"You really were serious when you said that."

The words coming from the woman with long white hair were mere background noises to me as I continued my search throughout the residence. People once lived there so it was not insane for me to think they would hide a coat or two around.

"Of course I was, do I look like I have time to joke around with what's going on outside?"

I replied with a sharp voice as I dug through some clothes I found in one of the rooms.

The winter waiting for us on the other side of these walls was not going to be kind on us, nor anyone in fact. People died just because they overestimated themselves for a second and I wasn't about to let my soul join them just because my helper was too obstinate about not needing any protection.

My hands dusted off the items I could grab. Despite their visible lack of use, I could feel something coming from them, an aura of... nobility? The texture was really odd and definitely wasn't something companies in the "Outside World" would use for the general public.

I pulled out said articles and showed them to the woman leaning against the wall nearest to the door.

"Those clothes are not something you see everyday, did a princess live in here or something?"

I asked mostly as a joke to lighten the air. The house definitely looked like it belonged to a wealthy person but not enough for someone of ACTUAL noble blood to use, at least in my opinion.

"...You could say that."

Mokou rolled her eyes at the question I asked to nobody in particular. Among the many discoveries I found, one grabbed my attention. It was a pinkish top with a long red skirt that could easily cover one's legs from the wind...

Without any hesitation, I held what I was examining against the girl standing next to me. Her eyes widened and she took a step away from me before giving me a glare.

My only response to her behaviour was a silent stare.

"Looks mostly intact and it hides the arms along with the legs. It should suffice for now."

"I'm not wearing that."

Her immediate refusal stopped me. I was slowly getting used to her saying that she didn't need any change of wardrobe but this was something I haven't seen before. Her cold voice grew harsh, genuine hatred could be heard.

Not sensing my pause, she pointed an accusatory finger at what I was holding and continued.

"I refuse to even touch something she used."

The wind howled against the other side of the window beside me, snapping me out of my current state.

It's been a while since I've ever had a proper conversation with someone so seeing her show a powerful emotion like anger genuinely took me aback. However, feelings in a scenario like this one is how people die.

I've seen it during my survival, people lower their guard for people they love, they become reckless and in the end, they meet their demise. The person standing in front of me already fell victim to snow madness once and with her current attitude, a second time was inevitable.

I had to deal with this as soon as possible if I wanted her support.

"Does it look like we have an endless supply of clothes for you to choose from? What I carry is suited for me so we have to do with what we can find."

In my eyes, the dress was an almost perfect choice. The only problem it had was that it was not designed to oppose the extreme temperature. If we ignore that though, its long sleeves and long dress was a good way to block the failling snow.

With that in mind, I pressed the outfit against her chest as a way to assert my decision. We weren't going to go anywhere if we remained in this back & forth.

"You'll have all the time in the world to complain once I've dealt with you possibly going rogue on me."

A moment of silence followed my statement. If I had to take a guess, she must have realized that I wasn't about to back down. The situation outside also helped me gain the upper hand in the exchange.

She still wasn't happy with what I gave her but she relunctantly grabbed the dress.

"So you want me to change and wear this?"

"Absolutely not, are you insane? Just put it on top of your clothes."

Once done dealing with her question, I threw a scarf that I was able to find inside the closet in her direction. Sadly, I couldn't locate anything that could serve as gloves nor head protection.

I heaved a sigh as I was forced to accept that we would have to go without those.

Finally stepping away from where I was looking, I glanced in the direction of my 'ally' and noticed that the dress I gave her was already on her, covering her usual outfit. Along with that change, her glare went from harsh to outright murderous. She was ready to slam her flaming fist into my skull at any moment.

"..."

I quietly made my way to the door next to her and took one glance in a mirror covered with dust. The layer covering it was large but not enough for it to be completely opaque.

My body from head to toe was covered with my own, bizarre protection against the danger of the winter landscape. The top of my head was covered with a helmet also covering the sides of my face. My eyes were blocked by a pair of goggles with a golden tint in the lenses and the rest was covered with pitch black bandages and a mask.

As you might imagine, walking around with a face like this is bound to attract a lot of strange stares, many curious and some terrified, which is understandable. If in the middle of the night, you were to meet face to face a person dressed in black with golden goggles, you would freak out.

Strange as it might look though, it hasn't failed me yet. My sanity remains as strong as it can be in this dire world.

"Let's go, we won't have enough time if we stay here for too long."

"Yea, yea."

