What kind of conversations did B-rank-and-up powerhouses usually have? With that thought, Walfred tapped the New America Republic General Board.

And then.

[Taking recommendations for tonight’s dinner.]

[Seriously, why doesn’t the hunter shop sell fried chicken?]

[When the hell is the Dimensional Exchange finally opening?]

[Now that the warm weather’s holding, food’s plentiful too. Somebody share the locations of gates that’ve already been cleared.]

"..."

Walfred was at a loss for words.

The board was packed wall to wall with nonsense.

Stuff that was no help whatsoever.

As he let out a dry chuckle at it, a post suddenly caught his eye.

[Anyway, has nobody figured out where Walfred is yet?]

A post whose very title was about looking for him.

Walfred narrowed his eyes.

’Why are they looking for me?’

Did they need help, like Sienna from the Trenton Station underground mall shelter? Guessing at the contents, Walfred tapped the post.

The post itself didn’t say much, but a long conversation was unfolding in the comments instead.

[Author]: If you find Walfred, send a tip my way.

[The Bone Drake was reportedly spotted around Crown Heights and Park Slope, so isn’t he operating somewhere near there?]

[Author]: Ugh, I don’t know anyone at those shelters, so asking around is a real pain...]

[Oh, that reminds me, did you see the Walfred sighting that went up in Trenton? From what I caught, supposedly Walfred solo’d a Corpse Lord?]

[??? How do you take down a Corpse Lord by yourself?]

[Did his ancestors catch the zombies and ghouls for him?]

A sizable number of comments.

Among them was talk about Trenton, tied to Walfred’s recent activities. As he scanned the comments, Walfred quietly left one of his own.

[FrozenMan]: Anyway, why are you all looking for Walfred?

The comments were full of nothing but speculation about where Walfred might be, while the actual reason they were looking for him was nowhere to be found.

Then, a moment later.

[What? Haven’t seen that nick before.]

[Oh, a newbie?]

[So what season number does that make you?]

[Counting from after the ice age, probably in the 80s?]

A few hunters posted comments, seeming to realize Walfred was a newcomer. And not long after, the post’s author showed up.

[Author]: I want to propose retaking New York.

The content was unexpected.

Walfred narrowed his eyes.

’...Retaking New York?’

A rather out-of-nowhere topic.

No, more to the point, what exactly were they going to do after retaking a New York crawling with monsters? Walfred posted the question he’d just raised in his mind.

At that, a flood of replies began to pile up.

[New York’s got a ton of underground space, you know.]

[And lots of cleared gates too.]

[The Upper East Side especially is a total gold mine. Dozens of cleared gates, plus tons of underground space.]

[Just seizing Upper East Side Station alone could let at least 50,000 people live without ever worrying about water or food.]

They were remarkably eager, as if they’d been planning to retake New York for quite some time.

[The problem, though...]

[is that the Upper East Side is a zombie field right now.]

[With a Corpse Lord and even a dullahan roaming around, it’s a sure bet that a few gates have been freed.]

[Author]: That’s exactly why I’m looking for Walfred.

[Author]: Build a team around a light-attribute S-rank hunter, and our odds of clearing it go way up.

"Ha..."

Walfred let out a snort at that.

It was absurd that even the B-rank hunters of the international channel believed he was a light-attribute hunter.

’Then again, nobody’d ever guess the guy who exterminated a Bone Drake solo was a frost attribute.’

After scanning the comments tangled up with misconceptions and guesses about him. Walfred looked over a few more posts on the General Board.

And then.

’Nothing else worth checking here.’

He left the General Board right away.

After that, he went into the Q&A Board to achieve the real reason he’d connected to the international channel.

The condition for promotion to A-rank hunter.

Hoping to dig up information about the [Eden System Trial]. Walfred set a reply bounty of 500 coins and wrote his question.

And then.

[New America Republic]: Whoa! A Season 88 newb shows up!

[Brazil]: Wait, New America Republic again?

[Cuba]: We haven’t had a single newb in two months ;-;

[New America Republic]: Salty? Then go get naturalized lol

[Japan]: Anyway, where’s the confidence to aim for A-rank the second you hit B-rank even coming from?

[New America Republic]: From your mom.

Comments piled up at a rapid clip.

What set it apart from the New America Republic channel was that each commenter’s nickname had their nation marked in front of it.

Made sense, with hunters from all over the world gathered in one place, this much distinction was necessary.

Just as he was nodding along to himself.

[Canada]: You don’t really need to know that.

[New America Republic]: Whoa, the S-rank big shot steps in, shivers

[China]: Coins pls

[Mexico]: Can I join if I cross the border?

A hunter of Canadian nationality had left a comment.

And one presumed to be S-rank, at that. Amid the countless replies from hunters of every nation, the Canadian hunter calmly wrote out his comment.

