From the exact point where Davey and Illyna were headed to, a snow blizzard swept across the entire forest. Unlike Davey, who quickly noticed it and moved, the other trainees, who were a little further away, scrambled to do something when they noticed the blizzard slightly later.

‘I knew it.’

In a small cave for about four or five people, Illyna shivered despite wearing an insulation coat. “Groan… I’m cold…”

At first, the air was just a little cold. The Pandora region was in the far north of the continent, so it was quite cold to begin with, and it was also true that the weather was pretty cold during this particular time of year. However, that chill turned into a nasty frost that was cold enough to cut skin, and it even became an intense snow blizzard. It meant that the forest had become completely covered in snow.

“I… It’s a relief that we were able to retrieve the supplies and find a hiding spot before the blizzard came. We were lucky.”

Davey couldn’t help but sigh at this idiot. He asked, “Does this look like it happened because of sheer luck?”

“…What, then are you saying that you predicted that this blizzard would happen?” Illyna widened her eyes in surprise.

If Illyna was asking if Davey had predicted it, it was true. The spirits usually weren’t in occupied territories, but there were quite a lot of them in unmanned land where there wasn’t a lot of human intervention. The spirits were the most sensitive to changes in nature, like how animals and insects moved first before an earthquake could happen. However, spirits were a little more sensitive than them.

“Makes sense… No wonder you suddenly pushed ahead with your golem… Wait! Then, you forced your way through knowing that this would happen?!”

“You had to take your test, and I had to do what I had to do.”

Davey wasn’t so weak that he was going to give up because of some little blizzard. After sending Rinne to find and hide in a cave, Davey pushed ahead without planning to urgently retrieve the supplies. Of course, they had to deal with a lot of low-level evil beasts since they just barged into the forest. The fact that they all became meat pancakes because of Juggernaut’s merciless firing of magic bullets was already ancient history.

“How did you figure it out? Is that also magic?”

“Spirits are sensitive to the climate. If a spirit that lives in the cold is shivering, it’s obvious what’s going to follow.”

“I didn’t know that existed.”

Elementalists would be in complete shock if they had heard Davey, who basically said that he saw the spirits of nature that even elves, the ones who were said to be the partners of spirits in the ancient books, couldn’t see. However, since Illyna was neither a mage nor elementalist, she didn’t think anything was off.

“Anyway, it’s still so cold even though I’m wearing an insulating coat and there’s a fire in here. Seriously, what’s inside that forest?” Illyna complained.

Davey silently stared at the coat in Illyna’s hand. Although the knight order had guarded this place for a long time, they had only been able to travel into just about half of the Pandora Region. He had heard that the rest was just left as a mystery as there was no way to combat the extreme cold of the rest of the region. He commented, “The coat is cheap.”

“What? Hey, do you know how much this is? They are really expensive and run for two to three hundred per coat,” Illyna replied.

Two to three hundred gold was certainly not a small amount.

“There is corruption in the defense business everywhere.”

Illyna widened her eyes in shock. “W—What?!”

“Give me the coat so that I can reinforce the enchantment on it,” Davey said irritatedly.

Illyna lowered her red face.

“W… Well, if it was that, you should’ve told me earlier.” Illyna quickly took off her coat and handed it over to Davey.

“See, look. I knew it.” Davey sighed when he compared the condition of Illyna’s coat and the one he was wearing. The enchantment itself was engraved strongly, but it is insufficient. He muttered, “I have to do all of it again.”

Davey laid the coat down on the floor. Then, without hesitation, he released his mana through his palms and repeatedly put it into the coat, which floated in the air.

Whoosh… At the same time, dozens of magic circles that shone blue began showing up as Davey’s hands moved.

There were various enchantments that could make the coat lighter, increase its durability, and help it resist the cold, but they were all insufficient. The biggest thing that bothered Davey was the messiness of the enchantment. Although there was no proper medium, he no longer wanted to do this half-assed since he was going to work on it anyways.

‘I should try my best if I’m going to do it anyway, right?’

Illyna, who was sitting while hugging her knees, stared at Davey in fascination as his fingertips were releasing light from the work he was doing and lighting up the cave. She then delightedly turned the coat all over to examine if the insulation had been fully activated. She wrapped it around her body and held onto it tightly, as if it was something dear. “Sigh… It’s warm. Amazing.”

“It’s just simple work.”

“Do you know that this insulation coat is good enough to be nationally recognized? It’s almost as good as the ones for emperors. I’m like a snow guard of the empire’s treasury.” Chuckling, Illyna fixed her coat while thinking about how cool this was.

Davey felt that it was a little cozy. They blocked the cold with their coats and lit a small fire in the quiet cave.

“It’s a little unexpected, but the snow blizzard should stop around dawn tomorrow. The instructions for the second test will be here tomorrow and we have lots of time today.” Illyna chuckled, then went on. “We’re going to pass the test no matter what if you’re here.”

