Before long, a pair of glowing eyes flashed in the darkness.
As they drew closer, their owner gradually came into view.
It was none other than a stag.
No matter how cold it was, this was still a forest, so it made sense that some kind of ecosystem would have developed here.
However, the stag before us was completely encased in ice.
There was no trace of life in it. One of its antlers was half broken, and parts of its body showed signs of decay.
A frozen stag.
Then, countless more pairs of glowing eyes flashed behind it, and other animals began to emerge.
Foxes, rabbits, squirrels, monkeys, bears……
Every last one of them was frozen and decaying, just like the stag.
In short,
Frozen forest friends.
As we stood facing off against them,
Whoooosh—
Suddenly, a fierce blizzard swept in, gathering at a single point in midair and gradually taking shape.
What emerged was a stereotypical witch wearing a robe and a pointed hat.
Rather than coming in person, she had summoned some kind of projection.
She glared at us and spoke.
“You insolent brats have no fear. As if setting foot on my land wasn’t enough, you dare go around causing a ruckus?”
“Sorry if we woke you up. There are just so many good trees around here. We’ll only borrow a few.”
The Witch of Blizzard let out an incredulous laugh at my words.
“Do you truly think everything will go your way?”
“So that’s a no?”
“You’ll have to pay the appropriate price first. And from the looks of it, you’ve freed the woodcutter without permission as well. You’ll have to pay for that too.”
Apparently, she knew that the woodcutter golem had been trapped in that mound of ice.
Given the circumstances, there was a good chance she had imprisoned it herself.
Crack! Crack!
I pointed at the golem, which was still diligently chopping wood.
“As you can see, that guy’s really good at his job. Very dedicated, too. It’d be a waste to leave someone that talented frozen solid.”
“……”
“So I’d like to keep him around for a while. What’s this appropriate price you’re talking about?”
“You need only serve me for a time, alongside these children here.”
The Witch of Blizzard gestured toward the frozen forest friends.
In other words, she intended to turn us into Frozen Kim Ho and Frozen Hong Yeon-hwa.
And everyone’s definition of “for a time” was different.
For some, it might mean a few days or weeks, while for others, it could mean decades.
Either way, these were conditions I couldn’t accept, nor did I have any intention of accepting them.
Just as I was about to politely decline, Hong Yeon-hwa joined the conversation with a question.
“And who says this land belongs to you?”
“……?”
“It looks like this was originally just a forest. Didn’t you come here later too?”
“……What an impudent child. Judging by the fire energy I sense from you, you must be a Ruby.”
“That’s not what’s important right now. Answer the question.”
Hong Yeon-hwa pressed her point with sound reasoning.
I’d noticed it whenever she argued with Song Cheon-hye, but she seemed to have a knack for putting people in their place.
The Witch of Blizzard appeared to be at a loss for words as well. After a brief silence, she let out a dry chuckle and spoke.
“……Yes, I claimed this land for myself. Through magic and ice. For so long, no human has dared challenge me, let alone approach this place. And yet, today, I find myself challenged.”
“Pretty much.”
“We shall see whether you have the strength to back up those bold words…… I’ll be watching.”
Whoooosh!
Before she had even finished speaking, an ice spear came flying toward us.
The sneaky witch had secretly chanted a spell and launched a surprise attack.
I was about to step in and deflect it when I realized there was no need.
Hong Yeon-hwa completed her casting in the blink of an eye, sending a fire arrow straight toward the incoming ice spear.
Booom!
Fire and ice collided in an explosion in midair.
That marked the beginning of the battle, and the frozen forest friends came charging at us from every direction.
Most headed straight for us, while a few went after the woodcutter golem.
Crack! Crack!
But the golem paid them no attention and continued chopping wood in silence.
It showed absolutely no sign of fighting back.
As expected, protecting it would be up to us.
Bang!
Compressed air exploded, sending a frozen monkey that had been leaping toward us through the branches flying into the distance.
I continued casting Wind Force, pushing the enemies back as I asked,
“Should I just stick to support for now?”
“Mhmm, I’ll try handling them myself.”
Hong Yeon-hwa answered confidently.
As she swept her staff through the air, the ruby glowed red.
Several magic circles appeared in midair, and fist-sized fireballs began raining down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The charging frozen animals were caught in the barrage and burned away on the spot.
I was intrigued, so I asked,
“That looks familiar. Where have I seen it before?”
“Mhmm, I learned it from an acquaintance… I tried copying it. In my own way…”
It seemed she had gained some insight from sparring with her “acquaintance” Hong Hyeon-ah in the inner world and developed a new fire spell based on what she’d learned.
Until now, she’d mostly drawn her magic circles on the ground, but she seemed to have gotten quite good at creating them in midair as well.
I nodded slowly.
“You’re definitely doing well on your own.”
“Thanks……! But I really couldn’t have done this on my own.”
Hong Yeon-hwa replied with a proud smile.
Then she turned her attention back to the battlefield and continued.
“I have a few more things…… I’ll show you.”
“Sure. Just a word of caution, though. Don’t get too caught up in showing them off.”
“Mhmm……!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the rain of fireballs continued, the frozen forest friends melted away almost as quickly as they came charging in.
Seeing this, the Witch of Blizzard spoke.
“……What unusual flames you wield. To think my children would be so helpless against them. In that case……”
Apparently, she had vaguely sensed the presence of [Aquaflame].
And it seemed she had a countermeasure of her own.
She waved her hands like a seasoned conductor, and the blizzard grew even fiercer.
Whoooooosh!
Then a thin layer formed around the frozen animals.
