“Y-you’re going north?”
“A-alone?”
This time even Ed was stuttering.
“Yes. I’m going alone.”
“What are you planning to do there?”
Bolio asked with a serious expression.
“I need to resolve the root cause of this situation.”
Cain’s answer was clear.
It was so decisive and clear, without the slightest hesitation, that it actually left Bolio speechless.
Bolio clenched his fists tightly.
“Cain. I know it might sound ridiculous coming from me, since I was the one who said you could catch the Snow Bears, but going out alone is too dangerous no matter what. It might not be just one Snow Bear—several could appear at once.”
“R-right. Going alone to such a deep place is too dangerous.”
“Exactly! Cain, think about it again. Even Bolio is worried about you!”
At Ed’s words, Bolio shot him a sharp glare.
“I’m not worried, okay? Think about it. If our strongest fighter recklessly charges ahead and dies, we might have to retreat immediately, mission or not. And did you forget the conditions Bederman set? I came here to earn merit, that’s true, but to be precise, this is a mission given to ‘Cain.’ We’re just accompanying him. In other words, if this guy dies, the mission ends right there.”
“Now that you mention it…”
Indeed, Richter Bederman had promised rewards if ‘Cain’ caught enough Snow Wolves and accurately identified the cause of this situation.
Blake Sears had said he would never send Cain alone, so the accompaniment was allowed as an exception.
Of course, morally speaking, it seemed like completing the mission should be enough, but everyone here already knew that Head Bederman wasn’t that lenient.
“S-so that’s why Cain has been catching Snow Wolves by himself all this time…”
“Right. Cain is the one who needs to catch lots of Snow Wolves.”
Ed lightly tapped his palm with his fist as if finally understanding.
“Have you been planning to go alone from the start?”
But Cain shook his head.
“Not really. If I could take you with me, I was planning to. Fighting alongside Snow Bears in real combat would improve your skills too, so there’s no reason to leave you behind.”
He was sincere. Why wouldn’t Cain want to create opportunities to improve his students’ abilities?
Cain looked at the three with perfectly calm eyes.
“The reason I decided to go alone is because it’s the safest option. Taking you along would actually be more dangerous.”
At those words, Bolio’s expression twisted.
“Now you’re treating us like baggage?”
“Think whatever you want. But my decision won’t change.”
“Cain…!”
Bolio unclenched his fist.
Whoosh.
Mana surged from his heart and rippled above Bolio’s palm.
Of course, he had no intention of attacking Cain in a place like this.
Rather, Bolio was planning to show his maximum power to gain recognition—to prove that he wouldn’t be a hindrance to Cain.
But at that moment.
“…!”
Swoosh!
Just as Bolio thought Cain was crouching slightly, Cain’s figure suddenly vanished from his sight.
“Over here.”
At Cain’s voice from behind, all three turned around simultaneously.
“C-Cain?”
“When did you…”
“How did you do that…?”
Cain spoke without changing his expression.
“I briefly enhanced my body with mana and moved. With this, I can at least escape by myself in the worst situation. But I can’t take all of you with me to escape like this. Do you understand now?”
“…”
Bolio closed his mouth.
“Good, if you understand.”
In fact, the speed he had just shown was Cain’s maximum output, and even if he needed to flee, maintaining this speed while escaping would be impossible.
‘But rather than explaining all these details, it’s better to firmly break their will here.’
Knowing one’s exact abilities and not being reckless was also an important virtue for surviving as a mage.
In his previous life, Cain had seen countless mages die challenging overly strong enemies, either intoxicated by their own abilities or recklessly pursuing rapid improvement.
‘And anyway, I won’t have any reason to flee.’
Cain took out a map and marked places where Snow Wolves might be using as temporary shelters.
“I’ve marked everything. It’s not certain, so if there’s nothing there, just accept it and continue searching without going too far. Try not to move the base camp from this location if possible. Our paths might cross otherwise.”
When Cain held out the map, Ed silently took it.
After a moment, Ed spoke up.
“So when are you coming back?”
“I’ll return before sunset in two days.”
“When are you leaving?”
“I need to go now.”
“But the sun is setting?”
Outside, the sun was already setting and it was getting dark.
Ed said with a worried voice.
“Not being able to see is one thing, but it’ll be tough because of the cold weather. It’s been getting noticeably colder since earlier.”
At those words, Cain chuckled.
“It’s fine. If I go and come back quickly, you’ll suffer less too. This level of cold is nothing… sniff“
“…?”
“…?”
“…”
“Ahem.”
Cain cleared his throat.
‘How much did I neglect physical training… to have such a weak body.’
