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As I continued to care for Sufi and the other two, still fast asleep, my sense of time grew hazy.

After all, I, too, had pushed myself past my limits in more ways than one. Every so often, I’d lose consciousness in the hallway only to wake up on the sofa. I’ve lost count of how many times I looked outside to find that daytime had turned to night, or night had turned to morning…

I don’t have the confidence that I’ll be able to wake up properly next time, so I have to do as much as I can while I’m still conscious… Thinking that, I’m pushing myself pretty hard, which is taking an even greater toll on my stamina.

I managed to get the three of them settled on futons in the tatami room and set things up so I could look after them, but I’m not sure if I’ve done it properly.

Fortunately, the long-tailed tit is helping out. Maybe because it hates the heat, it doesn’t actively come near the room, but occasionally I catch its gaze as it peeks inside from the entrance.

I guess it checks on me like that, and if I collapse, it carries me to the sofa. Probably while enduring the heat.

Above all, the fact that it’s maintaining the snow shelter outside has been a huge help, allowing me to focus on nursing them indoors.

It’s probably been three or four days since we got lost in this snowfield.

The three of them still haven’t woken up.

■■■■■

Once I got the nursing setup in order and built up a stock of oral rehydration solution, the work became much easier.

My fever has gone down a bit too, and I’ve recovered enough that, while I still can’t move all that much, I can at least move if I try hard enough.

The three of them are fast asleep, showing no sign of waking up no matter how much noise I make or how much I shake them. Given that even that adventurer showed no sign of waking up despite being treated so roughly, there’s no doubt they’re under some kind of influence.

Come to think of it, Grandpa did say if you fall asleep in a blizzard, you’ll meet the dead… huh.

Something about that sticks in my memory. I feel like there was a similar legend about a certain snow-capped mountain in some country.

There are quite a few similar stories, and some of them are genuine; those were classified as “Area-Type Unknowns” and sealed off.

Officially, they were handled as unexplained disappearances or unsolved cases.

Snow-capped mountains are never short on stories like that, and there are so many—both real and mere rumors—that I don’t remember the details.

“Kyu-pi.”
“Good morning.”

As I sat in the living room sipping hot water while lost in thought, I made eye contact with a long-tailed tit that had poked just its head through the front door.

It’s usually as round as a daifuku mochi, but when it stretches its neck, it takes on a surprisingly slender, bird-like silhouette.

When I stuck my hand in, it sank halfway down my upper arm before my fingertips finally reached its body, so I guess most of it is feathers.

The long-tailed tit kept staring right at me—it seemed to want something. I steadied myself, stood up, and headed for the entrance.

……On the way, I peeked into the tatami room and saw Sufi and Noche tossing and turning in their sleep. Perhaps their sleep is getting lighter; both their sleep-talking and tossing and turning have become quite intense.

Since they’re usually the ones protecting me, I have to be the one to protect them now.

“What’s wrong?”
“Juruuruu”

I put on my winter gear and step out the front door. Bags were piled up inside the snow hut.

Looking closely, the snow-covered bags seemed quite old. Some had broken straps or large tears.

“What’s with these?”
“Kyupi”

Wagging its long tail feathers, the long-tailed tit turned to face outside the snow hut.

“Are these the belongings of adventurers from long ago?”
“Kupi-pi”

…Since I told it not to rob living people, did it gather these from dead ones instead?

I can’t very well tell this child, puffing out its chest proudly and looking so smug, that I don’t want them……

If I recall correctly, according to the Adventurers’ Guild code, the first person to find items in unexplored territories has ownership rights. You’re free to either turn them in to the Guild as relics or keep them for yourself.

Turning them in boosts your internal rating with the Guild, but… you have to submit the details of the discovery along with them so they can identify the owner and cause of death.

*“We’re an F-rank party with an average age of 8. These are the belongings of our seniors that we gathered from what appears to be the deepest part of one of the West’s most notorious unexplored regions!”*

At best, I’d be labeled a lying corpse-scavenger. And now I’ve got even more stuff I can’t bring out into the open.

“I have to carry them inside…”

The Long-tailed Tit looks a little pleased, but it doesn’t offer to help.

…Come to think of it, I’d only been guessing—I hadn’t actually asked it.

“Do you not want to go inside because it’s hot?”
“Kyuriri.”

It nodded, accompanied by a chirp that sounded like it didn’t want to. So that was it, after all.

And yet, it carried me—who was lying unconscious—and the other three, who she’s supposed to dislike, all the way into the house.

