The people who came out in front of us were a man in his late 30s and a girl around 15.
"Who are you guys? Where are you from? And what's that look?" (A man)
The man asked suspiciously.
In a situation like this, it couldn't be helped to be suspicious of us.
After all, we looked suspicious.
I was dressed as a bear, and Kagari-san was dressed in Japanese clothing. Kumayuru and Kumakyu were standing behind us, and the house was actually a bear's house.
What's more, just being in a frozen city was enough to make us suspicious.
From a moment ago, the eyes of a man and a girl were looking at me and Kagari-san, at Kumayuru and Kumakyu, and at the bear house.
"I'm Yuna." (Yuna)
In order to relieve the tension of the other person, I told them my name.
"I am Kagari." (Kagari)
"The black bear behind us is Kumayuru, and the white bear is Kumakyu. If you don't do anything, they won't attack you, so you'll be fine." (Yuna)
The man returned his gaze to us.
"I'm Bollard (ボラード). And this is my daughter Lise (リーゼ)." (A man)
When we politely greet them, they seemed to have calmed down a little and said their name.
"I want to talk to you. There's no point in standing around and talking, so let's talk inside this strange house." (Kagari)
Kagari-san said while looking at the bear house.
It's terrible to call the bear house a strange house.
I guessed Kagari-san thought of the bear house that way.
Bollard-san and Lise-san looked at the bear house, then looked at each other.
"I understand. We would like to hear your stories as well." (Bollard)
We took both of them and went inside the bear house.
"……warm" (Lise)
The inside of the bear house was kept at an appropriate temperature, so it's cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
I didn't know because I didn't feel the cold thanks to the bear equipment, but looking at Lise's face, maybe it was quite cold.
We each sat on a chair, and I prepared a hot drink.
"Oh, thank you very much" (Bollard)
"Delicious" (Lise)
Bollard-san and Lise-san happily drank tea.
"First, let's talk about us in order to gain their trust. We just happened to find this place and stopped by." (Kagari)
She was not telling a lie.
We discovered land and found a city by chance.
"Then you didn't come to help us." (Bollard)
"When you look at us, do we look like people who came to help?" (Kagari)
"……no" (Bollard)
The man obediently shook his head.
A girl dressed as a bear and a little girl wearing Japanese clothes. I didn't think they came to the rescue.
"I heard you stopped by here, but is there anyone else here?" (Bollard)
"The only ones here are us." (Kagari)
Bollard-san was disappointed by those words.
I guessed they thought there would be an adult there.
Both Kagari-san and I were fine adults, but we didn't seem like adults they could rely on.
"Then how did you two get here? Didn't you come by boat?" (Bollard)
Normally you would think that we came on a ship.
"It's not a ship."
"Then how?" (Bollard)
"I'm sorry, but I can't answer."
People wouldn't believe me when I tell them about the moving island, Targui, and I couldn't even explain how to get here.
"Then how can you help us?" (Bollard)
I could rescue them from this city by using Bear's Transfer Gate.
"Before that, just to confirm. Why is this city frozen? What happened to this city?" (Kagari)
Normally, I would ask this because I looked like an adult, but Kagari-san was mentally older than me.
Bollard-san also began to speak slowly in response to Kagari-san's questions, perhaps because he felt that Kagari-san was not a normal little girl.
"I am like the lord of this city." (Bollard)
He was the lord.
For that matter, he looked shabby.
Lise-san was also the daughter of a local lord, but her long hair was messy.
"This town had a mine and grew by exporting iron ore. That day, I thought about my future and went to inspect the mine. This child also wanted to go, so I took her with me." (Bollard)
He took his daughter to the mine. Maybe she was studying.
"That’s when it showed up." (Bollard)
"What is it?" (Kagari)
Bollard-san took a breath before opening his mouth.
"It's a dragon." (Bollard)
"Dragon!?" (Yuna)
I was surprised and cried out.
I thought about it in the back of my mind, but I really didn't want to think of it as a dragon.
"The dragon has come and landed in the city." (Bollard)
Is it where that hole was?
"Originally, I should have returned to the city as the lord. But I could see it from far away. When I saw such a big dragon, I was too scared to move." (Bollard)
No wonder.
Anyone who saw a dragon would be scared and unable to move. Besides, it would be suicidal to head to a place where there were dragons.
If a monster were to appear in the city, and even if there was a loved one there, it would not be easy for them to head towards the monster.
"Besides, I couldn't leave this child alone under those circumstances." (Bollard)
Bollard-san looked at his daughter Lise-san.
He couldn't leave Lise-san alone, and he couldn't take her with me to the place where the dragon was.
