Chapter 323

“Shit!!”

I frantically jumped out of bed and nearly tore the curtains off their hooks as I opened them to reveal the blindingly bright sun. And to think that I had meant to get up before sunrise so that I could wash up and leisurely prepare…

“Daniela! Get up! We’re late!”

“Mmm…”

I shook her shoulders but she would not open her eyes. If anything, there was something gloomy about her.

We hadn’t slept as early as I had wanted to. But not for a lack of trying. I had been about to fall asleep before she rudely interrupted me.

“Daniela! Hurry up!”

“I am still tired…”

“Argh!”

I tore away the blankets. This had always been the most effective of the wake-up attacks my mother used to inflict upon me. Once they were gone, you had no choice. Her eyes remained shut as she searched for the covers, but they were not within reach. I had won.

“Or not…”

“Damn…”

Daniela was completely naked.

“Uh, you don’t have much choice now.”

“Mmm…gaah…”

She had gotten quite angry when I had done this before. But so much had changed since then…

When I thought about it like that, the sight became deeply moving in a way.

Daniela moaned like some kind of zombie for a while, and so I started to pack, thinking that she’d get up eventually. But being the bastard that she was, she went straight back to sleep, blanket or no blanket. And so I opened the window in retaliation. While the sun was out, the wind was still cold. The temperature in the room dropped at once, and Daniela finally got up.

“…”

“Morning.”

“…I did not think you would go so far…”

“I gave you ample warning. Now hurry up and pack.”

“Ahhh… My head hurts from a lack of sleep…”

“You reap what you sow, dumbass.”

Hey, I was tired too. But we had no choice…

□ □ □ □

We were just barely able to check out on time.

“Sorry that we’re late.”

“No, no. Thank you for staying with us. We hope to see you again soon, Mister Asagi.”

Well, it would be hard to use a different inn since they remembered our names and everything. But at least it was a good place.

The sun was now high in the sky and the air had warmed up a little. However, the wind was still chilly and our faces felt very cold once we stepped out of the warm building. All the people who were walking outside had their collars up as protection from the cold.

We followed their sample, ensuring that our precious body heat would not escape. It would have been nice to have a scarf, but those would be hard to use when you were wearing these cape-like things. 

“So…how about breakfast?”

“We’re still in a hurry, unless you forgot.”

“Haa… Very well. We will have to eat as we walk.”

The town next to Yukka was the swamp town of Arkaroid. And it was about one day on foot after leaving the west gate. After that, we would travel farther west to the trading city of Usk, which was also a day on foot.

“In other words, I could reach Usk in one day.”

“How convenient.”

“I use what I have. You should keep that in mind.”

“Alright then. If you insist, I will allow you to make things easy for me.”

Once we were out of the west gate, I picked up Daniela and enveloped my legs in platinum and green wind. To Daniela, I was just a very fast, safe, and convenient ride.

We left Yukka and traveled in a straight line. Only we were in the sky.

“Arkaroid is a day away on foot. How many minutes will it be for you?”

“Uh… I think I can reach it by midday if I go really fast.”

Probably two or three hours. After all, there were no obstacles or red lights in my way. And no speed limits or monsters either. It wouldn’t take anything close to a day.

“We can take a break in Arkaroid. We’ll have lunch and then leave right after. That way, we should reach Usk in the evening.”

“Yes, very convenient.”

“Stop saying that.”

It made me feel like a bus.

Usk was the town where Lemon came from. The swamp town… There hadn’t been much of interest there. It had rained really badly, and we were saved by a merchant called Mister Tanjelin. We first met Lemon when trying to enter the town.

And it was in the inn that she recommended to us that I met Lehaty. So, while we hadn’t done much sightseeing, we had met a decent number of people. And since the weather was better now, I had high hopes of checking out any notable landmarks.

We chatted about inconsequential things as I dashed through the air for the next two hours. And then Arkaroid came into view. It was the first time I saw the town under a clear sky. And so I was surprised by how beautiful a lot of the buildings were. They had yellow roofs and were quite charming.

If this were during the spring, the swampland around the town would have been sparkling. There would be flowers around the water and it would have been the embodiment of serenity.

However, it was tragically the icesnow phase. Everything was covered in snow. It was very unfortunate.

“Alright, it’s almost time to descend and walk.”

“Very well. There is a road down there.”

From up above, I could see a single line going through the snow. It led straight towards Arkaroid. 

I landed carefully so as not to create a small blizzard, and then gently let Daniela down. We adjusted our disheveled winter clothes and started to walk down the road.

The snow felt much more overwhelming when you were at ground level. It was packed a lot higher than I had expected… But the surface seemed to be frozen. It was as if it had melted and then frozen repeatedly. Either that or someone had poured water over it. It looked slippery.

As we continued to trudge down the road, my body started to grow warm. I was even sweating under my clothes.

“Phew…finally. Finally.”

I managed to walk all of the way there without tripping. The Arkaroid entrance was right in front of us now. It was a great gate made out of wood.

“Hello?”

There was no gatekeeper. Perhaps because it was too cold. I suppose they could do that because there were no monsters about during this time of the year. Part of me thought that a gatekeeper should be present regardless, but I suppose Arkaroid was a lot kinder to its employees than some companies I could think of.

“Mmm…ah, sorry. Did you want to come in?”

“Yes. Me and her.”

A small door opened to the side and a guard came out while rubbing his hands together. He then accepted our status cards.

“Just wait here. It won’t be a minute.”

“Alright.”

He ran back through the door as if he couldn’t bear the cold for a second longer. He was the spitting image of an old man coming out of his house to fetch the newspaper in the morning.

The old man came out again after a minute. This time he was wearing a very warm-looking coat. He then took out our status cards from his giant pocket and handed them back to us.

“Alright, you can come in through this door.”

“You mean you’re not going to open the huge gates for us?”

He was pointing at the small side door he had come out of.

“I can’t feel my hands. But you’re welcome to wait out here until I get them warmed up again?”

“Thank you so much for letting us use your door.”

“That’s alright. Now, welcome to Arkaroid.”

I sighed and thanked him. Then Daniela and I walked through the door.

There was a small room inside. It had a table with some documents and a machine that read the status cards. That was it. Oh, and a very small stove…that looked like it would barely warm your toes.

And on the other side of this small room, was another door. Arkaroid would be right behind it. Finally. But would they have good food…? That was the important question.