“I see… Thank you for carrying me and everyone else.”
“Cheep!”

When I thanked it, it puffed out its chest happily.

Come to think of it, this one was part of my happy memories from my past life.

When I was taken in by the Pandora Institution, the only one I could truly trust was my dog, Kuro.

A while later, Kuro disappeared, and no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find him. Just when I was feeling down, this one came along and stayed by my side to cheer me up.

Once I gave him a name and we became friends, I put up a wall, afraid everyone would disappear. Just like the other researchers did to us—treating the Unknowns as humans.

“Have you been here ever since then?”
“Kyupi?”

I sat down by the front door and asked the question I’d been wanting to ask for so long.

“I’m pretty sure there was an attack on Sector 0, right? I don’t remember anything from that time. I found myself in this world before I knew it, too. How did you end up here? Have you been… koff… here, all alone, this whole time?”
“…………”

I wonder if this one was suddenly thrown over here, too.

Was it all alone in that white, desolate place where life couldn’t take root? I’m alone too, and maybe because I’m feeling weak, a wave of sentimentality washes over me.

My meaningless mutterings get no response. I can’t interpret this one’s thoughts—who doesn’t use words—as language.

What I sensed from the gentle eyes fixed on me was a feeling of tenderness.

As if to completely envelop all my turbulent emotions—a tenderness with no negative qualities whatsoever.

Or rather, I really was being enveloped; my face was buried in cool, downy feathers.

It felt like it was perched on my shoulder and rubbing its cheek against mine, but because of its size, my entire upper body was buried.

“Cheep.”
“…………Yeah”

But since we’ve known each other for so long, I pretty much knew what this one was trying to say.

If I had to put it into words, it would be something like this.

*“I’m glad to see you—isn’t that enough?”*

It seems I’m exhausted from being sick and taking care of myself—maybe I was overthinking things.

“———!!”
“!”

I kept my face buried there for a while.

We both noticed it at the same time.

Just as Long-tailed Tit turned around, it flapped its wings. An ice wall began to form with tremendous force. Without a moment’s delay, something smashed through the snow hut, and the impact sent the newly formed ice wall trembling.

“Tch!”

The blizzard was still raging, and he grimaced at the biting cold of the wind seeping in.

“Strike first to win! HYAAHA!”
“Geist! You’re charging in too recklessly!”

Shouts could be heard from beyond the thick ice wall. I’d failed to pick up on their presence—partly because the igloo was blocking my view, and partly because of the blizzard outside. Four people—are they the adventurers who’d rushed in ahead of us?

“Wait, whoa!?”

Before I could even call out, the platform—along with the door—sank. Inside the hole, which looked as if it had been cut out in a square shape, an ice ceiling began to form, concealing the door.

As I scrambled out of the entrance in a panic, I saw the Long-tailed Tit flying up toward the ice wall.

“So you came out after all! Hiding here all this time!”
“A power that makes my body tremble—is that the Lord of the Eternal Ice Cavern?”

I pricked up my ears to listen for sounds and assess the situation outside. Wasn’t the Lord of the Eternal Ice Cavern supposed to be that ice worm?

No, there was also that salamander-like thing—so is that giant ice worm just a regular magic beast too?

…Wait, *that* was a regular magic beast?

“Either way, we’re running low on Fire Shield. Let’s take it down fast. We’re going to be the ones to conquer this place!”
“Well, someone was sound asleep, after all.”
“As expected, we can’t use fire magic at all… Harmaal, can you use fire spirit magic?”

This isn’t the time to be thinking about that—at this rate, that child and the adventurers are going to end up in a fight.

In my mind, that one is still the same little bird. Judging by that ice wall, I don’t think it’s weak… but I have no idea how strong those adventurers are.

If I rush in now, I’ll probably just make things worse.

“—Drop your weapons immediately!!”

A woman’s scream, almost like a shriek, pierced my ears, and I instinctively covered them.

“Marl!? What are you talking about? We’ve come this far.”
“W-what’s wrong?”
“We can’t win! Not against it! Drop your weapons right now!”

From the woman’s desperate voice, I could sense that the other adventurers were becoming unsettled. It was frustrating that I couldn’t see them.

“What the hell? We all knew from the start that the lord of this region’s gonna be strong.”
“No! You got it wrong!”

It was clear even from her voice that the screaming woman was genuinely terrified.

“That’s the Spirit God of Snow! No human can stand up to it!”

I could tell even from here that the adventurers had frozen in place.

…It seemed my old friend, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, had somehow risen to great heights.