I Have Become The Snow Maiden I Created

Translator: Marctempest

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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Chapter 11: Rumors of the City-State (3)

The items from the Four Seasons War can be categorized into three main types.

First, there are weaponry items such as swords or bows.

These are durable equipment that can be used semi-permanently as long as they aren’t destroyed.

The myth-grade weapon I used as Quellière to defeat a disaster falls under this category.

Next are consumable items, including auxiliary tools for combat or daily life.

They have a fixed number of uses, disappearing completely once exhausted.

The food item I served Mishra also belongs to this category.

Lastly, and most importantly—though useless in-game but surprisingly valuable here—are the “event items.”

These are items introduced during independent events hosted by the game developers, outside of the main campaign.

They were only obtainable during specific periods and were largely impractical, consisting of costumes or peculiar objects.

Excluding the reusable costumes, the rest became useless decorations once the event ended.

But things were different in this world.

Instead of being mere images stuck in the inventory, these items physically existed, making them usable.

As a seasoned player who had thoroughly enjoyed the game, I hadn’t missed a single event.

Although many high-grade items were lost, a fair number of them remained.

What I took out was one of those remaining items: the Celestial Music Box.

This was a unique item from the “Island of Sun and Moon” event held long ago.

It was also one of the first things I found in my warehouse after arriving in this world.

It contained event-exclusive music, and I had already confirmed that it worked perfectly.

“…What is this? A metal box?”

The Celestial Music Box had the appearance of a silver metal box.

Maurice tilted his head as he held it, examining the high-quality object.

The reason I confidently pulled out the music box was that I had intended to use it as a substitute for currency.

I couldn’t use it for combat, and I had already grown tired of its song, so it held little value for me.

But what about for a merchant?

Its potential utility might be boundless.

Most importantly, event items like this music box were things that didn’t exist in this world’s setting.

They had no substitutes and were inherently intriguing to anyone.

“I’ll trade this for the map.”

“This metal box for the map? Hmm, a barter trade. I don’t mind as long as the value is fair. Let me see…”

When I made my proposal confidently, Maurice scrutinized the item with serious eyes. His sharp gaze suggested he was appraising it carefully.

“At first glance, it has a subtle but luxurious look, which makes it less likely to go out of style. Many noblewomen would love it. And here, there’s an unfamiliar engraving near the front…”

He muttered to himself repeatedly, as if entering a trance. Perhaps a competent shopkeeper needed this level of dedication.

“This is quite a rare pattern. Even I am seeing it for the first time. But rarity alone isn’t always a good thing…”

It was evident he was mentally calculating its worth, analyzing whether it was worth trading for the map.

After a moment, Maurice put down the music box and gave his verdict with a firm expression.

“It’s certainly valuable, but I can’t give it a high evaluation. To trade it for the map? That’s not quite a loss for me, but it’s borderline. However, since the map you want is a popular imperial map… It’s tricky.”

He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers, deliberating deeply.

He didn’t seem inclined to make the trade.

Once a merchant like him finished assessing value, it was hard to change their mind.

If this was all I had, I might have had to back down here.

Maurice’s hesitation and his drawn-out deliberation likely meant he was waiting for me to increase the stakes.

But instead of leaving the shop or trying to negotiate further, I reached for the music box.

“Hmm, are you backing out of the deal? That’s a shame…”

After all, the silver metal box and the engravings were just the packaging.

To reveal the music box’s true value, I activated its mechanism.

Clack!

The mechanical sound, slightly rusty from disuse, gave way to a sophisticated melody.

The refined sound filled the shop, its notes deeply familiar to me.

The “Island of Sun and Moon” event was a rare, emotionally charged storyline in the otherwise battle-focused Four Seasons War.

The melody evoked nature, a unique tune where the bright colors of day coexisted with the dark tones of night.

Among the hundreds of tracks in the original game, this was a standout masterpiece.

Hearing it again felt like it had been resurrected in this world after a thousand years.

“…Huh?”

Maurice, interrupted by the sudden sound, froze mid-sentence.

He stared blankly for a moment, then looked around with unfocused eyes before settling his gaze on one spot.

His mouth fell open in astonishment.

*

In the end, I successfully acquired the map.

Holding a bundle of rolled-up papers in my arms, I glared at them with a weary expression.

The good news was, I had the maps.

The bad news? There were far too many.

“Maps! You said you wanted maps, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Here, take them all! This seals the deal! Don’t come back later with complaints!”

Recalling Maurice’s abrupt shift in attitude, I found it bizarre. I had expected the music to seal the trade, but his reaction was extreme.

“Was the music box always this powerful…?”

Sure, the melody was incredible.

