[V2C17] Jack, the Child of Winter
Translated by Jodas 2: Daily Lives of a New Teacher and the Apprentice Mages—That was a strong Monster.
She was sure of that, but at the same time, Tia was confused.
(Strong Monsters shouldn’t be here……)
Strong Monsters that could perfectly mimic humans couldn’t leave the Crystal Territory.
To be precise, they could leave it for a short time and a short distance, this forest was quite far south of the Crystal Territory. It’s strange that a greater Monster that can perfectly mimic a human would be able to come here.
(Did that Monster become a human the same way I did? Does he have those candies?)
“Hehe, hehehe……”
“Halt.”
Sevil ordered with a piercing voice. The boy froze.
Sevil tightened her grip on her curved sword with a reddening hand, then asked.
“I pride myself on being kind to children…… but, you are no child, are you?”
Sevil’s breath turned to white fog. The air rapidly chilled around them.
“Hehe. I’m Jack. Jack, the Child of Winter.”
The Monster that introduced himself as Jack started to run.
He ran less like a human or animal, and more like a leaf flitting around on the wind.
Sevil quickly stepped forward and swung towards the boy. However, the boy lightly floated around and bent his body out of the way.
Each time the boy dodged a slash, sparkling grains of ice scattered across the surroundings.
Sevil opened the distance, and Jack smiled as he held up his arms.
His smile was faint and ephemeral, as if it were going to melt at any second. And yet, it was cold enough to send shivers down the spine of whoever saw it.
“Human lives are like little candle flames. Their warmth is weak, but lovely.”
Jack’s body floated into the air. He flapped his icicle-coated sleeves.
Sevil shouted.
“Both of you, get down!”
“This way, Wren!”
Icicles went flying from his flapping sleeves. Tia grabbed Wren’s arm and hid behind a tree.
The pelting rain of icicles embedded themselves deep into the ground. “Ack!” Witnessing the force of that attack, Wren inhaled sharply.
If they got hit by one of those, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Jack floated back down to the ground, then danced, spinning in place.
It was an obvious opening, but Sevil didn’t try to attack him. That was the correct decision.
Jack had intentionally made this opening, inviting them to attack him.
“How fun, how fun! It’s been so long since I played with human kids! What game will we play next? Hey, what next?”
Monsters were obsessed with humans.
Whether it be eating human flesh, drinking their blood, or requiring humans to reproduce—the obsession took countless forms, but Jack’s obsession was likely warmth.
Stealing a human’s warmth was the greatest pleasure to this Monster.
(In that case….)
Tia left Wren behind the tree as she jumped out and shouted at Sevil.
“Sevil, the weapon!”
“—! The timing isn’t easy!”
“I’ll do my best!”
Shouting, Tia charged towards Jack.
Jack’s face lit up with delight, and he spread both arms wide.
“Will you give me a hug?”
Tia’s amber eyes evaluated Jack coldly, and she stretched out her arms and yelled.
“I will!”
Jack’s white arms embraced Tia.
Frost covered the surface of Tia’s body. As the frost thickened, it formed a layer of ice.
When he froze a human solid like this, this Monster smiled in adoration.
“How how lovely……..The sensation of a human’s warmth disappearing in my arms.”
This is the form of this Monster’s obsession.
If you call that obsession love, then a Monster’s love is violent indeed.
Tia stared at the ice Monster with cold eyes. With clear hostility.
(If you think you can love me, go ahead and try!)
Tia hugged Jack’s body back with her freezing arms……Then lifted his small body up and ran.
“Piyoyoyoyoyoyo………hmhmhmhmhmhm!”
“Eh?” Jack, who hadn’t hesitated to embrace Tia and steal her warmth raised a voice of confusion.
The surface of Tia’s body was covered in ice. However, Tia’s life wouldn’t freeze.
Even though she looked like a human, Tia was a Harpy. Her warmth couldn’t be stolen so easily.
“What, this body……? You are…….?”
“Hyah!”
Holding Jack in her arms, Tia slammed the back of his head into a tree trunk. With the force of swinging her arms that hard, the ice on Tia’s arms also shattered away.
“Gah!” Jack screamed. An ordinary human’s neck would have snapped from that, but as expected of a greater type, he was tough.
