<Freeze> is quite a straightforward spell. It freezes the target I’ve used on. This skill though is somewhat different compared to the other skills. The maximum number of targets I could use this skill on is just < 3 >. And as of now, the display shows that it’s < 2/3 >. I could only use this skill a few times compared to the other skills.

This a non-lethal type of skill. This skill also can’t be overlapped with other skills. The duration of its effect lasts for 300 days. And on my current level, it could be released.

It’s quite difficult to use this skill.

I placed the frozen bug on top of a flat stone.

[Eve, can you crush this thing with the war-mallet?] [What?] [Please do your best to break the ice.] [You want me to deal with frozen little bug?] [That’s right.] […….Understood.]

I had Eve retrieve Costello’s war-mallet earlier. Eve raises the war-mallet over her head. She just easily lifted the thing. You could say that it’s expected because of her strength. Establishing her aim, Eve shakes the war-mallet for a bit before…

Swooooossshhhh! Kachiingggg!

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[Wha-!?]

Bafflement appeared on Eve’s face. She must have felt something out of place with the resistance of the ice.

[This is strangely harder than I expected.]

Eve groaned.

[There shouldn’t have been anything wrong with the power I used… The place where I struck also wasn’t that bad. However, with this kind of hardness… It appears it isn’t just an ordinary ice.] [That’s right. This isn’t just an ordinary ice.]

I pick up an ice with my fingertips.

[If I were to invoke this on a living being, it seems that they would turn into this state where they refused to be destroyed after they froze. It will become an ice with an idiotic hardness.]

It was the first time I’ve tried using <Freeze>. I’ve chosen this small bug as my target of experiment. The bug frozen in ice wouldn’t break no matter what I did. I couldn’t even melt the ice even after I broiled it on fire. Perhaps, this ice will not melt until 300 days have passed.

[Now then, I want you to crush this one with your war-mallet.]

Eve looks puzzled.

[It looks like it’s just the same bug like before but…]

I once again placed the ice on top of the stone. Pointing at the ice with my hand…

[Try it now.] […Understood. I mean, it’s you who said it. You must have some kind of idea.]

Eve shakes her war-mallet again. ……………… Even so, her accuracy is quite astonishing. Even if that ice is that small, she struck it at almost the same area where she struck it before. You could even say that there’s no difference between the two small blocks of ice I’ve shown her.

Crack!

———Crumble———-

[Mhmm?]

It seems Eve noticed something.

[The sound and the resistance were different compared to before…]

Eve slowly raises the war-mallet in front of her face. There was powders of ice in the face of the mallet. I said powders of ice because that is indeed what I’m seeing right now. The shards were so fine that it looks like a powder.

[This is…? Is this ice different compared to the previous one?]

[The difference between <Freeze> and other skills of mine is that I could use this skill on “objects”.]

[However, they were the same insect, weren’t they?]

[They certainly were the same kind of insect. However, there’s a decisive difference between the two of these.]

[A decisive difference?]

[Yeah, it’s the difference between the living and the dead.]

[Mhmm?]

[The first one is a living bug that I have frozen while the second is a frozen carcass of a bug.]

[Fumu… So, there was such a difference between them…]

[For some reason, corpses were judged as just another “object”. Therefore, they become “destructible” ice without their strange hardness.]

The dead bodies are treated as “objects” by <Freeze>. I scoop up some of the almost powdered ice between my fingers.

[Moreover, when they were destroyed, it shatters in a special way different from how ice ordinarily breaks— It have broken so fine that it’s as if the powders could be drifted in the wind.]

△

It was at that time back when I was staying at the inn in Monroy.

I tried a certain idea that I had been holding for a while.

The new skill <Freeze> can’t release the frozen state of my target before 300 days have passed.

Its effect can’t be released.

Then, what about “destroying” it…?

I tried striking the frozen bug in the first experiment with a small hammer.

