## Chapter 281 – Winter Sonata
The period of heavy snow was over.
The snow, which had piled up like mountains, melted and re-accumulated, finally ushering in the mid-winter season.
Unless another insane blizzard hit, we could probably continue hunting at this pace until the end of winter.
—Crunch, crunch.
I stepped on the snowy path.
“Hey, Copson. Which way are we headed today?”
“I was thinking of going a bit further today. Hehehe, I did some research on the habits of the Owl Bear. Trust me on this.”
“What habits?”
Today, it was the same three-person party: Copson, Maria, and me, leaving through the city gates. Well, we didn’t really need more people. As long as we had teammates we had good synergy with and could trust, that was enough.
Copson, full of enthusiasm, took the lead, determined to find an Owl Bear.
Maria also seemed to know a thing or two about Owl Bears. They shared their opinions as we moved.
“By the way, how’s it going with your girlfriend?”
As we walked, Maria asked, seemingly out of boredom.
“Not girlfriend, wife.”
“Oh my gosh? You’re already married?”
“Something like that.”
I didn’t know much about marriage customs in this world. Anyway, Maria, who was very interested in this sort of thing, asked all sorts of questions, and Copson, who was listening from the side, instantly turned sour.
Seeing his expression, I continued.
“So, yeah. To capture a woman’s heart, a gift is the best.”
“A gift, you say?”
“I’m talking to Maria, why are you answering?”
“I’m interested too.”
Even if you do anything else, Copson, you need to quit gambling before you can even think about getting a girlfriend.
“Hmm, a gift…”
Maria made a gesture as if she was thinking. It was only right that a normal woman would be interested in this sort of thing.
“If you find a guy you like, go for it.”
“Is that so?”
“Then, barbarian. What should you do if you find a woman you like?”
Copson chimed in and asked.
“Go for it.”
“That’s not a helpful answer.”
We continued our conversation as we made our way through the snow.
Even as we did, we didn’t forget to be vigilant about our surroundings.
We had run into bandits on our very first winter hunt. Of course, it felt good to make a big profit, but we didn’t want to encounter such events if we could help it.
After walking for a while, we found a good spot and took a break.
Today, instead of snow, the temperature was a bit low. Which was actually a good thing. If the temperature had been a little higher, the ground would have been muddy. It was better to have a frozen ground.
—Whoosh.
As usual, we lit a fire and had our meal.
“So. How far are we going this time?”
“If you keep going straight and then turn, there’s a small lake. Owl Bears are said to enjoy eating fish, so there’s a good chance there’s a nest near there.”
“Really?”
That was a pretty convincing explanation.
“Copson’s right. I’ve heard that too.”
It seemed that I was the only one who didn’t know, probably because I wasn’t a local.
Actually, all I knew about Owl Bears was that they were strong monsters. I didn’t know any real information about them. When I asked for more details, Copson answered while chewing on jerky.
“Owl Bear uses? Hmm, well. Besides the fur, there are feathers, claws, bones, beaks, eyes, etc… There are many things that are useful in various ways. The gallbladder is also used as an alchemy ingredient, so that says it all.”
It seemed that there was almost no part that couldn’t be used.
As expected, to make money from byproducts, you had to catch strong monsters. There was no point in catching goblins or kobolds all day long.
“But can three people even catch it in the first place?”
That was still my question.
Copson must have had something he believed in to suggest catching it.
It was reasonable to assume that he had considered various factors and brought it up to me because he thought it was possible. If he was the type to rush in without thinking, he would have died a long time ago.
“I heard that usually three or four skilled swordsmen can catch one.”
“What’s the standard for that skill?”
“I think I’m good enough.”
“That’s so vague.”
If about three or four swordsmen can catch it… it must be stronger than an orc. After hearing more about it, it seemed that the ones living around here were a little less than 2 meters tall.
Assuming they were about my height, I judged that they weren’t an opponent I couldn’t defeat with a sword.
“Don’t worry too much. Trust my shield. Um, this happened when I was back home, but I remember the vigilantes getting together and hunting an Owl Bear when I was young. I think they caught it because it came down to the village?”
Maria, who was warming her hands by the fire, tapped her shield.
“Honestly, those vigilantes weren’t particularly strong… Seeing that they managed with numbers, three people with our skills should be enough.”
“Hmm… is that so.”
I thought it would be super strong, but it wasn’t that strong.
Well, humans with blades were more powerful than most monsters. Their words must be reasonable.
Roughly, if we set Maria as the tank, used Copson as bait, and I unleashed my full damage, we could somehow manage.
With trustworthy companions and my strength, what was there to fear? If it didn’t seem like it would work, we could give up and catch other monsters.
After talking about that for a bit, we set off again.
“If you go this way, you’ll find the lake.”
Before long, Copson started to head into a rough path. I silently followed behind him.
After moving for about thirty minutes.
—Cold.
Suddenly, I felt like the temperature had dropped sharply.
The distinctly cold air permeated my face.
What the heck?
“Hey, Copson. Stop for a second.”
“What’s up?”
“Isn’t it a bit cold?”
“Hmm… I guess it is. Well, hasn’t it been cold all along?”
I looked around.
The terrain was generally uneven.
There didn’t seem to be anything special, but for some reason, I felt an eerie atmosphere. All I could see was a world covered in snow, frozen, bare branches, and snow piled on those branches.
“It’s not just that it’s been cold, but it feels like it’s colder here.”
“Isn’t it because we’ve been outside for too long? Let’s keep moving. We need to move quickly since we’ve come this far.”
“Is that so.”
I concluded it was just my imagination and went further inside, when—
—Saa.
Something.
I saw something.
It was a strange creature flying around like a butterfly.
Spring was still a long way off, so it couldn’t be a butterfly, and it was definitely not a moth or any other insect. It was quite large to be called an insect.
