Chapter 81 81: Heatwave

Tilting my head as I read the notification from the weather app on my phone, I turned to Sami, who was in the middle of pull-ups. "Hey, did you know there was a heatwave?" "Huh? Yeah. It's just another of those freak magic ones, right?" "Is it...?" Was it like that? I did think it was less cold than usual recently, particularly for winter, but I didn't know it was that bad. "Have you not been feeling it? Lucky~ Remember how bad it was a couple of years ago? When we didn't have AC in almost every building like nowadays, now that was torture." "Oh, no, that's true." Sami definitely made a good point, and perhaps what he said was the entire truth. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but think it was odd, hearing about a supposed heatwave when I've barely noticed a change at all. Then again... Blessing - [Grace of the Mother of the Winter Moon] A Blessing bestowed by Elara, Twin Goddess of the Winter Full Moon. Worshipped primarily by the northern Archducal family of Christina-Rasa, the Winter Mother holds authority over all that is inverse to the Father of the Holy Sun. With the Grace of the Winter Full Moon, you have officially gained the full recognition and support of the Winter Mother, welcomed into her cold and yet caring, tender and yet dispassionate embrace. With the Umbral's blessing, like a forbidden shining star, you have no night to fear. (You are empowered with the energy of the Winter Full Moon) ...I did have this. A contradictory, burning chill in the corner of my heart. From the very beginning I wasn't entirely sure if it would or not, but it did indeed persist even after I returned to Earth. Honestly, other than serving as a sort of cooling for my entire body, I had no idea what this Blessing did; the description wasn't clear at all, only seeming to provide me with a bit of a puzzling lore dump. Unfortunately, what I needed was not useless exposition, but even the Librarian said she didn't know anything. Considering it was a Goddess' Blessing, that wasn't really a surprise, I suppose. I had only experienced it whenever I entered the Sunlit Temple, but it did appear to be true that the influence, or even mere presence of such a Goddess was enough to sever the connection between me and the Librarian, albeit temporarily. That meant She was likely more powerful than even the Illusory Spirit, right? On the one hand, it was a terrifying thought―since the Librarian is the one who sends me to and brings me back from Illusory Worlds in the first place, does that mean there's a chance I wouldn't be able to return if I got on some random god's bad side? On the other hand... the chance of such an occurrence was exceedingly unlikely. After all, even in Drakon-Rasa, the Protagonist was Blessed by the Sun Father. Yet, all the way from when I arrived there to even after I killed her, He made no moves at all to save her. Now, the only question pertaining to that was 'why'. Did He purposely abandon her, or was He simply unable to take action? Maybe He was under the impression that His blessing or Amulet alone would save her, or maybe, just maybe... as the rumour went, did the Winter Mother really scare Him off that night? After all, it wasn't just the Protagonist, but even the so-called 'Young Sun of the Empire' who died, too, right? I know the emperor was blessed by the Sun Father, and since Lucretia was also blessed by the Winter Mother, I wouldn't be surprised if the prince had a blessing of his own. In that case, He must really be at a loss. To think, the Ruling Sun of the Empire could be so antithetically cold, and towards his own son at that... although, I guess that's the sort of fate that inevitably awaits an utter disappointment of a little prince. It was the will of the Winter Mother, so what could he do? Leverage was truly something capable of turning a small push into a rolling boulder, and in the end, if you didn't take action to remove yourself from that boulder's path, you would succumb to something horrible. 'Anyway, I wonder how she's been getting on since then...' For a brief moment, an image of glossy black hair flashed in my mind. It was only transient, however. 