The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 36
“Let’s go.”
I nodded at Logan’s words and approached Charlotte and Marcus, who were waiting for us.
And there I met someone unexpected.
The shop that Charlotte and Marcus had found with fishing supplies had a sign reading .
Remarkably, it was exactly the place I’d been searching for.
A man emerged from inside the shop, holding a heavy, sharp knife.
Even though Marcus was holding a gun, he showed no sign of worry whatsoever.
“Who are you people?”
“Huh?”
That’s when Marcus recognized the man.
“Wow. Brian Corner. It’s been ages, hasn’t it? How long has it been since graduation?”
That’s right. This Brian Corner was a Royal Academy alumnus and had been in the same year as Marcus.
By some stroke of fortune, all of us happened to be Royal Academy graduates. A network woven by shared schooling.
There had always been talk of it—that Royal Academy alumni dominated the political establishment.
Royal Academy graduates had an exceptionally strong tendency to help and promote one another.
These were people who had taken entrance examinations judged purely on merit, regardless of social standing or gender, and entered the academy—so their pride in the institution was fierce.
Of course, there were private academies that admitted only nobility, but the Royal Academy’s reputation far exceeded theirs.
Brian Corner had come from an unfortunate family situation, yet he’d gained entry to the Royal Academy through his exceptional intellect alone.
So why was he dressed as a fisherman?
Fishing wasn’t his primary occupation—his real job was as a Covert Operative for the Royal Institution, handling Assassination, Infiltration, and Intelligence Missions. Because of that, there was little he couldn’t do; he was skilled at everything.
Until just before the Ice Age arrived, he’d been conducting secret operations in Rosebrook Harbor City while posing as a fisherman, and the arrangement had simply continued since then.
“Hello, senior.”
Charlotte approached him and greeted him warmly. A startled Brian faltered.
Why was he so surprised?
Then I noticed that Brian’s earlobes had flushed a deep red.
Oh my.
I looked between the two of them with keen interest, my gaze alternating.
“Do you two already know each other?”
“Ah. We were in the same dormitory.”
With Charlotte’s explanation, I finally understood the connection between them.
Charlotte had been in Conqueror Hall Dormitory, and it seemed Brian had been in the same dormitory as well.
My reason for wanting to bring Brian Corner into our group was simple.
If Marcus excelled in Repair and Maintenance abilities, Brian was exceptionally skilled in Cooking and Fishing.
More than anything, while Marcus was an information source who remembered everything he’d once seen, Brian was a field operative adept at Infiltration.
Some might ask why this mattered, but in the world after the Ice Age, it was all about “Survival Camp” conflicts, so his skills would prove quite helpful.
‘Besides, we need to fill out the village population numbers right now.’
What better than to recruit someone who was both a character from the novel and a fellow academy alumnus—someone trustworthy?
“Hmm.”
Of course, Logan made it clear he was less than pleased about it.
Brian caught sight of Logan and looked startled, then turned to me and gasped in shock.
“Right—you two are married, aren’t you?! ……In any case, everyone come inside. It’s freezing.”
We obediently followed Brian into the .
Inside the shop hung an enormous photograph of Brian.
[We repay faith with faith. — Bladi Khan, Owner, Lighthouse Marine Trading Company]
“Who’s Bladi Khan?”
At Charlotte’s bewildered question, Brian scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Instead of answering, he carefully closed the shop door and methodically drew the cloth hung on the glass pane down to cover it. Presumably for insulation against the cold.
“Did the Royal Institution have you do this kind of work too? You’re quite remarkable.”
At Marcus’s words, Brian glanced at us nervously, gauging our reactions.
It made sense that Marcus—who gathered all sorts of intelligence and had a habit of remembering everything he’d seen—would know Brian was a Covert Operative.
I knew from reading the novel, and Logan must have encountered him in his previous life, it seemed. Logan appeared to know as well.
Only Charlotte seemed to know nothing.
