"Master, it appears we have reached Lake Chikaguwa. Your orders?"
Land 1’s voice cut through the cabin, announcing their arrival at the lake.
Jin moved toward the cockpit, peering out the window as he issued instructions. "Let’s skirt the lake to the left and head for the far side."
"Roger."
They were already past 60 degrees north latitude, and the temperature outside had plummeted below minus 40 degrees Celsius. Since the mercury in their thermometers had frozen, Jin couldn't be sure of the exact reading, but he suspected it was closer to minus 50.
A fierce northwesterly gale whipped up the fallen snow, creating a blinding, chaotic ground blizzard. In the midst of the storm, Capricorn 1 rounded the shoreline of Lake Chikaguwa, moving in a counter-clockwise direction.
"The sun’s going to set soon..."
Winter days were short at these latitudes. Thick clouds further choked the light, making 3:00 PM feel like the dead of night.
"Keep moving. Keep the pace slow to minimize the shaking," Jin told Land 1.
If they stopped, the vehicle would likely be swallowed by the encroaching ice and snow. The ability to leave a golem like Land 1 at the controls all night was one of the few comforts of this journey. With Sky 1 providing aerial guidance and the golem utilizing infrared mode, Jin felt secure.
Slowly but surely, the party drew closer to their destination.
It happened in the dead of night.
Without warning, Capricorn 1 lurched. Jin and the others, who had been sleeping on seats adjusted to a full-flat position, were thrown from their bunks.
"Whoa!"
"Kyaa!"
"Ow!"
"Oof!"
The vehicle had tilted sharply to the left, sending all four passengers tumbling into a heap on that side of the cabin.
"Father, are you all right?" Reiko asked, turning up the interior lights.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
"...Jin-nii, are you okay?"
Jin was at the bottom of the pile, pinned under Elsa. Saki and Sion were stacked on top of her—the same order in which they had been sleeping.
"J-Jin-nii, I’m so sorry!"
Elsa had been spared from hitting the wall thanks to Jin acting as a human cushion. Even with the insulation padding lining the interior, a collision at that angle would have been painful.
"Wh-What on earth happened?" Jin groaned, pushing himself up.
The world outside was pitch black. Dawn was still a long way off.
"I apologize," Land 1 said. "We were swept by an avalanche and are currently stuck in a snowdrift."
Navigating solely by infrared vision and aerial guidance in the lightless void, Capricorn 1 had been caught by a slide coming off the slopes to their right. They were lucky not to have been pushed into the lake, but the vehicle was now wedged deep in the snow.
"Can we get out?"
"I have attempted several maneuvers, but I am unable to gain traction."
Capricorn 1 remained tilted at a forty-five-degree angle, its legs churning fruitlessly.
"Well, that’s not good."
It seemed standard power wouldn't cut it.
"J-Jin! What are we going to do!?" Sion cried, having overheard the report. She scrambled toward the cockpit, her face pale with panic.
"It’s okay, Sion. We have equipment for just such an occasion."
"R-Really?"
"Really. Land, use the force generator to get us out."
"Roger."
It was finally time for the force generator to prove its worth.
"Wait, a force gen...? What is—?"
Before Sion could finish her sentence, the force generator hummed to life.
"Kyaaa!"
A sudden sensation of weightlessness washed over them. First, the chassis leveled itself out. Then, churning through the snow, the vehicle began its ascent. They had been buried quite deeply.
"Wh-What’s happening?" Sion stammered, clutching her seat.
"I’ll explain in a bit. Just hang on."
Jin kept his eyes fixed on the vehicle’s behavior. Capricorn 1 rose clear of the snow, moved forward to bypass the drift, and settled gently back onto solid ground.
"Escape complete."
"Good work."
Jin breathed a sigh of relief. The force generator he had installed on a whim—convinced he’d need it eventually—had saved their skins.
The vehicle resumed its slow march.
"Any damage to the systems?"
"No, Master. All systems are functioning within normal parameters."
Assured that the avalanche hadn't caused any structural issues, Jin turned back to Sion.
"To put it simply, we used gravity magic to float out of there."
Sion frowned at the simplified explanation. A force generator wasn't exactly the same thing as gravity magic, but Jin figured the nuance wasn't important right now.
"...That’s too simple... but fine, I suppose I understand."
As the party settled back in, Jin checked his watch. It was roughly 4:00 AM. He considered trying to get more sleep, but the adrenaline had left him wide awake.
"Well, no point in trying to sleep now."
They had turned in around 9:00 PM, so they’d managed about seven hours of rest. The others seemed to agree; they adjusted their seats back to an upright position and sat in the dim cabin, gazing out at the darkness.
As the sky began to turn a pale grey, Jin drifted into a light doze, only to be jolted awake by a shout.
"It cleared up!"
It was Sion. Jin opened his eyes and looked out the window. The clouds had vanished, revealing a sliver of blue sky. The first rays of the morning sun were just beginning to touch the snowy landscape.
"...Beautiful," Elsa whispered.
"Yeah. It really is," Jin agreed. There were no other words for it.
"Just seeing this view makes the whole trip worth it!" Saki added, her voice thick with excitement as she pressed her face to the glass.
To the left of Capricorn 1, a vast, flat expanse of white—likely the frozen Lake Chikaguwa—stretched to the horizon. To their right, the silhouettes of a plateau and mountains loomed. The snow sparkled like crushed diamonds in the morning light, and the rime ice covering the trees stood like natural sculptures against the brightening sky.
"We must have made it around the lake. That should be the Tsusuru Plateau, and that mountain over there is Mount Giirutse."
Jin felt a surge of anticipation. Somewhere atop that plateau was the home of the legendary Ancient Dragon.
"Let’s head up while the weather is clear. Land, use the force generator."
"Roger."
Clear skies were a precious commodity in this frozen wasteland. The exterior thermometers were still frozen solid.
With the force generator humming, Capricorn 1 began a steady ascent. The view outside became even more breathtaking as they gained altitude. Golden specks danced in the air like dust in a sunbeam—diamond dust, Jin realized.
After about five minutes of hovering, they reached the top of the Tsusuru Plateau. The snow here was roughly three meters deep, a depth that would make even Capricorn 1 struggle to walk normally.
"For now, let's aim for the foot of Mount Giirutse."
The peak—likely the tallest on the Gondoa Continent—loomed ahead, a perfect landmark. Moving at a steady five kilometers per hour, Capricorn 1 pressed on into the unknown.