Ch.14649. To the Village of the Snow Woman (3)

The time was still deep into the night.

The vehicle borrowed from the Allied Forces was quite rugged, being a military vehicle. Naturally, it was a manual vehicle without any autonomous driving capabilities.

But with the all-out war against the Red Lake in full swing, it would be disastrous if a villain hacked the car. Besides, I was actually more familiar with this old-fashioned four-wheeled automobile.

‘I used cars like this at Flame too.’

It had already been half a year since I joined Flame. I’d been using such rugged cars in Busan as well, so driving wasn’t difficult at all.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable with the lanes being on the opposite side?”

Yuri asked me. I rolled down the window briefly for some fresh air.

Though it was only October, the air outside was strangely cool. Cold weather didn’t matter to either of us, though. I said,

“It’s a bit awkward, but not enough to get lost.”

Not only were the lanes reversed, but we couldn’t use navigation due to hacking concerns. So I was finding my way using the road map Yuri had brought from headquarters.

“That’s amazing. If it were me, I would’ve gotten lost and turned somewhere else long ago…”

“Being able to read maps well is also part of an operator’s qualifications.”

Yuri’s voice perked up at that.

“Speaking of which, there was a lot of talk about Flame’s operating at the post-mission briefing. Secretary-General Choi Seung-hoon has always been favorable toward you, but even Directors Gwangje and Manseong acknowledged you. Your contribution to the battle in Nagoya was truly significant, Minsu.”

Though I’d heard this before, Yuri seemed happier about it than I was.

“I still have a long way to go. Not just with the all-out war against the Red Lake. We must find the Epitheus that will stand against the Evil God.”

“Yes… that’s true. But I’m happy that your skills are finally being recognized, even if it’s late. The title ‘Flame Master’ suits you well.”

“Don’t say that. It’s such a chuunibyou nickname.”

“Is it? But even the villains call you ‘Flame Demon’ now. They flee in terror at the sight of you. Either way, it means your flame spells are extraordinary. You should be proud.”

Yuri continued to praise me from the side. I looked at her and smiled slightly.

“It’s still a bit strange though. Yuri, back at Aince, you used to always make fun of me. Saying my flame spells were worse than a lighter.”

“T-that… that was years ago.”

After hesitating for a moment, Yuri continued.

“Back then… I wasn’t honest with myself. You know how nasty my personality was. My feelings… they were the same as now, but… I was embarrassed back then.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“You were a severe tsundere. Back when you were student council president.”

“I-it wasn’t that bad!”

“You received so many gifts from me but could never properly say thank you.”

“That’s not true! I… I tried hard to express my gratitude in my own way…”

Yuri was clumsy at expressing her emotions.

She also had immense pride as a Grand Duchess and was a perfectionist.

I recalled what Yuri used to say to me back then.

‘I-it’s not like I like this childish teddy bear or anything! And no matter how many gifts I receive from you, they don’t make me happy at all!’

She used to spout such typical tsundere lines. But now, Yuri didn’t hide her feelings of affection for me.

“You were… the first person I ever liked. So I… I couldn’t help being awkward.”

I couldn’t see her expression while driving, but Yuri seemed extremely embarrassed.

“But now we’re dating, so I won’t act foolishly like back then anymore.”

I noticed her unconsciously drawing on the windshield with frost mana. The drawing was childish and messy, but it was a habit she showed when she was in a particularly good mood.

Instead, Yuri became less talkative. The atmosphere became languid, like a late-night drive.

The two of us were heading to a village deep in the mountains, creating a peculiar mood between us.

‘Dating, huh…’

Suddenly, I had two girlfriends. Yuri and Soso. Though I never called myself their boyfriend.

Both of them already considered me their boyfriend.

‘I did make them think that way…’

Moreover, Yuri and I were headed to the Snow Woman’s village, where I had agreed to form a bond with her.

If Yuri awakened as a true Snow Woman in that village, spending the night with her would make me her mate.

That would be a marital bond. So Yuri’s feelings for me were probably beyond those of a boyfriend.

‘That promise was… the only way to keep Yuri’s mind from collapsing.’

After the tragedy at Aince and my loss of consciousness, Yuri’s mental state must have gradually deteriorated.

She had always been responsible by nature. And she herself had already told me that she liked me even before the tragedy.

Learning that I had a terminal condition pushed Yuri’s mind to the brink.

And a Snow Woman’s obsession and affection for her mate is strong enough to annihilate an entire city. If I were to die, or if I had never accepted her feelings in the first place.

Yuri would have become a new Apostle and stood against the Allied Forces.

Of course, since I promised to form a bond with her, Yuri’s mental state is now more stable than anyone else’s.

Because I gave her false hope. Perhaps it was an even more potent drug than the Archangel’s Sanctuary.

‘If I were to die, Yuri would…’

The current Yuri has somewhat moved past the shock of my terminal condition because of that false hope I gave her. I even gave her greater hope.

I told her we had discovered a cure—the Archangel’s Sanctuary.

And I had even lied that if we could prevent the Evil God’s resurrection, there would surely be a way to recover my body as the owner of the Sacred Flame.

Perhaps Yuri was now imagining a rosy future with me.

‘Yes. It can’t be helped.’

Even if I were to die, the marital bond with me might become hope for Yuri in her life afterward.

