‘Tsk…’
Neo sucked in a breath of cold air, but not because the skill he had drawn was too powerful.
It was because his arm hurt.
Fortunately, Neo had always kept Rules of Survival in the Snow active.
Since there was no fracture, the pain quickly disappeared.
Rules of Survival in the Snow would continuously restore Neo’s HP to 100%, and being at 100% meant being in a state without illness or injury, so Neo was not afraid of the side effects of the Vision at all.
However, it could not restore the elemental power Neo had already consumed.
It could restore stamina, but Neo would still get hungry.
‘But this skill…’
‘I only have Bronn’s anti-theft door as a shield, right?
Is this telling me to use a big shield for parrying?’
Thinking of this, Neo could not help raising his hand and rubbing his head.
“Alright, I really broke his brain this time. Take him home and go cry with him.”
Looking at Neo, who had started spacing out after crashing into the wall and was now rubbing his head, Sandrone, whose anger had yet to subside, said this to Columbina before leaving with Pulonia.
She was going to start modifying Anti-Neo III right now.
Columbina had no choice but to walk up to Neo and wave a hand gently in front of his eyes.
“I’m fine, Lady Columbina. I was just savoring the feeling of Lady Pulonia’s punch. It was even more powerful than the Wild Hunt I encountered in Nod-Krai last time!”
Neo came back to his senses and seriously explained.
“As long as you’re fine. Since the test is over, go back and rest.”
Only then did Columbina withdraw her hand and nod.
“Alright. I happen to need to go back and train.”
“Lady Columbina, are you going the same way?”
Neo had only come to participate in today’s test, so he answered before asking Columbina again as he was about to leave.
“I still have something to discuss with Sandrone. You go back first, Neo.”
In response to Neo’s question, Columbina first glanced in the direction Sandrone had left before answering him.
“Alright. Goodbye, Lady Columbina.”
Neo could only say goodbye to Columbina first before leaving Sandrone’s research institute.
After Neo left, Columbina quietly came to Sandrone’s side alone.
Looking at Sandrone, who was checking the data they had collected, Columbina made no sound at all and floated lightly behind her.
“Sandrone, let’s go on a date.”, Then Columbina quietly made the suggestion behind Sandrone.
“?!!”
After leaving Sandrone’s mechanical research institute, Neo soon returned to his residence and began today’s training.
His current training goal was very simple, to raise his skill levels as much as possible and thereby increase their strength.
Among them, Rules of Survival in the Snow was Neo’s main target for improvement, because its upgrade condition could be triggered without needing anyone else’s cooperation.
However, it required him to continuously and effectively restore his lost maximum HP for a chance to level up, so Neo first had to find a way to reduce his own HP.
Thinking of this, Neo first brewed himself a thermos of health-preserving tea.
Then he hugged the thermos and comfortably lay down on the reclining chair in the living room.
In this state, Neo activated his Vision and recklessly released Cryo elemental power, allowing the elemental power to spread throughout his body and driving the cold air to flow between his blood vessels.
This behavior was extremely dangerous and could easily freeze someone to death.
After all, being able to control elemental power did not mean being immune to it.
But Rules of Survival in the Snow doubled its effect in a cold state, allowing it to restore 6% of maximum HP every second.
Neo only needed at most seventeen seconds to recover from the brink of death to a lively state, so he was not worried at all.
The biggest problem for him was that the pain brought by the extreme cold was very real, which was why he chose a comfortable position and brewed a thermos of hot tea.
The reason Rules of Survival in the Snow had reached its current “Level 3” was because he had trained it this way, and his physique had also been strengthened considerably as a result.
In the afternoon, a figure as light as a wisp of smoke silently floated to Neo’s side as he lay on the reclining chair.
At this moment, Neo was comfortably curled up on the reclining chair, leisurely drinking health-preserving tea from his thermos.
Today’s training had just ended not long ago.
“Neo, let’s go on a date.”
Looking at Neo drinking tea leisurely, Columbina, who had not been noticed, quietly made the suggestion.
“Cough, cough cough…?”
Although he was already used to Columbina appearing and disappearing mysteriously, Neo was still so startled by her words that he nearly spilled his tea.
He hurriedly sat up from the reclining chair and took the Vision from his chest, intending to place it on the nearby table.
But his hand was an inch too short, and the Vision fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Lady Columbina, what did you just say?”
Neo hurriedly bent down and picked up the fallen Vision.
Then he raised a hand and patted his ear, wondering if he had been lying down for too long and was hallucinating.
This happiness had come far too suddenly.
“I said, let’s go on a date.”
Seeing that Neo seemed not to have understood, Columbina could only patiently repeat herself, without the slightest bit of shyness that a young girl should have.
