Apparently, if you want to go from the Human race territory to the Demon race territory, you have to cross the mountains.
The border between the Human race and the Demon race is in a standoff, with both sides lined up in fortresses glaring at each other. If you casually strolled into a place like that, you'd probably be classified as an enemy by both sides.
Well, it wouldn't really matter if it were just me and the Demon King, but in that case, the vampire girl would get caught in the crossfire and die.
She'd been trained as hard as she could be over these three years, but I didn't think she could win against an elite army fighting on the front lines.
So, we decided to take a peaceful route from Human race territory to Demon race territory.
That route was crossing the mountains.
And not just any mountains — snow mountains.
The mountains towering before us.
Well, calling them mountains was an understatement. It was a mountain range.
I had no idea what the elevation was, but it was definitely the kind of treacherous terrain that professional mountaineers would risk their lives to climb.
Apparently, we'd be going around the range in a wide detour.
Hey, isn't this just as dangerous as charging into the fortress zone, only in a completely different way?
Well, I'd probably be fine, but...
Wouldn't the vampire girl die from this?
Is this really okay?
"It's fine. No problem."
That's the kind of response that makes me think it's definitely a problem.
Well, whatever, the Demon King does think things through in her own way, so I'll trust that it's fine.
And so, we set off.
Cold.
Come to think of it, this was actually my first time experiencing cold, wasn't it?
I'd experienced enough heat in the middle layer of the Great Ello Dungeon to last a lifetime.
Well, it wasn't so much "hot" as it was "scorching," but still.
What do spiders think of cold? I don't really have a strong impression of them in that regard.
If anything, they're more associated with tropical rainforest-type jungles. I can't imagine them living in frigid regions.
Oh, but the Demon King looked perfectly fine.
So it must be okay, right?
...As it turned out, she was not actually fine at all.
She was just keeping a poker face.
Come to think of it, among all those resistance Skills the Demon King had, she didn't have Ice Resistance, did she?
That's no good.
Heh, in contrast, my preparations were flawless.
For cold-weather protection, my divided bodies had finished constructing this ultra-super-duper toasty coat overnight.
Wear this and — lo and behold!
Comfortable warmth, anytime, anywhere.
Snow mountains? No problem.
Heh heh heh. While everyone else suffers from the cold, I'll be sitting here all warm and cozy to myself.
Pure bliss!
The Demon King's grimacing face, the vampire girl's deathly pale face on the verge of freezing, and Mera's face like half her soul had been sucked out — all of it put a grin on my face.
Suffer more! Suffer even more!
Other people's misery makes my food taste better!
"Shiro-chan, you look pretty comfortable, huh?"
I flinched!
N-no, not really!
"You weren't wearing that coat yesterday, were you?"
Well, yeah, I had to prepare a new one because it's cold.
"Hand it over! You must hand it over!"
Wha—!
What are you doing?!
I fought off the Demon King and kept my coat, then pressed on through the mountain range.
Along the way, we arrived at an abandoned village.
A village in the middle of this frozen wasteland? What kind of masochist lived here?
And more importantly, how did they even sustain a lifestyle here?
Oh wait, they couldn't — that's why it was abandoned.
"So. This place too, huh." The Demon King murmured something to herself, but she didn't elaborate on what she meant.
We spent the night in that abandoned village.
The next day, after waking up, I wandered around the village at random.
Judging from the state of the houses, it had probably been abandoned for a few years.
What caught my attention was how small and cramped the houses were — they'd be suffocating for an adult.
They were just the right size for children.
Was this a children's village?
I rummaged through the tools and such as well.
Nothing noteworthy. Everything was incredibly primitive.
Was this a primitive children's village?
I made my way to the edge of the village.
There was something overgrown there.
It looked like a plant-type Monster.
I could see what appeared to be the bones of other Monsters, tangled in its vines.
It looked like it was growing where the village's farmland used to be, but were they actually cultivating this thing?
Are you kidding me?
I exterminated it and ate it.
Mm.
Healthy greens.
Could really use some dressing.
I don't mind mayonnaise either, but I prefer dressing.
Sorry to all the mayo lovers out there nationwide.
My favorite is green shiso dressing.
I've never actually tried it, though.
The energy from eating went to my divided bodies.
Lately, I hadn't been increasing the number of divided bodies. The maintenance cost in energy had been climbing, leaving me no surplus to create new ones. That was the reason.
I really should eat more, but the Demon King had been groaning about "the food expenses, the food expenses" lately, so I thought I'd restrain myself a bit.
Besides, I was eating roughly twenty servings per meal.
Also, on mornings after drinking alcohol, I found that my energy recovery was pretty decent.
Alcohol really is great after all.
Truly the head of all medicines.
Just drinking it recovers energy.
The Demon King and the others had woken up, so our snow mountain expedition resumed.
And so, we continued walking through a world where only snow, ice, rock, and a few Monsters existed.
That was when a shadow descended from the sky.
It landed on the ground at a slight distance. It was a dragon.
A beautiful dragon covered entirely in ice-like scales.
Not quite the same as an Earth Dragon — an Ice Dragon, one might say.
Strong.
I observed the Ice Dragon through my Analysis Evil Eye, developed as a substitute for Appraisal.
The Analysis Evil Eye wasn't as detailed as Appraisal, but it had been developed to gauge the strength of an opponent.
It was a crude Evil Eye that broadly measured the amount of energy in a target's soul, so it could only rough out their strength. A soul with a lot of energy could still be weak, and vice versa.
So it was only a rough indicator at best.
However, in this world, the system tied soul and strength together relatively strictly, which increased the relative value of this Evil Eye.
According to the Analysis Evil Eye, the Ice Dragon's strength was approximately twice that of Arava.
A remarkably powerful dragon.
It was inferior compared to the Earth Dragon chief that had been in the lowest layer of the Great Ello Dungeon, but among the Monsters inhabiting this world, it could be considered a fairly high-ranking existence.
The Ice Dragon was sending a telepathic message to the Demon King.
I eavesdropped a little.
[Progenitor of the Taratects. What business brings you here?]
[No business in particular. We're just passing through. Didn't Gulie tell you anything?]
[Hmm. I was not informed.]
[Ah, I see. Well, we won't do anything, so I'd appreciate it if you'd let us pass peacefully.]
[If you truly intend no hostility, then that would suit me as well. I have no desire to pick a fight with the Progenitor of the Taratects.]
The negotiation concluded with surprising ease.
It looked like he'd let us through.
But why was this dragon here?
Had Black stationed him here?
For what purpose?
While the Ice Dragon was distracted by the Demon King, I summoned a few divided bodies.
I had them explore the mountain range.
Why would Black go out of the way to place such a powerful gatekeeper here?
If it was simply about forcing the Human race and the Demon race to fight head-on, the snow mountains' natural dangers should have been enough.
There was something here.
Something Black wanted to keep hidden.
I'd find it. And then I'd have leverage.
Heh heh heh. I basically never trust anyone stronger than me, and I never open my heart to them.
I had never once thought of Black as an ally.
If I could get leverage, I'd get it.
So then, what exactly are you hiding?