Hearing that only people born tough could gain cold resistance left me dumbfounded, but it was too soon to give up. Starlight Lady had just given me the bad news. The good news was still to come.

Please let it give me some hope.

What's the good news?

Starlight Lady

There's no risk of developing a blocked-meridian condition. Your ability is permanent, too.

And one more thing. You won't freeze to death.

Didn't you say I wouldn't gain cold resistance?

Starlight Lady

That's a separate matter. Once you pass hypothermia and are in danger of freezing to death, your body will react.

You'll probably go into hibernation on your own, then revive once the weather warms up.

Roundfur's hibernating right now. Is it the same principle?

Starlight Lady

It's a little different. In your case, Grylls, how should I put it... it's geared toward survival.

You'd hold on instead of dying from hypothermia as you normally would.

I guess... that's a good thing?

Starlight Lady

It's better than nothing, isn't it?

But be careful. If you collapse somewhere like a snowy mountain where the weather and seasons never change, you'll stay alive but sleep forever.

That sounded hopeless. Neither living nor dead.

Still, as Starlight Lady said, it really was an excellent survival ability. For someone like me, who always had to consider the worst-case scenario, it couldn't be better. Not getting cold resistance was a shame, but I was grateful for what I'd gotten.

What would've happened if I'd eaten the mandrake after it turned blue?

Starlight Lady

You'd most likely have become an ice human.

Like that mandrake, your body would have gone beyond pale to blue, and your hair would have turned white. You'd have looked practically undead.

Yikes. Good thing I added the Elixir.

Starlight Lady

:

That's why I told you how to make it safer.

Thank you so much for explaining all this.

Starlight Lady

Not at all. I've learned more thanks to you, too.

Feel free to ask me anything else whenever you like.

What does ordinary mandrake essence do?

Starlight Lady

Its yang energy warms your body. In particular, it boosts the body's regenerative ability, making it an ideal ingredient for Elixir.

Then could you steep a blue mandrake in liquor?

Starlight Lady

It's not impossible... but the liquor would most likely freeze before then.

It would be dangerous, too.

Understood.

Since the subject had come up, Starlight Lady gave me some Elixir. Two bottles, no less.

I thanked her and started putting things in order.

'Now that I've more or less sorted everything out...'

Time to tackle the remaining work. Building an icehouse had become pointless, so I started drawing up plans for the shelter: a sturdy design that could easily withstand any natural disaster.

Of course, that wasn't easy. Something even worse than an avalanche might come along.

'Should I cement the drainage ditch, too?'

Now that I knew cement existed here, I kept thinking of places to use it. But I'd never worked construction. I'd only used cement a few times in the military. Even then, the officers and NCOs had done most of the actual spreading. I'd just helped out.

'Come to think of it, I did all sorts of things in the military.'

I chuckled and browsed the auction house for cement. It was used in all sorts of fields, especially construction, so there was quite a lot listed.

Having assumed it didn't exist at all, I felt a little deflated. If I'd known just a bit earlier, or even tried searching for it, my oven and furnace wouldn't have been swept away.

'I need to put up a barricade, too... So much to do.'

That avalanche had swept away so much. All I could do was sigh.

Whatever else I could do without, I needed the barricade. Having one made a huge difference. It had bought me time during the saber-toothed tiger attack, too.

'I'll ask the dwarf for that. Can't give him the liquor, though.'

Starlight Lady had said it might be dangerous, so I intended to put that off.

After drawing up plans to make the shelter sturdier, I immediately geared up. I needed sand to mix with the cement. As far as I knew, there was some downstream.

"Speedy, take good care of Roundfur."

"..."

I left Speedy at the shelter to look after the hibernating Roundfur. Perhaps Speedy didn't feel like moving either, because all it did was stare into the fireplace.

Human or beast, nobody seemed to want to go outside in the cold.

That made this the perfect opportunity for me. If Roundfur was sleeping, the other animals would be less active or hibernating, too.

There would probably be fewer dangers around, including those damned snakes that popped out at every opportunity.

'I'll need a shovel and sacks. The ground might be frozen, so let's bring the ignition stone and some firewood, too.'