Of course, the “young girl” here did not refer to her Harbinger codename.
Clatter~
“Lady Columbina… do you know what a date means?”
Neo had intended to put the Vision back on the table, but his hand was still a little too short, and the Vision fell to the floor with another clatter.
He could only turn around and confirm with Columbina first.
“I know. You told me last time.”
“A date is when two people go out together to shop, eat delicious food… eat lots of delicious food, and then go home.”, Columbina nodded lightly as she answered.
“…So you only remembered the eating part?”
Neo immediately raised a hand to his forehead helplessly, and his excited mood disappeared all at once.
Ever since he met Columbina in Snezhnaya after transmigrating, he would often feed her, and this gluttonous girl either had gone hungry before or had simply gotten used to Neo feeding her.
Now she thought about food every day.
“Yes. This morning I also invited Sandrone to go on a date with me, but she touched my forehead with her hand and asked if something was wrong with my brain too. It made me very sad.”, Columbina nodded and continued explaining, while gently raising a hand.
The Vision that had fallen from Neo’s hand twice immediately flew over and landed in her palm.
Then Columbina handed the Vision to Neo and continued asking, “So, do you want to go on a date with me?”
Neo took the Vision Columbina handed him with both hands and nodded seriously.
“If it’s an order from Lady Columbina…”
“It’s not an order. It’s an invitation.”, Before Neo could finish, Columbina interrupted him and corrected him.
“Alright, my Harbinger. I’d be happy to. But give me a few seconds.”
Neo immediately changed his words and agreed.
He then took the Vision and stood up, walking to the table and raising his hand above it.
‘Strange, why couldn’t I put it on just now…?’
Clatter~
This time, the Vision landed smoothly on the tabletop.
And with the sound of the clatter, Neo finally showed a look of realization as he remembered the reason.
“I’m done. The skill was still on…”
Feeling speechless, Neo raised his hand and poked the air once.
Then…
[Rules of Survival in the Snow: LV4]
[Can switch between Initial State and Defense State. In Defense State, defense is increased by 50%, and 3.5% of maximum HP is restored every second, but your attack range will be reduced. In cold environments, the skill effect is doubled.]
[Upgrade condition: Continuously and effectively restore your own HP by using this skill]
[Switched back to Initial State]
After turning off the skill, Neo finally nodded in satisfaction.
The “reduced attack range” effect of this skill manifested itself in his sense of distance.
When Neo thought the distance was enough, it actually was not, especially when there was no direct contact.
That was why the Vision had fallen twice just now.
“Alright, Lady Columbina, let’s go!”
Neo casually brought along the thermos, which still had plenty of tea left, and hid it in the inner pocket of his coat before turning back to Columbina.
Although it was not a date in the true sense, he was still quite happy to go shopping with Columbina.
Columbina nodded lightly, turned around, and left with Neo.
The two arrived on Snezhnaya’s streets, which remained bustling despite being covered in ice and snow.
And although Columbina had called Neo out under the excuse of going on a date, most of their interaction was actually…
“Neo, do you want this?”
“I don’t want this one. It’s too sweet.”
“Alright then. Boss, I’ll have two of these.”
“Neo, do you want this?”
“I want this one. I remember it being pretty good.”
“Alright then. Boss, we’ll have three of these.”
This kind of ordering was the main interaction between the two, rather than a date in the true sense.
A long time ago, Columbina had been accustomed to coming and going alone and rarely interacted with humans, so she also rarely set foot on the streets of Snezhnaya.
This resulted in her, as the Third of the Fatui Harbingers, someone who should not have lacked money, having barely tasted the delicious food sold on the streets.
Fortunately, Neo had brought delicious food back many times over the years to feed her, finally getting her to take the initiative to step onto the streets and no longer maintain that appearance of someone who seemed detached from the mortal world.
She had even been raised into something of a glutton…
‘Having an interlude like this during my last few days in Snezhnaya isn’t bad…’
Thinking this, Neo sat in the restaurant and took a sip of the still-warm health-preserving tea from his thermos, watching Columbina happily eating across from him to pass the time.
She did not eat very quickly, and her movements and bearing remained elegant, making her particularly pleasing to watch.
Columbina did not mind being watched by Neo and continued to savor the delicious food.
It was not until night fell that the satisfied Columbina held her stomach and returned along the street they had come from with Neo.
“Neo, do you remember when we first met?”
On the way, Columbina seemed to notice something and suddenly brought up the topic after turning her head back toward Neo.
‘That sounds like the kind of topic people would bring up on a date…’
“Mm, I remember. At the time, Lady Columbina personally came to the training ground and scared the officer in charge of training us so badly that he didn’t even dare breathe loudly.”, Neo muttered to himself first before answering.
