I Have Become The Snow Maiden I Created

Translator: Marctempest

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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Chapter 3: Reincarnation as the Snow Maiden (3)

Why did things turn out this way?

I looked at the being in front of me with tension filling the air.

It was an enormous presence, gazing down at me with overwhelming authority from its towering height, its grand wings folded elegantly.

In its gaze, which seemed somewhat anxious, I felt as though I might crumble.

“……”

Since arriving in this world, I hadn’t harmed anyone.

I was simply going about my daily routine as usual.

Could this be… the first crisis I’ve encountered since possessing this body?

*

Somehow, a year had passed.

Without a clock or calendar, I couldn’t be precise, but it felt like about that much time had gone by.

From a modern perspective, it might seem like a significant amount of time had passed, but it didn’t feel that way to me.

This was because everything I’d been doing during that time was repetitive and mundane.

First, I organized the chaotic and cluttered storage, identifying items that might be useful.

I repeatedly trained myself to handle mana properly, relying on various items to aid in the process.

Next, I decorated the castle’s interior, which was well-equipped but aesthetically dull, using the power of those items.

When I got a little tired, I would stop by the dressing room to take a bit of a break in my own way.

The crucial point was that throughout this process, I had to constantly accumulate mana.

This mana was for the next phase, which was by far the most critical and had consumed most of the year: creating spirits.

“Hmm…”

I concentrated intensely, suppressing mana that threatened to escape and gathering it in one place.

The condensed mana contained fragments of a spirit’s essence.

Even though I had done this countless times, it remained a challenging task.

Now I truly understood why no one in the game had been able to replenish the diminished number of spirits.

Spirits were composed of pure mana, and they could not be created by anyone who harbored even the slightest impurity.

Yet, even I, with mana purer than anyone else’s, had to pour an entire day’s worth of mana into creating just one low-level spirit.

Spirits were extremely sensitive, requiring unwavering focus throughout the process.

If even I struggled this much, humans with mana tainted by impurities wouldn’t stand a chance.

“In that sense, perhaps being possessed by the Snow Maiden is a blessing… No, if I hadn’t been possessed by the Snow Maiden, I wouldn’t even need to worry about this.”

As I immersed myself in the task, random thoughts flowed through my mind, and I glanced sideways.

In one corner of the room, small, doll-like creatures were chattering noisily, with snowflakes floating lazily above them.

– Squeak! Stop it! That’s cold!

– Cold? What does “cold” mean?

– It means it makes your body shiver from annoyance! That’s what Quelli sometimes said!

The voices of the spirits resonated not in my ears, but directly in my head.

Since they had no vocal organs, they communicated telepathically.

Not all spirits used telepathy; some couldn’t, and some could but simply chose not to speak at all.

Yet here they were, noisy as ever.

Was it because they were clustered together, or were Frikes just unique in this way?

While their chatter was better than complete silence, I needed to concentrate, so I decided to call them out.

“Be quiet.”

My voice was cold, with a chill that seemed to radiate frost.

Even though the words came from my own mouth, I sometimes startled myself.

Talking to myself wasn’t a problem, but because of the Snow Maiden’s “cold demeanor” setting, speaking to others felt like frost falling in midsummer.

The spirits froze in alarm, flailing as they processed the icy tone.

– Quelli is cold!

– My body’s shivering from annoyance!

– No! She’s angry!

“Sigh…”

Honestly, I wasn’t a kindergarten teacher.

While communication was possible, it wasn’t exactly effective.

Having just been born, their mental age seemed to match that of toddlers.

“…And what do you mean by ‘cold’?”

They couldn’t even feel the cold, just like me.

Sometimes, unconsciously, modern human sensibilities ingrained in my mind would slip out.

The phrase “cold” was one such expression, and they must have interpreted it in their own way because they couldn’t understand it literally.

Anyway, these little ones were the “Low-level Snow Spirits, Frikes,” which I had created while living in the Snow Castle.

Creating just one took an entire day’s worth of mana, which meant I hadn’t even attempted anything above the low level yet.

Even with a full day’s worth of mana, the process was so labor-intensive that I couldn’t mass-produce them like a factory.

As a result, the creation days were irregular.

Still, after about a year, I’d managed to create a fairly large family of them.

“Even if they’re all just Frikes.”

True to the Snow Maiden’s name, Quillière’s attribute was entirely aligned with snow and winter.

It wasn’t merely a preference; she had no access to other attributes whatsoever.

