Ice God and The Lady - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Perhaps, her question was funny, she could hear a wind leaking through Cahill’s lips.

“My country name is Aisen…”

“Aisen…?”

Holly met a variety of people as she worked at a large inn in Centria, the center of the continent. Because she also met a different race from Lauriue, who was rumored to be closed. However, she had never heard of a country called ‘Aisen’ or heard the word ‘snow.’

“Well, you might not know because I came across the sea.”

“Across the sea? Is there any land there?”

At her astonished question, he nodded his head lightly.

‘…Across the sea.’

Holly had never even been to the edge of this continent.

“If you’re curious, would you like to go with me?”

Her heart raced with anticipation of the unknown. Even if she found her parents who threw herself at the debtors anyway, she had no intention of coming back to live here. If she did, she would never be able to escape from them.

“Are there many people like you there?”

“People like me?”

“Make the snow bigger, freeze ice… Such a wizard.”

She couldn’t help but worry about whether she would be able to live a normal life among people with such great abilities. Cahill shook his head gently. Her silky hair tickled the nape of his neck, so Holly lifted her upper body to avoid it.

“There is no one stronger than me.”

Again, he was proud of himself.

She then bit her mouth, realizing that she wouldn’t be able to get a proper answer from him. Before long, she began to see a familiar green land. Only the ground around the hut was covered with pure white snow.

“Now, put me down.”

As she tapped Cahill’s shoulder with her hand, he gave a look of dissatisfaction but slowly put her down at her constant urging. She glanced around the forest, where she could only see the trees that were standing straight.

“We need to eat something first… Let’s start with the river.”

Even though Holly looked puzzled, she spoke boldly. If she was lucky, there would be fish living in the river, and she may encounter animals that come nearby to drink. Thinking that, she glanced at Cahill, who would serve as her hunter. He was sniffing his nose in the air.

Seeing that, she clicked her tongue inside.

‘He’s kind of weird, as expected.’

Cahill, sniffing in the air, turned to the right and started walking.

He paused for a moment and glanced behind him. It looked like he was making sure she was following along. Holly, who stood blankly, followed him obediently. After all, their destination was not set.

It didn’t take long for her to regret that carefree thought.

“Not there yet?”

She asked, taking a deep breath up to her chin. It wasn’t easy going around without a path. It was difficult to navigate through the grass that had grown to her knees, and the soles of her feet on the bumpy floor stung… Not to mention a sore back.

“I thought we were close.”

Cahill muttered, narrowing his brow. At that, her eyes lit up with hope at his words.

“What? What do you know…?”

Maybe, he was holding a map.

Holly, who was gazing at him with twinkling eyes, immediately checked Cahill’s empty hands and sighed with regret.

‘But, it’s probably because he knows something that he’s doing this.’

Except when he did something strange in the air a while ago, his steps were unstoppable. Unlike her, who had to leave abruptly, he was on a journey, so he might have researched beforehand.

Cahill looked at Holly with blank eyes that didn’t know what was inside him and then stretched her arms out toward the way they were going.

“I smell water.”

Holly’s expression, which had been soaked in anticipation, changed in an instant as if she had chewed bitter grass. It was the moment in her mind that established him as a completely wrong guy.

Seeing her shady face, he tilted his head.

“Would you like to get on up?”

Saying so, he spread his arms toward her.

“…Yes?”

Startled, she looked around. Fortunately, there were only trees and grass around.

“What kind of thing are you talking about…!”

“Ah…”

As he started at Holly, who blushed and couldn’t help but nodded her head, he sat down on the floor and turned his back to her.

“Like before.”

Cahill was patting his back. Only then did Holly realize that I had been mistaken.

“Ah, get up…”

‘What the hell is going on in my head…!’

Holly clung to his back, cursing her head, which had turned black in just a few days. Then, her face, which was about to explode, was pressed into the nape of Cahill’s neck. Because of that, he stiffened as if surprised.

“Aren’t you going?”

At her prompting, he took off his feet without saying a word. Unlike before, when there was no shaking, his steps were subtly rattled.

“What did you do?”

It was not long after she was carried. Holly, who came down from his back, asked, confused. A cool river was flowing in front of them.

“The smell.”

Holly’s expression twisted strangely at the insignificant reply.

‘…He’s not even a real beast.’

Was it true that he smelled the water?

It seemed that not only the lower part of his body was of a beast. In the end, Holly decided. It didn’t matter which country it was, but she would never go to a country where such a strange person lived casually.

“I found the river, what should I do now?”

She laid on the edge of the river and looked into the water. In the river, transparent enough to see the bottom, fish the size of her palm were swimming leisurely.

“You have to catch it!”

In an instant, Holly’s face, which had a different color, rolled up her skirt and immediately jumped into the river.

Immediately, her upright body trembled. The river that came up to his knees was so cold that it rumbled to the top of her head. Still, she couldn’t break her will, as she had already starved off a few meals. It seemed that fire was gushing out of her eyes.

Meanwhile, Cahill was sitting by the water’s edge, looking at her with curious eyes.

Holly stopped breathing and stared into the water. She suddenly slipped her arm under it. At that, water splashed in the recoil and soaked her face.

“I missed it.”

She pulled out her empty hand and glanced at Cahill. He was leaning against the tree, looking at this side, and acting like it was someone else’s business. Even the wag of the tail of the fish that ran away felt like it was making fun of her.

“Hold on, I’ll catch you.”

Holly snarled at the fish and came out of the river. Then, she looked around.

“What are you doing?”

Every time she moved her foot, the water from her body fell, creating a path on the dirt floor. Cahill glanced at it and asked. It was the tone of voice that clearly showed that he was happy with the current situation.

“Find a stone. I’ll have to throw at it and knock it out.”

Cahill, who stood by the shore and watched what she did, put his hand into the water.

“Kyaak!”

As she was about to go back into the river, she slipped her foot and almost fell on her back. In an instant, all of the river water was frozen.

“What, what is this?”

Holly turned to the only person who could do this.

“You were trying to catch a fish. So, to make it impossible to move…”

At her sullen look, Cahill blinked his eyes as if what was wrong. As he said, the fish were frozen alive under her feet.

“Ha…!”

Even though she had a lot to say, nothing came out. Holly, who stared vainly at the end of the fish that slipped out of her hand, sat down on the spot.

‘He must have been very hungry.’

During the entire stay, Cahill was spending a lot of his power on this and that.

“Though how do we get this out?”

Tang! Tang!

Her hand, which hit the ice, turned bright red. Seeing that, Holly wrapped her shivering hand and breathed in.

“Go over there.”

Seeing Cahill clenching his fist, she meekly went out of the river. It was because he was better than her when it came to using his power.

“Then, I’ll be making a fire!”

Holly jumped out of the river, humming a hum excitedly. She was excited to eat fish grilled over the campfire. There was the sound of something banging behind her back through the bushes, but she didn’t look back.

She picked up broken branches and dried leaves and started a fire with flint. Cahill, who had moved the fish trapped in the ice, looked at it with curious eyes and reached out his hand.

Slap!

“You’re going to get yourself in trouble!”

Holly stopped Cahill from grilling his hands first, not the fish. As she picked a fish with ice cubes on it and held it in her arms, it was cold enough to make her body tremble even though it didn’t touch her bare skin.

“I’m going to clean this up a bit, so stay quiet. Do nothing!”