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Snow Clearing
After spending my time in Yusteria, winter truly picks up in intensity, and Howling Village is covered in snow.
Opening the window, everything is a snowscape. Snow is piled up everywhere.
「Snow has completely built up....」
The sky is covered in thick grey clouds, and it continues to spit out snow even now.
It might be a familiar scene if you live in the Tohoku region, but I used to live in Hachiouji. There’s never been this much snow before.
It’s my first time seeing the fields, roads, and houses being covered in snow like this, so I feel a mix of half-fresh excitement and half-confusion.
「Still, it’s cold」
It’s warm inside the room, but the cold air from outside enters the room because I opened the window.
It’s so cold that it chills me to the bone just from the wind blowing in byuu.
I probably will not be worried if I have another base in a region with a completely opposite climate from here, whether it’s summer or winter.
I consider such an efficient lifestyle, but right now, I completely like my life in the royal capital and Howling Village.
Just because it’s efficient doesn’t mean I plan on living that way.
As I absentmindedly gaze at the snowscape outside, I hear the crisp sound of footsteps in the snow from the house next door.
「Morning, Kureto!」
「Morning, Nina」
There’s Nina over there wearing a dark green poncho.
She’s wearing a mini skirt, but also wearing black tights underneath, and her feet are covered in mouton boots.
We tend to wear several layers of clothes in winter, so it results in a bulky fashion, but Nina seems to prioritize ease of movement even in winter.
「It has snowed so much, hasn’t it!」
「Yeah, I was surprised to find everything was bright white when I woke up this morning」
The day before yesterday and yesterday snowed lightly, but it's not enough for snow to pile up like this.
That said, the fact that snow piled up like this probably means it snowed heavily last night.
「Un, tousan and kaasan were also flustered since early in the morning」
In rural farming villages and around the end of summer, people carefully prepare by gathering and drying wood and branches for firewood, and also making preserved foods in preparation for winter.
This world is not overflowing with heating appliances like in my previous life, and there are also no supermarkets that open all day long so you can get food anytime. And literally, it is important to prepare beforehand, as it is a key factor in whether you can survive in winter or not.
So a sudden falling snow must have been a surprise for people here.
Although everyone is already used to life in winter. Everything that should be done has already been done, and no one's daily life should be affected.
As I’m chatting with Nina, I hear the crunch of footsteps in the snow again. The one calling me now is Andre.
He’s wearing a leather jacket that looks like a flight jacket and carrying a shovel.
「Oーi, Kureto! You haven’t shoveled the snow at your house, right? The roof will collapse if you don’t do it soon, y’know?」
「Eh? Seriously?」
Rushing outside to look, I see that a thick layer of snow has piled up there as well.
The accumulated snow is quite heavy, and I hear that if left alone, it can lead to the house collapsing.
And as Andre said, it looks like it’s better if I clear up the snow soon.
I’ve almost never experienced heavy snowfall, so I may not have noticed anything if Andre hadn’t said anything. I’m grateful.
I quickly put on my jacket, take out a shovel from my subspace, and head outside.
「Kureto! I’ll help you too!」
「It’s dangerous to help with the roof, can I ask you to help with the area around the house?」
「Un, okay!」
As expected, I feel awkward asking Nina to clear the snow on the roof, so I just ask her to do it in the safer locations.
Nina readily agrees and returns to pick up her own shovel.
「Teleport」
I cast Space Magic and teleported onto the roof.
The moment I land, my feet sink deeply, and I am surprised, but I don't lose my balance and fall.
「Teleporting when there’s snow piled up is difficult too」
As I can’t look at the ground, it’s hard to imagine how much snow has accumulated.
If you don’t move carefully, there’s a chance you could fall and get injured.
It might be best not to use it too much in unstable places.
Still, the scenery from on top of the roof is quite nice.
I don’t usually climb onto the roof, so it’s a fresh experience.
But still, the surroundings are pure white thanks to the snow.
The only real change is the change in the height of my viewpoint.
It looks like Andre has finished clearing the snow in his house, and there’s no more snow on his house’s roof, and the snow around his house has been cleared away cleanly.
「It’s tough doing it alone. I’ll help too」
Andre arrived along with Nina, with a shovel in her hand. I’m grateful.
「Thank you very much」
「Do you have a ladder?」
「Ah, I climbed using magic.....I’ll use magic to let Andre-san come here」
I teleport Andre onto the roof.
「Uohh!?」
「It’s quite scary with snow on it, right」
「This, it’s bad for the heart」
It seems like he's a little startled, just like me.
I trust Andre’s reflexes, and even if he falls, I can just cast teleport on him.
Even if one of us fall, it will probably not result in an injury.
「Nina! Stay as far away as possible, snow might fall!」
「Okay!」
When I give a warning to Nina just to be safe, she properly reply.
She is clearing the snow in the courtyard where the snow will not fall and clearing a minimum path.
After making sure of her, I decide to start moving my shovel.
The shovel digs in with a crunch and lifts the snow.
「Uooh! So heavy!」
「Hahahaha! The snow piled up on the roof has melted and turned into ice after all. It’s incredibly heavier than usual, y’know?」
Andre laughs when I unintentionally groan.
The snow around the house is light and smooth, but the snow here doesn’t seem to be so.
No wonder the shoveled snow feels heavier than I imagined.
The snow scoops up by the shovel looks like it weighs several kilos.
「……this is hard on the lower back」
「If you say things like that, the old men in the village will yell at you, y’know」
The old people in the Howling Village are still healthy after all.
I can see a future where they will yell at us if young people like that say something like that.
Let’s try a little harder, then.
While I’m clearing snow while huffing and puffing, on the other hand, Andre moves the shovel in his hands with smooth movements. The amount of snow on his shovel is also on a completely different level than mine.
「Hahaha, Kureto should stop using magic all the time and train your body! You weakling!」
「Kuh, given the situation, I can’t argue against that…..!」
The surface of the roof Andre is in charge of has been completely cleared of snow, but there is still a lot of snow on my side.
Andre may be right. I should refrain from using Space Magic a bit and walk around with my own legs, and train my body.
But, my main profession is a merchant, and I’m a magician. Although I sometimes pretend to be an adventurer, I don’t actively engage in a fight. It’s a bit late to start working out now.
Rather than training my body like Andre, I feel like I should try to find out about a better way to use magic.
I wonder if there’s a method to make this work easier, like when doing harvesting work last time?
After thinking for a while, a method unexpectedly came to mind.
「Andre-san, I want to try a bit of magic, can you go down for a moment?」
「You’re doing something interesting again? Sure, I’ll go down for now」
I teleported the grinning Andre.
Just in case, I also have Nina - who is below - to move a bit away.
Once the two of them have enough distance from me, I cast Space Magic on the snow on the roof.
「Subspace Storage」
I continue to store the snow into my subspace, it’s the same idea as storing objects into my storage.
Snow is also inorganic matter, a proper form of water. As long as it is not a living creature, I can store it with Space Magic.
My idea seemed to be correct, as a large amount of snow is swallowed into my subspace.
「Uoohhh!? What’s this?」
「Amazingー! The snow on the roof is sucked into that hole, like whoosh!」
Seeing the roof cleared of snow, Andre’s mouth opened wide while Nina let out an innocent cry.
My main profession is a merchant and a magician. There’s no need to forcibly train my body like Andre.
Riding on the momentum of storing the snow on the roof, I continue to scoop up and store all the snow around the house.
The piled-up snow vanished as if being sucked by a vacuum cleaner, leaving only a thin layer of snow and the damp roof.
「Fuuh, now it’s done. Now it looks like there won’t be a problem even if snow piles up」
「Please, Kureto! Clear the snow around my house, too!」
「Hmm? Didn’t Andre-san train your body and say magic is not necessary? It seems you say you're different from the weak me」
「That was my fault! I’m sorry!」
When I use the words Andre used on me earlier to tease him, he frantically bow.
I’m shocked by that since it’s just a joke, and I don’t expect him to go that far.
「Eh no, you don’t have to apologize that far, I’ll help」
「Is that so? Thank you」
「Do you really hate snow shoveling that much?」
「Removing the piled-up snow every day is a difficult job after all」
Andre gives me an earnest reply when I ask instinctively.
I still find snow a fresh experience, so it’s fun, but for people who are used to it, it’s probably not the same.
It’s a conversation that brings out the hardship of clearing snow in midwinter. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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