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As you’d expect from adventurers, they managed to protect themselves even in the midst of that tsunami-like avalanche.

The big man, who had clutched his axe as if shielding his companions, suffered the most serious injuries: bruises all over his body and mild frostbite. The other three seemed to have simply fainted from the impact and were suffering from typical hypothermia.

But there were no broken bones, and perhaps because we dug them out quickly, the frostbite was mild. With just some warmth, they should recover just fine.

If it had been me, I definitely would have died.

Fortunately, there were no life-threatening injuries, so the first aid was done quickly.

I heard the fluttering of wings and turned around to see the long-tailed tit—which had flown off somewhere while I was administering first aid—returning.

In its beak was a cane adorned with all sorts of ornate decorations. …It looks heavy; I probably couldn’t hold that.

With a soft “plop,” the cane was dropped right in front of me.

“It looks heavy.”
“Cheep.”

“It’s fine,” it said, giving it a light nudge to roll it toward me. Reluctantly, I picked it up—it was lighter than it looked.

I used it as a cane to help me stand up.

…Ah, this is a lot easier than standing on my own.

I realized I’d overlooked the obvious fact that walking with a cane reduces the strain. I never relied on a cane to walk in my past life, after all.

¹　

“U, u…”

Whoops, they’re already awake.

While I was trying to figure out what to do next, the adventurers were regaining consciousness. And I hadn’t even come up with a plan yet.

“…Wh-wha, we’re…?!”

The big man, who was the first to open his eyes, stared at me in shock the moment he saw me and leapt to his feet with terrifying speed. Moving with surprising agility for his massive frame, he grabbed the axe nearby and glared at me, ready to pounce at any moment.

Just as I was marveling at how well he could move in that condition, a surge of rage swelled up behind me.

“Jyuririri!!”
“?!”

A warning sound I’d never heard before rang out. Perhaps his consciousness was finally clearing, because the giant man glanced for a moment at the long-tailed tit that had emitted the warning sound and froze.

“G-Geist, drop your weapon.”

A woman who appeared to be a spirit user staggered to her feet; the hood of her winter gear slipped off, revealing her face.

Her features were slightly childlike, with a round face; atop her brownish-red hair were round, animal-like ears—tanuki…?

Given those distinctive features, she might be a tanuki beastkin. A rare race among beastfolk, one of the few with magical aptitude. I’ve heard they live on an island nation located in the southern part of the continent.

“Rimona, but—!”
“Now.”

Seeing his desperate companion, the man called Geist set the axe he was holding down on the snow, though he remained on guard.

The tanuki woman, still pale-faced, sat up and bowed her head toward the long-tailed tit.

“My companions have been truly, extremely rude…”
“…………”

Long-Tailed Tit, having calmed its anger, remained unresponsive, standing one and a half steps behind me. What is this feeling?

“…………”
“…………”
“………………”

Silence reigned over the room. Geist was groaning in pain, moving only his eyes to gauge the situation, while the tanuki woman named Rimona remained prostrate, her heart pounding.

The other man and woman seemed to have regained consciousness as well, but they were pretending to be asleep while keeping an eye on the situation. I could hear the faint creaking of their muscles in their limbs; they’d probably jump up the moment anything happened.

Perhaps unable to bear the silence any longer, Geist and Rimona’s gazes gradually turned toward me.

If I were to translate their gaze, it would be “Who the hell is this guy?” …didn’t have to be me to understand that.

Upon encountering the Spirit God at the very depths of the unexplored region, they were swallowed by an avalanche of snow—after somehow surviving that, they somehow encountered this mysterious mage wearing a plague mask, standing cooly right beside the Spirit God.

Clothed in a black robe and holding a staff adorned with gaudy decorations, I could tell—no need for a mirror—that my appearance was completely outlandish.

“…………”
“…………”

Um, could you please stop just leaving things for a shut-in like me? When I turned my gaze toward the long-tailed tit straightening its posture sharply behind me, for some reason, our eyes met—its eyes were sparkling.

What is it expecting of me? Or rather, what exactly is my role here?

People prostating before me, the Long Tailed Tit waiting behind me, and I stood in between as though I took command of it all. That composition sparked a completely pointless yet sharp intuition deep within me.

