Fragment 17. Meet the (2nd) Sister (Part 1)

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!”

After I jumped into the well, I kept falling into endless darkness. Only after falling for quite a while did I finally hit the bottom.

“Ow, ow, ow—Huh? It doesn’t hurt?”

When I thought I had broken my tailbone from landing butt-first, I didn’t feel any significant pain at all.

I stood up and found myself in the same dark space as when I first entered my subconscious realm. I walked toward the only light source and arrived at the “dining room,” as Chinatsu called it.

I turned my gaze toward the door that led to Chinatsu’s room and noticed something had changed. The mirror that had previously been empty was now showing a scene of a field of pampas grass.

As I kept watching, the scenery shifted, revealing a simple house and then its yard. There, Chinatsu could be seen training.

Unlike before, when she trained her punches, now she was swinging a bamboo sword. But it wasn’t an ordinary bamboo sword. Along its blade were neatly arranged black metal rings. Every time she swung it, the scene reflected in the mirror distorted, as if the air around Chinatsu itself were trembling.

I could only give a stiff smile at her unreasonable strength.

Averting my gaze, I searched for my next destination. Chinatsu had suggested that I visit Fuyuki as soon as possible. But I didn’t know which door led to her realm.

I tried peeking through each door behind the mirrored glass and found one that matched both Fuyuki’s personality and power. It was an ordinary door, just like the one that lead to Chinatsu’s room. The only difference was that the door panel was covered in ice flakes, as if a cold place lay beyond it.

I decided that this door would be my next stop. Standing in front of it, I reached out and turned the knob.

With a cracking sound, the door opened. Just like before, a blinding light filled my vision. This time, however, a strong and chilly wind also struck my body.

When I opened my eyes, my mouth fell open as well. The moment I arrived, I was greeted by a night sky filled with countless stars. Not only that, auroras dancing across the sky further adorned the view above.

As I was enjoying the magnificent scenery—something you would normally only find on a screen—my attention was pulled downward when my foot stepped on something soft. It was so soft that my foot sank right into it.

Without realizing it, I was standing in the middle of a snowy field. Just like the star-filled sky stretching above, there was nothing but an endless expanse of white snow as far as the eye could see.

I was so captivated by all this natural beauty that I forgot my purpose for coming here. Fortunately, I quickly remembered and began to search the resident of this realm.

I kept walking, pushing against the soft snow that continued to swallow my feet. Unable to find what I was looking for, I began to feel tired. I even thought about jumping into an inviting pile of snow and making a snow angel.

But I resisted the urge and kept moving forward.

My efforts were finally rewarded. After climbing a fairly tall hill, I found a castle made of ice. The castle stood atop a frozen lake. The layer of ice was so thin that it felt absurd for a structure that large and heavy to be standing on it.

I was too mesmerized by the sight, staring at it without fully realizing how fragile the ground beneath my feet was. I stepped wrong and slipped, falling from the top of the hill.

Crap!

I slid downward. I had nothing to slow my fall and could only hope that I would come to a safe stop.

My prayer was answered when I reached the frozen lake area, and the ice beneath me acted as a natural brake that brought me to a halt.

“Phew.”

As I let out a sigh of relief, my heart nearly stopped when I saw what was in front of me.

A pair of statues shaped like fully armored knights towered before me, standing at around ten meters tall. Their entire bodies were made of solid, translucent bluish ice. The details of their armor were clearly visible—thick chest plates, broad pauldrons, iron gauntlets, and closed helmets that covered their faces completely.

The knights stood upright, both feet planted firmly on the ice. In front of them, a massive sword was thrust straight into the ground. Both hands gripped the hilt from above, as if they were resting after a battle. The tip of the sword pierced through the ice below, creating small cracks that spread around it.

From a distance, the statues looked like giant guardians frozen in place—silent, stiff, and intimidating. Yet for some reason, I felt as though they could move at any moment.

Keeping a wary eye on the statues, I walked past the equally massive castle gate. Out of fear, I kept glancing back from time to time, afraid of a sudden ambush.

After going deep enough into the castle, I calmed down a little, thinking that those terrifying statues wouldn’t chase me all the way in here. My fear was replaced by awe at the castle’s interior.

Perhaps because the castle was made of ice, everything sparkled. The clear, icy blue color made everything look beautiful. On top of that, the place was so grand that it felt strange for somewhere this large and vast to be completely uninhabited.

I kept walking until I finally arrived at a room resembling an audience hall. The hall stretched straight ahead, with a high ceiling supported by rows of massive pillars neatly lined up on both sides. The floor was slick, made of smoothly polished ice, reflecting the faint light that filled the room.

Along the right and left walls stood rows of armored knight statues, each pressed against the wall like eternal guards. They stood upright in uniform poses, hands gripping swords whose tips touched the floor. Their faces were hidden behind helmets, making their expressions impossible to read. All of the statues were made of ice, yet the details were incredibly sharp—the curves of the armor, the shoulder guards, even the iron gauntlets. However, unlike the statues I had seen outside, these didn’t feel as intimidating.

Above, triangular banners hung at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the walls. The fabric was covered in a thin layer of ice, but the emblems on their surfaces were still faintly visible, giving the impression that each banner represented something. They were lined up neatly along the hall, each frozen stiff, as if caught in the middle of a flutter that would never finish.

At the end of the hall, directly facing the entrance, stood a throne. It was slim and not very wide, as if made for a small-bodied figure. However, its backrest towered high, far above the head of anyone who might sit there, forming a striking silhouette. The entire throne was made of ice, with smooth surfaces and sharp edges that gave off a cold, stern impression. Despite its modest size, it still radiated a strong aura of authority.

As I walked across the carpet—also made of ice—twisting my body as if I were in a fantasy world, a voice as cold as ice called out to me.

“What are you doing here?”