Chapter 42: Making A ‘Snowman’ With Young Lady

“I really hope it snows tomorrow!”

“Snow?”

“Yes! If there’s a lot of snow, I’ll make a snowman with Mana!”

Late at night, I lie in bed with the young lady and talk about various things.

“And we’ll have a snowball fight! And… and… I’ll make a statue! And I’ll eat snow!”

“Huh? You’ll eat snow?”

“Yes! Like shaved ice!”

Hmm, the snow in this world is clean, so maybe it’s possible.

“If it snows a lot, let’s have fun, Young Lady?”

“Yes!”

For some reason, I feel like it’s going to snow heavily tonight.

The maid’s intuition was correct.

I wondered why it was a bit chilly at night, and the world outside the window is all white.

“Mana! It snowed! Snow!”

“Yes~ It snowed, Young Lady~”

“Let’s go make a snowman together! And have a snowball fight! And go sledding!!!”

Thanks to the snow that piled up overnight, the young lady is very happy in the morning, hopping on the bed.

“I understand. But let’s wash up and eat breakfast before we go out, okay?”

“Quickly, quickly!”

Oh my, the young lady is pulling me.

I quickly go to the bathroom to wash up, cook some warm stew for breakfast, and then dress her warmly.

Hmm, she’s cute today too.

“White snow~ White snow~”

“Young Lady, do you like snow that much?”

“Yes! I like it from this year!”

“From this year?”

“I like it because I’m with Mana!”

Pfft, what’s that, Young Lady.

I carefully wrap up the young lady and open the door.

– Whoosh~~~~

“Uwaaa!!”

“Pfft! Young Lady, why are you suddenly hiding behind me?”

“Wind! Wind!!!”

“Of course it’s cold, Young Lady.”

“It’s too cold! Close the door quickly! Quickly!”

“Yes~”

As the young lady wishes, I close the door, and only then does the young lady, who was behind me, come out, sighing ‘Huuuu…’.

“It’s too cold!”

“Of course, right?”

“Hmm… is there no better way?”

“Of course there is!”

“…Hiding behind Mana and going outside?”

“That’s a good way too, but when you open the door, the wind blows into the house, right? Then, you can go out quickly! Then there won’t be any wind, you know?”

“…Really?”

“Of course~”

“Th, then count the numbers and tell me when to go.”

“Okay~ Now~ I’ll go out when I say three, okay? You have to jump quickly, okay?”

“Yes..!”

Holding hands tightly, the young lady poses!

“Now, one~ two~ three!”

“Yaaaaaaaa!!!”

As soon as I open the door, I jump out with the young lady.

“Wind!!!”

“You just have to pass the door, Young Lady!”

“Kyaaaaa!!! Forward, forward!!!”

As if climbing Mount Everest, we run the distance of about 5 meters as fast as possible!

And then, surprisingly~

“…There’s no wind!”

“Instead, there’s a lot of crunchy snow piled up~”

“Wow!!!!”

The world, which was black and brown and bare until yesterday, was covered in white in an instant.

It’s definitely very beautiful to see it like this.

“Mana! It’s snow! Snow!”

“Hmm hmm, there’s enough snow to play with, right? There’s enough to have a snowball fight, go sledding, and make a snowman!”

The snow that fell overnight is about 10cm, just enough to play.

Just by picking up the snow and clumping it together, it becomes an excellent snowball for a snowball fight.

“But why isn’t it snowing now?”

“It must have only snowed overnight. But the sunlight is warm, so that’s good!”

“Is the sunlight warm?”

“Of course, you know you shouldn’t be exposed to it, right?”

“Ahem! The 9-year-old great mage has developed a magic that blocks sunlight!”

She puts her hands on her waist and shrugs, she’s like a doll.

“Pfft… It’s still only half, though. It amplifies the UV protection ability in the artifact, right?”

“I, in a little while, I can draw it myself and make it!”

“Yes, yes~ Great Mage~ Then what shall we do first?”

“Of course, we have to make a snowman first!”

The young lady sparkles her eyes and squats down.

“I’ll make a cool snowman!”

“Hee… Then shall I make a young lady snowman?”

“A young lady snowman?”

“Yes~ Like a statue. Since it’s made of snow, a snow statue?”

“Okay!”

The young lady fiddles with the snow with her gloved hands, and eventually makes a small snowball, and then shapes it as round as possible.

“Ta-da! It’s the baby snowman’s body!”

“Wow~ It’s so pretty and cute~”

“Hehe, I’ll make a big snowman too, but I’ll make a small snowman first!”

“I see~ I’ll look forward to both of them, okay?”

