Chapter 236 – Manor in the Blizzard
Chapter 236 – Manor in the Blizzard
As we headed to the storage shack, Timi came up to us.
「I’d like to go too.」
「Sure, let’s go.」
Timi was probably worried about Shiggy, as she was still in my pouch.
And Timi was very strong, AND she could fly...it was a relief.
「Moo moo」
「Wuff」
Moofy and Femm joined it as if it were an obvious thing. It was nice to have them along.
We left my home, and the cold instantly surrounded us.
The blizzard was as bad as it ever was.
「Even though we plowed this in the morning, it’s all drifted back in again!」
「Time to clear it again!」
「Moo!」
「I guess we need you the most when it snows like this.」
「Moo」
Moofy was perfect for blowing through snow.
We headed through the magical circle in the storage shack, and made our way to the manor.
The assistant of Cruz normally resided in the manor.
He was done doing the tax reassessment that the imprisoned assessor had done.
While the assistant was out doing this work, his agents returned to the capital.
They were all bureaucrats, after all.
They took care of all the matters that Cruz had going on in the capital.
When we arrived, it was very cold.
「That reminds me, the circle that Vi-Vi drew was for defense, right?」
「That alone was very helpful.」
Cruz said as we walked to the office.
We stood outside and Cruz called out, 「Assistant, are you there?」
He quickly came out.
「Marquis, Alra, and Timisoara...thank you for coming.」
「ryaa!」
「And it’s nice to see you too, Sighisoara.」
「ryaa」
Her assistant was polite as he usually was.
Then he went over and put wood into a dying stove.
He apparently was saving the wood for guests.
「Thank you for taking such care.」
「No...thank you...」
He said, and then directed his agents to do certain things.
One of them, of course, would bring us tea, Cruz sat down in a chair and began quickly, 「Assistant...what’s the weather been like outside recently.」
「Well, it’s been a harsh, blowing blizzard.」
「I see. Mulg village and the new village around the death temple are under the same conditions.」
The assistant nodded.
「I was going to contact the four other branch offices...because of this blizzard.」
「It is quite dangerous.」
There was a magic tool that would allow contacting the other branch offices.
However, those were only used to call the other assessors to the main office.
The magic tool only had the ability to signal that to the others.
You could make the sound, but not talk through it.
If we had to contact the branch offices, we’d have to do it directly.
Cruz thought about it and said, 「If we go through the magic circles, we can get there, but we’re supposed to keep their existence from the assessors.」
We talked it over, and Timi said, 「Cruz, I could fly you there.」
「I might have to ask that, but I don’t know how well we can see in this blizzard.」
「That’s true. This morning I tried to look around, but the snow was so fierce.」
As we talked this over, the assistant approached us with a troubled look, 「It’s true this blizzard is a nuisance...it should be over soon. Maybe we should think of a strategy after it ends?」
The assistant was right.
However, this blizzard was created by a large number of Jack Frosts, so the story was different.
So Cruz looked at him seriously, and said, 「Ah, sorry, we forgot to tell you.」
「What is it?」
「This blizzard doesn’t seem to be a natural storm.」
I explained what she meant to the confused assistant, 「This morning, Timi was flying around the region, and she thinks there are quite a few Jack Frosts in the area.」
「Jack Frost...that is terrible...」
The Jack Frost was a famous natural spirit.
If you left the town or city, it was the scariest thing that you could encounter in the winter.
Of course, the well educated assistant knew of it already.
「Okay, when you say in the area...how much are you talking about?」
「We don’t know the numbers, but we should be prepared in case there are a hundred.」
「...」
The assistant was at a loss for words. The sheer amount of Frosts seemed unthinkable.
「Of course, it could be more or less than one hundred. Several hundreds would be the worst amount.」
I was about to try to calm the assistant down, but then Timi said what she said.
Now there was no way to calm the old guy down.
「So...at least 100 Jack Frosts...what shall we do?」
「That’s a good question.」
Cruz said with a serious face, then, 「Timi, do you think you could mow them down from above with your breath?」
「I can try.」
「Okay!」
Then the assistant looked at Timi with troubled eyes.
「But if I do, I can kill off the Jack Frosts, but nothing else will remain standing as well.」
「Ah, you’re right.」
It’s true that her breath was very strong.
Actually, too strong. We realized we couldn’t use it after all.
Then Cruz looked at me with a look of confoundment, 「Al, what should we do?」
「We have to stop whatever the source of all these Jack Frosts is.」
「True...I guess that’s the solution.」
Cruz nodded over and over, and I thought that we should ask Luka about it as well.