At dawn, before the sun had even risen.
I yawned and ca down to the first floor.
There, Sir Monde, Sherwood's reliable reinforcent, was sitting at a table with a gloomy face, waiting for us.
"Well, who do we have here? Isn't it my partner, Sir Monde?"
Sir Monde glared at .
I gave him a grin and ordered breakfast from the innkeeper, who had woken up early as I had requested the day before.
To run around all day, one must first have a hearty breakfast.
"You too?"
Monde reluctantly nodded.
I ordered Monde's al and the als of the other mbers who hadn't co down yet, then sat down across from him.
Then, I greeted Sir Monde, who was sipping strong liquor from the morning, with a cheerful morning greeting.
"Did you sleep well?"
"...No."
"Oh dear. It seems you couldn't sleep because you were so excited."
Sir Monde, who was fiddling with his glass, flinched and glared at .
"...Excited? You're excited to go out into that white hell beyond the barrier?"
"Sir Monde. Sleep is a restorative. Even if you're going on a picnic outside the barrier. If you don't get enough sleep, you can't play with the magical beasts with a sound mind, can you?"
Sir Monde drained his glass and looked at with a very displeased expression.
"You look excited."
"Of course. How could I not be excited? We're going on a thrilling journey beyond the unknown land that no one has ever been to. You can't predict what will happen. What if we're suddenly attacked by an A-rank magical beast? What if the ground suddenly gives way and we fall into a bottomless crevice? Just thinking about it is thrilling."
Monde sighed and gently shook his head.
"...This guy was also from Sherwood."
"What do you an?"
"Let switch teams. I can't do it with you. I'd rather go with the golden-eyed kid."
"Not a chance. You can't even do sign language."
"Shit. Still better than you."
Monde muttered a curse and drained his glass again.
Then, he pointed to one side and said, "I brought supplies."
"Supplies?"
When I looked where Sir Monde was pointing, a pile of thick cloaks that looked warm just by looking at them was piled up on the table.
They seed quite thick, looking like a pile of fur blankets.
The place we were going was a white land of death, all frozen white, where life could not survive.
The cloaks were all pure white, which would serve as camouflage in the white land and make us less conspicuous, but it also looked like they would get dirty easily.
"His Grace the Duke sent them. He said they have heat-retaining magic woven into them."
"Oh."
"He said they make sure to have them wear these when sending out reconnaissance teams beyond the barrier. Otherwise, they freeze to death or their movents beco sluggish and they get killed by magical beasts."
"That demonic swordsman guy didn't wear anything like that."
"That guy is half an ice mage. He must have had so way."
"Aha."
Creeak—
As I was chatting with Sir Monde, the sound of old wooden planks bending was heard, and one by one, the Sherwood mbers began to co down the stairs to the first floor.
Sorrow ca down the stairs calmly with eyes that sparkled like blue crystals.
Dofang didn't use the stairs, but yawned and dropped lightly from the railing.
Schmidt ca down the stairs, holding the still-sleeping Linda in his arms.
...Even the way they ca down was varied.
What a bunch of unique individuals.
One by one, they sat around the dining table, and soon the food we had ordered ca out.
The hot at soup seed to warm us up from the inside.
While eating, Sorrow spoke to with a particularly motivated face.
"When do we leave?"
I looked out the still-dark window and answered.
"When the sun rises and the darkness begins to break."
"I see."
Then, Sorrow spoke to Sir Monde.
"It's been a while. Is Lyle doing well?"
Sir Monde replied in a very unmotivated voice.
"He's probably doing well. Unlike , who has to go out beyond the barrier at dawn, he's probably sleeping in a warm bed with a woman by his side in so inn. Damn it."
"..."
Sorrow looked at the dejected Sir Monde for a mont, then silently focused on his al.
I looked at his blue eyes and asked.
"And Hartz?"
"Still sleeping."
"Aha."
I had forgotten.
He was a guy who slept a lot.
Dofang, who was still yawning and eating his soup, chuckled as he looked at Linda, who was dozing off in front of her food.
