The newcomer arrived under cover of night. Though the late-night cold was biting, snowlight and moonlight flowed together, yet the visitor remained utterly calm, as if he could not feel the cold at all.
Clearly, he possessed exceptionally refined Originium Arts.
Hoshino and Talulah exchanged a glance and both nodded.
They walked forward.
Red-and-blue sneakers crunched through the snow, making soft hissing sounds that were especially conspicuous in the night.
Almost instantly, the man noticed someone approaching through the darkness. He stopped where he was and, as the bitter wind howled, drew an exquisitely crafted hand crossbow from the sleeve of his tattered black padded jacket.
"This is way too fake."
Hoshino could not help commenting, "Dressed like a farmer, yet hiding a hand crossbow up his sleeve. There's really no sincerity at all."
"Probably a university student?" Talulah said.
Only someone with higher education would have so much leisure and so many superfluous ideals.
She was right.
A scraping sound rose from the snow—not walking, but running. Fine white snowflakes sprayed through the moonlight, while tiny flecks of snow drifted on the wind, fluttering through the air and reflecting the pale glow of the moon.
He was too fast, and there had been no warning. Clearly, he was not an ordinary farmer enraged by something.
An ambush.
This university student's reflexes were quite fast. He keenly caught sight of the snow grains drifting through the air, as well as the silent shadow rushing toward him.
That figure looked rather... small.
Not merely small. Long hair streamed behind her, and her slender frame made it obvious that she was an underage girl.
"A child soldier? Has Father really gone mad enough to do this?"
He loudly voiced his complaint.
Hoshino frowned at that. Not only was he a highly educated