Volume 8 Chapter 9 Hell Exploration - To The Villages
The entire ground was covered in a blanket of snow.
A cold wind was blowing constantly, carrying snow along with it. The trees surrounding us were like ice trees, their white bark shaking in the wind.
"..."
Two figures stood there. Needless to say, it was me and Ice.
Landing after getting thrown had been a piece of cake. I didn't even know how much I had spun in the air, but I reduced gravity near the ground and plunged directly into the thick snow.
We crawled out from within the snow and finally brushed it off our bodies. After taking a breath, I said.
"Cold!"
"Th-this is tough... I have some ice magic resistance, but I'm worried about Wade-kun..."
"No, the same goes for me. I have the Anahata Chakra, so it's not life-threatening, but..."
Even so, it's freezing. My body feels the cold even though I grew up in a warm area. It's still spring on Earth. Don't they have anything like that in Hell?
Landing here and immediately getting buried in the snow was the worst. I feel like I lost a lot of body heat.
Now my whole body is shivering, and Ice is hugging herself. Nilfheim is this cold, huh? This is what it's like in Norse mythology.
Hmm, I could force my body to warm up with Anahata Chakra's physical modifications, but it'll consume extra energy, and Ice will be even colder during that time.
"No point in complaining. Let's start moving. We won't die, but it's too cold to stay put."
"Y-yeah...! So what should we do?"
Ice looked at me, and I replied.
"First, secure a base. Then, meet up with our companions. And finally, gather information. We don't know how far we are from the Demon King's castle."
"I think Sur-san knows the distance between the Demon King's castle and here, right...?"
"True. Then the information we gather should focus on the surrounding area."
"Yeah..."
"Brahma," I muttered as Ice nodded back to me. Ajna Chakra activated, and I searched for everyone's location with my second eye.
"...They're all pretty far away. And they're all in the middle of nowhere. We can meet up easily enough, but it'll be tough to make it back to town."
"Should we head for settlement first...?"
"Yeah, let's do that. We should warm up a bit before we try to meet up. The nearest settlement for us is...over there."
"Yes...let's go then!"
"Okay. Weight Reduce."
I reduced the weight of Ice and myself so we wouldn't sink into the snow. "Oh wow...that's easy to walk in!" Ice said happily. I shrugged with a smile.
We started walking while chatting.
"What do you think about what Mudi said?"
"Um, putting on horns and pretending to be Demons..."
"And the 'abandon all good intentions.'."
I added that last part, and Ice looked troubled. "Uhhh..."
"We have to get a horn somehow. I could make them with ice magic, but I can't do anything about the color..."
"Maybe we can make something from these trees? Luckily, there are a lot around us."
As I said that, I touched a nearby snow tree, and Ice's eyes widened. I looked up to see a face up above.
"...What?"
At the same time, the snow trees I had been walking by started laughing and attacking us all at once. I shouted, "Whoa! Object Weight Increase!" and crushed them all.
The monsters that had looked like trees were all crushed with gravity magic. My heart pounding, I picked up a piece of wood and showed it to Ice.
"We...we got some material, I guess?"
"Ha, haha...that was a surprise, but it's just what we needed."
"Yeah, it is. Object Point Shift."
I floated some pieces of wood the right size in mid-air and shaped them with Durandal. Horns. Yeah, these look like horns. I'll use the parallel thinking of Sahasrara Chakra, my second brain.
I'm using my chakra to half-autopilot my gravity magic while carving those horns out of wood. Then, Ice started talking to me.
"About that other thing, with Mudi-san, you know?"
I looked at Ice when she said that. Then, she added.
"I don't think we can judge yet. We haven't really seen anything yet."
"Right. The only thing we've got to go off of is that tree monster, but that's not really enough to help us."
"Hehehe... Yeah. But, um..."
Ice looked up at me as she said this.
"Even if they probably wouldn't measure up to us, we should still be careful. They're a demon that's done all those things while they were on Earth."
"Right. I don't know what Mudi's intentions are, but that demon's malicious intent is real. Let's be careful as we head over there. Done!"
"Whoa, that was fast!"
I finished carving the 2 horns and handed one to Ice.
I made a fierce-looking oni horn that curved up a bit. Since it was made from a narrow strip of wood, it came out really well.
On the other hand, Ice's horn was curved downward, kind of like a sheep's horn. Oh—nice. It has a devilish look to it. Cute! As expected of my wife.
"It looks good on you, Ice. With that on, there's no way you'd be mistaken for a demon. And it's cute, too."
"Hehehe... Thanks! Wade-kun looks cool and cute, too...!"
"Really? Ice praises me no matter what I do."
"I'm just saying what I really think. Everything Wade-kun does is amazing."
"Even if I put on a demon's horn?"
"Yep! It suits you."
Ice looked at me with sparkling eyes. I felt a little embarrassed, but I continued to take stock of my Ajna chakra.
"The settlement should be soon."
"Yep. All the people there are demons, too, but they seem like regular people..."
"...Were you flying with that ice bird earlier?"
"Yup. I'm not planning on being carried around like a baby...!"
Ice gave me a big smile. Yup. She's definitely still holding a grudge about the time I was overprotective.
"...I'm counting on you, Ice."
"Really?"
"Really, really."
"That sounds a little fake..."
While huffing, Ice hugged my arm. I chuckled and said, "Just kidding."
We walked together, giggling. It had been a while since it was just Ice and me. It felt nice, even in the cold, it warmed my heart.
Ice seemed to feel the same way, as she walked with a contented look, resting her face on my arm. "Hey, Wade, can we enjoy being alone until we meet the others?" she said to me.
"Sure."
"Hehe... yay!"
Despite being in the hellish Nilfheim, Ice was in high spirits. Watching her, I realized she had been giving in to everyone for quite some time.
On this journey, let's prioritize Ice for a while. If I said I love everyone, then I should love Ice enough too. It's the duty and right of the harem's master.
Lost in these thoughts, we finally emerged from the withered forest and saw a village, along with the first villager.
"...Definitely a demon."
"Yeah..."
The villager demon seemed to be working, but upon seeing us, he brightened up and approached us with a smile and a wave.
...Do demon horns work? Even demons are friendly with each other. But with Mudi's behavior, I remained wary for now.
"Well, well, are you travelers? It must be tough in this deep snow. What brings you to this village?"
"We've finished our local investigation and are headed back to the capital. Can we rest here for a bit? Oh, she's a member of my unit, and I'm the captain. The others are separate."
I smoothly replied with honorifics and lies, leaving Ice wide-eyed. But she quickly recovered and gave a simple nod after me.
"Oh, you're an official then. No wonder you all have such magnificent horns. By the way, are you here on behalf of the Demon King?"
"Ah, sorry. I've been strictly instructed not to mention my affiliation too much."
"That was rude of me. Then, I must respectfully welcome you. It's getting dark, so please stay in this village for the night."
As we were politely guided by the villagers, Ice and I followed the demon's back with cold eyes.
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