38 The Second Night in the North... Is Seri Athletic Or...?

I woke up to my body being violently shook. I groaned, "Ugh... Five more minutes Lona."

Millie spoke sharply, "For the last time! I'm not Lona! Now get up! The teacher is getting impatient. If we don't meet her soon we will be left behind!"

After being tugged on some more, I finally relented and dragged myself out of bed. I began to get changed out of my night clothes. I sniffled, "Why is it so cold?"

"Because we are in the North."

"Huh? When'd we get here?"

I rubbed my still closed eyes. She sighed, "Are you usually like this in the morning?"

"Eh. I'm usually worse."

"Now I understand why you are always late. Here, I will help you."

She helped me quickly put my clothes on. I looked at her a bit confused, "Millie, did you put that outfit on yourself?"

"Yes. Why? Is there a problem with it?"

"No I'm just amazed you could do it yourself. There are so many zippers and strings you have to tie behind your back. I can never reach."

"I don't have this issue. My dresses are simple compared to yours."

Ugh. She has a point there. These Loli dresses are all so complicated.

She finished tying my dress and we quickly put our heavy clothes on over it. As soon as I stepped out of the door, I wanted to scream.

I grabbed my arms, "How can it be this cold?! We will freeze to death!"

"It's not that bad."

"You're right, it's much worse."

I continued to grumble as we made our way to the cafeteria. We sat next to Dante and William almost as if it was a natural thing to do. I attempted to cook once more, but my hands were quickly slapped away.

Defeated, I put my head on the table and enjoyed the warmth coming from the grill. After dozing off, I was awakened to the smell of mouth watering meat. I noticed that the plate in front of me had plain, but delicious looking food.

I quickly devoured it without even asking myself where it had come from. William and Dante started to eat their portions.

William smiled at the first bite, "This is good Millie! You have talent for this."

She blushed, "No, it's not that good."

"Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"I sometimes will sneak into the kitchen at home and watch the cooks. I'm not as good at cooking as they are though."

"You shouldn't be so modest this is great!"

I carefully watched the two of them conversing. Millie was blushing and acting coy. She would occasionally steal glances at William. Hmm. I wonder if she has a crush on William or something. If that's true, then she's going to have a disappointing future. Anyone who is interested in William will be turned down.

Millie noticed my pitying stare, "What is it?"

I grabbed her hands thoughtfully, "If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you."

She raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Thank you?"

I finished my plate before everyone else. Everyone else ate so slow and daintily. I didn't have time for that.

William glared at me, "How can you stuff your face like that? It's so unbecoming."

"Okay grandma. I will keep that in mind."

"Grandma?! Why am I a grandmother now? I thought I was a mother."

"At least you admit it now."

He glared at me angrily, "Well I don't see where the difference is."

"Because you criticize me constantly, but now you have an air of cynicism like that which comes with old age."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means you're a grumpy old fart. Now mind your own business."

I put my head back down and tried to go back to sleep. However, William's constant nagging kept me from attaining the peaceful slumber I so craved.

I looked over at Millie, "What are we doing today?"

William spoke peeved, "Oi! Don't ignore me!"

Millie answered, "After breakfast, they are going to take us up the mountains to go skiing."

Millie looked incredibly thrilled with this idea. I smiled at her, "Have you ever been before?"

"I haven't. But I hear it's really fun."

I looked at the other two, "Have you two ever done it before?"

William answered curtly, "No. How could we."

I raised an eyebrow at this. Dante explained, "The northern territories just joined the kingdom a few years ago. However, it was too dangerous to come here until quite recently."

"Did our kingdom forcibly take it over?"

He shook his head, "No. Actually, the North is filled with small villages that worked independently from each other. However, they had many harsh winters and they had almost died out because of it."

I tapped my chin, "So you're saying that because of our Kingdom they were able to survive?"

Dante nodded, "Precisely."

Hmm. I wonder how much truth is in this. I would love to actually speak to some villagers about it.

I asked, "Will we get to meet with any villagers?"

