Winter has come, but spring can’t be far behind—or so they say, but the cold days are still dragging on.
It hasn’t snowed since the start of the year, but the air is chilling to the bone, and even Pochi’s water bowl has been frozen solid for a while now. The land outside the house’s wards, meanwhile, seems even harsher.
Yet, even in these frigid times, there are some things to look forward to.
「Sui, look, there!」
「Ah, we’re close now.」
That morning, I went into the forest with Mint and Chocola.
Just before sunrise, when the eastern sky was brightening, I woke up early(or rather, Mint woke me up), and we’d set off shivering into the cold.
Our goal? Icicles.
「Still, it’s freezing out here… are you and Chocola okay?」
「Ground, cold and feels nice!」
「Bark!」
I smiled at their enthusiasm as we made our way through the forest.
Chocola, being from a cold region, made sense, but Mint—she’s just something else. The heat doesn’t seem to bother her either. Keep up the good work and grow up strong, little one.
As we pressed on into the forest, we finally reached our destination.
This area was filled with white birches, their branches stretching out even under the cold sky, with life coursing through their trunks.
And sometimes, that life… leaks out.
「Sui, there! Look!」
「There it is, indeed. You have a good eye.」
「Mhm!」
Mint pointed ahead.
High above, hanging from the branch of a tree, an icicle dangled.
It was sap frozen solid.
A branch breaks or gets a little damaged, sap oozes out, and, bit by bit, the cold of winter freezes it. Over time, it stretches out, forming long icicles hanging from the branches.
「It’s pretty high up there. Think I can manage.」
「Bark!」
「You’d probably have no trouble with it. Just don’t end up snapping the whole branch.」
「Kwu… !」
Here’s the key point, though: birch sap is sweet.
Not as well-known as maple sap, but if you collect enough and boil it down, it can make syrup. There were even sites back on Earth where you could buy the stuff. People would use it to mix with alcohol, if I remember right.
「Alright, here we go.」
I did a few stretches, getting a feel for my muscles. I adjusted my stance, activated a body strengthening spell, and sprang straight up.
Perfect amount of power—about five meters up, maybe. Right at the peak of my jump, the icicle was right in front of me. In that weightless instant, I snapped off two pieces and landed back down.
「Success. We did it!」
「Amazing, Sui! Thanks!」
「Since I got two, you and Chocola go first.」
「Whoaaahhhh, really…..?」
「Of course, it was mint who told me. 」
Yesterday, she said, ‘Sweet froze high’.
And that she’d love to try it, but it was just a bit too high to reach. She’d also said she wanted to find some for the whole family. So, that’s why I decided to get up early and gather some on her behalf.
So, she has every right to try it first.
As for Chocola… well, he was staring at it so longingly…
With sparkling eyes, Mint took the icicle, chirped a cheerful ‘Itadakimasu!’ and bit into the tip. She chewed it for a moment, and then a smile bloomed on her face.
「Sweet!」
「Oh, fantastic.」
「But only little? Not as sweet as juice.」
「A faint sweetness, huh? Chocola, what do you think?」
「Bark!」
As I crouched and held out the icicle, Chocola licked and nibbled at it eagerly. I wasn’t sure how he felt about the taste, but judging by how he kept going, he seemed to like it, cold as it was.
「We’ll need to find some for everyone else, too. Think we’ll find more?」
「Yeah! Some that way, and over there, and there too!」
「Quite a few hanging around, it seems.」
Of course, sap only flows if the branches are damaged. Maybe some animal rampaged through here yesterday? It’s not uncommon in the forest, though it made me slightly more cautious.
「Well, whatever it was is probably gone by now.」
「What?」
「Oh, I figure if anything’s around, Chocola would let us know.」
Though that very same Chocola was now completely absorbed in gnawing at his icicle, paws paddling with every bite.
「There’s no way you’ll finish all that. I’ll hang onto it, so you can have more later.」
「Nom… kwunh…」
Confiscating the icicle, I stood up and took in the view of the forest around us.
「Who knows what rampaged here, but… Even so, the birches are still standing.」
Branches might snap, trunks may get gouged, but it doesn’t faze them.
There are bound to be creatures that can break a trunk, yet even then, the forest isn’t ever fully leveled. New trees always grow to take their place.
We’d cleared a good stretch of land around the house so we could live comfortably here. Behind the house, we turned a large area about the size of a soccer field into pasture.
But to this forest—through its long history—our impact is likely just a tiny scratch.
「Did you know, Mint? A long time ago, they say there was a castle here.」
「Cassle?」
「Yes, a huge building. About two thousand years ago.」
The Demon King’s castle.
Two thousand years ago, a country here built a military facility to cultivate rare existences. The castle Four Seasons-san and his friends destroyed long ago had, over millennia, been swallowed by nature, leaving no trace.
「Even the proof that we lived here will probably vanish without a trace after a thousand years.」
The house, the fields, the barns, the stable, the pasture—everything.
Not that I felt sad or lonely. It was so far beyond imagining that it felt unreal. But still…
Amid this vast wilderness that heals over even the world’s deepest scars, here we are, playing this little game of gathering sap and nibbling on sweet icicles from birch branches.
Small, fleeting, and because of that—immensely joyful.
「…Sui?」
「It’s nothing. Before they melt, let’s gather enough for everyone.」
「Yay!」
「One more for you too, Mint.」
「Really…?」
「Of course. We all want to share, right?」
「Yay! Sui, love!」
Mint bumped her head against my waist and snuggled in, and I patted her on the head. One day, she’ll grow up, and maybe she won’t lean on me like this anymore. It’s hard to know when that will be.
「I love you too, Mint. Always and forever.」
There are some things that never change. No matter how small or fleeting our lives may be, some things are eternal.
Mint reached out and took my hand, her gaze already searching the birches for more sweet icicles. The sight was so endearing that I gently swayed our joined hands back and forth.
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