CHAPTER 257: THE ICE TOWN 1

「Uh, reconnaissance has revealed that this place appears to be a frozen town.」

As usual, it was a reconnaissance mission using my offshot.

The red vultures that served as my eyes in the sky was used up during the salamander attack, so I had no choice but to go on foot.

And right now, there weren't any suitable monster corpses left for Rem to use. Both grimgore and roirops were crucial forces for us. I couldn't afford to take them along for a reconnaissance mission that assumes dying in midway.

And so, I set off alone to scout the snowy area, an environment that was generally unpopular in RPG.

Naturally, my main body didn’t rush out into the raging blizzard. Instead, I remained stationed at the base of the tower, waiting for the reconnaissance results to come in.

However, the cold temperature here was relentless. Just waiting was already harsh. Whether moving forward or staying put, keeping warm was essential in this area.

「Woow. There's actually a town at the bottom of the ground.」

Hayama-kun listened to my scouting report and seemed to be strangely impressed.

For Kyouko and I, we were already so used to dungeons that we wouldn't be surprised to find a town or a forest inside. But for Hayama-kun, this might be a novel experience.

「So, what took you down and made you come back?」

As expected of Kyouko, rather than asking about the dungeon itself, she saw through the fact that my offshot had been taken down and forced to return. Compared to Hayama-kun, who was excited about the ice town, her experience really made a difference.

「The most common enemies are elemental-type monsters that look like moving snowmen. However, they're not very fast, so we can outrun them easily. The real threat are the grey wolves.」

I call them 『Snow ash wolf』.

Those creatures sprint effortlessly across the snowy terrain, undeterred by the blizzard, and attack their prey with impeccable coordination and superior numbers typical of wolves. Since my offshot was struggling to trudge through the snow, those wolves must have seen me as easy, slow-moving prey.

In terms of specs, they easily surpass the red dogs. They were as threatening as raptors in the forest.

「So you are killed by those wolves.」

「No, those guys have nasty personalities, they keep messing with me and let me escape for a while before messing with me again.」

The pack of Snow Ash Wolves could have killed me in an instant if they wanted to, but the way they held back from delivering the final blow didn’t seem like caution toward an unfamiliar opponent. Rather, it felt like they were toying with me, playing around before finishing me off.

「nd then, I got trampled to death by a giant mammoth as I ran away.」

「A mammoth, huh? Wouldn't it be tough to take them down?」

「We need its meat and fur, but taking it on with our current group might be a bit too dangerous.」

That mammoth was definitely a monster on the same level as the Crystasaurs. To take it down safely, we'd need at least one ace on par with Mei-chan.

「Hey, Momokawa hasn't been gone for that long, yet you got ambushed by so many monsters along the way.」

「Hmm, yeah, the encounter rate in the this area is definitely higher than in the forest outside.」

That must be the effect of the high magical power's density. If that's the case, then the base of the mountain, where we faced waves of weak enemies, must have had a high magical power's density as well. Or was it simply an area rich in prey?

Anyway, as expected, this area was quite challenging one. From pack-type creatures like the Snow Ash Wolves to powerful solitary beasts like mammoths, it seems like a variety of formidable enemies were present in this zone.

「What shall we do then?」

「First, we’ll aim for the Fairy Plaza in this zone. Aside from monsters, I also spotted deer and rabbit-like creatures along the way, so we should be able to hunt for food as well.」

If it was only an endless expanse of ice, like the barren Antarctic continent, we would have needed to calculate the traversal distance and gather the necessary supplies before setting out. But since there was edible animals living in this zone, we could continue sourcing food locally as we go just like before.

Moreover, there seemed to be other potential food sources as well.

「Since it's rather awkward to depart at this time, let's depart in the morning. The blizzard might stop by then.」

===

And then, the next day.

The howling blizzard roared outside There was no change at all. Has it been snowing like this the whole time?

「Can't be helped I guess, let's prepare to depart.」

「O-O~h.」

「Ughhh— I really can't handle the cold…」

Morale wasn't exactly high, but we began our march through the snow.

「Oooh, I could see the house ahead!」

「We've arrived in the vicinity of the town.」

Less than ten minutes after we started walking, a town sealed by the wind and snow came into view.

The blizzard made visibility poor, but it wasn’t a complete whiteout where nothing could be seen. Beyond the swirling snow, the faint silhouettes of triangular rooftops lined up in a row could be discerned.