Then, he grabbed the swaying grass-green head before it could fall into the soup.
"Little sister. Are you sleepy now?"
Linda opened her sleepy eyes drowsily.
"Hmm...?"
Seeing that, Dofang chuckled again.
"This one seems to be a Sherwood mber through and through. To be so relaxed right before going out beyond the barrier."
I took in the two of them and pondered the words Dofang had used to call Linda.
"Little sister...?"
Dofang, still holding Linda's head, looked at .
"If she's your little sister, she's my little sister too. Besides, isn't she also from Sherwood? She's a little sister, right?"
"Hmm."
Co to think of it, that was right.
I was just a little surprised because at so point, they had naturally beco close.
Shushruta had made various efforts to blend into Sherwood, such as gathering information on the mbers, but in contrast, Linda had closed the distance without much effort.
"But is she older than Siri?"
"I wonder. I don't think she knows either. It seems she doesn't really count her age."
"Is that so?"
Just then, Schmidt, Linda's picnic partner, pulled his chair closer to Linda, took her spoon, and started putting soup into her mouth.
"Oof..."
Dofang smiled and said in a gentle tone.
"Little sister. I know you're sleepy, but you have to eat. So you won't get tired on our picnic."
Dofang held her head, and Schmidt fed her soup.
Schmidt on the left, Dofang on the right.
Looking at it like this, she was nothing short of Sherwood's precious little sister who needed a lot of care.
Had this one also blended into Sherwood at so point?
Linda, who had beco a full-fledged mber of Sherwood while I wasn't looking.
In a way, that was amazing.
I finished my al faster than the others, then took the beef jerky I had asked the innkeeper for in advance.
As I was doing a final check before leaving, the darkness outside began to lift.
As soon as I saw that, I left the inn.
"I'll be out first, so I'll see you outside."
After saying that, I slowly walked the streets, breathing in the cold air.
"Haaa..."
As I was stretching and walking, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
[My disciple.]
"Yes, Master."
[What if the magical beasts co rushing in while you're on reconnaissance?]
"You don't have to worry too much about that."
The interval between monster waves was at least a week, and at most two weeks.
aning, it would take at least a week for them to gather again.
In order to co rushing in like a wave, they also needed to gather a certain amount of numbers.
[But many of your predictions have been wrong, haven't they? You said it would start later.]
"...That's true."
It usually started in the dead of winter when it was coldest, but this ti it had started earlier.
But even so, the second wave wouldn't co rushing in the very next day.
And even if it did, there was no way we wouldn't see such a huge scale, so we could just run to the barrier.
[Hmm. Co to think of it, that's right.]
The Heavenly Demon was convinced.
[But why do they co in groups? As if soone had ordered them to.]
"That's a very mysterious thing... no one knows."
The people of the north now considered the monster wave as a natural phenonon, like an earthquake or a tsunami.
Why, why did they co in groups every winter?
The reason was unknown, but since it ca like a phenonon every year, they just prepared for it.
And so, I answered the Heavenly Demon's questions one by one and walked toward the barrier that was waiting for .
As I approached the barrier, a soldier on guard duty spotted and greeted .
"Hello."
"Good morning."
"Not so good. Sir Ashuban, is that you?"
"That's right."
The soldier in the fur coat stared at .
"Are you leaving now?"
"That's right."
"...Aren't you cold? It looks like you'll freeze to death as soon as you go out."
"I beat the cold a long ti ago."
"I see. And the others?"
"I just ca out first for a walk."
The soldier nodded as if he understood, then gestured to the people behind him.
The other two soldiers who were waiting for his command placed their hands on the wall.
A faint light flickered where they placed their hands.
A part of the wall slowly faded, and soon a passage large enough for one person to pass through appeared.
It was amazing no matter how many tis I saw it.
It was like seeing a mirage.
Was this the ancient magic inscribed on the wall?
But I didn't show it on the outside like a country bumpkin.
As I walked past the soldiers and into the passage, I said in an indifferent tone.
"Well then, take care."
The soldiers bid farewell.
