Chapter 5

In the complete darkness of the cave, Real lit a magical fire at his fingertips and used it as a light to proceed.

It was cold inside, but it was much better than outside since there was no wind. However, without proper cold-weather gear, the temperature was still quite harsh.

At first, I tried to call out loudly for the girl, but Real immediately rejected the idea. If there were any monsters living inside, it would immediately draw their attention. Moreover, if the monsters started to move around, they might discover and attack the girl who had taken refuge inside.

We suppressed our anxious feelings and steadily made our way through the cave.

And then...

"Ah!"

Under the light of the magical fire, she was there. A young girl with the same appearance as described by the villagers was hugging her knees and shivering. I tried to suppress the surge of joy and hurriedly ran to her.

At the sound of my running, the girl slowly lifted her head.

"Who are you, big brother?"

"It's okay, we're here to help!"

To reassure her, I took her hand, which was as cold as ice.

Not good, she had already lost a lot of body heat. Even in the dim light of Real's fire magic, her face was visibly pale. Even if we put on cold-weather gear now, she might weaken before she could warm up.

After a brief hesitation, I made a quick decision.

First, I took off my cold-weather gear, then I shed all the upper body clothing I was wearing underneath. To be honest, it was extremely cold!

"Kanna?"

Real's eyes widened at the sudden (upper body only) strip show in front of her, but I would hear her complaints later. I didn't have time to explain, and it was too cold to talk!

"Sorry, just a moment."

I apologized to the girl, who was shivering in the cold, and then I stripped off all her clothes. I put my cold-weather gear back on and pushed her inside. Her skin pressed against my chest, and a strong chill hit me. I suppressed the urge to throw her away and hugged her with all my strength.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"If she's this cold, it's faster to warm her up with skin-to-skin contact! Real, increase the heat! It's freezing here! I'm freezing too!"

Real, who understood my intention, added both hands to the fire she had been holding with one hand, making it larger. The heat increased, warming both the girl's cold body and mine, which had been drained of heat.

"Ah, that feels better."

Again, I felt like tears might well up from the physical warmth.

"When you started taking off your clothes, I began to doubt your sanity."

"I couldn't tell a girl to strip, could I?"

Thanks to my body heat and the magical fire, I could feel the girl's skin beginning to warm up. Her shivering was gradually subsiding, and it seemed the dangerous situation had been averted. I let out a sigh of relief.

As her body temperature returned and her consciousness became clearer, the girl looked up at me from close range.

"Sorry for stripping you suddenly."

I apologized and stroked her head, but she shook her head.

"Dad said to do this when it's cold."

It seemed that warming up with skin-to-skin contact was a common emergency measure in cold regions. I felt relieved that I wouldn't be suspected of being a pedophile.

"So, why were you in such a place? The villagers were really worried when you didn't come back at night?"

"Well, Mom caught a cold, so I came to pick mountain herbs... but..."

It was mostly as we had expected. She had finished picking the herbs growing above the cave when she heard the howl of a white wolf. In a panic, she tried to go down the mountain but slipped on the slope and fell down the cliff. Hearing the wolves' howls from close by, she instinctively fled into the cave.

"Then, it turned into a blizzard outside."

"Unable to leave, she eventually lost her body heat and couldn't move."

Real finished the last sentence, and the girl nodded apologetically.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

I stroked her head with a gentle expression, and she closed her eyes in contentment. Real also smiled, and I was reminded of how beautiful she looked when she smiled, despite her usually stern appearance.

"Well, since the girl is safe, let's get down the mountain quickly."

"Right..."

When Real tried to put on the cold-weather gear for the girl from the bag I had brought, a deep, rumbling sound resonated in our stomachs, followed by a noticeable tremor. Small rocks fell from the ceiling.

The sound and vibration stopped immediately, but soon a strong gust of wind blew in from the cave entrance. The gust subsided after a few seconds, but I felt cold sweat run down my back despite the cold.

"......Real, I have a really bad feeling about this."

"Coincidentally, so do I."

We exchanged tense glances.

The girl and I put on our clothes and cold-weather gear again. The girl laughed and played in the warmth of the fluffy, padded jacket, but I was quite worried. Real had gone to check the cave entrance.

When she returned, her expression was very serious. It seemed our bad feelings had been justified.

"From the look of it..."

"Yes, it's completely blocked."

The sound and vibration we heard earlier were from an avalanche on the snow-covered mountain. The strong gust of wind that blew in from the entrance was caused by the avalanche blocking the entrance.

