episode_0123
by fnovelpia“Wake up. How long are you going to spread out and sleep?”
It was Assis’ first morning in Doomheim. The pale blue glowstone glowed like warm sunlight.
The city was noisy from the morning with the shouts and hammer-banging of the energetic dwarves.
“Ugh… … .”
Assis, who had been tossing and turning in his sleep, slowly raised his upper body. His half-closed eyelids were still swimming in the land of dreams.
Assis nodded, dropping his head. Then he yawned and stretched.
“Haaam… … .”
A cold breeze brushes my cheek.
The breath rises whitely.
It may seem strange to feel the breath of the sun in Doomheim, a warm place with a heart of geothermal heat and magmar, but winter has come to the room where Assis is staying.
The soft bed is frozen cold and hard as ice.
The ceiling was covered with white ice crystals, and numerous frosts bloomed on the walls like flowers. Snow falling from the ceiling covered the floor in pure white.
The glass of water on the table had turned into a block of ice. The scenery outside was covered in a faint frost.
It was only one night.
It was Assis who created the winter kingdom.
“Wow, so pretty.”
Perka, who had followed behind, looked around the room and let out a childish sentiment, while Torvar covered his forehead with his palm.
“… ?”
The person involved wasn’t even aware that he had done it.
“There’s no point in chasing her now. If you kick her out, the whole neighborhood will know about it. That the Master kicked the princess out so cruelly.”
Before Torvar could say anything, the quick-witted Karami struck first. Asies, who became the princess of the dwarves in just one day, even had a fan club formed somewhere.
If rumors spread that such an Assis had been expelled, it was obvious that Meister Torvar would retire in disgrace.
“… Let’s find a way.”
All he could do was come up with a way to deal with the cold air flowing from Assis.
Karami sat down next to Assis, her feet crunching on the snow-covered ground. Assis’s fine hair had become a bird’s nest overnight.
“Okay, turn your body to the side.”
Karami took a comb out of her bosom and began to tidy Assis’s hair.
“The man even carries a comb… .”
“The slaves I raised would never clean up unless I brushed them myself. So I got into the habit of carrying them around.”
“But I’ve never heard or seen a master combing his slave’s hair.”
“As a slave trader, it is basic to manage the slaves to maintain their quality. Where did you meet such strange masters?”
… Is that so?
It’s certainly a valid argument.
In fact, Karami treated Perka like a noble lady, which was the complete opposite of those who abused slaves for fun.
It was completely different from the image I had heard. Of course, he also used Perka as a threat, so you can’t say he was a completely good person.
He is a strange person after all.
“This is enough.”
Assis’s hair was finally done. The group went down to the first floor and prepared breakfast.
Perka, freed from slavery, sat in her original chair. This meant that two more human chairs were needed.
Damn it.
The ice froze and formed a splendid throne. Assis sat down on the ice chair as if it were a given.
“Remove?”
“… ?”
“Please make one for me too.”
Assis made another ice chair. Karami sat down on the chair excitedly. It was the first time in her life that she had sat on an ice chair.
“… It’s cold.”
It’s so cold.
“Of course it’s made of ice. Did you think it would be warm?”
“No, that’s true, but… .”
I thought I would be able to sit down and still feel cool, but I was wrong for a while. If I sat down any longer, I would get frostbite and have to have my butt amputated.
Karami got up reluctantly. Frost clung to his trousers.
“Elder, please make me a chair too.”
“Huh.”
Torvar, snorting and taking an ambiguous stance, took the bread and began to eat it. Asies, who was staring blankly at him, also grabbed a loaf of bread from the basket.
What is this?
He looked around the bread as if it were some kind of monster. As time passed, frost grains stuck to it and it turned into ice bread. It was no longer edible.
Karami, who had to eat standing up because there were no chairs, put down what Assis was holding.
“You must have eaten bread while living in the castle. Don’t you remember?”
“Ppaang… ?”
“Yes, it’s called bread. It’s also called the opposite of farm.”
“Old man… ?”
