The inside of the room was cold enough to freeze even one’s breath.
Arisa’s gaze settled on the red fruit sitting alone on the table.
A fruit that must have grown beneath the warm sunlight of the South.
He called it dragon fruit.
‘Is it really safe to eat?’
It looked extremely suspicious.
Perhaps the villagers had given her poisoned fruit because they wanted to get rid of her.
It was sad, but Arisa understood why they were afraid.
‘I’m afraid of myself too.’
When she was young, her power had run wild and frozen her entire village, including her parents.
She could never forget the fear and agony on their faces.
She had always worked hard to control her power.
But as she grew older, that power only became stronger, until it reached the point where she could no longer control it.
At this rate, she would inevitably freeze this village too, just as she had her hometown.
‘If that’s going to happen, I’d rather die.’
Death frightened her.
She had tried several times, but she had never succeeded.
Arisa cautiously reached for the dragon fruit.
If she could die after finally tasting a southern fruit she had always wanted to try, perhaps that wouldn’t be so bad.
‘There were so many things I wanted to do…….’
She wanted to try hunting.
She wanted to run around and play with friends her own age.
She wanted to go shopping and travel.
But because of this constitution, she hadn’t been able to do a single one of those things.
‘I hope I’m born with a normal body in my next life.’
With that thought, she peeled the dragon fruit and took a bite.
Contrary to her expectation that it would taste bitter, a mild, gentle sweetness spread through her frozen mouth.
The flesh seemed to melt like snow, while the tiny black seeds crunched between her teeth, creating a strangely pleasant sensation.
‘……It’s good.’
Suddenly, she thought of her mother.
Part of the reason she had wanted to try southern fruit was because of something her mother had once said.
‘I heard the market in the neighboring village got some fruit from the South. Let’s go try some together.’
‘Is southern fruit different from northern fruit?’
‘Who knows? Mom hasn’t tried it either. I heard it’s really pretty and melts like snow in your mouth. Apparently, they have all sorts of fascinating things besides fruit too.’
‘I want to go!’
Remembering that old promise they had never fulfilled, Arisa smiled faintly.
“She was right. It really does feel like it melts the moment it touches your tongue.”
Silence followed for a while.
Arisa blinked.
Nothing hurt.
Was poison normally like this?
She scraped clean both dragon fruits, yet rather than pain, all she felt was a rich sense of happiness.
“It isn’t poisoned. It’s just ordinary fruit.”
Next, she picked up some raspberries.
They were sweet and tart, and remarkably fresh.
Her hand naturally moved toward the next item.
It looked like a small box, but when she opened its lid, a beautiful melody like falling water droplets tickled her ears.
It sounded similar to the song her mother used to hum while carrying Arisa on her back.
Listening to the music box, she fiddled with the pendant beside it.
The purple jewel embedded in its center resembled her mother’s eyes.
“How strange.”
How could every single thing he brought remind her of old memories?
If she had gone to the market with her mother as promised, she felt as though they might have bought things like these.
Arisa thought of the boy who had brought them.
Anything carrying warmth froze and died simply by approaching her.
Even recently, she had accidentally frozen a Dwarf’s hand.
That was why she had locked herself inside this narrow, freezing cabin.
“Those two were fine…… Was it magic?”
Arisa shook her head.
Even if he was a mage, the boy looked younger than she was.
His level couldn’t possibly be that high.
At most, he could probably endure the cold for a few minutes.
“I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me.”
Even as she muttered those words, a selfish hope sprouted in one corner of her heart.
She hoped he would come again tomorrow.
***
Several days had passed since Yulian’s attempt at seduction ended in failure.
Since then, I had continued visiting Arisa at the same time every day.
“It’s been almost a week now. If you’ve failed this many times, you should know when to give up.”
During that time, we had been traveling back and forth between the northern territory and Kardum.
Today, before visiting Arisa, we were having Yulian’s weapon repaired at a smithy.
“There’s no tree that won’t fall after ten chops.”
Thinking about how it had taken more than a year for me to grow close to Arisa in my previous life, this was nothing.
“People aren’t trees.”
“Still, it’s gotten a lot better compared to the beginning. I think I can reach the door in just a few more steps now.”
In fact, the point where the icicles struck had been getting closer to the cabin each time.
“Even if you manage to talk to her, will she really come all the way to the northern territory?”
That worried me too.
My guess was that Arisa was afraid she would freeze people.
Yesterday, I met a Dwarf at the dining hall whose hand had nearly needed to be amputated after Arisa froze it.
Apparently, she had shut herself away in that corner after the incident.
It gave me a headache, but there was no helping it.
Mining that vein was essential if I wanted to develop the Magic Tower.
The higher the Magic Tower’s level rose, the more ore it would require.
That mine was the only one near the North.
‘Things were much easier in the South. There was a mine right beside the Magic Tower, and there were plenty of miners too…….’
Ore was extremely heavy, making it difficult to simply request it from a merchant company.
Producing it ourselves was the best option.
Meanwhile, the Dwarf who had been diligently hammering away handed over the completed sword.
As expected, Dwarven forging skills were excellent.
Yulian’s sword, whose edge had been completely worn down, now gleamed like new.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Monsters crawled all the way down to the outskirts of the village last night. I had to repair the guard unit’s equipment that got smashed during the subjugation first.”
