"……."
When I opened my eyes, everything was pitch dark.
I stared blankly ahead for a while—not even aware that I was looking ahead. When I moved my body, I bumped into a plank. I shifted my limbs a bit more and found myself blocked on all sides. Where am I? I murmured. Only then did it dawn on me.
I had climbed into a coffin and lay there.
I couldn't understand why I'd done such a thing. But there had been plenty of occasions where even I couldn't fathom my own behavior, so it wasn't exactly out of the ordinary. I pushed the coffin lid open and climbed out.
"Hahk— aaahhh."
It felt like I'd been asleep for ages.
It had been well over five years since I'd settled into a routine of sleeping once every three days, if that. Even when I did manage to doze off, three or four hours was considered generous. It had been truly ages since I'd slept this deeply.
I yawned like a bear emerging from hibernation. But then something strange caught my eye. White, fluffy creatures resembling cotton candy had surrounded the coffin in a tight ring. They were snow spirits.
— You're awake.
— Surviving sleep in this weather? Impressive.
— Are humans these days rather feral?
— I have a feeling muscular men are going to be all the rage.
The spirits whispered among themselves.
So these little things made it all the way into the cabin...?
"RAWR!"
I threw both arms wide open to scare them. The spirits shrieked in surprise. Eek, eek—they scrambled over each other, trampling and colliding in a frantic heap as they fled. But just as I sighed and was about to stand up—
— …….
They had fled, yes, but they hadn't run outside the cabin. Keeping to a six-meter radius, the spirits stared, carefully reading my intentions. The spirits whispered in small voices—though I could hear every word.
─ Looks like a bluff after all?
─ General consensus is he folded for no reason when he doesn't even have the stature for it.
─ If you're not prepared for war, diplomatic compromise is necessary.
It seemed they had already figured out my personality in just one day.
This was exactly why spirits were such a pain to deal with. It was impossible to tell whether they were pure or clever—or both. The reason I'd started avoiding Bling and the fairies from some point onward was precisely because their clever brand of innocence was simply unbearable.
That pristine white color alone was enough to make a person like me depressed.
I waved my hands dismissively.
"Stop bothering me and go away. I'm a busy man."
The spirits tilted their heads.
─ What could he possibly be busy with here?
─ We're just staring because we find him fascinating, and he's got an overactive sense of self-importance.
─ If he's got no stature and his mind's already rotted through, isn't that basically game over?
"……."
Maybe it was because they were snow spirits, but their sharp tongues cut colder than the wind or forest spirits. If I'd been any more sensitive, that would've sent me spiraling into depression again.
Ignoring the spirits, I packed my travel gear. The cabin was stocked with all kinds of equipment for emergencies. I silently thanked Ivar and decided to put everything to good use. I unfurled my bedroll and crammed the items inside.
The spirits crept up on me again.
─ That's strange. The only humans who can understand us are mages.
─ This person's heart doesn't spin round and round. He's not a mage.
I packed my things in silence.
By now, the spirits had moved on to openly hanging off my forearm and sitting on my thigh. It seemed they had collectively decided to treat me as some kind of new amusement ride. Reacting here would only make them cling tighter, like water ghosts. Spirits, by their very nature, absolutely adored any living being they could communicate with.
─ What on earth is it? What is that thing?
Oh my. One of them has climbed right onto my head. That's not the summit of Everest, kid. It's not worth conquering.
─ A man who receives a breakup notice without even knowing the reason. After fifteen years of military service, he returns to find that the woman in the village has, for some inexplicable reason, a child with no father. The woman's expression freezes when she sees the man who came back. Where on earth does the truth lie?
─ A tear-jerking new drama. Now showing right here.
─ Give me more incidents. Incidents! Once enough things happen, the audience will gasp in shock. From there, they can just find whatever they like! You can even hide a complete lack of skill if you can't handle a single incident properly.
─ The greatest critic of the age descends upon this place.
─ And with that, the theater world is conquered?
What kind of cultural life do these spirits usually enjoy?
My lips itched to keep throwing sarcastic remarks. But I managed to maintain silence for over an hour. Even though the spirits had created a brand-new art discipline called twist-braid art with my hair, turned my forearm into a swing, and my back into a slide, I held my silence no matter what.
"Phew."
I gripped my square leather bag.
Plain in appearance, but it was actually an artifact layered with spatial magic and weight-reduction magic. Spare doll parts to swap out in case of body damage, valuables equivalent to fifty thousand Libra gold coins, and items useful for everyday life. Everything fit inside the small bag.
Preparation complete.
I stood up from my seat. The spirits that had been playing on my body slid off with a whoosh.
─ Kyaaaaah.
─ Descending along the curve of life's decline!
I smirked and stepped out of the cabin.
I was about to leave while ignoring the spirits when a thought suddenly struck me. I trusted Ivar's oath, but you never knew what might happen in this world. What if Ivar had installed some kind of tracking device on my doll? What if he figured out where I'd disappeared to and came looking for me someday?
I'd use the spirits.
"Kids. Do me a favor, and I'll play with you for a while."
─ What kind of favor?
─ We're not the type to fall for a blank check.
─ Take the attitude that you'll hear the proposal first and then decide.