'Well, she'll be fine.' That person wasn't one who warranted concern. With no Protagonist to plague the land and no prince to haunt her, she would thrive on her own from now on. "Oi, Enki, you've still got a few sets left. You ain't planning on skimpin' out on your first day, right?" Abruptly, apparently having finished another set of his own, Sami called me, massaging his arms as if they were sore. "No? Like I said, I'm going to do as much as I can." Saying that, I picked up the small weights by my feet and started lifting. It hadn't changed even throughout that long three-month period, but hopefully my Physical Ability would increase from Poor soon. I feel it coming, so it shouldn't be long now. Maybe in time for when I visit home soon? That's also something I needed to do because I went missing for so long. Since I'll probably be leaving on the Friday of that week, that'll be in just under three weeks, so there should be enough time. I'll need to pack some stuff, too, even if it's only for a week. Three weeks until I go home, then a week there until I return; including the weekends, it'll be exactly four weeks overall when I come back. Will I be ready to take on another Contract at that time? Mentally speaking, I still feel exhausted from everything in Drakon-Rasa, so it's hard to say. Although, going home should serve as a refresher, and four weeks is still a long time, so I'll probably be fine. ...Alright then. In four weeks' time, I'll take on that last remaining Beast Tamer Contract before moving up to 2-star Difficulty. It would probably make sense to bridge that gap I inadvertently created, right? ❖─────☆☆☆☆☆─────❖ Monday rolled around, meaning it was the day of my long-awaited appointment. In summary, my process of dropping out will be finalised with just a few more emails. When I go home, I'll reveal the fact of my Awakening, using the newly-acquired free time to clear a bunch more Contracts. Since I'll be missing for extended periods of time, I'll just use climbing the Tower as an explanation, and then, when I grow strong enough through Contracts, I can actually start climbing the Tower for real, making money in that way whilst continuing to clear even more, higher-difficulty Contracts on the side, which will then make me even stronger and allow me to make even more money, and so on. If you ask me, the plan was solid. Of course, it'll take a while before all the details are finalised and whatever, but in short, I have that much free time now. ――A few days passed like that. Bang-! "Woah! Chill out a little..." Making a sandwich in the kitchen, I flinched and muttered to myself as I heard the front door slam. Similar noises proceeded to resound throughout the house for a short while until I eventually heard the faint rain of a shower running. I had only recently started waking up in the morning due to being forced to do so throughout my whole time in Drakon-Rasa―a habit which brought itself back with me to Earth. Still, I wasn't sure if it was normal to be this loud at noon. 'What the hell is going on all of a sudden...?' A period of quiet descended until the raining of the shower ceased; not long after, someone entered the room. "Hi. Sorry about all the noise." Ella appeared with an apology as she proceeded to take a seat on a sofa. She had evidently just stepped out of the shower, with a large white towel wrapped all around her head like a cocoon. It was my first time seeing her since that time we all went drinking a few months back, and I could only wear a smile at the refreshing sight of my oldest friend. Maybe it really had been too long. 'I'll have to make sure the next Contracts I take don't last so long...' "No, it's alright. Everything good?" "Yes... it's very hot, and I was out for quite a while, so I was hasty in hopping into the shower... it isn't just me, is it?" 'Hm? Has the heatwave really been that bad? Although, her skin's looking quite radiant thanks to it, so maybe there are some benefits to being out in the sun. Well, it's not like I care about that―Charismatic does a good enough job anyway.' I also felt like I had enough of sun-related things for a while. "No, I've heard it's been just as hot for everyone else. Would you like a drink?" "Ah, there should be a smoothie in the fridge, if you don't mind. Thank you. Do we have any ice...?" "Sure." Following her enquiry, the front door could be heard again. Roughly ten seconds later, both Mia and Harriet appeared simultaneously. "Hey guys~!" "Hello..." Plopping down on their own seats, they each seemed to sink in, equally exhausted. Handing Ella's iced smoothie to her, I cast a glance at each of them, who appeared almost delusionally out of it. "You guys okay?" "Ahh, totally... Just, catching our breaths, don't mind us... Gosh~! It really is absurdly hot out there, you know? I heard them mentioning it being caused by some supernatural thingamajig on the news, but this is just ridiculous...! I swear, it isn't supposed to be like this in this mild-weathered country, especially not in damn winter! Seriously, I think I've sweated more in the previous hour than in the last five tennis sessions combined! Right?!" Mia looked exasperatedly over to Harriet sitting opposite her, seemingly seeking validation, but the latter only weakly nodded, evidently short of breath and due to overheating. Honestly, it looked like her brain had melted a bit. 'Really... I had no idea people were suffering this much because of it. I've been totally fine...'