We left the mansion and came to the east woods, having prepared ourselves with our winter clothes on.

　The inside of the forest is pure white. The trees are colored by the snow that has fallen.

　It's beautiful like a cutout picture, with the few spots that aren't covered by the snow emerging as outlines.

　I stepped on the snow as I went along. It's fun to feel the soft snow crunching through it.

　And the compacted snow brings my feet to a halt.

　Sometimes the snow is so deep that my feet sink quite low, but that's just the way it is.

I said, "Boy, I want you to walk as far as possible on the ground I've trampled.　Otherwise, you're gonna get your foot caught in the middle of nowhere and get hurt.

　How I was playing with the snow and Bartolo warned me about it.

'Sorry, sorry, I was just enjoying the feel of the snow,'

"Do you enjoy stepping in the snow?

It's fun.

　When I answered clearly, Elinora sister nodded her head, saying she didn't understand.

　Well, it is difficult to find this kind of enjoyment in a child. I think Elinora will understand when she gets tired of working and wants to relax.

　It's so quiet in the woods. Most of the creatures are hibernating, probably because of the snow that has fallen. I don't see as much life in the forest as in other seasons.

"Ah, deer.

　As I was looking around to see if there were any living creatures, sister Elinora muttered.

　I followed my gaze, but I didn't see any deer.

''Where?''

'Between those trees over there. They're covered in snow, so it's hard to see them mimicking each other.

　When sister Elinora told me that, I put some magic power in my eyes and saw that there really was a deer.

　But the deer had already noticed us, or maybe it had already noticed us, and when I looked at it, it ran off into the distance.

　As usual, I'm amazed at how they can find something that far away.

　I'm not too worried about looking around, so I follow Bartolo's footsteps.

　Bartolo's feet are so big that even if my feet were twice as big, they'd be no match for him.

　It's like chasing a dinosaur's footprints.

"Hmm?　If you look closely, there are other footprints besides us, right?

　The snow has fallen and it's delicately obscured, but there are faint footprints on the ground that are not ours.

'Yeah, I guess the villagers are here to fish for bracken just like us.

I see.

　It's a rare time of year when you can eat delicious little fish. Villagers may have come in droves.

　Then it would not be a lonely fishing trip for the three of us.

　When I was walking, the snow suddenly fell in the distance. And some icicles that had been stuck to the branches by the weight of the snow also fell off.

　Seeing this, Bartolo stopped unexpectedly. Then he saw that he started to make snowballs, and he roughly guessed what he wanted to do.

　Bartolo threw the snowball at the three icicles in the tree ahead of him.

　Released as a hard ball, Bartolo's snowball hit the middle and the icicle that was hit directly fell to the ground.

''Good!''

　Apparently, he deliberately aimed and shot out of the middle only.

　I used to do that a lot in my past life when there was snow on the ground. Dropping icicles with snowballs.

　I used to run around to other people's houses and drop icicles from the roofs with snowballs. Sometimes it came off and hit a window or a wall, and I was scolded.

I can do it too!

　Bartolo's little game stimulated sister Elinora's childlike spirit.

　And with my childish mind stimulated, I was also silently making snowballs.

'Well then, missy, you're on the right and boy, you're on the left. Make sure you hit it right, okay?

　With Bartolo saying that, me and sister Elinora decided to aim at separate icicles.

　It's obvious that I'll be made a fool of if I miss here, so I want to guess properly.

　But it's just too hard to beat Elinora-sister in a competition like this.

　If I guessed, and Elinora's sister kept guessing, I'd be the one to miss as she kept throwing.

　So I decide on a plan.

"Can I throw first?

Okay.

　Sister Elinora normally agrees, not realizing that this is the first step in my ploy.

　The only thing left to do is for me to hit the icicle firmly, and I'll win.

　I measure the distance to the icicle with my eyes firmly. It's a good thing that I have a keen grasp of space, perhaps because I use spatial magic to transfer.

　Once you have a firm grasp of the distance to the icicle, all you have to do is hit the area where the icicle is located.

　After simulating its trajectory in my brain over and over again, I throw a snowball at it.

　The snowball I threw goes whistling and hits the left side of the icicle.

　The icicle flies to the right side and bounces down to the icicle for Elinora's sister.

''Ooh, you're going for a double-drop, kid!

Okay, I win!

'Huh!　What's that?　I didn't even throw it to you.

　As I drop two icicles and declare, Sister Elinora shouts in protest.

You can't defeat Elinora's sister because there are no more icicles for her to defeat. As a result, Elinora couldn't defeat her and I won, right?

　As I tell her this, Elinora smiles beautifully and goes into motion to throw the snowball.

　When I ran away, thinking I was going to be hit, the snowball thrown by Elinora's sister flew in the wrong direction.

　It's strange that Elinora sister missed at this distance, and when I looked up, snow fell from above my head with a thud.

''Whoa!　It's cold!

　The snow invaded through my clothes, probably because I was covered in snow from my head.

　Elinora's sister was looking at me with satisfaction as I hurriedly tried to get the snow out of my clothes.


　◆



　We arrived at the lake as we walked along the snowy road. It used to be a resting place where herbivores came to drink, but the lake had completely frozen over and was nowhere to be found.

As Bartolo said, there are quite a few villagers here.

It's true.

　On the icy lake, the villagers seemed to be fishing for bracken, making holes in the ice.

　The scene in the forest was quiet, but there was a hint of activity here.

"Looks like it's frozen solid.

　Bartolo stomped on the frozen lake to make sure it was safe.

　A man as big as Bartolo stepped on it and it didn't budge. The lake must be frozen solid.

　We'll follow Bartolo and walk on the ice.

　Now we can walk on the lake without needing to use magic. But we can't take a good look at the fish in the water, though.

　I couldn't see what the water looked like at all, probably because of the thick ice.

'Well, where should we do this?

Where is the bracken? That's important.

'Oh!　Al and Lady Elinora, ain't you!

　What a discussion with Bartolo about fishing points, when a familiar voice sounded.

　I turned around and saw Thor, Asmo, sister Emma, and Sheila hanging a fishing line in the hole.

　Thor waved at us to come over here, so we approached.

'Oh, Thor and Asmo. It's been a while.

　I don't think I've seen Thor or Asmo in a long time.

　Maybe it's because I've been busy these days with the harvest festival, kotatsu, and making battle pencils.

That's because Al hasn't come out of the mansion.

We've been calling you over and over. You're such a housemate.

　Even though it's been a while since I've greeted them, they're quite thorny bad friends.

　It's true that I had received invitations from Thor and Asmo to play with them. But I refused them because I was too busy.

　I'm sure the two of them hold that in high regard.

　I understand that, but I tell them flatly, "Because it's cold in winter.

"Because it's cold in winter.

　Thor and Asmo shrugged their shoulders in resignation at my words, which didn't make them feel bad.