Chapter 90

“Thank you, Alec. But where are we―?”

Louise turned her head to look around.

With the snow swirling in the wind, visibility wasn’t great.

“Roaaar!”

Suddenly, the thunderous roar of a massive beast echoed through the fog.

Thunk.

It all happened in an instant.

The tree Alec was standing on shook violently, tilting as if it was about to fall.

Had the white bear caught their scent?

“Huh? Alec!”

As Louise, realizing they were about to fall, clung tightly to him, Alec wrapped his arms around her.

They were swiftly falling into the misty void.

Whoosh!

Using the force of the collapsing tree, Alec propelled them to safety.

“Roaaar!”

“Roaaar!”

Once again, the roars of the beasts rang out from all sides.

Could this be the white bear’s territory?

It was hard to tell whether their luck was good or bad for stumbling upon this place.

After a brief fall, they landed on the ground.

But before they even had a chance to stabilize, a white bear lunged through the air, its paw slashing down.

“Roaaar!”

“…Hah!”

As Louise let out a short gasp, Alec moved faster than the bear, evading its strike.

The bear’s power and speed were far more terrifying than he had anticipated.

“Is that… a white bear?”

“It seems so.”

“Oh, then maybe the Hiliberry is nearby.”

“…”

‘Louise wasn’t scared, was she?’

Her voice sounded a little excited, but at the same time, she trembled slightly and held on to him more tightly.

Alec took a closer look around.

As she held onto him, looking behind him, Louise tightly grasped the hem of his coat.

“There are so many white bears over there…”

“…”

“They look so white and pretty.”

Though fascinated, her voice trembled.

‘Gideon.’

Alec summoned Gideon back from another location through the system and released him here again.

As long as the white bears saw them as prey, they needed something to deal with them.

“Graaah!”

At that moment, a white bear, with its massive body, charged at them.

‘Graargh!’

In an instant, Gideon swelled into his full-grown form and struck the white bear.

The white bear staggered and fell after being hit by an invisible paw.

Seeing an HP bar above the bear’s head, it seemed defeating them also gave experience points.

However, Alec had no intention of directly fighting the white bears.

With Louise there, he only wanted to find the ‘Hiliberry’ and get out of there quickly.

The sound of bears and Gideon clashing, growling, echoed violently through the snowy mountain.

Using that moment, Alec moved swiftly.

Even as he dodged the sudden attacks of white bears coming at them from all directions, he began his search for the ‘Hiliberry’.

Finding berries in the snow was like searching for a needle in the sand.

—

“….!”

After dodging the white bears several times, Alec finally came to a stop.

The thunderous roars of the white bears, which had pounded in his ears, were now faint and distant.

I panted heavily, as if I had just gotten off a roller coaster.

“Ah, Alec.”

“This area seems safe.”

As he tried to let me down, I slipped out of his arms and stood on the ground.

“Were you very frightened?”

“No, I’m okay.”

He furrowed his brows slightly in concern and looked at my face.

My heart pounded.

Where could the ‘Hiliberry be?

If only we could talk to the white bears, we could ask them.

“Do you think we can find the Hiliberry here?”

Saying that, I looked around.

Thanks to my well-insulated clothes and Alec’s abilities, I wasn’t too cold.

“We’ll have to look around first.”

“All right.”

As Alec started walking, I linked my arm with his and followed.

He flinched slightly at my sudden touch but soon continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Was he startled, even though he’d been holding me the whole time?

I hugged his arm tighter and looked around, wondering if the berries would really show up.

“Since Kililul said they look like cherries, they must be red, right?”

“Graaah! Graagh!”

“…?”

Startled by the sudden roar nearby, I turned around.

In the distance, one of the white bears was thrashing on its back, showing its belly.

Why is it doing that? Did it slip by itself?

I quickly turned back and hurried my steps.

My heart raced with anxiety.

Alec glanced at the white bear, then quickly pulled me into his embrace and steered me toward another direction.

“There are more white bears than I thought. Don’t look back. I won’t let any of them come near you.”

“Thank you. This dangerous hike is turning into a once-in-a-lifetime memory I’ll never forget.”

I clutched my pounding chest.

Normally, I wouldn’t have dared come anywhere near such a perilous place, but being with Alec made it bearable.

Once I calmed down a bit, I took a deep breath of the mountain air.

It was a pure, icy-cold air, like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

It was so clean, free from even a speck of dust, that it refreshed my entire body.

“Wow, it’s amazing here.”

My whole body felt as though it had been purified.

I looked at him with bright, clear eyes.