Millie nodded, "Yes. Tomorrow we get to go to their most prosperous market and buy a souvenir."

I smiled, "Great! I'm a bit excited now."

After everyone finished eating, one of the teachers stood up, "Alright everyone. We are now going to go to the lodge to pick up our equipment. Then we will be going to the mountains to ski."

An excited chatter broke out in the room as we all stood up. We went to our teachers who did a head count, before walking us in the direction of the lodge.

Once we arrived, we were separated based on height. The workers began to quickly measure our sizes and assign us equipment. One handed me a strange looking piece of clothing.

I looked at it in confusion, "What's this?"

He spoke in a very heavy accent, "A helmet. It will protect you."

I don't see where he got helmet from. This thing looked like a deflated ball. Noticing my confusion, he began to put it on my head. Once I was all dressed up, he handed me my skis and I waddled over to where everyone was waiting. Luckily, everyone looked as stupid as I did.

Millie looked at me and beamed, "Aren't you excited?"

"A bit. But why do we have to wear so many pads?!"

"For protection."

"Against what?"

She shrugged, "Trees?"

Once everyone was suited up, we started our long trek up the mountain side. William and Dante caught up to us. As we walked up, they seemed perfectly fine. I thought Millie would be having a hard time, but it seems as if all that excitement was giving her superhuman energy. On the other hand, I was gasping and moaning with each step.

I groaned, "Why do we have to walk up ourselves?!"

William glanced at me, "How else would we get up?"

"By a chair lift!"

"What is that?"

I groaned. Of course such a thing hasn't been invented. I can't say I'm not surprised. My luck has been awful on this trip. I had been too afraid of losing my good luck necklace, so I made sure not to bring it. Now it seems like all of the bad luck it chased away is coming back in tenfold.

Dante looked at me with cold eyes, "How can you be this exhausted already? Perhaps I haven't been hard enough on you during training."

I groaned, "It's precisely because you've been so difficult that I'm having difficulties. My body hasn't had the chance to recover."

"Hmm."

Somehow, I don't like the tone in his voice.

We finally reached the top of the hill and an instructor began to demonstrate how to properly ski. It's the same exact thing as it was in my world, so luckily I already knew how. It was something about pizza and french fries. Or were you supposed to eat pizza and fries after? Hmm... Perhaps I should have paid more attention.

We put our skis on and choose our own area to go down at. The teacher mentioned this was a beginner's hill, but it looked a lot more extreme. I looked down hesitantly.

William snickered, "Are you scared?'

I puffed out my chest proudly, "Of course not!"

"Then let's go already!"

He charged down the hills skillfully. I watched him in disbelief. How can he be so good at it when it's his first time?! Dante followed after him with a carefree expression. Dante was also a natural at it. Guh. I hate how authors make the main male leads so athletic and amazing.

Millie started going down the hill, but made sure she took her time. I rubbed my hands together, "Alright. If they can do it- so can I!"

I went to charge down the hill, but my previous confidence melted away when I saw how far it was. I squatted and kept my butt close to the ground. I cautiously pushed forward.

I probably looked pretty comical. I would use my hands to push me in the direction I needed to go in, while using my butt to stop or slow down. I finally reached the bottom of the hill where the other three were waiting.

Dante was looking down at me with cold eyes while trying to refrain from laughing. However, a few snickers still escaped from his lips.

William stared at me in embarrassment, "What do you think you are doing?! You look like a fool!"

"I merely wanted to slide down on my butt. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not like I hurt anyone."

Dante grinned, "Perhaps you are just bad at skiing."

"I'm not bad at all! I bet I could easily beat you down the hill!"

Dante smiled, "A bet? Alright. Let's do that."

William smiled, "I want to do it too."

I nodded, "Fine then. A race it is. Whoever is the first to make it down the hill wins!"

Dante tilted his head, "What's the prize?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. The losers have to carry the winner up the next hill?"

William snorted, "You just don't want to walk up this hill, do you?"

