The Branded Female Fencer

"No! Let's set up a tent here!

"This is the place!? Sure it's a cliff by the side, huh?

"It's better than moving and falling on a cliff! Hurry!"

The Alphilis set up a tent desperately. It would have been about this much later and earlier that I thought it would be tougher to set up a tent than to fight. Successfully managed to set up two tents, with the entrance facing each other and hurrying to cage in the tent. It gets a little narrower but I can't leave the horses alone, so I set up a tent to accommodate the horses, and everyone, including the horses, leans against each other.

Miranda and Uty had their own boundaries around the tent, but they would be just resting. Still, I guess it's because we have a connection that we don't have to freeze to death yet.

In the meantime, it is Miranda and Uty who raise their voices and communicate the measures to everyone.

"Ready? Don't go to sleep tonight, even if it's hard! If you sleep in the cold, your life will be over!?

"Yes, we encourage each other and rub our bodies. If you don't, your fingertips will rot in the cold!

"Until this hourglass falls off is a battle. By the time this falls, the night will be dawn. Then let's move!

But neither did Miranda imagine that the snowstorm would never stop at dawn. It's dark outside even after the hourglass has fallen off, and I don't even know the sun has risen. Thanks to regular Miranda and Uty going to reconnect, although the snow weight does not mean the tent will collapse, it cannot be blocked until the cold. Encouraging each other was also drawing closer to limits.

"Haa... haa..."

"When will this snowstorm stop? Hey, Jake..."

"Lisa, hold on! Jake's not here!

But Lisa, the least physically fit, finally started to get upset. Alphilis, instead of noticing, I snapped Lisa's cheek, but she's not responding very well.

"I shouldn't, I'm starting to lose consciousness"

"So is Lisa, but it's time for me to be tough, Alfie. Her eyelids are heavy."

"Aerie, you're not gonna let me die alone, are you?

"I know that... but"

Aerial is also desperate to shake off his sleeper, but the situation seems pretty harsh.

"Guh. I can't believe there's no use for a curse at a time like this. How useless!

You can't even use fire in a narrow tent for a detour. When the octagonal Alphilis were desperate, Alphilis felt signs of someone outside.

"I wonder who... you can't possibly move with such a snowstorm. But I'm sleepy now..."

Alphilis, who remained conscious until the end, felt the horses' nagging voice heard in his falling consciousness.

Alfie, wake up.

"Ugh..."

"Alfi, it's dinner!

"What a foodie I am!

When Alphilis got up unexpectedly scratchy, it was like some house there. Miranda looks worried and peeks at Alphilis. Everyone is apparently safe and sleeping there with a blanket over them.

"If you can wake up that way, you'll be fine."

"What are you talking about people... that, what are we doing here?

"That's right, I think they saved us."

When Alphilis looked through the room twirling, it was a strange space. First, white as the walls and ceilings were made of snow. No, it was very fine snow of particles, if you look good. Yet inside the room is kept at a comfortable temperature. Around it were decorated or hung curses made of bones and skins, obviously inhabited by those who dealt with sorcery.

"Uh-huh, you look somewhere."

"It looks like Fairtoose's place. I just met the Lord here."

"Um, I'm a witch, as those people would have guessed. Witch apprentice, to be exact."

A door made of ice slid sideways and a woman appeared. Blue hair close to white as well. Alphilis recalls that Louis once had that hair color when he waved his curse ice sword. That means she's someone with an affinity for ice.

And my skin was white, too. Pure white as if it was hardly affected by the sun's light. Eyes go through the blue too, the same color as the hair color. I wonder how strong the affinity is with ice. Combined with that color, women who look almost the same age as Alphilis look very faceless. I thought she was a doll-like girl when I first saw Lisa, but the woman in front of me almost felt something emotional. Alphilis wonders if this is what happens if the doll talks.

But the woman speaks to the Alphilis in a firm tone, as if she were never a doll.

"And that's an interesting way to wake you up. In the lower realm these days, is such a way of waking up popular?

"No, no, because this kid is a foodie"

"Hey Miranda!? Don't say anything unsolicited!

Then I look at the two of them starting to rub each other like that, and the woman laughs lightly, "Huh," she said. To that grin, an alphilis that can be unwittingly hitched.

