Chapter 20
As proof of catching the Snow Rabbits, Kain, Edward, Fohn, and Bolio each cut off a part of the ears from the carcasses they had caught and put them separately in their bags.
"We only need to cut off one, right?"
"Yeah. Just don't forget to make it the right ear."
The Snow Rabbit's ears were uniquely shaped, with the ear flap facing forward being thinner than the one facing backward.
There was a theory that this was to better deflect headwind, but it wasn't certain.
In any case, thanks to the structure that differentiated left and right, like the left and right hand, cutting off just one ear of a Snow Rabbit was sufficient proof that one had been caught.
"Wow, there really are a lot of them."
"Y-yeah..."
"Is it really the breeding season?"
The one who answered that was Bolio, who had been silently cutting off ears.
"It's a bit strange for the breeding season. Last year, when I was a 1st Circle mage, I came to this vicinity with the 2nd floor people led by Instructor Rowen. That time was during the breeding season, and while Snow Rabbits did appear, there were a lot of small ones that hadn't been born long."
"Come to think of it, there are almost only adults here?"
"I-if it's the breeding season, there should be a lot of small ones, like Bolio said..."
During the breeding season, a large number of individuals increase at once.
And when that happens, naturally, the Snow Rabbits that had established territories would spread out from the center with their young.
Snow Rabbits were monsters that moved in packs when hunting, regardless of whether they were adults or young, so there wasn't much possibility that the young ones would be hiding somewhere separately.
"Bolio is right. It's definitely not the breeding season. And the Bederman side would have already known that."
"They knew?"
Kain nodded, skillfully cutting off the Snow Rabbit's ear with practiced movements.
"Bederman clearly said they were attacked by Snow Rabbits on their way to our clan. So, they would have been able to guess whether it was the breeding season by seeing if there were only adults or if there were young ones as well, just like us. But they didn't say a single word about that."
"Come to think of it, you're right...?"
"Of course, if we had brought up the story first, they probably would have given reasons like, 'We wiped them out so quickly we couldn't confirm that accurately,' or 'You can't be sure with just this one piece of information, so go and check for yourselves,' and wouldn't have tried to tell us."
"That's a plausible reason."
"Th-then if it's not the breeding season, what could it be?"
Fohn asked with a slightly frightened face.
"There are several possibilities. Their habitat might have been destroyed by a natural phenomenon, forcing them to look for new homes, or the flow of mana in the snowy mountains might have changed, causing them to try to establish a base in a place with richer mana. If it's not that, then..."
Snip!
Kain, having cut off the ear of the last Snow Rabbit, turned to look at them and said,
"A strong monster that could drive out all the Snow Rabbits appeared in their habitat."
"Eek!"
If their habitat had been destroyed by a natural phenomenon, like an earthquake or heavy snowfall resulting in an avalanche, the clan wouldn't have failed to notice it, even if they were far away.
'And to say they left in search of mana, I don't feel any particularly high-purity mana around here.'
Kain had been constantly checking the purity and flow of the surrounding mana while cutting off the Snow Rabbits' ears.
As Kain felt it, the purity would only decrease, not increase, if they went back the way Kain had come.
Therefore, the most likely possibility was the appearance of a strong monster.
Edward and Fohn swallowed hard at Kain's words.
"If it's just a Snow Leopard, I think we'll be okay..."
"Y-yeah. Kain even caught an adult Snow Leopard by himself last time."
"If it's as Kain says, the Snow Bear is the most likely. Even if Snow Leopards are strong, they're no match for a Snow Rabbit mob. But a Snow Bear is worth a hundred men."
"...So we might have to fight a Snow Bear? Bolio, have you ever seen a Snow Bear?"
"No. All I know is that it's a ridiculously big bear."
Bolio looked at Kain and asked,
"Kain, don't you know anything about Snow Bears? You said you read some information about monsters in a book earlier."
"Based on adults, their body length is about 2.3 meters. Their weight approaches 600 kilograms, and their eye color is mostly..."
"No, that's enough of that... Roughly, aren't there any weaknesses or anything?"
"Only under the chin, the groin, and the heart. Basically, their torso hide is thick, so the common strategy is to target their eyes or limbs first to restrict their movement."
