"..."
"Your hair color has changed? It doesn't look like a wig. Absolutely pretty. Anything suits you."
That little girl. With a fragile frame, she made her way through the blizzard for a long time. Perhaps because of that, he could see that she was shivering even on this street.
As he gripped the rock in his grip harder, Victor let out a low laugh. With only the sole intention of reassuring Odette.
"Odette. You've been wandering in the snow for too long. Isn't it cold?"
"..."
As if to show Victor's fraying patience, the rock in front of the cave was crumbling silently in his grasp.
"You'd like to go in and make a fire. Right? If you feel like you're in danger, you can tie me up."
"..."
"Huh? You're not a Transcendent. If you bleed in a place like this, you'll die quickly. Trembling as much as you fell into a fountain in the summer."
Victor's pleas went unanswered. She just curls up in a cave even more, as if he wants to hide from Victor even at this point.
"I'm done now. Why do you want to avoid it all the way here?"
The gap between Victor, who aspires to her, and Odette, who tries to run away from him.
Even though he knew he wasn't in a position to do so, he could feel resentment. He sighed and called her name.
"Odette."
"..."
You still don't seem to want to answer. What question should I ask you?
There were plenty of questions that had been chasing Odette and seeking answers.
'How did you make that fake corpse? How could you jump in front of me like that? It doesn't matter to you that I'm hurt, do you?'
Out of all the questions, what was the one he wanted to ask her the most?
"Don't call me that! Every time I hear it, it's disgusting and makes me shudder."
'Were everything you said to me a lie?"
During a roaring blizzard, Victor felt a strange Impulse.
If you're not going to get an answer anyway, why don't you ask what you've been most curious about? I want to know the answer, a question that took my breath away at least once.
With that in mind, Victor spoke. But the question that came out of his mouth was completely different from the one he had chosen.
"Haven't you been sick in any time? Didn't anyone bully you?"
It wasn't until he asked the question that Victor realized that it was what he was most curious about.
He wonders if she's sick. If she's lonely. It hurts him more that she hurt than the fact that she lied to him.
'I am in love with this woman.'
It was different from the love that the Transcendents felt for the Purifier. It wasn't like that sublime feeling that God had bestowed upon it.
There was a sense of faintness in the feeling of being so weak and miserable just by realizing that love. He'd seen it countless times in the back alleys.
If it's you. It's okay to be an idiot. Now I think I know the heart of someone willing to fall into the abyss.
Victor laughed heartily.
That was then.
"Colonel."
Odette's voice called to him.
Victor couldn't help but open his eyes. Contrary to what he remembered, her voice was too dry.
Moreover, the smell of Odette's blood was even thicker than it had been a moment ago.
"Odette, what's wrong? Is the wound open?"
Victor's voice was urgent.
'Yes. There's no way she's going to be able to survive in this damn cave.'
It's a cave of horses. It was a narrow place, close to a foxhole. There is no light, so it is colder and more damp than outside.
There's an S-class transcendent with the ability of fire right around the corner. I dare to endure in that cold place.
"Odette. Allow me to go in, just a minute. I can at least treat your ankle."
Should we just go in and get out with Odette in tow? The impulse was on the verge of getting the right one, but Victor kept suppressing it.
'Sion's hasty attempt to be forgiven nearly killed Odette. I can't make the same mistake over and over again.'
After all, I've seen with my own eyes that Odette is alive, right? Be patient.
"Please, huh?"
Finally, Odette replied in a hollow voice.
"You know what? This was my last refuge. I've never been afflicted by the Transcendents here."
She felt uncomfortable. None of Odette's escape routes for a year were these snowy mountains.
So for Odette, this place must have been her first stop, and she spoke as if she knew this place.
It didn't seem like Odette was mistaken or lying.
"There's no place like this. It's a fox's den, so it's hard to see. It's cold enough to be covered in perennial snow, so the stench doesn't spread far. If there is a foul smell, the beasts will cover it up in no time."
Stink? Are you talking about the Purifier's scent? Why is it such a fascinating scent? Just a second.
'Come to think of it, why doesn't Odette have a scent?'
Victor's intuition sounded the alarm that it was dangerous for him.
Odette feels far away as if she's in another world. The feeling that no matter how hard Victor tries, he'll never be able to hold on to anything of her.
The same anxiety he felt when he lost sight of Odette on the cliffs of Meursault.
"Don't miss Odette."
He instinctively raced all his senses. Then, with his keen hearing, he heard the sound of a beast approaching in the distance.
Unpleasantly low low frequencies. The sound of a menacing beast paralyzes human limbs.
'Yeti.'
Yeti. Or a huge, muscular beast also known as the Frost Giant.
If there is a great white shark in the sea, there is this animal in the snowy mountains.
Highly intelligent, herd-active, omnivorous, but most fond of eating humans-
Victor's brow contorted as he contemplated the beast's habits. Then he cast his gaze into the fox's den.
"The smell of blood suddenly became thicker, are you aiming for this?"
He wonder if she called that crazy beast on purpose.
Victor wanted to deny that it wasn't, that it was just his delusion, but his intuition was telling him. Odette was right in this situation.
The reason why Odette kept silent and stalled for time, and why she left her ankle unattended, was actually because she was waiting for those monsters to come.
Soon the Yeti appeared. To be precise, the Yeti swarm. Dozens of snowy mountain beasts slowly emerged from the snow.
"You're really mean. You know?"
A weak voice escaped his throat. It's a title he'd never called her, but she resented Odette too much right now to care about It.
"Yeti, do you know what they are? They're the strongest on the continent by strength. With such a disgusting number, no matter how much I am, I'm going to die. You naughty woman."
Victor tried to sneer in vain, but Odette remained silent. Only the smell of blood convinced Odette that she was still in the cave.
"If I had that many, I'd really struggle."
It's a number that can only be seen as a call made to kill Viktor on the spot. He smiled bitterly.
"I believed that Odette would forgive me in the end."
Victor had done something wrong to Odette, but he didn't think they were completely broken.
Didn't Odette know Victor's birthday? When he was bothered by the sound of firecrackers, she covered his ears for him.
Among other things...
"I'm sorry you want to live like me..."
It also revealed her weakness to him.
"So you didn't think I was horrible from start to finish."
So, he believed that if he could get Odette forgiven, he would be able to return to the same relationship as before. Or at least they can start over.
That faith was shattered. After realizing that he loved her.
Victor struggled to hide his hurt expression as he stood up. First of all, he had to deal with those disgusting beasts in the snowy mountains.
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