They kept walking across the icy land.
Hazuki, who had been shivering violently before, was now only trembling slightly.
"Brrr! Ridan... it’s cold."
Ridan look down at Hazuki.
This human was just shivering hard with snot dripping from his nose a mont ago, and now he’s barely trembling—like this is just regular cold.
Ridan glanced at Hazuki, then at the icy expanse around them.
This place was called the Cursed Icy Lands because it was a special zone. The farther you ventured in, the colder it beca. That’s why monsters rarely appeared here, only ice dragons and a few ice spirits dwelled in the final area.
And yet, this human was rely shivering slightly, even though they’d reached the middle zone, which was ten tis colder than the first.
He didn’t even buy that special enchanted jacket or the fire crystals because he said, "It’s expensive—I’d rather buy ale and eat roast at."
Ridan, nestled atop Hazuki’s head, steered him by tugging his hair.
"Oi, Ridan! Is that thing we’re looking for still far? It’s freezing out here!"
"Hah! We’ll reach it soon, dumbass."
"Can you at least use so magic or sothing?"
"Guh! This is why I hate dumbasses like you. I already told you to buy that jacket, and you refused."
"Hey! It was really expensive. Who the hell would pay five gold coins for a jacket that’s only used once? Just for this mission. Duh!"
Ridan exhaled, his puffy hand steering Hazuki’s direction. "Yeah, yeah... You and your damn stinginess."
"Oi! I’m not stingy! I paid for our als, our house, and even spent... ehehe... a lot on my Ellyn~" Hazuki glanced up at Ridan, nestled in his hair. "And I even treat everyone in the tavern when I get good pay."
"Not stingy to others, but stingy to yourself. Dumbass!" Ridan glance down with a look.
While shivering hard, Hazuki glanced around.
"Oi, Ridan."
"What?" Ridan shot him an annoyed look, his hand still tangled in Hazuki’s hair.
"What does an icy leaf look like?"
Ridan rubbed his spirit puffball chin and glanced up. "Hmm... now that you ntion it..." But before he could explain—
"Icy leaf ans a leaf in ice, right? But I don’t see any trees or leaves around here—just barren ice land." Hazuki glanced around, squinting hard.
Ridan exhaled sharply. "It may be called Icy Leaf, but it’s not even a leaf. It’s like a crystal... but with a leaf-like shape. This is why I hate dumbasses."
"Ceh! Says the puffball spirit who thinks about boobs and only boobs," Hazuki muttered, hands tucked in his pockets as he trudged forward.
"We’ll reach it soon," Ridan said from atop his head.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Just a bit more."
"Phew... I thought we’d be walking forever. You sure we’re not lost?" Hazuki shot him a sly grin.
Ridan exhaled deeply.
"You’re the one who always gets lost. Not because of . Because of you."
"Yeah yeah... whatever." Hazuki humd as he walked through the heavy snow.
Ridan looked ahead, eyes narrowing slightly.
Inside his mind:
We’ve already passed the mid-zone. The path’s covered in heavy snow... Let’s just hope we don’t run into the Ice Dragon.
He glanced down at Hazuki, who was still humming excitedly.
Looks like his resistance finally built up properly. That ans... those two mysterious guys really did choose the right person for this. Or maybe... Hazuki is being guided by so unknown force.
I still wonder how he even took this kind of quest.
Is it because sothing dangerous is waiting for him in the future? Soone he’s unknowingly being prepared to face...?
He looked at Hazuki again.
...But who?
"Oi, Hazuki."
"What?" Hazuki glanced up at Ridan perched on his head.
"Do you rember how you took the quest paper?"
"You an this special herb quest?"
"Yes." Ridan tugged lightly on Hazuki’s hair reins as he talked. "That one."
Hazuki rubbed his chin. "Hmm... rember when you possessed to take that quest for capturing Kruko?"
"Yeah. And?"
"Well..." Hazuki scratched his neck with a sheepish grin. "I saw this quest paper on the table and secretly grabbed it because it said ’herb quest’."
Ridan squinted down at Hazuki with an annoyed face.
"What? Don’t bla ," Hazuki muttered. "Besides, this is fun, right?"
"Fun your ass!" Ridan snapped.
"Yeah? If it’s not fun, then why follow ?" Hazuki smirked.
"Because I’m bound to your sword, dumbass!"
"Yeah yeah. But still—we get to explore the world and places like this, right? Consider it sightseeing." Hazuki chuckled softly.
Ridan let out a long exhale.
Inside his mind:
Yeah... it kinda looks good too.
Besides, this idiot doesn’t die easily. Poison swamp, volcanic area, that Hidun Grass hallucination gas that should’ve killed him... he just fainted and built resistance.
And those Life Fruits... two? Three? ...Eh, whatever.
Ridan glanced around.
And now he’s walking in the Cursed Icy Land... we already passed the mid zone and entered the area between mid and final... and he’s no longer shivering with snot. Just his usual grumpy self.
"Oi, Hazuki."
"Hm?"
"Not cold?"
Hazuki blinked, glanced up lazily.
"Hmm... a bit. Like late winter back in Japan. Not that cold anymore. Good thing we arrived at the warr area, right?"
Ridan stared.
Then exhaled again.
This dumbass thinks this is the warm zone.
This isn’t warm.
This is the most dangerous, coldest part. Anyone else would’ve died instantly and frozen in one breath.
"This is good, Ridan."
Hazuki stretched his arms behind his head. "Our journey’s smooth, the place is getting a bit warr, and best of all? No monsters around. Hehehe... easy job."
"Easy!?" Ridan barked.
"Huh? Of course it’s easy." Hazuki shrugged. "The volcanic area was full of monsters and we had to fight nonstop. You even had to possess to cast that deadly magic... err... Fireball Shower, right?"
"It’s teor Shower, idiot!"
"And during the Hidun Grass quest, and that poison swamp quest, we had monsters popping out too. But this area?"
Hazuki grinned smugly, hands in his pockets as he walked through the thick snow.
"This is the easiest one. No monsters, no boss. We’ll get the Icy Leaf in no ti."
"Oi! Don’t jinx it!!!" Ridan shouted.
"Huh? I didn’t jinx any—"
Before Hazuki could finish...
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR—!!!
A deep, thunderous roar echoed across the frozen land.
Ridan exhaled with pure frustration.
"I told you not to jinx it, idiot!!!"
"Wha—!? I didn’t jinx anything!! W-What was that sound, Ridan!?"
Ridan glared straight ahead.
"That’s the sound of the final boss of this Cursed Icy Land."
"EHHHHH!!?"
( End Of Chapter )
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