Regrets

"Shit!" Isaac frustratingly said as he punched a pine tree with his fist covered in hard ice.

Needless to say, the pine tree got a hand going through it, making splinters scatter on the other side.

"I was too late..." Isaac muttered angrily as he continued punching the tree.

Because he decided to sit and wait for what will happen to Parsifal's team, it caused some lives to die.

At that time, he and Moccus were observing them far away. So when he saw that they immediately killed everyone, he got perplexed by it for a moment before taking action.

He had the ability to stop them, but his negligence caused them their demise. And he's taking in all of the blame for himself.

'I could've stopped it...' He continued beating up the poor pine tree in front of him.

At this moment, Moccus, the Snow Boar King, appeared behind him. "Sir Isaac, their conditions are stable now."

"Thank you... Moccus." Isaac turned around and said.

He and Moccus actually searched their belongings for some items that can be used to heal a few people that managed to survive. And fortunately, they found some bandages to cover up the wounds of three people that managed to survive.

It was a knight and an adventurer, along with a child that he saved at the last moment.

Of course, he also gently applied ice to their wounds as a way of reducing their pain.

Icing is effective at reducing pain and swelling because the cold constricts blood vessels and decreases circulation to the area. But Isaac knows that blood needs to travel through the whole body to fully heal so he melted the ice after a few minutes.

As for where they are right now, he and Moccus actually placed them in an area where a circular platform was on top. They are currently under that platform and found a safe place to put the survivors. And of course, he isolated this area from the blizzard. As for those that died, Isaac personally buried them in the snow on the outskirts of the mountain and placed ice gravestones for them.

"How's the kid doing?" Isaac asked

"The young one is doing pretty well. He has no visible injuries and I believe that he will wake up in a few moments. As for the other two, they too are healing pretty well." Moccus replied

"That's good." Isaac said before forming ice stairs to climb to the top of the circular platform.

"..." Moccus just watched as Isaac left while he, on the other hand, attended to the injured by observing them for some anomalies.

Isaac arrived on top of the circular platform and walked to the edges and sat down. He looked at the distance with a dazed feeling, but due to the thick blizzard surrounding the mountain, he could only see little of the outside land.

He then let out a sigh as a white cloud came out of his mouth. "This can never happen again..."

Just then, in the middle of Isaac's mood, his eyes perked up as he raised his head to look around as if he was trying to find something. "Huh?"

"What was that?"

Isaac then stood up and looked around the surrounding area, trying to find the source of what caught his attention.

His head turned again to another side and looked at the west side of the mountain. He then looked in that direction and silently muttered: "Something is... calling me...?"

Isaac doesn't know why, but just a minute ago, he felt like something was trying to connect with him, contact him, or talk to him.

He doesn't know what it was but the fact that it can communicate with Isaac made him extremely curious.

"Sir Isaac!" Just then, Moccus' loud voice was heard by Isaac. The latter stopped searching for the thing that was trying to contact him and looked at the former. "One of them is waking up!"

"What?" Hearing his reply, Isaac immediately got out of his idea of searching for the thing contacting him and immediately came down from the circular platform.

"Who is it?" Isaac asked Moccus.

"It is the child." The latter answered.

Isaac then nodded and arrived where Parsifal was. He was laying down on a blanket Isaac took and was placed near a fireplace to keep warm.

Parsifal slowly opened his eyes and after a few moments, he saw the same figure that he saw before passing out.

"You..." Parsifal tried to say something but was interrupted by Isaac.

"Hey, umm, can you understand what I'm saying?" Isaac asked. He first had to confirm if the humans from this world can understand him.

"Y-Yes..." Parsifal answered. In truth, he was a bit confused as to why Isaac would ask something like that using the common language that everyone in Teyvat uses.

"That's great..." Isaac said as he sighed in relief. 'It'd be troublesome if I had to learn their language...'

"Now then..." Isaac focused his attention on the young child in front of him. "Are you alright? No internal injuries?"

Parsifal took a second to gather his thoughts before answering. "No... I don't."

"But I have a question!" Parsifal asked as he stood up, though, he struggled a bit.

"Be careful, young one. You still haven't fully recovered." Moccus said as he arrived.

Parsifal got started as he saw a giant boar arrive. He then looked at Isaac and saw that his face didn't change at all and remained indifferent.

"It's fine. Moccus here won't hurt you." Isaac said as he pointed his thumb at Moccus, to which the latter nodded.

"I see..." Parsifal said. Though, he was still a bit perplexed.

"Now then." Isaac shifted the conversation. "What were you gonna ask?"

"T-That's right!" Parsifal remembered what he was gonna ask. "Were you the one that saved me?"

Isaac shrugged his shoulders while his hands were folded and replied, "I am indeed."

Hearing his answer, Parsifal slowly stood up and slightly bowed his head as he placed his left arm on his chest. "I-In behalf of the Landrich Clan, I, Parsifal Landrich, sincerely thank you... Umm..."

"Isaac. You can just call me Isaac." Isaac gave a plain answer. He then looked at Parsifal and sighed. 'How can I accept a thank you from you... I technically let everyone around you die that time...'

'Isaac...' Parsifal thought. He then raised his head and looked at Isaac. "Again, thank you, Sir Isaa—"

"Enough already." Isaac stopped him. "On to the main point, are you injured?"

Parsifal saw his cold ice-blue eyes and immediately answered, clearly intimidated. "I-I don't."

"Good. I'll give you a few more hours to rest before escorting you out of the mountain." Isaac said. "But before then, I will ask some questions from you. Agreed?"

"Yes!" Parsifal answered.

With that confirmation, Isaac turned his back to get away. He was still feeling a bit guilty for his incompetence. "I'll come back in a few hours."

Parsifal saw Isaac's departing figure and noticed something. He then shouted at Isaac, worried. "W-Wait! Sir Isaac! You'll freeze out there!"

He was clearly worried for his savior. He doesn't want him to turn into a frozen corpse out there so he immediately got worried.

Hearing Parsifal's shout, Isaac turned his head and look at the former. He then looked at him with the same indifference in his eyes, but this time, he curled up a small smile. "It's fine. The cold never bothers me anyway."

With that last, he continued walking as to where that thing trying to contact him was.

Parsifal watched as Isaac left and felt awed by his answer. He doesn't know why, but he feels like the person named Isaac that saved him is strong and very wise. 'So cool...'

'God that was cringe... I shouldn't have said that...' Isaac thought in embarrassment while walking away, clearly sensing Parsifal's gaze on his back.

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(Notes)