"There’s no need for a long, drawn-out explanation," Lethe began. "Let’s get straight to the heart of the matter."
As she spoke, she flipped to the last page of her notebook.
"The heart of the matter?" Simon prompted.
"The true nature of this unnatural cold."
She tapped the quill pen held between her fingers. "The severe cold currently blanketing this region isn’t the wrath of a snow spirit, nor is it some temporary climate shift."
"Then what do you think it is?"
A corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk.
"A dungeon anomaly."
Simon was already familiar with the concept. Whenever a dungeon manifested, it warped the natural order around it, causing inexplicable disasters.
"Have you ever been in a dungeon?" she asked.
"Yes. Just recently."
He had seen an anomaly with his own eyes during the first-year promotion evaluation. The volcanic island they’d traveled to was supposed to have been a peaceful place, but despite its stable geology, a massive eruption had occurred. In the heart of the magma, a portal to a dungeon had been revealed. The memory of the entire first-year class diving into molten rock was still seared into his mind.
"Then this will be quick." Lethe sketched the cave on the mountain summit in her notebook. "The cave you saw when I lit up the mountain a few days ago... it looked something like this, right?"
"...Is there anything you can’t do?"
Her sketching skills were impeccable. She tapped the tip of her quill on the drawing.
"I believe this cave is the entrance to the dungeon."
Simon nodded, crossing his arms. "I think so, too. If we’re right, then destroying the dungeon should end the anomaly."
"Exactly." Lethe closed her eyes and took a sip of steaming tea that smelled of warm grains. "This dungeon has likely existed, uncleared, for a very long time. For the anomaly to reach all the way to Kula, it must have been here for at least several decades."
"So what about the Yukionna legend and the Mizenasi people?"
"Remember the fairytale I told you? What do you think the Mizenasi people’s goal is?"
Simon closed his eyes, thinking. "Revenge," he said at last. "Revenge against the people of Kula, who drove them into these cold mountains."
Instead of answering, Lethe held out her palm with a chic expression. Their hands met with a sharp ’clap!’
"Bingo," she said. "Kula was originally their land. But they were tricked and driven out, and now they want it back." She took her quill and drew a thick circle around the cave. "While nursing their grudge, they stumbled upon this dungeon. Then they decided to use the anomaly it created to their advantage. The legend of the Yukionna? Her wrath? It’s all a fabrication, a ruse to hide the dungeon’s existence."
Even in the Holy Federation, a discovered dungeon would bring a subjugation party of paladins, priests, and treasure hunters. The Mizenasi would have been desperate to keep it a secret. If the dungeon were destroyed, their chance for revenge would be gone.
"Look at this." Lethe pulled torn scraps of paper from her subspace bag. "We found these stuck to a rock on the mountain yesterday."
"What are they?"
"Talismans. A barrier made of pure elemental magic, designed to create illusions and make intruders lose their way."
Simon examined the charred remains. "The Mizenasi’s handiwork. They’re using magic to keep anyone from getting close to the dungeon."
Lethe nodded. "Hmm, but I’m still not sure what that ’sacrifice’ is all about."
"I think it’s just another tool," Simon mused, "a way for the Mizenasi to prove the Yukionna’s existence to the villagers and maintain control." He paused, a darker thought surfacing. ’In the worst-case scenario, it’s a human sacrifice. A ritual of offering people to their phantom goddess.’
It was likely a tool the Mizenasi had been using to eliminate anyone who escaped their control or witnessed their secrets. The teachers who came before had probably been sacrificed as well.
“Let’s be careful,” Simon murmured. “We could become targets at any moment.”
“Right.”
Lethe let out a great yawn.
“Well then, I’m going to get some shut-eye before we head out at dawn again. I’m worried about Kula, and I want to find that dungeon and settle this as quickly as possible.”
“Okay.”
Just as she was about to enter the main bedroom, Lethe spun around to face him.
“You still look worried. Is something on your mind?”
“If the legend of the Snow Woman was just something the Mizenasi made up...” Simon crossed his arms, his expression troubled. “Then who is that gray-haired woman I keep seeing?”
“Aha.” Lethe grinned. “You mean that woman right behind you?”
Every hair on his body stood on end. His neck creaking in protest, Simon swiveled his head to look.
But only empty air met his gaze.
When he turned back, Lethe was clutching her stomach, howling with laughter. Heat flooded Simon’s face.
“Lethe!”
“Serves you right,” she shot back, pouting. “This is revenge for teasing me about being a saintess at the Grand Cathedral.” With that, she fled into the bedroom.
Simon sighed.
“Isn’t it obvious?” her voice drifted from the room. “Who’s been pretending to be the Snow Woman to scare and warn us.”
In the dead of night, while the village slept, Simon and Lethe bundled up in their warmest clothes and slipped out of their lodging. Glancing around to ensure they were alone, they moved like shadows through the darkness.
“The village is eerily quiet tonight,” Simon remarked.
“Well, everyone’s asleep,” Lethe replied.
They took the shortest route across the field and arrived at the village entrance. The barrier itself was transparent, but the path leading out glowed with a faint blue light.
“Let’s go.”
Simon strode forward and passed through the barrier. And then—
His face froze in shock. ’No, Lethe! Don’t come through!’
He tried to stop her, but she had already materialized beside him, her pupils trembling.
Every single person from Eskyl village was outside, dressed in furs, their eyes fixed on them with menacing glares.
The sharp tap of a staff on frozen ground cut through the silence. The one who emerged from the crowd, leaning on her staff, was the village leader, Nenya Mizenasi.
“I believe I told you,” she said. “Do not leave the village under any circumstances until the work is done.” She stared intently at Simon and Lethe. “You two have broken the village’s rules. For what reason did you come here?”
