"Snow sprites~ Snow sprites~"
The moment they left Axel, Darkness was unusually hyped, hopping along as she walked.
It wasn't because Shichen had just "had his way" with her.
Since that day, he hadn't touched her at all—he'd left her thirsty for half a month.
Which made no sense to her: by the very next day she'd been lively as ever. Even swollen, she still wanted Shichen to go at her again.
He offered to heal her, but she refused.
That special kind of ache in a special place only made it better for her.
But Shichen wasn't that kind of degenerate, and he didn't treat Darkness only as a masochist.
She was his woman now—of course he had to treat her properly.
So he put her on ice.
Until the swelling went down, he wouldn't touch her.
A week ago Darkness claimed she'd recovered, but Shichen didn't buy it and still kept his distance.
He wanted her to understand the consequences of not listening.
For the others, a "hands-on" punishment worked best; for Darkness, being ignored was the lesson.
"Darkness, why are you so excited?" Yunyun asked, walking beside her.
Yunyun had Megumin on her other side; the three of them were in the middle. Shichen and Kazuma led up front, and Aqua and Frieren lagged behind, looking half-asleep.
Shichen kept an eye on the two in back; otherwise they might disappear and end up face-down in the snow at any moment.
"Because we're going to exterminate snow sprites," Darkness answered happily.
"Because each one we kill brings spring earlier?"
"Not exactly… you'll see."
"Great, you're a riddle-slinger now?" Megumin groused.
"I am not. I just want you to be pleasantly surprised."
"I'll be the judge of that."
"You'll be satisfied, trust me."
"Aniki, I've got a bad feeling," Kazuma said from up front, listening closely to Darkness's comments.
"What feels off?"
"Isn't Darkness, y'know… that? Would she really get excited about hunting snow sprites?"
Kazuma knew full well Darkness was a Crusader and a hardcore masochist; she lived for fighting strong monsters. There's no way she'd look twice at small fry like snow sprites.
"You're imagining things."
"No way. My instincts say otherwise. And why would exterminating something that sounds harmless pay a hundred thousand Eris?"
"Maybe people desperate for spring to come early put up the reward," Shichen offered.
"That's… possible."
"Relax. I'm here. Nothing's going to happen."
"Got it. I trust you, Aniki!"
"Good. Let's pick up the pace."
They reached the plains outside town, where thick snow had piled up. Drifting among it were tiny white glows.
Little white, almost transparent, floating spheres—not even as big as a palm—bobbed through the air.
No need to guess: those were snow sprites. They certainly looked harmless.
Reassured by Shichen, Kazuma stopped questioning why they were worth 100,000 Eris each.
After all, high pay didn't always mean a strong target. Some monsters were average in strength and didn't hurt people, but ravaged crops. Others were weak yet aggressive. The reward went up if they actually attacked humans—even if they were weak.
Kazuma had picked up at least that much common sense about this world.
"Aniki, those are the snow sprites, right? What do we do?" Kazuma eyed the harmless-looking things, itching to move.
"Then let's start the extermination."
"On it!" Kazuma charged in, excited.
The snow sprites were indeed weak. Kazuma was weak too, but after more than ten minutes, waving his trashy sword around, he managed to cut down a few.
He was already panting hard; the sprites were annoyingly nimble and tough for him to deal with.
"H-hey… aren't you guys going to help?" he finally noticed Shichen's group hadn't moved.
"Tch, such a hassle. One Explosion will wipe them out," Megumin said.
"Good point! Hurry up and use Explosion!"
Megumin ignored him and looked to Shichen.
"Alright. Go ahead—today's daily shot is still unused."
"Right!" Her eyes lit up red as she began her chant.
Kazuma hurriedly retreated.
"Explosion!"
BOOM!
The blast thundered, erasing a huge swath of snow. A massive crater yawned in the ground, its floor nothing but charred earth.
"I only got… six…" Megumin said weakly as Shichen supported her.
"What? Only six? That's terrible efficiency! Aniki, aren't you going to step in?" Kazuma asked.
"I can—"
"Oh! It's here!" Darkness suddenly cried, raising her greatsword and stepping in front of everyone.
Beyond her, they saw it—appearing out of nowhere without warning.
"I remember now…" Megumin murmured, drained.
"Remember what?" Kazuma asked quickly.
"Heh~ Kazuma, allow me to explain why adventurers stopped taking this job," Aqua said, stepping forward—then ducking behind Shichen with a smug look. "You're from Japan, so you should know the name. That's the ruler of the snow sprites, the very emblem of winter's mood—Winter Shogun."
"Winter… Shogun…" Kazuma stared blankly.
Head to toe in heavy, snow-white armor, the figure radiated killing intent.
Of course Kazuma knew him: a samurai in thick white armor with a matching, finely crafted jinbaori, a white face mask, and a katana exuding frosty mist… painfully familiar.
"This damn world—there's always a catch!" Kazuma swore. Nothing good had ever come easy since he arrived here.
"It's coming!"
Darkness barely finished warning them before Winter Shogun rushed in. She raised her sword to meet him—but—
A crisp ting of metal snapping rang out. Darkness's greatsword broke.
"Ahhh, my sword…" she wailed.
"Forget your sword—what do we do?" Kazuma asked Shichen, panicked.
"Relax. It's just Winter Shogun. Darkness, get back here," Shichen said, unconcerned.
"No! As a knight, I can't retreat—"
"Hm?"
"That cold tone… Got it." Face flushed, Darkness tossed away the broken sword and obediently retreated behind Shichen.
"A-Aniki, what's the plan?" Kazuma asked, tense.
"Simple…"
"Winter Shogun's actually easy to deal with," Aqua cut in. "Spirits take on forms shaped by people's unconscious images. Fire spirits, for example: people think of fire as devouring and insatiable, so they manifest as fierce salamanders. Water spirits make people think of a fresh, poised, intellectual water goddess, so they become beautiful maidens. Winter Shogun's a bit different: in monster-ridden winters, not just townsfolk but even adventurers hole up indoors, so you rarely meet winter spirits… until cheater-type adventurers started showing up."
"So basically, those idiots from Japan thought of 'Winter Shogun' when they thought of winter—and that's why he popped into existence?" Kazuma muttered as he kept a cautious eye on the slowly advancing general.
"More or less."
"Then how do we beat him?"
"Don't worry. Winter Shogun is very magnanimous! If you observe proper courtesies and sincerely apologize, he'll let you go."
"Apologize?"
"That's right. You killed a bunch of snow sprites. Just kneel and kowtow and it'll be fine. Hurry—kneel and apologize!"
"For real?" Kazuma didn't quite believe it, but Winter Shogun was clearly locked onto him.
All the aggro was on him.
"Aniki?" Kazuma looked to Shichen for help.
"Give it a try. I've got your back."
"…Alright." Kazuma dropped to his knees.
An unbelievable scene followed: Winter Shogun really did sheathe his blade.
But just as Kazuma started to breathe out, Aqua shouted, "Kazuma—your weapon! Drop your sword!"
"Eh?"
Kazuma froze for a beat—too long. Before he could toss the sword, he saw his own headless body.
Blood geysered from the neck stump.
No head… That was Kazuma's last thought.
An invisible iai slash from Winter Shogun had taken it clean off.
"—!" Shichen reacted at last, hurling a lance of golden flame into Winter Shogun.
WHOOM—flames surged up and engulfed the general. In under three seconds, he was melted down to nothing—not even the armor remained.
Winter Shogun was dealt with easily, but the party couldn't cheer.
The blood-stained snow said it all: someone was dead.
~~~
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