#347
Mountain Survival
Night skiing is dangerous.
That’s why some slopes and courses are closed, and since it’s nighttime, more safety personnel are stationed around.
The slope we’re on is the top-tier “Hero’s Course.”
Who on earth named it like this is beyond me, but anyway, it’s a steep, winding path from the mountain peak to the ski house, like a rollercoaster ride.
As it’s nighttime, the surrounding lights are so bright they could hurt your eyes.
Right now, I’m skiing with Evangelin, Beatrice, and Aris.
“Eeeeek! Contractor! It’s so, so scaaaaary!!”
Swish, swish, swish.
Beatrice is screaming as she skis, snow flying everywhere. Given her surprisingly fearful nature, she’s trembling as she goes down the hair-raising, steep slope.
“Woohoo! You absolutely must ski in the winter!”
In contrast, Evangelin is bursting with energy, her voice sparkling in the night.
This is so much fun!
Whoosh.
I can hear the winter wind whistling past my ears.
Nearby, I can see Aris on her board, matching my speed down the slope.
Her silver hair flows gracefully in the winter breeze.
“It feels a bit more relaxed since there aren’t as many people around.”
Aris smiles lightly.
Even fully geared up with goggles and a ski jacket, her face is unnecessarily pretty.
“Oh, that’s true, Senpai.”
I respond vaguely to Aris’s comment while zooming down the course.
Suddenly, as my speed picks up, an intense winter gust picks up.
“Waaaaaah! Contractor! My magical eye is tingling!”
Beatrice covers her eyes, which are still hidden behind a mask.
Her ability to sense future dangers through her magical eye has activated.
It’s not to the point of bleeding tears like before, but it seems to be stinging her.
Her already shaky skiing path veers dangerously toward the fence.
“Waaah, Trixie…”
Just as Evangelin is flustered, I quickly steer my skis toward Beatrice, who is racing toward the fence.
I reach out.
Thump, thump.
My Magic Core pulses and generates magical energy.
Using my gift, the magic rises and shifts into darkness.
Darkness flares up from my gloved right hand, extending toward Beatrice.
If I leave her like this, she’s going to hit the fence.
Though she’s a superhuman and won’t get seriously hurt, it’s better to minimize any potential power loss considering what’s about to happen.
It’s best to minimize power loss if possible.
The endless darkness transforms into a massive mattress.
Kwah-kwang.
Beatrice, who had lost her way and was racing off course, gently collides with the dark mattress.
“Ugh.”
The impact of her collision transfers directly to the dark mattress.
Grinding my teeth, I inject my mana into the dark mattress to absorb all the shock she produced.
“Hyuk?!”
Beatrice is surprised by the soft texture.
Since I absorbed all the impact with my mana, she shouldn’t have any injuries.
Sighing, I manipulate the darkness I had spread as a gift to completely stop her and ski towards her.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Beatrice’s face turns red as she makes eye contact with me.
It seems the aftermath of the incident still stings, as she covers one eye and speaks.
“…Th-thank you for saving me… I-I commend you! For a mere human to save this Scarlet Saintess so splendidly… With my survival, the peace of this world has been safeguarded once again. Consider it an honor.”
Trying to hide her blushing face, she turns away and stumbles over her words like a typical melodramatic teenager.
Her survival is directly connected to the world’s peace.
For once, Beatrice’s words might actually be correct.
Because if Damian’s Soul Gem hadn’t been around, I wouldn’t have been able to persuade the Undertaker at all.
And without her ability to handle all the relics, I wouldn’t be able to create the bidirectional gate, which is my ultimate goal.
So Beatrice must survive.
“Yeah.”
I say that and retract the gift.
The dark mattress I had created with the gift vanishes in an instant.
“Hu-hueeeee?!”
As I simply agree, a weird exclamation escapes Beatrice’s mouth.
I have no idea why she’s acting like that.
As I let out a mental sigh, suddenly I hear.
“Hawawawawa. Trixie! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
Evangeline’s voice echoes in my ears.
Swish.
“I-I’m not hurt at all.”
Evangeline, who skied over, hugs the unharmed Beatrice, standing in the snow.
“I’m so relieved! Mr. Kim Deok-Sung saved Trixie! You really are a kind person, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung! Hehe.”
While hugging Beatrice, Evangeline rubs her cheeks against her and looks at me.
A kind person, you say?
Maybe I should stay quiet about that.
“Hm. I’m just glad the incident wrapped up without any significant damage. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, well done.”
At that moment,
Aris appears next to me on her board.
She pretends to stroke my head with her bare hands after taking off her skiing gloves.
“This is a pat of praise. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung,” she says, her face turning red.
She didn’t need to add that part.
Just then,
I detect a subtle magical wave that only my EX-ranked senses can catch.
The snow, which had been falling gently, begins to intensify.
[Partner. This feels like it’s just the beginning.]
The Black Prince says.
Though it’s different from the original story, it’s clear that Dokta Shinahel has used the World Glass Barrier.
EX-ranked spell, World Glass Barrier.
As a barrier, it has a significant drawback regarding the preparation time and components required, but the effect is horrendous.
It moves people within a certain range simultaneously to a designated location where the barrier is set, trapping them inside.
Teleporting people all at once to a designated location with a barrier and locking them in.
It’s practically impossible to break the barrier from within, and one must only find hidden weaknesses from the outside to create a gap in it.
The downside is that the caster of the barrier can’t move and is unable to perform any actions other than maintaining the barrier.