“What are you teaching me… .”
Perka looks at him with cold eyes.
Karami didn’t care, and picked up a new loaf of bread and tore it into small pieces. He thought he could feed it to Asis instead, since his breath had the property of freezing everything it touched.
“Oh, please do it.”
“Ah… .”
Assis opens his mouth slightly. Most of his body is white, and Assis is blue, but the fact that his oral mucosa is bright red is strangely erotic.
Karami, who had been trying to look away, put a piece of bread into Assis’ mouth.
“You don’t have to be taught how to chew, right?”
Fortunately, he wasn’t that stupid. He knew how to do the basic biological activities that a living thing should do. He moved his ball around and swallowed the bread.
“How is it?”
Assis did not answer the question. Her sense of taste was also unfamiliar to her, so she tilted her head from side to side.
“How is it? Is it edible?”
Assis nods.
Karami smiles happily.
“That’s good. Keep going. I’ll feed you for the time being.”
Perka and Torvar were astonished.
Is that a real master-servant relationship?
How could that be?
They are special.
Any normal master would definitely treat such a pretty slave harshly. Assis’s behavior is also childlike, so it would be possible to train her to her liking.
Even Perka, who is also a woman, is filled with dark thoughts about wanting to harass Assis.
It’s like when you see a cute little animal, you want to harass it. It’s like when you want to step on the pure white snowy road where there is no trace of people and dirty it.
The brain that sees something overly beautiful starts to purify itself.
But Karami’s appearance is definitely…
“There is no such thing as a complete mother bird.”
She’s just a mom.
A mother who takes care of her immature daughter.
There is no expression more perfect than this in the world.
“I think my father takes better care of me than I do.”
“I would have done the same thing if my daughter had been like that.”
“Among the daughters that my father could have, I am the highest scorer.”
“What nonsense are you talking about? You look exactly like your mother. It’s only 1% my fault.”
The father and daughter exchange merciless one-two punches. By the end of the meal, only two losers with bruises remained.
Karami looks at them pitifully and wipes Assis’s mouth.
“Tsk tsk, I don’t know why they’re like that. As expected, there’s nothing in the world that’s as good as the master. Right?”
“Hmm… Is that so…?”
“That’s it.”
Well, I guess so.
Assis didn’t think deeply.
***
Karami and Assis went for a walk after eating and digesting their meal.
Their distance is about an arm’s length.
When I returned home from walking around the city yesterday, I saw that Karami’s clothes, which had been stuck to Assis, had ice grains stuck to them.
Even now, ice marks remained on the path Assis had walked. The path she was walking on was soon to be winter.
As he walked around the city, Assis often stopped. Once, he was in front of a dog named Cloud being walked by a passerby.
It was named after its white fur that looked like a cloud.
When Assis showed interest in the puppy, passersby also readily showed it to him. The reason he had brought the cloud puppy around in the first place was for an impure purpose of attracting the attention of a woman.
“Isn’t it really cute? The pure white snow-like thing resembles a princess. It’s so fluffy. Its name is Fluffy too. Try petting it.”
Assis extending his hand.
Even the cloud puppy waits panting. Assis’ beauty even wins the favor of animals.
And when Assis’ hand touched the puppy’s fur.
Damn it.
The puppy’s cloud-like fur froze over.
The texture was no different from the familiar texture of ice.
“No, our Fluffy!!!”
The man ran off somewhere in a hurry, carrying the frozen puppy that had been soft. Assis looked at his back with regret.
“Stiff… .”
Fluffy has become hard.
The next place Assis stopped was a flower shop.
As it was an underground city, flowers were a rare decoration.
“Oh my, the princess shouldn’t come to our store. The flowers all look ugly because the princess is here~”
The florist displays a high level of solicitation. Assis, who still has difficulty understanding the metaphorical expressions, just tilts his head.
Assis squats down in front of the flower pot.
It was a flowerpot filled with fresh, green roses.
“Oh, Princess. Are you interested in roses?”
Assis staring blankly at the rose.
