378 375. Another world in winter.txt (2/2)

Yotaki then approached the door of the room and grabbed the doorknob, keeping a bitter smile on his face.

''If you want to go to ......, feel free. I'll be off, brother.

Have a good day, Yotaki.

I sit on my bed and look off at Yotaki.

Then I hear my sister's footsteps, not by magic but by ear, as she walks down the hallway outside her room, out of the house, and blends in from the hills to the city.

After waiting long enough on the bed for more, I begin to prepare to leave too.

'............. I'll go too: ......

However, just putting on a jacket like Yotaki is not the end of my preparations to go out.

First I needed to fully understand how this 'winter world' works.

I was confident that I could do it.

I have a decent sense of time, unlike my usual waking up. Thanks to that, I know exactly where and when I'm doing what I'm doing.

I had a vague idea that it was because of Tiara's ”blood”.

Her blood mixed with my past vision must have contributed to this situation.

The memory of the tiara I saw.

With that experience, I stare at it.

I squinted my eyes tightly, not that I had poor vision, but I squinted and focused physically and magically.

Then it was so easy to see.

'...... ha ha,'

I'm trying to focus my eyes, but on the contrary, my eyes are blurring in front of me.

When I tried to focus correctly, countless lines began to be carved into my vision.

They were white 'threads' that stretched out irregularly in all directions.

Like a spider's web, it is stretched across the room, moving as if it were drifting through the air, wavering.

Even if you reach out your hand, you can't touch it.

I knew at once that I wasn't trapped by the normal laws of physics. It ignores obstacles such as the ground and floor and breaks through them. From its fluttering and strange movements, I could tell that it was also escaping gravity.

The fact that the ”thread” is filling my field of vision and I can't get rid of it with my hands is quite uncomfortable, as if there is a crack in the eyeball itself - or rather, a crack in the recognizing brain itself.

But this state of affairs is to be expected.

I calmly analyze the 'thread' based on the information I got from Tiara's memories.

.............

The reason for not touching the 'thread' is obvious.

A thousand years ago, when I created the ”Technique of Level Up”, the answer was clear.

At that time, I incorporated the images of - 'flesh', 'cell', 'copy', 'immaterial', 'penetration', 'assistance' and 'muscle' - in my work. Just like that one, this may be a 'cell with no mass as matter'.

When I looked closely at the 'thread', I could see a variety of glittering lights running through its interior.

If this were a replication of a nerve cell, I thought it might be an electric signal, but I soon realized that it was not. Inside the 'thread', there was an ample amount of magic power with multiple attributes circulating inside.

It is close to the blood that runs through blood vessels.

Perhaps, but this 'thread' served not only as a nerve, but also as a blood vessel. Of course, it's also a pathway for transmitting magic power. From this, I realized that this 'thread' has gone beyond the nerve cells in my original world's common sense, and has reached a level that cannot be fully analyzed by science.

'Ah, here it is: ......'

This is the 'magic thread'.

I can finally see it - or rather, it would be more accurate to say that I was made able to see it by Tiara's 'blood'.

I can feel the ”magic thread” in the room stirring with my whole body.

It moves like a tentacle, tangling, entering my body, overlapping with my nerves and blood vessels. Sometimes it keeps stroking my cheek gently. I don't feel any harm in that.

I didn't feel any harm from the ”magic thread” either.

I'm sure that if you cut the magical thread, the winter world will end for sure. I'm not wanting to make a mess until I get to the ”girlfriend” who is waiting for me.

I ignored the 'magic thread' and focused on other information.

I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.

It was the 'reality' beyond the illusion of the 'winter world'.

The warm scene I had seen earlier had changed drastically, revealing a room full of icicles and snow. There is a bed and furniture, but it has been completely frozen over.

My body, which had been sleeping there, was also completely frozen.

No wonder I was so cold.

It wasn't cold water circulating through my body, but actual cold blood circulating through my body.

It wasn't ice cubes clogging up his body, but actual flesh that was on the verge of freezing.

To put it bluntly, I would be biologically unable to move.

--But my body can move.

But my body can move.

I can move my frozen body while making a creaking sound.

My hair, which had grown to my back before I knew it, makes a strange crunching sound.

Thanks to the leveling up, it doesn't seem to have done much damage in the cold to the point where I can't move biologically.

I no longer have the humanity to become an ice statue, no matter how many degrees below freezing it is. I know from my ”past vision” that all I have left now is Aikawa Uzumi-ness (・・・・・・・).

Haha.

Moving with a second bitter smile, I approach the window.

Then I stare out of the house, keeping my eyes fixed on it.

Even though it's in the middle of a blizzard, there's a pillar of fire rising in the distance.

In addition, the glowing magic power is also scattering in the sky like a splash of water.

Perhaps, Maria is fighting. There is a good chance that she is using resonance magic with Dia. Surely Snow would be there, too, as a vanguard.

I remember the three faces, and at the same time, I remember the words of each of them before they parted.

'I can finally go home ....... In the true sense of the word, I can pick up the 'I' that I left behind in my hometown. I can face my parents and brother this time ......'

'Of course it's good. In fact, this is my primary goal. I'll be physically and mentally fit and become Kanami's partner. That dream has never changed.

