Chapter 35 “Merim”

*Crackle, crackle…*

*Snap, crackle… pop.*

The sound of the crackling fire woke Klaus up. The sound of the popping wood was pleasantly soothing to his ears.

“Ugh…”

In Klaus’s newly opened eyes, there was a mass of orange-shimmering snow. 

It seemed like his moans had been absorbed by that mass.

…??

“Wh-Where am I────… Ah!”

Liz!?

Klaus jerked his body upright, inadvertently throwing off whatever was covering him. 

It must have been something quite warm, as he instantly shivered from the cold.

“…Cold.”

What was that just now?… A blanket?

No. More importantly… Where am I?

Brushing aside the pleasantly scented blanket, Klaus looked around in the glow of the campfire and realized he was in some enclosed space.

A place with very little air circulation…

“Under the snow…?”

Gently, he activated Presence Detection to explore his surroundings…

Woaaaaah! ♪

For some reason, there was a scantily clad girl—A—next to him.

“Huh? Where’s my blanket…?”

The girl rubbed her eyes and met Klaus’s gaze.

However, her mouth just moved open and closed without making any sound…

“U-Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh…”

Klaus became visibly more awkward.

“Huh?! You—Klaus, you finally woke up!”

—Finally woke up, my foot!

“Uh, uh, uh, uh, you! Y-You! Y-Y-You!!”

What Klaus had thrown was a thick blanket, and… Girl A.

A familiar height and a recognizable tone of voice.

And then, her face…

Merim

“Wait, you were a girl!?!”

Moreover, you’re barely dressed?!

You’re practically in your underwear!!!

“Ha, hahaha, put on some clothes! A jacket or something, quickly!!”

“Huh? Clothes… Ahh!!!”

He kept saying “I” and “I,” so I thought he was just a bratty little boy, but this Merim…!

But, here’s the twist.

Everything’s in the right place, and she’s quite the beauty—no, no, no, I’m not looking!! I’m not looking!!

“D-Don’t look! Stop looooking!!”

“I’m not looking! I didn’t want to see in the first place!!”

Aaaahhhhhhh!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!?!

Ahhhhhhhhhh! Seriously!!!

I’ve had enough, enough already!!

What the heck is this?!

What are you?!

“What the hell?! Why are you sneaking into someone’s bed barely dressed?! It’s a crime, you know, a crime!!”

“You idiot! If anything, Klaus is the criminal here, you idiot!!”

Merim tried to distance herself by hugging her body away from Klaus.

…Like I care! I’m not doing anything!!

It’s all various uncontrollable circumstances, okay?!

And, I haven’t done anything!! Therefore, I’m not at fault—end of story!

“I didn’t just barge in here on purpose, and I didn’t want to come in here in the first place!!”

“Then why──which way?!”

Klaus, trying to point, winced as his fingers let out a snap.

“Ow, ow, ow! W-What’s this?!”

Upon inspection, bandages were wrapped around both hands and both legs, with some kind of ointment applied.

“What’s going on? It hurts…!”

The moment he became aware, a dull, tingling pain rushed through his limbs.

“You idiot! D-Don’t force yourself to move…! Relax slowly, and loosen up… otherwise, they might break off…”

Break off?

Break off? What do you mean by break off?!”

I haven’t done anything, so they’re going to break off?!

Anything I do will make them break off?!

“Your fingers!! It’s your fingers!… Calm down! Your fingers have frostbite!!”

“Frostbite? My fingers? Oh noooo…”

Klaus finally grasped the situation. 

The tips of his fingers, visible through the bandages, were deeply discolored, almost black.

And now, he finally grasped where he was. 

It seemed he was inside a snow hut, and he just realized it.

“…Mmm. Finally noticed, huh? You’re really slow, aren’t you?”

Saying this, Merim hurriedly put on her coat and robe, looking somewhat embarrassed. 

Klaus, who had been staring absentmindedly, suddenly blushed and turned away.

