Chapter 959 – 959.Yggdrasil (7)
“That… Okay. “I’m going.”
“…”
Midwinter left with those words.
In fact, from the moment Midwinter appeared, he wanted to smile and say hello, even if he had to force himself to do so.
But…
‘… ‘I’m sorry.’
She was in no mood to smile.
Even though she felt sorry, I couldn’t put a smile on her face.
Even when Midwinter said her last words with a pitiful expression, her mouth did not move.
‘… ‘Do you want me to think you ignored me?’
I sighed and looked out the window again.
It was dark outside the window, so visibility was poor.
However, as I looked into the continuing darkness, my eyes gradually adapted to the darkness and I was able to see the silhouette of the palace.
The castle in the silhouette…
‘It’s very different.’
The castle was completely different from when the gravekeeper was alive.
I looked at the castle again and composed myself.
Then, with a calm mind, I spoke to him via communication.
‘Armonia, Ms. Hannah. Sorry.’
[Yes? What happened suddenly…]
Kang Han-na was surprised by my seemingly out-of-nowhere apology, and Armonia…
[…]
He remained silent as if he had predicted it.
I looked out the window carefully and continued talking.
‘I acted recklessly earlier. Ignoring the opinions of two people…’
[No way… What…]
Even after hearing my apology, Kang Han Na could not easily reply.
It seems like he has already forgiven me…
[…]
It seemed like she couldn’t answer easily because she was watching Armonia’s attention.
After about a minute of silence passed…
[Whoa… It’s a shame because the results were good… Please be careful next time.]
‘Haha… Thank you.’
[I am not angry enough to be grateful.]
‘… Sorry.’
I will apologize in person when I return to the ship.
In this way, I resolved my feelings with Armonia and immediately activated the channel conversation.
“Gekkosu, thank you for earlier.”
└Guardian of the gay dick: Huh? What?
“I told you to listen quietly earlier. “Thanks to you, I was able to have no regrets.”
I meant what I said.
If Gecko Sue hadn’t stopped me, she wouldn’t have been able to see the gravedigger off properly.
After hearing what I said, Gekkosu started chatting as if he was embarrassed.
└Guardian of the gay dick: I just wanted that guy to go away without regrets. Well, I didn’t expect you to leave in such a flashy way…
“Did you know the gravekeeper?
└Guardian of the gay dick: No, there was no connection with me. But this time I found out for sure.
“… ?”
└Guardian of the gay dick: He’s a much better guy than me, the only thing he knows how to do is use a sword.
“Haha…”
It’s a knife attack… I became more curious about what he was doing when he was alive.
I didn’t think he would answer if I asked more anyway, so I just skipped over it.
While chatting with Gekkosu and relieving the tension in my heart…
“Ah… “It was still there.”
“… ?”
A woman’s voice came and she turned her head.
The owner of the voice…
“What are you doing alone?”
It was midwinter.
Midwinter stood next to me and hummed to herself as she looked out the window I was looking at.
“It’s dark and you can’t see anything. What are you looking at?”
Midwinter usually didn’t talk to me first, but he tended to give cursory answers even when I spoke to him.
Instead, Midwinter spoke to me first, and even added friendliness to his tone of voice.
Feeling more relaxed than before, I answered quietly.
“I was just organizing my thoughts.”
“All… “Are you in a bit of a mood?”
Midwinter looked up at me with a hearty smile.
‘… What?’
I wondered something about his attitude that was different from usual.
However, it was also true that such an attitude relieved my tension without me even realizing it.
“Big…”
Midwinter, who was laughing heartily, adjusted his voice once, and then calmly opened his mouth.
“Excuse me… “Thank you for yesterday.”
“Yesterday… ?”
When I tilted my head, Midwinter grunted and answered.
“Do you really have dementia? Yesterday I… No, you saved the residents!”
“Ah…”
Because he had spent quite a long time in Baron’s dream, his sense of time seemed to be slightly off.
I nodded and answered.
