Parfeil put on a belt on top of her fur coat and sheathed a pair of short swords onto it. Normally, she would hide her weapons in her clothes, but there was a chance that we would enter an area where monsters would show up. It was safer to have them in a place she could easily reach.
“Maybe I should learn a way to fight,” I contemplated.
“Don’t you worry, milady. I will strike down any and all enemies who might try to do you harm!” Parfeil declared, full of confidence.
I felt relieved that I didn’t have to fight her as an enemy.
Parfeil, as a former adventurer, started giving me advice on walking through the snow. “Just standing still in the cold will drain your energy. Even if you don’t feel hungry, you should eat small amounts of food every now and then or else you’ll find yourself collapsing on the trail.”
Other than our lunch, I packed some chocolates, caramel candies, roasted nuts, cheese, and plain nuts into my bag. Parfeil brought a bottle and a magicstone so we could have warm milk at any time.
“Finally, we need to talk about how to deal with encountering monsters.”
Parfeil handed me two paper scrolls. They were items that would let anyone use magic just by ripping them. She gave me one for defense and one for recovery.
“The Lord Dragon Duke handed these to me. If we ever end up in combat, please activate the defensive scroll and protect yourself. If you get hurt, please use the recovery scroll and treat your wounds.”
Parfeil emphasized her next words. “Do not run from battle. Use the defensive scroll and stay still,” she said. “That should be everything,” she then concluded.
Sunset came early in cold, snowy places, so we had to go outside as soon as we could.
“I’m a bit worried about the weather,” I said.
Today’s weather was overcast. The wind outside also seemed to be strong, as the clouds above were moving quickly. I had heard that the weather in the snowfields was very fickle. If a blizzard was expected to come through later, we should just cancel our expedition.
“We should ask about the weather before leaving,” Parfeil suggested.
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
“You got it, milady!”
As we walked down the hallway with a map in hand, we ran into Fenetra and her attendants. When she noticed me, a faint smile formed on her face.
“My, are you heading out for a picnic?”
“You could say that.”
Fenetra was also dressed up. I asked if she was going somewhere too.
“I am about to head out with Lord Vacherin to inspect the foot of the volcano. Oh, were you not aware?” she replied.
“Unfortunately not.”
The gall of her to say that when all of House Noisette has been cutting us off from Van, I thought. However, showing my frustration would just play into her hand. I shelved my emotions deep inside my heart.
“It is overcast outside right now, but it should clear up soon. I hope you all have fun.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
The sky remained overcast outside. Was it really going to clear up today? Still, Fenetra was also about to head out, so I saw no reason for her to lie about the weather. I didn’t completely believe her, but I would rather not be cooped up in the room any further. While we were still anxious about the weather, we decided to push through with our expedition.
“Well then, I bid you a good day,” Fenetra said.
“Good day to you too.”
We parted ways with Fenetra and headed out through the back door. As we stepped out, a cold wind greeted us, and a world of white unfolded ahead.
“It’s a lot less cold than yesterday, but it’s still frigid!” I exclaimed.
“True!”
I already felt like giving up right after we had gone outside, but we had to persevere. With the Spring Dowsing Device in hand, we moved forward.
A special wax had been applied to the soles of our shoes. It was apparently made from the fat of the White Bear—a monster native to the Diamant region. Applying wax to the soles of your shoes prevented them from sinking while walking on snow. The cooks in the kitchen had given some of this wax to us.
White Bears lived around this area and occasionally attacked people, so knights were periodically assigned to hunt them down. The animal’s fur and meat had a beastly stench so they were unfit for use or consumption, but the fat was quite useful.
One of the cooks had informed us that a White Bear had been brought down about two weeks ago, so another shouldn’t appear for a while. Still, we couldn’t let our guard down. I put on a monster-repelling amulet that I had bought previously, though I had no idea if it was actually effective. The sales pitch of the jeweler I had bought it from had claimed that its gem contained a spell that monsters detested. I had no choice but to pray that it was the real deal.
We passed through the Noisette mansion’s garden and exited through the gate. Past the forest surrounding the mansion was a field full of snow.
“Wow, it’s nothing but snow, snow, and more snow!” Parfeil exclaimed.
