Angel of Cold

I-it's... It’s an angel?!

Beasts had many classes—some rarer than others. Angels were among the most powerful ones, usually ruling over a specific part of nature, such as gravity, heat, cold, emotions, life, death, and so on.

Needless to say, while more ordinary beasts possessed merely an element—sometime multiple of them—having an authority over a field of nature was much more formidable.

Tamashi’s shocked expression soon turned into a wide grin.

“I am so sorry I doubted you for even a second, beast. Wait, no, I should definitely name you. Hmmm...”

The white ball of fluff puffed out its chest in pride, delighted to be praised so highly.

“Your authority is cold, you’re small and adorable, so the name should fit that image. How about—”

“Awayuki!”

“Huh?”

Tamashi turned to Mika, who had cut him off mid-sentence.

“Wait, Mika. I’m thinking of a name. Wait, what did you say?”

“Awayuki!” repeated Mika with her face practically beaming with excitement, her eyes glued to Tamashi’s beast.

“Awayuki... Meaning light or delicate snow? That’s actually pretty good.”

“Right? It looks like a fluffy snowball! Big brother, can I pet it?”

“Sure, go ahead,” agreed Tamashi. “But don’t be too rough, okay?”

“Okay!” answered Mika, who probably didn’t even hear what Tamashi said.

While Mika ran over to his beast, Tamashi proceeded to bestow upon it a name: Awayuki.

It feels a little weird being a master of an angel—one that is much stronger than me, on top of that. Hope we can get along nicely, communicated Tamashi to Awayuki telepathically.

Cheep! I’m glad to have such an open-minded master. I also feel it necessary to inform you that I am a male, so if you would refer to me as a “he”, I would greatly appreciate it.

Oh. Do you mind the name Awayuki, then? inquired Tamashi worriedly.

Cheep! Do not worry, the name pleases me greatly. I do indeed resemble a “fluffy snowball” after all, responded Awayuki contentedly.

Glad you like it.

“Hey, guys. Awayuki says he’s a male, so it would be nice if you referred to him as a he,” translated Tamashi from his and Awayuki’s telepathic conversation.

Mika was rubbing her cheek against Awayuki’s soft white feathers, not paying any attention, but at least Kengo and Himawari nodded.

Tamashi was about to speak again, but noticing how Awayuki was trapped, he first peeled Mika off of him—with quite a bit of difficulty—before finally saying:

“Alright, family, if you could pay attention to my rambling for just one more minute.”

After getting everyone’s attention, Tamashi continued.

“I want you all to use your Fast Learner spell to read chapters one through four of the Introduction to Dungeons, while I learn more about what our new companion, Awayuki, is really capable of.”

“Ehhh?” protested Mika. “Why do I have to read it right away?”

“Because,” said Tamashi seriously, “we are going to raid a dungeon tomorrow.”

***

The next morning, the five of them—Awayuki included—stood before the torii of Maou Tenjin-Sha, a shrine dedicated to Futsunushi-no-Kami, the deity of war and martial valor.

Kengo scratched the back of his head.

“Tamashi, why’re we in front of a shrine? I thought you said we’d be goin’ into a dungeon.”

Tamashi glared at his brother with a dark look.

“You didn’t read the book, did you?”

Laughing awkwardly, Kengo avoided Tamashi’s gaze.

“Anyways,” sighed Tamashi dejectedly, “I’ll just summarize it now.”

Tamashi cleared his throat, then started explaining.

“There are many categories and threat levels of dungeons, but what we need to know now is that this one is a Category: Basic and a Threat Level: One, so even ordinary humans like us should be able to clear it, if we know what we’re doing. As for the enemies we’ll be facing...”

Deciding to test whether the other two had studied, Tamashi turned to them silently, prompting them to speak up.

Mika shyly avoided his eyes, fidgeting nervously, so it was Himawari who eventually spoke.

“If I remember correctly, there will only be low level goblins, slimes, and occasionally nekurei.”

“Good job, Mom. You get an A. For additional points, could you tell me what I need to look out for in each of these monsters?”

“Goblins are able to carry rudimentary tools, slimes are highly resistant to physical attacks and attacks of their own element, and nekurei are prone to using traps and sneak attacks while disguising as regular roots or branches.”

“A perfect score!” clapped Tamashi. He then turned to his siblings with an excessively disappointed stare.

“You two, meanwhile, get a big, fat zero.”

His gaze eventually softened, though.

“Listen, I know that the world has just changed way too much, way too quickly, and that immediately forcing all these new things on you is hard, but there is no other choice. I had the one-in-a-million chance of learning about everything a year early, so please, let me share that privilege with you. If we don’t get ahead now, while everyone else is panicking, my year of a head start will become useless.”

“Yeah,” said Kengo apologetically, “you’re right. I’m sorry, I’ll try to take this more seriously. It’s just... you know, it still doesn’t feel real to me.”

“I get that,” responded Tamashi, patting his brother on the shoulder.

“Believe me, for about the first week after I became aware of the system, I felt the same way—wishing I would suddenly wake up with everything returning to normal. But this is our world now, and it won’t get better in the future unless we do something about it.”

Kengo stayed silent, and sensing his unease still lingering, Tamashi joked:

“Think of it as working out. At the start, you’ll feel like garbage, but despite how difficult it is, you stick with it, wanting to reach your desired goal in spite of the pain. And look at you now, and how far you’ve come.”

Tamashi teasingly squeezed Kengo’s chest, feeling his rock-hard muscles, causing his brother to chuckle softly and slap his hand away.

Tamashi then went over to Mika, who was facing the ground and clutching her T-shirt with her tiny hands.

Go over to Mika, please.

Following Tamashi’s request, Awayuki perched on Mika’s shoulder and rubbed his head against her neck, prompting Mika to lift her head in surprise.

“Mika, can you tell me why you didn’t want to read the book?” asked Tamashi gently, looking into her bright azure eyes with his own.

“I don’t know...” she answered, her eyes slightly watery. “Are you angry at me, big brother?”

“Why would I be angry at someone as cute as you for something as trivial as that?”

Stroking Mika’s hair gently and wiping her tears, Tamashi asked:

“How about we read the book together next time, okay? I’ll show you just how fun learning can be. What do you say?”

“But aren’t you busy?”

“I’m never too busy to spend time with my adorable little sister.”

Tamashi suddenly picked Mika up in a princess carry and started walking toward the torii.

“H-hey! What are you doing?” questioned his flustered sister.

“I’m not letting you go until you say yes to studying the books with me,” replied Tamashi with a sly grin spreading across his lips.

After struggling for a bit, Mika finally surrendered.

“Fine, I’ll study with you! Now let me down!” she yelled in a squeaky voice.

Tamashi put Mika down, and seeing her annoyed and embarrassed expression, he smiled in satisfaction.

At least she’s not sad anymore.

Standing between two stone statues of komaimu, right before the torii of the shrine, Tamashi stated: “Now that we’re here, about to enter a dungeon and fight monsters, we need to go shopping.”

“Shopping?” inquired Kengo, puzzled.

“Of course,” confirmed Tamashi with a smile. “We can’t exactly fight barehanded now, can we? Therefore...” he paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. “We need to buy weapons.”