It has an extraordinary amount of hardness. Obviously, its hardness is clearly different from ordinary ice. It may be closer to those ice Seras had created with her spirits. I tried all kinds of things, but it seems it’s impossible to break this ice. I let out a sigh. I felt like my plan has stopped and ended up in a blank. Walking by the window, I looked outside. Just so I could think about what I should do now. And that’s when I’ve seen a wood chip came unstuck from the window and fell down on the floor.

Speaking of which, <Freeze> also works on objects…

I still haven’t tried it on objects yet. That’s why, I decided on trying it out now. The maximum limit of targets I could this skill on is < 3 >. Even if I were to use 2 slots for the insect and this piece of wood, I would still have one final use remaining.

[Just in case, I will check if there’s any difference…]

I froze the wood chip. After that, I struck it with my hammer.

It crumbled.

It’s quite brittle compared to that bug earlier. Moreover, it had crumbled into powder. It’s as fine as flour.

[It also had a large difference compared to how fragmented it had turned out…. In that case, this kind of result from breaking is a special characteristic of the targets I’ve used my <Freeze> on?]

I made my hypothesis.

Humans, animals, insects, etc. were determined to be “living”. Plants, soil, stones, etc. were judged as “objects”.

The frozen living beings couldn’t be destroyed. While frozen objects could be destroyed.

[Status Open.]

I check the information of my skill. The maximum limit of targets has returned back from < 2/3 > to < 1/3 >.

[…So, the maximum limit slot would be turned back if the target had destroyed huh…]

I felt like something that was just broken has been reconnected yet again.

If this is the case, this may be good.

I went outside and looked for the carcass of an insect. By chance, I happened to find a carcass of the same kind of insect as my target of the first experiment.

Freezing the carcass, I then struck it with my hammer.

▽

[And, the result was—] [—the carcass was crushed, or so you’re trying to say huh.] [Yeah.] [Hhmmm…]

A quiet groan came out of Eve’s throat.

[I understand now that the hardness changes depending on what you’ve used it on but… What are you trying to do?] [I’ve been thinking about how to deal with corpses.]

Eve looks surprised.

[In other words, you’re thinking of freezing the corpses…] [That’s how it is.]

With this skill, we could deal with someone without leaving any corpses.

[However, there’s still a question remaining.]

Eve still looked as if she still has something she wants to know.

[Is there any point why we have to deal with these corpses with that skill? Wouldn’t it be better for us to just cast aside these corpses and leave?] [Your doubt is plausible. However—]

I cast a glance at Muaji’s corpse.

[The corpses lying over there were supposedly the corpses of the “sorcerer group who have killed the Five Dragon Warriors”.]

[Umu… I still don’t know what you’re aiming at…]

[I’m thinking of letting the Ashinto to permanently be known as the culprits who killed the Five Dragon Warriors.]

The Ashinto’s corpses crumbles and drift in the wind. The Ashinto who have died in this place could no longer be found by anyone. Then, the truth would be further hidden in the dark. Did the Five Dragon Warriors really die from Ashinto’s “sorcery”? Dead people don’t talk. Hereafter, no one could confirm the authenticity from Ashinto.

The only people who managed to see the death of the Five Dragon Warriors were Seras and I.

Nobody else knows the truth.

[Those group of sorcerers who claims to have killed the Five Dragon Warriors… One day, they’ve suddenly disappeared from the sight of others.]

The culprits who killed the Five Dragon Warriors.

The society would continue to think that there’s a “possibility” that it could be Ashinto.

That “possibility” would continue unless the Ashinto denies it themselves.

Especially if there’s no other culprits that they know of.

An uncertainty that continues forever.

[Those people who would be investigating the mystery of the deaths of the Five Dragon Warriors will just keep on looking for a suspect that doesn’t exist anymore…]

Originally, I’ve never expected for the Ashinto’s role as a decoy to last.

Someday, their disguise would come off their faces.