「Why do it look like a ruin of normal town?」

「Yeah, this place feels more like a dark underworld rather than a ruined, desolate town.」

「Ri~ght. I think so~.」

The only dungeon area so far where buildings have remained relatively intact was the Underworld that Souma's party passed through. That area left a strong impression on me since we relied on it quite a bit. Plus, we even discovered flour over there.

「Amazing, so this is what a town in another world looks like? It really does have that medieval European vibe.」

Hayama-kun's impression was incredibly vague, but it was probably accurate in terms of imagery

The sight of triangular roofs and buildings made of stone or brick didn't evoke images of Asia or the Middle East in terms of architectural design.

The townscape feels somewhat similar to the Underworld. However, the ruined city that I explored with Mei-chan had more of a concrete jungle vibe, with modern buildings standing close together.

What was it looked like back in its' glorious day? Perhaps both were real, or maybe neither was anything more than mere fabrications… Well, what truly matters wasn’t the truth of history, but whether it serves us in this moment.

「Hey, Momokawa, can we enter one of those house?」

「Oh, thinking about house-hunting already, Hayama-kun?」

「Hey, ican we really do this??」

Not at all. For once, Kyouko actually gave a reasonable warning. She wasn’t a former disciplinary committee member for nothing.

「There is something that caught my attention, so I’ll just check out one place.」

「Well, it's not a big deal right?」

「I'll go in first, so everyone else, please keep watch around the area.」

I chose a moderately sized house in a location with fairly good field of view, and sent in a clone of myself first.

Monsters rarely infest houses, but I couldn't say it was impossible.

As expected, there was nothing inside, so we broke into the house.

Leading the way was the Dark Knight Rem. At the entrance, Kinako, along with two grimgores and a roirops were left behind to prepare for any monster attacks.

「I'll check the 2nd floor, so Hayama-kun, please check the 1st floor.」

「Leave it to me! Let's go, Beniwo!」

「Woof woof!」

Ignoring Hayama-kun, who started exploring with great enthusiasm, I climbed the stairs with Kyouko.

「It really look like your average house.」

「There have been many buildings that looked like private homes before, but…」

「Yeah, but this place, how should I say… Kinda unscathed?」

「So you feel that way too, Kyouko?」

When my offshot quickly scouted the interior, I noticed immediately that this place was different from the ruins we had seen so far.

Up until now, the ruin I visited, the decay had clearly indicated a long passage of time. Wooden furniture that barely retained its original shape was falling apart, and it was common to find rooms completely empty, stripped of everything.

However, in this area, many things remain just as they were.

For example, the cup and plate left on that desk.

On the plate, a brownish lump remains frozen in ice. Inside the cup, about half of its liquid had also turned to ice.

Yes, this house still holds traces as if someone had been living here just moments ago.

Naturally, during my brief exploration, I didn't see a single resident of this town. Not even a single frozen corpse.

「Isn't this place even worse than a regular ruin? This is seriously creepy.」

Kyouko says this with a genuinely disgusted expression. Indeed, the fact that traces of human presence remain only adds to the eeriness.

Where did the residents of this place go? What happened to them?

I unconciously imagine such thing.

「The reason this place remains abandoned while still retaining signs of life might be because it has been frozen like this since that time.」

「Would anyone really live in this freezing cold place?」

「If something went wrong, like an accident that suddenly froze the entire residential area, it would explain why the houses remain intact while everyone fled.」

「I see, you must be a genius, Kotaro.」

It was only a guess that didn't help to solve the current situation at all.

It might just be that an incredibly powerful magic was replicating an environment as if people were actually there.

There were more pressing matters here than pondering unanswerable ancient mysteries.

I pointed to the frozen plate on the desk and asked her.

「By the way, Kyouko, do you think this is still edible?」

===

After lightly collecting the frozen groceries and other metal goods and tools, we started walking through the town amidst the snowstorm, heading toward the fairy plaza.

It happened less than five minutes after we set out.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAR! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

A howl resounded amidst the snowstorm.

I've heard their howls more than enough just yesterday, so there was no way I'd mistook them.

「There you are, you mutts. This time, I'll turn the tables on you.」

Several gray shadows darted out swiftly from the corners of the alleyways between the houses.

There was no mistaking, they were the 『Snow Ash Wolf』.

I mean, do they really think that it was safe after seeing two grimgores and a roirops in our formation? Weren't they getting a bit too cocky? Maybe they' were thinking something along the line  "This is our turf, so we'll put any oversized newcomers in their place." in their mind. They are wolves, after all—Their territorial instincts must be pretty strong.

