As I kept walking, I remembered a fatal mistake.
I don't have male friends; I just blurted it in the heat of the moment.
Now, hearing it again, I feel depressed. Most men would kill to be in my place around such women.
But here I am without even a single male friend.
Looking to all my sides, how should I tell them?
I suddenly stopped in my tracks, my head down hiding my features, then suddenly I pulled them all to me, hugging them.
"You are all precious to me!"
They were momentarily taken aback, then gave me an even tighter bear hug. Feeling the air leave my lungs, I kept tapping them to release.
Now, I should find a home and get that "item" before going to the Frost King expedition.
Maybe I should ask them to help me. Well, looking at them, I don't think they would mind it.
As we kept walking and the sun went down, I or should I say we rented a temporary house.
Yes, they all live here now. I feel I forgot something?
Yes! The maids, what happened to them?
I ran rapidly to Sarah, asking her. She just smiled back, saying, "Don't worry, Daddy. We made sure to evacuate everyone before we started our 'conversation.'"
"Is that so? Thank you, Sarah. You are such a sensible daughter."
"Hehe, then why don't you take your daughter on a special date with her daddy?" she said, smiling teasingly.
Ugh, she really is getting bratty by the day. Maybe I should "discipline" her. A brief thought like that crossed my mind before shaking it off.
No, Mason, she is your daughter.
Feeling the little demon on top of my left shoulder say, "Well adapted, and she already gave you many signs, go for it!"
Then the angel on my right shoulder shouted, "No, you shouldn't! She is a traumatized kid. You should offer comfort and warmth instead!"
I swooshed both of them away, then got up to my room. I tactically ignored the human silhouette under my bed cover and went to the desk.
Then opened my system menu and paused the game.
Suddenly everything stopped moving, even the rustles on the bed or the sound of birds and insects outside.
Then I opened my inventory and took out my diary. What? I know many of you would say,
"You shouldn't keep a diary with all your secrets; it could really mess with you in the long run."
But don't worry, using my previous life's English writing, no one can read it. Except I should keep it away from Emilia, or she would go mega yandere on me.
Well, mostly because in that diary I say all that's on my mind, including my feelings for her.
Now, thinking about it, she also had one. I remember her mentioning it.
Wonder what she wrote about me?
---------
Meanwhile, just 10m away in the opposite room—
Hehehe.
You could see a white-haired woman with green eyes scribbling in a book with a creepy grin.
"Today me and Mason confirmed our relationship. I would become his wife!"
But it didn't take too long before a handful of bitches already surrounded my Mason.
"Maybe I could do something about it?"
Then she continued scribbling in her diary, making all sorts of wild expressions.
-------
Back to Mason's room—
"So that's how we pass that gate? Alright, let's recap the steps.
First, I have to pass the front yard filled with graves. When they sense a life force, an army of them will arise.
I stopped at the first point momentarily… those guys were the previous kingdom's people enslaved by the Frost King, trapped in an endless curse to serve him as his watchdog.
Maybe I should ask Marianne for a spell to free them. Now I recall, wasn't there a spell in the game that could do that?
Yeah, that's right! Its name is Divine Release, but only an Lv.80 priest could do that.
And the only NPC capable of it besides the player is the priestess, but I really don't want to deal with her again.
Remembering my first experience with her… well, let's not poke the bear again.
And the second step was to climb the gate.
Right, you heard it right, we do a little climbing!
Because the only way to open the gate is by killing the Frost King and taking the key from his belt, which is impossible knowing he's already inside.
When climbing, we could face some spiders, the building-sized kind, so a fire spell or fire-enchanted sword could really help here.
After we reach the top, the Mother Spider would be there waiting for us. The main reason she couldn't attack us while climbing is because her body is too big for that.
Like, actually too big, mountain-sized. She's just little shorter than the Frost King himself.
So the best way to deal with her is to take a sleeping spell too, and a hypnotize spell just in case.
After we pass the gate, we enter the castle interior, which is a country-sized maze.
Yes, I really hope the real world matches the game, or I would be dead before reaching the Frost King!
It's a maze with hidden mechanics and traps, so passing that would be relatively easy.
Then comes the biggest hurdle, the guard, a Frost Giant always sleeping on a chair at his "watch."
But if someone makes just a sound, he would instantly open his eyes, hitting them with his axe.
Yeah, he's not sleeping. He just pretends to be; he's actually blind and relies on his hearing to fool people.
Sadly, as much as I recall, there is no spell in this world or a magical outfit that could silence sound.
Mostly due to how mana-costly that would be, reducing all vibrations of the human body and environment interactions to zero.
I bet even Marianne, with her monstrous mana reserves, could keep it going for just 2 minutes.
Which is not enough, just passing the room requires a 40-minute walk, that's how big the room is.
So… yes! We could use that "item." Silly me.