"Whoa, so fast!"
"Eek!"
"Here I go!"
The cheers of children echoed across the plaza of Nidou.
While the adults were still lingering over their New Year’s Eve feast, the children were bursting with energy as they welcomed the first day of the year.
"Pwah!"
"It's so cold!"
"Gah, it got down my back!"
The children were currently preoccupied with sledding.
Jin had prepared various sleds for them to use on an improvised slope made by piling snow in the plaza. There were sleds for one person, two people, and even large ones meant for five. He had even varied the colors and designs, and the children were having a wonderful time picking out their favorites to play with.
"Man, I'm thirsty."
"I'm hungry!"
Warm tea and moderately chilled juices were ready for whenever they grew thirsty. When they got hungry, light snacks like roasted apululs and oshiruko were available. If they worked up a sweat, they could wash off in the underground hot spring at Nidou while the golem maids laundered their clothes.
It was a playground that provided for every conceivable need.
"Onii-chan!"
Hanna was among them, playing in the red jumper Jin had given her.
"Onii-chan, you come too!"
"All right, let's go!"
"Big Sister Elsa and Reiko-oneechan too!"
"Yes, Hanna-chan."
"Mhm, let's go."
The four of them climbed onto a large sled designed for five. The slope started at a height of twenty meters and had a steep incline with an average gradient of thirty degrees.
"Here we go!"
They sat down in a row: Hanna, Jin, Elsa, and then Reiko.
The sled was shaped similarly to a snowboard and was made of flexible GSP. It was about thirty centimeters wide, and the moment they lifted their feet, it would begin to slide. Digging their feet into the snow would act as a brake, but none of the four had any intention of doing so.
"Wheee, so fast!"
"Whoa, it's picking up more speed than I expected."
Ground Spider resin, or GSP, was resistant to dirt and grime. Its low coefficient of friction meant it glided exceptionally well over snow. After racing down the fifty-meter slope, their momentum carried them another thirty meters before the sled finally came to a halt.
"Onii-chan, one more time!"
"You got it."
Jin shouldered the sled and climbed the stairs built on the backside of the slope. Recently, he had gained a significant amount of physical stamina even without relying on reinforcement magic.
(Reiko, give us a tiny push with the force generator.)
(Yes, Father!)
Jin gave Reiko the mental command before they set the sled on the snow and sat down.
"All right, here we go!"
This time, they went about thirty percent faster than before.
"Wow, so fast!" Hanna shouted gleefully.
After sliding down the slope, they glided for another sixty meters and...
"Whoa, look out!"
They stopped just short of plunging into the Erme River. Of course, Reiko had sensed the danger and used her force generator to bring them to a halt. If they had fallen into the river in the dead of winter, it would have been more than just a little trouble.
"That was close..."
"Mhm."
"But it was fun!"
While Jin and Elsa breathed sighs of relief, Hanna remained completely unfazed.
Afterward, they invited the gathered children to join them in a massive snowball fight.
They split into teams using the "Guupaajan" game Jin had taught them. Jin found himself on the opposing team from Elsa and Hanna. Reiko obviously couldn't participate, so she served as the referee.
The rule was simple: the first team to capture the flag Jin had scrambled to make, which was placed in the enemy's base, won the game. Ten golem maids were assigned to each team to manufacture snowballs. To ensure safety, the snowballs were made to be neither too hard nor too brittle, and were sized perfectly for children's hands.
And so, the battle began.
Jin had provided fur-lined gloves for everyone, made from the leather of Rock Ice Rabbits imported from the demon territory. They were incredibly warm.
"Now, begin!"
At Reiko's signal, the children all began throwing snowballs at once.
"Pwah!"
"Cold!"
The mischievous Kurt, who was on Jin's team, lunged for the flag. Naturally, a volley of snowballs rained down on him.
"Dammit! I won't lose!"
However, he couldn't withstand the concentrated fire from over ten children.
"I'll remember this!"
He decided to make a tactical retreat.
"Hah, hah... Man, that's cold."
Kurt returned to base and shook the snow off his body like a puppy.
"Oh! Here comes Mario! Everyone, aim!"
Rock’s son, Mario, approached while zigzagging to make himself a difficult target. But...
"Too bad for you."
No matter how much he tried to use clever movements, his goal was the flag; the closer he got, the more restricted his range of motion became.
"Pwah! Dang it, I'll be back!"
Mario also retreated.
"Next is... wait, Elsa?!"
For some reason, Elsa was charging straight toward them. Naturally, she became the prime target. Since she was larger than the children, she was much easier to hit.
"...Eek!"
"Get her! Aim, aim!"
"...Pff, pff..."
In an instant, snowballs pelted Elsa’s hair, face, chest, stomach, hands, and legs. Before long, she was covered in pure white snow.
"Hahaha!"
The children showed no mercy. They continued their pursuit of Elsa, whose feet had stopped moving. She was starting to look like a snowman.
Jin's hands involuntarily stopped as he watched. At that moment, a flash of red caught the corner of his eye.
"Ah, Hanna!"
Elsa had been a decoy. While the attacks were concentrated on her, Hanna had taken a wide detour and was now sprinting for the flag. Jin’s camp had been so distracted by the assault on Elsa that their reaction was delayed.
Jin was the first to notice and rushed to throw a snowball, but she easily dodged it.
"Ah, Hanna-chan!"
"Crap, over there!"
By the time the other children noticed, Hanna was already within five meters of the flag. A volley of snowballs rained down on her, but her feet didn't stop. Though her speed slowed a little, Hanna dove for the last meter and successfully snatched the flag from Jin's camp.
"We did it!"
"We lost!"
The match was decided. Jin's camp had been defeated.
"...We won," the snow-covered Elsa murmured softly.
"I feel alive again."
After the snowball fight, everyone warmed up in the underground hot spring at Nidou. Elsa, who had managed to get snow down her back and inside her clothes, soaked in the hot water and let out a small sigh of relief.
"Onee-chan, it's so warm!" Hanna said, wading closer.
"Yes, it feels wonderful."
"Teacher Elsa, your skin is so white!"
Since Elsa still taught them lessons from time to time, some of the children called her Teacher Elsa. Perhaps because the children of Kaina Village spent their time playing outside or helping with field work, their skin was a bit more tanned compared to hers. Elsa’s skin was strikingly fair, making her an object of admiration for the young girls.
"Hey, hey, Teacher! I heard I'm going to be a big sister soon!"
"I see. That’s something to look forward to, isn't it?"
"Yeah!"
It seemed the baby rush caused by the improved living conditions since Jin's arrival was continuing into the new year.
"A baby..."
Elsa absentmindedly stroked her own stomach. Naturally, it was perfectly flat.
"One day, I will too..."
She let her thoughts drift to a future child she had yet to meet. When she realized what she was thinking, Elsa turned bright red, but since she was in the hot water, no one noticed her blushing face.