"Can't you melt it with magic?"

"I tried, but it's impossible. My magic power would run out before I could penetrate that wall of snow."

"What about using your sword as a shovel?"

"What do you think my beloved sword is? But I considered that too. However, the amount of snow is too much and it's compressed to a high density, making it as hard as rock. It would be a struggle to dig through it."

"What about that enhancement magic? If you have it, use it—"

"Of course, there is a magic to enhance strength, but it's a trump card for combat. Unlike resistance magic, which affects the surface of the body, physical enhancement directly boosts the muscles and bones, causing a severe backlash after use. It can't be used for long periods, and I don't know how thick the snow is, so I can't use it recklessly."

For defense, it's fine to spread magic on the surface of the body, but physical enhancement forcibly boosts the body's capabilities, causing a severe backlash. It's like artificially inducing the strength of a person in a crisis and amplifying its effects.

"So what does that mean?"

"We're completely trapped."

One problem solved, another arises.

"I suppose we can try to stay positive..."

Real had a point. If the avalanche had happened after we left, we might have been caught in it. In that sense, we might have been lucky.

"But our luck was already in the negative when the avalanche happened."

"Don't say that. I want to pull my hair out too."

We both let out heavy sighs.

"So, what do we do, Kanna?"

"Don't ask me. I want to know too."

Still, I tried to think.

"Real, how long can your magic last?"

Magic consumes 'magic power.' It seems that a full night's rest can restore consumed magic power, but using magic continuously doesn't allow for much recovery. In this situation, our only hope is Real's magic.

"For this level of cold, I can handle it unconsciously with resistance magic, so it's not a problem. The issue is with elemental magic."

The amount of magic power each person has varies, and the same magic can consume different amounts of magic power depending on the person's aptitude.

Real's total magic power is apparently quite high compared to others, but her aptitude is heavily skewed towards enhancement magic, and she consumes much more magic power for elemental magic than other magic users.

"It's not an immediate problem, but if it's a long haul, it's a bit worrying. It's a close call whether it will last until morning."

To produce heat, the human body needs energy. We have no food or other sources of energy. In this situation, Real's magic is essential for the girl and me to gain new heat, but it won't last long.

"We're in a big pinch."

"We're in a big pinch."

"Are we in a pinch?"

The girl repeated.

"Yes, we're in a huge pinch."

The level has increased.

It might sound light-hearted, but it's serious. We're really in a pinch.

"Do you think someone will come to help us when it's morning?"

"They might come to help, but it's uncertain whether they'll notice this cave. Miss, is this cave known in the village?"

"Probably, my dad and others know about it. I came here for the first time, but..."

"There's still some hope. Our luck has improved a little."

"We still can't be too relaxed, though."

That's true. But having some hope gives a bit of comfort.

So, there's nothing else to do. We can only wait and hope for rescue.

*Hueon.*

"Ah-choo... Ah-choo..."

A cold wind blew, and the girl and I sneezed together. The girl was already cold, and I had also lost some body heat to her. I hope we don't catch a cold. Actually, I'm more worried about whether we'll survive after tomorrow.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm not okay. It's cold, obviously..."

Just as I was about to complain, I remembered the natural phenomenon that had just occurred.

The wind had blown in the cave, which was supposed to be sealed.

I turned to look deeper into the cave.

"What's wrong, Kanna?"

"......If the wind is blowing, it means there's an air current. If there's an air current, there must be a hole somewhere leading outside."

The entrance we came in was blocked by the avalanche. But if the wind is blowing, there must be another entrance.

"Our luck seems to be improving."

"It might not be big enough for a person to pass through, though."

"Then, you break through the rock near that hole, Real. The strength enhancement magic can only be used for a short time, but that's fine, right?"

Your raw strength is enough to blow away a fully armored knight. If the hole is big enough for a gust of wind, the surrounding rock might not be too thick. It's a bit of a stretch, but...

"Doing nothing won't improve the situation. It's better to do everything we can while we can, so we don't regret it later."

"......That makes sense. Alright, I'll go along with it."

I was glad for her agreeable response. With that decided, I turned to the girl and bent down.

"We don't know how far we have to walk, so I'll carry you. Hop on."

"O-Okay."

The village girl didn't fully understand the situation, but she seemed to get that we were moving and climbed on obediently.

"Big brother's back is big, isn't it?"

