“Ratchet, actually, the sea is made of sweet sugar water.”

When Belinda said that this time Leo was determined not to believe her words.

But unexpectedly, Sir Penadel interjected into their conversation.

“That’s not true. Seawater is salty.”

“No, Ratchet, think about it. Many fish live in the sea, right? If the seawater was salty, do you think those fish could live properly?”

Is seawater salty like salt, or sweet like sugar?

Leo, who had been seriously pondering this dilemma, finally opened his mouth.

“…I think fish would be happier living in sweet water.”

“That’s right.”

“You’re too much.”

“Sir, you’re not cute at all when you say that.”

Still, with a bit of doubt remaining, that’s why he had asked Hammer.

‘To think the knight tried to deceive me.’

With his trust in the innocent knight diminished, Leo chattered away with the mercenaries.

“So that’s why fish don’t have teeth. Because the seawater is so sweet, all their teeth rotted away.”

“Oh my, is that so? I didn’t know that.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a fish with teeth either.”

“We should brush our teeth well, so we don’t end up like fish.”

Leo’s chirping was so adorable that it reminded everyone of the children they had left at home, making them discreetly wipe their eyes.

“But what are you doing now?”

Belatedly, Leo’s gaze turned to the hands of the mercenaries who were rolling snowballs.

“We’re making a snowman.”

Hammer answered, seemingly embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head.

The first order from their client was to make targets for shooting practice.

“What should we make the targets out of?”

“Just something suitable… Well, snow is plentiful, so make them out of snow.”

Thanks to that, everyone found themselves in the position of making snowmen at this age.

“What’s a snowman?”

At Leo’s innocent question, the inarticulate Hammer stammered.

“It’s a person made of snow… If you’d like, would you want to make one with us?”

“Yes!”

And so, an untimely snowman-making contest began.

Leo packed the snow tightly as the mercenaries taught him and rolled it on the ground.

It was difficult to pack the snow while wearing gloves, so he soon threw them off and barely managed to complete a snowball as big as his head and another slightly larger one.

“I’ll help you put the head on.”

With the mercenary’s help, Leo’s first snowman was finally completed.

They gathered twigs for arms and used round pebbles for eyes, making it look quite like a real person.

Leo, watching Cheti fluttering around him, thought seriously for a while and then said,

“I want to name it Rat.”

That’s how Leo’s second friend got its name.

“Uh… I see? Um… But then…”

This doesn’t seem right.

Hammer couldn’t bring himself to tell the child that Rat was destined to be killed soon.

Instead, to at least prevent the child from witnessing the snowman being killed, he awkwardly changed the subject.

“Let’s go warm our hands for a bit. It would be even better if we could have some stew to warm up our insides.”

“Okay!”

Leo followed Hammer, blowing on his frozen hands.

Completely unaware of the terrible fate that awaited his second friend while they were gone to warm their hands.

* * *

‘They’re made so well, it’s almost a shame to break them.’

At the back of the villa, I assessed the distance while examining the snowmen lined up in various sizes.

Magic itself doesn’t have offensive power, but if shot like a bullet, it could shatter a snowman.

Sir Penadel was also very competent as a shooting instructor.

“Spread your feet shoulder-width apart and tense your legs to withstand the recoil.”

I took the stance as he instructed, then gathered magic in the hand holding the gun.

As soon as magic imbued my right hand, the magic circles engraved on the entire gun lit up, absorbing the magic.

Click.

A clicking sound echoed, reminiscent of loading a bullet.

“Always brace for the recoil. I’ll position myself behind you to catch you if you’re pushed back—now, take your shot.”

Following Sir Penadel’s words, I aimed at the nearest snowman.

And then I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

With a crisp sound, the magic bullet flew and shattered the snowman’s head.

My arm trembled from the recoil, but it wasn’t unbearable.

It didn’t take long to take out the next five snowmen.

Thanks to the short range, a smile of satisfaction escaped me.

Finally, I proudly turned around after hitting a particularly ugly snowman that was smaller and had a distorted face compared to the others.

And then I came face to face.

With Leo, whose face had turned pale blue.

“Ratchet? Why do you have such an expression…?”

“It’s, it’s dead.”

With an expression like he’d just heard his close friend was transferring schools, Leo trudged towards the snowman I had just shot.

“Rat is…”

Rat?

As I wondered and my gaze fell on Cheti sitting on Leo’s shoulder, I realized with a jolt.

‘Don’t tell me that snowman…!’

I quickly looked at Hammer, the mercenary leader who had followed.

He was looking at Leo with a regretful expression.

Only then did I realize what I had done.

‘That snowman, Leo made it!’

No wonder it looked especially cute and lovable!

I stared helplessly at Leo’s small back as he sat down in front of the remains of the snowman he had made.

Seeing that he had even named it, it seemed he had made it a friend like Cheti, and I had killed it.

“Ratchet.”

So, it’s not like I did it on purpose…

‘Actually, this snowman was made to be used as a target.’

“The snowmen were made to be shot and killed.”

The more I spoke, the more the atmosphere around me grew cold.

The mercenaries whispered behind me, muttering things like ‘How could she say such harsh things!’

No, I know. I know!

“…you.”

Just then, Leo mumbled something.

I quickly went to the child’s side and leaned in to listen.

Leo, what did you just say?

“For the next ten minutes, I hate Lady Belinda the most!”

Leo clutched the pebbles—once the snowman’s eyes—like precious treasures as he shouted at me, then darted into the depths of Chavert Forest.

“He… hates me?”

My goodness, Leo has developed likes and dislikes!

I was worried that he might be holding back something he disliked, always saying everything was fine.

Finally, he’s found something he dislikes!

‘Ah, but him saying he hates me is a bit hurtful.’

But still, likes and dislikes!

For a long time, I couldn’t decide whether I should be happy or sad about Leo’s words.

* * *

At the entrance of the Chavert Forest.

As it was a tourist spot for nobles, gazebos were installed here and there in the forest for tourists to rest comfortably.

Leo crouched down inside a gazebo at the forest entrance, clutching his head and groaning.

“Cheti, what have I done?”

To shout at Lady Belinda that he hates her.

By the time he came to his senses, he had already yelled at Belinda and was running through the forest.

Leo regretted his words immediately, not even a minute had passed, let alone ten minutes.

“I should go back and tell her it’s not true.”

Leo sprang up like a coil.

Just as he was about to take a step outside the gazebo.

Thud.

At the sound of snow falling from somewhere, Leo’s hair stood on end.

“…Huh?”

There was no sign of any human shadow in the neatly arranged forest.

Yet strangely, goosebumps rose on his arms, and the snow-covered forest felt eerily frightening.

Leo couldn’t take a single step outside the gazebo and retreated.

It was strange.

‘Why is my heart pounding so hard?’

He wasn’t lost.

His footprints were still there, so he could follow them back home, back to Lady Belinda’s side.

But he couldn’t carelessly step into the forest.

It felt like the moment he left the gazebo, something hiding in the snow-covered forest would pounce on him.

‘I might be chased by ghosts like before.’

He thought that unconsciously and then blinked.

‘Like before?’

As if he had witnessed something terribly frightening in a winter forest like this before, his body wouldn’t listen to him.

Then Leo realized.

That on the first day, when his heart pounded at the sight of the snow-covered landscape, it wasn’t because of admiration or excitement, but because of fear.