Campfire in the Middle of Winter -2

I was driving the car.

“Hey, stop stealing my snacks.”

“What’s the big deal? We can share a little.”

“I bought them!”

“Hmph! Making such a fuss over a few pieces of snacks. Brother, don’t marry this one! If you marry a stingy woman, you’ll suffer your whole life!”

“What did you say…? You little…”

Noah and the Demon King were bickering in the back seat.

The Demon King pretended to look away, then quickly grabbed another snack.

Judging by the visible effect, she must have used magic.

Using magic just to eat snacks.

Must be nice to have so much energy.

“Demon King. If you’re hungry, want to eat this?”

“Oh! Thank you, Red Eyes!”

“I’m Yul.”

“Thanks! Brother, how about this one instead of that bad-tempered person over there? There’s never a bad person among those who share food with others!”

Seo Jin-ah, sitting in the passenger seat, chimed in.

“Demon King. You shouldn’t take unnie’s snacks like that.”

“…Tch, fine.”

Surprisingly, she obediently listened.

Jin-ah gave a small smile.

“I taught her some manners.”

“Ah, I see.”

Looking at them through the rearview mirror, I could see they were now playing around.

The Demon King, lying with her head on Taehwa’s lap, was receiving snacks from Yul, while Noah shook her head watching them.

It was a noisy journey.

Actually, if we wanted to, we could have gotten there instantly without all this.

None of the people here were ordinary, after all.

We might even reach our destination faster than by car.

But where would the sentiment be in that?

Even this time spent in the car is part of the journey.

Though it completely emptied my wallet.

‘Renting a big car is quite expensive…’

Ah well.

Better not think about it.

“Hey, could someone play some music?”

“Music?”

“Yeah. Anything good is fine.”

If I played music to my taste, it would surely cause trouble.

Hard metal wouldn’t suit this peaceful journey.

It was quite funny remembering the Demon King headbanging to the music, but it wouldn’t be appropriate right now.

Taehwa, hearing my request, tapped her phone.

“Ahjussi, have you heard this before?”

Before I could answer, the instrumental intro started playing.

The distinctive guitar sound—ting, ting—was impressive. Music that starts with only guitar, no other instruments, has a nice wandering poet feel to it.

“Hey, Lee Taehwa!”

Noah suddenly started panicking.

When the intro ended, I understood why.

[To where the stars twinkle, there I go. Under the sky, like your eyes~]

“Huh? That’s Noah’s voice?”

“Yes. I secretly recorded Noah singing by herself the other day.”

“Hey! Lee Taehwa, seriously!”

“What’s the big deal! You’re going to sing in front of people eventually anyway!”

“This song is… it’s… you know!”

Noah said, glancing at me.

I didn’t understand. Why was she looking at me? Was she embarrassed?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Taehwa scolded me.

“Ahjussi, you’re so clueless.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I’ll play it again, so listen carefully.”

“Hey! Give me that phone—”

“Demon King, grab her!”

“As you wish!”

The Demon King clung to Noah, and the song replayed.

[Under the sky, like your eyes~]

Like your eyes…

Under the sky…?

What color is the sky usually?

Usually, when people color the sky, they use blue…

Is she talking about blue eyes?

Blue eyes.

Noah and Demon King, purple.

Taehwa, yellow.

Yul, red.

Jin-ah, green.

So the remaining blue would be…

“…Aha.”

The corners of my mouth rose.

“I see. That’s why you were embarrassed?”

“N-no, that’s not it.”

“Well, my eyes are blue.”

“That’s not it, I said!”

Noah’s face reddened as she shook off the Demon King. Then she lunged for Taehwa’s phone.

Taehwa giggled and ducked.

[Under the night sky, like your hair~]

“Well, well. There’s only one person here with black hair and blue eyes, right, Miss Noah?”

“Argh!! Seriously!! Lee Taehwa, why are you doing this…!”

“Why? Well… because it’s fun.”

“Ugh…! Ahjussi, unlock the door! I’m going to push her out!”

“Gasp! You’ll go to jail and won’t be able to marry ahjussi, you know?”

“Aaaaargh!!!”

Taehwa, in collaboration with the Demon King, held out for quite a while.

They even started singing along.

“Under the sky, like your eyes~”

“Under the night sky, like your hair~”

“Aaaaargh!! Stop!!”

Noah’s thrashing about was the natural progression.

“So this is Noah’s song, right?”

“…Yeah, well… it’s not a well-made song…”

“It’s good though? I’d believe it if you said a professional made it. I always knew Noah had a good voice, but hearing it like this, it’s really good.”

“Ah, th-thank you…”

“I wish you’d sing for me more often.”

“…”

“It’s so pleasant to hear.”

Noah became docile when I gave her sincere compliments.

How long has it been since I felt this sense of having the upper hand?

Yes, I’ve been pushed around too much lately.

Occasionally having days like this where I take the lead helps me breathe a little.

When Noah sets her mind to something, I really feel suffocated—

“If… you want.”

“Huh?”

“I can sing… just for oppa… as much as you want… hehe…”

“…”

“A song just for oppa… yes, as much as… hehehe… forever… from now on… continuously…”

Noah mumbled with shadows across her face.

To say such things where everyone in this cramped car could hear.

Everyone lost their words and looked back and forth between Noah and me.

I felt suffocated.

“…Taehwa.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we listen to some death metal instead?”

+++++

We unloaded our luggage in front of a large cliff in the mountains.

“Noah, give me the tent.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll take care of all the tents.”

There was quite a lot of luggage, but I wasn’t too worried.

Whoosh!

The magical girls appeared with starlight.

All wearing thick coats.

Come to think of it, they could just transform.

I should also bring out my tentacles—

“No… it’s cold…”

“…”

“If you’re not going to transform, don’t bring out your tentacles…”

Hmm, I guess that won’t work.

I had no choice but to leave the heavy lifting to them.

They’re all strong, so it should be fine.

We walked for a while carrying our luggage.

In the small valley of the mountainous Gangwon Province, with no one around, only the crunching sound of our footsteps on the freshly piled snow could be heard.

After walking for some time.

“Here we are.”

We arrived at the entrance to the dungeon… but everyone’s reactions were strange.

No wonder.

No matter how much we looked around, all we could see were large cliffs.

“We’re here?”

“Yes, we’re here.”

“Uh…?”

Confused by my words, Noah kept rubbing her eyes.

“Ahjussi. Where’s the entrance?”

“It’s right there.”

“Pointing doesn’t help at all.”

“Well, I guess it’s natural you wouldn’t know.”

I understand.

I also spent a long time wandering around, not knowing how to get in.

The method I found after searching through walkthroughs, setting aside my gamer pride.

“Just follow me for now.”

The magical girls tilted their heads but slowly followed along.

“Hmm? Ohhh!!”

“What, excited?”

“I can feel immense magical energy beyond there! What on earth is it! That!”

The Demon King ran ahead with small steps, but it seemed she didn’t know how to get through either.

Well, who would think of such an insane method?

“Let’s see… Well, Jin-ah. Would you like to go first?”

“Me? How?”

“Stand in front of that wall.”

“Okay…”

Jin-ah stood with her back against the wall, arms at her sides.

“Move as I tell you.”

“Okay.”

“Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, right hand, left hand.”

“…Pardon?”

“Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, tap the wall once with your right hand’s back, then once with your left hand’s back.”

Seo Jin-ah froze in place.

Seems like a demonstration was needed.

I pressed my back against the wall and moved.

After executing the exact movements and tapping once with the back of my right hand, I stopped before doing the left.

“So that’s the method! I see. I’ll try it first!”

The Demon King stuck to the wall and rubbed her back.

Finally, she tapped the wall with the back of her left hand.

“Whoa!”

The Demon King was absorbed into the wall as if being sucked in and disappeared.

Jin-ah covered her mouth with her hand.

Seeing that, she hesitated briefly, then moved in the same way and was sucked into the wall, disappearing somewhere.

“Now, you all go quickly. I’ll be the last one in.”

“Ahjussi.”

“Yes? What is it, Taehwa?”

“We just need to rub against the cliff?”

“Yes. Just rub against the cliff as I showed you.”

Taehwa gulped and made a serious expression.

Was she nervous?

In a solemn voice, Taehwa mumbled quietly.

“You’re saying we should rub against something as flat as Noah’s chest before transformation…”

“That’s right.”

Huh?

“No, no, no, that’s not it!”

“…Heh. So you thought it was a cliff all this time.”

“…No, that’s, um… I’m sorry…”

Sigh… so much for having the upper hand…

I hurriedly escaped through the wall.

I didn’t want to die.

Somehow, I had a feeling that Noah would keep dragging me around forever.

“…Let’s just set up the tents quickly.”

And then I realized one important fact.

“Noah.”

“Yes?”

“Why are there no one-person tents? I was planning for three people, two people, and one person. Now we’ll have to sleep four people and two people?”

“…Hehe.”

This mischievous girl?