It wasn’t about lacking talent—the game system outright locked those categories.

As a result, I could only create snow spirits.

I had tried to create other types of spirits before but had utterly failed.

This wasn’t an issue of mana purity; it was a separate matter entirely.

“Well, it’s not like it matters.”

Other spirits wouldn’t be able to survive in this eternal winter anyway.

While musing pointlessly, I felt a reaction and turned my gaze downward.

The condensed snowflake trembled violently, like an egg on the verge of hatching.

It was complete.

Sensing this, I withdrew my hand and observed the birth silently.

From this point onward, there was nothing more I could do.

The spirit had to form its consciousness and emerge into the world on its own.

This moment was critical because not all spirits successfully established their identities.

In this way, their birth wasn’t unlike a bird hatching from an egg.

Failure to hatch meant death for the spirit.

Of course, I wasn’t particularly worried.

None of the spirits I’d created had failed to hatch so far.

I wasn’t entirely sure why, but I suspected it was largely due to the environment.

Snow spirits were being born in the Snow Castle, nestled in the heart of the continent’s only snowfield—what could possibly go wrong?

On top of that, the creator was none other than the Snow Maiden, whose attributes were exclusively aligned with snow.

This was an environment as blessed as it could be.

As expected, the new Frike was born without issue.

A slender arm extended from the trembling snowflake, and sparkling eyes appeared.

“Hello.”

I greeted it gently.

The birth of a new life was always a moment of wonder.

As the one who had brought them into the world, I felt an obligation to welcome them first.

Even though my tone remained cold, this was exceptionally warm by my standards.

– ……

But the little one simply stared at me, wide-eyed, saying nothing.

Then, its eyes gradually widened, its tiny snowy fluff trembling as if it had been dipped in hot water.

That was when I realized what it was about to say.

– It’s winter!

The creature widened its eyes to the fullest extent and then raised its arms high, shouting.

-Winter is speaking!

I suppressed a bitter smile instead of putting my hand to my forehead.

I didn’t even feel like responding because all the dozens of Frikes I had created so far reacted exactly the same way.

Spirits, being pure mana entities, are categorized as mental bodies.

They lack skin, organs, or aging, so they aren’t quite what we would typically call living beings.

It was natural, then, that spirits would perceive the world differently from ordinary creatures.

So, even if I didn’t fully understand, I accepted it.

Apparently, because of the Snow Maiden’s extreme setting, spirits seemed to perceive me as snow or winter itself.

Unintentionally, my desire to depict “not a lifeform or mental body, but a phenomenon itself” had been realized.

“That’s all fine and good, but… I wanted to watch it from beyond the screen.”

Letting out yet another sigh, I turned my attention to the newly created Frike.

It was surrounded by other Frikes welcoming the new addition to the family.

– Hello!

– Nice to meet you!

– Oh, oh…

The freshly born little snowflake was encircled by finger-sized children.

Soon, it wavered and morphed into a childlike figure, just like the others.

Because spirits lack a fixed form, they can shift into various shapes, and humanoid forms are one of them.

This form was typically taken when they felt safe or happy, indicating that this castle was home to them.

On the other hand, when they sensed danger or prepared for battle, they would transform into wolves.

The new Frike looked around and stopped in front of the dining table.

– What’s this?

– Oh, that’s called cake. It’s sweet.

– What’s sweet?

– It’s the opposite of cold. It means your body feels alive and happy.

– Alive? Happy?

“Ha…”

Feeling a headache coming on, I decided to ignore them.

They kept misinterpreting human words in their own way and spreading those interpretations.

It wasn’t like they could eat food anyway, so how would they even understand what sweetness meant?

At this point, I didn’t bother correcting them anymore.

I stared blankly into the air, pondering what to do next.

Today, I had finished my tasks unusually early, leaving me with nothing particular to do.

“Should I make another one?”

Usually, after making one, I would be too tired to think about anything else, but today, I felt unusually energetic.

It was better to make good use of such days to prepare for the future.

These spirits would all be helpful to me someday, after all.

“…They’ll be helpful, right?”

I convinced myself of this.

I grabbed two items from the pile of tools I had set aside for work assistance.

The “Potion of Mana Circulation” and the “Potion of Mana Control.”

These were my favorite combination when creating spirits.

The Circulation Potion increased the rate of mana regeneration, while the Control Potion enhanced my dominance and precision over mana, leading to greater control.

These were among the most valuable items in the storage and had been aiding me for quite some time.