That’s what I thought.

But if I were to do this well, it’s possible that they could permanently become our decoys.

As the culprits who killed the Five Dragon Warriors.

[I will have “The Missing Ashinto” to keep on deceiving the eyes of others, keeping them away from us.]

There are only two types of corpses left remaining on the scene.

The private army of Duke Zuan. And the mercenaries that he hired.

The people may also think that this was also done by Ashinto.

Are they in conspiracy with the fleeing Eve Speed? Or perhaps, did an internal feud occur? Nobody knows what has happened.

I told Eve about that idea.

[Though I say that, I don’t have any idea what reason could it be that the Ashinto fellows would jump towards Eve’s side. There’s a possibility of internal conflict or a betrayal happening within the team of pursuers— When that happens, their eyes may turn away from Eve.]

[I see… You didn’t want to let anyone of them escape because you want to make this plan work.]

[Yeah.]

[You’re right… If even a single witness escapes from this place, it will be quite difficult to come up with a plan.]

[Well, I first thought that it couldn’t be helped if someone manages to escape… And I honestly thought that this plan is really difficult to achieve. However, not a single person really escaped thanks to the two of you.]

Even if that plan would have failed, if their main force were destroyed, we would have been able to reach the Demon Zone without any further obstructions.

At the time that they would catch up with us, it would be obvious who wins without their main force backing them up.

[Eve, wait for a bit.]

I went to pick up the thing that I had asked Seras earlier.

It’s a moderately long hammer.

I’ve never expected for Costello’s weapon to be a war-mallet. Originally, I was going to crush them with this hammer. However, I think this will still help a bit. I held the medium length hammer in my hand.

[Thanks to that guy Costello, we now have two hammers to work with. Let’s go break the Ashinto’s corpses. Honestly, this wouldn’t be that pleasant of a job but… can you do it?]

I don’t want Seras or Liz to do this. This is not something I could show to them. However, I wanted to rely on Eve’s strength.

[Funnnn…]

Eve snorts.

[I’ve already lost interest after seeing all the brutal happenings in the Blood Colosseum. My hands have already been stained with innumerable amount of blood… Therefore, you don’t need to give such consideration towards me.]

[That’s quite reassuring. Eve—]

I calmly carry the hammer on my shoulder.

[If you feel the presence of anyone other than Seras and the others, quickly tell me about it. I want to avoid anyone witnessing our acts of breaking these ice. When you feel the presence of someone, we will immediately stop working and leave this place… There’s no possibility that a fourth team won’t be coming. Well, in the worst case scenario, just erasing the existence of Muaji and their core members should be enough.]

The other members of Ashinto have simultaneously fallen together with the Duke’s private army and the mercenaries.

That kind of scenario should be good enough.

Those dead bodies that have died from poison could just be stabbed with a poison arrow or a sword.

Eve nods in response.

[Understood.]

We began walking with our own hammers in hand.

[Now then, let’s start.]

‘

▽

Is it because this place is far away from the city and villages?

Or is it because it was now the deep hours of the night?

In the end, Eve’s sensor haven’t caught any intruder approaching us.

After we have finished crushing Ashinto’s corpses, we left that place and met up with Seras.

I started organizing the information I obtained while I’m crushing their corpses.

The hardness of these corpses were quite different compared to that woodchip.

It seems that the hardness also changes depending on the object.

When something that was originally hard was frozen, then it may be more difficult to crush.

That means I couldn’t just freeze something and crush it into powder huh…

[……………………..]

The clouds were rumbling just a while ago.

If it were to rain right now, will the “powders” scattering about in the area be neatly washed away…?

On our way to meet Seras, I look back.

There is no “Ashinto” over there anymore.

“No one can prove the absence of a curse.”

According to Seras, Muaji was quite proud when he said that.

[You’re right…]

I murmured.

[It also appears like no one could prove your group’s existence anymore.]