Chapter 23 – Contest

Considering that the little girl was terrified of me last night, she seems very clingy now. All night long, she basically cuddled up to my feathery body. I didn't find it that much of an issue but I'm unsure why she didn't prefer one of the bedrolls offered, both boys slept cuddled up under my wings as well. I guess I might look like a giant teddy bear to kids or something like that then.

The sun has already come up and we've fed the kids, we literally are just about to set off since the blizzard seems to be completely gone now thankfully.

(Ikarus) "We all ready to go then?"

"Yes, everyone's on Ikarus-sama"

"Make sure you hold on to me or Charlotte"

"Yes!" "Yeah!" "O-Okay"

In the end, everyone did fit on my back, just it was a bit of a squeeze, the girl seems really nervous though.

"This is flight A1C30, pilot Ikarus is in flight command, does anyone copy, over?"

…

Why do I even bother when no one even has an idea what I'm even on about?

Leaving the cave with all the people on my back, I start raising my altitude my flight and within seconds, I'm already above the trees. Pilot Ikarus had nailed the take-off!

"This is brilliant!"

"It's like were birds!"

"I-I don't l-like this"

Despite the boys having the time of their life flying through the sky, at least the little girl can understand the completely rational fear of heights some people have.

(Charlotte) "If you close your eyes, you don't have to look down"

"N-No, that's n-not the reason, it's c-cold up here"

Even the scared little girl is better with heights then I was, I'm just going to focus on flying and ignore these lot now.

__________

"Oi kids, were going to land a bit of a distance away from the town and then I'm going to do something, can you keep a secret?"

"Ikarus-sama is going to make herself look like a human, if you tell your parents about it, then she will be sad"

"Yeah, Ikarus will be very sad"

All three kids nod their heads and now that were close enough from the settlement, I find a place to land. Once I've found a suitable spot, everyone gets down from my back and I go off behind a tree and a few bushes to change form as well as put some clothes on.

"J-Jesus C-Christ!!! I-It's cold!"

"Who's that Ikarus-sama?"

Yeah, their religion definitely isn't the same, I wanted to see if she would pick up on that but she unfortunately didn't. I've gotten myself dressed as well now at least, even the fur clothing on still doesn't help keep the cold away that much.

"Let's get going then"

All three kids look at my human form and immediately the little girl makes a comment on it.

"I-Ikarus sama is cute!"

…

The young girl just called my human form cute; I don't know what do with that. Literally, I don't have a clue how to react, I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear her. I know it's rude but the hamster in my brain isn't functioning right now! It's on a hiatus.

As were continuing to the village, I'm getting a few odd looks from the priestess and the knight and then something much worse happens, the girl starts tearing up.

"D-Does Ikarus-sama n-not like me?"

Okay, the sight of a crying child is too much for me to handle. I've got to do something quickly.

"Ah, stop crying, of course I like you! We're friends aren't we? Of course I like you!"

"T-Then why d-didn't you r-respond?"

Damn, she's quite the perceptive child, this is why I'm unsure how to act around children. With a young dragon, it's different but with human kids, I've always been like this. Some kids don't seem to mind me, others get emotional like this.

(Charlotte) "Of course Ikarus-sama likes you"

(Nathan) "She probably didn't hear you"

I saw those glares at me you two, don't blame me for now knowing how to act around children, I didn't think that would make her cry! Even her brothers are looking at me with confused faces.

"*Sniff*… O-Okay"

'Phew… Aesa, remind me to never have children'

[<Noted>]

'I don't even know why I thought that, you need to be with a male to have kids, that's never happening. I guess adoption is a thing but no reason why I'd do that either'

With that severe crisis now over, we continue on towards the town.

…

"It's colder than usual"

"It really is brother"

"Y-Yes"

All the three kids have warm clothing on but even I can understand how cold the north is, would be horrible to live up here permanently. I bet the ice fields are even worse.

The kids also haven't mentioned their parents or the reason why they were out in the woods yet, my best guess is that they know they are in serious trouble with their parents when we get back.

(Charlotte) "We're nearly there"

(Nathan) "Just a little bit further"

The kids' faces look really uncomfortable now as they can now see the town itself.