“Senior Brian, did you get a job with the Royal Institution? Why didn’t you say anything?”
Just as I thought—Charlotte really had no idea.
The interior of the shop was larger than I’d expected.
The walls were densely packed with Fishing Rods, Harpoons, and worn Fishing Nets, as though it had once catered to harbor fishermen.
Large drying hooks hung from the ceiling, and wooden boxes that had once held fish lay scattered haphazardly across the floor.
Every window was blocked with thick cloth and wooden planks.
The gaps were sealed with fabric and resin, and behind the door lay collapsed shelves and burlap sacks stacked in layers.
It was like a small fortress.
The smell of raw fish hung thick in the air, yet no one so much as wrinkled their nose.
Since it wasn’t a restaurant, there was only one table, and Brian Corner guided us toward it.
We all sat around the table together in silence for a moment. Brian Corner brought us hot water and distributed it among us.
“What did you come here for?”
It was Charlotte who answered Brian Corner’s question.
“We came to fish. We were hoping to catch some fish. We noticed the equipment here, so we thought we’d give it a try.”
Charlotte gestured toward the fishing tools stacked in one corner of the shop.
“Do you even know how to fish in weather like this?”
“Do you?”
“Of course I do.”
Brian Corner’s comfortable expression and gentle, dog-like face made whatever he said sound like the truth. With a face like that, anyone would naturally let their guard down.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes suspiciously and looked Brian Corner up and down.
“Now that I think about it, this is really strange. You said you got a job at the Royal Institution, so what’s with that photo? And who is Bladi Khan?”
“This guy’s a Covert Operative. A Royal Institution Covert Operative.”
At Marcus’s explanation, Charlotte’s eyes widened.
To be honest, I’d never seen a Covert Operative before either, so I found it fascinating. How often does one come across an Intelligence Operative in their lifetime?
And for that Intelligence Operative to reveal their own identity? It was rare indeed—something that would only happen before the world ended.
“Before the collapse, I was investigating Rosebrook Harbor City. I was trying to infiltrate, so I learned Fishing eagerly, climbed aboard fishing boats, caught fish—I worked really hard at it…….”
Brian Corner wrapped his face in both hands and let out a deep sigh, his expression soaked in self-recrimination.
I asked him quietly.
“What were you investigating?”
“Well, we received a military report saying that an Unidentified Mineral had been discovered in this harbor city, so I was dispatched. My superiors ordered me to collect even a single sample of the Unidentified Mineral that was supposedly being found on the coast of Rosebrook Harbor City.”
Probably something like the Heart of Frost, I figured.
Unfortunately, before the Ice Age struck, the only mineral discovered in these waters was the Heart of Frost.
In short, Brian Corner wasted his time for nothing. But that was his job, so it wasn’t my place to worry about it.
“Anyway, you two really did get married, didn’t you? It was so sudden that the Royal Academy alumni were talking about it all over the place. Saying it was a sham marriage or whatever.”
“What would a sham marriage be for?”
It was a contract marriage, not a sham marriage.
At my question, Brian Corner merely shrugged.
“I wouldn’t know. It’s just that people were shocked enough by your marriage to talk about it like that. Everyone seemed to have never seen you two even have a conversation before.”
That much was true. Logan seemed uninterested in explaining himself—he sat with his arms crossed, listening silently to it all.
“You two were the pride of our academy. Your fierce rivalry between each other.”
“That’s why they say you can never predict how human relationships will turn out.”
I shrugged in reply, and Brian Corner laughed.
“Right? I was absolutely certain the two of you would never end up in a romantic entanglement. Well. Who knows how things will turn out? We didn’t even know this ridiculous disaster was coming and the world would collapse.”
With that, silence fell once more.
Thud—
And then something massive and heavy fell onto the shop’s roof with a dull crash.
“What is that?”
We all looked up at the ceiling in alarm.
Bang!
As something else fell on top of it, the ceiling caved in completely.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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