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odorekijin
[Town of Ice]
Upon hearing the commotion, the townspeople emerged from their houses.
Once they spotted Snow and White, beaming smiles spread across their faces, and adults, children, and elderly alike scrambled to their side.
Resident: Lord Snow, Lord White!
Resident: You have finally returned.
Snow: Each of you have not changed one bit.
White: I’m glad to see you all are faring well.
Resident: We are, and it’s all thanks to you, Lord Snow and Lord White. We have been able to live safely without suffering any great tragedy.
Resident: Say, if you're both here today, that means...
Snow: It is as you suspect—we will be holding the “Banquet to our Lost.”
The crowd cheered.
Resident: I can’t believe we will be able to celebrate this year as well...
Resident: Everyone will be thrilled, for sure.
All of them smiled in relief.
The ceremony seems to be truly precious for the people who reside in the Town of Ice as well.
Shylock: The festivities begin once night falls, don't they? What shall we start with, then?
Snow: Let us gather materials for the rites first. All that is required for this evening is an attire fit for the celebrations, paired with an Afterglow Lily.
Akira: Afterglow Lily?
White: It is a rare plant that blooms only in the Forest of Ice. I doubt you could chance upon one anywhere else.
Snow: The Afterglow Lilies and costumes are vital to the ceremony. We must have both by the time the celebrations begin.
Chloe: Didn’t you say the outfits were stored in your mansion?
Rustica: That is to say, we will have to scour both the Forest of Ice as well as your residence, yes?
White: Indeed. However, with little time at our disposal, we must split up our endeavors.
Mithra and the other two abruptly stepped in.
Mithra: In that case, we will take care of the mansion.
Bradley: Leave the diggin’ to us.
Snow: No, no, as we have already told you yesterday, we will have the Western wizards handle that matter. After all, our dear tailor Chloe has been most kind to accompany us.
Chloe: Ehehe, I’ve been looking forward to it since yesterday. I wonder what the costumes look like!
Owen: ...If you go in there for the fun of it, you’ll definitely die.
Chloe: Uwah!?
I hadn’t even noticed him—but from behind Chloe, a faint smile spread across Owen’s features.
Chloe: D-dying? Wh-What do you mean?
Owen: Exactly what it means—that mansion is a spine-chilling, terrifying place.
Children as careless as you might end up devoured first, who knows.
Mithra: Owen is right. The most dangerous place around these parts is, without a doubt, the twins’ mansion.
One after the other, the Northern wizards began telling us horrific, bone-chilling stories about the residence.
Owen: Night after dark night, bloodcurdling voices rise out of that place. All those who ever stood against and defied the twins are hacked into tiny little pieces, crying and screaming from the basement—or so they say.
Bradley: Heard they feed some kinda freaky beast in there. I’m tellin’ ya, just its growlin’ could make ya shit yer pants, or sumthin’.
Mithra: Their mansion also seems to be riddled with traps—inadvertently open the wrong door, and your limbs could be torn apart in the blink of an eye.
Chloe: What...!? Really!?
Shylock: My, how frightening. It’s sending shivers down my spine.
Rustica: Whatever shall I do? I am so beyond scared, my heart may as well jump out of my chest and dance on its own.
Murr: Hey, don’t you have any more stories? I wanna hear more!
Owen: Eugh, what’s even the point of it with these people...
Bradley: Ain’t no way to freak the freaks.
Mithra: And that is why I don't do well with the Western wizards…
Suddenly, Rustica brought out his violin, seemingly under no pressure from the displeased glances of the Northern wizards.
Chloe: What’s with this song, Rustica...!? It’s pretty terrifying!
Rustica: It is a quite sinister and unsettling melody.
Shylock: Oh my, how disturbing indeed.
Murr: Spooky!
The merry Western chitter-chatter overcame the eerie melody.
Akira: (They’re like a group of grade school kids getting excited in front of a haunted house...)
Snow & White: Ahem!
Snow: A word from the wise, first and foremost. You must not touch anything making your way through the storeroom, no matter the circumstances.
What you will be entering is a place of all temptations and endless darkness, filled to the brim with cursed artefacts and magical tools eaten away by the passing of time.
White: We cannot anticipate what might happen if you were to be even remotely careless. In the worst of cases, the consequences could be irreversible.
If such were to occur, we cannot assure your life to be safe.
The twins warned us in low voices.
It turns out the Northern wizards’ threats weren’t lies altogether: the mansion truly seemed to be a dangerous place.
Chloe: U-Understood.
Unlike Chloe’s nervous nodding, Murr's eyes sparkled with glaring excitement.
Murr: You don’t even have a little bit of an idea of what might happen? Like, would the stars fall? Or would the world end instead?
White: ...Isn’t this one a itsy-bit deranged?
Snow: Quite unhinged.
The twins huddled up to discuss something in whispers, then sidled up to Murr.
White: The other three aside, there are some conditions that you must meet before entering the mansion, Murr.
Snow: On one hand, Shylock will keep a close watch on you.
White: On the other, you must be blindfolded with magic.
Murr: Blindfolded?
White: Once tickled, your curiosity tends to get out of control—as long as you’re stripped of your vision, our belongings will not arouse any interest in you.
Snow: Is that all right by you?
Murr: Yup, got it—!
Shylock: I am not particularly keen on being Murr's chaperone, but... Oh, well, it seems my choices are rather compromised this time around.
Akira: (I-Is that really alright though...?)
Shylock: Shall I have him wear a collar as well, for good measure?
Snow: That is a matter we will leave to the discretion of the owner. Simply make sure that he does not disappear.
Mithra: That won’t be necessary, as we’re going to the mansion ourselves.
Bradley: Listen up, it’d be hell and back to let these rascals in. We’ll handle the dangerous stuff for ya.
Owen: These festivities are dear to the both of our teachers, after all. We certainly don't want to leave something as important as the search for the ritual’s costume to someone else.
Akira: You guys are really pumped about this, huh…
The usually unwilling and reluctant Northern wizards were strangely motivated today.
They, too, must have been affected by the twin’s dispute—or at least that’s how I envisioned the situation.
Akira: You must really want to make this precious banquet happen, for Snow and White.
Mithra: What could you be talking about? We have no interest in the festivities.
Akira: But, you just said you would help at the mansion…?
Mithra: The twins keep away a copious amount of mana stones and other treasure behind their walls.
If we pretended to help and followed them, we figured we could steal quite a lot at the slightest opening.
Akira: What!?
——————