"I'm not just a pretty face, you know."

It felt like the sentiment of a brother with a cute little sister. Just carrying her made my heart warm.

"Shall we go, miss?"

"Right... Wait, when did I become your sister?"

"Well, it just felt that way. You seem older."

"I'm only eighteen."

"Really? You seem older... Oh, you have long ears?"

"Elves and half-elves grow at a similar rate to humans until around twenty. How old did you think I was?"

"You seemed very calm and experienced."

"Want to hear my exact age? I might feel like cutting you down."

"Please don't, that's quite scary."

I learned that, whether in this world or another, women care about their age.

The only light came from Real's magic, and the scenery was just the same rocky walls. Our sense of time was getting distorted, but we had been walking for more than five or ten minutes. Considering our physical condition, we were starting to think about turning back when we saw light at the end of the passage.

"Wow, this is amazing."

We stepped into a spacious, open area, a stark contrast to the enclosed cave passage. The ceiling was high, and the space was vast enough for sound to echo. The walls of the hemispherical space were covered with translucent ice, sparkling in the light. It was a grand and unfamiliar sight.

"Sorry, Kanna, look at the center of the ceiling. The highest point."

Following her gaze, I saw a large hole at the highest point of the ceiling. The gust of wind we felt in the passage must have come from there.

"I didn't expect a hole in the ceiling. We can't climb that, though."

"Why not summon a dragon?"

"......No, even if we could get out that way, it's a blizzard outside. We might be blown by strong winds and hit the rocks."

The reason we chose to climb the mountain on foot instead of flying on a dragon is because of this. Nighttime flying in unfamiliar terrain with poor visibility is extremely dangerous.

"Anyway, it's cold. Isn't this the coldest spot?"

"Indeed, I'm starting to feel the cold too."

"Let's tough it out until morning and wait for the blizzard to stop. Then we'll summon a dragon to escape. For now, let's focus on conserving our strength. This place is too cold, so let's go back to the cave."

"That's the only option... At least we found a hole leading outside."

This is a test of endurance for the girl and me. We have no choice but to return to the less cold cave and wait.

Feeling a bit disheartened, I turned to go back the way we came, with the girl still on my back.

Before I could, my eyes were drawn to the center of the spacious area.

I noticed for the first time that there was a strange object there. A long, stick-like object protruding from the rocky ground.

"Hey, Real, what do you think that is?"

"That's... a spear?"

Real, who had turned to look, narrowed her eyes and identified the object. Elves have nearly several times the vision of humans, so if she says it's a spear, it probably is.

A bad... not necessarily bad, but a somewhat uneasy feeling arose in me.

"......Weapons in such places are usually cursed or have some kind of story behind them, right? It's a common pattern in the fairy tales I know."

"Such stories do exist, though they're not common. They often involve sealing something or the weapon itself being sealed. They're not the kind of things you want to get close to."

"Right..."

I didn't have a bad feeling, but I did have a sense that something troublesome might happen. Since coming to this world, my sixth sense has been quite sharp, so I was quite anxious.

"......Should we pretend we didn't see it?"

"I agree."

With serious agreement, we decided to pretend we hadn't seen it and left the area.

Just as we were about to, I looked up.

A magical array appeared in the air.

"......Seriously?"

It looked very similar to the summoning array that appeared on the castle floor when I was summoned to this world.

Real also noticed the abnormality and looked at the magical array in the air.

"Damn... It's a 'Guardian'?"

"Probably to protect that spear?"

In RPGs, it's a common final challenge to protect a treasure.

"That spear seems to have a significant story behind it. If an unauthorized person enters, a magical trap to summon a guardian for defense is likely set up. So, Kanna, what do we do?"

"Why are you asking me, a beginner in this world? We should run, obviously! You're actually quite lazy when it comes to thinking, aren't you?"

"I'm a knight."

"Is this the time to be smug?"

While scolding her, I quickly turned to the entrance of the space. I had the girl on my back, and our goal was to rescue her, not treasure hunting.

A particularly strong light came from behind us. The magical array had activated. A moment later, a heavy sound and vibration traveled through the floor. I steadied myself and ran at full speed toward the entrance.

Just as we were about to make it, a large shadow passed under my feet.

"Watch out, Real!"

Real was just a few steps away from escaping the space. But she reacted to my voice and jumped to the side. At the same time, a massive object landed with a loud thud just above her head.

Is this the right emergency measure for someone who is freezing?