"What did you say?!" Sean shouted toward the door.
It was nighttime, so even the old butler, who usually walked straight into his room, stopped at the entrance...
"Master Luke and Sir Danti have arrived, my lord. Would you like to come down and see?" With a disaster striking his own territory, how could Sean possibly sleep? He hurriedly called out.
"Wait a moment, I'll be right down."
With that, he turned to look at Lucille, who was still standing in the room.
His wooden house had poor soundproofing to begin with, and it was late at night—anyone nearby could hear even a whisper. So she didn't speak.
Instead, she pointed at herself, then gestured toward the window.
It seemed to mean: I'm leaving now.
Sean nodded...
After all, this was about his territory. She was an outsider, not supposed to meddle, but the feeling of her cutting ties and leaving at a time like this was somewhat disappointing.
Their exchanges over the past few days had been decent—not quite friends, but at least acquaintances. Her leaving like this did sting a little.
He watched as she reached the window and suddenly stopped...
Sean saw a status appear above her head: [Hesitation!] So she could hesitate too.
Was she thinking the same as him? She turned back, walked up to Sean, and abruptly pulled open the thick fur coat she was wearing, revealing her graceful figure and well-proportioned body. At her waist, a leather belt held a small bundle, from which she took out a book and placed it on the table.
Sean frowned.
What was this?
The magic tome she mentioned earlier?!
The cover was blank—just simple, thick pages, the roughest kind of paper.
Then Lucille looked at Sean again and pointed outside the window.
This time, she meant: I'm really leaving now.
He nodded again.
Alright. Earlier, she'd said she'd charge a fee, but now, hearing about the trouble in his territory, she'd just handed it over. That showed some conscience—at least their acquaintance hadn't been for nothing.
She left his room still carrying the [Hesitation!] status. The fact that she hesitated was enough for Sean; it proved their friendly relationship... that goodwill stat hadn't lied to him.
"My lord!" Caribo's voice came from outside the door, having been silent until now.
"Coming!"
Sean tucked the magic tome under the cabinet by his bedside before opening the door.
It was deep into the night.
He looked at the status displayed in the sky.
[Night, Strong Wind, 5:39:40]
Only five hours until dawn...
"Have you not rested yet, my lord?" Caribo glanced sideways at the dozen or so candles on the table, clearly lit for a long time. Even if he'd just woken up, he wouldn't light that many at once.
"That's not important. Tell me what's going on."
Sean avoided the topic and led Caribo straight downstairs.
"I'm not entirely sure either. Master Luke rushed over just now, saying he needed to see you, and mentioned an avalanche outside the town... As for exactly where, it seems..."
The old butler was getting on in years and had little education, so his speech was always muddled. Aside from daily matters, Sean rarely discussed other issues with him.
"Let's talk to Luke about it!" Sean cut off their conversation.
Avalanche!
He'd only read about that word in books from his past life. With heavy snow falling these past days, a massive snowslide from the mountaintop was plausible.
An avalanche—could such a natural disaster really happen in his territory? So that loud rumble earlier was caused by it.
As he thought this, they arrived at the hall...
Luke and Danti were already waiting there.
"My lord!"
"Mm, tell me the current situation." It was still dark, so he had no idea what was happening outside.
"I just received word from the townsfolk. All the roads leading to Creek Village are buried. We don't know what's happening inside!" Luke said hurriedly.
Since Lucille had been coming daily to teach him magic, Sean occasionally left the map of Tylermian out.
And this time, it was lying on the table...
He opened it to check the location mentioned.
Tylermian generally referred to his entire territory; the locals used it as the town's name. But around the town were many other places—mostly farms, wheat fields, or livestock pens named after people, along with two or three small villages.
Creek Village was a mountain hamlet in the northeast of Tylermian. Since it was where timber was transported out, even Sean, who hadn't been lord long, remembered the name.
About a few dozen households, over two hundred people—mostly logging families.
"It's this spot, my lord." Luke kindly pointed to the location on the map.
Sean said nothing, quietly waiting as the map slowly took shape before him.
Since it was night, even the simulated map was dim, but with the snow and moonlight, he could make out some areas—his own position and the nearby town showed rooftops, even faint glimmers of light in the darkness.
But when he looked toward the northeast of the town...
It was all gone.
That entire area had vanished, buried under white snow.
He remembered seeing forests and some houses there before, but now it was nothing but snow.
Everything was covered in snow, stretching all the way into the mountains...
Even in the dark, Sean could see a massive gap on one side of the mountain range. With such a large section collapsed, how could anyone survive?!
How could it be this severe?!
It had been snowing these past few days, but not as heavily as before. Why this?!
"What about the others? How are the people there?" Sean asked urgently.
That was over thirty households! Even if many moved to town in winter, plenty still lived in the mountains year-round. And now—where was the mountain? It was all buried under snow.
"We don't know the specifics yet. I've sent people to check, but most townsfolk probably know by now. What should we do, my lord?" Even Danti, a knight, didn't know how to handle this.
Especially a decision like this.
After all, Sean was the lord of this region... and it was at times like this that everyone relied on him.
"There's no way to hide something like this. Organize everyone. We're going to rescue them now. Even if hope is slim, at least we find their bodies. Time is of the essence... Move!"
Sean commanded.