Chapter 67: The First Snow (1)
Winter.
The season had fully arrived.
Inside the restaurant, the stove had been lit. Though much warmer than outside, the dragon still huddled under a blanket, claiming it was cold.
Compared to the ranch workers, the restaurant was quite cozy. After all, restaurant work wasn’t done outdoors.
“Huh?”
A gust of cold wind swept across the night sky as I cleaned up after closing the restaurant. A small, white flake landed on the back of my hand.
The first snow of the season.
Clouds filled the sky, releasing a hesitant snowfall. Watching the flakes drift down slowly brought back memories.
During the war, snow made everything difficult. On the battlefield, this cold, white blanket was just a nuisance. But this wasn’t a battlefield anymore. Here, I could appreciate the snow with a different mindset. Still, it didn’t seem like it would accumulate—just a light, scattered fall.
If it did pile up, though, I’d have to close the restaurant. While snow might be a symbol of purity and a blessing in some ways, it also meant more work.
“Rurin, let’s go up and sleep.”
“Finally done?”
Rurin rubbed her eyes as she stood up, tightly wrapping herself in her blanket. She let her hair fall over her face as she slid her legs off the table, then jumped down.
With a dash, she hurried over to me, and I instinctively grabbed her arm, leading her downstairs. It was a familiar routine by now.
Since we’d built the bathhouse, it was only right to make good use of it during the winter.
Bathing every night had become a necessary part of our routine.
“Grroooaaak!”
Our bathhouse caretaker, Kadish, a lower-class monster we captured from the northern lands, let out a strange sound, kneeling before Rurin. This ogre-like creature was responsible for cleaning the bathhouse and managing the water.
“Phaaah!”
After a relaxing bath, Rurin rushed straight for the beer. Drying her wet hair always came second to the beer, of course.
When she wanted her hair dried, it meant she expected me to do it. That cheeky thing.
I would dry her hair while heading back upstairs, where, as usual, the dragon would barge into my room, throw herself onto the bed, and pop open a beer can.
“Aah! This is the life! Aren’t you having any?”
“I’m not much of a beer drinker. On a night like this, it’s on the rocks for me.”
A single-malt whiskey—straight from the stock in the storage. Drinking it neat was usually the best, but sometimes, on the rocks was nice, too.
On the rocks isn’t as sharp on the tongue, but it brings out the aroma more, in my opinion.
When I want to end the day with something light, half a glass of whiskey on the rocks is just perfect.
“The smell’s nice, but that stuff makes me forget everything! It’s scary how you can drink that!”
Whenever Rurin drank whiskey, she completely blacked out. Given her curious nature, it wasn’t surprising she’d tried it before.
Each time she’d caused a ruckus, only to wake up the next day asking why she was there, claiming she couldn’t remember anything. After repeating this several times, she’d learned to avoid whiskey on her own.
“I don’t want to lose even a single memory with you. That’s why I won’t drink it.”
She always knew how to say things that felt a bit like cheating.
I patted Rurin’s head and opened the window. The snow was still falling softly. If it started coming down harder, it might actually accumulate. For now, though, the light flakes just added to the ambiance without being a concern.
“Ooh, is that snow?”
Rurin noticed the snowflakes swirling through the window and got up from her seat, gazing out.
“Snow or not, close the window and come in. I’m going to bed.”
With her hair dry and my half-glass of whiskey warming me, I jumped into bed and stretched out. Rurin, after finishing her beer, crumpled the can and crawled in beside me.
“Go sleep in your own room. And your hair’s still not fully dry.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Not sleepy, my foot!”
“Foot? What’s that?”
Oops, I slipped into the language of my homeland again.
“Alright, how about we settle this with another game tonight?”
“Hehe, good! I won’t lose this time!”
Lately, we’d been playing games before bed, mostly to humor Rurin’s insistence on staying in my room. The current score stood at 18 wins for me and 15 for her—a narrow lead.
If Rurin won, she’d stay beside me without bothering me and eventually fall asleep in my arms. If I won, she’d be sent back to her own room.
Of course, that didn’t mean much. Even when she was sent away, she’d sneak back into my room by dawn. Most of the time, I didn’t notice her coming in because I’d be fast asleep, but in the morning, she was always there.
Despite the futility, there was still a difference. Lately, whenever she fidgeted beside me, I found it harder to fall asleep. I wasn’t sure why, and I didn’t want to know.
In any case, for a peaceful night’s sleep, I had to send her away first. If she sneaked in after I’d already fallen asleep, it wouldn’t bother me.
The game for tonight was Jenga, a simple game from my homeland. We’d stack small wooden blocks into a tower and take turns removing one piece at a time. Whoever caused the tower to collapse lost.
After being soundly defeated in a game of jacks recently, Rurin had banned it from future play. It turned out she had a hidden talent for it, but there weren’t many opportunities to show off that skill.
