MTM 132

“…Achoo!”

Zed and Harto just finished building a snowman. Harto’s shoulders hunched as he let out a cute sneeze. He sniffled with his nose flushed red, looking exactly like a little child.

“You’re going to catch a cold at this rate. Shall we head inside now?”

“It’s not a cold. My nose is just itchy…”

Zed was worried, but Harto was reluctant to leave. He stood his ground. His blue eyes couldn’t look away from the elementals still rolling around in the snow.

“Harto, don’t be stubborn…”

“Oh, Zed, look at this! It looks like a jewel!”

Harto interrupted Zed and pointed at the thick clusters of icicles hanging from a tree branch. After breaking off the icicles, which grew unevenly like teeth, Harto and the elementals stared at them for a long time as if they were marvelous treasures.

“Haa…”

Zed sighed as he watched them. He’d already urged Harto to go inside three times. Every time, Harto either said he was fine or rolled his eyes and pretended not to hear. Now, Harto’s hands and the tip of his nose were red, making Zed feel nervous. He’d even pulled Harto’s hands toward himself to heal them because he was worried, but it was only a temporary fix; the moment he turned his head, Harto was touching the snow again.

“Pyuu, pyuuu!”

Just then, Mir, whose body had frozen into a tiny block of ice, gestured toward the hot springs where steam was rising. He suggested that if they couldn’t play in the snow, they should at least play in the warm water.

“…Then, can I stay in the hot spring for just a little longer?”

“The hot spring…”

Zed contemplated Harto’s cautious question. There was nothing better than soaking in warm spring water to thaw a frozen body.

“Alright. I give up.”

Without pushing further, Zed tapped the tip of Harto’s nose. With a faint glow, the runny nose finally stopped.

“Then go warm up in the hot spring. I’ll go grab some breakfast for us.”

“Huh, alone?”

“Yes. I’ll be back soon.”

After saying that, Zed quickly scanned the area around the annex. This place was built on the edge of a remote cliff far from the main building, making it a very difficult structure for anyone to break into. A vast precipice sat behind the hot spring, and beyond that, steep mountains stood like a wall. Since there was only one path, Zed viewed this place as a safe zone that was easy to control.

Even though he’d seen the terrifying sight of the dragon ruthlessly tearing apart a giant spider’s tough shell with his own eyes that day, in Zed’s eyes n, Harto was a fragile being who might break in his arms, a precious person who needed the utmost protection.

***

“Oh… Zed?”

He was on his way down the path leading from the annex to the main building. Before he’d gone far, Zed came face-to-face with Allen, Ser, and a strange man standing beside them with a brimmed hat.

“Who is this?”

When Zed asked, Allen frowned as if he was in a difficult spot and glanced at the man. Then, he hurriedly approached Zed and whispered.

“…….”

Upon hearing Allen’s words, Zed’s pupils shook for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

How did the Seeker find out and come here…?

The Seeker was someone they were supposed to meet after arriving in Carseon according to the original plan. Seeing the Seeker show up here without warning made Zed feel more wary than welcoming. The cause of that wariness came from an unexpected realization.

“The Seeker? Not a weapon peddler?”

“What? Why are you suddenly talking about a weapon peddler?”

Allen asked with a bewildered expression at Zed’s random comment.

“That man is someone we know.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

Allen turned his head toward the Seeker in surprise. No matter how much he searched his memory, he couldn’t remember seeing a giant of a man in such strange clothing.

“My, it’s a first to have someone recognize me at a single glance.”

The Seeker, who had been silent until then, smiled and tossed his hat aside. Then, he pulled something out of the bag on his back. It was a crude iron helmet with horns on both sides. He put it on his head and smiled.

“…Wait, what?!”

Allen asked while pointing a finger at the Seeker. Now that he looked at him, he was the spitting image of the weapon peddler they’d met in Hipora Village when they bought the short sword. The giant bundle on his back, the weapons, and just as Zed said, his eyes and aura were exactly the same. Though his messy beard was now gone.

Allen gestured awkwardly with his hands, mouth agape, trying to let Zed know that the Seeker’s beard had disappeared.

“When you live a wandering life, there are many times you have to make a living by acting as a peddler here and there. Sometimes, shouldn’t one even resort to a bit of banditry?”

The Seeker spoke playfully to Allen, who still hadn’t gathered his wits, while pulling a letter from his robe and handing it to Ser. After checking the seal, Ser immediately passed the letter to Zed.

The crest of the Grenhardt family was stamped on the envelope. The letter stated that they should meet in Carseon to have an in-depth conversation about the fragment of the Demon God, the Demon King who was sealed long ago.

When Zed finished reading and looked up, the Seeker was standing right in front of him.

“I heard you brought a very important and dangerous item all the way here. The snow fairies told me.”

“Snow fairies?”

“Snow fairies really love humans’ secrets.”

The Seeker continued with a meaningful smile.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Ren, the Seeker. Sometimes I am a wanderer following the breath of the mountains and fields, sometimes a hunter chasing lonely wolves, sometimes a peddler making weapons to defeat the evil shadows in the golden desert, or a storyteller fishing for clouds. Today, I am a Seeker who received help from the snow fairies.”

Ren’s self-introduction felt like that of an extraordinary bard or a sophist who only talked nonsense.

Allen, who had been listening, whispered to Zed in disgust, “That man has been saying things like that for a while now.”

“…….”

Despite those words, Zed only stared at Ren with a skeptical gaze.

“Hein? What are you all doing here?”

Thanks to Leon appearing with a basket of steaming corn, the tense standoff between the two men came to an end.

***

Roll, roll, roll…

“Hahaha!”

After leaving the hot spring, Harto was happily rolling around on the white snow in his charcoal-black monster form. Mir and Krim rolled with him, causing a bit of a scene, and the three of them quickly became round snowballs that were hard to recognize.

“Everyone, look at me!”

When Harto happily stretched his black slime body, he looked like a cute harp seal covered in white snow powder.

The elements giggled incessantly, finding Harto’s ridiculous appearance funny.

“Pipit! Pi… pit?”

Spi, who was sitting on some straw watching the scene, suddenly stopped laughing. Spi sensed a strange presence and hurriedly signaled Harto, but the door to the annex swung open even faster.

“Harto.”

Harto flinched in shock as Zed appeared. The snow covering Harto’s body fell away in clumps.

“…Ah! Zed, this is… well, just for a second… because it was so hot…”

Harto was in the middle of stammering out excuses while trying to roll back into the hot spring when he saw the silhouette of a strange man over Zed’s shoulder. Harto froze like a stone on the spot.

“That is a rare form of monster.”

“…….”

Harto wasn’t the only one surprised. Ren also stared at Harto, true form, something he hadn’t even heard about from the snow fairies, with eyes full of curiosity. Zed didn’t like Ren’s greedy, excited gaze, but he could only click his tongue, knowing the secret was already out.