Of course, if one uses a power stronger than that which was used for the barrier from inside, one could smash it.
In volume 20, Olivia, awakened to the celestial sword art, broke the world glass barrier with power on par with the protagonist Yuji, but there’s really no need for me to resort to such methods right now.
Anyway, my goal now is to lure the enemy while pretending to be trapped, so I need to match the rhythm to some extent.
[We’re already inside the barrier.]
The Black Prince says.
I know that too.
“The snowfall is getting heavier, and the weather is worsening… With Trixie’s accident, we should quickly head down the course and return to the ski house.”
Aris speaks calmly.
Her words are correct, but there’s no ski house to return to anymore.
If we follow the cliché of a stranded mountain lodge in a light novel, there’s probably a log cabin without electricity somewhere.
In reality, there are quite a few lodges in this coniferous forest nearby.
These places are set up like temporary military outposts, monitored and guarded in case of emergencies, so they look a lot like those cabins that appear in stranded mountain scenarios from light novels.
There are limitations to the areas we can connect with the space glass barrier, so this place where we’ve landed is likely somewhere on a nearby mountain.
From the enemy’s perspective, it would be more efficient to ambush us when we’re exhausted and sleepy after wandering through the snowy mountain and taking shelter in one of those lodges.
Of course, I have no intention of letting that happen.
“I think that would be wise.”
Evangelin says energetically, raising her hand high.
“Ugh, I want to rest now, eating fish cake soup in a warm ondol room rather than skiing…”
Beatrice follows up in a dying voice.
So we’re still craving ondol here.
If one lets their guard down, the national pride might just burst out of nowhere—truly unpredictable.
Whooooosh.
While Aris is speaking, the blizzard becomes thicker.
The bad weather intensifies, and now we can barely see in front of us.
“Please be careful, and enhance your vision with magic before following me. I’ll lead the way. Although Miss Stewart and Miss Trixie are not students of Shuo Academy, as the Student Council President of Shuo Academy, I will lead you all as your senior.”
*Clink.*
Aris places her hand on her chest as she speaks.
A scene so full of responsibility that it’s quite reliable.
“Hawa wa wa wa wa. I only trust President Saionji!”
Evangelin’s eyes sparkle brightly.
*Cough cough.* “Then I’ll set off first. Please follow closely.”
Aris coughs awkwardly, perhaps embarrassed by Evangelin’s gaze, as she leads the way on her skis.
Without saying anything, I ski alongside Evangelin and Beatrice, following Aris.
Wwhhrrrr.
The four of us, including me, slice through the snowdrifts in the blizzard.
The well-maintained skiing course has vanished, replaced by dense coniferous forests unfolding before us.
“Ugh…”
At this point, it seems Aris has noticed something amiss.
She bites her lip.
Biting her lip.
“Hawawawawa…”
Even the lively voice of Evangelin seems to have lost its energy.
“Contractor… this place… does not seem like the human realm…”
Beside us, Beatrice whispers with a hint of fear.
“That’s right, Trixie… this seems to be off the course…”
Just then, Evangelin speaks cautiously.
Tap.
Aris stops skiing.
“It’s now certain. A landscape we have never seen before, and a ski house that we can’t find no matter how much we ski… we are…”
Aris looks at us and says.
“…lost.”
Mountain ski rescue.
Upon hearing this, Evangelin and Beatrice jump in shock.
“Hawawawawa!”
“L-Lost… then what should we do?!”
“First, please calm down. The reason this has happened is my fault for not properly guiding as the leader. I apologize.”
Aris bows her head to calm the two.
Apologizing, huh?
Honestly, Aris doesn’t need to feel sorry.
I stepped in front of Aris, who was bowing her head, and said.
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong. With the blizzard and bad weather… it was a situation where getting lost was quite probable.”
In reality, getting lost at a ski resort is nearly impossible unless you’re off the mountain trail, but anyway, this predicament isn’t Aris’s fault.
Hearing my words, Aris’s face turns bright red.
She waves her hands in fluster and says.
“You… you don’t have to say so much, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung… th-thank you… You really are kind…”
Aris bows her head deeply.
“Hawawawawa…”
Evangelin, watching this, brings her hand to her mouth, and “hawawawa” she goes.
I clap my hands to get the attention of Evangelin, Aris, and Beatrice focused.
“Well, it seems we have no phone service or internet.”
As I lift my smartphone, a ‘out of service’ notification appears.
“Th-then what should we do?”
“First off, it’s night now, so we need to find a place to rest away from the storm. A lodge or a cave would be best. A lodge would be ideal, but if not, then even a cave…”
Just as I respond to Beatrice’s remark.
“Alright then. I’ll take the lead this time and find a resting place.”
Aris said as she stepped forward again.
Everyone agreed to her words and followed her, wandering through the ever-winding coniferous woods with blizzards raging around us.
We wandered for a long time through endless conifers and a snowy landscape so blanketed that it was hard to tell where one was.
Not just any cold, but the cold seemed to have the essence of magic imbued within the barrier, so slowly our bodies started to cool, and we were all rattling our teeth and shivering when…
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung! Miss Stewart! Miss Trixie! Look over there! I see a lodge!”
Aris shouted, pointing ahead.
The gaze of everyone, exhausted from the cold and snowstorm, turned toward where Aris’s finger pointed.
There stood a picturesque log cabin.
[Hero Kim Deok-Sung Resort Lodge No. 234]
A plaque with that title hung at the entrance of the lodge, and there was a bronze statue of me.
Wait, why is there a statue of me?
