By Zephyria 
While moving toward the location where the Gate had opened, Vasily, who had been exchanging signals with the association staff on the helicopter, stood up from his seat.
He set down his headset, looked back at me, and said something. I couldn’t hear his voice, so I read his lips…
— See you later.
“What? What do you mean by… You, you crazy…”
Before I could even realize what he meant, Vasily waved his hand and jumped straight out. Startled, I tried to bolt upright, but I was blocked by my seatbelt and ended up sinking back into my seat.
I quickly calmed my pounding heart. Right, Vasily was an S-class Esper. He was the kind of guy who could land from this height without a single scratch.
I peeked my head out and looked down. Below, I could see the blue, shimmering entrance of the Gate. Vasily had already entered; not a single strand of his hair was visible.
“Sigh…”
He really is a lunatic. Would it kill him to leave quietly for once?
I felt like an idiot for worrying about him even for a moment. Calming my racing heart, I leaned back comfortably in my chair.
After Vasily jumped out midway and the helicopter flew a bit further, the safe zone came into view in the distance. Once the helicopter landed safely in an open field, I stepped out into the safe zone and looked around.
Evacuated residents were gathered in one place, and Espers and association staff were busily moving about. Since the Gate had opened suddenly, it seemed the temporary Guides hadn’t arrived yet, as no Guides other than myself were in sight.
As I walked around the safe zone to get a feel for the atmosphere, I heard a small commotion.
“I can’t find my grandson and granddaughter. I was told everyone in the village had evacuated, so I came here alone while working in the fields… Oh, dear…”
“The village is currently off-limits to civilians. We will notify the Espers currently searching, so…”
“Oh… oh… what will happen to my babies…”
I stopped in my tracks, watching the elderly woman sobbing in a trembling voice.
In that moment, the image of two children frozen cold to death flashed through my mind. I grit my teeth and clenched my fists.
Yes, there was no reason to hesitate. The reason I came all the way here was to save those children. Hesitating now would only reduce the time available to rescue them.
Composing myself, I walked toward a corner of the safe zone.
Near the weapon storage, Espers were blocking civilian access. Fortunately, since I had just finished sparring with Vasily, I was still wearing an Esper combat suit. Thanks to that, no one suspected or stopped me as I approached the weapon storage.
Having successfully entered the container, I stole a knife about the size of a forearm and tucked it into my waist. Since I had to cross the mountain and visit the village quickly, it was best to carry minimal armament—just enough to protect my life in case I encountered a monster.
After securing the weapon, I quickly left the safe zone. Thanks to the dense trees surrounding the area, it wasn’t difficult to slip into the forest and avoid detection. The safe zone grew more distant, and no one noticed that I had disappeared.
I hurried toward the place I remembered. Toward the direction of the small village near the area where the Gate had opened.
The surroundings weren’t frozen yet. However, there was no telling when Vasily would emerge from the Gate and begin using his abilities to freeze the area. Seeing as I didn’t feel a flesh-cutting chill riding the wind, it seemed Vasily was still inside the Gate cleaning up the monsters.
If so, there was only one thing I needed to worry about now: the monsters that had escaped the Gate.
I remembered them being tricky opponents, skilled in stealth and ambush… I had brought a weapon just in case, but all I could do was hope I wouldn’t run into them.
After walking for a while, the village finally came into view. It was definitely around here… While scanning the surroundings and wandering through the village, I spotted a familiar house.
I flung the door open and stepped inside, but the interior was silent.
“Is it not here?”
Just as I was about to head to another house, an old wardrobe caught my eye.
They were definitely in there…
“Hic…”
Click. When I opened the wardrobe, I saw a young brother and sister trembling while hugging each other.
Terrified expressions, red cheeks stained with tears, and faces that looked as if they would burst into tears at any moment. Most importantly, they were still breathing.
They’re alive. A smile of relief escaped me unconsciously.
“Let’s go to a safe place with Hyung.”