Illyna’s thought was simple. She believed that they were never going to be eliminated, showing the faith that she had in Davey.

* * *

Howl!!! The nasty snow blizzard swept across the entire forest. The forest was usually full of white, frosty trees, but right now, an intense blizzard ran rampant within it for some unknown reason.

“Captain.”

Dozens of black-robed men appeared near a man who seemingly floated above the snow. It was like he weighed nothing. The man asked them, “You made sure of everything?”

“Of course. We placed a wide barrier and have begun to lure in Shandra, the transcendental being. They say that they have succeeded in the first step of taking control of its consciousness.”

“Alright.” The man slowly nodded with an extremely cold gaze.

“But… Captain.”

“What is it?”

“Will it be okay? There are still variables like the trainees of the knight order…”

“Are you going to fail because of the unforeseen circumstances those greenhorns will bring?”

“But they are talented seedlings. And I heard that there’s a strange kid among the trainees this time.”

One of the men in the black robes said, “Apparently, a teenage trainee has been able to use [Aura Blade].”

“Hm? Quite an interesting kid…”

“Then…”

“But there’s nothing to worry about. If he interferes, I’ll take care of it myself. And the rest of the trainees are important sacrifices for the control of Shandra, the transcendental being.”

“…” All the people in black robes kneeled at once when they heard the man.

“You must succeed. I have put the future of the knight order on the line.”

“…Your wish is my command.”

Watching the black figures disappear at once, the man stared at the raging blizzard with the same cold expression as before. “He’s still a naïve greenhorn no matter how good he is. I wonder how you will entertain me when you go up against a transcendental being.”

* * *

Crackle… Crackle… The sound of wood, which they had gathered enough of, resonated in the cave. It was fascinating how the smoke from the fire was flowing outside the cave by an artifact that created a distinct air current.

As they were not surviving in extreme conditions, there were various tools needed for setting up camp outside in the supplies box.

Perhaps Illyna was immersed in the atmosphere of the quiet cave and the faint crackling of the fire; she looked like she was in a good mood as she hummed while holding Caldeiras in her arms. Davey wondered if it was because she was taking the test to become an official member of the knight order that she yearned for, or if it was for some other reason… But there was no need to think about it so deeply.

“It’s nice being like this.”

Davey couldn’t help but chuckle at how innocent Illyna was. “It’s nice?”

“I just feel like something like this is nice once in a while. Don’t you think so?” Illyna asked, and they both fell silent.

‘I guess it’s not bad. This kind of vibe.’

Davey just couldn’t resist going crazy at Illyna’s supposed seduction. “Sigh… I can’t stop myself if you’re seducing me this much.”

“What?”

The blizzard outside didn’t look like it was going to stop.

“D—Davey?”

“It’s only the two of us here right now, and I’m thinking of releasing what I’ve kept in for so long.”

Illyna widened her eyes, as if understanding the strange situation. She realized that they were a man and a woman alone in a small cave.

“Why… Why are you doing this…” Illyna laughed awkwardly. She was flustered, and her laughter immediately stopped when she noticed Davey’s serious stare. She yelled, “D—Davey!”

“How could a princess be this off-guard?”

‘Especially since she’s called one of the Five Beauties of the continent.’

Illyna looked frosty, but her smile was actually surprisingly warm. She was so beautiful that she would make pretty much any man fall for her. She threatened, “St—Stop joking around! I’ll cut you if you come close!”

As Davey got up and walked toward her, Illyna was completely bewildered. With a completely shocked expression, she slowly backed away with her jaw on the floor. “Do—Don’t you know that we’re in the middle of a test?! And if you do something weird right now, the Teachers…!”

“They can’t see us right now.”

Illyna went pale. She froze from Davey’s serious expression and tone. She cried out, “R—Rinne…! Where is Rinne?”

Although Illyna urgently called for Rinne, the silver-haired child, who had been sitting beside Davey and chewing on a meat jerky not too long ago, was already long gone.

“Hiccup…” Illyna even began to hiccup with a pale face. “D… Davey, why are you doing this… All of a sudden…”

“I’ve waited for this moment.”

“D—Don’t do this, we’re friends…”

“That’s not important right now.”

“Please…” Illyna looked like she was going to cry. Normally, she would pull out Caldeiras and come at Davey. However, she knew very well that she would only be overpowered in seconds even if she tried.

“Don’t worry, it only hurts for a moment. It’ll feel good soon. Your back, that’s all I need to see.”

“Kyahh!!” Illyna, who was screaming and backing away, widened her eyes even more. She could feel the cold wall behind her.

Crack… Crack… Then, the sound of bones cracking could be heard throughout the entire forest. It was from Davey’s hand, which grabbed onto Illyna.

“Ah, this feeling.”

Davey had to be nice to the hot-tempered heroes of the Hall for such a long time…so it had basically become an obsessive desire.

“Kyahh!!”

A desperate cry for help was also heard.