“I just did what I had to do.”
“… “Thank you anyway.”
I am not silent in response to such mid-winter gratitude…
“If you’re grateful, I’ll eat you later.”
I managed the atmosphere flexibly by making appointments that were unnecessary.
Midwinter seemed to like what I said and tapped my shoulder and laughed heartily.
“I can do that much. “I can even make an impassioned speech!”
“For your information, what I want is the hotel restaurant on the third floor.”
“What!? Hey! “Well, isn’t that a bit expensive?”
“It’s only 200,000 points per person.”
“This… Two hundred thousand…”
Seeing how he was struggling with 200,000 points, it seemed like even midwinter didn’t have that many points.
Rather than accumulating points, I probably used them to quickly raise my skill level.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to survive in this battlefield.
I laughed heartily at the sight of midwinter struggling.
“You said you’d shoot 10 times, so I’ll look forward to it.”
“Ki, look forward to it! Haha…”
Midwinter started laughing, rattling his mouth like a nutshell doll.
It was such a laughing moment.
“Hmm!”
Suddenly, she wrapped both hands around her shoulders and began to tremble.
It felt like a sudden heavy snowfall.
I asked with concern in my voice.
“What? Cold?”
Even though I asked, I didn’t understand at all.
Although Umbra is on the cold side, there was still some warmth inside the castle.
To suddenly tremble in a place like that…
As soon as Midwinter heard my worried voice, she shook her head with one strong shake of her body.
“Oh, no! Well, just… Hmm… “It’s a little chilly.”
“… ?”
The shivering midwinter scene suddenly brought back an old memory.
The day he came wearing a thick coat and asked to fight.
That day, as I took off my coat at the training center, I shivered slightly, as if I felt cold.
‘Is this enough to feel cold?’
As I was wondering that, I heard Armonia’s voice just then.
[There is a temperament related to cold.]
With those words, two temperaments appeared above my head in the middle of winter.
=====
[Trauma (Cold)], [Accumulating Chill (Cold 11)]
=====
Just looking at it, he had a bad temperament related to cold.
I immediately read the description of the temperament.
=====
[Trauma (cold)]
I feel cold in certain situations.
=====
It was an absurdly simple temperament.
‘It does not say why the trauma occurred or what the specific situation was.’
And the next temperament is…
=====
[Building up chill (chill 14)]
A debuff caused by accepting a folktale spirit.
Every hour, a certain amount of cold accumulates in the body.
A debuff is applied depending on the amount of cold accumulated in the body.
10~99: I feel cold.
100~199: Hands and feet become dull.
200~499: The whole body becomes sluggish.
500~999: Enters suspended animation.
Exceeding 1000: Death.
Chill levels can be reduced through heat received from outside or heat radiated from within.
Cannot be released.
=====
While the first temperament was a simple trauma, the second temperament was a very fatal debuff.
‘Her… ‘This looks very dangerous?’
I felt like I finally understood why Midwinter trains and moves his body every day.
‘I was trying to get rid of the chill.’
The heat generated by moving the body removed the chill.
‘And… ‘Even if it’s spring or summer, it won’t be resolved.’
A debuff that does not work to remove abnormal status conditions or remove curses.
However, we could not blindly conclude that it was fatal.
‘It means that you only need to move your body that much.’
Moreover, Midwinter was a child who was excessively active compared to other people.
After a few tens of minutes of exercise, she will be able to shake off the chill in no time.
But as soon as that part was resolved, one more question arose.
‘It seems like he only does that when he’s with me…’ .’
Strangely, it seemed like he only felt cold when he was alone with me.
And as if to prove it, the mid-winter chill level…
‘The first time I saw it, it was 11, then it was 14, and now…’ ‘It’s 20.’
Strangely enough, the chill level was increasing in real time only while he was with me.
‘Maybe it’s just the hallways that are cold.’
Thinking like that, I gently raised my palm and then…
Grumble!
Created a fireball.
“Ugh! “What, what!”
