045: Bartolo is from a Snowy Country

October 14, 2020 - 7 minutes read - 1341 words

Winter, the season with the shortest days of the year. It seems that occurs the same in this world.

Would be around Christmas day in my original world? Christmas, the day for lovers.

Christmas Eve on the 24th and Christmas is on the 25th. I eat cake on both days, but there is a difference there.

In the first place, Christmas as a concept comes from the Christian religion. However, for the Japanese people, it’s become a day where it’s dominated by corporate imagined events instead of a religious holiday. Instead of focusing on the original celebration of the birth of the religious founder, it was a day where couples would flirt with each other. How did that day turn into a romantic day?

It may seem like an annoying season, but of course there wouldn’t be a Christmas in the other world. So I have nothing to worry about as a single person, great! So I’m spending my days as usual without problems. We’re expecting snow today, tomorrow the village of Koriat will be living in a pure white-silver world.

However I think the temperature has dropped such that it is now too cold. It’s no wonder that couples snuggle so much in this season. I don’t have anyone to snuggle up to, so I freeze both physically and mentally.

“Al…” Eleanora

Eleanora, who is currently sitting next to me on the living room sofa, call to me. No way, does Eleanora want to snuggle. Are we going to be a warm family now?

“What’s on your mind Eleanora?” Al

“tea…” Eleanora

“…” Al

“refill” Eleanora

“Yes…” Al

I should have known that would be the case.

The white snow is reflecting the morning sun, and shines here and there. It seems like it snowed quite a bit yesterday, all around the mansion was covered in white. I walk out the front door, wearing winter clothes of course. Every breath I take is visible and I hear the crunching of fresh snow on every step.

I bend down, take off my gloves and pick up some snow. It’s cold, but I can’t find a difference between it and the snow on Earth. I hurriedly put my gloves back on and stand back up.

Looking towards the mansion, I can spot Bartolo clearing snow from the roof using a shovel. I’m feeling a bit mischievous, so I make a snowball and throw it at Bartolo.

“Oh?!” Bartolo

I managed to hit Bartolo on his waist!

“Hahahah” Al

“Kid, you’ve started it” Bartolo

Bartolo looks over and puts down his shovel. He starts scraping together snow with a warlike smile, that looks a bit big for a snowball.

“Hey, Bartolo. If you throw something that big at me, it’ll hurt a lot more than a snowball.” Al

Bartolo now has a cannonball-sized snowball in his hand, so I hurriedly hide behind a tree. If something like that hit you, you’d look like a biscuit, all your facial features would be invisible.

“Oh? Shouldn’t you have expected this when you started the war?” Bartolo

Bartolo smiles even more as he further compresses the ball. It’s already as strong as a stone, this is getting dangerous.

“Come on! The battle has begun!” Bartolo

“Why are you getting so excited at your age?!” Al

“Take it!” Bartolo

The snowball flew at me with that voice.

“Wow! You managed to break the branch!” Al

“In the spring, it’ll grow again with new vigor.” Bartolo

Bartolo, aren’t you a chef and occasional servant? Is this ok?

Well, it seems I’m in a snowball war, so I start making another snowball. But I’m only a six-year-old child, so don’t expect much from my snowballs. I can’t compress the balls much, and the throwing power is weak. In comparison, my opponent has large hands and powerful arms that can make many more snowballs and throw them much farther. Isn’t he a little old to be this excited?

Bartolo makes another cannonball and throws it at me.

“That’s too effective” Al

Dang, our physiques are too different for this to be fair.

“Watch out!” Bartolo

Bartolo throws snowballs at me one after another as I duck between different trees. It’s fun, but it’s different from what I’ve previous called a snowball fight. I try to escape, but the snow kicked up when a ball hits a tree is obstructing my view. I try to move further away, but it seems the snowballs just come harder.

“What’s wrong! Are you running away, ey?” Bartolo

“That crazy, he’s uselessly lively. If that’s what he wants, I’ll retaliate.” Al

I steel myself and start walking out in front of Bartolo.

“Oh, are you approaching me?” Bartolo

“Oh yes, I’ll start taking you on. See if you can hit me!” Al

“Hehe, are you sure? I’ll seriously fight.” Bartolo

“No, I won’t forgive you if you’re the one pleading for mercy.” Al

“That’s fighting words!” Bartolo

“Then, do your worst!” Al

After I egged him on, Bartolo looked suspicious of me, but made another large snowball and threw it hard. He’s got the balance of a professional pitcher. Amazing form.

“Don’t fall down from one shot!” Bartolo

The snowball, propelled by all Bartolo’s strength, approaches me in a straight line.

“shield…” Al

As I chant those words, a colorless and transparent rectangle appears in front of me to block the snowball.

“Huh? Hey! Are you using magic? That’s not part of a normal snowball fight!” Bartolo

“Nobody told me the rules!” Al

“Then you’ve been told now, it’s banned!” Bartolo

“No, no. I’m just evening the odds a bit.” Al

I use ice magic to create a hand grabbing Bartolo’s leg. Thanks to the copious amounts of snow everywhere, it’s super easy to make it.

“Wait, why is ice clinging on my leg, I can’t get it off.” Bartolo

“Then it’s my turn to go on the offensive” Al

Declaring my intent, I picked up the snowballs I’ve already made using the Attribute-less Magic “Psychic” to float them in the air. Looks like there’s more than thirty floating around me.

“Hey, wait a minute, what kind of magic are you using?” Bartolo cries.

He seems pretty worried about the number of snowballs in play.

“Nothing special. Don’t avoid them, not that you can avoid it since I’ve pinned you in place. You’ll be fine.” Al

“Alfred? I’m sorry. I’m from a snowy country, so I got conceited.” Bartolo

“No” Al

I denied Bartolo’s supplication and fired snowballs at him.

“Augh!” Bartolo

Bartolo, who can’t dodge was blown from the roof. While he fell from the roof, the piled up new snow was a reasonable cushion, so he wasn’t hurt.

“Damn you!” Al

See, he’s fine. But what has this morning turned into? I just mean to take a light walk, but I got into a magical snowball fight. At least I got some exercise.

“Hey, Al! Let’s play” Asmo

I can hear an unknown voice calling out to me as I was taking a breather. I can spot Thor on the other side of the snow-covered gate. As I walked over, there was another boy next to him. Who’s that?

“Yo, Al! Let’s play in the first snow of the year!” Thor

“Ok, but who did you bring along?” Al

He’s a very solid build or a child, or a fat boy to be blunt. He has brown hair and a easy-going atmosphere.

“Oh, I’ll introduce you. This is Asmo. My friend.” Thor

“I’m Asmo, I often hang out with Thor since we live next to each other.” Asmo

“I’m Alfred. Are you Sheila’s younger brother?” Al

“That’s right” Asmo

I see, it’s just like I thought. Immediately I saw Asmo’s well-fed belly and thought of something.

“By the way, how many months have you been pregnant?” Al

“Oh, yeah. I’m three months along… that’s how you start a conversation? I’m a guy, I can’t get pregnant!” Asmo

After that back and forth, Thor broke out laughing.

This was my first encounter with Asmo.