Surely, even a living grimgore and roirops body temperature would took a nose dive this cold weather, significantly weakening their strength.

However, these guys were corpses, so the cold temperature didn't really affect them.

「Let's go Grilin, let's smash 'em up!」

With Randō-san’s lively shout, Grimgore No. 1 let out a mighty warcry reminiscent of its living days.————

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

And it unleashed a sandstorm-like breath from its mouth.

A pathetic "Yelp" could be heard from the other side of the snowstorm.

Hahaha, those guys were totally scared. In the end, they were nothing but a bunch of local punks acting tough.

「Kyouko, keep going!」

Everyone started an all-out attack at my command.

Strike while the herd was staggered by the breath attack and settle the battle in one sweep.

「Whoa! Let's go, Fire Spirit! Roar, my Red Lance!」

「Woof woof! Pwosh!」

The one who stood out the most in this battle was Hayama-kun and Beniwo.

As expected, the monsters living in this area seem to be monster with ice attribute; the Snow Ash Wolves were extremely afraid of fire.

They would scream at the slightest spark of fire and roll around on the snowy path, making it impossible to coordinate with their companions—an utterly pathetic display. Truly, it was super effective.

「Alright, with the full team here, even the snow ash wolves are no problem.」

「We can't afford to lost against some wolves now.」

When Kyouko, even in the blizzard with poor visibility, shoots down a wolf running around with stone bullet, she really gives off an aura of authority. On top of her solid defensive magic for civil engineering, she had also been honing her attack magic, including her aim. She was really improving.

「Hayama-kun and Beniwo also played a big role. Having a teammate who can use fire magic in this place is such a huge help.」

「hahahaha, you flatter me, Momokawa!」

Hayama-kun petting Beniwo's head with a huge grin on his face. The sight of both master and servant expressing their joy so openly was truly heartwarming.

「I've a small favor to ask you later, Hayama-kun————」

Well, that must wait until we reach the fairy plaza first though.

===

It seems that there was no distinction between morning and evening in this area. Even though it was already past evening, it hadn't gotten dark yet.

Fortunately it didn't become completely dark, but on the other hand, something very bad has happened.

「S-So cold…」

「Kotaro, this is seriously impossible for us.」

It had been a piercing cold until now, but we could endure the cold by wearing fur gear for crossing mountains.

However, as the evening passed into night, the temperature dropped sharply. Meaning that the temperature must've dropped to negative double digit.

「Hey, hang in there folks! Damn it, turn up the firepower a bit please!」

When Hayama-kun grips the fire spirit's lighter, flames that a regular lighter couldn't produce flicker from it, and warm air spreads around, creating a comforting atmosphere.

「Ooooh, it's so warm.」

「Good job, Hayama.」

「Damn, being praised with such a dangerously sleepy expression doesn't exactly make me happy.」

Huh? Did we really making faces that look like we were about to freeze to death like that classic snow mountain survival situation where, once you fall asleep, you can never wake up again?

Well, if that was the case, I guess you’d want a survival scenario that turns into a cozy, romantic comedy! Using the cold as an excuse to warm each other up… Sounds like it could be an interesting twist though…

「Hang in there Momokawa!」

「HAH!?」

Welp, I guess I really am exhausted and suffering from cold.

It seems like I’ve been pushed myself really hard, especially with the cold and everything around me was frozen due to cold. It might be time to set up camp and get some rest before the situation turned into more desperate situation.

「We're in trouble. I'm hoping to find the fairy square by today, but…」

「It's not the time to be saying stuff like that. We need to set up camp somewhere and get some warm, or we're going to be screwed.」

「I’m with Hayama on this. Let’s burn something—anything—to keep warm!」

「Alright, then let's head to that big house over the————」

「PUGAA!」

At that moment, Kinako suddenly raised a sharp cry.

Goddamit, enemy at this kind of time.

「Are you serious, Kinako!?」

「What Kinako said just now, Hayama-kun?」

「Kinako said that she smell the fairy territory nearby! the fairy plaza is just ahead of us!」

Trusting Kinako's instinct, we move forward a bit more.

And in less than 5 mintues, we arrived in front of what appeared to be stone-built church-like building.

Bright white light spilled from the windows, making it seem as if only that place had electricity.

Like moths drawn to a flame, we rushed into the church, and there we found the fairy plaza.

The fairy statue that standing there as always, looks like a statue of a goddes to me right now.

Anyway, we reached our goal today.

However, despite not having faced any significant battles, we were already this exhausted. Conquering the snow area would be an uphill battle with so many challenges ahead.