Mokou replied with an annoyed voice before following my footsteps. If we're lucky, we might arrive at our next stop with a few hours of sunlight left, not that we can see the Sun past the ceiling of clouds above us.

Everything is planned around the color of them. The darker they are, the closer nighttime is and the closer the deadly hours are. Staying exposed during this period of time was like signing your death sentence.

Everyone who's still alive and sane follows that rule and sadly... many people use that fact to "vanish" forever once they can longer tolerate their surroundings.

...Now's not the time to think about this, you have a goal to achieve!

Those who do not heed the warning of the storm and venture into the low temperature without any protection have a chance to fall victim to the frostbites, becoming a mindless creature of the blizzard. This phenomenon is called snow madness by the survivors.

As usual, the frigid bite of the snowstorm quickly latched onto my clothes like a snake coiling around its prey. It was relentless and no amount of warmth could counter it if given enough time. Explorations have to be quick or else one might risk their life.

The snow gently fell down from the sky, masking the path we took so far to reach where we currently are.

"...So you said there's a village in that direction?"

"Humans once lived there in an attempt to protect themselves from the youkais. If we're lucky, they might allow us to get in."

Her words could barely pierce through the wind fighting against us. It was like the land itself was trying to cut all form of communication, any form. However, the guide walking in front of me casually shrugged off the wrath of mother nature and marched on.

Her right hand was raised and from it, a moderate flame was formed to fight back against the climate around us. Even now, I still have a hard time comprehending how she can create fire out of thin air. Of course, the obvious answer would be to just say "magic" and leave at that but still...

...

It feels so strange to hear a second pair of footsteps alongside mine. I think the last time I had someone follow me was a few weeks ago when I helped a small kid find his caretakers. This act of kindness quickly turned into a depressing scene.

I remember it perfectly like it happened yesterday. I held the boy's hand in mine as we arrived near their camp, only to find one of them swinging an axe inside the other's body. What I first thought to be a betrayal turned out to be a sadder reality: self-defense. The man stood over the body of the woman on the floor with a terrified look in his eyes, soullessly watching the marks of the cold on the face of the deceased.

The scream of the child echoed in the back of my head. I couldn't do anything to fix their situation and so, I was forced to leave them to their fate. I couldn't afford to bring the both of them along, especially considering what I was trying to do.

I never asked them how long they've been hiding there. In fact, we didn't share any sort of conversation. Both the kid and the man were griefing their loss and I knew that it would be improper of me to step in.

Why did I recall this event? Ha, right, because I'm walking with someone else. Now's not the time to get lost in thou-

"Stop."

"Huh?"

A chill suddenly ran down my spine, one that was not created by the horrid landscape around us. It forced me to catch up to the woman and raise an arm in her path to stop her. Confused by my sudden order, her eyes peeked at my goggles, unable to see my gaze inside them.

I could sense someone or something looking at me. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where it originated due to the snow limiting our vision but I was certain that we were being followed. I slowly pulled out my blade, serving as a way to tell Mokou that danger was close.

The both of us remained completely still, trying to faintly hear a sound that would confirm that my instinct was correct. The wind hummed its melody in our ears and the light above us was somewhat stable. If I had to take a shot, I'd say we're around noon, the most optimal time for visibility. Unfortunately, that also meant that half the day was already gone, giving us a few hours to locate a safe place for the night.

My feet dug deeper into the layer of snow under my feet, searching for a solid ground to put my weight on.

"..."

Step. The soft noise of the floor of white below us being crushed faintly reached me, making my heart skip a beat. I swiftly turned around and barely avoided a fist coming my way. I rolled on the ground to gain some distance and fell on my back due to weight of my backpack.

My stare immediately locked onto my attacker and my face quickly turned pale once I recognized the single horn on the head of our opponent. It was the ogre that I fought yesterday. It was still standing strong despite remaining exposed to the endless winter for an entire night, its muscles were making my blood freeze.

I awkwardly stood back on my feet and watched my helper lunge at the monster with a jab in its stomach. The flames that followed her attack made it look like she was using a spear to strike. The impact echoed like an explosion but the beast did not budge.

A quiet "tch" escaped her lips, clearly displeased by the lack result. She followed with a firm kick and a second fist that aimed exactly where her first attack landed. Completely bewildered by what I was witnessing, my feet could barely move.

She was calmly fighting that thing like it was just a mere annoyance in her path and, unlike me, it seemed like her relentless assault left the thing on the defensive.