“He thought Lady Columbina had come to inspect the training, but if I remember correctly, it was because he had paid out of his own pocket to buy us a batch of specially made deluxe jumbo hot dogs.”
“They were in an insulated box nearby, and we could eat them after the special training.”
“Then when Lady Columbina passed by, she smelled the aroma and stopped nearby to look, wanting to see where the smell was coming from.”, As Neo answered, he could still clearly recall how that officer’s lips had trembled from the enormous pressure as he gave his speech.
And that had also been one of Neo’s earliest opportunities to interact with Columbina.
As the Third of the Fatui Harbingers, Columbina had always been a rather mysterious existence.
After all, she basically had no direct soldiers or trusted followers under her, so there was very little information about her, and ordinary people did not dare approach her rashly.
At that time, Neo was still very young and had not yet obtained the system.
He was completely a child soldier, so his contact with Columbina as a simple child did not arouse much suspicion.
It was just that their interactions gradually became more frequent afterward…
“Because it smelled really good.”
“I still remember that smell. It was from that hot dog shop. I kind of want to eat one.”
Columbina did not mind Neo exposing what she had been thinking at the time.
After nodding in acknowledgment, she raised her snow-white finger and pointed toward the hot dog shop beside the street.
Neo had not noticed it before, but after Columbina said this, he indeed smelled the aroma of hot dogs in the air.
“But didn’t you just finish eating?”
Neo looked at Columbina’s flat little stomach in confusion.
She had still been covering it with her hand as they walked.
“It’s fine. By the time we walk back from here, I should have enough room to eat it.”
Columbina nodded slightly in affirmation while holding her stomach with both hands.
“Alright…”
Neo was speechless, but he still obediently went into the shop and bought Columbina a deluxe jumbo hot dog.
Holding the bag, Columbina continued forward with Neo, completely satisfied.
Perhaps because she was in a good mood, she began singing a song in her ethereal voice as she walked.
Although this was not the first time Neo had heard her sing, he still could not help listening to her voice.
There were occasionally other pedestrians on the street.
After hearing Columbina’s singing, they all quieted down, while some only raised their hands and applauded belatedly after she and Neo had walked far away.
‘Hold it in…
I can’t praise her…’
To avoid Columbina coming to sing outside his window again tonight, Neo kept his mouth tightly shut throughout the journey, preventing himself from unconsciously praising her like he had yesterday.
And so, accompanied by the singing, Neo followed Columbina back to her residence.
“Neo, did you feel happy today?”
When they arrived outside the courtyard gate, Columbina suddenly stopped and turned back to ask Neo.
“…Of course I’m happy to be able to go out with Lady Columbina.”, Neo was stunned by the question at first, but after realizing what she meant, he nodded and answered firmly.
“That’s good. After you leave Snezhnaya, remember to think of me… Mm, if it were me, I would miss the dishes you make, but what should you miss about me…?”, Columbina nodded, then began to remind Neo of something, but before she could finish, she suddenly became troubled.
She felt that it seemed she had always been troubling Neo as his superior and had nothing she could help Neo with.
This feeling was rather strange…
“After I leave Snezhnaya…? Could it be… Lady Columbina, you already know?”
Neo was confused at first, but he soon realized what Columbina was referring to, and his expression immediately became stunned.
“Someone came to tell me when you submitted your early retirement application. And I know about the ship ticket you already bought too.”
“You might not know this, but it’s very troublesome for an officer to resign, especially for a soldier like you who was raised and trained from a young age. But I didn’t stop you. I even asked the other Harbingers to help you get the application approved.”
“After all, everyone wants to go home. Just like me, I also want to return to the moon.”, Columbina did not hide anything.
She nodded and briefly explained, then raised her head and looked at the night sky.
However, she was not looking toward the moon in the sky, but beyond the sky.
“…Thank you, Lady Columbina.”
“After this, I won’t be in Snezhnaya anymore. But if anyone bullies you, make sure you remember it. When we meet again, tell me everyone who bullied you, and I’ll get revenge for you.”
After hearing Columbina’s explanation and learning that she had helped him get his early retirement application approved, Neo was inevitably somewhat moved.
He placed one hand over his heart and seriously thanked her and reminded her.
He did not have the ability to talk about helping Columbina get revenge yet, and at this point in time, no one would bully her anyway…
“Mm, I’ll remember. Then, good night.”
Columbina nodded and said goodbye to Neo before carrying the deluxe jumbo hot dog inside.
Looking at Columbina’s back, Neo let out a soft sigh before turning around and leaving.