"(Oh, you look like that too)"

But if the woman didn't feel comfortable that Alphilis had seen her smile, she immediately returned her expression and became as faceless as the original doll.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Closess. As I mentioned earlier, I trained under" The Witch of the Ice Plains ". What about them?

"I'm Alphilis. A traveling mercenary."

"Atashi is Miranda. It's happening now, Sister of Arnelian Church."

Each of them introduces himself. Then he brought his hands to his chin to do troubling tricks, but he immediately looked at the two with cold eyes.

"Those guys, they're not just mercenaries and sisters. To the curse mark, the body of immortality. Who are they?

"How did you notice this?

Looks like Miranda raised her guard. If this determines that Closess is the enemy, Miranda will not hesitate to fly.

But the closet speaks calmly.

"I embraced you, you can tell by the curse. But the curse mark was so complicated that I didn't even know it. Besides, the Sister woke up with little to no frostbite. Behold those around you. There is still no sign of waking up, and the hands and feet will not suffer as much frostbite as they would have rotted if the procedure had been delayed even a quarter of an hour later. This is not a normal human place."

"I see. So, what do we do with the Atasis?

Miranda finds herself. But the closet said without agitation.

"Nothing. Thanks. I knew right away that those guys weren't bad guys. The safest part of that tent was the horse. Not only did we take care of ourselves, but we took care of the horses. When I put him in the tent, he saw me with his eyes like a horse told him to help me. It was only with the help of the horses that we were actually brought here to take a breath. They seem to be trusted."

"... why did you help us?

Now Alphilis asks.

"It's a coincidence. No matter how Pyrebos, so much snow is rare at this time of year. So I wondered what it was and decided to look around. Besides, the spirits have been here lately. It's a guy called Bug News. And when I came to this neighborhood, I felt thoughts. I didn't think so, but I didn't know the day would come when I'd get my thoughts straight from True Dragon."

"Oh, thank God you're here."

"Mom!"

"Il!"

That's where Gwendorf and Irmatal come in. Ilmatal literally flew and hugged him to the source of the alphilis. Irmatal remains a human figure, and only wings can be released these days. Gwendorf was surprised that this was a very clever thing to do.

When he sees Gwendorf, the closet kneels down to thank him.

"This is Dear Gwendorf, Ilmatal. Please smell this kind of dwelling, the ultimate in pleasure. Please forgive me for getting my eyes dirty."

"No, it's this one who appreciates it, young witch. Without your help, it would not have been possible to save me and everyone. True dragons are not omnipotent either. There was nothing I could do about them getting cold on that spot. before such great forces as nature, such as me, are powerless creatures."

"No, we witches are the only true dragons you have. How dare you say that?"

Closess speaks to Gwendorf with her head dripping more and more. Gwendorf seemed troubled by that attitude, although he did not put it on his face either. Gwendorf doesn't like to be blamed on someone. The Alphilis and the others are well aware of that.

To change the spearhead of the story, Gwendorf changed the subject.

"Young witch, you said you were an apprentice. So where did the regular witch go?

"Yes, your master has made his way to another land for 'The Witch's Regiment'"

"A bunch of witches? Who summoned you?

"It's in Fairtoose, the white witch who is the head of the witch."

"What, the fair!?

To an unexpected name, Miranda shouts out loud unexpectedly. Closess was surprised, but Gwendorf continued, regardless of whether he was interested earlier in the conversation.

"Why? Are you listening to what the regiment says?

"I haven't asked for more information, but you think there's so much existence in the lower realm that you can't ignore anything? My master, who was supposed to be calm, had changed his complexion. This is the first time in a long time, and it seems to warm up old relationships purely."

"I see you've also become aware of Fairtoose as it blooms late. She'll be a good length."

Gwendorf nods satisfactorily.

"So you're away?

"Yes, because it is the role of generations of ice field witches to protect this land"

"Why? There shouldn't be anything like this to protect Pilebos?

It was a closet in silence to Miranda's question, but Gwendorf urged it with his eyes, so the closet began to speak.

"... this is land to isolate the North"

The closet uttered the word, squeezing it out.

Continued