Chapter 913: The morning after the blizzard
Morning. Snow had piled up outside. It looked as if the world had sunk into a white sea.
“……I guess I have to shovel the snow”
After spending a moment escaping into the thought of how beautiful the snowy landscape was, I snapped back to reality, I have to clear a path here. The Smithson house has raised floors, but even so, the floor level is now almost level with the snow. If I leave it like this any longer, it’ll start affecting our ability to get in and out. I also have to clear the snow off the roof. It’s a brand-new, sturdy house built in the elven style, but even so, if too much snow piles up, the roof probably won’t hold. Before we built the house, there were hardly any reasons for Polka to shovel snow, and there wasn’t really anything for me to do, but now that this is my house and my yard, I suppose I have to do it.
“Emma, do we have any snow shovels?”
“Are you going to clear the snow?”
“Yeah. Everyone in town’s probably starting now, too. If we don’t clear it, it’ll be a big problem when it snows again”
“……Leave it to me”
With a whoosh, Emma darted out into the sea of snow, her skirt and hair fluttering gracefully as she descended into the white world, and then, an illusory shockwave shook my brain as a Silver Dragon manifested.
“So, I just need to clear the snow around the house, right?”
“……No, wait, I meant the snow shovels”
“There’s no need to trouble you, Master. If you’d like, I can call the other dragons, and they’ll be here in a flash”
“No way! If you transformed into a dragon just to shovel snow every time, people would be shocked! It’s something the townspeople do too, so let’s at least do it in human form, okay!?”
“……But it’ll be over in a second”
Emma reluctantly returns to her human form. Yeah. Well, there’s no doubt that would be faster. But I should get into the habit of doing as much as I can by hand. This is a human town, after all, so it’s not good to flaunt our dragon presence too much.
……That said, we still didn’t have any snow shovels on hand, so just for today, Emma, Maia, and Leda literally 「Shoveled」 the snow for us, and everything worked out fine. ……Laila, who arrived later, watched the scene with a slightly awkward expression.
“We should just melt all this away”
“But if we do that near the houses, they’ll catch fire, won’t they?”
“Let Anzeros handle it. She should be good at handling fire that delicately”
“……I know this is a bit late, but doesn’t using fire like that consume anything?”
“For me or Anzeros, conjuring a flame at close range is no more taxing than whistling. It might get tiring if we kept it up for a long time, but that’s about it”
“No matter how intense the flame?”
“It doesn’t make much difference when it comes to the kind of heat a human can handle. After all, the heat source is my internal organs. If I really put my mind to it, I could easily engulf the entire town in flames”
……Yeah. Handling that kind of firepower in human form is on a completely different scale, that’s for sure. In the end, Laila evaporated the snow mountain the three-headed dragon had scraped together. It’s always a hassle to deal with the snow after shoveling. I’m grateful.
—————————–
While I was at it, I looked around to see if there were any other houses struggling with snow removal. But, as expected of residents who’ve endured this snow for years, they were well-accustomed to it and were swiftly clearing the snow and making paths. I heard that a system had been established where neighbors help each other out, so even in areas with many elderly residents, the work was proceeding smoothly. Even though they’re called elderly, thanks to the Spirit Spring, everyone in Polka is healthy and fully capable of moving around. There aren’t any of those frail, shuffling old men and women you might imagine elsewhere. There are even some old men over 80 who are stronger than me.
“Everyone’s so efficient. If anything, I’m most worried about your mom’s place”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the tavern owner outside his shop. He’s short, but he works fast. Together with his wife, the two of them are clearing the snow around the tavern in no time.
“As for my mom’s place, Asti took care of it……”
“Asti……you mean that woman who looks just like Maia-chan?”
“Exactly”
Since my mom built her house in a place without that kind of mutual aid network, everyone seemed worried about her. But before we could even get started with the dragons, Asti had already cleared the snow. And with her bare hands. In human form. Apparently, she made makeshift snow-clearing tools out of ice, or deliberately blew cold air onto armfuls of snow to turn them into solid blocks, then just threw them all out into the wilderness with all her might……well, I suppose there’s room for debate as to which is more of a spectacle, that or us dragons shoveling snow…….
“If you’ve got energy to spare, why don’t you head over to the Baron’s mansion? I hear the roof is high and the place is huge, so they struggle with it every time”
“I’ll do that”
It’s not me who has extra energy, it’s Emma and the others. Well, I didn’t actually do any of it myself, so I’m not tired either.
