Frieren: Attribute Hero Chapter 98: Killing Intent in the Snow

Hearing the scream, Shane and Frieren exchanged a glance and quickly rushed over.

Ahead, beside an old well, several children were in complete chaos.

Just as Shane had expected, the "slip-up" had appeared this quickly.

A child had fallen into the well. Several kids claid the demon twins had pushed him, but the two denied everything.

Stark decisively jumped into the well and pulled the child back out, but the boy had choked on water and already lost consciousness.

Before long, the villagers gathered around them.

Everyone hurriedly carried the child away for treatnt. Frieren knew a bit of priest-style healing magic and followed along to help.

The noisy crowd ca and went just as noisily, leaving only Shane and the demon twins behind.

"Now that nobody else is around, care to tell the truth?"

Shane raised a brow as he looked at the two children.

The twins exchanged glances and rubbed their eyes theatrically.

"Waaah, mister, what are you talking about? We don't understand."

Shane remained completely unmoved.

"What is there not to understand? You may look like human children, but your real age is probably over a hundred years old already, right?"

The mont those words fell, the twins stopped acting.

They looked at each other, the childish innocence vanishing from their faces, replaced entirely by mockery.

"Heh. From the first day you entered the village, we already knew you were the smartest one among them all."

Shane nodded. Their judgnt wasn't bad.

"Too bad being smart is useless. Everyone in this village believes we're just children."

"That's right, that's right. Such adorable little kids. What bad intentions could children possibly have?"

The twins sang in unison, openly displaying their malice toward Shane.

Shane let out a snort.

He had seen this kind of thing plenty of tis in his previous life. Those kids who acted one way in public and another in private were far more infuriating than these two.

"So why are you staying in this village?"

"Hahahaha! What else would demons do living among humans?"

The twins looked at each other and burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs as if Shane had told the funniest joke imaginable.

"He asked what we want to do, hahaha!"

"Of course we're spending the winter here. There's no food in the forest anymore."

"That's right, no food at all."

"The village is much better. Fresh humans everywhere. We can eat whenever we want and never worry about starving again."

"No more starving, no more hunger."

Shane listened expressionlessly and nodded.

As expected, demon minds were utterly one-track. And that single track existed solely for "eating."

"Since you've admitted it yourselves, that makes things easier."

As he spoke, Shane pulled out a [Kunai Shuriken].

The twins exchanged another glance before laughing so hard they bent over.

"You think you can kill us with that? You're seriously underestimating us!"

"Underestimating us, underestimating us!"

"Of course not. When dealing with bratty children, the most satisfying solution is making their parents discipline them personally."

Flash—

A [Flashbang] exploded before the twins, the blinding white light freezing them in place.

Without the slightest hesitation, Shane grabbed the weapon by the handle and swung with all his strength, one strike each.

Thunk! Thunk!

The two demon children collapsed on the spot.

What happened afterward was fairly straightforward.

Using [Recording Magic], Shane revealed the twins' true intentions. Then the child who had fallen into the well woke up and explained how he had really been pushed in.

The villagers instantly broke down emotionally.

Especially the goateed man.

The boy who had fallen into the well was his youngest son.

Now, none of the righteous passion he had shown while defending the demon children remained. He curled up in a corner, looking as though he had aged several years in an instant.

If Stark hadn't spent all day playing with the village children, his son would have died today.

By nightti, he might even have beco "food" in the demons' mouths.

Under Shane's [Charm], the twins also confessed that the elderly hunter who had disappeared a few days earlier had already been quietly eaten.

That very day, the village erected a burning stake.

Even after they had traveled far away, Shane could still see the blazing flas and the black magical particles drifting into the air.

After leaving the village, the group continued northward.

Officially entering the Schwer Mountains.

The mountain range stretched for thousands of kiloters, forming the natural boundary between the Central Lands and the northern nations. Its altitude was extrely high, with snowfall covering half the year, and the weather changed unpredictably. One mont the skies could be clear, and the next a raging snowstorm would descend.

"What do we do? I think we're lost."

Fern hugged her arms tightly, shivering from the cold.

Not long after setting foot on the mountain path, the group had been caught in a sudden blizzard.

The world around them had turned into a sheet of white, making it impossible to distinguish where the road was.

Frieren imdiately rummaged through her luggage and pulled out a small branch with a forked tip, handing it to Shane while staring at him expectantly.

Not only Frieren, but the other two were also staring at him with hopeful eyes.

Shane was speechless.

A fierce gust of wind swept through, nearly knocking everyone off balance.

Frieren, being the lightest, almost got blown away on the spot. Fortunately, Shane grabbed her in ti.

"With winds like this, even my [Great Luck] can't do anything about it!"

Shane tossed the branch back into the bag.

The "branch pathfinding thod" had suffered a catastrophic nerf in this environnt.

Still, Shane trusted [Great Luck]. He firmly believed that even if he wandered around blindly with his eyes closed, he'd eventually stumble onto the right path through sheer luck.

Granted, he had never actually tested this theory before.

But that didn't stop him from believing in it.

The four huddled together as they trudged through the blizzard with difficulty.

Thankfully, they were all wearing the thick winter clothes gifted by Count Granat. Otherwise, this journey would have been absolute misery.

"If I rember correctly, there should be a hunter's cabin near the foot of the mountain around here."

"Lady Frieren... isn't that information from eighty years ago...? Can it really still be reliable...?"

"Don't panic, Fern. Worst case scenario, we activate the Goddess's Barrier and stay in place for a few days. Or maybe ten days. A few dozen days. Anyway, as long as we don't run out of food and water first, we should be fine."

"That sohow sounds even more hopeless..."

As they walked, a blurry shadow suddenly appeared within the storm ahead.

Everyone instantly beca alert and hurried forward.

Maybe it was a local resident!

But as soon as they approached, they saw a large pile of scattered crates on the ground.

Behind the crates sat a lone figure shivering just like them. The person's clothes were much thinner than theirs, their whole body wrapped in a blanket in an utterly miserable state.

Judging from the situation, it was probably a wandering rchant traveling alone.

"Hello."

Shane stepped forward first to greet them.

Unexpectedly, the mont the person inside the blanket saw Shane, they imdiately let out a startled sound.

The next instant, they threw aside the blanket, clenched both fists, and charged forward with explosive force, bringing a rciless palm strike crashing down at Shane.

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed through the snowy mountains.

"Demon. To think you'd dare deliver yourself to voluntarily."