The Snowfrost Flower would freeze your body solid, like ice in an icehouse, if you simply ate it. Move it somewhere else, and even the slightest change in temperature would make it melt like snow. Properly prepare it before eating it, though, and you could gain powerful cold resistance.

└Wild Grylls Is there a way to process it?

└Starlight Lady Perhaps with the technology in my workshop, but I'm not sure about your circumstances. And it would melt immediately if you brought it to my workshop.

└Wild Grylls Is there any way I could do it myself?

└Starlight Lady The important thing is controlling its cold energy... You need fire energy to reduce that. And no, boiling it like soup won't work.

└Wild Grylls Aw... Could you just explain the basic principle?

I wanted to find some way to consume it. Cold resistance was an enormous advantage. It was so cold right now that even my thick clothes couldn't keep me warm. They offered just enough protection to stop me from freezing to death. If I could absorb the Snowfrost Flower, it would give me a tremendous edge in surviving.

'At least I'd be pretty unlikely to die of hypothermia.'

Just not having to shiver in the cold would be good enough. Perks like that added up, making me stronger one by one.

Starlight Lady didn't comment for a while, apparently thinking it over. Just as I started wondering whether she was busy with something else, she replied.

└Starlight Lady You put the Snowfrost Flower into an extractor, then add fire energy to the extracted liquid. The principle itself is simple.

└Wild Grylls Could I use that extractor?

└Starlight Lady It has to be connected through mana circuits, like a refrigerator. If I gave you one, it would turn into an empty tin can.

└Wild Grylls :'(

└Starlight Lady I'm sorry to say this, but I think you should give up.

└Wild Grylls So I can't put it in a pot and boil it?

└Starlight Lady Hmm... I've never tried such a primitive method myself, so I don't know. That's the only extraction method I know.

└Wild Grylls Didn't people in the distant past eat it and record its effects? They wouldn't have had extractors back then.

└Starlight Lady Why would anyone do that? It's life-threatening...

└Wild Grylls Then why do people eat pufferfish?

└Starlight Lady Oh.

└That's a fucking perfect example lmao

└Who was the bastard who first thought of eating pufferfish? lmao

└Seriously. One mistake and the poison kills you instantly.

└I'm more curious about whoever first thought of drinking milk. What made them think of sucking an animal's teats...?

└All those attempts added up to the ingredients we have today. Let's show them some consideration.

└Not admiration, just consideration lmao

People were fascinating. They'd gone around eating every conceivable plant and animal, even finding ways to prepare the poisonous ones. Figuring out how to prepare pufferfish must have been a grueling process.

The same applied to the Snowfrost Flower. Starlight Lady hadn't noticed it, but this was the point I focused on.

The Snowfrost Flower was a delicate herb that melted instantly at the slightest change in temperature. Yet there were records of people eating it and confirming its effects or side effects. That meant people living in cold regions had discovered them through repeated cross-checking.

'Even if there's no record of anyone extracting it, they definitely consumed it somehow.'

They had very likely extracted it without tools, or consumed it after it had been refined through some other process. But that was only my hypothesis. Someone who's read just one book is more dangerous than someone who's read none.

└Wild Grylls How about I post live updates? If anything looks wrong, please tell me right away.

└Starlight Lady That's not a bad idea. But you have to do exactly as I say. Understood?

└Wild Grylls Of course. The icehouse takes priority, so I'll let you know later.

└Starlight Lady Please don't push yourself.

└Passing Dwarf Hey. You need to build that icehouse underground. Isn't there mithril under your house?

└Wild Grylls Doesn't have to be inside. I can build it outside. No mithril there.

└Passing Dwarf Then do you know which direction the wind blows from? In summer, not winter.

└Wild Grylls Why?

└Passing Dwarf Looks like you need to use convection. Cold air sinks to the bottom and hot air rises.

└Wild Grylls No idea. It's going to be makeshift anyway, so just tell me the principle. It only needs to last a month. Apparently the seasons here change every week.

└Passing Dwarf What kind of bullshit place is that...? Anyway, got it. I'll post soon.

Now I needed to know the wind direction too. Unbelievable. Thank goodness the seasons changed weekly here; monthly changes would've been a headache.

In that case, I should probably build a prototype icehouse and get a box for the rest. Sword Masta had offered me a box made of well-insulated material, so I could accept that.

'But I'd feel bad just taking it...'