“…Raise your head.”

I spoke in a slightly altered voice, and Rimona’s shoulders trembled. Perhaps because my voice was hoarse from feeling unwell, or because the sound was muffled by my mask, it came out as a childlike yet ambiguous voice that made it impossible to tell my gender or age.

I sensed the Long-tailed Tit nodding in satisfaction.

…Right, this kid used to love period dramas, didn’t it?

At the Pandora Institute, academic studies of any kind were prohibited, but entertainment was pretty much overlooked.

The people making the decisions were a bunch of intellectual elites who weren’t in research positions, the kind of people who grew up just watching the news. When it came to entertainment, their understanding was incredibly limited. When it came to manga and anime, they only knew the names of super-famous titles aimed at toddlers.

Thanks to that, even if it was biased, I was able to learn about the culture of the outside world. While they schemed to keep us from gaining knowledge, the mercenaries would laugh and mock the elites as they watched me discover more and more about the outside world.

So I often watched those kinds of shows with this little one—the one I spent the most time with among the Unknowns—and it showed a particular interest in period dramas.

Especially the ones where a young lord goes on a rampage against villains, or stories where a retired, distinguished old man uses his status as a weapon to punish the bad guys.

Apparently, it really loved seeing people who looked like high-ranking officials from some secret agency prostrating themselves and trembling before someone even higher up.

I could tell it probably wanted to do something like that itself. I got it. But still.

“P-pardon?”
“Juriri!”
“Eek!”

As a practitioner of spirit magic, she’s clearly intimidated by the long-tailed tit. She probably has a keen ability to sense the presence of spirits.

It’s also said that people with an aptitude for specific types of magic tend to develop abilities related to that magic significantly more easily. If she’s skilled enough to become an expert in spirit magic, it wouldn’t be surprising if her ability to sense spirits were highly developed.

“……Raise your head.”
“Jyuri!”
“Yesh!”

I’m glad the Long-tailed Tit is putting me on a pedestal, but on the outside, I’m an unknown, mysterious magician, and on the inside, I’m an orphaned beastman. That dynamic wouldn’t hold up without some kind of clearly visible authority.

I’m basically just powering through on the sheer majesty of the Snow Spirit God alone—what is this?

“Ah, good.”
“Cheep.”

When I tried to calm things down to fix this chaotic mess, the Long-Tailed Tit—who had been leaning forward in frustration because things weren’t going its way—reluctantly slunk back behind me.

Clearly relieved, Rimona cast a tentative glance my way.

“C-could you possibly be a renowned spirit user? If so, even though I didn’t know it, I’ve committed a terrible discourtesy…”

Judging by how tentatively she was probing, perhaps there’s a certain connection between spirit magic users.

I can’t use spirit magic at all. All I know is that it involves a combination of summoning and proxy magic—techniques that become available only after forming a contract with a specific spirit.

Feeling the expectant gaze on my back, I agonized over it for a while before finally speaking up.

Come to think of it, in my past life, I think I just vaguely considered it a “friend” in my heart—I don’t think I ever actually said it out loud.

I had told Kuro that, but whether I was just being clingy or scared…either way, I’d been hesitating to call others the same.

All right, let’s go with this.

“I… I am not a spirit summoner, but a friend of this spirit, guhe.”
“Guhe?”

Before I could even finish speaking, I was headbutted, and the spirit was rubbing its head vigorously against my back. I get that you’re happier than you expected—but hold on a second.

I thought this was a good opportunity to be a little playful, and look what happened!

As I pushed back the head of the Long-tailed Tit, which was flapping its wings and charging at me with headbutts, I noticed Rimona staring at me in shock.

“So… you really are friends, aren’t you…”
“Y-yes… guho.”

My hand slipped, my grip broke, and it hit me right in the solar plexus. As I fell to the ground, the Long-tailed Tit hurriedly pulled me back up.

…Why is it that the very people who show me such strong affection—even though I’m physically weak—are the ones who’re so physically affectionate?

***

#Author’s Note:#

I debated whether to make her go by the name “Allzombie, the Great Spirit King,” but decided against it. I think that was a wise decision.²