Of course, I considered even this consideration to be hypocritical, but I recalled what Arin had said to me before I left for this place.

‘If it makes you feel better, Senior, then you can accept both of their feelings. Don’t hurt yourself by thinking you’re deceiving them.’

It sounded like sophistry.

But Arin knew well that I felt guilty about straddling two relationships like this.

‘There’s nothing wrong with liking everyone, is there?’

I couldn’t deny that Arin’s words felt like an indulgence to me.

And at the Snow Woman’s village, I had to form a marital bond with Yuri.

‘I can’t deceive Yuri with half-hearted acting.’

Thinking again about Arin’s words, I came to my own conclusion about what I had been pondering on the way here.

‘I absolutely can’t let Soso find out. But from now on…’

I decided to follow Arin’s advice.

I decided to forget the guilt that had been tormenting me and to accept Yuri’s feelings as they were.

***

The two of us approached a city.

That place marked on the road map. While I wasn’t very proficient in Japanese, the augmented reality screen of my in-ear device automatically translated the map.

“Nagano City.”

This was near Yuri’s mother’s hometown, a mountain village in Niigata Prefecture where the Snow Woman’s village was located.

And as headquarters had warned, the weather suddenly turned severe.

“Heavy snowfall like this in early October…”

As Yuri said, a blizzard was raging around us, obscuring our vision. We both sensed it immediately.

“This isn’t natural snow.”

Yuri nodded.

Just like when the Great Demon Crosel created a snowstorm in Paju, we could feel the flow of mana from the snow.

“The Allied Forces’ intelligence headquarters provided information about this area. While the Red Lake was occupying Japan, there seems to have been dimensional fusion in this mountain range.”

Fortunately, the fusion hadn’t affected areas near the city, so there wasn’t much disruption to civilians’ daily lives.

But the mountain range itself had been transformed into Ailetanian terrain, likely causing significant changes in the surrounding mana density.

The lights of Nagano City were visible beyond the road.

“They said that city was also occupied by villains, but now all the elite villain forces should have headed to Tokyo. There shouldn’t be any problem getting to my mother’s village.”

As Yuri said, due to the Allied Forces’ recapture of Nagoya City, the villains would be stretched thin. There shouldn’t be any interference on our way to the Snow Woman’s village.

“Still, we should hurry.”

I pulled the car over to the shoulder. Then Yuri and I got out. With no lighting nearby, I created a flame spell for illumination to brighten the area around the car.

“Please.”

Yuri’s Nivis glowed. An ice spell lifted the car. After fitting urethane chains on the car tires, we drove again.

‘From here…’

Due to dimensional fusion, many roads in the national park of this mountain range had disappeared. Without those roads, we would have to walk through this rugged snow-covered mountain.

‘That would be troublesome.’

Yuri and I could survive even if dropped in the remotest parts of the Arctic or Antarctic. But I decided to conserve energy.

Fortunately, not all of the mountain range had undergone dimensional fusion. And intelligence headquarters had also provided satellite images of the mountains.

From those satellite maps, we located Yuri’s mother’s hometown. A remote place unknown even on Japanese websites. But it definitely existed.

Twenty-two years ago, Yuri’s father, Grand Duke Andrei, had met her mother there.

We continued climbing the snow-covered mountain pass for about two hours.

“I think the car can’t go any further from here.”

We parked the car on a small space by the roadside, and both got out. Once outside, the mana mixed with the heavy snowfall felt even more intense.

“I hope a Great Demon hasn’t been summoned in this mountain range.”

Yuri said. October snow. Not just the heavy snowfall, but a severe cold wave was also sweeping the area.

While Niigata Prefecture was known for snow, it wasn’t a place that turned into such severe weather from October.

“I don’t think it’s a Great Demon.”

As the owner of the Sacred Flame, I’m much more sensitive to demonic magi. There was no unpleasant sulfuric smell or rotting corpse odor characteristic of demonic magi.

But my body involuntarily trembled at the surrounding mana. It felt like my body was responding to being pushed by an enormous power rather than fear.

At that moment, my heart pounded.

‘Hong-ok, no, Seohwa…’

And the surrounding mana was closer to ice mana than flame mana.

But it felt similar to the Vermilion Bird’s energy I had felt at the Mythic Religion temple. At that moment, Yuri’s Nivis resonated.

Woooong-

“Huh? Why is Nivis doing this?”

The S-class Ancient Gear Nivis. The silver ring on Yuri’s finger was emitting a resonance different from usual.

‘Seems like we’ve come to the right place.’

Niigata Prefecture. And Yuri’s mother’s hometown. That place was where the awakening of the Eastern Sage was foretold.

Though it was deep dawn and we could barely see ahead, it seemed we could reach the Snow Woman’s village if we continued moving with Yuri.

Yuri’s blue eyes, reflecting the light from the flame sphere I had created, had changed from their usual appearance.

Soon the resonance from Nivis stopped. Then Yuri came closer to me and embraced me.

Then she pressed her lips against mine.

“Mmm, mmph…”

A deep kiss, her tongue entwining with mine. Our saliva mixed, then we separated. She interlaced her fingers with mine and led the way.

“Shall we go then? To our honeymoon destination. Hoo…”

Yuri’s voice was very excited. And exhaling a sweet breath, she continued.

“There… you’ll truly become one with me.”