Chapter 210: [210] Something In The Snow

Olivia hugged her hands around her body as she trudged through the snow, the almost mute mage trailing slowly behind her.

She let out a breath and watched as the steamy air escaped her lungs, hanging in the air for a moment, just before slowly fading away.

"Why didn’t I take a coat? Or even a cloak?" She hissed into the air as she continued walking.

Better yet, she could have learned a few fire spells to help keep warm, but instead she had focused solely on lightning, a decision she was beginning to regret.

She turned around to steal a glance at Cici, then frowned slightly. The girl seemed just as cold as her, perhaps she was doing much worse.

Cici needed to pee, but she was afraid a monster would pop out of nowhere and gobble her up in the process, a pretty valid concern by the way. That was why she needed someone to accompany her, and hence the reason she was out in the cold.

"How much further do you want to go?" Olivia asked, already feeling her talons beginning to freeze.

Cici had been staring at the floor, perhaps counting the pebbles or something. The girl always seemed to be in a world of her own.

She stared at the path in front of them, the twisted trees that had been frozen in time, and the endless snowy wasteland before them.

"Farther..."

"What do you mean farther?! Do you want us to get to the other side of the world??"

Cici stared at her with an empty expression before she spoke. "Dark. He is a peeper. I think."

Olivia blinked, unable to believe her ears. "What?"

So the reason they had walked for over ten minutes, through the snow, was because one of her party members apparently had a thing for sneaking peeks at people?

"Wait, what do you mean by ’you think?’"

Olivia folded her hands across her chest and fully turned around to face Cici. Her neck was getting strained from having to look at her over her shoulder.

"I haven’t caught him. Yet. But soon..." A little determination showed on her otherwise emotionless face. "Since he is an Orc... I will. Eventually."

"..."

Olivia’s eyes widened slightly.

’Is her entire basis for suspecting him because he is an Orc?’ Sure, Orks were known to be lecherous, but to suspect him because of that alone...

"Isn’t that a little racist?"

"Achoo!" Cici sneezed, then rubbed her nose. "Only racist... if I’m wrong."

"Hmm." Olivia shrugged. "Anyways, this is far enough. I’ll also look out for Dark."

Olivia spread out her wings and launched into the air. It was a very good opportunity to stretch her wings. Maybe with a few beats, some warmth would return to her body.

She had barely spent a minute in the air when she noticed something odd not too far away from them.

The snow had patches of red, like bloody footsteps of a monster. Parts of the red steps were already partly eroded by the snow, but Olivia could still make them out...

She followed the trail with her eyes, and then let out a breath when she found where it led. It was a cave that had been well hidden, almost completely buried by the snow, save for the narrow opening in front of it.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "This can’t be good."

Olivia turned her attention back to where Cici had been, and when she didn’t see her, her heart skipped a bit, just before she finally found her.

Cici was waving at Olivia. She was done, but they were far from done here.

Whatever that was, whatever had entered that cave was injured or dead. Olivia had to find out what had happened to it, because there was a good chance it would come for them as well.

She landed next to Cici, the snow gently brushing past them as she folded her wings at her back.

"We can go now..." Cici mumbled.

"There is something I need to check out. You can wait here. If I don’t come back in ten minutes, run back to Ark and tell him where you last saw me."

"..."

Olivia summoned her axe and began jogging towards the direction she had seen the footsteps, the adrenaline beginning to pump through her veins the moment she got to the footsteps.

But halfway through her jog, Olivia paused and turned around with a scowl on her face.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asked the seemingly empty forest behind her.

"..."

The forest was silent.

"You know I can see you, right?" Olivia frowned. "That big ass hat isn’t helping matters."

"Eck—!" Cici sneezed when she realised she had been found out.

She was hiding behind a tree, but the edges of her hat were peeking out of the sides.

She stepped out from behind the tree, slowly, her face beet red as she looked around, trying to act confused.

"Huh? Th..this isn’t the bathroom~"

"Are you being serious right now?!" Olivia hissed, but Cici just kept staring at her with an odd look on her face.

Olivia sighed and shook her head. "Go back." There was no telling what she would find in the cave. There was no need to risk endangering both of them.

Cici nodded, as though she agreed, but she still stood there like she had been screwed in place.

"You’re not going to leave, are you?"

Cici shook her head furiously. "No."

Olivia felt like plucking her out of the floor and flinging her away, but there was no point. The cave was already before them, and she seemed determined to tag along.

"Get ready to run if we need to..."

Cici kept staring, and Olivia was sure the woman would not run even if something were to happen. She was more headstrong than her reserved nature would suggest.

They continued on until they arrived at the cave entrance. Just as Olivia had suspected, the entrance was narrow, far too small for her to walk through while standing.

The lips of the cave entrance were caked with frozen blood, and inside the cave was a dead Frost Bear whose fur was soaked with blood.

Its chest was not rising nor falling. It was dead. The monster had likely crawled here after sustaining a serious injury, only to die a few minutes later.

As for what killed it, the real monster of concern, Olivia had no idea. The cave was dark, so visibility was not the best, but if she could get closer, she would be able to find out just what had happened.

Olivia got on all fours and began crawling into the cave. "Wait here," she said to Cici, who looked slightly concerned, before she slipped through the opening.

Frost bears moved in packs, so if this one was injured, the pack must have been attacked. And if it had to escape, then the whole pack was likely annihilated.

Olivia had a bad feeling about the situation.

"What sort of monster is capable of taking on a Frost Bear?"