—Flutter, flutter.
The small, blue thing was floating around, moving slowly.
When we saw it, we froze in place.
—Pshh?
Its identity was an Ice Spirit.
“A, a spirit! It’s an Ice Spirit!”
Copson shouted frantically!
“Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”
“It’s a Murder Spirit!!!”
Maria pulled out her shield, and I, also panicked, drew my sword and hid behind Maria. “Uwaaaaaaah!!” Copson screamed and hid behind a tree. Maria and I quickly followed Copson!
“Shit, shit, shit! An Ice Spirit appeared!”
“You son of a bitches! Why are you in a place like this!”
“Let’s run!”
The morale of the group plummeted to the ground in an instant with the appearance of the unknown Murder Spirits.
Spirit.
What a terrifying and frightening word that was.
Spirits were basically monsters belonging to the category of powerful monsters. They took on small and seemingly fragile appearances, but their essence was nothing more than murderous pests with professional killing skills.
Basically, these guys used magic tailored to their attributes. That’s right. They were monsters that used magic. They were extremely dangerous beings.
Above all, they were beings with unclear existences.
They were rare and hard to encounter, so they could only be heard through rumors, making them objects of fear for low-level adventurers.
I had learned that the Moss Spirit I saw last time was a monster with inflated combat power, but it also used hypnosis magic, and according to rumors, Ice Spirits used ice-attribute magic.
“Damn it…! They’re coming!”
Copson, who had drawn his sword, shouted while trembling.
When I looked, two small Ice Spirits had discovered us and were slowly flying towards us. They looked like demonically carved, twisted ice blocks, and the sky-blue aura surrounding them felt like a sign of death.
It was too late to avoid the battle…!
Having made up my mind, I shouted loudly!
“Maria! Raise your shield! We’ll kill them!”
“A, are you sure?!”
“Yes! Copson! Watch our backs!”
“Got it…!”
At my words, Maria raised her shield and came out from behind the tree. I stood behind her, and Copson watched the left, right, and rear from behind me.
—Shalalalak.
“Lo, look at that son of a bitch!”
Then, around the floating Ice Spirit, in the air, ice picks the size of a child’s arm began to form! That’s right! It was using magic!
—Pshat!
And those sharp ice picks were fired at us!
—Thwack!
“I blocked it!”
I felt fear, but the ice pick couldn’t penetrate Maria’s iron shield! Good! Then we had a chance! Having made my judgment, I roared fiercely and threatened the monster.
“Good! We can block the attacks! Maria, advance!”
“Got it!”
Maria and I charged forward at the same time. —Pshat! At the same time, four more ice picks were fired, but they were all deflected by Maria’s shield. And the picks were being created again… The casting speed was slow!
“We’ll take them out at the same time!”
—Paaht!
As we were, we split up and darted towards our respective targets like shooting stars.
—Kwaang!
Maria, who had spun around once, slammed the Ice Spirit with her shield, which had gained momentum, and at the same time, I aimed at one of the guys floating stupidly in the air.
The Ice Spirit was a little smaller than a soccer ball, so it wasn’t difficult to aim.
Strength flowed into the hand holding the sword. Muscles trained to the limit roared and exploded! I needed to finish it off in one shot with a powerful blow!
—Swaeak!
My blade, which had cut through the cold air, struck the Ice Spirit in an instant!
—Thwack!
The feeling that came through my hand was heavy!
The fierce sword strike initially landed as a strike, but my strength and the sharpness of the blade exceeded the monster’s durability, and the ice block split as it was, tearing the monster apart!
I killed it!
“Maria! We need to make sure it’s dead!”
“Okay!”
When I looked to the side, I saw Copson and Maria ganging up on the Ice Spirit that had been knocked to the ground. Maria was hitting the spirit, which was trying to rise again, with the end of her shield, and Copson had picked up a rock the size of his head and was throwing it at the monster.
—Kwajak!
That was the end of it.
The Ice Spirit, which had been completely destroyed, passed away.
“Haa… haa… We caught a spirit! We caught a spirit!”
“Waaa!!!”
The two idiots shouted while dancing with joy.
“Hoo, we won.”
Compared to how scared I was, it wasn’t much of a deal.
Ignorant people had a habit of being afraid of magical things.
That’s why spirits were feared. But after experiencing it firsthand, it turned out that they weren’t that scary.
The Ice Spirit shot ice picks with magic, but it couldn’t penetrate the iron shield. Then the Fire Spirit would be the same.
“Turns out spirits aren’t that special!”
“We’ve gotten stronger, Copson.”
“I’m glad I changed my shield.”
Feeling good, we chatted happily and looked for loot.
Spirits were said to have a core that could be used as a magic item. I had actually seen the core of the Moss Wisp before.
Recalling that memory, I tried to find the core—
—Saaaa…
I saw a dark blue bead that emitted a strange coldness.
This seemed to be the core of the Ice Spirit.
“Is this… the core?”
Maria knelt down and looked at it with a curious expression.
“Hehehe. I heard it’s expensive.”
“Damn, this is a better income than I thought?”
I carefully grabbed it and slowly put it in my pouch.
“We were lucky. Honestly, I thought we were all going to die.”
“I thought I was going to die too, man.”
It seemed that it was worth coming all the way here.
Above all, it was confirmed that Ice Spirits were pushovers.
Our experience as adventurers had increased, so we agreed to look for more Ice Spirits nearby, instead of Owl Bears, and moved towards the lake, following Copson’s guidance.
Before long, we were able to find a small lake that was frozen solid like a skating rink.
It was then that we discovered ‘that presence’.
“Hey… shit, that.”
In the middle of the frozen small lake—
“…”
“…”
—stood a girl with a cold complexion.