Reluctantly, Cain decided to leave the next morning.
“Cain, you do have a human side after all. You’ve been acting like you wouldn’t bleed even if pricked with a needle.”
When Bolio spoke somewhat teasingly, Cain replied matter-of-factly.
“There are methods to rapidly cool wounded areas to prevent blood from flowing out.”
“…Are you doing that on purpose?”
Cain continued without concern.
“Part of the reason I decided to stay is also for your condition tomorrow. Having one more person for night watch means you can rest more soundly.”
“Resting soundly applies to you too.”
“Light naps alone are sufficient for me. I’ll actually do that tomorrow.”
“Then why don’t you take light naps and stand night watch alone today too?”
“Of course, night watch will proceed fairly according to the rules.”
“Tch.”
Students on missions are provided with small perimeter alert artifacts.
When infused with mana, they sound an alarm if any intruders enter a narrow range for a certain period.
However, in actual combat, there’s a risk of malfunction, and since mana must be injected at regular intervals, taking turns standing night watch is the principle.
‘The only exception is when performing missions alone or when there’s a need to move independently, separated from companions.’
In such cases, one takes light naps in shifts and injects mana whenever waking up.
Usually, considering that even small groups might split up, two artifacts are provided, so Cain planned to take one of them and use it that way.
Eventually, Cain and the children decided on the night watch order and slept in shifts.
“Cain, it’s your turn.”
“Understood.”
Immediately awakening to Fon’s careful call, Cain positioned himself near the cave entrance.
Then he quietly concentrated and began sensing the flow of energy meridians.
This was to precisely locate the Snow Flower Ice Crystal that he had narrowed down to two or three places earlier.
‘At night when unnecessary distractions settle down, it becomes easier to read the flow in various ways.’
Although he had made excuses earlier, this was actually another reason Cain decided to spend tonight here.
‘Certainly the flow feels much clearer than earlier.’
The ambiguous directions aligned consistently, and those flows were moving around a single axis.
The more he concentrated, the clearer the blurry image became.
Quiet, regular breathing sounds, and white breath repeatedly appeared and dispersed for a long while.
And after some time had passed.
‘I think I’ve found it.’
Cain smiled faintly.
Cain finished preparing to depart immediately at dawn the next day.
“Cain. You’ll really come back safely, right?”
“I-if it seems too dangerous, come back. The Head said so too.”
“If you die, I’ll kill you, Cain.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll return by noon the day after tomorrow.”
If he had left yesterday, he would have set the time until tomorrow evening, but since he spent the night here, he added that much more time.
“What if you don’t return by noon the day after tomorrow?”
“Don’t look for me and return to the family. It would mean something happened.”
“Cain!”
“I’m only considering the worst-case scenario. I’ll do my best to prevent that, so I hope you’ll also do your best from your positions.”
When Cain spoke seriously, Ed, Fon, and Bolio had no choice but to nod.
Seeing their expressions weren’t very good, Cain provided additional explanation.
“What you’re doing isn’t just busy work I assigned carelessly either. After I resolve the mission, Snow Wolves hiding in the outskirts will swarm back to reclaim territory. By then, I’ll have consumed quite a lot of mana, and if too many Snow Wolves gather, even I could be in danger.”
“Ah…! We’re playing the role of preventing that in advance!”
Only then, fully understanding that their work truly helped with the real mission, the expressions of all three noticeably brightened.
“Good. Then, be careful and come back. Cain!”
“Right. See you later.”
Cain immediately set off.
Having pinpointed the Snow Flower Ice Crystal’s location during last night’s watch, the route was practically decided.
Cain quickly moved away from the cave, and Ed, Fon, and Bolio also went out to hunt Snow Wolves right after seeing Cain off.
‘It’s quiet.’
Crunch, crunch.
After walking through similar scenery for a long time, pushing through snow, Cain looked around.
‘Even if Snow Wolves were driven to the outskirts, being this quiet is strange.’
Not even a small mountain animal in sight.
Cain slowed his pace and began observing the surrounding trees.
‘As expected.’
Thick claw marks were clearly left on a giant birch tree covered in snow.
The deeper into the wooded area, the more frequently and abundantly claw marks appeared.
‘In other words, there are Snow Bears nearby.’
Snow Bears.
Bear-type magical creatures with snow-white fur and hide.
Despite their appearance, they’re good at climbing terrain features, especially trees, often climbing onto snow-covered trees to hide their presence before pouncing on prey.
Rustle.
“Like. Right now.”
Without even lifting his head, Cain infused his legs with mana and kicked the tree directly in front of him.