"Please be careful."
"May the blessing of snow and ice be with you."
As the wall was thick, the passage was not short either.
It was like a small cave.
As I walked through the rather dark cave, I soon reached the end.
Just then, as if the dawn was breaking, light was beginning to fill the outside.
When I ca out of the long passage of the night, it was a snowy landscape.
In the midst of the pure white, the gently falling snowflakes greeted .
Seeing that the wind was calm, I thought it was a good ti to leave on a journey.
"Haaa..."
When I let out a long breath, a hazy white breath scattered.
I decided to enjoy the leisure of walking around for a while before the others ca.
As I was walking in front of the wall, watching the sky break, the remnants of the battle from the previous day were still scattered everywhere.
They seed to be the ones that were deed not marketable and left behind.
As I was looking around and walking, I noticed a presence rustling on one side.
"..."
I strode over and spoke to the madman in the black robe who was fiddling with a magical beast from the early morning.
"What are you doing?"
The man turned to .
He smiled brightly, as if he were happy to see .
"Ah, Sir Ashuban! We et again."
"So we do."
The weirdo I had seen the day before, who was fondling the balls of a magical beast.
It was the black mage, Adrian.
"What are you doing so early in the morning?"
"I received a reconnaissance mission. And you?"
"Ah, I was also diligently researching to be of help."
"So early in the morning?"
"Haha, I couldn't just stand still when such good specins were waiting for outside. Besides, as ti passes, the spirit weakens and the vessel becos faint, so I have to hurry as much as possible."
"I see."
I didn't quite understand what he was saying, but I understood that this guy was a mage crazy about research and that he had to hurry to use black magic.
"But aren't you cold?"
He was wearing a single black robe, and it didn't seem to be performing one of the functions of clothing, which was to provide warmth.
"Ah, it's fine. When my hands feel like they're going to freeze, I go inside the barrier for a while and warm myself by the bonfire the soldiers have prepared. At least I won't freeze to death, haha."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
"...Even if it's not the ti for a monster wave, a curious magical beast might visit from ti to ti, so be careful."
"Hahaha, of course."
As I was chatting with Adrian for a while, a passage appeared in the wall again, and voices were heard from it.
The Sherwood mbers must have finally arrived.
As I naturally watched the place, I saw Dofang cautiously sticking his body out.
Dofang, who was looking around, soon spotted and gestured.
"Little brother! Co here for a mont! We have a guest!"
"A guest?"
As Dofang said, I got up from my seat and went back into the passage...
"Hmm?"
Not only the other Sherwood mbers and Sir Monde, who were wearing the white cloaks they had been supplied with.
A fat snowman was smiling brightly and looking up at .
"...Lily?"
The Heavenly Demon laughed lowly.
[The princess has co to see you off.]
It was the princess, who had bundled up so much she looked like a fat snowman.
The duke had given a strict order that she would never be allowed beyond the barrier, so what was she doing here?
Co to think of it, that was probably why she couldn't co out of the passage and had called .
I asked Lilia.
"What are you doing here?"
"To cheer you on!"
"Cheer on?"
"Yes! I told you. The reason I ca to Tundra."
"...?"
"To boost morale!"
A laugh escaped .
Did she really wake up so early in the morning, fighting off the sleep that was weighing down her eyelids, just to cheer on?
The princess gestured, and I went to her and held out my hand.
Princess Lilia held my hand tightly with both of hers and looked up at .
"Hero. Please be careful. Ketel is watching over you, so I don't need to worry, right?"
I gave her a grin.
"Of course."
"Do your best! Although I can't go with you, I'll be cheering for you from here!"
As she said that, she squeezed my hand tightly.
For so reason, it felt like a warm energy was being transmitted through her hand, and I really felt energized. How strange.
From the side, Sir Monde chid in with a sullen tone.
"Princess. What about ?"
"Sir Monde, you take care of yourself. And don't hold the hero back."
"..."
Then, she whispered in a small voice that only I could hear.
"This is how he works hard."
"Aha."
What a wise princess.
(End of Chapter)
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