Every swing was like gunpowder being lit, creating waves of sound that disrupted the very air we were breathing. This, unfortunately, only made my worries grow as I realized that we definitely weren't the only one hearing this noise.

I glanced behind my shoulder and barely saw in the corner of my vision a few moving shadows in the cold mist. My hands tightened around the handle of my weapon as i turned around to confront whatever was out there. Mokou was dealing with that thing so it was my duty keep any pest away from her battle.

My first adversary was one of those small fairies I've seen a lot. Her outfit was completely frozen and her eyes sunken. Yet, she still had the power to fly around and aim at me with her magic. In response, my feet carefully walked across the battlefield and moved me out of the path of her ranged opening.

"Too much distance, this sucks."

I mumbled to myself. I was lucky during my first encounter because my opponent was too busy devouring its previous victim to notice but now that this one had its gaze on me, it constantly kept a good distance between the both of us.

More forms were starting to form in the distance, signaling that a horde was approaching. I had to find a solution and fast if I wanted even a sliver of a chance to survive.

Then, an idea struck me. It was a rather dumb one and mostly based on luck but it was better than standing still and doing nothing. Slowly, I began walking to my right, making the girl go towards her own right in order to maintain a good distance. This continued until she was placed exactly where I wanted her to be. I planted my feet into the snow.

The small girl with wings took this as a spotted weakness and began her attack, only to bump into one of the shadows that finally joined the fray. It was another fairy and just as expected, colliding with each other was enough to change their focus and go at each other's throat.

Snow madness deprives people of their sanity and rational thinking, turning them into mindless demons lurking for anything that moves capable of satiating their needs. This mere accident was considered a sign of aggression in their eyes, leaving me alone in order to target their next meal.

The backpack I was carrying fell down with a feeble "thud" and my body turned to look into it. My hands opened it without any hesitation and rummaged through its content until a cold piece of metal touched my gloves.

If we remained in this fight for too long, our chances of getting overwhelmed could possibly reach a percentage that I wasn't comfortable with. We needed a trump card that would open us an exit to retreat.

Thinking logically, our main issue was the large monster with a horn keeping Mokou busy, stopping us from running away. So, to fix this situation, we either had to kill it or stun it for long enough and take our leave.

My grip onto the item I took out from my bag snapped me out of my thoughts. I quickly returned the hefty storage onto my back and sprinted across the field to join the white haired woman. It was now or never, our lives were placed on this one gamble.

I raised my arms, stopped my breath and activated the device.

Following my action, a noise capable of even bringing the dead back to life resonated. My eardrums screamed in agony and the air quickly became silent, at least compared to the monstrous disturbance I created a second ago.

In its aftermath, inhuman screams of rage and pain howled. In front of us, the ogre held its face with its hands and screamed. Beside me, the immortal girl was blocking her ears.

"We need to go now!"

I yelled without any hesitation as I pointed the fuming barrel of my emergency weapon towards the sky. It was small enough to fit in my backpack but still carried enough power to stagger an unsuspecting foe.

God bless the devils who created firearms because without them, we definitely would have died here.

Not giving my guide anytime to recover, I firmly grabbed her hand and charged into the mist. If we're lucky, every creatures that heard the gunshot will fight to the death and give us enough time to get away.

The only sound my ringing ears accepted to comprehend was our hurried footsteps in the snow. My heartbeat was racing and my adrenaline kept my stamina to a level I've never reached before. Right by my side, my ally calmly looked behind us and ran closer.

"Hold tight!"

"What?"

Confused by her order, I tried to look at her face but was instead stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around me before my feet left the ground. I couldn't touch the ground, yet we were still going forward... we were even faster than when we were running.

Holy shit, we're flying!

"W-Woah!"

I panicked for a moment and looked behind me. The world went by us at an abnormal speed and the wind smacked against us at full force. It felt like we were fighting against a whirlwind of frost.

Not minding the harsh response of the climate, Mokou pushed further, leading us directly towards our destination.

Nobody knowns how it arrived. Many considered it the wrath of god while others assumed that the climate of the planet was going to shit. In the end, no sides emerged victorious, only those who stopped looking up to see where they are going lived while the ones trapped in their faith perished.

"Sorry about the sudden warning, we didn't have much time."

The woman who held me in the air let out a deep sigh that transformed into white mist. Meanwhile, I was holding my hands together, desperately trying to resist the lowered temperature.

At the speed we went to get away, it was obvious that we wouldn't emerge from it without any effects on our bodies. The cold wasteland had all the time in the world to slip past the defenses of what I was wearing and let its poison spread like a virus.

