The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 74

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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 74
Reon and Claire’s eyes met.
Without speaking, they understood each other perfectly. They still couldn’t trust the people here.
Reon hurriedly hid beneath the bed while Claire shoved all her belongings into the wardrobe, took a sharp breath, and opened the door.
Click.
A woman stood there, flanked by two armed guards. She smiled warmly at Claire.
“Forgive the intrusion while you rest, Lieutenant.”
“What is it?”
“A visitor has arrived at our estate, and they mentioned knowing you. I’ve come to escort you to them.”
Claire’s eyes sharpened in an instant.
“They know me? Who is it?”
“They introduced themselves as the Duchess of Cheswind.”
“……!”
Her heart sank like a stone.
Eve. And Logan would certainly be with her.
Fortunately, Reon had managed to slip away without being spotted once the officials left, heading straight for his own room.
Claire thought it was actually convenient.
She could search for the Armory on the way.
But the route itself seemed odd. The officials were guiding her outside the Amusement Park.
To the very sectors they’d strictly forbidden her from entering.
“Don’t be alarmed. The truth is, the inner sections of the Amusement Park are dangerous, which is why we’ve restricted access.”
“Why dangerous?”
“Well… you’ll understand once you see. In fact, we asked the Duchess of Cheswind for her help precisely because of it.”
They asked Eve for help?
What in the world was happening here?
Claire followed the official down the Corridor, her expression bewildered.
The moment she stepped outside the Hotel, cold air pierced her lungs.
Before the Ice Age, the Amusement Park had welcomed visitors of all classes—anyone with money could come and enjoy leisure.
Now everything lay dormant beneath a blanket of white snow.
What caught her eye most was the Carousel.
The wooden horses, their eyes buried in snow, traced circles as if about to move at any moment, but their frozen axle had stopped long ago.
Wind swept up snow and fine ice across the frozen ground.
And beyond it, she recognized two familiar figures.
Eve and Logan.
They were speaking with a middle-aged man who appeared to be the representative of Lowell Company.
The representative slowly raised his head without a word and pointed toward the center of the Amusement Park.
“There it is.”
Claire walked toward that direction, following their gaze and lifting her head.
Her breath caught.
Beyond the Carousel, a colossal block of ice loomed at the heart of the Amusement Park—as if a small mountain had thrust up from the earth.
It was a structure invisible from inside the Hotel.
An ice column of blue-green, easily dozens of meters tall. Hundreds of layers of ice compressed over long ages, it gleamed with an azure light in the sun’s rays.
And within it, something moved.
A massive, grotesquely twisted form—beast-like—was suspended in the ice.
The most unsettling thing was that even in this cold, the ice was melting.
* * *
I noticed Claire and Reon drawing near and turned my head.
Claire approached me and held out her hand, as if to shake it in greeting.
I pulled her into an embrace instead.
“It’s been so long. I’m glad you’re safe.”
Claire, startled, flailed her arms before wrapping them around me in return.
Crunch.
But we had more pressing concerns than a reunion.
The Sealed Monster.
In the novel, the Aberrant Lifeforms would awaken only half a year after the Ice Age began.
That’s when Logan clicked his tongue.
“Of all things, we got a difficult one trapped.”
I agreed with him.
“I saw it in the future too. It’s not my preferred choice.”
“Well. It won’t be impossible, at least.”
“Lucky for us, Logan. If you’ve lived through ten of them, you must have caught one at some point.”
“Was it the third time, or the fourth? I can’t quite remember—maybe both.”
“That’s enough.”
Only Logan and I knew about Sealed Monsters.
That’s why talking with him felt easiest. He already understood so much without my having to spell it out.
I leaned slightly toward Logan and lowered my voice.
“Do you know anything about this shelter?”
“As for the Lowell Company’s Amusement Park… there didn’t seem to be anything particularly concerning about it. The Lowell Company’s representative turned out to be a rather decent leader.”
At those words, I glanced toward Marcus and the Lowell Company’s side. There stood a middle-aged man bickering with Marcus.
“Come on, I’m telling you—get married already. Why are you still alone?”
“Why do you keep harping on about marriage? I’m sick to death of it.”
“Don’t tell me you’re still…?”
