All the buildings were frozen solid.
“There’s no one here.” (Yuna)
I couldn’t see any people.
Even if I did see them, it might just be the worst-case scenario.
“In a situation like this, they might be unable to stay outside. We had no choice but to check inside the houses.” (Kagali)
That was true.
I couldn’t say that I didn’t want to check inside the houses.
“Swaying Bear, go to that house.” (Kagali)
Swaying Bear moved to the house Kagali-san specified.
Kagali-san got off from Swaying Bear and stood in front of the door.
The door was also frozen.
“Bonfire…” (Kagali)
She adjusted the fire magic to melt the ice on the frozen door.
“Now we can get in.” (Kagali)
Kagali-san opened the door.
The door seemed unlocked and was easily opened.
We entered the house, Kagali-san at the front, followed by me, Swaying Bear, and Hugging Bear.
The inside of the house was also frozen.
The table, chairs, kitchen, cups, everything was frozen.
There was no one there.
I felt a little relieved.
“Let’s go to the back room.” (Kagali)
“Yes.” (Yuna)
I followed behind Kagali-san, who looked like a little girl.
The door to the room in the back was also frozen, but Kagali-san used fire magic to melt the ice, just like when we entered the house, and entered the room.
“Ugh.” (Yuna)
“This is terrible.” (Kagali)
Inside the room was what appeared to be a family, huddled together and wrapped in blankets.
The family was frozen just like the building.
The fact that there was no reaction from the detection skill meant that the worst case had happened.
This was really a worst-case scenario.
“Kagali-san, this is…” (Yuna)
“I don’t understand. All I can say is that people don’t easily find themselves in situations like this.” (Kagali)
Right.
Even in cold, snowy northern countries, something like this didn’t normally happen.
To begin with, settlements would not be built in places like this. Settlements were built where people could live normally.
Why did it come to this?
Was this what the Bear Signpost wanted to show me?
“Just to be certain, let us inspect the other houses too.” (Kagali)
“Yes.” (Yuna)
I gently clasped my hands together in front of the now frozen family and followed Kagali-san.
I checked a few houses in the same way, but everyone inside was frozen.
“What are you planning to do? I recommend not staying here for long.” (Kagali)
Normally, that would be the case.
I wanted to get away from this frozen town, this ghost town, as soon as possible.
But I was curious about the Bear Signpost’s reaction.
There must be something here that caused this.
Or maybe there was something that I needed to do here.
If it was something I needed to do, I had to find out why this town had become like this.
If this were a game, there would be an event about finding the cause of this and solving it.
But this was not just a game. It was happening in reality.
“I’ll stay and check a bit more. You can go home, Kagali-san.” (Yuna)
“I see.” (Kagali)
Kagali-san sighed softly.
“I can’t leave you here alone, so I’ll join you.” (Kagali)
“Really?” (Yuna)
“I’m an adult, so I can’t just leave a little girl here.” (Kagali)
“Adult…” (Yuna)
“What, I am an adult, right?” (Kagali)
I haven’t seen Kagali-san’s adult form for a long time, so I was starting to forget it.
There was no doubt that she was an adult.
But now, the one in front of me was a young girl.
“Kuuuuh.”
“What? You guys are saying that here too? That’s right. But to me, you guys are kids as well.” (Kagali)
Now that I think about it, how old were Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear?
Well, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were cute, so I agree that they were like kids.
“For now, we have to gather more information.” (Kagali)
We decided to find out why the town was completely frozen over.
---
Can’t wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click here to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!