Understanding that fact and probably also feeling it herself, my guide closed her eyes and created a burst of flames around her body, melting the snow at our feet and pushing away the deadly hands of winter.

"You could have told me that you could fly."

I calmly replied as the warmth of the fire dealt with the previously mentioned problem.

As her reply, she simply averted her eyes. A bead of sweat fell down my face and my shoulders lowered slightly as I let out my own sigh. What's done is done, there's no need to linger on it. I looked around for a moment before returning to our current goal.

"So, the village is nearby?"

"I dunno, you tell me."

She answered with a light grin and walked past me in a certain direction. I turned to follow where she was going and to my surprise, I was met by the faint shapes of houses in the distance along with some fortifications.

Whoever was living there had the time to create some defenses around the village. However, as much as I would like to commend them on the effort they made, something bothered me. With each step we took to get closer, my eyes were unable to see anyone around.

There was no sign of activity, no light in the houses and no campfire that I would often see during my travel. It was completely silent, giving me an uneasy feeling. Did something happen?

One possibility could be that the village was attacked but the clear lack of damage due to struggles made this choice rather... weak. Did they simply go away? That also doesn't seem likely, where would they even go?

"...That doesn't look good."

I whispered my doubts to myself as I roamed around aimlessly. Out of curiosity, I knocked on the door of one of the houses we pass by but nobody opened for us.

This town was completely devoid of any activity and sounds. The only thing we could hear was, as usual, the solemn breeze following us like our shadow. Many questions flashed in my head but none of them compared to the one I asked to my ally.

"Did... something happen here?"

"I don't know."

Her face showed the exact same confusion that I had. If I took her expression as truth then we can assume that something must have happened between the last time she went here and now... but what exactly?

Minutes passed but our investigation was left with poor hints. Hell, we didn't find any at all. My hope of finally being able to have a start to search was left to eat the dust. I kicked the ground under me and turned to face Mokou.

"What do we do now?"

"..."

She didn't answer, or maybe she simply didn't hear me. In both cases, I was left hanging, making my eyes shift to the side.

Step.

I blinked once out of shock. It was distant but it was no trick of the mind, it was as genuine as genuine can be. Without any hesitation, I charged in the direction of the noise, blade in hand. I was barely able to hear the immortal girl's surprise as I formed some distance between us.

Once I turned the last corner, I swiftly pointed the tip of my blade towards the source of the phantom footsteps. The first one to strike always has the upper hand in battle and I wasn't about to let that opportunity slip through my fingers.

In front of me, a woman looked back in my direction, taken aback by the sudden aggression. She stepped away and regained her composure, raising her hands as a way to tell me that she wasn't planning to fight.

Unfortunately, as I was able to begin my questioning, we were interrupted by the arrival of the person who brought me here. Her eyes widened and her question came out before mine.

"Keine?"

"Who?"

I followed with my own before glancing at the person I was aiming at with my weapon. The unknown woman reacted to the name and walked closer while making sure to not injure herself on my tool.

"Mokou?"

Hm... I guess they know each other? That seems to be the logical explanation. Still feeling unsure about this mysterious presence, I held onto my trusty partner and went on standby.

"It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"More than a while... I also didn't expect you change your style of clothes during that time."

The girl named "Keine" pointed at the dress that I forced Mokou to wear before heading outside. She groaned in response and pointed in my direction.

"They practically forced me to wear it, saying I needed it to protect myself."

"Well, that's a first, I wasn't expecting you of all people to indulge in someone's demands like that."

"What does that mean?!"

Completely ignoring the outburst coming from the one capable of creating fire at will, the third person turned to face me before bowing lightly in my direction.

"I apologize, I am Keine Kamishirasawa. You don't look to be from around here, are you an outsider?"

"Apparently."

I casually replied as I nodded. I leaned against the wall of the house to our right, looking at the both of them discuss. On my back, the glimmer of my lantern allowed me to discern the details of the person speaking to me.

She had long blue hair and a dress of the same color that made me have an internal aneurysm just by looking at it. She was completely exposed to the elements, as if unaware of the effects caused by the terrifying snow falling down from the sky. Is she trying to get herself killed?!

"Where did everyone go? I assumed the Human Village would be relatively populated."

"They went to the Myouren Temple to mourn the deceased. I'm here to guard the village during their absence."

"So there are people living here. I knew that it looked odd."

