Chapter 37
37 – Frozen Village, Cold Heart (6)
I’m used to killing monsters.
I no longer felt guilty about the murder.
But the smell of blood and the sight of dead bodies still made me sick.
Kill them or I will die.
With that thought, I swung my sword at the enemy without hesitation until now.
But I’ve never killed as many monsters as today.
“How many have you killed so far…?”
The answer did not come immediately.
After thinking for a while, Kayla quietly opened her mouth.
“Probably over a hundred.”
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“I have met the target to some extent.”
The sun was setting in the west.
As the sunset settled down, night slowly began to approach.
I sat down on the floor for a while and sighed.
As soon as the tension in my body was released, the recoil I had so far returned.
Her breath caught up to the bottom of her chin and her breathing quickened.
Her heart was beating and her chest was moving in and out.
Her legs trembled with each breath she exhaled.
As the sweat running down her body cooled, her body temperature began to drop.
A strong wind still blew through the conifers.
I shivered in the cold and turned my back to a nearby tree.
Suddenly, I felt warmth from my back.
Suddenly, Kayla came close to me and gently hugged me.
“Excuse me. Please take off her armor for a moment.”
This is a battlefield, but all the surrounding monsters have been annihilated.
If it’s just for a moment, it’s okay to lay down your arms.
I tidied up her sword and shield and undid the straps on her armor.
She slowly took off my armor.
I felt a sense of liberation as the heavy armor went down.
Even the leather clothes she was wearing inside were all exposed.
Her back was exposed and her hand touched it.
She carefully brushed my shoulders and waist in order.
Warm warmth ran down her spine.
The chills running down my spine receded and a warm energy enveloped my body.
“It is a magic that uses the energy of flame. I will deliver warmth for a while.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Kayla gave her a light massage or brought her a towel to wipe the sweat from her body.
I was grateful to her for helping me with her utmost sincerity.
As the growing heat spread, her whole body returned to life.
I wanted to take a rest while leaving my body like this.
But I didn’t have much time.
She turned around and sat down behind her to stop holding her hand.
“Kayla… ?”
Looking back, Kayla’s complexion had turned pale.
She was startled and grabbed her arm, but quickly let go of her.
Her body temperature was strangely low.
Before she could ask what had happened, she confessed first.
“Actually, this magic comes at the cost of my body heat…”
“Stop it now.”
There was a reason Kayla didn’t use her magic long ago.
I forcibly grabbed her hand. But it’s already too late.
Her body was shaking as if she felt a chill.
“I-I am fine. Because she was dressed warmly… “
“Don’t do this again.”
I hurriedly hugged Kayla. But she pushed me away.
She walked away from me, saying she shouldn’t hug my cold body.
“I’m willing to pay this much for you…”
No matter how tired I was, I didn’t want this kind of favor.
Kayla nodded her head as if it was okay, but I wasn’t happy at all.
Her face hardened when she realized I wasn’t joking.
I noticed and whispered in a quiet voice.
“…Sorry, I thought it might help.”
I felt a sense of déjà vu when he apologized to me with a hesitant expression.
Seeing that, anxiety welled up in my heart.
Why does Erina’s appearance overlap with her?
That didn’t bode well at all.
When it comes to obsession with me, Erina alone was too much for me.
If Kyla were to become similar to her, I wouldn’t be able to handle both of them.
“Kayla.”
“Yes. Please tell me.”
In the past, I would have comforted her with warm words or persuaded her that it was not a bad thing.
But now I have a different idea.
Maybe Erina started to stray because she always treated her with a soft attitude.
“Don’t go so far as to help me.”
This time, I decided to lightly say it.
In fact, it was also a very important statement.
No matter how precious I was, there was no reason to sacrifice myself to help.
I would rather decline. I didn’t want to receive such a favor.
“I’m fine. Seohyun-nim doesn’t mind at all…”
“Kayla. Please listen to me.”
“Ha, but… “
“I don’t want to say the same thing over and over again.”
That was something I had already said to Erina. I was getting sick of it now.
I believed that if I had said this much, Kayla would have understood what I was saying.
He seemed a little surprised, but fortunately he seemed to agree.
“I’m sorry. I acted too presumptuously.”
“I know how much you think of me. But don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Okay.”
Unlike before, a subtle atmosphere flowed between us.
Before I felt awkward, I hurriedly got up.
Actually, my position was also difficult. She didn’t know what she wanted.