As were walking into the settlement, we are greeted by two strangers.

"Hang on, you found the children?"

"Someone get Wendy, the kids are back!"

Both of them run off towards a nearby house and quickly get a single woman outside and bring her back to where we are.

"You stupid kids! Why the heck did I give birth to such idiots? Your father would be turning in his grave knowing what you did"

The woman runs up the kids tearing up and crouches down hugging the three of them, she clearly was extremely worried.

"It wasn't my fault, blame brother!"

"You're such a liar!"

"M-mummy!"

The mother of the kids tries to wipe her eyes but she still can't stop crying seeing her children return.

"Why did you even go that far into the woods anyway?"

Ah good, the mystery will be solved now.

"Brother wanted to pet a wolf"

"Stop lying!"

"W-We got l-lost"

Okay, if the first kid is telling the truth, then these kids are really stupid. Pet a wolf, seriously?

The woman just gives a little smile towards the rambling kids and then gets really strict all of a sudden.

"You three are not leaving the house for a month"

"That's so unfair!"

"Why are you so mean!?"

"O-Okay"

After the woman is done with her kids, she gets back up and speaks to our party of three.

"Thank you for returning my babies, you have no idea how much this means to me. Help yourself to anything in my house, we don't have much but there must be something worth your time"

"That isn't necessary"

"We we're only doing the Lord's work"

Look at these two turning down any potential reward, that's crap. I wouldn't have taken anything off the woman but still, don't be turning stuff down that easily. Money is money at the end of the day, you can never have enough.

"Okay then but I'm sure everyone is the town will appreciate what you've done, we are a very close-knit community and they'll probably let you take whatever you want"

I think I let out an unconscious grin from her comment there, I'm definitely going to make use of this community.

She finishes up her conversation with us and then leaves with her kids, there was a surprisingly number of onlookers around us during that conversation. They are mostly gone now as well though.

"So… that's a good deed done for today. You know exactly what I'm doing next priestess"

"Please try and limi-"

I have to cut her off, I'm not having her be a buzzkill tonight.

"No, I'm going to enjoy as much of the devil's drink as I can withstand. I'm not listening to your complaints"

She doesn't respond to me and realizes she won't win this battle.

'Muhahah… this is going to be a fun night.'

__________

"DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!!"

"*Gulp*, haaaaaaaaa!"

"*Hic*, urgh… no more *hic*"

"I think I'm going to puke"

The inn is filled to the brim with people cheering and spurring my little drinking contest on, everyone who has challenged me thus far have all come up short. This was such a good excuse to drink!

The inn keeper and his wife both look really concerned; I did say they would regret this!

"Anyone else looking to give me a challenge?"

"Ikarus-sama, that's enough now"

"You might be overdoing it a little"

Both the priestess and the knight have only just joined this little party, they were nowhere to be seen while it started. It makes sense seeing that both of them don't enjoy alcohol, just means there's more for me!

Thing is, I don't even enjoy parties that much either. Give me a lot of booze however, life of the party Ikarus comes out!

"I'm not agreeing with you two this time, I'm not stopping till I'm drunk today. Go pray for my soul at the church or something if you're that concerned… Now, where was I?"

"*Hic *I'll try another round"

"Urgh… one more"

These two guys don't stand a chance, they should have given up by now.

"DRINK, DRINK, DRIN-"

__________

"Urgh, my head… where the hell am I?"

[<-User- is on top of a church>]

'You're so loud Aesa… how the hell did I end up here?'

I'm still in my human form and currently on top the small church they have in this settlement. I have no idea what happened after the inn and haven't a clue how I've ended up on this church. I'm still clothed which is a very good sign though.

'Looks like I can get drunk then, just requires a truck-kun amount of alcohol. I think… I remember drinking that inn dry as well now'

As I'm moving about from pointy church roof I've woken up from, I realize there's a massive problem.

'Aesa… how do I get down? It's a bit high and I can't exactly switch form up here, I'll be seen'

I'm not the only person hungover, I can see several other people lying around the town in the cold snow just waking up now. It's a miracle none of us have hypothermia from last night.