"Wow, it's like a monster encyclopedia, Kain."
Bolio, Edward, and Fohn simultaneously exclaimed in admiration.
"B-but aren't Snow Bears monsters that only someone at least at the 3rd Circle can catch? I think I heard that..."
It was Bolio who shook his head at those words.
"That's the standard, but from what I see, with our skills... no, to be honest, if Kain is here, we can give it a shot. Why?"
Bolio suddenly clenched his fist as if he was indignant.
"I saw that snot-nosed Anias bragging recently about catching a Snow Bear all by himself. But in my opinion, if Kain fought Anias, Kain would win. No, he'd definitely win."
Even though Kain could only use magic up to the 2nd Circle, if he used his ability to utilize magic itself and his ability to delicately concentrate firepower, he would definitely be able to finish off someone like Anias within a few exchanges.
'I know because I fought Anias.'
Of course, Anias's skills would have improved since then, but even considering that, Bolio's opinion remained unchanged.
That's how unbelievable Kain's skills were in the battle just now for someone who was only at the 2nd Circle.
"And what would we be if we came all the way here and just went back because we were scared of a Snow Bear? If we just properly complete the mission and return, we can give those Bederman bastards a taste of their own medicine and get the support funds back."
"Yeah. Bolio's right. We can't give up after coming this far."
"I-I think so too."
Bolio confidently shouted at Kain.
"Kain. Honestly, at first I wanted to compete with you a bit in terms of contribution, but I've decided to give up on that. Instead, I'll trust you and do my best to help. Let's do this right. You can do it, right?"
"Of course. Thank you for believing in me."
Kain gave a faint smile.
Edward raised his hand high and shouted,
"Alright! I'll do my best to help too!"
"M-me too!"
***
Kain continued to advance along the gentle path.
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"
"Whoa! This time they're coming from below!"
"Fire Needle."
Along with Kain's unwavering incantation, a thick Fire Needle mercilessly pierced the heart of a Snow Rabbit that was rapidly approaching from below.
"We'll help t—"
Thwack! Thwack!
"......"
Edward, Fohn, and Bolio also gathered mana to help, but before they could even finish their incantations, Kain's Fire Needles pierced the Snow Rabbits' hearts in succession, as if sewing in mid-air.
"What kind of aerial acrobatics is that?"
"It's the first time I've seen someone take down so many with just one."
"I-it's hard enough to just pierce straight through and maintain it..."
"But even though we said we'd cooperate, isn't Kain hogging all the kills by himself too much?"
Bolio belatedly voiced his complaint, but Kain was already trudging down to cut off the Snow Rabbits' ears.
"Sorry, but we don't have time to wait. The sun sets quickly in the snowy mountains."
Even so, it was their first day of departure. By the time they had packed all their belongings and set off, it was already past noon, so as Kain said, there wasn't much daylight left.
Kain, looking in the direction the Snow Rabbits had come from, said,
"This time, the Snow Rabbits came up from below instead of above. That means they've already dug burrows and set up temporary residences in that area."
"Temporary residences?"
"Does that mean they weren't just temporarily pushed out, but they can't even think about going back?"
"Exactly. Usually, Snow Rabbits know that if a single Snow Bear disturbs their habitat, it will leave after a while. We also need to keep in mind the possibility that Snow Bears are acting in groups."
If that wasn't the case, it would mean there was a monster even stronger than a Snow Bear.
'A monster stronger than a Snow Bear...'
Kain continued to advance, thinking of a few possibilities in his head.
As they went over a hill, their first destination came into view.
The destination was a small cave located just below the summit.
"We finally arrived!"
"Phew. I feel a bit better now."
"I-it's really cold outside."
Even though they had a circle in their hearts, which made them less susceptible to the cold, walking through the snowfields while constantly facing the cold wind inevitably accumulated cold and fatigue.
"Fire."
Bolio, with his abundant mana, started a fire inside the cave.
"Ah, it's warm."
"Y-yeah, warmth is the best after all..."
Edward and Fohn also warmed themselves.
"Kain, you come and warm up too. What are you doing over there?"
"K-Kain?"
"I don't know. Don't if you don't want to."
While the three of them warmed themselves, Kain sat cross-legged near the cave entrance and focused his mind.