Being able to put all of that in an extradimensional bag was wonderful. Even the weight wasn't a problem. Because it saved space, the load felt much lighter.

I checked several times to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, then headed for the river.

'Feels like it's been a while since I went downstream.'

Following the solidly frozen river down, I thought things over. Since I was heading this way anyway, it wouldn't hurt to visit the lake and get some food.

Not because I disliked smoked food. It was for Speedy.

'Feeding it nothing but inner cores is starting to get risky.'

With Speedy eating one at every meal, my supply was dwindling. Winter had arrived so suddenly that I hadn't stored food Speedy could eat, and that had really hurt.

Thank goodness I'd saved so many cores. Otherwise, I'd already have run out.

'And who knows when Heavenly Demon will have those fasting pills ready.'

On top of that, the gorillas kept stealing every last pill. I'd have to hold out somehow until Heavenly Demon sent more.

'The sand... Wow. Frozen solid.'

When I reached the lower stretch of the river, I found that the sand was frozen, too. Since the water touched it directly, I supposed that was inevitable.

With no other choice, I took the firewood I'd prepared out of the extradimensional bag. I only needed to keep a fire going until the sand thawed.

CRACKLE! POP!

The campfire was thawing the sand and warming me at the same time, leaving me pleasantly drowsy. I stared into it for a while before a thought suddenly struck me.

'Wait. Couldn't I have just dug it out with a pickaxe and thawed it later?'

Come to think of it, that was a better idea. Since I was going to mix it with cement anyway, there was no need to thaw it separately. I could simply mix it with hot water.

They said human intelligence often kicked in too late. I was a perfect example.

'Sigh. Let's call it a learning experience.'

Grumbling inwardly, I checked the sand. Still hard. I could probably make a quick trip to the lake while it thawed.

Even so, I kept an eye on my surroundings, just in case. There was no telling what might pop out.

'Nothing in sight, really.'

I didn't see any gigantic crabs, and the ordinary ones were frozen solid. If you asked whether they were edible, I'd just say they'd been kept in nature's freezer.

As I put a few crabs into a sack, I looked around. The entire lake had frozen over, forming what looked like a road.

'I could probably scout around if I wanted...'

But there was no need to push my luck. I gathered the crabs and returned to the lower river.

The moment I got back, I was greeted by a remarkable sight.

"Prrh."

"..."

A deer. A deer was resting beside the campfire I'd built.

Was it the one that had taken down a bull shark with a single kick of its hind legs?

I stared at it quietly, then moved slowly. That kick might be aimed at me if I wasn't careful.

'What a thug.'

I'd never imagined it would take over my campfire the moment I stepped away. It even gave off that unmistakable thug aura. Mess with it, and I'd pay dearly.

But I needed the sand. I moved slowly to show that I meant no harm.

Even when I drew close, it simply sat beside the campfire without doing anything.

CHUNK! CHUNK!

It didn't even react when I started digging up sand. I couldn't tell whether it didn't want to leave the warmth of the fire or had realized I wasn't a threat.

'The confidence of the strong?'

Herbivores were unusually powerful in this forest. Sloths, gorillas, and now deer.

If the carnivores were predators, these guys were outright thugs.

'I've got pretty much all the sand I need...'

How long was this thing going to hang around? It was staring straight at me, too, which was more than a little unnerving.

Still, as long as it didn't hurt me, that was fine. I'd already accomplished what I'd come for.

CLATTER! CRACKLE!

Before leaving, I added a few logs to the fire. A gesture of sorts: I had absolutely no intention of fighting it.

As the fire grew stronger, perhaps it understood my intentions. It had kept its eyes fixed on me the whole time, but finally turned its head away.

'That should do it, right?'

I tossed the rest of the firewood onto the flames and returned to the shelter. The deer showed no inclination to leave the fire, right up until I left.

There'd been a minor incident, but I'd managed to come back with what I'd set out to get.

'I'll leave the sand in the sacks and put the crabs in the icebox.'

By icebox, I meant the insulated box full of ice. I'd decided to call it that for convenience.