And so, at the Baron’s mansion.
“Sharaaah!! This spot’s done!!”
“Next, please take care of that path over there”
“Roger!! Uooo!!”
……Botz Goto, the larger of the Masturbation Brothers, the Baron’s newest servants, was working his butt off.
“You’re really going all out, Goto……”
I muttered absently and Lantz, who was nearby, explained.
“The Baron’s household is surprisingly peaceful, so there aren’t many opportunities for an ogre……besides, since it’s a human-sized mansion, there are plenty of places where he can’t do the work. But now that it’s started snowing, they’re finally relying on him, so he’s seizing the chance to show off”
“He’s pretty handy, so I bet he could do all sorts of things like fixing furniture”
“I mean, ogres are rare around here to begin with. The blacksmith’s master is half-human, so he looks pretty human-like, but that guy’s a pure ogre, so his face is way more intimidating. At least, that’s how it is”
“Ah……I guess people do keep their distance a bit……”
When I first got drafted into the Celesta Army, I was terrified of all the ogres, too. Ogres are a little scary just because they’re so big, but their faces and bone structure also give them a strong, ferocious look. Well, after a while, the atmosphere in the squad was what it was, so I got used to it.
“The foreman comforted me by saying, if you prove yourself through your work, they’ll warm up to you, so I’m super pumped, I figure now’s my chance”
“Aren’t you going to give it your all?”
“Huu. Do I look that tactless, like I’d get in the way of my partner’s moment?”
“What’s the real reason?”
“……Because if I’m just fiddling around while the ogre’s showing what he’s made of, no one’s going to notice me. Plus, I’m not used to fighting snow”
……Yeah. Well, I guess that’s understandable.
“No. There’s plenty of work for you too, Lantz-san”
Before I knew it, Fennel, dressed in work pants, had appeared behind Lantz.
“Huh?”
“Clearing the snow off the roof. We can’t very well have Goto-san climb up there”
“……A, Alright, I’ll do my best”
Lantz takes a snow shovel from Fennel and climbs up onto the roof with her. Even though Fennel is from the Northern Forest where there’s no snow, she seems to know her way around snow to some extent. Maybe because she’s from the Silver Clan, which borders the outside world. Or so I thought.
“In that case, we’ll help too! Maia, Emma, let’s borrow some tools and climb up”
“Okay”
“I’ll go get the tools”
My own house wasn’t equipped for this, but the Baron’s mansion has plenty of spare tools. Since I’ve asked Leda to handle road construction in the suburbs, I only have the two little ones with me, but they’re still dragons. They should be more than enough to help out. ……Except for me. No, I’ll do my best too, okay? I’ll try my best, but please don’t expect me to work harder than an average person, I’m used to the royal capital, where the snow isn’t nearly this deep, and Basson, where it hardly ever snows.
……And in reality, I was no match for the little ones with their tireless, powerful arms. I quickly collapsed and ended up panting with my tongue hanging out on the roof with Lantz.
“……10-man C, Captain Smithson……do you have any plans to invent something that makes the snow more manageable……?”
“……I’m thinking about it right now……”
If only I had that 「Ice Decker」, the snow-clearing axe Isaac used, I’d be unstoppable……but it is the army’s secret weapon, after all. A tool that uses runes to interact with the snow……umm. As we sat there slumped, mulling over such things, Fennel approached us, deftly shoveling snow while a touch of sweat made her look all the more alluring.
“It would be great if we could lay down some snow-sliding cloth on the roof”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a special kind of cloth often used in the Northern Forest……a type of what you might call elf cloth. It’s a special fabric that doesn’t stick to ice or snow at all, even though it doesn’t slip when people touch it. It’s often used for tents set up outside the forest, but……”
“If we had that, we wouldn’t need to shovel snow……I really want some……!”
Well, covering the entire roof would probably cost an astronomical amount, so we decided to give up on the idea right then and there. ……Maybe I should try developing a board with that kind of engraving. Since I managed to create a water supply system for the fortress where water flows up on its own, I think I could probably make a board where snow just slides off by itself.
“Done”
“What shall we do next?”
……Without abandoning their master, who was looking pathetic while thinking only of taking the easy way out, the loyal dragon girls had finished clearing the snow. Thank you. And I should focus on physical training rather than inventions.