'Kanami is a worrier, so you may be worried about a lot of things, but don't worry about ....... It seems that Dia-san is also on the mainland, so we'd like to help each other in many ways.'

-- powerful, positive, and independent in their own right.

And we know, without a doubt, that all of them mean what they say.

It's easy to prove that they mean it.

Accustomed to my frozen body, I walk through the window and step outside.

Then I walk through the ice age-like world and find one ice statue buried in the snow.

Inside the ice statue is a meditated child.

In addition, 'magical threads' wrapped and swirled around the ice statue like a cocoon. One of them touches my skin and overlaps with the nerves in my body.

Then I stop staring and let the world loosen its focus.

Then, on a hill where it's snowing in a flurry of snow - before I know it, a boy wearing a fox-like beast mask and I are talking.

''--Heh, brother!　Isn't this nice!

A boy from the Valt nation is proudly pointing and laughing at his mask.

To that I answer with a smile.

...... Yeah. It's an unusual and conspicuous mask. Where did you get that?

You know what?　This mask is different!　My mom bought it for me in Gliard, down south!　They said the masks were made in a country across the sea!

Wow. The other side of the ocean. That's great.

'If you want some unusual masks, brother, you can go to a stall in the southern harbor!　See you later!

So the boy said, and then, looking unbusy, he rushed off in a flurry toward the northern Hoosier country.

As I watched him off, I stared at him again and refocused the world.

From the ”Winter World” back to ”Reality”.

I'm not going to be able to get out of the house. Like a seed in the wind, the ”magic thread” is flying through the sky towards the far north.

In the depths of the blizzardy sky, I saw an upside-down, multicolored curtain woven from the magical thread.

The aurora borealis, which emits light not from magnetic force but from magic, was moving from the earth to the sky.

This is the reality of the ”World of Winter”.

This is the reality of the 'winter world': living things are turned into ice sculptures, preserved, and then connected with 'magic threads' called nerves.

The thread also acts as a brain nerve, so everyone shares the same world hallucinations.

In my world, it's a network - a magical version of that network. That aurora woven in the sky is a virtual server, so to speak. It's the kind of 'dystopia' you see in movies or comics.

In other words, Yotaki doesn't want to cause any unnecessary deaths.

The people who live in the hallucination certainly have souls.

So it's not a lie here, but it's not a lie.

When I am sure of this, I look at the pillar of fire rising in the distance.

At the same time, I also ruminate on the powerful words of the example.

I'm not the only one who has become stronger through the battles we've fought until today.

The spirits of my companions have also become stronger in ”reality.

They're so strong that they don't need me anymore .......

In light of Yotaki's policy, I'm going to lower my priority again.

-- 'At the end of that staircase, my daughter ■■■■■■ Foozeyers is waiting for the ”hero”'.

The words that are stuck in the back of my head make my priorities clearer.

'Let's go ......'

I don't think my friends would have any objection to me helping ”her”. I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what to expect.

However, because of the ”magic thread” and the blizzard, I stopped staring at it.

I'm not going to be able to get out of my own home.

From Wald's house, I walk straight north to the Hoozeyards.

By the time I enter the Hoosiers, the streets are filled with people enjoying the festival.

And I was greeted by a number of very old-fashioned stalls. As I walked past the familiar food vendors, I remembered a few memories of the festival before.

I remember enjoying the festival with my ”girlfriend”.

Back then, I kept a lid on my feelings, but I really wanted to spend more time with ”her”. I wanted to talk to her more and more.

But I couldn't do that.

I guess it's because we were both 'made up' by the writers.

I wasn't able to talk about things that had nothing to do with the story - I wasn't able to.

.............

Walking alone in a snowy festival.

Slowly, on a noisy road with the chanting of bells and the sound of your own footsteps in a blizzard - the sound of your own footsteps is the only sound you can hear.

Remembering the past, my steps remind me of one 'chant'.

...... 'The winter world takes away all that is lost.'

I thought it was an appropriate 'chant' for the current situation.

And then you realize.

''Ah, this ....... 'Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension)' or ......'

I found out the exact magic name of the ”Winter World” and at the same time learned the power of Yangtaki.

I'm going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to get the best out of it. You're going to be able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

It's a good thing that you're able to have a good idea of what to expect.

It's a good thing that you're able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

I'm sure that this is why I thought that one day Yotaki was going to entrust me with the control of this winter world.

It's the magic of the story's raspy magic that sucks the power from all frozen life (life), that's what my brother likes, right? I felt like I was being told.

...... ah.

I'm sure it's my favorite.

However, it is doubtful whether this preference is really mine. In the first place, it's doubtful that the Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension) itself is really something I came up with. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's not.

''Is that why it was such a strong magic: ......

I mutter to myself over and over again, just like when I first got lost in the labyrinth.

While I'm reminiscing about the past, I finally arrive in front of the Great Hall of the Allied Fooziers.

The river flowing around the building was frozen.

A number of security knights are lined up on the bridge over the river, making it impossible for ordinary people to enter. I was trying to get over the river and the fence with the 《Difault》 - I reconsidered whether it would be okay to go in head-on.

I proudly approach the bridge and call out to the knights guarding the sanctuary.

In an attempt to get them to guide me to 'her' who is waiting for me at the far end of this hoozeyards, I introduced myself as 'Original Kanami'.