The Lowell Company’s representative and Marcus seemed quite close. Or wait—weren’t they on bad terms?
Just then, the middle-aged man noticed me.
He paused mid-bicker with Marcus, coughed once, and quickly composed himself.
He took a few steps toward us and straightened his posture.
“You must be exhausted from such a long journey. I am Frank, representative of the Lowell Company. On behalf of the Amusement Park shelter, I welcome you both, Duke and Duchess.”
Logan beside me offered a slight bow, and I smiled in return.
“Thank you for the invitation.”
Seeing our response, Frank finally smiled with relief.
“We can talk inside. It’s not my habit to keep guests standing long in the cold.”
At that moment, a man who appeared to be Frank’s adjutant added his voice.
“Indeed. The current temperature is minus sixty degrees, and we’ve been outside for about twenty minutes now. If we remain exposed for thirty minutes, frostbite symptoms will begin to appear on your extremities.”
By his accounting, staying out much longer would be unwise. I could regulate my body temperature by absorbing Redstone, but the others couldn’t.
Already frost was gathering thick on my eyelashes, weighing my eyelids down.
Frank ushered us back inside.
As I followed him into the Hotel, I caught sight of the sealed Aberrant Lifeform behind the Carousel.
An enormous block of ice rose behind the Carousel like a mountain thrust up from the earth.
Hundreds of layers of ice compressed across long ages lay thick. The Aberrant Lifeform frozen within it was truly grotesque.
What might have been thick arms or legs curled around its body. From its back, thorn-like spines tangled like tree roots sprawled in every direction.
An Aberrant Lifeform mutated from an orangutan.
And among Sealed Monsters, this one was bipedal and capable of precise strikes, dealing considerable damage to humans—or so I recalled.
It was likely that during the Ice Age, this creature emerged from where it had been hiding beneath the ground.
That’s how the novels had described it, anyway.
Yet even if its seal were to break soon, it didn’t seem as though it would happen today or tomorrow.
So I set aside my unease and stepped into the Hotel.
Hm?
Just as I was about to enter, I detected lights in the distance.
Buildings that looked like the Management Building.
‘So there are people there too.’
I thought nothing more of it and went inside.
We were to stay in the Hotel’s guest rooms. Logan and I, as husband and wife, shared one room, while Marcus was assigned to the room directly next door.
The staff suggested it, and there was no reason to refuse, so I accepted.
I spoke to Claire and Reon.
“We’ll finish our conversation tomorrow morning.”
At my words, Claire glanced nervously at Frank before nodding.
With that, Logan and I entered the room.
There was, of course, only one bed. I sat on the edge awkwardly, looking over at Logan.
“Logan, do you remember anything distinctive about that Sealed Monster?”
Logan, who had been standing with his chin propped on his hand gazing out the window in thought, turned to face me.
The window showed nothing. Frost coated it so thickly that the view was obscured.
“Unlike other Aberrant Lifeforms, this one was different in that it could use its hands—that was the main thing. I don’t recall anything else.”
“Right. That’s all I can remember too.”
We spent some time trying to recall other details about the Sealed Monster, but nothing else came to mind.
“Let’s sleep for now and talk again tomorrow morning.”
At Logan’s suggestion, I nodded in agreement.
Besides, there was no point in wandering outside at night anyway.
After a quick wash, Logan and I lay down together in the bed.
I’d never shared a bed like this before, not even once, and it felt…
While I lay there awkwardly, shifting about, Logan turned his head to the far side of the bed.
“What’s wrong?”
He pushed himself up to sit. A moment later, I felt it too—something stirring beyond the room. I got to my feet.
Logan and I eased the door open cautiously.
But when the door swung back, the corridor lay empty. The lanterns were dark, leaving only shadows and a hollow chill.
That’s strange.
I tilted my head in confusion when something burst from the darkness.
“You startled me!”
Looking closer, it was Marcus. His face had gone deathly pale.
“Did you see? Everyone’s gone. Vanished. I can’t find Lieutenant Wayne or Sergeant Forkner anywhere. There’s no one left in the hotel.”
What do you mean by that?
.
.
.
In the dead of night.
It happened.
Every survivor in the amusement park shelter had vanished—all except Logan, Marcus, and me.

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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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