Midwinter took a step back, startled by the fireball that suddenly popped out, and I smiled at her and said,
“I made it because it felt cold.”
“S-you should tell me something in advance…”
Midwinter approached me with his mouth twitching, despite his shaky voice.
“…”
“…”
Midwinter and I began to look at each other quietly, with the yellow fireball between us.
A fire like a wood fire appeared in a dark hallway, creating a very cozy atmosphere.
But in my eyes, more than the atmosphere…
‘It does fall.’
The falling chill level in midwinter became more noticeable.
The chill level, which had reached 28 at the end, quickly dropped to 25.
And it continued to fall in real time.
But ironically, apart from the falling chill of midwinter…
“…”
“…”
The orange fireball created an awkward atmosphere.
Midwinter spoke to me, pursing his mouth as if he didn’t like this awkwardness.
“It’s over there…”
But her words did not last until the end.
It wasn’t because of me.
“You’re here!”
“Ah…”
It was because of the appearance of the 7th successor.
As soon as I saw the heir, I immediately extinguished the fire and apologized politely.
“Sorry. It’s dark so I turn on the light…”
Haha, it’s okay.”
At first, I thought they were coming to warn me because of the fireball…
“I came here because I have something to tell you.”
In the first place, he came because he had some business for me.
“I think you will be able to enter the Mountain of Darkness sometime tomorrow.”
I was looking forward to it, but I never thought it would be done so quickly.
“That’s a good thing. Is that really what you came to see me to say? “If that’s the case, you can tell me later.”
Haha! Isn’t he someone else, the hero of Umbra? “I have to come and tell you in person.”
The heir took a polite stance towards me as if he were reporting a report to the king.
In the middle of winter, when I saw that…
“Oh…”
She looked at me and the heir in turn, curiously.
Her successor then confirmed her presence in the middle of winter and offered her his greeting.
“Hello? Mr. Midwinter.”
“Oh, hello. Haha…”
Midwinter hesitated as if feeling burdened by her sudden greeting.
At first, I thought it was strange that the heir knew Midwinter’s name…
“I heard that you risked your life yesterday to save our residents. “Thank you very much.”
“Haha… “It’s something I have to do.”
“No. “Once the current situation stabilizes, we will definitely compensate you.”
Haha…”
The successor was aware of Midwinter’s activities yesterday.
‘Seeing how much attention is paid to that aspect, I don’t have to worry about managing the country.’
But recognition is recognition, and class is class.
One is the future king of Umbra, and the other is an ordinary soldier belonging to the Umbra army.
Although Midwinter is said to be well-known, it seemed like it felt burdened by the huge class difference.
I opened my mouth to get the heir’s attention.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“Yes, there is. But…”
The heir secretly noticed Midwinter’s notice.
Just looking at it, it was a gesture that he wanted to talk to me alone.
I nodded and answered.
“Shall we change seats?”
“I will guide you this way.”
Before following the heir, I took off his coat and covered it for Midwinter.
“Uh? “What, what is it?”
“Put it on and go to where Hayeon is. “Because it’s warm there.”
“Oh, no, I’m fine…” !”
I ignored that midwinter cry and followed the successor.
***
Midwinter grunted as he watched Seongsuho leave, putting his coat on his back.
“What… What…”
But unlike his grunting voice, the corner of his mouth twitched.
“It’s really hard to take care of people.”
As he said that, he checked the coat that Seong Su-ho handed him to him.
It was a garment that felt a bit thin to be used as a coat.
Midwinter already knew his condition.
And the fact that this coat doesn’t help at all with getting rid of the chill…
But…
“Main… Since I gave it to you…”
Without realizing it, she put on Seongsu-ho’s coat.
As I put on my coat, I felt a scent that I had never smelled from a coat enter my nose.
It was a warm yet refreshing scent.
“… “It smells good.”
Midwinter tightened Seong Su-ho’s coat and headed to the room where Min Ha-yeon and her group were.