I mumbled to myself, catching the attention of both girls in my view. I silently waved my hand as a way to tell them "don't mind me" and turned my head to the side to make sure nobody was trying to pull a fast one on us.

The last thing I want is to get stabbed in the back just because a somewhat friendly face began a conversation with us. Or would it be more accurate to say front since my back is against the wall? Whatever-

"I've heard people mention that a rampaging flame demons was seen around Eientei. I got really worried since you haven't shown yourself in quite a while."

"Yea... uh, that's an awkward story."

Mokou averted her out of embarrassment, unable to face the person speaking to her. Me, on the other hand, I was absolutely confused by the amount of strange names being exchanged. Interrogation marks were floating above me and it wasn't hard for someone to notice them.

"I... did go slightly out of control but that's dealt with."

"Really? How did you-"

"I killed her."

I cut her off the moment I understood what she was about to say. It was a grim response but it also was the truth, I wasn't gonna lie on that. A moment of silence followed my answer until my victim nodded along.

"...They did."

"..."

Keine remained completely silent, losing her ability to speak. It was understandable, especially considering the both of them seemed to be close. Or maybe it was because she wasn't expecting a human to kill her? Both felt like valid reasons for her behaviour.

"Let's... continue our discussion inside. Please follow me."

She turned around and began to walk away, guiding us towards one of the houses. It looked to be on the same level as the others, unlike the rich residence I found on my first day in this hellish world of fantasy.

These priests could have warned me about the shit I would find here instead of acting like lunatics. That would have helped immensely.

The woman in a blue dress opened the door of what I assumed to be her house and allowed us to walk inside. Mokou was the second person to step inside and I followed after her, making sure to firmly close the door behind to cut the cold air.

"About time, I was getting tired of walking in this weather."

My companion stretched her arms as she let out a deep breath of relief. I, however, did not utter a single word. My mind was more preoccupied by something much more worrying.

Now that the person I once pointed my blade at was properly illuminated, I was able to witness how horrible she looked. No, not in a sense of beauty, she's a rather charming lady but her skin was what made me sweat bullets. Her fingers were blue, almost purple and her skin revealed the same color around the areas that weren't covered. Those were clear signs of frostbite starting to form, there's no doubt about it.

"Miss Keine... how long have you been roaming outside like this?"

"Since this morning. I had to wake up early to keep an eye on the village."

...Now I see that my internal aneurysm was justified.

I hurriedly made my way to her and grabbed her arm to expose it to the light illuminating the room. It was clear as day that if she continued like that, her body would drop. I shook my head and let go of her.

"You need to stay inside."

"Oh, thank you for your worry but I'll be fine-"

"I wasn't asking. You're in charge of this place, right?"

Not used to my assertiveness, the lady in blue pondered on my question but in the end nodded. Despite the goggles I was wearing to protect my eyes, I couldn't help but frown at her, even though she couldn't see it.

"Do you really want the people who rely on you to return from their mourning to find yet another body in their village? YOUR body?"

"Cut it out, don't put pressure on her."

Mokou firmly inserted herself into the conversation we were having, forcing me to back out. I didn't do it for the sake of being an asshole, I simply wanted to warn her. It's been a while since I've had to interact properly with someone, my social skills are bound to get rusty after a while.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, I understand what you're trying to say."

Keine replied to my apology with a soft smile and made her way towards a small area that one could call a kitchen. It looked nothing the ones from where I came from. It was so different that it almost felt weird just looking at it.

"Let me cook you both something, it must have been a tough travel."

"Oh, you don't need to, you should keep your rations."

I hurriedly tried to stop her. Just borrowing her residence for a place to sleep would have been enough for me, wasting her precious ressources in addition to that was too much. However, my attempts to dissuade her simply flew over her head.

"I insist."

"I suggest you give up, Keine can be stubborn when she wants to be."

"And you should learn to not speak ill of people when they are standing right in front of you Mokou."

"Yea yea, do you have some sake to accompany this?"

Unlike me, my guide casually took her offer and then asked for more than what was offered, talk about a greedy woman. My shoulders lowered as I realized that I wasn't going to get out of this.

I calmly sat at the table and placed down the heavy backpack that I was carrying around, deciding to finally catch my breath for now. The light of my lantern flickered, giving life to the inside of this house with its illumination.

I should use to opportunity to rest because I have a feeling that tomorrow will not be as forgiving as today.

(No, I'm not already picking back this book. It's mostly me testing both dialogues and scenes of combat in order to stop me from getting too rusty on one thing. For you, I guess you can consider it an extra chapter.)