The shape of a rose vaguely emerges from my frozen memory.
castle.
And the garden.
A garden harmoniously decorated with various flowers, not just roses, came to mind. The most vivid memory was of bright red roses.
“The flower language of roses is love, passion, and beauty.”
Karami explained.
Dwarves are passionate about everything, and their love is also burning brightly. The bright red rose is the flower that dwarves love.
Even if there are thorns hidden in beauty, they fight for love without caring. That is the way of the dwarves.
Assis, who was looking at the rose, reached out her hand absentmindedly. For a moment, the rose petals fluttered at her fingertips.
Oh my.
“Wow… !”
Assis flinched and pulled his hand away.
The rose froze in an instant from its petals to its roots. Its red color changed to blue.
“Oh my, flowers…!”
Assis’s pupils flutter. He fidgets as he watches his master examine the flowers, then looks up at Karami.
It was an unconscious reaction.
I don’t know much about Karami, and I’ve never thought about what he does, but he’s someone I stick around with all day.
Karami smiled bitterly. He stepped forward, tapping Assis on the head.
“Ah… .”
The same incomprehensible sensation as yesterday.
Assis’ hand went up to his head.
“How much is this? I’ll buy it.”
“, 50 copper coins. Flowers are rare in Doomheim… .”
Karami took a gold coin out of his pocket.
“I’m rich so I don’t carry around any coins. I’ll just settle for this.”
“Yes?! But this is too… .”
“Compensation for mental damage caused by our slave’s surprise.”
Karami, who had forcibly handed over gold coins to the florist, hugged the flower pot.
“Shall we go back?”
Assis slowly moved his head.
The steps back home were heavier than usual.
***
“Are you here? You came earlier than I thought.”
Perca, who had been hammering in the blacksmith shop, came out, wiping his face with a towel. Perca, who had been freed from slavery and was now able to wear clothes freely, was currently wearing a sack overall.
Wearing overalls gave off a dwarven vibe. Of course, all eyes were drawn to the straps that tightened around his watermelon-sized chest.
“But why does your sister have that expression?”
What Perka found was Asies, who looked for some reason dispirited. Asies’s face was languid, as if he were about to fall asleep, and his expression showed no change at all. The corners of his eyes were more droopy than usual.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Is that so? But what is that?”
“As you can see, it’s a flower pot. There’s even an ice rose planted in it.”
Karami handed the flower pot to Perka.
“Miss Perka, what do you think when you see this flower pot?”
“Um… .”
Perka looked back and forth between the ice rose and Assis, who was sitting unsteadily a step behind.
Although Perka had only recently become acquainted with Assis, he could tell that something had happened by looking at Assis’s condition.
It was exactly like the appearance of a sinful child.
‘You froze the flowers.’
It’s too lifelike to be an ice model. That level of detail wouldn’t be possible without freezing something that was alive.
This is the insight of a seasoned dwarf.
So there was only one thing to say here.
“It’s so pretty.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We dwarves who control fire would never be able to make such beautiful ice models. I wonder what kind of craftsman made them.”
“Don’t be surprised when you hear this. It was actually made by Miss Asia.”
“Huh? Is that true?”
Perka is really good at socializing. Karami let out a satisfied laugh.
“Really. It’s the only ice rose in the world. It’s a real treasure.”
“Such a treasure came to our house. I must display it in the most visible place.”
Karami, who has matched Perka and Eolsigu Jeolsigu, looks at Assis.
“You heard? That’s right. If you put it where it’s most visible… .”
Karami, who was looking around the house for a suitable spot, placed the flower pot in the center of the dining table.
“I guess it’s here. The dull atmosphere of the house is completely gone. I’ll be able to watch it in a good mood every time I eat.”
Karami looks straight into Assis’ wavering eyes and smiles.
“What do you think, Miss Assis? Miss Assis, do you think it would be best to put it here?”
Assis paused.
The tremors of the pupils slowly cease.
He held both hands tightly.
Nod nod.
Within a few minutes, he slowly moved his head up and down.
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