It was an act for me.
However, this could have caused my comrade to collapse from the cold.
All that responsibility will return to me.
That’s why I couldn’t stand by.
Kayla hung her head down, downcast.
I felt sorry inside. Still, it was already too late to comfort her.
I’d rather change the topic.
“Let’s go down south. It’s far from Snow Mountain, but I heard there are some Yetis stationed there.”
Kayla still looked at me with a worried look.
“…Are you really okay? You overworked a lot today.”
“It’s okay. There’s not much time left before the sun goes down, so let’s hurry.”
He took a sword and shield and wore armor.
Kayla silently tied the straps on her armor.
After the preparations were over, we started marching again.
The white snow covered everything around me to the extent that I lost my direction.
It was difficult to find the monster if you didn’t look closely.
I could have missed the yeti lingering in the distance.
It was a wandering group without even a garrison.
“Kayla. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I can still fight.”
“Okay. Let’s attack right away The operation is the same as before.”
Immediately, she chanted a spell and drew her magic circle.
The shape of a magic circle was drawn in the sky.
The red glowing circular assembly turned into a sharp flame.
Fiery arrows created from the magic circle rained down on the enemy.
In this case, there were usually two reactions.
The first type is to block fire arrows by holding up a shield.
If the shield was made of wood, it would be the worst choice.
The shield caught fire and the flames soared.
Bewildered by the raging fire, he began to roll in the snow.
Secondly, there was a type that calmly crouched and dispersed.
This time the yetis were smarter than I thought.
Each of them took a position behind a tree and tried to counterattack.
“I will take care of it, so keep the flaming arrows.”
“Okay!”
As it were, I charged at them.
I found the Yeti hiding behind a tree and smashed their heads one by one.
Those who survived didn’t even dare to approach me.
In the meantime, we started to defeat each one in turn.
Some of them rushed in hastily.
But before they could even close to me, they all had their heads pierced by flaming arrows.
Most of them were so desperate to dodge the arrows from behind the trees that they didn’t even think of fighting back.
In an instant, the group of nine was annihilated.
It was a bland battle, but the whole body felt heavy.
Fatigue was accumulating after fighting continuously since the morning.
Still, it was worth enduring.
Since I often hunted yetis, I was looking for persimmons.
I could notice their behavioral patterns and instinctive habits.
I felt the results of the subjugation so far appear.
When I was playing the game, I had never done such an intense grind.
“Seohyun. How about going back now?”
“No, let’s hunt one more pack.”
I had enough energy left.
Although the body was dull, the mind was clearer than ever.
“No matter how good Seohyun-nim says, it doesn’t look like that to me.”
“It’s okay. Trust me.”
In the end, at my insistence, Kayla kept her mouth shut.
Instead, he approached me and opened the stopper of the potion.
Unbeknownst to me, blood was flowing on the back of my hand.
I don’t even know when or how I got hurt. There was not even pain.
As the potion landed on my skin, I felt a tingling sensation on my nerves.
“Please don’t overdo it. Safety always comes first.”
I didn’t say anything more, knowing that it couldn’t be stopped.
Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t afraid of death.
In fact, it was also true that I had the highest exposure to injury.
When I said I would become a shield soldier, Erina had a reason for opposing it.
But I decided to take the lead.
Since I decided to take up my sword and shield, I had to face the enemy head-on.
Until now, I have been dealing with monsters constantly. He wielded a sword and blocked it with a shield, learning swordsmanship.
Now it has reached a level where it can defeat most monsters in the snowy mountains.
However, it still lacked a lot. Right now it’s just the beginning.
As the story progresses, monsters become more dangerous, and opportunities to become stronger will not come.
Since I came this far, I had to do my best to level up.
Suddenly, I felt a strange vibration from the ground.
Through the coniferous trees, a figure I had never seen before appeared.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
It’s a size that seems to go over 2 meters.
It looks similar to a yeti, but its entire body is covered with fur.
I could feel considerable strength just by looking at the muscles attached to the body and the size.
The Frost Giant. He was the leader of the Yeti and an elite soldier.
I felt a sense of intimidation when I saw it in person.
As soon as I met the red eyes, my body was oppressed.
After recognizing me, he started swinging his club excitedly.
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It is an action to lightly warm up. Even that gesture was quite menacing.
But I didn’t back down. They fought with sword and shield.
“Kayla. Get ready.”
“Yes…!”
The time has come to slay the last prey of the day.