The moment I stepped into the shelter, I noticed something odd. The speed-sloth was still gazing into the fire, and Roundfur was hibernating.

Then who was that beside the speed-sloth?

'What? I definitely put up the iron fence and the canvas covering.'

There was no sign that either had been moved aside. That meant it had found another way in.

Still, the speed-sloth wasn't wary of it, so it probably wasn't dangerous. But I couldn't let my guard down. I slowly approached to see what it was.

"Keee..."

"..."

Up close, I recognized it. A familiar face.

It was the raccoon that had approached when I'd lit a campfire in the yard—the one that had stuck its paw into the fire, then put the burning paw into its mouth.

'What's it doing here?'

Puzzled, I stared at the raccoon. Then I noticed wounds on its leg and back.

I'd have thought it had ended up here while fleeing a predator, except there was no sign of it having come through the entrance.

"Hey. Where did you come from?"

"Kee...?"

Unable to figure it out, I approached quietly and asked. The raccoon looked puzzled for a moment as I drew near, then slowly rose.

I wondered if it intended to fight, but it did something completely unexpected.

"Kee... kek..."

It brought its paws neatly together with a deeply apologetic expression. Anyone could see it was saying sorry.

Between its rather cute appearance and the gesture, I couldn't help feeling sympathy. It was far more polite and well-behaved than certain gorilla bastards.

"Kek... keee..."

Then it pointed at the fireplace, still looking terribly wronged.

Well, that gave me a rough idea of what had happened. Apparently, it had entered the chimney and fallen straight down.

It was a wonder it had only scraped itself up instead of getting burned.

'That does seem a little unfair.'

I couldn't kill it after it had even apologized. If it had acted shamelessly like a raccoon dog, I'd have been harsh.

Besides, the speed-sloth was leaving it alone, too, understanding its plight.

I petted the raccoon's head to tell it not to worry. My friendly gesture seemed to reassure it, and its expression relaxed.

"Wait a moment."

"Kee?"

It was hurt, so I ought to apply some Elixir, at least. I treated the raccoon's wounds with the animal Elixir.

As its wounds healed in an instant, it felt around its body in apparent surprise. It was cute in a different way from Roundfur.

"How's that? Feeling okay?"

"Kee! Kek-kek!"

The raccoon clasped its paws together, thanking me over and over.

How come every animal in the Forest of Four Seasons seemed so smart? It was fascinating.

As I watched it with a pleased smile, the raccoon looked around, then went over to the fireplace.

Just as I began wondering what it was doing, its bizarre behavior started.

It smoothly slipped its paws straight into the blazing fire. Not just one paw like last time, either, but both held neatly together.

Watching it, I wondered what on earth it was doing.

"Kee!"

"... What's this?"

The raccoon held its cupped paws out toward me. They were blazing with fire, but it didn't seem to feel any heat at all.

As I struggled to figure out how to react, the raccoon seemed to notice my bewilderment and let the fire in its cupped paws fall.

WHOOSH!

The flames fell like water and soon died out.

I focused on the part where the fire had fallen like water. If it could fall like water, couldn't I put it in a bottle?

With that thought, I got an empty bottle ready.

The raccoon gathered fire in both paws as before, then dropped it into the empty bottle I held out.

FWOOSH! WHOOSH!

The fire retained its shape inside the bottle instead of going out. It even kept burning after I stoppered the bottle and cut off its oxygen.

Looking closely, I saw that the flames were burning around a round sphere.

'What is this?'

Fire burning without fuel or oxygen, defying conventional science. What did it mean?

Unable to figure it out, I looked at the raccoon. Understanding my gaze, it stuck its paw into the campfire again.

"Om."

Then it put its burning paw into its mouth...

"Fwooooo!"

WHOOOOSH!!!

And spewed a massive jet of flame straight out of its mouth. The fire lit up the entire cave in an instant.

All I could do was gape.

'What the hell? There are ninjas living in this forest?'

While I stood there in shock...

SMACK!

"Keeek!"

The speed-sloth smacked the raccoon on the back.

Its stern demeanor seemed to say, "Don't play with fire."