"Besides, there was another reason why we couldn't head there. It was the cold air coming out of the dragon's body. There was a blizzard around the dragon, and we couldn't get close to the city." (Bollard)
"Then, what is the cause of this frozen city?" (Kagari)
"The dragon remained there for days, and all I could do was watch the city freeze from the top of the mountain." (Bollard)
Bollard-san said with regret.
This time, the cause was not a man-made or natural disaster. It was because of the dragon. This could also be considered a type of natural disaster, as humans couldn't resist it.
"Father" (Lise)
Lise-san gently held the hand of her father, Bollard-san.
"Then, after a while, the dragon disappeared, and when I landed in the city, everything was frozen, including the city and the people." (Bollard)
That's the city we saw.
Unable to escape from the city due to the dragon and the blizzard, the only thing they could do was to stay indoors, and in the end everyone froze. I couldn't say anything...
"Just to confirm, is the dragon gone?"
That's the most important thing to check.
"They live on the top of the mountain." (Bollard)
Was it that snowy mountain?
"You said you were inspecting the mine, but were there other people besides the two of you?" (Kagari)
"There are six other people besides us." (Bollard)
"Six people? Isn't that a small number considering the number of people who worked in the mines?" (Kagari)
It wouldn't be strange if there were dozens of people just like Kagari-san said.
"The day the dragon appeared was a day off. So I went on a tour to talk with the people who manage the mine about the future of the mine." (Bollard)
Was the timing good or bad?
"Do you guys live in town?" (Kagari)
"No, we can't stay in the city for long, so we live near the mine." (Bollard)
"It's because it freezes." (Kagari)
"Yes. The ice in this city freezes everything nearby. Therefore, we can't live in this city." (Bollard)
It reminded me of the door to the Adventurer's Guild that Kagari-san melted down.
The melted part was frozen in ice a few hours later.
If they stayed here overnight, they might freeze.
The fact that the bear house didn't freeze might be something special after all.
I understood the general flow.
An ice dragon appeared and froze the city.
The results were very easy to understand.
But it didn't solve the problem.
"I just want to confirm one more thing. When did that happen?" (Kagari)
The two of them were haggard.
Bollard-san had grown stubble, and both men's hair was unkempt and damaged.
"…Three years ago." (Bollard)
Kagari-san and I were surprised to hear those words.
Three years was a long time.
When I thought that I had been here for three years, I felt indescribable.
I didn't think I paid much attention to my appearance for a long time. I didn't think I could even get a change of clothes.
"Grrr~"
I heard a small sound.
I heard some kind of noise, and when I looked around, I saw Lise-san holding her stomach in embarrassment.
Maybe she wasn't eating properly.
"While we were talking, you got hungry. I'm going to prepare breakfast, so you two can eat together." (Yuna)
I hadn't eaten breakfast yet because I was woken up by Kumayuru and Kumakyu and was taking care of them.
"Would you like some bread and milk?" (Yuna)
"I'd like some food too." (Kagari)
"Is onigiri okay?" (Yuna)
"I don't mind." (Kagari)
I placed a rice ball in front of Kagari-san and bread in front of Bollard-san and Lise-san.
There's no need to make one, I just took it out of the bear box.
Thank you to Morin-san for making the bread.
By the way, the onigiri were handmade by me.
Kagari-san reached for the onigiri and started eating it.
But both Bollard-san and Lise-san were just looking at the bread.
"What's wrong? Maybe, onigiri was better?" (Yuna)
"No, that's not true. Everyone else left is also hungry, but we're the only ones." (Bollard)
Did that mean they couldn't just eat it?
They were kind.
"I'll prepare some for them, so don't worry about it and eat." (Yuna)
The two of them looked at each other, reached for the bread, and began eating it deliciously.
"What did you do for food until now? I think there's food in the city, even though it's frozen." (Yuna)
It's freezing in the city, but there's food.
"We can't melt it." (Bollard)
"...Can't you melt it? But Kagari-san..." (Yuna)
It was melting.
"The ice in this city cannot be melted without the fire magic." (Bollard)
"Then why don't you melt it with magic?" (Yuna)
"Are you an idiot? Everyone has mana, big or small. However, in order to use mana as magic, you can't use it unless you have a lot of mana." (Kagari)
"We don't have enough mana to use magic." (Bollard)
"How about the others?" (Yuna)
"Some people can use it a little, but even if it melts, it freezes quickly." (Bollard)
"Then how have you been up until now?" (Yuna)
"It's mostly fish. And what's in the mountains." (Bollard)
That's it. There was ocean.
"So, it's been a while since I've eaten bread."
"There's still plenty, so you can eat as much as you want." (Yuna)
"Thank you very much"
Lise-san ate the bread as if she were eating something important.
Author's Note
...
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.
Translation Note
The translated name was suggested by Google Translate. I think I will go with that.