What could I give her? Sword Masta was actually the trickiest person to shop for. Heavenly Demon happily accepted anything I gave her, but Sword Masta didn't. She refused herbs because she didn't want to get stronger, and she hardly cared about food either. Her sole focus was my growth, which made figuring out how to repay her difficult.

'Would she like a sword?'

She didn't just like swordsmanship, she loved it. Wouldn't she like swords too? That was my logic. They said a master wasn't picky about tools, but that didn't mean they didn't care at all. She might even enjoy a pretty sword.

'I can think about that later. First, I need to understand the icehouse design.'

I had plenty of time to think. It was time to build that I was short on. The avalanche had swept everything away, leaving me with a lot to make.

'Should I build the furnace and oven sturdier from the start? Or put them inside the cave?'

Mulling that over, I sent Sword Masta a message. I offered her an incredible sword later in exchange for an insulated box now.

Sword Masta

Is that the sword you gave Heavenly Demon?

Huh?

Did I tell you about it before?

Sword Masta

She sent me pictures to brag about it...

...

So childish, at her age. Still, at least she hadn't posted about it on the forum. Besides, the fact that she'd only bragged to Sword Masta, rather than anyone else, suggested she considered her a friend. Sword Masta would have a fit if she heard that, but surely it was fine.

Anyway, I'll give you one later. Would you accept it?

Sword Masta

No, thank you.

A master isn't picky about her tools.

But it glows in the dark when you put mana into it.

Sword Masta

I suppose I could keep one as a decoration rather than for actual use.

A sword with such incredible performance, reduced to a decoration. Still, I was relieved she would take it. Trading a Mithricon sword for an insulated box might sound like a bad deal, but I didn't mind. I just had to consider all the help Sword Masta had given me. She'd helped me almost entirely for free until now.

'Heavenly Demon might feel left out, so I'll have to get her something too.'

With that thought, I inspected the box Sword Masta had given me. Perhaps because plastic hadn't been invented in this world yet, it looked like an ordinary box from outside. Inside, however, the walls were lined with various materials, including marble. Judging by all those layers, it would certainly work as a cooler. All I had to do now was put ice in it. I carried the box inside and sent Sword Masta my thanks.

'Has the dwarf posted... Yes, he has.'

The dwarf's post was perfectly timed. I opened it immediately.

Here's the icehouse design. Take a look.

Passing Dwarf

(Photo of an icehouse's structure)

(Photo of an icehouse cross section)

(Photo of an icehouse lined with bricks)

(Photo of a ceiling made of arched brickwork)

That's basically what it looks like. Building it properly takes a long time, so take it slow.

When you put the ice in, pack snow or straw between the blocks. For straw, buy a mat from the auction house and take it apart.

└Wild Grylls Wait. I have to build the ceiling out of bricks too? How am I supposed to do that?

└Passing Dwarf What do you mean, how? Use some ingenuity.

└Wild Grylls Ha. This is gonna be fucking brutal.

└Where'd you take those? Never mind the cross section, those look like actual photos.

└Passing Dwarf It was in a museum.

└Grylls is living in his own private museum lmao

└Everyone else uses refrigerators and he's stuck with an icehouse lmao

People who'd barely approached the modern era were calling me a caveman. Hey, I'd once enjoyed the very pinnacle of civilization! These bastards would piss themselves at the power of a nuclear bomb, and they dared make fun of me.

'So what can I do about it?'

Absolutely nothing. Better shut up and build my icehouse. Grumbling inwardly, I gathered my pickaxe and shovel. Given the time, I wasn't planning on finishing it all in one day.

'He said it should be half underground, right?'

Normally, I'd need to consider the wind direction, but this was a test model. A first step to see whether it could preserve ice for a month. I'd keep it small to cut down on labor, but build it carefully.

'The frozen ground isn't making this easy.'

Just digging took ages. It would be better to light a fire and work on something else while it thawed the ground. I kept digging until around four, then stopped. I had other work to do, including extracting the Snowfrost Flower.

'I'll harvest ice for thirty minutes, then start preparing the Snowfrost Flower.'

I took the insulated box to the river. Animal activity had dropped off drastically in the winter cold. Unless they were creatures like wolves that stayed active in winter, nothing would attack me. I kept my guard up just in case, so I wouldn't be caught helpless either.

'I should cut it with a saw, right?'

Once I reached the frozen river, I bought a saw from the auction house. Then I tapped the ice's surface with the small hammer I'd brought and inserted the saw.