I reached out with the kindest smile possible, but the children hesitated to take my hand. When I tilted my head in confusion, the boy spoke tearfully.
“My sister hurt her ankle…”
Only then did I notice the miserable expression on the girl’s face. I thought she was crying because she was scared, but it was because her ankle hurt.
It seemed that in the past, the children had chosen to hide in the house instead of fleeing for the sake of the injured younger sister. Realizing this, guilt pressed down on me twice as hard.
“Then should Hyung carry you on his back?”
“Really…?”
“Yeah, your Grandmother is waiting. I’ll take you to her.”
At the mention of their Grandmother, the children’s eyes widened. Then, as the siblings nodded vigorously, a faint sense of relief finally crossed their faces.
I was glad they let their guard down quickly. From here on, we had to cross mountain paths where monsters could appear at any time and move to the safe zone several kilometers away.
I helped the children put on their shoes and carefully stepped outside. Just as I was lowering my body to pick up the younger sister…
Rustle.
I heard a presence somewhere.
“…Kids, go back inside the house.”
I quickly pushed the children back into the house and drew my weapon.
I couldn’t see it now, but there was definitely a monster nearby. It was likely hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to attack me.
Then, I heard faint footsteps from behind. I spun around abruptly and swung the knife.
“Kieeeek!”
Along with the sensation of something being sliced by the blade, the monster that attacked me let out a piercing scream and leaped back.
The wound I caught a glimpse of was too shallow. Damn, I should have killed it in one hit… If Vasily saw this, he would have nagged me for not being able to handle a single thing properly.
“…”
I swallowed hard and faced off against the monster.
Fortunately, there was only one. A green rat, looking as if it had been dipped in radioactive material, bared its sharp teeth and watched me warily with a low stance.
It was quite small in size… but since size and strength aren’t proportional, I couldn’t let my guard down. In fact, smaller individuals were often more threatening.
These creatures originally lived in packs. Fortunately, this one seemed to be isolated, so I had to deal with the monster in front of me quickly before others joined in.
The monster crouched low. Was it the posture right before a pounce? I held my breath and readjusted my grip on the weapon.
“…!”
I thought I was monitoring its movements, but in an instant, the monster vanished from my sight.
I felt a presence right beneath my feet. Startled, I looked down and saw the monster’s wide-open maw lunging toward my neck.
“Ugh!”
I barely managed to raise my arm to block it. Simultaneously, the monster’s sharp teeth sank deep into my forearm.
My body reacted a step faster than the sensation of pain.
I drove the weapon I was holding straight into the monster’s nape. The sharpened tip of the knife sliced through the tough hide and pierced the neck accurately. The wet sound of cutting flesh echoed eerily.
Through the blade, I felt the vibration of the monster’s body shuddering. Kkeureuk, kkuk. The creature, letting out sounds like scraping metal, soon went limp as if its power had been switched off.
“Haa…”
Only after confirming that its breath had completely stopped did I pull out the weapon. The dead monster was still clinging to my arm. The teeth had sunk in so deep that it wouldn’t come off.
Left with no choice, I removed my arm guard and threw it into the corner of the yard along with the monster’s carcass. Then, I rolled up my sleeve to check the wound.
The wound wasn’t that deep, but there were clear tooth marks. To think it was this bad even while wearing a guard. If it hadn’t been an Esper combat suit, my arm would have been ripped off.
Looking at the monster’s corpse, I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. It had been a while, so I struggled quite a bit. It was a relief that my combat instincts had returned slightly thanks to sparring with Vasily.
But there was no time to catch my breath. I had to leave the area quickly before others flocked to the scent of blood.
I hurried back into the house and brought the children outside.
“Hieek…”
The children discovered the monster’s corpse in the corner and began to sob in terror. I barely managed to calm them down, telling them it was dead, and was about to depart in a hurry when…
I felt a chill mixing into the wind.
Ah.
My heart sank. Looking back, I saw the distant trees being rapidly covered in ice. A formless blizzard was approaching this place at high speed.