'As expected, the location is good.'
The flow of mana, which he could only faintly sense earlier, now felt vividly as if it were passing through his body.
And.
'......!'
Only then did Kain realize the identity of the strange sense of unease he had felt.
'The flow of the ley lines is definitely different from the snowy mountains I know. The direction of the flow itself has changed. It's as if it's been twisted by some enormous force.'
Of course, more than 200 years had passed, so the flow could have changed.
But even so, it was rare for the direction to change so completely.
'No. There was one such case.'
Kain recalled an event from 200 years ago.
'A white crystal containing extremely pure condensed mana, said to be formed in the snowy mountains once every few hundred years.'
A snowflake-shaped crystal commonly known as Snow Blossom Ice Crystal.
While the White Mana Stones that could be mined from some of the snowy mountain caves were also precious resources, the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal was incomparably rarer, and the power it contained was so profound and dense that it was immeasurable.
'Its mere existence is enough to change the flow of the snowy mountain's ley lines.'
It was highly likely that even Blake Siers was unaware of this fact.
'At most, he might have heard the name Snow Blossom Ice Crystal.'
Even in his previous life, he hadn't known it was the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal and had only discovered it after a massive search operation.
'If it has appeared again now... quite the significant karmic connection.'
Of course, nothing was certain yet.
However, if it was truly the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal that had appeared, then all the current circumstances in the snowy mountains could be explained by this one thing.
'It makes sense if strong monsters, drawn by the power of the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal, are moving around and causing this.'
Kain closed his eyes, carefully sensing the direction of the changed flow, and mentally superimposed it onto a map of the entire snowy mountain range.
As he did so, he could narrow down the potential locations of the source of that power, likely the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal, to two or three places.
'If I can just get close to the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal...'
Kain's other purpose for coming to the snowy mountains—to refine the mana within his body in an area where pure mana flowed, creating a solid and rapid 'perfect 2nd Circle'—could also be achieved in a short amount of time.
There would be no area where mana gathered and flowed as purely as near the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal.
'It's not just about achieving it.'
If he was lucky and found it quickly, and if he could invest a full day or so, it might even be possible to lay some groundwork after advancing to the 3rd Circle.
'Even calculating based on my usual speed, it's easily more than three months ahead.'
Furthermore, if he could safely return with the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal, that one item alone would be enough to improve the clan's financial situation to the point where they wouldn't have to worry for a while.
'I'd be able to resolve the long-delayed repairs and the estate management all at once.'
The reason for the Snow Rabbits' strange behavior could also be explained by the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal, so the mission would naturally be completed as well.
They would receive the restored support funds from Bederman, and future interference with Kain would cease, making it a win-win-win-win situation.
'It's not impossible for me to directly absorb the power contained in the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal... but that's too dangerous.'
With his current state of not even having reached the 3rd Circle, carelessly touching the power of the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal could potentially shake the mana system he had already organized.
'For now, the best course of action is to use the ley lines twisted by the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal to refine my mana and reach the 3rd Circle.'
Having organized his thoughts, Kain opened his eyes and stood up.
'The next destination has been decided.'
But there was still a problem remaining.
"Oh, Kain. You're up? Did you find anything out?"
That was that going to the location of the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal with only the magic of the 2nd Circle was extremely dangerous.
'No, to be precise, it's dangerous with only 2nd Circle fire magic.'
To be able to use ice magic and to respond flexibly to any unforeseen situations, it was the right decision for Kain to move alone for now.
Kain opened his mouth.
"You guys said you would do your best to help me, right?"
"We did...?"
"W-why the sudden question?"
"What is it? Is it finally time for us to do something?"
At Bolio's words, Kain nodded.
"Yeah. I'll give you a map, so catch the Snow Rabbits in the marked areas."
"Ooh, so you were narrowing down the places where Snow Rabbits would be! Is there a way to find that kind of thing in books too?"
"Anyway, just leave it to us!"
Bolio and Edward answered enthusiastically right away, but Fohn felt a strange sense of unease in Kain's words.
"W-wait a minute. Then what about Kain? What are you going to do while we're catching them?"
As Fohn cautiously asked, Kain pointed towards the snowy mountain peaks buried in the snow fog to the north and answered,
"I'm going north."