Jack lifted his shaking arms. The icicles dangling from his sleeves aimed to cut Tia’s neck like knives.
“Piyoyoyoyo!”
Tia let go of Jack and jumped backwards, dodging the icicles.
In her place, Sevil closed the distance. She stood as to block Tia from his view, and swung her curved sword at Jack.
One swing from her sword cut in from Jack’s left shoulder. It cut straight through his icicle-covered sleeve, and Jack’s arm dropped unceremoniously onto the ground.
Blood did not flow from the wound. The surface where he had been cut looked as white as packed snow, and in place of blood, specks of ice dripped out.
The moment Jack stopped, some distance away, Wren stuck out his hand.
“Go!”
From Wren’s palm, a fireball big enough to wrap both arms around it flew out. Sevil had handed the fireball-shooting brooch to Wren.
Sevil grabbed Tia by the waist and jumped out of the way.
The fireball landed a direct hit on Jack.
The moment the fireball touched Jack’s body, there was a dripping sound. He was not burning, he was melting.
Once the fireball had disappeared, there was no trace of the Monster. the only evidence of burning were on the tree and the ground.
Wren, who had fired the fireball, exhaled slowly and dramatically.
“Ah, that scared me…..This fireball was way bigger than I thought.”
Saying that, Wren passed the red brooch in his hands back to Sevil.
Sevil’s brooch was a weapon, which was to say a magical device. Once you put mana into it, it would release a fireball once, and once only.
Then, to ensure it hit, Sevil handed over the brooch while Tia was holding the Monster.
Then, Sevil attacked with her sword, and from behind her, Wren would deliver the finishing blow.
Wren looked at the ground Jack had melted into, and he shivered, gritting his teeth.
“I feel a little gross, like I just burned someone to death……he……..was a Monster, right?”
“Indeed. His appearance was indistinguishable from that of a human. Would that be what they refer to as a greater Monster, then?”
“But can’t stronger Monsters not leave the Crystal Territory? Why was he here?”
While Wren talked with Sevil, Tia kneeled down and inspected the ground.
Around where Jack disappeared, there were what looked like the remains of gemstones lying about.
(……These are crystals? Could they be from the Crystal Territory……?)
She tried to grab them with her fingers and pick them up, but they crumbled like sand.
“Pirorororo,” Tia voiced, as Wren and Sevil closed around her on both sides.
“Regardless, Tia, are you okay!? Your arm! It was frozen!”
“Let me inspect it. Frostbite can be deadly.”
“I’m fine! I’m really tough!”
After all, she was a Harpy on the inside. She was far stronger against the cold than humans.
Another reason was that the Monster called ‘Jack’ hadn’t been all that strong.
His abilities to freeze his target without an incantation and to control icicles were certainly fearsome. However, a greater Monster ordinarily should have been much stronger than this.
Jack had clearly been in a weakened state. Just like Tia.
As Tia was lost in thought, Wren and Sevil grabbed both of her ams and rubbed them with their hands. Maybe they were trying to prevent her from getting frostbite. It tickled a bit.
“Pefuu…… Ehehe.”
Tia laughed. Then the ground started to shake.
The three of them jumped and looked at the source of the noise.
A huge, white form was running straight towards them—a Snow Boar.
Either it was one of the two they’d encountered earlier, or it was an entirely new one. She couldn’t tell. All she knew was that there was no sign of the other mages anywhere nearby.
“Run!”
Sevil sheathed her curved sword, and urged Tia and Wren to run with her.
As Tia ran, waddling, she twisted her head to get a look at the Snow Boar.
Ordinarily, she would just be wondering “Why is there a Monster here? That’s strange!”
—It’s good to keep asking questions like ‘why?’ whenever you can.
—You especially have a tendency to leave the thinking to Wren and Sevil. You should try using your own head for once.
Hütter’s words suddenly came to life in her head.
Why was there a greater Monster here? She had a feeling it was related to the Snow Boars.
She knew this was something she had to use her own brain to think about. While trying as hard as she could to answer ‘why?’ there would be Monsters other than herself there, she waddled away.
(By the way, Mr. Hütter……I hope he hasn’t been attacked by a Monster. I hope he’s okay……)