That Which Shatters Peaceful Times

The days since the coldest part of winter set in had been peaceful.

I listened to the crackling of wood burning in the fireplace while doing paperwork on the sofa.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

Azu set a cup down on the table in front of the sofa.

White steam rose from the coffee inside.

I took a sip, and bitterness intertwined with sweetness in my mouth.

"Strong. That'll wake me up."

"Got your preferences down perfectly."

Saying that, Azu sat down beside me.

Outside, a blizzard was raging, and the sun was setting earlier than usual.

I'd sent the employees home before dark so nothing would happen to them on the way back.

"What are you working on?"

"Just some miscellaneous tasks."

The cold season was well-suited for office work since we were stuck indoors.

I was getting ahead on work assigned to me as a member of the Merchant's Guild.

"Oww, hot."

Azu brought the cup to her lips, but it must have been too hot because she blew on it to cool it down.

Such a childlike gesture.

I resumed my paperwork, and Azu simply sat quietly beside me without saying a word.

I thought she might be bored, but she wasn't getting in the way either.

After a while of that, Alexia and Elza came into the living room.

They were brushing accumulated snow off their shoulders.

"It really is cold… I can't believe it."

"This area usually gets this cold around this time of year."

"You're joking."

They had baskets of vegetables in their hands.

Apparently, they'd gone to the vegetable garden in the backyard for dinner ingredients.

I was impressed that vegetables could grow even in this cold.

"I'll help."

Azu grabbed her now-empty cup and went to join the two of them.

Dinner had become the responsibility of the three of them.

"Let's make stew since it's cold."

"That sounds good. Master, can we use that bacon?"

"Sure. Use whatever you want. We've got enough to sell."

"Roger～"

"I'll peel the vegetables."

Preparations began in earnest.

I could hear the sounds of vegetables being cut and pots being readied.

A little while later, the sounds of sizzling bacon and a bubbling pot began.

All three of them had really gotten skilled at this.

"I mixed the flour and butter together and it burned～!"

"Oh my, the heat was a bit too high. It's okay, this much is fine."

"Really? Thank goodness."

Azu was flustered, but Elza gently placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Once the white sauce was done, the smell of stew wafted in from the kitchen.

It was then that Finn came down from the second floor.

"Morning."

She was walking around in just her underclothes again, giving a big yawn, apparently just waking up.

Who was it that said she couldn't sleep soundly?

"Getting dressed now."

She shooed me away with a gesture, then put on the clothes that had been hanging on the back of a chair.

Without helping the other three, she plopped down on the sofa by the fireplace.

"A fireplace sure is nice. Even dressed like that, I'm not cold."

"You're going to catch a cold."

"I didn't catch one even spending time in a drafty shack, so I'll be fine."

She said that while warming her hands over the fireplace.

Given Finn's history, she probably never had a place to settle down.

If she could be grateful for something as simple as a fireplace, that was cheap enough.

"It's ready～"

Elza said that as she carried a large pot with both hands to the table.

Finn flicked a trivet across the table with her left hand, and it stopped in exactly the right spot.

"Oh my."

Elza set the pot down there and turned a smile toward Finn.

Finn turned away with a huff, but Elza seemed to find that endearing.

Azu and Alexia brought out plates of food one after another.

Perhaps because it was a soup dish, hard black bread had been sliced and piled high on a plate.

The bacon had been cut thick and grilled thoroughly.

"Thanks for the food we receive today. Let's eat."

Starting with Elza's prayer to the Creator King, the meal began.

The stew was full of vegetables, each piece large and chunky.

"The vegetables have grown so well. They're resistant to the cold, and they all grow big. And the taste… yes, delicious."

"Yeah. I had no idea it could change this much."

Ever since Elza started tending the vegetable garden in the backyard, we'd been able to harvest vegetables, but they'd all been small.

After we obtained the fragment of the Earth Elemental Stone, plant diseases decreased, and the vegetables started growing larger.

The blessing of the Earth Elemental might be the most meaningful for humanity.

It didn't take long for the pot of stew to be emptied.

I thoroughly scraped off the stew stuck to the pot with black bread.

The meal ended that way.

This was how we spent almost every day.

There had been no quests from the Adventurer's Guild for the past few days. We had nothing to do until the snow stopped.

That's what I thought, anyway.

Dust started falling from the ceiling.

"Hm?"

I felt a faint tremor at regular intervals.

It gradually grew stronger.

"What is that?"

"Isn't it shaking?"

I thought I heard a small thudding sound.

The rhythm was almost like footsteps.

"An earthquake… no, that's not it."

"Let's go outside and take a look."

At Elza's suggestion, we hurriedly put on winter clothes and went outside.

Outside, the moon provided the only light.

Other residents seemed to have had the same idea; they were outside, looking around and murmuring uneasily.

Thud.

Now that we were outside, we could hear it clearly.

A loud sound.

The kind that stirred anxiety just from hearing it.

"We can't stay here. We're heading to the Adventurer's Guild."

"Understood."

I led the four of them and hurried to the Adventurer's Guild.

When we arrived, the Guild was in an uproar.

At this hour, there would normally be just one receptionist looking bored, but they were frantically dealing with the adventurers who had rushed in.

I spoke to a man nearby.

"No, I don't know the details either… there, it shook again. It keeps getting closer. Something's clearly wrong, so I came here."

The other adventurers were much the same.

They didn't know what it was, but they were certain it wasn't an earthquake, so they came here.

The guild master emerged from the back room.

"I'm issuing an emergency quest! A giant Ice Golem has appeared! All mages who can use fire magic must accept!"

The surroundings buzzed.

Ice Golem. A monster made of ice that appears in winter, growing larger the colder it gets.

They're commonly encountered in the northern mountains, but around here, only small ones are occasionally seen.

At the very least, one large enough to shake the ground with its footsteps had never appeared before.