“Hmm, more than anything, why are you on my futon――”

“It’s not yours, it’s my futon. Klaus…you were almost frozen to death.”

Huh?

“F-frozen to death…?”

No way…….

Seriously?

Really? ?

“Really, for real. …Seriously, just when I thought I caught up, I found a monster’s corpse and Klaus collapsed at the summit. I was really surprised.”

“W-well, that’s surprising, huh…? Anyway, impressive that you managed to catch up.”

Even Klaus had used automated resource gathering to come here in the shortest distance possible. And yet, this little brat managed to do it…

“I just followed the footsteps.”

Saying this curtly, the person covered their face completely with their usual robe.

“Sigh… Sorry. Thanks for saving me.”

“Yeah. It’s fine… We’re comrades, right?”

Eh,

“────We’re not exactly comrades… Well, I suppose you’re my benefactor. I’ll repay the favor as much as I can.”

It seemed like they might be forced into becoming allies, so it was important not to forget the boundaries. 

However, I had no intention of being ungrateful.

“Yeah, right! Once you save someone’s life, you’re automatically comrades, aren’t you?”

“But a brat who’s demanding and has no manners about it is a bit much…”

“Ugh!”

“Pukuu,” Melim puffed out her cheeks.

Looking at her like this, she certainly seemed like a girl.

Under the hood, her thinly blue hair was tied into twin tails, matching her eyes and her porcelain-like skin that was so clear it seemed to glow.

It was hard to tell from the bulky robe she wore, but she appeared to have a rather feminine figure. Oh… oh no, stop thinking like that!!

Shaking his head vigorously, he dispelled the strange illusion.

“…So, why are you chasing after me? I’m just a washed-up low-ranking adventurer with no special qualities.”

“I don’t know about that. My ‘intuition’ is telling me—go with Klaus.” 

…Huh?

“Uhm, ‘intuition’??”

“Yeah… My unique skill, ‘Intuitive Inspiration,’ is telling me to go with you… Klaus. Heheh♪”

No

Well, even if you make that face and say that…

Melim puffed out her chest inexplicably.

“Oh, they’re quite big… Wait, no, no!!”

“U-um…”

…But, she does have a unique skill after all.

“Oh… What, you have a unique skill too?”

“You have one too… Klaus?”

Somehow, she was calling him Klaus now. The casual address had become a habit.

Well, it was better than being referred to as “you,” at least.

“Oh, you’ve heard of ‘Special Bond Special Force,’ right? Well, that’s all thanks to my unique skill, ‘Automatic Function Auto Mode,’ or you could say it’s because of it…”

“Huh. Never heard of it before.”

That was my line.

“Well, it’s quite a unique skill. Merim’s skill seems pretty unusual too, though.”

“Well, you see, this skill ‘Intuition,’ it’s like… at crucial moments, it goes ‘ding!’ in my head. And if I follow that, I usually don’t make mistakes.”

Merim boasted proudly.

…But it seemed like she had already made quite a few mistakes.

Are you sure about that skill?

“So, I followed my intuition and ended up chasing after you, nearly freezing to death on top of the mountain.”

“O-oh… Well, t-thanks. …By the way, why are you dressed so lightly?”

Melim, noticing Klaus’s scrutinizing gaze, hugged herself and blushed suddenly.

“W-well, what else could I do?! You were nearly dying, so I tried to warm you up with body heat as much as possible!!”

Oh, hey hey…

“I understand your point, but that’s just superstition──”

“I…”

What the heckkkkkkkkkkkk!!

*Kiin!!* Klaus heard the shrillest scream of the day, causing him to nearly faint as he fell backward.

“I-I-I-I got su-suuuuper scared!!! Don’t scream so loudly out of nowhere!”

“I will!! I’ll scream!! I’ll scream because I was embarrassed too!!”

I don’t care about that…

“Ah, there it is, there it is. I’ll make it up to you with something once we get to town.”

“Really?! Yay! I haven’t eaten anything in a whole day!! So, you’re treating me, okay?”