And though I hadn’t mentioned it, the Celestial Music Box was not a consumable item; its battery was infinite.

I had planned to reveal this while bargaining but found it unnecessary.

Something about the situation felt… odd.

Maurice seemed like the type who calculated gains and losses meticulously, someone who wouldn’t take a loss easily.

Even in a world where music might be rare, there were orchestras and bards.

While the music box might be worth the value of a few maps, it shouldn’t have caused such an overreaction.

“Well… does it matter?”

Ultimately, it was a non-issue.

Even if the music box had more value than I anticipated, I had received more than enough in return.

The music box was just one of many items I owned.

There was no need to recover it, and I could let it go.

Besides, I wasn’t planning to leave Yulistia just yet.

“Ugh…”

Though I was slightly curious, I decided to drop the matter.

Sighing softly, I opened my tote bag and shoved the stack of maps inside.

While I only needed a few imperial maps, most were useless. Still, it felt wasteful to discard them.

After cramming the maps into the bag and fastening it, I took a deep breath.

As I lifted my head, I noticed the sky had grown gloomy.

Would it rain?

That would be inconvenient.

It was then that a piercing scream reached my ears.

“Ahhh!”

The sudden cry startled me.

The commotion didn’t stop there.

The hurried sound of footsteps and sharp screams filled the air.

Alarmed, I turned my head quickly—and saw it.

It was a snake.

Though it had clawed limbs resembling arms or legs, its head was unmistakably that of a venomous serpent.

And it was enormous.

A massive black snake perched its tail on a distant plateau opposite the forest. Its head, larger than any building, loomed over the area as it gripped rooftops with its clawed hands.

Its hands were large enough to cover entire roofs.

“God…! It’s the Serpent God!”

“My god, that monster has appeared again!”

“Someone’s going to get eaten!”

Judging by the desperate cries, this was the rumored “god.”

When Petras mentioned it, I dismissed it as mere gossip. But it turned out to be real.

Its sheer presence justified the title of a god. Who could dare oppose such a thing?

Yet I remained unexpectedly calm, analyzing it.

“So… that’s supposed to be a god…”

It wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

In a world abandoned by the gods, creatures like these had become their unintended replacements.

However, anyone with even a little knowledge of true gods would know the title was grossly exaggerated.

During my conversation with Mishra, the topic of divine ruins and the Obelisk came up.

I had forgotten about it until then, but anyway.

The Obelisk, the pinnacle of creation, was controlled exclusively by the “Four Pillars,” the supreme gods.

At the very least, only beings elevated to divinity could touch it in any capacity.

But the gods had been absent for far too long.

Long ago, every god had vanished, leaving the Obelisk unattended for ages.

Without the Four Pillars to manage and suppress its immense divine power, the Obelisk occasionally malfunctioned.

Whenever that happened, faint traces of divine power leaked into the world.

Such incidents were extremely rare.

Still, on the rare occasion when a creature was unlucky enough to come into contact with that divine power, something extraordinary occurred.

The resulting being was called a “Lesser God” in the game.

An ordinary creature, transformed by divine energy, becoming a named monster.

The Serpent God was probably just an ordinary snake originally.

“But seeing it in person, this thing is really…”

…scary.

In the game, it was merely a pushover monster that gave away experience points.

But facing it directly with my own eyes… honestly, I was terrified.

The Serpent God sat still on the roof for some reason, its eyes rolling ominously.

It seemed like it was trying to create a tense atmosphere, and it was certainly effective.

“Ahhhhh!”

The citizens, who had suffered at its hands, were in panic.

Some collapsed, their legs giving out, while others trembled, their teeth chattering nonstop.

I could fully sympathize with them.

Thinking about how this wasn’t a game but reality, I began to feel nervous myself.

Should I turn around and run away immediately? But acting like that might make me the first target.

Was there really no way to deal with that creature?

To take down a monster imbued with divine power, a team of heroic-level individuals would be needed.

With my trash-tier stats as the Snow Maiden, I couldn’t be of any help…

“…Wait a minute.”

Suddenly, fragments of information flashed through my mind.

They unearthed the details I had missed, pointing out possibilities.

The Snow Maiden’s traits, game knowledge, and the Serpent God’s weaknesses…

As my mind raced, an unpleasant shout broke my train of thought.

“O, God!”

The one shouting was a pot-bellied man.

Adorned with gleaming accessories, he shouted, his double chin wobbling.

“Please calm yourself! Do not harm the innocent lambs anymore!”

The sharp contrast between his appearance, like that of a corrupt noble, and his words, created a jarring dissonance.

Next to him was a lean man, who chimed in energetically.

“That’s right! This city belongs to us humans. Please, return to the forest!”

