simon was a little surprised that Lete offered to teach him white magic.
Given her personality, he thought she’d be more cautious of Keyzen’s Special Admission No.1.
“Hurry up! I’m freezing to death!”
“Ah, yeah. Coming!”
* * *
Whooooooooosh—!
Three hours passed, and the blizzard still hadn’t let up.
‘You’re really not stopping? Really?’
It felt as if the storm was mocking him. Simon, impressed by his own connection to nature, wondered if he should’ve been a druid instead of a necromancer.
‘Ugh, seriously—I am going to freeze.’
He kept recasting Warmth blessings, but his stamina and mental strength were nearly gone.
Worst of all, the blizzard made it impossible to tell the direction. He wasn’t even sure if they were heading forward anymore. It felt like they were just going in circles.
Rustle.
Simon pulled out the rough map given to him by Israfil. But it was useless now. The snowstorm was too strong to distinguish any of the landmarks.
“Lete. About what you said earlier, if we don’t find Escaille Village, we just freeze to death. Do you still mean that?”
“...Kuh!”
Blushing, she bit her lip and then shouted:
“O-Of course! We’re finding it no matter what!”
She then began to comb the area in frustration.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Simon offered gently, and began searching as well.
‘Huh?’
He suddenly sensed movement nearby.
Simon silently drew his sword and advanced.
There was something.
As he got closer, he saw someone sitting and digging in the snow.
“Huh? Who’s that?”
The person noticed Simon first. It was a man in his early to mid-thirties, wearing fur clothing.
“What the hell! You two! How did you even get here?!”
‘A person!!’
Simon’s face lit up.
“E-Excuse me, are you a resident of Escaille Village? We’re—!”
“Are you out of your minds?!”
The man suddenly shouted.
"It's a raging blizzard, and you're climbing a mountain? What if the Snow Maidens ate you?!"
"...Snow Maiden?"
Now that he thought about it, he had heard the tale back in Coola, the legend of the Snow Maiden.
"Snow Maiden or Saint, either way, we haven't been eaten yet, so it’s fine."
Lete spoke cynically as she approached.
"You’ve heard the story, right? We came as teachers for Escaille. Please guide us to the village."
"Yeah, yeah. Follow me!"
The man started striding ahead with big steps. Simon let out a huge sigh of relief internally—finally, they were saved.
"Wait, huh?"
But this man...
"Uh, excuse me?!"
Even on the snowfield, he moved incredibly fast. He didn’t wait for them and just kept striding forward.
He was getting farther and farther away.
"W-Wait for us!"
And with the blizzard constantly raging, his figure would disappear and reappear repeatedly.
Just as a nervous Simon was about to increase his pace—
"Wait a moment."
Lete grabbed his shoulder.
"What’s wrong? If we stay like this, we’ll lose him!"
"Something’s off."
Her eyes narrowed.
"His body looked blurry."
"Are you sure you didn’t just imagine it because of the snowstorm?"
As Simon said that and stepped forward—
Craaaaack!
Suddenly, the ground beneath him collapsed.
"!!"
Whooooooooosh!
When he came to his senses, there was a cliff right in front of him. It was so deep the bottom wasn’t visible, and shards of stone were tumbling down.
"Urgh!"
Lete was frowning, gripping Simon’s hand tightly.
"I told you, didn’t I!"
She clenched her teeth and pulled hard with her arm.
"I said something felt wrong!!"
Fwooooooosh!
Simon’s vision spun. His body flew in a circle and landed in the soft snow.
"Haah... Haah..."
Simon’s eyes were still wide with disbelief.
And then, he saw it.
In the snowy field of the blizzard-ridden mountain, a woman barefoot, wearing a white dress, staring at him with blood-red eyes like blood itself.
As if disappointed, she licked her lips.
'......!'
Chills shot up Simon’s arm, and every hair on his body stood on end.
He tried to stand and confirm what he had seen, but the woman’s figure had already vanished with the storm.
"Are you okay?"
Lete approached.
"Lete! Did you see that just now?"
"See what?"
"A woman in white with red eyes!"
"......."
Lete’s face hardened.
"I didn’t see anything. Are you sure you weren’t hallucinating because of the snowstorm?"
"......."
Simon rubbed his forehead. Too much had happened all at once, he could barely think straight.
But there was no time to just sit around.
"Let’s go. This way."
"You sure about that? If you’re being lured by another illusion, it’ll be a problem."
"Then you can save me again like before."
"...Ha, must be nice living so carefree. Alright, lead the way."
Simon walked straight ahead, leading Lete in the direction the Snow Maiden had appeared.
After about twenty minutes of trudging through the blizzard.
"Ah!"
Two stone towers came into view.
"We found it! It’s the entrance to the village on the map!"
Lete also smiled and opened her hand.
"Not bad at all!"
Clap!
The two exchanged a light high-five and stood before the stone towers.
"Now, how does this thing work?"
Each stone tower had a small hollow where one could insert their hand. Inside, two stones were stacked.
Below that, a phrase was inscribed:
<Humans must melt to become human>
Simon stroked his chin, falling deep into thought, while Lete frowned as she peered into the stone tower.
"...Ugh, I hate puzzles like this."
Meanwhile, Simon was actively investigating. He checked the size of the tower, the shape of the stacked stones, and even touched them himself.
‘Smooth... It’s a unique texture.’
As Simon touched it, the stone on top slipped and fell off.
He tried to put it back, but it kept slipping and falling again. No matter how many times he tried, it wouldn’t stay.
‘How did they stack this on top? ...Ah!’
As he glanced once more at the inscribed phrase, a thought flashed through Simon’s mind.
"I got it!"
"You solved it?"
"Yeah. It’s simple."
Simon picked up the two stones inside the tower. Lete, catching on quickly, did the same.
"Now, pack snow around the stones, like you’re making snowballs."
They each made two snowballs and stacked them like snowmen. Then they placed them into the hollow of the stone towers.
"What’s this supposed to do?"
Lete mimicked him with a doubtful expression.
And then—
"It’s melting!"
There seemed to be some magical mechanism inside the towers. Incredibly quickly, the snowmen began to melt.
In less than a minute, the snow was gone, and the two stones—head and body—stuck together.
Back to how they looked when they first saw them.
Wooooooooooooong!
A large magic circle formed in the space between the stone towers, and the entrance to the barrier was revealed.
"See that?"
Simon said confidently.
"Hmph, well done. Even a slug knows how to roll."
Lete strode up and stuck her hand into the barrier. Simon flinched.
"Aren’t you being a little too reckless?"
"What’s there to fear? I’m the Saint of Stars."
She swirled her hand around inside the barrier, then pulled it out. Then she boldly stuck her face in, and then pulled back again.
"It’s safe. Let’s go."
The two of them leapt into the barrier at the same time.
And then—
"......!"
Their jaws dropped at the fantastical world that appeared before them.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time