“You won yesterday, so I’ll go first today!”
“Go ahead.”
Rurin lay on the floor, her expression serious, as she carefully removed a block from the middle of the tower. It slid out easily.
“Phew!”
She shot me a smug grin, a clear challenge in her eyes.
Still feeling confident, huh? I focused on the bottom of the Jenga tower, crouching down on my knees for balance.
“Hey, what the—?”
Suddenly, Rurin disappeared from my sight. Before I knew it, she was behind me, tickling the soles of my feet with her fingers.
“Ticklish! You little dragon, cheating again? You sure learn the bad stuff quickly. But still, I succeeded! Haha!”
“Are your feet made of steel? You’re supposed to fail if you’re ticklish!”
“What nonsense. Try cheating again, and you’ll regret it.”
I grabbed the dragon’s cheek and pulled, dragging her along. Her face scrunched up in discomfort.
“Ow! Let go! It’s my turn, so don’t bother me. I reject you for now.”
Swatting my hand away, Rurin got back down on the floor and reached for the tower again. Her fingers trembled slightly.
But there’s a saying: you get what you give, and sometimes more in return.
Rurin was in a rare state of deep concentration. Silently, I got up and snuck behind her, just like she had done to me. But I wasn’t about to be as mild as she was.
I grabbed the ends of her long hair. Right when she realized what was happening, her lips pursed, and her eyebrows shot up.
“Revenge!”
I gently brushed the ends of her hair across her nose. A teasing tickle.
“Hee—ehh… achoo!”
The tickling made her sneeze, and the Jenga tower came crashing down.
“Victory is mine! Haha!”
I stood triumphantly, making a V-sign with my fingers. Rurin, her face filled with unjustified indignation, sprang to her feet, protesting.
“You cheat! How could you tickle my nose? That’s unfair!”
“If you’re going to cheat, at least do it properly. A sneeze is the surest way to make the tower fall.”
“That’s cheating! It doesn’t count!”
“Who was it that tickled my feet first?”
“Whoever that was, bring them to me, and I’ll roast them.”
“Shall I prepare a grill for you? Would you like to roll on it yourself?”
“Grrrrr!”
Rurin stomped out of the room in a huff. Realizing she had no leg to stand on, she retreated. With her gone, it was time to finally get some sleep.
And so, the peaceful day came to an end.
When I woke up in the morning, there she was again, curled up beside me, holding onto my hand. Today’s tactic was not clinging to my waist but holding my hand.
Carefully, I peeled her hand away, got up, and stretched. As usual, Rurin had no intention of waking up in the morning.
After stretching, I opened the window to get some fresh air. But I nearly fell over in shock.
Yes, it had snowed. But when had it snowed this much? The snow had piled up to my thighs!
It seemed that a heavy snowstorm had rolled in during the night. And the snow was still falling.
The snowflakes were much thicker than the ones I’d seen last night.
“Hah?”
The first thought that crossed my mind was that today’s business would be ruined. This was serious.
The city below the hill was probably in chaos. Greik City wasn’t known for getting this much snow.
I rushed outside, but the door wouldn’t
open. We were practically snowed in. Reluctant to blast the door open, I climbed out through the window instead.
The entire hill was blanketed in white. It was a snow-covered world, with snow so deep that walking was a struggle. This wasn’t just a light snow for kids and dogs to play in.
How did it accumulate this much?
Clicking my tongue at the whims of nature, I used magic to melt all the snow in front of the restaurant door. After clearing the path, I went upstairs. We’d need to shovel the snow all the way to the ranch and the city to avoid being isolated.
“Rurin!”
As expected, she showed no sign of waking. Rousing Rurin in the morning was a challenge. I fetched fur clothing, a fur hat, and gloves from the wardrobe.
I dressed her in the warm clothes and picked her up, carrying her out into the snowy world. She curled up tighter, sensing the cold.
I mercilessly stuffed a handful of snow down her collar.
“Aaah!”
Her eyes shot open. The dragon, initially about to throw a fit, blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar snowy landscape. After confirming that I was there, she turned back to gaze at the snow.
“Is this… snow? Why is there so much? Am I still dreaming?”
“Nope. This is real. You can sleep later, but first, help me out.”
“I’m sleepy…”
Still dozing off, Rurin stumbled toward me. She tripped and fell into the deep snow.
“Puh—this snow is cold!”
She spat out the snow she had accidentally eaten, now fully awake and flailing around.
“Alright, now that your mouth’s open, how about some fire breath? Aim it at the hill, gently, at the snow.”
“Fire breath? You want me to breathe fire first thing in the morning?”
Despite her complaints, she listened to me as usual.
Rubbing her eyes, Rurin released a stream of fire. Wherever her breath hit, the snow vanished, making it much easier to create a path.