“Monsters came this close to the village?”
When I furrowed my brow, the Dwarf merely shrugged as though it were nothing serious.
“Well, when those things get hungry, sometimes they charge in like moths to a flame.”
A monster’s instincts were sharper than a human’s.
It was strange for low-grade monsters to willingly approach this village while the Ice Witch was still here.
Perhaps hunger wasn’t the reason.
A chill of foreboding passed through me.
I didn’t know the exact timing, but in my previous life, Kardum hadn’t fallen solely because of Arisa.
“Yulian, go to the outskirts and check the situation.”
“Understood.”
After sending Yulian away, I headed toward Arisa’s cabin.
As usual, both my hands were full of food.
Every step I took produced the sound of frozen ground cracking beneath my feet.
‘……That’s strange.’
Normally, an icicle would come flying at me around here.
I cautiously took a few more steps.
Even when I finally reached the cabin, no attack came.
I knocked and opened the door.
Arisa was sitting on the bed.
‘I finally made it this far.’
I didn’t know what change of heart had made her suddenly open up, but this was an opportunity.
As I briefly considered my words so I wouldn’t ruin it, Arisa unexpectedly spoke first.
“……I thought you weren’t coming.”
Was that really something a woman who threatened me with icicles should say?
If I said that aloud, though, she would obviously throw me out.
I sat in the chair by the table and answered,“If you reject someone this much, most people would get hurt, you know?”
“Why are you fine?”
“……Because I know you don’t mean it?”
Arisa’s eyebrows rose slightly, then lowered again.
Her gaze turned cold as she asked,“What do you know about me……? I meant, how are you fine when you’re this close to me?”
“I have resistance to this level of cold. I’m a mage, just like you.”
Arisa replied flatly as though she already knew.
“You’re only 2nd Circle. If I lose control of my power, even you’ll freeze solid. So stop coming here. I only let you in today because you were so persistent that I wanted to tell you properly.”
I chuckled.
“Not because you were lonely?”
I had also spent years shut inside my bedroom.
Whenever Yulian or a servant came to visit, I treated them even more harshly because I didn’t want them to see how miserable I was.
But deep down, I think I always hoped they would come again the next day.
“……Shut up. You’re going to die if you keep this up!”
“I won’t.”
I released the magical power I had been temporarily keeping under control.
It was the power I had restrained while suppressing Mana Reflux Syndrome.
A fierce storm of mana slowly melted the frozen cabin.
Arisa had exceptional sensitivity to mana.
That was why she had immediately recognized that I was at the 2nd Circle.
In that case, she should be able to see this magical power too.
Arisa’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.
I withdrew the power again.
Releasing it like that actually hurt quite a bit.
Arisa’s tone became more cautious.
“Doesn’t it hurt to handle power that violent? How did you……?”
Arisa swallowed the rest of her words, but I could tell I had caught her interest.
“As you can see, you and I are in similar situations. There’s one difference. I can control mine. And I can make you like me.”
Arisa bit her fingernail and quietly asked,“How?”
“Come to our territory. There’s a place there that can treat you.”
Arisa stared straight into my eyes for a moment before shaking her head.
“I can’t. The reason I don’t leave this cabin is because the more I move, the harder it is to control this power. I can’t even make it that far.”
“I’m Lumio, son of the northern lord. I can provide a wagon to transport you.”
“The monsters will follow. We might be attacked.”
“You knew that too?”
“It happened before. I also know I’m the reason the Dwarves can’t go to the mine.”
“If that worries you, I’ll bring guards too.”
“……Why are you going this far to help me?”
‘The bond from my previous life.’
The first reason was because I wanted you to live at least a somewhat ordinary life this time.
The second was—
“I need the mine. As long as you remain like this, we can’t mine it.”
“What if you fail? Everyone in your territory could die.”
‘Ah, this is frustrating.’
I swept my bangs back and answered in an utterly serious tone.
“I will never let the people of my territory die. So I won’t fail.”
But her trauma seemed deeper than I had expected.
“……Give me some time to think.”
Arisa murmured one last thing.
Her voice was quiet, but I heard it clearly.
“If I lose control, even you…… That’s what scares me.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Her magical power was strong enough to have turned an entire village into a kingdom of ice in the past.
Now that she was an adult, she was even more dangerous than she had been back then.
The last time she went berserk in my previous life, she had been powerful enough to fight a Dragon on equal terms.
But I knew how she died.
I also knew that Arisa had wanted to live happily.
She was a nineteen-year-old girl who dreamed of an ordinary life.
“I’ll give you a normal life. Once you’ve made up your mind, take my hand. I’ll come again tomorrow.”
After saying that, I left the food behind and stepped outside.
If Arisa became my ally, she would also be a tremendous help during the invasion of the North in the future.
That was the third reason I hadn’t told her.
‘And probably the biggest one.’
No matter how important the bond I shared with a companion from my previous life was, protecting the residents who had stayed by my side for so long mattered more.
If her power hadn’t been useful to the territory, I wouldn’t have prioritized coming here.
No matter how long it took, I intended to keep persuading her until she agreed.
But that tomorrow never came.
That night.
More than a hundred monsters descended upon Kardum in a horde.