I alternated my gaze between the two with incredulous eyes.

Were these people out of their minds?

If mere words could send it back, it wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.

They were just going to provoke the Serpent God’s anger.

Those two were as good as dead…

【I, see…】

A grating roar that sounded like metal scraping shook the ground.

When I realized it was the Serpent God’s voice, I couldn’t hide my disbelief.

What the hell was this situation?

Why was it agreeing to them?

If it was going to back down so easily, why show up with such theatrics?

As I clicked my tongue in astonishment, the onlookers seemed to think differently.

“O-oh! The patriarchs are persuading the Serpent God! Maybe we can survive this!”

“To calm that monster… as expected of the patriarchs…”

“Long live Vion! Long live Griant!”

They say scared humans are the easiest to manipulate.

The citizens blindly believed the surface-level events.

Ah, so that’s how it is.

Once I identified the two men, everything clicked into place.

This was all a staged act.

Though I was surprised they managed to recruit the Serpent God as their actor, it was an obvious play.

The uninformed citizens might not have realized, but I knew corruption was rampant in this era of Yulistia.

For the corrupt patriarchs, the masterminds of this rot, to sacrifice themselves to stand against the divine? It made no sense.

Moreover, their synchronized appearance was too convenient to be a coincidence.

“They’re falling for it again…”

Fear is truly a useful tool.

In any case, the patriarchs’ goal was to sway public sentiment… something like that.

Even if they were using the Serpent God, the unaware citizens would see them as saviors.

Watching their loathsome act, I nodded to myself.

Fine, time to leave quickly.

Judging by how things were unfolding, staying here any longer could result in something unpleasant happening to me.

I decided and turned to leave hurriedly, but just then, another loud voice rang out.

“The calamity has arrived!”

“Prepare for the day of reckoning!”

Figures in black robes appeared from somewhere, shouting at the crowd.

I froze in place, wondering what this was about now.

“The servants of calamity have come to enlighten the foolish masses! Do you not see?”

Raising their arms, they spouted absurdities.

The confused citizens murmured among themselves, but the robed figures continued undeterred, now addressing the Serpent God.

“Welcome! Unleash your dreadful power upon these ignorant ones. Show them the greatness of calamity! Go on, go on!”

Their brazenness and confidence were astounding.

They acted as if the Serpent God was their companion.

…Unfortunately, I had a good guess about their identity.

There were only a handful of groups that worshiped calamity.

They were likely those who had spread chaos across the continent for almost as long as the Empire itself.

Though their numbers might have dwindled since then, their influence couldn’t be ignored.

Was this city truly cursed?

How many disasters could happen in just one day?

【S, silence…】

Apparently unable to tolerate it anymore, the Serpent God expressed its irritation.

The patriarchs, who had been frozen in place, turned pale, seemingly realizing that events were not going as expected.

Despite the growing ominous aura, the robed figures continued their ruckus without pause.

Then, when the Serpent God twitched its eyes and flicked its forked tongue, one of the robed figures suddenly collapsed.

“What… Ugh!”

Others who noticed the ambush quickly followed suit.

A man darted among the robed figures with swift, precise movements, taking them down one by one.

I recognized that gray hair.

“There’s only one enemy! Attack!”

Though many of their comrades had already fallen, the remaining members regrouped and formed a line.

It was a formation well-suited to exploiting their numerical advantage.

However, Sorab’s skill was far beyond what such a ragtag group could handle.

I opened my eyes wide in slight surprise.

I thought he was just a quiet man of decent ability, but to think he was this skilled.

Since he wasn’t a complete stranger, I found it fascinating.

Hyaaahp!

In an instant, the area turned into a battlefield filled with agonized groans and shouts.

But the outcome seemed clear.

As the organization’s numbers dwindled in real-time, it was evident the battle would soon end.

Maintaining the stance of a thorough observer, I instinctively extended a hand during a dangerous moment.

One of the robed members had drawn a dagger and was targeting Sorab’s back.

The instant I activated the Snow Maiden’s icy breath, it pierced through the assailant’s torso.

“Urgh!”

The man froze in place and failed to carry out the attack.

Sorab, noticing it at the last moment, twisted the man’s wrist and struck his neck, incapacitating him.

The dagger clattered against the ground, creating a sharp noise.

“……”

Sorab glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

I casually nodded at him with a stoic expression and immediately turned away.

For some reason, I felt embarrassed and thought it was best to act nonchalant.

Although I figured he could have managed fine without my help, I considered it repayment for the guidance he had given me.

Besides, if I had ignored him and he had gotten seriously hurt, it would have left a bad taste in my mouth.

More importantly, it was time to leave for real.

I turned toward the post station, aiming to leave the city.