The situation was irreversible. Just as Lethe’s temper flared and she opened her mouth to retort, Simon placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward.
“We came to teach the children.”
“Still lying, even now?” Nenya scoffed. “I was aware that you were repeatedly leaving the barrier to engage in suspicious activities.”
She extended an arm to the side. The guard who had been watching the barrier lay on the ground, severely injured. Frozen claw marks, identical to those attributed to the Snow Woman, marred his chest, and the barrier itself was damaged.
“You’ve incurred the Snow Woman’s wrath!” someone shouted, and the floodgates opened.
“We asked you to stay put!”
“Because of you, the whole village has to suffer!”
A torrent of fury and protest rained down on them. Lethe glanced at Simon, who was already looking at her. They exchanged a silent understanding.
“Yes, we’re very sorry,” Lethe said, spreading her arms. “We’ll accept whatever punishment you see fit. For example...” The corner of her mouth twisted into a smirk. “Offering the young ones as ‘sacrifices’ to the Snow Woman to appease her anger.”
At those words, the surrounding murmurs died abruptly. Lethe glared at Petria, who stood beside Nenya. Petria couldn’t even meet her gaze, her head hung low in shame.
“Petria, you said there were no other kids your age here, didn’t you?” Lethe pressed. “It’s unlikely that people who fear being exiled more than anything would leave on their own. The outsider teachers also went missing. This must be...”
“Enough!” Nenya Mizenasi took another step forward, her staff thudding against the frozen ground. “So you did come to investigate the disappearance of the previous teachers. You won’t find them. They, too, broke the village rules and were cast out. They must have frozen to death somewhere on this mountain.”
Simon remained silent.
“It will be the same for you,” Nenya declared. “We will neither punish you nor lay a hand on you!”
With a sharp gesture, the villagers parted, creating a path.
“We are banishing you from the village. Leave at once.”
In truth, being cast out into the frigid, blizzard-swept mountains in the middle of the night was a death sentence.
“Let’s go,” Lethe said quietly.
“Yeah.”
The two walked with calm resolve. The villagers’ stares were like daggers, but Simon showed no reaction. This was always how it was going to end.
“Teacher Sean! Teacher Sean!”
“No! Teacher Leah!”
Just then, the village children came running, their faces streaked with tears.
“Hey, what’s gotten into you?”
“Get them!”
The adults tried to intervene, but the children shook off their parents’ hands and clung desperately to Simon and Lethe.
“Teacher! Don’t go! Don’t die!”
“No, Teacher!” one cried between sobs.
The unexpected display brought a hush over the crowd. Simon and Lethe knelt, stroking the children’s hair with gentle smiles. Their life in this village may have been a facade, but their sincerity in teaching these children had been real. A warmth spread through Simon’s chest as he met their tear-filled eyes.
“We won’t die,” he promised softly. “We’ll definitely see each other again someday.”
Suddenly, the children were enveloped in a cold aura and pulled away. As they were moved back, crying, Simon could see the Mizenasi mages beyond them, their palms outstretched.
“Leave now,” Nenya Mizenasi commanded, striking the ground with her staff.
And so, Simon and Lethe were banished from the village.
The wind howled around them. Under a night sky raging with blizzards and brutal cold, Simon and Lethe ran as if possessed, divinity flaring from their legs.
“This turned into a time trial out of nowhere, but that’s fine by me!” Lethe declared with a fierce grin. “Let’s clear the dungeon today and put an end to this godforsaken cold!”
“We have to.”
They hadn’t been wandering aimlessly all this time. Spotting a boulder as she raced through the snow, Lethe stretched out her arm.
’Holy Bolt!’
The divine magic struck the rock, and the very air around it seemed to crack and shatter.
“First one down,” she announced.
Next, an avalanche thundered down from a nearby hill. Simon extended his arm.
“Corpse Explosion.”
The zombies he had hidden at the location the night before detonated in a flash of light. An unstable section of the ground collapsed, swallowing the avalanche whole.
“Second one’s clear, too.”
They overcame one obstacle after another, using pre-caught monster corpses as decoys, shattering illusions, and navigating through distorted magical mazes. It was the result of hard-won experience, of constantly searching for shortcuts and analyzing the mountain’s traps.
“Let’s check our direction here,” Lethe suggested.
She activated a magic circle, and a light flashed from the highest peak of the mountain range, a beacon through the storm. It was ’Illumination’, a spell she had placed in a cave to guide their way.
“This way!”
“Okay!”
They cleared six obstacles in three hours, moving faster than either had expected. Now, they were ascending the increasingly steep summit.
“I see a cave up there!” Lethe shouted.
At that very moment, something seized their legs.
The snowy ground heaved, and a giant ice golem burst forth.
“What the—!”
The golem seized them and hurled them over a pitch-black cliff with no visible bottom. Their screams faded into the abyss.
...Having dealt with the intruders as ordered, the golem shifted its position and crouched down. However, a sudden rush of air announced their return.
Out of nowhere, the two figures it had just dispatched shot back into the air. To the right was Lethe, clinging to a bird-shaped divine beast; to the left was Simon, scaling the cliff face with Akallion.
“Don’t get in our way!” they yelled in unison.
The boy and girl leaped from their respective mounts, launching a coordinated kick. Lethe’s leg connected with the golem’s head as Simon’s boot slammed into the core in its chest.
With a sickening crack, the golem shattered into a thousand pieces. The two landed gracefully and recalled their divine beasts into their subspaces.
“Alright. We’re almost there!” Simon said, his breath pluming.
“Looks like it.”
A dark cave loomed before them.

Comments

Loading...