Is it almost over?
I sighed as I looked up at the suddenly quiet sky.
Wendy, who had suddenly disappeared.
And the avalanche that happened almost simultaneously.
Not to mention the Phoenix staring down at me from the summit.
So obvious a ploy, even a seven-year-old could see through it.
Did I do something to upset them, or are they testing me like a true divine beast? I still couldn’t tell which it was. The personalities of divine beasts had to be downright terrible based on the original work.
Some of them were worse than ordinary demons, after all.
Leaning my chin on the railing I made by boring a hole in the cliff, I took a sip of iced Americano.
I wonder when this avalanche is going to end. There was still an ominous vibration coming from the top of the cliff. I needed to wait for the avalanche to finish before deciding whether to go back up or not; I didn’t realize avalanches could take this long.
[Contractor, you’re caught up in our avalanche, right?]
“Yes.”
So, I was sitting here sipping while looking down at Wendigo Village from inside the cliff. Ah, that bone-chilling taste; is this love? I threw my empty ice cup over the cliff and got up from my spot.
Since the sound was dying down, I thought I’d do some stretching before heading out.
Even if there wasn’t anything to do until the avalanche ended, I couldn’t just sit still and freeze to death.
Twisting and turning.
After finishing a round of stretching, I slung my backpack, which I had carelessly tossed aside, over my shoulder and picked up my shovel. The top was sure to be completely blocked by the avalanche, so I’d need to carve a path in the cliff.
“Crafting.”
I started making a railing and stairs along the cliff. The snowy mountains didn’t have any special materials, so my skill began building a tourist path in the cliff without any resistance.
By the time I broke through the snow and reached ground level, I had used my skill around twenty times. I glanced around at the ground, now covered in snow, making it hard to tell where I was.
Where did Wendy go?
If her goal was to bring me here, she must have fled by now, or else she would likely come back to me. Seeing that damn Phoenix trigger that avalanche, I was sure they were in cahoots.
I thought she had a different purpose for climbing up with me, but at this point, it seemed better to abandon that idea.
“This world is a mess.”
[Contractor, are you going to keep going up?]
“There are no options.”
Even if that chicken-spirited Phoenix was causing chaos on the summit, as a divine beast, it had to go up. I began pushing forward with my shovel, carving a path through the snow, which was piled up to my waist.
[Do we have to climb up like this to the summit?]
“There are other ways, but this is the safest.”
I couldn’t reveal my hand now, knowing that Phoenix could do anything at any moment. After a couple more hours of moving, I finally stopped and looked back at the route I had taken.
“…I think I’ve come further than I expected, but it seems like I haven’t.”
[It’ll be a massive pain to go back down.]
“No, if everything goes smoothly, going down should be quick.”
If my negotiation with the Phoenix succeeded, I could ride it. But whether that negotiation would go well was another question, and I decided not to think about it for now.
Anyway, I had to meet that fiery chicken first before I could talk about negotiations.
By the way, Wendy hasn’t shown her face at all.
“Were you planning on following me here from the beginning?”
What could her purpose be?
Was she trying to kill me?
Or was she monitoring me as a subordinate of the Phoenix all the way to the exam site?
Or was some of what she said true, and she used me to reach the summit?
In any case, either possibility left a bad taste in my mouth.
If I see her again, I’ll have to pry the truth from her somehow.
If I can meet her again, that is…
“Crafting.”
Let’s take a break here. It was freezing enough that even my breath was freezing up, and continuing to shovel like this was almost life-threatening. I finally managed to make a fire and started warming myself.
And then,
“Y-young Master Johann! You’re alive!”
What the hell is this crazy woman saying?
Should I kill her?
I’ve never left an opponent who made me feel threatening alive. Right now, I could –
“Hey, Wendy. I mean, Wendigo. How about we have an honest conversation?”
– but at least it should be a rational discussion.
“How, how do we do that?”
Is she genuinely surprised or just pretending?
She’s so bad at acting it’s even confusing.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t know after you blatantly said, ‘I’m Wendigo’? If the villagers found out that the legendary Wendigo was this foolish, they would surely lament.”
After being scared of something like her for hundreds of years? I could already picture the villagers getting furious.
“What? I’m foolish? You arrogant little…!”
“Crafting.”