It appeared she had cast some kind of [Armor] type skill.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Another barrage of fireballs rained down, engulfing the frozen wolf and stag at the front of the pack.
But instead of melting away as before, they charged forward even faster.
Just as Hong Yeon-hwa was about to be caught by the wolf’s fangs and the stag’s antlers,
Whoosh!
She vanished from the spot as though she’d been snuffed out, then reappeared right beside me.
Apparently, she’d anticipated this and prepared [Blink] in advance.
And that wasn’t all she’d prepared.
Pillars of fire erupted from beneath the wolf and stag.
Fwoooooosh!
Even with their ice-attribute armor, they couldn’t withstand that much.
The two were promptly erased, and Hong Yeon-hwa continued chaining her spells together without pause.
[Pyrofusion]
The embers scattered across the battlefield merged together, triggering secondary explosions and sending pillars of fire shooting upward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
And from within the pillars of fire, multi-headed snakes began poking their heads out.
She had even summoned Hydras in the end.
They indiscriminately spat fireballs and unleashed streams of flame in every direction.
Fwoooooosh!
She’s seriously doing everything on her own.
All I’d done was fend off the enemies approaching the woodcutter and protect Hong Yeon-hwa a couple of times.
While dozens of Hydras now covered the battlefield, the army of frozen forest friends was rapidly dwindling in number.
With their complete annihilation not far off, I casually called out to the Witch of Blizzard.
“How about we call it a draw and make peace?”
“A draw, you say? Somehow, I doubt that’s what you really mean.”
“I’m just saying we should settle this amicably. It’s not like we’re tearing up the entire forest. We’re just here to harvest a few trees, and then we’ll be done.”
Nothing more, nothing less. Just let us max out the experience for the selection option before we leave.
At that, the Witch of Blizzard let out a derisive laugh.
“Such arrogance over a minor victory. These forces are but a tiny fraction of my army.”
“Oh, no! Don’t tell me you’re going to bring your main body and your entire army to teach us a lesson!”
“I see no need to go that far just yet. Still, we shall meet again soon.”
With that utterly clichéd parting line, she dissolved into the blizzard and scattered, just as she had when she appeared.
Now that we’d already clashed once, there likely wouldn’t be another battle for a while.
So we could guide the woodcutter golem around without a care, picking out the high-grade trees one after another.
Only after filling the huge cart it pulled to the brim did we finally return to the cabin.
Crack! Crack!
While the woodcutter busied itself splitting logs into lumber, we took the opportunity to rest.
After filling our stomachs with the snacks we’d brought along, we sat side by side in front of the campfire and wrapped ourselves in blankets.
“……”
Hong Yeon-hwa kept stealing glances at me.
Looking more closely, I noticed her gaze seemed to be drifting toward my shoulder.
So I casually told her,
“You don’t have to be shy. We’ve already shared a bed, after all.”
“……Mhmm.”
Hong Yeon-hwa flinched at having her thoughts seen through, but only for a moment before slowly resting her head on my shoulder.
We chatted about various everyday things like that until the conversation eventually shifted to the next duel battle week.
More specifically, to our plans to visit Hye-seong New City for an outside commission.
“What about you? Do you want to come?”
“I do want to go, but……”
“But?”
Hong Yeon-hwa hesitated for a while before answering.
“This time… I think I’ll stay behind.”
“Like I’ve told you plenty of times, you don’t have to worry about what anyone thinks. If you want to go, just say so.”
“It’s not that……”
Hong Yeon-hwa fidgeted again, taking her time to respond.
She seemed to be searching for the right words, so I waited patiently until she finally spoke.
“You said… you were going to meet Meteor Dragon too, right?”
“That’s right.”
“I heard it has something to do with Seo Ye-in, so I figured it must be a really important meeting…”
“And you feel like you shouldn’t intrude?”
“Mhmm……”
Personally, I believed that the more important something was, the more reason there was to make your presence known.
If you wanted to achieve world peace and fulfill a greedy person’s dreams, you needed a certain amount of shamelessness.
Of course, everyone had their own way of thinking, and most people would choose to take a step back in situations like this.
So, to show that I respected her decision, I slowly nodded.
Hong Yeon-hwa then added something else.
“And since you’re going anyway…… I thought it’d be nice if you two could spend some quality time together……”
“How considerate of you.”
“Mhmm. I won’t tag along this time. I’ll stay here instead. But in return……”
“In return?”
Hong Yeon-hwa shyly averted her gaze as she spoke.
“Sometimes, could we also… spend some time together… just the two of us?”
“Of course we can.”
I gave her a broad grin and kissed her on the cheek, making Hong Yeon-hwa’s face turn bright red in an instant.
Seeing her reaction only made me feel more playful, so I gave her shoulder a little nibble as well.
Hong Yeon-hwa immediately jolted in surprise.
She stared at me with wide eyes.
“……!?”
“Noona keeps biting me, so I tried biting her back the other day. Turns out it’s surprisingly fun.”
“Ah……”
“Want me to do it to you too?”
At my question, Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to think for a moment before answering shyly.
“I…… prefer something else……”
“Something else?”
“I like it…… when you’re gentle and affectionate.”
“You certainly know what you like.”
Well then, I might as well give her what she wanted.
I leaned over and kissed Hong Yeon-hwa on the forehead.
Then, with a slight smile tugging at the corners of my lips, I asked,
“Like this?”
“……Mhmm.”
Hong Yeon-hwa lowered her head.
Her face was even redder than before.
The only sound in the cabin was the soft crackling of the campfire.
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