Klaus returned Merim’s giggles with a wry smile.

I’ll treat you to as much food as you want──────

However, he suddenly realized something.

“…An entire day?”

“Yeah.”

“And how much time is left for the exam?”

“Hmm…? Probably about 8 hours or so?”

…Huh?!

“So, you mean it’s already late afternoon the next day?!”

“W-well, yeah… But we can’t move until the snow stops. This time, it’s just—”

No, that wasn’t the issue.

The snow had probably already stopped.

Because this snow…

*Thud!!*

“Hyaa! A-a Kamakura!”

“Oh, it’s melting due to the outside temperature.”

Merim’s idea of making a Kamakura (a snow hut) was a good one, but she made it unnecessarily thick, so they couldn’t see the outside.

That’s probably why they didn’t notice it sooner.

“What? What?”

Melim widened her eyes in surprise as she cautiously looked outside through the fallen part of the ceiling.

“No way… There’s no snow at all.”

“Well, of course not. Yesterday’s bad weather was the work of some wicked person.”

That’s right.

Chail, the holder of the ‘Special Bond Special Force’ unique skill…

“S-so there’s someone with a skill that can make it snow?!”

“Yeah, a really wicked person, I must say.”

　

“Wow,” Melim exclaimed, her mouth hanging open.

However, as much as he felt sorry for her, Klaus found himself in a bit of a hurry.

“Melim. I’ll repay the favor as much as you want once we get back. So, can I go ahead?”

“Huh? Th-that’s… We’re comrades, aren’t we?”

“It’s not────── I won’t say anything bad. It’s better not to bother with someone like me.”

He could have been dead if things had gone worse.

Klaus didn’t consider himself strong enough to take responsibility for other people’s lives. 

Moreover, ‘Automatic Function Auto Mode’ didn’t care about others.

“I, due to the nature of my unique skill, really have no choice but to go solo.”

“T-that means──”

Suppressing Merim’s confusion, Klaus prepared his equipment.

There were giant footprints around, so he quickly collected dropped items.

“I truly appreciate your help. Thank you… But I have to go.”

“H-hey!”

Leaving Merim, who was trying to stop him, Klaus activated his ‘Automatic Function Auto Mode.’

Leaving her behind was unavoidable. 

The ‘Automatic Function’ didn’t have the ability to bring companions along.

“Since there’s no snow, this area should have returned to a normal field. The monsters that appear here should be low-level, so you can rest easy.”

At the very least, considering she managed to overcome the mountain infested with mid-level monsters like Bigfoot, Merim must possess some significant strength.

“A-are you really going? Leaving me behind?!”

“Whether you come with me or not is up to you for now. You can decide freely. However, what I want to say is────”

*Bwoom…*

──Skill Activated: ‘Automatic Movement’!

※ ※

《Destination: Shinonome Deep mountains》

⇒ Travel time “00:29:28”

　

※ ※

“────It’s just a matter of whether you can keep up.”

With that, Klaus immediately activated his skill.

Using Automatic Movement within the field allowed him to return to the entrance area.

In an instant, he descended the mountain.

Before he knew it, he was back at the foothills where he had left the cart.

I’m sorry…

Merim.

I can’t just let them do as they please.

And, that’s quite the courage you have, Gain.

Don’t assume my ‘Automatic Function’ is the same as it used to be──.

※ Results from ‘Shinonome Deep mountains’ ※

~ Drop Items (Proof of Defeat) ~

Bigfoot’s Tail × 8

~ Drop Items (Materials) ~

Bigfoot’s Fur × 8

~ Drop Items (Magic Stones) ~

Magic Stone (Mid) × 2 ⇒ Used

Blue Magic Stone (Mid) × 1

~ Quest Items ~

Krumel’s Nuts× 5 (Automatically Collected)

Phantom Nuts × 5 (Automatically Collected)

　※ ※ ※

Until the promotion to intermediate level,

Only one type of quest item is left to collect.

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