“Thank you for bringing me here. It’s even better because I’m with you—”

“Graaah!”

“Ahh!”

Before I could finish my sentence, another white bear charged at us from somewhere.

Whoosh.

In that brief moment, Alec quickly enveloped me in his arms and leaped to another spot.

This place was dangerous enough that even a moment of carelessness could cost us our lives.

Thud!

Suddenly, Alec’s body collided with something, causing the thickly piled snow to fall around us.

What was that?

It felt like we had been buried by an avalanche.

His arms tightened around me, and soon, we crashed down somewhere with another loud thud.

Our bodies tumbled several times.

“…!”

I was so shocked I couldn’t breathe.

Finally, he braced himself on the ground and came to a halt.

“Louise.”

Raising his upper body, he looked down at me with wide, startled eyes.

I gazed back at him, equally stunned.

It seemed like there was a thick layer of snow cushioning us from below.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

At his worried question, I dazedly moved my lips to respond.

He quickly surveyed our surroundings with his eyes before speaking again.

“My apologies. The bear that charged us this time was too fast.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine.”

My heart was pounding.

What just happened?

“…Rolling together in the snow.”

I couldn’t believe it.

In every book or movie I’ve seen, couples always roll around in the snow, flaunting their affection. I’d been so envious that I couldn’t hide my tears, but now, here I was, unexpectedly experiencing it myself.

Still in disbelief, I blinked my eyes.

…Could the bears stop attacking for just a moment?

A once-in-a-lifetime event was happening right now…

I quietly looked up into his eyes.

I swallowed nervously.

As the silence stretched out, tension began to fill the air.

Sensing something strange, his gaze flickered.

If he didn’t catch the mood within three seconds, I was ready to get up gracefully. Any longer, and my pride wouldn’t allow it.

This was one of those moments where anyone would agree—now was the perfect time for a brief kiss.

But while I was thinking this, 30 seconds had already passed.

With no bears interrupting us, the moment was starting to feel awkward.

My eyes, filled with disappointment, wavered, and just then, his eyes widened. With a flushed face, he helped me up.

I stood up abruptly, unable to meet his gaze, staring at something else instead.

I could feel him turning away, followed by the sound of him clearing his throat.

Despite the freezing cold, my face burned hot.

I guess that kiss had been nothing but my own hopeful fantasy.

“Let’s just hurry up and find the berries.”

Just as I absentmindedly looked around—

“…Oh?”

Something caught my eye.

Small, round, red things were clustered on a branch, swaying in the wind.

I raised my hand, pointing dazedly.

“Ah, Alec, look over there.”

“…?”

Alec followed my gaze, looking where I pointed, his face puzzled.

My heart was pounding harder than before.

It looked like we’d found the Hiliberry.

—

The Hiliberry was growing near the cliff-like rocks where Alec and Louise had collided.

Who would’ve thought that berries capable of growing in the extreme cold of the snowy mountains really existed?

Though they had been convinced the Hiliberry was somewhere up here based on what Cassdain had said and the quest, seeing it in person felt even more miraculous.

As soon as they obtained the Hiliberry, Louise and Alec hurried down the mountain. They couldn’t stay any longer in a place where wild bears were on a rampage.

‘But what happened earlier…’

Her heart was still racing.

Despite his unintentional actions, her heart had reacted.

Rolling in the snow together, facing each other amidst the soft snow… It had only been a brief moment, but his gaze had become disheveled, and her heart had inexplicably stirred.

She had never felt that way while looking at him before.

She pushed the feeling aside for now as they arrived at the settlement of the wild men.

They entered the place where Kililul was, still looking a bit disheveled from rolling in the snow.

“Kililul.”

Louise approached with her usual calm tone.

Kililul, seated in a chair reserved for the leader of the wild men, scowled arrogantly yet curiously.

“What do you want now?”

Had they come back too soon?

The Hiliberry had never even been glimpsed by the wild men, who roamed the mountains freely.

There was no way he would have guessed that Louise and Alec had already retrieved the berries.

Louise took a small breath and lifted the corners of her lips slightly.

“The bears on Mount Kalanysh sure are fast and fierce.”

“…?”

Kililul’s brow furrowed even more unpleasantly.

“I almost died without a trace from one of their paw swipes.”

“…”

Kililul’s expression stiffened. Even Kels, standing nearby, had his gaze darken ominously.

Louise lifted the leaves covering the Hiliberry, smiling gracefully, her eyes glinting.

The moment the bright red of the Hiliberry was revealed, the wild men’ eyes widened in shock.

“With this, can we now be considered part of your group?”

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories