Chapter 48

It's a bit abrupt, but I'll split it into multiple posts because it's become too long.

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“Ugh... It’s cold. I’m definitely going to catch a cold.”

“You’re talking nonsense. There’s no way Tōru would catch a cold.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Tōru shivers as he walks down the road.

Asmo and I, walking behind him, respond to Tōru’s muttered words with a sigh.

“Well, maybe. Al made us a makeshift bath, after all!”

Tōru seems to interpret our comments differently and says happily.

No, Asmo and I meant that there’s no way an idiot would catch a cold, but there’s no need to make him angry, so we keep quiet.

Tōru, who had a perfect dunk in the river in the middle of winter. Asmo was supposed to be dragged in as well, but I managed to save him with my magic shield at the last moment.

Tōru seemed indignant that I only saved Asmo, but he changed his expression to one of joy when I lifted him out and prepared a makeshift drum can bath with earth magic.

So, the reason he’s cold now is just because he’s chilled.

There are people in the village who can use simple magic, but it seems that very few have the power to prepare a bath. Water can be fetched from wells or rivers, but it takes an enormous amount of effort and time. And it’s not like we can produce a large amount of water with magic.

Moreover, without a proper bathtub, it’s meaningless. So, most people just fill a bucket with hot water and wipe their bodies.

That’s why Tōru seems happy to be able to take a bath after a long time.

As a Japanese person, I can’t stand it. Just wiping? What is that?

There’s also Emma, so maybe I’ll set up a bath at her house next time.

---

I was drawn to the sight of Tōru enjoying the drum can bath while looking at the snowy scenery, but I hesitated to join, thinking about the way back. I’d definitely get chilled on the way back to the mansion.

---

When we returned from the river and went back to the square, there were Elinora, Emma, and Sheila. I wonder what’s going on.

The villagers around them were giving us suspicious glances.

As I approached with unease and caution, Elinora, with her arms crossed and eyes closed, spoke.

“Al, what is that ice statue?”

Ice statue? Oh, the one we three made.

“Ah, that one. It was quite a masterpiece. We made it!”

I answered with a smile, and Elinora and the others exchanged glances and nodded.

What’s this? It feels like they’re thinking it’s our doing.

‘We said it!’

‘Ah, this is bad.’

I could hear the weak voices of the villagers from a distance.

“Is there something wrong with the ice statue we made?”

Tōru asked Elinora, his voice trembling with tension.

He’s probably thinking it’s lucky to be able to talk to her directly.

“Is there something wrong? You’re saying that after seeing it?”

Elinora, with a sharp gaze, pointed at the ice statue.

There, the crystal of beauty that we had worked hard to create was in a pitiful state.

I couldn’t understand at all.

The proportions we had been so particular about had been messed up by someone, turning it into an ugly shape that was hard to look at. The belly was bulging, and there were muscles where there shouldn’t be. It looked like a child had played a prank. If the face had been altered as well, it could have been anyone, but the face was left untouched, making it clear who the model was.

However, Elinora’s ice statue was completely untouched, except for the chest, which was exaggerated.

It seems that the people who did this prank instinctively knew not to make Elinora an enemy, but this is clearly a provocation.

“No, that’s not it!”

“What’s not? You said you made it, Al!”

Elinora’s voice, filled with anger, and mainly snowballs were flying at us.

We dodged the snowballs that came flying at us and retreated to the back of a house.

Damn, I really did say that with a smile.

I want to punch my past self.

Moreover, Elinora was already prepared to throw.

“It’s not us!”

‘But I saw Tōru chiseling away at Emma’s ice statue’s chest.’

‘Me too. Tōru was grinning and chiseling away at the chest.’

Tōru’s voice of defense was heard, but unfortunately, the villagers’ voices were also heard at a bad time.

You guys saw the worst moment.

“Don’t say unnecessary things, you guys!”

“Ah, so it was Tōru after all.”

Emma, with a flat voice, prepared a snowball. Her eyes didn’t seem to have any highlights.

“Hey, it’s not me, sis! I was just about to—”

“Shut up!”

Snowballs were fired in rapid succession, forcing Tōru to retreat.

“Hey, sis? Tōru aside, I didn’t do anything. So, you don’t need to gather snow, right?”

Asmo, the only one of us not hiding, tried to persuade his sister, Sheila.

That guy, he’s trying to save himself.

“Eh? That’s not important. I just wanted to have a snowball fight.”

