Chapter 78: Encounter (2)

    ***

    Mixed in with the merchants, they arrived at the entrance of the Ice Castle by wagon.

    “...it’s cold.”

    As soon as he got out of the carriage, the cold hit Ruel’s cheek.

    It was already no joke even though he had yet to climb the mountain.

    —This body will keep you warm.

    Leo said, peeping his head out of Ruel’s clothes.

    “I’ll cast a warm spell on you.”

    Leo raised his body temperature, while Aris controlled his mana and cast as much magic as Ruel could endure.

    “What do you think?”

    “Bearable, almost.”

    It wasn’t warm enough to chase out the cold.

    “I can lift you.”

    Aris then tried using Hold.

    Ruel, who felt his body moving, bit Breath with a comfortable face.

    “I’ll take the lead.”

    Cassion said, covering Ruel with a warm blanket he pulled from his pouch.

    “Do you know the way?”

    “I know.”

    ‘Did you do your research in advance?’

    When Ganien gained this power in the novel, Cassion was not there.

    He was reluctant to go to the Ice Castle, and Ganien alone headed to the Ice Castle to get stronger.

    In other words, the notoriety meant that there were many strong people.

    Ruel sniffed and looked at the mountain.

    The peak was hidden from view by the clouds.

    ‘If it wasn’t for the guy who wrote about the last remaining power through mana letters, I wouldn’t even be looking at it.’

    “Let’s go.”

    When Cassion heard Ruel’s response, he stepped on the snow like a man on his front yard.

    Crunch.

    Leo’s eyes twinkled at the clear sound.

    —This, this body wants to jump into the snow! It feels great to swim in there!

    “Then go play for a while.”

    —No, this body has an important duty to keep Ruel warm.

    “It’s fine.”

    It was good to have Leo in his arms, but it was okay not to restrict him.

    —Don’t you need this body?

    Contrary to what he said, Leo stared earnestly at him with sparkly eyes.

    —Right, Ruel? (Leo)

    He patted Leo soothingly, his eyes asking for compliments because he was holding in the urge to play. (Ruel)

    —Hehe. (Leo)

    He felt a moving tail swing in his arms. (Ruel)

    “Cough, cough!”

    Ruel was puzzled by Cassion’s sudden behavior of searching for something, while suffering from a strong cough.

    ‘Are you looking for a easy way up the mountain?’

    In the novel, Ganien just went up ignorantly.

    He almost died, but he endured it and reached the top.

    “It took me a while because I couldn’t remember since it’s been a while.”

    ‘Been a while?’

    Ruel was puzzled by the strange words.

    Cassion walked by a tree covered with snow.

    “Come out.”

    The hidden shadows appeared at his words.

    ‘What are you doing?’

    As well as Cassion, they took a piece of glass out of their sleeves and lifted it, Aris and Ruel were surprised.

    The place where they were standing suddenly shook.

    “It is a very complex barrier.”

    When the aura was blown into the pieces of glass, each piece was colored in its own individual color.

    Thud. Thud. Thud.

    There was a sound of something opening, and the entrance to a cave appeared.

    —Whoa!

    “... Explain, Cassion.”

    Ruel asked calmly.

    Suddenly the entrance to the cave appeared.

    Even without entering, it was obvious where the entrance was connected.

    Cassion passed the shadows and placed a piece of glass in his pocket smiling.

    “I didn’t tell you because you didn’t ask.”

    “Tell me what?”

    “I’m the owner of the Ice Castle.”

    “Ca, Cassion-nim...”

    Aris was speechless with astonishment.

    ‘I kept thinking about how to win against the people of Ice Castle, but I never thought that the owner of the place would be Cassion.’ (Ruel)

    With relief came a sense of despondency.

    ‘It’s amazing.’

    Ruel slowly raised the corners of his mouth.

    It wasn’t just a gem.

    It was the most precious jewel in the world.

    Now Ruel understood why Cassion was strong.

    Ruel thought it was altitude sickness, but suddenly his eyes went dark.

    Feeling his body collapsing, Ruel closed his eyes.

    ***

    ‘...!’