“Yes!”

Where.. shall I show off my skills after a long time?

I gather a suitable amount of snow, roughly clump it together, and then slowly start rolling it.

In a little while, the young lady will be 130cm.

Time really flies.

It flies fast.

“Mana! I finished one snowman!”

The young lady made a small snowman and nods her head, seemingly proud.

…So cute.

“It’s a very cute little snowman!”

“Yes! Now I’ll make a snowman a little bigger than this! Mana has to help too!”

“Oh, do you need my help? Of course~”

“First, grab the snow and gather it like this!”

“Yes!”

We start making a snowman as the very excited young lady directs.

“But how big are you planning to make it?”

“Hmm… as big as Mana!”

…A 160cm snowman?

That’s definitely a bit too big.

To make a large snowman, the young lady and I roll a suitable size of snow together on the white snowfield.

“Heave-ho! Heave-ho! One more!”

“Who are you imitating?”

“Yes! The people who were building the teahouse!”

“Aha! It was very similar!”

“Right! I’ll make a very big snowball!”

“Good luck! If you need help, please tell me!”

“Yes! Mana, make the head!”

“Yes~”

I quickly make a round snowball.

Phew, this is for the head, so this size should be enough, right?

It’s as big as a huge old pumpkin.

Now, then I’ll go back to sculpting the young lady…

I make a 130cm snowball by firmly packing the snow, and then slowly start carving it.

Hmm, should I make this concept… the snow fairy young lady?

Overall shape? And then detail it! Carve with the side of my hand! Like she’s wearing a pretty dress…

Done!

It took about 5 minutes to make a reasonably decent young lady snow statue.

I think I could enter this in a competition somewhere!

Hmm hmm, the young lady is growing up beautifully.

“Mana..! Help me..!”

“Hmm? Yes! Young Lady!”

Where is she?

She seems to have gone behind the mansion…

“…Young Lady?!”

“The snowball won’t roll!!!”

…Young Lady, the snowball is bigger than you?

The young lady is struggling, rolling a snowball as big as herself.

“It’s heavy!”

“How big are you planning to make it, really~”

I grab the snowball with the young lady.

Oh, it’s quite heavy.

“You were rolling this all the time?”

“Yes! I wanted to surprise Mana! How is it? Are you surprised?”

“Yes, yes, I’m very surprised.”

It’s not easy to roll a snowball that’s bigger than a certain size.

She managed to do it somehow.

“I think this size should be roughly okay?”

“Ugh! Just a little more! I want to roll the snowball with Mana!”

There’s no reason for me to stop her if the young lady wants to do it!

“Then we’re pushing it together?”

“Yes! One.. two.. three!! Yaaaa….!”

The young lady rolls the snowball with all her might.

Of course, I’m also applying a little force so that the snowball can roll slowly~.

“Mana!! Just a little more strength!!”

“Yes, Young Lady!”

Ah, she’s so cute…

I feel like teasing her.

I help the young lady, who is pushing the snowball with all her might, little by little, and bring the large snowball in front of the mansion.

“Just a little further!! The summit is in sight!”

“Yes! Let’s go together!”

“Kiiiiiiiing…! Cha! Done!!!!”

Finally, the young lady succeeded in bringing the large snowball to the location she wanted.

She jumps around in the snowfield and then falls back as if she’s exhausted.

…How can she fall into the snowfield like that?

She’s so cute…

“I could do it because Mana helped me! Thank you!”

“No. I only helped from the side. It’s the young lady who brought this snowball here!”

“Hehe…”

I pat the head of the young lady who smiles with a very proud expression, and then carefully place the small snowball I made on top of the large snowball.

And then draw eyes, nose, and mouth with carrots and olives~

“Shall I attach the arms too?”

“Yes! I’ll attach them!”

The young lady, who suddenly got up from the snow, finds a suitable size of twigs and sticks them into the snowman’s arms.

“Done!!!”

“You did it, Young Lady!”

“Yes!!! The snowman is so big!”

“It’s really big, isn’t it? It’s taller than the young lady, you know?”

“I’ll use magic to preserve it until winter is over!”

“Yes~”

So, a total of three snowmen were completed in front of the mansion: a small snowman, a young lady snowman, and a very large snowman.

“It’s a wonderful snowman family~”

“Yes! It’s a snowman family!”

The young lady seems to like the three snowmen huddled together, and she keeps smiling and looking at the snowmen.

“…Achoo!”

“Pfft, shall we go inside for a moment and have a cup of warm tea and then come back out?”

“Kng… Yes! Let’s do that! Achoo!”