What a devilish smile. She’s dangerous in a different way from our sister. Asmo, seeing that persuasion wouldn’t work, quickly hid in the shadow of a house like us.

“What do we do?”

“I think it’s too much trouble to recover from this situation.”

“Sheila is also impossible to deal with.”

“Come out! You’re hiding because you have something to hide!”

“Of course, we’re hiding because we have something to hide.”

While we were huddled together, the snowball storm showed no signs of stopping.

“... In that case, let’s do it.”

Once Elinora gets like this, it’s hard to stop her. I looked at Tōru and the others with determined eyes.

“Yeah, it’s not bad to make the sisters say ‘gyah!’ once in a while... It’s a chance to show Elinora my cool side.”

“I don’t have much of a reason, but since I’m a target, I have no choice.”

“‘We’re counting on you, fatso who can move.’”

“Can I sell you guys to save my life?”

“‘Just kidding, just kidding.’”

The snowball storm stopped. When we peeked out, we saw that they were mass-producing snowballs. The balls were being made at an incredible speed, forming a mountain one after another.

Especially Sheila’s speed was unbelievable. Does she like simple tasks?

“Sheila is good at making snowballs. She likes simple tasks because they’re easy.”

“Her thinking is similar to my sister’s. But she lacks concentration.”

On the other hand, Elinora didn’t make any snowballs at all and stood guard, watching us.

Like a primary school student who only likes to throw in dodgeball. Or so it seems.

“Alright, let’s go for the win. Today, I’ll prove that the younger brother can beat the older sister.”

“‘Yeah!’”

We planned our strategy with hope.

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× × ×

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“Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll make the balls.”

We called out to each other and leaped out of the houses in unison.

“There they are!”

As if they had been waiting for us, Elinora threw a snowball.

It grazed my cheek and hit the house where we were hiding.

Then a dull sound. When I turned around, there was a snowball that had been dented like it had been hit with a blunt object.

‘My house’s wall!’

‘Give up. Elman will fix it.’

A pained voice came from somewhere. But now is not the time to worry about such small things.

“... Missed.”

“Al!”

“I know!”

A fastball like that, if you get hit once, it’s over.

Although our plan is a bit ahead of schedule, I’ll go with the plan and create a wall.

“Ice Wall!”

I put my hand on the ground and activated the ice magic.

Ice walls were created one after another to protect us. They weren’t in a straight line but at intervals to make it easier for us to move forward. This is to make it easier for us to attack unilaterally.

“Magic!?”

“Wow, so many.”

“You always use your power in unnecessary places, brother!”

The ice walls immediately started to block the enemy’s snowballs. We smiled and peeked out from behind the ice walls, throwing snowballs.

“Ah! Lady Elinora, the ice walls are blocking the snowballs!”

“Haha! Sis, you deserve it!”

“Moo, Asmo is cheating!”

“Don’t know anything about it!”

From the looks of Tōru and Asmo, we seem to be winning according to the plan.

‘This is getting interesting. Who do you think will win?’

‘If this continues, it’s Alfrid, right?’

‘Why can he use so much magic without getting tired?’

‘One of the seven wonders.’

‘Still, I think Lady Elinora will win.’

‘I’ll bet a copper coin on Alfrid!’

‘I’ll bet two copper coins on Lady Elinora.’

The villagers, a little distance away, were getting excited. It spread quickly, and more people gathered.

By the way, I haven’t seen any women other than children today. Are they all doing some kind of work?

No, there’s no way the women in our village would play with only men... I have a bad feeling that something is happening that we don’t know about.

While I was thinking about this, I was brought back to reality by Elinora’s voice.

“If there’s a wall, I can just go around it.”

There, Elinora was moving at high speed, dodging the walls and circling around to my side.

“... Too bad, that’s a pit.”

“Huh? Ah!”

“Haha, I thought you’d do that, Elinora, who’s good at close combat!”

I covered the pit where Elinora fell with ice magic and went to support Tōru and the others.

What do you think I was doing when I put my hand on the ground at the beginning? It wasn’t to create ice walls, but to make the ground collapse.

I made it quite deep, so it should buy us some time.

“Tōru, Asmo! I’m here to support you!”

“Yeah! Throw, throw!”

The situation changed to three against two, and we gained the upper hand.

With our fierce attack, Sheila and Emma retreated to the houses.

“Take this!”

Seeing this as a chance, Asmo threw a snowball in pursuit.

It flew straight and caught Sheila’s chest, who was too slow to escape.

“Ah!”

“‘The ball missed!’”

‘‘‘Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh