episode_0033

33.

Late evening.

At the Academy Cadet Camp at the research base, each was busy preparing dinner.

“The curry is done!”

Lily served us a ladleful of curry from the fragrant, savory curry pot.

I mixed it on top of the pre-cooked rice and a delicious curry rice was completed.

“Krrrr. It smells good. Curry rice is the best for camping.”

Ray sniffed the curry, his nose flaring as if he liked it.

“There’s also a Yeti. Thank you for your hard work setting up the tent today.”

Lily served Yeti curry rice in a large bowl.

-Wow!

The Yeti accepted the curry bowl, as if it were delicious.

Chris took the curry and started eating it.

I was hungry, but the curry rice was fragrant and had a great, rich flavor.

“Oh, it’s delicious!”

“Thank you. I made it a bit more generous, so if you need more, please let me know.”

Chris and his party started off with a delicious dinner.

But to Lily, it seemed like Chris was absent-minded while eating.

‘You are usually the kind of person who talks a lot during meals…’

“Your Majesty, are you worried about Liel Youngae who hasn’t returned?”

“Ugh… It’s almost nighttime, so if you get lost in the middle of the night like this, it could be dangerous.”

“Should we be worried? The Hayes family will be searching as well, and if we search at this late hour and make a mistake, we could be in danger as well.”

I knew Chris Lily was right.

Still, I couldn’t help but worry since I wasn’t a complete stranger to Riel.

‘Young Master Chris has suddenly become very nosy. There’s no need for Young Master to be concerned about Young Ae Riel.’

“Ray, is there an easy way to find Liel Youngae?”

Since I’ve solved many cases using the summoner’s abilities so far, I thought that if I borrowed the summoner’s power this time too, I might be able to come up with a solution.

“Hmm. Actually, it’s not that difficult.”

Unexpectedly, Ray said it as if it was nothing special.

“Look at the weather right now. It’s clear and windless, right?”

Chris looked at the sky. Just as Ray had said, the sky was clear. It seemed like a lie that there had been such a heavy snowstorm yesterday.

“The important thing here is that there was a snowstorm yesterday.”

“What does that mean?”

“Think of a snowstorm as an eraser. Once a snowstorm blew and covered the snowfield in white, it became like a white canvas. Naturally, useless footprints disappeared as well. So, the only footprints left in the snowfield now would be those of the academy cadets who walked around today, right? So, if there is an expert who can safely guide you through the snow, it shouldn’t be hard to find Riel.”

As expected, Ray was trustworthy.

“But there is no expert who knows the eye well?”

Lily objected.

“Isn’t there a Yeti over there?”

-Wow?

“This Northmunster snowfield is like Yeti’s front yard, so you won’t have to worry about getting lost with Yeti’s help.”

“Oh!”

It was a huge stroke of luck.

The most important thing to watch out for when searching for a person in distress is that even the rescue team trying to find the person in distress will be lost.

The snowy mountains at night were that dangerous.

But with Yeti by your side, you can avoid such danger.

“Yeti, please help me find Liel Youngae.”

Chris asked the Yeti.

-Wooo?

A yeti with a displeased expression.

His expression was saying, why do I have to do such a bothersome thing?

“Hoo… .”

Lily sighed.

Listening to Ray, it seemed like it would be easy to find Liel Youngae if Yeti helped.

Although he didn’t like the fact that Chris, whom he served, was having a hard time trying to save another family’s daughter, he had no choice but to help Chris because his will was firm.

“Yeti. I’ll ask you a favor too. If you help me with this, I’ll forgive you for what you did to me today.”

-Wow.

“The Yeti wants to eat apple pie again.”

Ray listened to Yeti’s words and translated them.

“I’ll make you a bunch of apple pies too.”

-Woohoohoohoohoo!

The Yeti pounded his chest as if he was looking forward to it.

“Okay. Since Yeti said he would help, I should tell Riel Youngae’s bodyguard. The Haze family might be in danger if they try to rescue Riel Youngae.”

Just then, bodyguard Lisa was seen talking to Professor Miranda.

“I don’t think any of the cadets have seen Miss Riel, so I guess I’ll have to go look for her myself.”

“It’s dangerous to go alone. It’s better to wait until the Hayes family’s support arrives.”

Professor Miranda tried to dissuade her, but Lisa shook her head.

“If we delay any longer, we may miss the golden time to save the young lady. I have to find it by myself. Professor Miranda, please help us search when the Hayes family’s search party arrives.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Lisa seemed to be going to find Riel, carrying a portable candle.

“Bodyguard, wait a minute!”

Chris called Lisa over.

“Chris Youngsik, what’s up?”

“Actually, I’m also trying to help find Riel Youngae.”

“Yes? Thank you for your kind words, but Chris Young-sik is also working on a project right now. Is that okay?”

“People come before tasks. ”

“I know it’s shameless to say that, but I’d like to ask you something.”

Even from Lisa’s perspective, wandering the vast snowfields of Northmunster alone in the middle of the night felt like too much of a struggle.

If Chris, the maid, and the summoned creature all come out, the number of explorers will be five, including Lisa.

I was grateful to Chris for stepping forward and offering to help.

Lisa thought she had to repay Chris somehow later.

“Lighting Executes!”

Golden mana gathered from the horn on Ray’s head, creating a magical light that brightly illuminated the surroundings.

It wasn’t a terribly bright light, but it was enough to clearly see objects within 10 meters of Ray.

“Let’s go in the direction that Miss Riel went to get firewood. We might find her footprints.”

Chris and his group followed Lisa.

Before long, we came to a forest with many spruce trees growing there.

“Miss Riel went out to get firewood from around here.”

“Let’s split up and look for traces of Riel Yeongae.”

At Chris’s suggestion, the group dispersed and moved to find traces of Liel Youngae.

-Wow!

Yeti called everyone.

“Looks like the Yeti found something.”

When the group went to where the Yeti was calling them, they found footprints in the snowfield.

“Could these be Miss Riel’s footprints?”

Lisa looked closely at the footprints. Judging by their small size, they seemed to be the prints of a woman’s shoe.

“That’s probably very likely. Let’s follow the footsteps.”

Chris and his party headed into the spruce forest, following the footprints.

#

Let’s go back in time to a few hours ago.

Riel Hayes had come into the spruce forest to get firewood, but had lost his way and was wandering around.

‘Where the hell am I? Everything around me looks the same, so I don’t know where I came from.’

It all started when I accidentally found a Christmas rat in the forest.

The Christmas Rat was a giant rodent monster with fur colored in red, blue, and yellow.

It was a monster that looked just like a Christmas tree, building a house near a spruce tree and living there.

As a fairly rare monster, Riel diligently chased after the Christmas Rat in hopes of catching it and studying it.

But in the end, the Christmas Rat was missed and, to make matters worse, he ended up getting lost in the snow.

‘This is a big problem. If this continues, it’s going to be completely dark… .’

The sun was already setting.

‘The temperature will drop significantly at night in the Northmunster snowfields…’

Riel thought that if he continued to wander like this, he would only lose stamina.

‘It would be better to find a cave or something and spend the night there, and then try to find the way again in the daylight.’

Although Riel Hayes was raised in a noble family, she was also an academy cadet.

As an adventurer, I was fully familiar with the basic knowledge and response techniques.

Riel made the best decision he could at the time and put it into action.

Luckily, we were able to find a cave suitable for overnight lodging before the sun completely set.

When I went inside, the ceiling was a bit low, but it seemed like a good place to spend a night.

Fortunately, the winter clothes were made of soft duck down, so I didn’t think I would be uncomfortable sleeping in them even without separate bedding.

What was even better was that he was carrying an axe because he had come to gather firewood.

Riel was carrying a bundle of spruce trees on his back, splitting them into firewood.

I took out a few pieces of firewood and started a fire.

Of course, there was a risk that lighting a fire in the middle of the night would attract the attention of monsters.

‘I just need to melt the body and turn off the fire right away.’

Riel thought like that and thawed his frozen body.

As I sat in the corner of the cave, warming myself by the campfire, my eyes slowly began to close.

I think I was more tired than I thought.

Riel fell asleep without realizing it.

#

Riel felt a hand caressing her cheek.

I opened my eyes.

“Howard Youngsik?”

In front of Riel’s eyes, Howard was on one knee, looking at her as she woke up.

“Riel Youngae. We finally meet again.”

Howard Youngsik laughed.

Riel found that smile creepy.