[<-User- got themselves into this mess, Aesa won't help>]

'Damn, you're no help like usual'

I start looking around for a spot of snow I can jump into but it all looks the exact same, I'm just going to have to take a huge risk here.

"One… two… three!"

On three, I jump off the church roof.

"ARGHHHH!... Oh! I'm alright! The snow was soft and fluffy"

Getting up and shaking the snow off me from the pile I jumped into, I quickly come to the realization two pairs of eyes are watching me.

"*Sigh*… Ikarus-sama…"

"You alright Ikarus?"

Both my two-party members come out from the church and succubus-sama is extremely disappointed as well as shaking her head at me, Nathan isn't as bad but even he looks slightly disappointed.

"Before you say anything else… I regret absolutely nothing"

I can't help but give a smile while saying that, I really don't regret getting that wasted. A hangover is a tiny price to pay for how fun last night was, watching the inn keeper's face as I was drinking him into debt was like the icing on top of the cake.

(Charlotte) "*Sigh*… should we start getting on our way then? Will you be able to fly straight though?"

"Of course, just don't speak too loudly. Oh, we still need to stock up on foo- no, meat beforehand"

I'm not going to be allowed to hide my sweets around these two anymore, sharing sucks!

__________

"You two alright up there?"

(Nathan) "We're alive at least"

(Charlotte) "I've never experience cold this bad"

Flying across the ocean towards the dungeon island, even my feathery body is starting to feel the cold. I can't imagine how cold it must be for the other two.

"Doesn't your Lord have some magic or something like that to help with the cold?"

"It is light magic that God has blessed me with, heat would come from fire magic"

Obviously, it would come from fire. Wait a second, I've missed a trick here. I could have easily been keeping myself warm as well as the others. I need to play it off as something else though, these two both know I can use fire.

"I would offer to light a fire on my back but if we end up in a fight, I might need my magicka"

"Understandable Ikarus-sama"

"Don't worry Ikarus, we know not to waste your magic"

Wow, they actually bought that crap.

We've probably been flying at least for a good six hours or so now, the prince did tell me the island should be easy to see if you head northeast from the settlement flying across the ocean but the weather is making things difficult to see out here. I think he said that just as we were leaving.

[<-User- has unlocked another sub-system ability>]

'Damn it Aesa, give me some warning! I'm flying here! How the hell have I unlocked an ability right now?'

[<Sub-system ability -frost walker- gives -user- 50% frost magic resistance. Ability can only be obtained by surviving sub-zero temperatures not suitable for human survival>]

I know it's cold but still, I didn't think it was that cold. I really feel sorry for the two on top of me now. I'll give them a hand once I finish with Aesa.

'Frost magic, I think only water magic users would be able to use that. So... I'm a phoenix who can now resist frost magic, seems pretty ironic considering I don't have fire resistance'

[<-User- just thought something incredibly stupid>]

'What about that was stupid?'

[<-User- already has 100% fire resistance>]

'When did I get that?'

[<Species phoenix is born with 100% fire resistance>]

'Then why didn't you tell me that!? It would have been good to know when you said I can't hurt myself with my own magic'

[<-User- never asked that specific question, Aesa thought -user- already knew>]

I'm not getting worked up with system this time, I know it should have been obvious I'm completely resistant to fire but still, might've helped to actually have been told that. I guess it's not an actual ability but I'll add it to the list I've got saved in my head now. It should be five in total.

The EXP ability for humans, gambling ability that can't be used yet, my enchanted storage ring, frost and then fire resistance. They actually not that exciting thinking about it, pretty underwhelming if I'm being honest. Oh, can't forget about the other two species' things I have, language translator and high alcohol resistance.

As I was feeling slightly depressed about the lack of cool abilities I have, I couldn't help but feel the shivering of the two sitting on my back.

"I'm lighting a fire on the back of my neck, even I'm feeling sorry for you two now. I don't know how long it will last though"

Using my magic is a small price to pay to stop them freezing on my back, I'll just try and keep the fire small and hope it lasts for a while till we see the island.