[Canada]: Once you pass the trial, every memory connected to the trial evaporates completely. And by the time you come to, you’ve already been promoted to A-rank without even realizing it.

"...What?"

The unexpected answer made Walfred blurt out his bewilderment aloud.

The memories of the trial disappear?

’Why on earth?’

He puzzled over the reason but couldn’t figure it out.

Or was it because the human mind couldn’t withstand the memories of the trial? For now, vague speculation like that was the best he could manage.

In any case, since it was a comment left by an S-rank hunter, the odds of it being a lie were slim. Walfred sent the reply bounty to the man who’d given him such useful information.

’That clears up what I was curious about.’

There was nothing left to check, so he started to close the connection right then. In that very moment, something abruptly flashed across his mind.

’Oh, right. Just in case...’

He should put up a post looking for Elma here too.

Sure, he’d learned about the situation on Key West through Jonah, but just to be safe, the more contacts he had, the better.

And since this was a place only B-rank-and-up hunters could access, the chances of Elma showing up were high too.

[Writing post.]

So he uploaded a post with the exact same content as the one he’d posted on the New America Republic channel. Then, without a second thought, he closed his connection to the community.

And then.

"Daddy, Daddy."

With perfect timing, Elsa spoke up.

Her eyes held a look like she wanted something.

And sure enough.

"Read me a storybook!"

As always, Elsa was begging him to tell her an old tale before bed. His tasks happened to be wrapped up too, so Walfred gladly agreed.

"Sure. What story did we do last time?"

"The Little Mermaid! The one where she turns into foam and disappears!"

"That’s right. Hmm, so this time..."

What story should he tell.

Something a little more hopeful than the Little Mermaid would be nice. As he turned it over in his head, Walfred quickly landed on a classic masterpiece.

"Today I’ll tell you the story of Snow White."

"Snow White? Does she turn into foam too?"

"...Just listen first."

With a short clearing of his throat.

Walfred began the story like it was second nature.

The queen’s jealousy and the seven dwarves. The poisoned apple. And finally, the princess asleep in a glass coffin, and the prince who woke her with a kiss.

And how long had it been?

"And so the two of them lived happily ever after."

The long story came to a close.

Elsa, who had been hanging on every word with her mouth slightly open, broke into a bright expression the instant it ended. Then she grinned and clapped her hands.

"Hehe, that’s just like me!"

"Just like you?"

"Yeah! You came to wake me up too, Daddy. And you scolded the bad monster that was trying to hurt me!"

"Huh, now that you mention it..."

The situation was oddly similar.

At Elsa’s innocent imagination, Walfred couldn’t help bursting into a soft laugh.

And then.

Elsa, sitting on Walfred’s lap, suddenly whirled around. And she stared up intently into his face.

"Hey, Daddy."

"Hm?"

"Thank you for coming to wake me up."

Out of nowhere? Walfred tilted his head.

Meanwhile, Elsa buried her face against his chest and shook her head this way and that as she spoke.

"Because if you hadn’t come, I’d still be there all alone, even now."

Forever and ever, for all eternity.

In a loneliness no one would ever come to break.

Was she remembering the solitude of those days?

Elsa reached out and gripped Walfred’s collar tight. As if she’d never let go. Then she gave a bashful little smile and whispered.

"Heehee, I’m so happy I get to go around with you like this, Daddy. I love it so much!"

"..."

Eyes and a voice clear and unclouded.

The moment he met Elsa’s face, a memory from the past surfaced in Walfred’s mind.

Back when the world had not yet frozen over.

Around the time it had been a full year since his sister’s funeral. The day he’d made a clumsy, lopsided cake with his unpolished hands to comfort Jenna, who had lost her smile.

[Thank you, Uncle. I’m really happy.]

And the day Jenna got her smile back.

That memory overlapped with the face of the Elsa now in his arms. And he felt a tingling pang in his chest as warmth spread through him.

"...Yeah. I’m happy too."

With an answer he couldn’t say who it was meant for, Walfred quietly drew Elsa into a hug.

A little while after that.

A sound broke the stillness.

Ding!

-----

[Notice]

[From deep within the soul of the Resonator (Elsa), a profound affection toward you radiates outward.]

[Your bond with the Resonator (Elsa) increases.]

[Your resonance level rises.]

-----

A notification of his resonance level rising.

Walfred had seen this notification message before. It was right before he fought the Bone Drake, when he’d received the [Blessing of the Frost Dragon] from Elsa.

’Which means...’

Did this mean the [Blessing of the Frost Dragon] grew stronger as his resonance level rose? Just as he was guessing at it, another notification message appeared.

-----

[Notice]

[The Resonator (Elsa) acquires an Authority.]

[Authority: Dragon Tongue]

-----

"...Huh?"

In a form a little different from what he’d expected.