Although I had improved significantly compared to a year ago, my magical abilities were still not exceptional.

I still made frequent mistakes in control, which often resulted in creating mist or triggering snowstorms.

Some might criticize me for progressing so little, but I understood that even this was an achievement.

“NPCs are incredible.”

Thinking of the heroes of the Four Seasons War, who wielded mana as effortlessly as their own limbs, filled me with renewed respect.

Of course, they were outliers.

Even among the people of this world who were born with mana, only a few could truly master it.

Mana was that difficult to handle.

I only managed this much because of my pure mana—without it, I didn’t even want to imagine how things might be.

Grateful for my current circumstances, I drank the potions.

“Hmm…”

A strange and indescribable taste spread in my mouth.

Just as I was debating whether to have a slice of cake before starting work, a bone-chilling roar echoed from the distance.

Gwoooo—!

“……”

The spirits’ chatter in my mind abruptly ceased.

For a moment, I froze, then leapt to my feet and turned toward the source of the sound.

Through the window, I saw an enormous object rapidly approaching at an incredible speed.

Its size grew exponentially with each blink of my eyes, and it was clearly heading straight for the front of the castle.

It would arrive in less than thirty seconds.

At the same time, I felt certain I knew what it was.

I had to act quickly.

“Stay right here.”

I ordered the Frikes before heading outside.

Following the now-familiar shortest route, I exited through the back door in no time.

*

The weather outside was unusually clear.

The wind was calm, and the snowflakes weren’t swirling violently as they usually did.

The snowfield sparkled under the bright sunlight, and there was no sign of the frequent snowstorms that usually raged.

Looking at the scene, I realized why I had felt so good today.

“Why on a day like this…”

Are you really coming here?

I grumbled inwardly while moving toward the direction of the incoming entity.

At the front of the castle, on a low hill, it had landed.

“…!”

Even though I had braced myself, seeing it with my own eyes left me speechless.

Its overwhelming height made me crane my neck to look up despite the distance, and its mere presence radiated charisma that imposed on everything around it.

Standing before me was a dragon, one of the most powerful beings in existence.

And its expression was deeply contorted.

“This is bad.”

What was this? Why was it angry?

I wasn’t gifted in reading a dragon’s expressions, but anyone could tell it was furious.

I hadn’t done anything to provoke it—this was the first time we’d even met.

“Wasn’t she supposed to have a gentle personality?”

The White Dragon Lord, also known as the “White Silver Dragon King,” Pankaj Mishra.

She was the protector and keeper of this snowfield, having lived here for thousands of years.

Though she harbored resentment toward the beings of the surface, she never left the snowfield to harm anyone.

She had the power to do so but chose to uphold her master’s command to guard this place.

That legacy wouldn’t last forever, but at least up until now, a thousand years before the original story, it was still intact.

Surely, that was the case.

“Why is she angry?”

And surely, she wouldn’t take it out on me just because I was here?

As if answering my silent plea, Mishra spoke.

[Who are you?]

The dragon’s voice was imbued with mana, each word carrying the force of a command.

The pressure it exerted was overwhelming, though it only affected me psychologically, not physically.

Perhaps this was due to the game settings, but there was no time to ponder that.

The important thing was Mishra herself.

I needed to understand her current emotions as quickly as possible.

[How did you cross the Ice Mountains? More importantly, how long have you been here? What is this castle? Did you build it? What on earth happened while I was asleep?]

As she flapped her wings and roared, her fury was palpable, along with an undercurrent of anxiety.

That was when I realized why she was angry.

‘She’s worried I might’ve done something reckless.’

Her questions contained all the clues.

She was faithfully guarding the snowfield on her master’s orders.

Since almost no one ever visited the snowfield, she had likely gone to sleep, assured there was no threat.

Dragons, being transcendent beings, could sleep for a year without issue.

Moreover, I hadn’t arrived in this land through conventional means.

It was only natural that whatever mechanism she had set up to monitor intruders failed to detect me.

This gave me a glimmer of hope.

‘If I just clear up the misunderstanding…’

It was a simpler matter than I thought.

The castle had been built unintentionally, but aside from that, I hadn’t done anything to offend her.

If I could convey this and formally gain permission to stay, the incident would be resolved.

What could be simpler than that?

Feeling relieved, I opened my mouth to calm her down.

But at that moment, a realization struck me, crashing into my mind like a hammer.

By then, it was already too late.

Like an arrow released from a bowstring, the words had left my lips.

“…Be quiet.”