Early the next morning, I got up right on time. My vampire night-owl nature made it hard to fall asleep at night, while during the day I was always drowsy. To keep anyone from noticing anything strange, I’d forced myself to adjust my sleep schedule through sheer willpower. Even so, I was still sleepy when I got up. As I threw off the thick fur blanket, a pale arm suddenly draped over my shoulder. It slid down and brushed a sensitive spot on my chest, making my body shiver involuntarily.

“Maeve?” I patted my uninvited guest on the cheek. “Time to get up!”

“Big Sis, let me sleep for five more minutes.”

She rolled over and wrapped her arms around my waist, her fingers tentatively creeping lower... So I brought a merciless knife-hand strike down on her head at lightning speed. Even if we were both women, she couldn’t just do that—especially since we were only the same sex in a biological sense.

“Ow! Eep, I’m sorry!”

“Get up,” I said with an intimidating smile. “We still have to contact the earl’s castle.”

“Yes, I understand. I’m sorry.”

“Before you apologize, could you take your hand off the inside of my thigh?”

“I-I’m very sorry.”

After a bit of a struggle, I got into my deerskin boots and trousers, then bundled myself up in a thick fur coat. Maeve’s clothes were all light, airy student outfits. She’d freeze to death if she wore them outside, so I lent her my clothes and put her in a very heavy fur coat, along with a fur hat and gloves, to make sure she wouldn’t freeze stiff the moment she stepped outdoors.

Once we were dressed, I opened the wooden door and headed toward the town hall with Maeve. But after only a few steps, I stepped on something. I dug it out of the snow and found... a staff? It looked quite exquisite. The black wooden shaft was about 1.5 meters long, and a beautiful red orb, about five centimeters in diameter, was set into the metal tip.

“Ah, Elsa, that’s... mine.”

“Oh, I thought so.” I handed her the staff. “Are you a mage?”

“Yes.”

Well, how could a world of swords and magic be without mages? Still, I’d been here for over half a year and this was the first mage I’d ever met. Did they all like wearing flimsy clothes and trying to get themselves killed in the snow? They didn’t seem very bright.

It was snowing again today. The falling snow blurred the distant forest, and a thick layer had settled over the streets. It looked like the town would be organizing another snow-clearing effort in a few days. A few kids were having a snowball fight by the roadside. One little brat tried to sneak up on me and hurled a huge snowball. Hah, kid, you really underestimate the physical abilities of my level-33 body! At the very last instant before it hit, I tilted my head slightly. The snowball sailed past my ear and... smacked Maeve right in the face.

“Waaah, I can’t see! It’s so cold...”

Maeve let out a catlike squeal and spun around on the spot, flailing her arms. The kids burst out laughing, then hurriedly ran off before I could yell at them. I rushed over, pulled the snowball off her face, and tossed it to the side. Only then did Maeve recover from the chaos. I couldn’t help sighing. Could someone with nerves like that really cast spells in the middle of a melee?

“Morning, Elsa,” the carpenter greeted me as he approached. “You’ve got a new friend with you today?”

“Yes.” I nodded politely. “We’re going to the town hall.”

“Take care on the way.”

“Thanks.”

After saying goodbye to the carpenter, we continued down the street. Maeve quickened her pace until she was walking beside me.

“Elsa,” she asked, “the people here... they seem so friendly.”

“They are.” I watched the snow swirling through the air. “Out here on this bitterly cold frontier, people can only survive by supporting one another. That’s how Nagu Town is. Everyone’s family, and when one person is in trouble, everyone comes to help.”

“I can’t help feeling... a little envious.”

For some reason, Maeve’s expression darkened, and she gripped her staff without realizing it.

I had no idea what she’d been through, but now really wasn’t the time to ask. Maybe she was just passing through and would leave Nagu Town soon. In a few years, she might have forgotten all about me.

Before long, we reached the town hall, where we ran into Fenny, who was helping clear snow by the entrance.

“Good morning, Miss Lancelot.”

“Good morning, Big Sis Fenny.” I asked, “Could I borrow your magic communication device?”

“I’m afraid not. That’s... an internal facility.”

Whoosh—I pulled out a platinum membership card. The moment Fenny saw it, she nodded.

“Of course. You’re welcome to use any of the Commercial Association’s facilities.”

“Thanks, Big Sis Fenny.”

Even after getting an S-rank membership card, I still called Fenny “Big Sis.” A little flattery always paid off. After discovering how sweet the rewards of acting cute could be, I found I couldn’t turn back.

“Um... Elsa.” Maeve stared at my membership card in astonishment. “Isn’t that the legendary super-platinum card, the kind only S-rank members can have? I remember there are fewer than ten in the entire United Kingdom.”

Huh, was this card that rare? I’d thought there were quite a lot of them.

Looks like that big-time merchant Arnold really had invested heavily in me. After I started supplying the Commercial Association with high-grade, platinum-quality healing potions, they’d even set up a small teleportation device in Nagu Town just to transport those insanely expensive potions—100 gold coins a bottle.

After I explained Maeve’s situation to Fenny, the staff member took her backstage to use the magic communication device. I picked up a broom and helped clear the snow outside the town hall. A patrol made up of hunters returned from the town gate, carrying their skis over their shoulders, their cloaks covered in snow.

“Elsa,” Faenda called to me. “Want big brother to teach you how to ski?”

“No thanks.” I smiled as I turned him down. “I don’t want everyone digging me out of a snowdrift again.”

The hunters around us burst into laughter. It looked like they’d made a bet about it. Faenda had clearly overestimated his charm, and ended up the only one who lost.

“Elsa.” I hadn’t noticed when the mayor had crept up behind me. “About settling down...”

“Didn’t we agree to talk about that in the spring?”

“Heh heh heh, what was I thinking...”

That old man had a perfectly good memory. He was just pretending to be senile!

It took me about ten minutes to clear the snow from the town hall steps with astonishing efficiency, and I’d even cleared a path. Just then, Maeve came up the wooden stairs.

“Maeve,” I asked, “how did it go?”

“The communication was being interfered with.” She shook her head. “That’s... a little strange.”

A faint sense of foreboding stirred in my heart. I hoped I was wrong.