“Gyaah!”
I looked down at the trapped Wendigo in the pit and used my skill again.
“Crafting.”
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Well, what are you up to?”
Should I pour oil on her and set her aflame? I looked down at the Wendigo, stuck amongst dozens of thorns, unable to move, contemplating my next move.
For some reason, I realized she was a real fool. She definitely has some kind of mimicry ability, but her combat abilities didn’t seem that impressive.
If she knew how to fight, she wouldn’t fall for such a lousy trick.
“Help! Human! Let me go!”
“Pathetic for a legendary being.”
[Yeah, yeah! I could beat her even if I fought!]
“You?”
[Why! I can fight a little!]
Rue struck a boxing pose and swung her tentacles like fists.
[Swish swish. Swish swish.]
…This is bad.
“The one who was getting chased by a cat has a lot to say.”
Still, if I fought that fool below, victory or loss would be unpredictable. I sighed and called out to the thrashing Wendigo in the pit.
“Hey, can’t you turn into your true form and get out?”
“Oh, right!”
…This is the legendary existence? Legends are dead.
I sighed, looking at the Wendigo melting like ice cream in the blazing sun. Wendy’s true form was a ball of fur slightly bigger than Rue.
Not a creature that could survive an actual battle, much less one that could get beat by a local cat.
I let out a deep sigh watching the grumbling Wendy struggle to climb out.
“Explain yourself.”
“They said if I talk, the big red one would hit me!”
“I could hit you before that red one does.”
I quietly raised my fist.
“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you! Just don’t tell the red one!”
[Wow, we should have started like this. This is super easy.]
“…Don’t say any more than that.”
Feeling a sense of shame for straining my brain against such a creature, I listened to Wendy’s long-winded explanation. Apparently… Wendy was a spirit-like being living in these snowy mountains, sometimes scaring humans who wandered up, but now she found herself in a situation where the Phoenix invaded and was making her his minion…
And she didn’t even know why the Phoenix was causing trouble for me.
No, as someone who has played the original, I knew roughly how the Phoenix was thinking when it was giving me a ‘trial’. But it felt a bit anticlimactic.
In the original story, monsters would pop up and all.
“But you’re pretty strong! Can’t you beat that red one?”
“I can’t beat it.”
“Ugh…”
Wendy whined in disappointment, but when I put some jerky in her mouth, she mumbled.
[She’s really simple-minded.]
What to do with this simple creature?
It wouldn’t be wise to kill her, to be honest, and quite frankly, looking at her, she didn’t seem like she could guide me very well. But leaving her alone felt a bit off.
What a troublesome little creature she was.
“So, what happened to the person you transformed into?”
“Uh… maybe they’re wandering below?”
So she can just glance at someone and imitate them? Quite a useful ability.
If it were someone other than Wendy. Considering this awful acting skill of hers, it was nearly useless.
From what I could see, the Phoenix must not have had high expectations when sending her.
“Now that I’m done here, you can go.”
“Really? I can really leave?”
“Yeah. Just go.”
At my words, Wendy dashed out of the igloo with a joyful look. I stared blankly at her before redirecting my gaze to the bonfire as I set the kettle, now heated to the brim, down on the ground.
I’ll take a short rest and then head back up…
“Why did you come back?”
“I want to go up too!”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“I have something to say to that guy!”
While her aspirations were admirable, she’d probably freeze up and say nothing when she got in front of him. I decided to see what she had to say.
“Okay. What do you want to say?”
“We will not be slaves! We will be the masters of the world!”
“Do ‘we’ include me?”
“Aren’t you going to protest too?”
“No.”
“Then why go?”
Is she pure-hearted or just brainless? I took a moment to gather my words before responding to Wendy.
“Just say you have business to take care of. Getting to the summit. Got it?”
“Of course! I’ve lived in this mountain for years!”
“How many years?”
“Uh… a lot!”
“…I’ll find the way myself.”
“Don’t underestimate me! I’m not just a big dumb fool!”
How can I trust you?
“Ow! Violence is wrong!”
I silenced her protest with a flick on the forehead and got to my feet.
It’s about time to start moving.
I feel like I’ve covered two-thirds of the distance.
“Let’s go together!”
I stepped out of the igloo, a ball of fur draped over my shoulder.
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