"If I leave tracks behind, wipe them out as best you can. The thing is, I'm being chased by some scary guys. Guys who eat humans and eat spirits alike—they might spot my trail and come running."
The spirits pressed their faces together.
They were holding their own version of a roundtable discussion.
─ If you mean tracks, like traces of mana or footprints and such?
─ A usable toy finally came our way, so that much effort might be worth it.
As expected, they were treating me like a plaything.
After a brief conference, the spirits cheerfully accepted my proposal. We left the cabin and headed down a mountain path lightly dusted with snow. I asked them where the nearest human settlement was. The spirits told me to trust them and follow, then took the lead.
The doll Ivar had crafted was remarkably sturdy.
Even after walking all day, my calves didn't ache. My stamina and muscle strength were far superior to my original body. Since this body, much like the Demon Lord's, had no need for sleep, I walked through the night for three days straight.
Meaning I spent those three days serving as the spirits' conversation partner.
The spirits chattered nonstop without so much as a single second of rest.
─ Why are you running away from those guys, Jacomo?
"I killed a lot of humans."
I took a light step forward. The spirits erased my footprints.
"I killed so many that I earned a whole lot of grudges."
─ Did you kill so many because you hate the human race?
─ We hate the human race too. They're always whining about being cold.
I don't hate them. If anything, I'd say I'm closer to liking them.
─ Huh? If you like them, why'd you go and wreck them?
A small smile crossed my face.
"Hmm. Why did I wreck them? At first, I killed them because I thought there was no other choice, but later on… that wasn't really it either. Honestly, there's a lot even I don't understand about it."
─ Do you not know, or do you not want to talk about it?
"……."
─ Or is it something you can't say?
I walked on in silence.
The spirits didn't push any further on the subject. They were sensitive to the emotions of those around them, and having synced up with mine, they fell silent for a while. Of course, "a while" turned out to be about five minutes. After that, they were chattering away again as if nothing had happened.
Right now, I was grateful for that noise.
It drowned out the constant whispering of the phantoms.
As time passed, the snow thinned. Bare ground started peeking through here and there, and by the third day, the brown had overtaken the white. In inverse proportion to the brown's growing share, the snow spirits gradually dropped out of my traveling party.
─ So hoooot.
─ Meltiiing~. Melting away like a midsummer first love~.
─ I can't go any further. You guys, just you guys—make it to the end for me. That's enough for me.
─ You were a fine soldier, Sergeant.
The weaker ones, the ones with less mana, melted into soft lumps of ice cream and drifted away. They'd probably head back the way we came, staying there like migratory birds until summer passed and winter returned.
The stronger spirits with decent mana held on through the third day. But by the evening of the fourth, only a single spirit remained at my side. This one seemed to have taken a real liking to the crown of my head, because it spread out a blanket right on top of it and lay down.
─ If you keep going this way, you'll hit a great big city.
"By any chance, do you know the city's name?"
─ Novgorod.
Novgorod. It was clearly a city under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Moscow. A center of commerce and art that had grown through trade primarily with the Kalmar Union and the Kingdom of Polithunia. However, its glory had dimmed considerably compared to the old days, and it was well on its way to decline.
A declining northern city.
There was something vaguely similar to my own situation that made me feel a certain fondness toward it. For now, it would be best to set up camp there and observe the lay of the land.
─ Ugh, unfortunately, this is as far as I go.
A languid voice drifted down from above my head.
I picked up the spirit and placed it on my palm. It was drenched in sweat.
"Too hot to keep going?"
─ It really makes you appreciate the limits of one's birth.
"Thanks for guiding me this far. Because of you, I didn't lose the trail even once. If there's anything you want to ask of me, go ahead and ask. I'll do my very best to make it happen."
─ Make me the richest person in the world!
This spirit was far more cunning than I'd expected!
My lips twitched as I shook my head.
"That's a pretty difficult wish to grant."
─ Aren't you the wish-granting Swiss army knife?
"If this were the old days, maybe, but right now, not so much."
─ Useless old man.
I had no comeback.
Because it was true.
─ Then at least give me a kiss!
"…Suddenly the difficulty of wishes just dropped through the floor."
After dreaming of becoming the richest person in the world, the next wish was to kiss me. The spirit was truly impossible to figure out.
I gently pressed my lips to the spirit's white forehead. A cold sensation lingered on my lips. The spirit let out a delighted squeal, like a child. Then it slipped free from my palm and did a full loop through the air.
I gave a small wave.
"Let's meet again sometime."
The spirit beamed.
— Okay! See you again, Lord Dantalion!
And with that, the spirit flew off toward the distant mountains.
I stood rooted to the spot in a daze until it disappeared. It felt like I'd been hit with an uppercut.
"…Don't tell me it figured it out halfway through."
I started to wonder if maybe it had known from the very beginning.
Come to think of it, Ivar could have asked the spirit in advance to serve as my guide. I should have caught on the moment I saw it coming and going freely from the cabin Ivar had poured his heart and soul into building. There was no way someone as meticulous as Ivar would have left that cabin completely unguarded.
"My instincts have really gone to hell already, haven't they."
I let out a bitter smile.
I adjusted my bag and headed back toward the city at a leisurely pace.