The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 85

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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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Episode 85
“Could Whiteveil possibly be using Magic?”
“No. From what Father told me, they’re ordinary humans. They’re simply a group that manages artifacts from three thousand years ago and researches ancient ruins. That’s all I know.”
Hearing those words, I exhaled sharply.
“Then that’s fine.”
“What?”
I looked down at my hands slowly.
The hand holding Logan was steady enough, but the other…trembled slightly.
I raised my eyes to meet Graham’s gaze.
“I’ll become stronger.”
“What?”
“Before they can find me. I’ll find them first instead.”
Graham stared at me, lost for words. His look was as if he were seeing a child for the first time.
“Don’t worry. I’m not that fragile.”
Beside me, Logan was watching with an expression of pride.
He seemed to have much he wanted to say, but held back given the mood.
.
.
.
After my conversation with Graham ended, we searched for everything we could find about Frank and investigated it all.
We combed through the amusement park thoroughly.
But in doing so, I couldn’t help noticing the damaged amusement park everywhere I looked.
Unfortunately, the Snow Calamity had split the earth, leaving the hotel on the verge of collapse.
The amusement park staff had nowhere to go.
There seemed to be roughly thirty of them….
That doesn’t mean I can’t bring them all to Dotori Village….
…Or can’t I?
Why couldn’t I?
I can just take them there.
※Expanding the village through construction poses no problem whatsoever. The land where the village walls are installed will simply become part of ‘this village’s territory.’
Moreover, the village safety guidelines didn’t specifically state that expanding the village would be an issue.
And besides, I owed these people a debt.
Specifically, Winterstone.
Hadn’t I collected all the Winterstone here without exception?
That’s right. Even some fruit-themed protagonist in a novel expanded their survival base personnel this way to build their standing.
Why couldn’t I do the same?
Alliances had been established with both Hailwood and Orange Market. Tony’s group refused, saying their scale was too small to form alliances at their weight class.
The amount of Winterstone I possessed determined the standing of ‘Dotori Village,’ and it was also the reason Hailwood and Orange Market had quickly bowed to us.
‘But it’s dangerous.’
Especially with Orange Market—they could break the alliance and attack our village at any moment, so I had to remain vigilant.
‘I need to grow stronger.’
We collected everything of Frank’s that we could carry and decided to return to ‘Dotori Village’ to analyze it.
Crack—
The hotel’s interior wall split further with a loud sound.
Marcus and I led the people outside the hotel to evacuate, and we quickly decided to gather our belongings and move to ‘Dotori Village.’
And we announced it to the survivors of Rosewell Amusement Park.
Unease was written across everyone’s faces.
Leaving the land they’d grown attached to for an unfamiliar village—it was no light decision, especially not in times of such scarcity.
Because I understood their anxiety, I spoke as clearly as I could.
“Our village only has eight houses. For now, everyone will have to stay together in those eight homes.”
A small stirring ran through the crowd.
“But we plan to expand the village. That’s something all of you will need to help with. However, I can guarantee you this one thing.”
After steadying my breath for a moment, I looked them directly in the eye.
“It will be warm.”
Rosewell Amusement Park had been an enormous Winterstone deposit, but it wasn’t as warm as ‘Dotori Village.’
Dotori Village was warm land even without Redstone.
“And if anyone develops regrets or complaints, I will expel them without mercy.”
I knew that a single person’s dissatisfaction and selfishness could drive everyone toward death.
That’s what Logan had been most concerned about, after all.
But I also have my own reasons.
I crumpled the paper I’d been holding carefully folded in my palm. It was a page torn from Frank’s memo—the CEO of Rosewell Amusement Park.
[Whiteveil leaves no trace of itself. This amusement park, too, will soon be recovered. The survivors of Rosewell Amusement Park are also targets for their recovery.]
“I’m not asking you to come along—I’m extending mercy to you.”
At those words, the expressions of several survivors hardened. Yet no one dared to openly object.
“And you, too, have the freedom to choose your own future.”
I paused briefly, then continued calmly.
“You can accept the rules of Dotori Village and live together with us. Or you can choose your own path and leave this place.”
The reception room fell silent enough that you couldn’t hear a breath. My voice grew sharper in the stillness.
“So choose. Will you come with us, or will you stay here?”
This question was not a light one. I was asking them to prove themselves worthy of becoming new residents of Dotori Village.
No one stepped forward to speak. People simply looked at each other’s faces in silence.
“……I’ll go.”
A man standing in the back cautiously raised his hand. He was a middle-aged man in gray work clothes—a maintenance worker who had kept the amusement park’s facilities running.
He glanced around the building’s interior, which was gradually crumbling, and smiled bitterly.
“I’ve worked here my whole life. I maintained the carousel outside, repaired the Ferris wheel countless times…….”
He closed his eyes for a moment.
“But this place is finished now, isn’t it?”
His tone was calm, but his words carried the weight of resignation.
“I’ll go too.”
This time, a woman cradling a child spoke up.
“I want this child to sleep somewhere warm…….”
One person, then another. Those stepping forward began to grow in number, moving with cautious determination.
Some holding the hands of family, others supporting an elderly person whose back was bent.
After a moment, the middle-aged man who stood at the front bowed deeply before me.
“Ma’am, we ask for your care going forward.”
The people bowed one by one. I didn’t stop them from doing so.
Instead.
“Welcome.”
I bowed in return, giving them a sense of belonging.
Though they had lost a place to go, they had gained a new place to stay.
The hope most needed at this moment.
I looked down once more at Frank’s memo held in my palm. The edge of the paper was creased from the force of my grip.
‘Recovery, they said…….’
What exactly was Whiteveil planning to recover? That answer remained unknown.
‘I’ll find out as I go.’
I parted ways lightly with Hailwood, Orange Market, and Tony’s group.
“Well, we might be on good terms now, but who knows what things will be like when we meet next time?”
The Hailwood Leader chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. Then the Orange Market Leader clicked his tongue and added his piece.
“Hey. Is that what an alliance looks like? You Westfield riffraff don’t know the first thing about loyalty.”
“I wish the world worked on loyalty alone. We’ll be lucky if we’re even alive by the next meeting.”
Harsh words were exchanged, yet strangely, it didn’t carry the killing intent it once had.
There remained a strange sense of kinship that only those who had brought down the Snow Calamity together could share.
Then Tony walked toward me and, without a word, extended his hand. I took it.
“Thank you for letting us live.”
Tony spoke briefly.
“If there’s anything you need from us in the future, call on us. I’m confident in building structures. And I’m even more confident in setting traps.”
I laughed.
“To keep Hailwood defended, we’ll need you to stop by our village regularly and install some traps for us, won’t we?”
Both leaders burst out laughing at my words. The Hailwood Leader smiled sheepishly and apologized.
“My concern was excessive. Our alliance will be solid.”
I nodded with a smile.
Then Tony turned to Graham and asked.
“Did you fail to achieve what you wanted, Everhart?”
“Ah, no. I achieved one thing, so it’s fine.”
Graham answered as if it were nothing and looked at me.
“I found my sibling.”
Even though I wasn’t really their sibling.
The fact that I was adopted was still shocking to me.
Just as I hadn’t had time to grieve my family’s disappearance when the household fell apart, I didn’t have time to be shocked now either.
In truth, I still didn’t quite believe it.
As Tony released his grip, the people from Hailwood and Orange Market turned away one by one.
Moments later, they all dispersed in different directions, walking into the blizzard.
I watched their retreating forms until they disappeared, then slowly turned around.
“Let’s move out.”
At my words, the Survivors from Rosewell Amusement Park began shouldering their packs.

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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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