The Little Loli dangled in his grip, flailing and yelling.
But the old man did not believe a word of her nonsense. He knew his useless granddaughter all too well; she would say absolutely anything to avoid a beating.
The tower behind him was Winter Spring Valley's only Mage Tower left over from the age of myth. Over countless years, not a single generation of Winter Spring Valley's stewards had entered it, much less opened it from inside. If that door opened, it could mean only one thing: the mighty figures of Winter Spring Valley who had once broken through into the stars had returned to this world.
But how was that possible!
In all those countless years, not even one ancestor had ever returned to Winter Spring Valley.
He raised the belt in his hand, ready to give his useless granddaughter a sound thrashing.
But just then-
Snap-
His hand did not come down.
At some point, a pale, slender hand had reached out from behind him and caught the belt he was swinging.
The old man shuddered.
Time seemed to freeze in that instant.
The breeze swept over the ice and snow of Winter Spring Valley, sending flurries dancing through the air. It was as though they had crossed endless ages in an instant and returned to that ancient, long-forgotten era.
Slowly, trembling, he turned his head.
The door behind him, sealed for countless years, stood quietly open. He saw several unfamiliar figures standing before it, and the girl behind him who had caught his belt.
Her long azure hair drifted in the breeze, and her eyes were as blue as the sky, just like her mother's.
In an instant.
The old man, nearly a hundred years old, froze completely. As he gazed at the girl's face, he