    She opened her closed eyes.

    ‘...the powers gathered. I think the idiot ignored my warning.’

    She let out a deep breath as she ruffled her hair.

    ‘Who is that idiot who keeps collecting that power without knowing what it is? You can’t bring them together, even if you collect all of them together.’

    For a moment her body flickered transparently and then changed back to normal.

    ‘Not yet. Please, hang in there.’

    She clenched her arms and crumpled her face.

    ***

    Wheeze...hughh, cough.

    Ruel opened his eyes because he was suffocating while exhaling.

    He looked into Cassion’s eyes, who was about to hand over Breath.

    “... I’m sorry.”

    Ruel just looked at it, inhaling the Breath Cassion had passed over.

    “I think I was a little excited to come to my hometown after a long time. I should have been prepared for altitude sickness earlier on. Is it still hard to breathe?”

    “It’s alright.”

    It was harder than when he was on the ground, but his head was less dizzy.

    “I injected medicine while you were sleeping, so the symptoms will be lessened.”

    When Ruel reached out his hand, Cassion took out the basket and handed over the meat pie.

    Crunch.

    It was worth living for these delicious things that went into his mouth.

    Noting that Leo was not in his arms, Ruel glanced around and looked for Leo.

    Cassion took out Leo who was hiding under the bed and held him out.

    “Ruel-nim collapsed and he kept hiding under the bed.”

    “Why?”

    Ruel looked at Leo while eating a meat pie.

    Leo hesitated before answering.

    —This, this body left Ruel and Ruel collapsed. It happened because this body forgot it’s important tasks and was only paying attention to stones.

    Soon he pouted and burst into tears.

    “No, it’s not.”

    Sniff.

    Leo stopped crying and opened his eyes wide.

    “You didn’t explain it?”

    “I did. What can I do if he blames himself for everything?”

    Cassion shrugged his shoulders.

    Ruel inhaled Breath and asked.

    “What about Aris? Aris can’t leave Leo alone... ”

    —Aris did nothing wrong. He took care of this body, and it was all because of this body... Hick!

    Ruel grabbed Leo’s tail with an unpleasant expression.

    “Let’s ban snacks for the day.”

    —Thi, this body is at fault!

    “One more day.”

    —This body didn’t do anything wrong! This body has done nothing wrong!

    Finally, Ruel relaxed his firm expression.

    “Let’s ban it just for one day. Reflect on what you did wrong.”

    —This body has made Ruel... No, this body will reflect! Let this body think again!

    Leo hurriedly changed his words at Ruel’s gaze.

    When he let go of his tail, he ran quickly and crouched next to Ruel’s face.

    Cassion sat next to Ruel, administering a new drug.

    Now that he has come to his senses, he checked Ruel’s condition one by one before trying to move again.

    After only a few minutes of exposure to the cold wind, the fever began to boil from yesterday.

    Still, the fever went down a bit from dawn.

    ‘One fever reducer.’

    Ruel bit his lips at the occasional pain.

    ‘One painkiller, no, two would be good.’

    He knew he was originally pale, but his complexion never returned.

    ‘A cure for anemia, too.’

    “Cough, cough.”

    The coughing sound was not good.

    ‘When I get back to Setiria, I’ll tell Tierra that the cough medicine is ineffective, I’ll change it to another one.’

    Even if he was given medicine to calm the symptoms of altitude sickness, his breath shortened.

    ‘It would be impossible to walk as usual.’

    As Cassion checked over his condition one by one, he sighed automatically.

    ‘Wouldn’t it be faster to learn medicine myself than to bring a medical doctor?’

    Has there ever been a time when your life wasn’t at stake?

    Crunch.

    Whether Ruel knew his deep distress or not, four meat pies have already gone into his stomach.

    What about the fox next to him?

    It’s not his food, but he still eats it well.

    Cassion opened his mouth, which had closed heavily.

    “You’re not here for sightseeing, are you here to gain another power?”

    “Yes.”

    “I’m bothered by the warning then. Will you be okay?”

    “That’s why I came. To see who gave the warning, why, and for what purpose.”