He slept straight through from the afternoon until the next morning.
Gauss woke to the intense hunger gnawing at his stomach.
He hurriedly wolfed down some dried frog meat to stave it off. Only after the hunger in his belly had subsided did he leave his room.
After sleeping for more than ten hours, he finally felt fully refreshed. The last traces of his workday fatigue had vanished, and he was back to looking bright and full of energy.
"Caw! Caw!"
A familiar cry came from the second-floor balcony. Raven Ike was perched on the railing, tilting its head as it peered inside.
Though Alya's home wasn't far from Gauss's, this was probably Ike's first time visiting. How had it even found the place?
Gauss waved at it.
For some reason, the raven seemed a little afraid of him and instinctively hopped backward twice. In the end, though, the nuts in Gauss's hand proved too tempting to resist.
Ike flapped closer, swiftly snatched a nut, then landed in the living room. It swallowed the nut while hopping about curiously, exploring its new surroundings.
Gauss glanced at it and let it be.
He turned and used magic to thoroughly clean the entire house. Only after finishing did he step outside.
The town's streets were also blanketed in thick snow, gleaming coldly in the morning light.
When he arrived at Alya's home, he didn't see Gray Wolf Ulfhen in the snow-covered courtyard. But through the window, he could see the fireplace blazing in the ground-floor hall, casting a warm glow.
After he knocked, Alya's voice quickly came from inside.
"Is that Gauss? Come on in. The door's unlocked."
Gauss pushed the door open and stepped into the living room.
Compared to the biting air outside, it was quite warm inside.
Ulfhen was