“It really is.”
Parfeil’s ears perked up. It seemed that she had found something in the midst of all this snow. “Milady, there’s an animal right over there. I think it might be a deer.”
“Where?”
“To your north-northwest.”
“I can’t see anything.”
The creature seemed to have white fur, so I couldn’t see it myself.
“Hm, its silhouette looked different from a normal deer...” Parfeil said.
“Maybe it’s a species unique to the Diamant region?” I suggested.
“Oh, I see. That might be the case, then.”
As we walked along our path, we encountered a small settlement. Apparently, it was a village with about three hundred residents. Of course, the houses in this village didn’t use perlite for construction. Instead, wooden houses with red roofs lined the village’s pathways. The fact that a place like this sat in the middle of a snowfield felt like something straight out of a fairy tale.
A number of large structures stood on the village’s outskirts. It must’ve been a massive construction effort, judging from how many there were. I wondered what they were building here. I should ask the villagers about it later.
“Let’s start searching around this village,” I said.
“Okay.”
If we found a spring near here, we could link the eventual hot spring resort with this village. However, we had no such luck. There was no response from the Spring Dowsing Device in this area.
“We sure haven’t seen a single villager around here,” I said.
“Yes, it sure is quiet.”
In the capital, children would play around outside and enjoy the snow whenever it fell. Even the children of nobles were no different from the ones in the city proper. Everyone loved to play in the snow.
Perhaps since the snow was nothing unusual in Diamant, the children were all playing around inside their homes.
“Let’s head for the forest.”
“All right.”
We’d only been exploring for a short while, but I was already quite tired. Parfeil seemed to have noticed this, so she suggested we take a break.
“We should have lunch too,” I said.
“I’ve been waiting for this!” Parfeil exclaimed.
She immediately started piling up snow at a blinding speed and flattened the surface of her pile with her swords. Eventually, she had made a dome out of the snow. Next, she used a fire magicstone to dig a hole into it. Once the inside had melted and become hollow, she once again used her swords to flatten the surface.
In the end, Parfeil had built a small igloo.
“It’s been a while since you’ve built one, but I’m still impressed at your handiwork,” I said, complimenting her.
“Thank you, milady!”
Whenever snow fell at our estate, Parfeil would build an igloo like this. We would often drink steaming hot milk while sitting inside.
Parfeil spread out a picnic blanket made of fur on the floor and beckoned for me to enter. It was a structure made of snow, so I wouldn’t say it was warm, but even just keeping the wind out was already a huge improvement. All my exhaustion flew away once I sat down on the blanket.
“I’ll be making some hot milk, so please wait a bit, okay? In the meantime, you can eat— Oh no!”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned.
“Look at this!” Parfeil beckoned me over. The sandwich from the Noisette mansion’s cooks had frozen solid. “The cold got to our food!”
“Oh well. I’ll fill myself up with these chocolates for now,” I said.
“No, it’s fine! I’ll just heat it up to defrost it.”
Parfeil took out a magicstone stove and lit it outside the igloo. She then placed a rectangular bowl with a cover on it over the stove.
“This bowl lets you flip over fish and meat on the fire to cook both sides evenly, but you can also use it to toast bread and make it crunchy!” Parfeil explained.
“Really? I didn’t know you had something so convenient.”
“I sure did!” It seemed that Parfeil had come prepared in case our food froze. She put the sandwich into the container and started the fire.
Will this really make that frozen sandwich edible again? I stared at her as she toasted the bread over the fire.
“You spread some butter on the pan and put the bread on it. Then, you toast it like this.”
“That sounds simple enough,” I said.
In just a few minutes, the sandwich had become a toasty brown color. Parfeil wrapped it in some wax paper and handed it to me.
“Milady, here you go! Have it while it’s warm,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Parfeil had also poured us some black tea, which she handed to me as well. Warm steam rose up from the cup, contrasting with our chilly surroundings. I blew on the hot tea to cool it down.
The bread’s surface was crunchy, while the sandwich’s contents were soft and gooey. The cheese sandwiched in between the bread had melted. The savory taste of the ham was also heavenly. Eating toasted sandwiches might’ve been even better than just having them normally.