Chapter 362: Blank Slate in the Snow ( 362 )

"But... with me, he could sightsee the whole world, the whole continent, and even the continents that can only be reached by water or air." Glacia pursed her lips, narrowing her glare at Ridan.

"Hah? No way! This is a two-guy journey. Yeah! Two guys! No pervert dragon girl, no annoying brat, no clingy royalty who blushes when tied up!" Ridan floated in a defiant circle. "Besides, if he travels the whole world with you, that’s not called sightseeing. Do you think this human here has never flown? Boo hoo! Flash news! He has! You wouldn’t even understand if I told you about the flying metal thing called an airplane! Not to mention the long iron centipede that moves faster than sound, the Shinkansen! He rode those monsters in his world!"

Glacia pouted, her cheeks puffing out as she crossed her arms and turned away in a sulk. She kicked at the snow with her foot, looking genuinely dejected.

"So no, no bratty princess." Ridan wiggled his cloud-like finger while circling her in slow, taunting loops. "If you come with us, then I get less food! No way."

Glacia puffed her cheeks. "Since when does a spirit need to eat!?"

Ridan smirked. "Since I became bound to this sword and could eat whatever Hazuki touches, including food. Just so you know, bratty~ Even if I don’t feel hungry, eating what this guy buys lets me taste food, booze, and everything else again after a thousand years of nothing. So no. No no no no no." Ridan wiggled his eyebrows, his whole puffball body vibrating with smug satisfaction.

"Only a guy and the genius wizard spirit here. No middleman, no average, no other dumbass in our group."

Ridan pointed toward her while his other hand rested on his hips. "If another dumbass comes with us, the journey will be boring! I can’t see this everyday dumbass way of living anymore, like him sleeping in the middle of the road, scratching his butt while yawning after waking up, making other people stare in pity but he couldn’t care less, or the way he eats like a starving wolf, or how he snores even though it’s annoying. That’s the fun part!"

"If you come with us, he might change or control himself. There’ll be no fun in that, so no." Ridan flew toward Hazuki, encased in ice. "There are much more interesting things I bet I could see in the future if I stay with him."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "This human could easily find the Tree of Life and eat the fruit like it was just regular fruit. You know how many he ate? Five! That means he could live up to 500 years! 500 years of more interesting journey!"

He glanced at Glacia. "You do know beastfolk live up to 350-500 years, dwarves up to 1000 and sometimes more, elves up to 5000 years old. Just look at yourself, dragon bitch~ more than a thousand years old. Oh~ Granny Tiny Dragon brat~"

Glacia bit her lower lip and stood up in rage.

"How dare you call me granny!!"

The moment Glacia shouted, the ice encasing Hazuki cracked violently.

The frozen block shattered into a thousand glittering shards, scattering across the snow like broken glass. Hazuki dropped flat onto the snow, face-first, with a soft thump.

"Oho~ Here comes the human~" Ridan circled above where Hazuki had dropped. "Glad to be back with us, lolizuki?"

Hazuki lifted his face from the snow and looked forward, blinking. "Err... what just happened?"

Glacia’s face was already reddening in embarrassment. She turned her body away, hiding her expression behind her silver hair, hands fidgeting nervously.

"Welcome back~" Ridan grinned slyly while looking at Hazuki.

Hazuki slowly turned his body and sat up, glancing around in confusion. He looked at Glacia, then turned his gaze toward Ridan.

"Who are you?"

"Oi. Stop with the joke~ It’s not funny." Ridan circled Hazuki’s body, floating in lazy loops. "You’re never funny anyway. Bwahahaha!"

"Err... sorry... but seriously... who are you two? Where am I? And how did I end up here?"

Ridan, floating above, paused from his laughter and narrowed his eyes at Hazuki. "Oi. I told you to stop. You’re not suitable to be a comedian." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Hazuki scratched his cheek while looking up at Ridan, then glanced down at his own bare chest.

He looked around at the snowy landscape.

"Am I dead?" Hazuki mumbled in confusion. "Am I in heaven now?"

"Hah? Of course you’re not dead! And you’re not in heaven or hell. What’s wrong with you?" Ridan narrowed his eyes, seeing Hazuki was in full confusion. He floated in front of Hazuki’s face and stared into his eyes.

"Ah... crap..."

"Huh? What, Ridan?" Glacia asked.

"Looks like this guy here... really lost his memory."

"S... seriously?" Glacia said to Ridan.

"Yeah. Look at his eyes, the pupils aren’t focusing right. There’s no recognition, no spark of familiarity. When I stare into them, I should see annoyance, irritation, or at least that dumb look he always has when he’s confused. But this? This is blank. Empty. Like he’s seeing me for the first time."

Ridan floated back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "And look at his posture, he’s not relaxed like usual. He’s tense, guarded. He doesn’t know where he is or who we are. This isn’t a joke... he genuinely doesn’t remember."

Damn... why does it have to be this mess?

This Hazuki now doesn’t remember anything.

Is it because of the effect from the Icy Leaf?

Or because he was frozen inside the ice?

Crap. If this memory loss lasts too long, I’ll be facing a huge problem.

And those two will be mad at me, since they’ll say I failed to protect and guide him.

Ah, shit. Let’s hope this is just temporary.

He looked at the confused Hazuki and floated in front of him.

"Oi, Hazuki."

Hazuki looked at Ridan floating in front of his face. "Err... who’s Hazuki?"

Ridan let out a long exhale. "You are Hazuki. You might be confused now, but just trust me. We’ve been buddies for so long, and I’ve always been with you to guide you in this world."

"R... really?" Hazuki looked at him, still confused.

"Yeah. You notice I’m not a human but a spirit, right?" Ridan wiggled his eyebrows.

"Err... yeah?" Hazuki scratched his cheek while glancing at him.

"You’re the only one who was chosen by a special spirit like me. No other person has ever been chosen like you."

"R... really?"

"Yeah." Ridan puffed his chest in smug satisfaction. "If you ask around, no one will be able to see me unless I choose to. But you... among all others... were specially chosen by me. You’re bound to me. You sought my power, and I granted it. The strongest spirit, the genius among geniuses, the most powerful magic wielder ever."

"Wow! That’s awesome!" Hazuki’s eyes lit up like a child’s, a wide, excited grin spreading across his face. "I have my own guardian spirit! And you’re the strongest!? That’s so cool!"

While Glacia mumbled from a distance, "Whoa... can’t believe Ridan is trying to fool Hazuki like that."

( End Of Chapter )