"That doesn't matter. Well? Do you both accept?"

Dante thought for a moment, "I don't have a problem walking up the hill."

I sighed, "Okay. What do you want?"

He bent down towards me and a malicious grin spread across his face, "A massage."

I tensed up, "Uhh. Wut."

"A massage. My back has been sore lately. I would love a massage."

"A back massage?"

"Yes."

"Uh, alright. A weird request, but I'm sure I could let William give you a massage."

"No. Not William. You."

I glanced at his eyes which looked like they belonged to a snake. I quickly looked away, "Oh.. That's a bit..."

"Are you scared you'll lose?"

I looked back at him defiantly, "No! There's no way I will lose!"

He smiled in triumph, "So then you accept."

"Of course!"

I froze.

Wait. Why did I agree to that?!

William spoke up, "And if I beat you, you have to be nice to me for the entire trip! No more calling me a grandmother."

I glared at him, "I'm always nice to you!" The three of them stared at me unconvinced. I clicked my tongue, "Fine."

Millie stayed behind, "I will judge your competition. I'm not good enough to participate."

We nodded our heads and began the arduous climb back up. We weren't even a third up the way and I was already gasping for air.

Dante looked back, "We should go to a more difficult hill."

I spoke while gasping, "Why?!"

"Why not? Are you scared?"

"No!"

"Then let's go."

I groaned and continued to follow them William snickered at me so I flipped him off. His face instantly turned red from anger and he began to stomp up the hill. Once we finally reached the top, I collapsed.

"Ugh... So... Tired..."

Dante smiled at me, "Last time to admit you won't be able to beat me."

I quickly sat up, "Hell no."

He shrugged, "Alright then."

We each took a stance on the hill side by side. I looked down and realized it was a whole bunch steeper than I was expecting. Suddenly, my legs began to shake as all of my previous courage flew out the door. I noticed a speck waving at us from the bottom.

William spoke, "Ah. That's Millie. Looks like she's ready."

Dante nodded, "Alright. Ready? Three... Two... One... Go!"

Dante and William kicked off of the ground like professionals and began flying down the hill.

I swallowed hard, "Eh. I'm sure I will be fine. There's no trees so as long as I just go straight, I will be fine. Yup. It's going to be fine."

I put my skis straight and I slowly felt myself go forward. Before I realized it, I had picked up too much momentum.

F*ck. I'm going to die.

Dante raced down to the bottom and noticing Millie, he stopped in an instant. He looked behind him and smiled.

She clapped, "Wow! You're so fast! You won!"

William pulled up next, also stopping elegantly. He frowned, "Well at least I beat Seri."

Millie strained her eyes, "It doesn't even seem like she started."

William chuckled, "She was so scared, she looked like she was about to pee herself."

Millie glanced at him and spoke sternly, "It's not nice to laugh at her. What if she's so scared she's crying?"

He instantly looked worried and put his head down like a defeated dog. He spoke in a quiet voice, "Should we check on her?"

Millie's voice changed, "Oh! Here she comes! Wow... She's coming in fast... Really fast... Look at her face! She doesn't even look concerned! How cool..."

In fact, my face was expressionless because I was freaking the f*ck out. How the hell do you stop this thing?! Was it pizza or french fry?! PIZZA OR FRENCH FRY?!

F*ck. I would love some french fries right now.

Noticing I wasn't going to stop, the three of them quickly rushed out of the way. I sped past them and hit a small bump propelling myself in the air. With a thud, I sunk into a snow bank.

My legs stuck out in the air as my upper body was buried deep in the snow. I tried to wiggle out, but was stuck. I felt a hand wrap around my ankle pull me out. I spit out a mouthful of snow and wiped my eyes.

Dante stood staring at me with an eyebrow raised.

I gave a toothy grin, "Good thing it was soft snow."

Everyone's eyes widened. Millie rushed over, "Seri! Your tooth!"

I ran my tongue along my teeth and realized one of my front teeth was missing. AHHH! I'VE BEEN DISFIGURED!