Surrounded by several snowy mountains, two individuals stood at the foot of one mountain in particular.

The mountain was indistinguishable from the others—it had a gleaming black surface and thick layers of snow covering it.

The immense cold and barely passable sun made the landscape dark. Add to it the ceaseless downpour of snow, and it was practically an eternal land of frost.

“We’ve come this far. Nice.” The golden-haired boy smiled, staring hard at the mountain in front of him.

Kuzon tilted his face a little, staring at the shorter girl beside him.

Her gaze was not on the mountain, but rather on a device she held tightly in her hands. The object resembled a compass, and it pointed straight in the direction of the massive structure in front of them.

Plus, its green glow indicated they were in the right area.

“It took a few days, but… we’re finally here.” Anabelle Frederick smiled.

She was covered in a thick sweater, and had a scarf wrapped around her neck. As well as gloves, boots and dense pants. She looked more like a stocky child than a mature lady.

Kuzon noticed this and did his best to suppress his laughter.

Unlike her, he wore a white winter jacket, with a dark red shirt, which matched the color of his jacket and his trousers. He also had on a pair of shiny, black boots.

In contrast, Ana’s color was mostly comprised of blue, with little shades of white.

“You did an amazing job, Ana.”

“You’ve said that for the umpteenth time, Kuzon.” Ana snapped at him, intentionally refusing to look at his face.

“Haha. True…” Somehow, the awkwardness was also affecting Kuzon—though he was trying his hardest to hide it.

They were both suffering from the backlash of an earlier conversation—one that wasn’t very easy to forget.

*

*

*

[Moments Earlier]

“I finally did it!”

Ana was sweaty, and the bags under her eyes showed nothing but exhaustion.

The young lady had been working for two days straight, so it was simply a given that she would be dead tired. However, even in her spent state, she still leaped with joy once her design was completed.

“Whoah! Ana… what’s the matter?” Kuzon popped into Ana’s lab, a hint of nervousness and worry in his voice.

He had heard her screams and wanted to check if she was okay… though he still remained nervous due to the fact that she absolutely despised having him interrupt her when she was busy inside.

Kuzon shuddered when he remembered the last time he had entered without her permission—when he’d told her to rest.

It was something he didn’t want to experience again.

However, this time, he risked it all, due to his curiousity and worry. Fortunately, no grim consequence came as a result.

“I did it, Kuzon! I solved it!” Ana jumped happily, even gushing at him in excitement.

That was indeed better news than he had been expecting.

Kuzon’s eyes widened in surprise upon hearing her words.

‘Amazing. I expected it to take at least five days—no, maybe a week?’

It wasn’t easy to decipher Beruel’s code, considering he was an expert at mechanics. Every road had led to a dead end for Kuzon. Besides, Ana had to backtrack the signal in a way that the owner wouldn’t know about it.

That meant she’d had to take a roundabout turn—something that was more difficult and time consuming.

Yet, she’d pulled it off in two days!

“Ana, you’re so wonderful!” Kuzon swept her off her feet and raised her in excitement.

“W-what are you doing!!!”

He had forgotten how much she hated that—or perhaps he hadn’t. The boy spun around , holding her high up as he laughed and congratulated her even more for her achievement.

“H-hey… s-stop it! STOOOOOPPPP!!!”

In the end, Kuzon had to be stopped violently. Whether or not he had desired this outcome was left to the boy’s mind.

*

*

*

“So, this is the compass that will lead us to his location. The general area has already been established by it. The signals of the two devices which you gave me to cross reference last came from the West—though it is an extreme region that is apart from the Western Continent.”

The Compass Ana held projected a map, and she pointed out the general location where they would find their target.

“It’s close to the Fairy Kingdom. I suppose that is to be expected.” Kuzon murmured, narrowing his gaze on the many islands that drifted away from the Western Continent.

“It wasn’t easy transcribing the location. If you hadn’t gotten two, I doubt I would have made any progress.” Ana added.

“Then I suppose were in luck then. Thanks, Ana. I’ll take it from here.” Kuzon smiled, stretching out his hand to collect the compass.

His words surprised the girl, and she instantly leaped back—her expression transforming into a glare.

“What?” Ana’s tone clearly depicted her thoughts, same as her facial expression.

“Don’t be like this, Ana. I needed you to help me find the location of Beruel. I already established this from the beginning.” Kuzon sighed, drawing closer to her.

“And after I was done, you’d just throw me away and go on your own way, right?”

“Exactly! Wait, no… don’t put it that way!”

Ana’s glare intensified, making the young Midas groan in exasperation.

“It’s not like I want to relegate you or keep you out of the loop, okay? It’s just… you don’t stand a chance against Beruel. It’s going to be the most difficult fight I’ve ever engaged in, no doubt. And that’s saying something…”

Ana’s face softened a bit, though it didn’t exactly help the state of her heart. Being left aside because of her weakness wasn’t going to appeal to her in any way.

“I can still do something, can’t I? I can help!” She argued, albeit hesitantly.

“But, Ana… you’re not strong enough.”

Kuzon’s face depicted how he felt about the whole thing. He truly wanted her by his side. In fact, having Ana with him would probably be for the best.

However—

“I can’t allow any harm to come to you.”

“Because of the dumb promise you made to Jared?”

“No. Because I actually care about you. This is difficult for me too.”