SCRITCH! SCRITCH! SCRITCH!

I began sawing out a precise rectangle. It turned out the river wasn't frozen all the way through; partway down, the saw suddenly plunged into empty space. I continued carefully, keeping that in mind.

"Heave-ho!"

SPLASH!

Out came a neatly cut rectangular block of ice. River water rushed into the gap it left behind.

CRACKLE!

Before long, the vicious cold froze that water solid too. Just how cold did it have to be for water to freeze on the spot? I strained to carry the clear block of ice over and place it in the box. I'd noticed when I first pulled it out, but it was ridiculously thick.

'Could I go ice fishing too?'

I dismissed the idle thought. As I harvested the ice, I stayed alert in case something like a golden frog jumped out. Fortunately, whether the frogs had all frozen to death or gone into hibernation, there was no response. It seemed winter was a season when I could live in relative peace.

"Ugh. That stings."

That didn't do anything for my freezing hands, though. Even with another pair over my World Tree gloves, making two layers in total, my hands were cold. Icy moisture had seeped all the way inside. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up with frostbite.

I hurried to finish and returned to the cave. I'd harvested four blocks of ice in total. They went into the box for now, but I'd move them to the icehouse once it was finished.

'Time-wise... I should have enough.'

With the ice gathered, all that remained was the Snowfrost Flower. You might ask why I didn't just extract it in the cave, but I had something in mind: a mature mandrake. Mature mandrakes contained yang energy, and I'd heard yang energy represented heat. So couldn't I boil a mature mandrake together with the cold-bearing Snowfrost Flower?

THWACK! WHACK! WHACK!

"Gweck! Gwek! Gweck!"

And so, I beat up a mature mandrake. A beating was the only way to make these things behave. I carried the limp mandrake back to the cave, got a suitable pot ready, and lit a fire. Once it was burning, I posted on the forum.

Combining a Snowfrost Flower and a mature mandrake

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a beaten-up mature mandrake)

(Photo of the unharvested Snowfrost Flower)

Couldn't I combine these two?

└Heavenly Demon The theory itself seems sound. A proper combination of yang and yin.

└Wild Grylls Right?

└Starlight Lady As Heavenly Demon said, the theory is sound. Though it seems a little... crude.

└Wild Grylls Should I put them both in and boil them, then?

└Starlight Lady That would be better. Extracting the essence dilutes the energy a little. You're better off boiling them raw.

└Wild Grylls Got it.

Now that I had an expert's permission, I harvested the Snowfrost Flower. Fortunately, it remained intact, perhaps unaffected by human body heat.

'Now put these in together.'

I'd add a little water too and let them steep thoroughly, like stock. With the lid on, all the preparations were complete. All that remained was waiting. I didn't forget to check for anything wrong from time to time.

└Wild Grylls (Video of the unchanged Snowfrost Flower and mature mandrake) Nothing much has changed yet. The Snowfrost Flower hasn't melted either.

└Starlight Lady That's probably because they're both rare herbs. You should wait patiently.

How long would I have to simmer them before something changed? I added another log. I wanted to work on something else, but there was no telling what might happen. As I sat there staring into the fire...

CLATTER!

The pot lid suddenly rattled.

SKREEEEEEEEE!!!

And, as a bonus, a mandrake's scream came from inside. Had it woken up after all that time? That would be a problem.

'Do I need to beat it up again?'

I pressed down on the lid to keep the mature mandrake from jumping out. The moment I opened it, its scream would fill the entire cave. Holding it shut, I accessed the forum and urgently asked for advice.

└Wild Grylls (Video of a pot with screams coming from it) I think the mandrake woke up. What do I do? I'm holding it in for now.

└Starlight Lady Letting it keep screaming isn't good either. You're better off knocking it out again, even if it means taking a risk.

└Wild Grylls Understood.

With the expert's advice in hand, I took a deep breath. I'd have to time this right. The mature mandrake wasn't screaming constantly, only at intervals. It kept going quiet, then screaming again. I needed to catch it during one of those quiet spells.

SKREEEEEEEEE!!!

Before long, the mandrake screamed again. I waited for it to fall silent, then immediately opened the lid. And what I saw was...

"... What is this?"

The mature mandrake had turned blue. Its face was so blue it looked dead, but its body was flailing as though it were still alive. It had originally been red, which made the change to blue all the more baffling.

'Did I fuse them instead of combining them?'