Chapter 50

I made a slight change in the writing, but it's like a bonus story, so please don't mind. Next time, it will be back to Alfrid as usual.

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In a house in Koriatt Village

My husband and children put on their thick leather boots and stand up.

"I'm going out now."

"Mom, I'm going out!"

"Yes, have a good day. I'll be doing a group project at Reina's house after I finish this knitting, so warm up the stew and eat it for lunch."

Seeing the children's energetic appearance, I wave and smile from inside the room.

"Okay!"

"Got it, thanks."

The children, who answered my words with enthusiasm, dash out into the snowy world, followed by my husband.

Then the door closes.

Inside, the only sound is the crackling of the burning logs to warm the room.

I move closer to the fireplace, adjust the logs to burn better, and sit down to start knitting.

"Phew, it's cold."

During this season, we can't do farm work, so we pay taxes with clothes or baskets made of wood. We choose from a few options.

In our house, we decided to pay with clothes and wooden baskets.

Some other houses make things like bowls, cups, and wooden carvings, but my family isn't that skilled, so we do the more common tasks.

Recently, we've been doing it as a family of three every day, but today, since it snowed, I decided to let the children go out to play.

Actually, I wanted to go out with everyone, but today I have to endure.

Because today is that day.

To be honest, I finished today's quota for this day.

Until I get the call, I'll just do some knitting.

Because it snowed today, it's been chilly since morning, and my hands are cold.

I try to keep my hands from getting too cold, warming my fingers by the fire while manipulating the knitting needles to make clothes.

The room feels even quieter now that the children were making a ruckus about the snow just a moment ago.

After a while, with no one to talk to, I work silently, and the rhythmic sound of someone knocking on the front door reaches my ears.

"It's fine."

When I respond, my best friend Ritta opens the door with a bang and comes in.

"Hanna, since it's snowing today, the meeting will be held outside."

"What are we doing today?"

"Today, well, well, well, well, we're making ice sculptures!"

I can hear Ritta's excited voice. Could this be it? My imagination starts to run wild.

"Could the subject be...?"

"Sil × Al!"

"Wait a minute! I'll be right there!"

"Hurry up."

I immediately put out the fire, put on my clothes, and run out into the snowy world with Ritta.

"Let's get started!"

"What should we do?"

"Hehehe..."

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In Koriatt Village.

Thanks to the snow, many children are running around outside energetically.

The adult men, drawn by the children, accompany them to take care of them, but most of them are probably tired of staying inside doing odd jobs. Using the excuse that the children want to play, the men escape and run out with the children.

Roland, who makes snowmen in the village, is one of them.

"Look! Westa! My snowman! It has abs like mine, right?"

"Hmph, Roland. What's the point of boasting about something so short? Look at mine! It's properly human-shaped."

"What? Wait a minute! I'll make an ice sculpture just like my body right now."

"Hmph. Just be careful not to end up with something that looks like a bear or a snowman."

Then, they turn their backs to each other and start working.

"I'm done, Westa!"

Roland shows his work confidently.

He has created a body in the shape of an inverted triangle, with every muscle, especially the abs and biceps, meticulously detailed. Westa thought it was worth a gasp of admiration just for the upper body, but then he asked,

"What's that lower body?"

"What? It's obviously the lower body to support my impressive upper body."

"Are you serious?" Westa's face turns blue with veins as he looks at Roland's face.

"Did you really create a monster that goes beyond the range of bears and snowmen? What's with that disproportionate body? It looks like an orc!"

"Huh!? What about yours?"

Roland, looking indignant, confronts Westa, who then snorts and reveals his ice sculpture.

"Behold! This is the ice sculpture that represents my beautiful physique!"

Westa's ice sculpture, with his arms behind his head, emphasizes his chest and abs. The level of detail is indeed high, but it's clear that the muscles are exaggerated compared to the real Westa.

Roland was the first to notice this.

"Hmm? Is this you?"

Roland narrows his eyes, sending a suspicious glance. However, Westa puffs out his chest, as if he has nothing to hide.

"There's no way you have that much muscle!"

"Hey, what are you doing... Ahhh!? My abs and chest!"

Westa screams and throws snow to stop him.

Roland takes a direct hit to the face.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"It's your punishment for touching my ice sculpture. Isn't it better, Roland? You look twice as cool now. Hahaha... Cough!?"

A snowball is thrown into Westa's open mouth.

"Hey, are you serious?"

"Come at me, you musclehead!"

"I'll crush you, brainless!"

A fierce snowball fight begins on the village road.

Other villagers, drawn by the commotion, gather to watch.

"Hey, Erman, lend me a hand! Let's take down that musclehead!"

"Me? Me?"

"Lard, lend me a hand! Let's show that muscle master a thing or two!"

"Ha!? Me?"

Hearing Roland and Westa's calls for support, the villagers join in one after another, saying, "Let us join too!" and "It's a real snowball fight!"

The teams split into two, and Koriatt Village became a battlefield.