Sitting inside the inn room, one could see the snow falling outside the window, painting the scenery in a pure, beautiful white.
Rin: "This year is truly cold, and now even snow is falling."
Looking out, the girl shivered as memories of the past came to her mind.
Surviving winter had always been extremely difficult and harsh.
Even a single mistake—catching a chill and falling ill—could instantly claim the lives of the poor.
Like Rin, Tris also believed that enduring winter was a tremendous struggle for the impoverished.
Yet, after some time observing, he realized that the number of deaths caused by the cold was far lower than he had imagined.
Only those already sick or weakened were at risk of succumbing to the freezing weather. The rest, though poor and weary, still managed to resist the harshness of the season.
Based on the material conditions of the people here, Tris had once assumed the situation would be far worse.
Reflecting on the cause, he concluded it was tied to the existence of spiritual energy.
Even for those who had never learned to wield it, spiritual energy still resided within each individual to some extent.
Thanks to this, both the physical constitution and average lifespan of humans in this world were far greater than those of humans in another world living in a similar era.
Because he had only relied on information from his dreams without accounting for this disparity, it led to the mistaken assumptions he had made earlier.
With stronger bodies, the cold lost much of its terror for the people here.
As a result, the greatest threat to the poor remained food scarcity.
Thus, the charitable work of the White Church had been invaluable, providing immense aid to many.
But after Rose's group departed, and with the disappearance of the White Church, their charitable food distributions naturally vanished as well.
In fact, both the territory itself and the Church of Light often held food distribution activities. Yet these were always limited, never enough to meet the needs of all the poor.
Thus, no one would ever complain if another source of free food appeared, especially when that source offered both greater quantity and quality than elsewhere.
Bowls of steaming porridge with meat, the next charitable event promised by the White Church, all of it vanished, just like their headquarters that had been consumed by flames.
This reality stirred considerable resentment among the slum dwellers toward the actions of the Church of Light.
Through his methods of observation and his knowledge of Rose, Tris, of course, knew that it was her group who had burned the headquarters themselves.
But the poor in the slums could not possibly know that. All they saw was the hostile encirclement of the building by the Church of Light, followed by its destruction in fire, and then the loud proclamations spreading the 'truth' across the city.
The Church of Light later tried to explain, but according to Tris's observations, the outcome was far from successful.
Most people, with little education, could not imagine such a complex scheme, in which one might burn their own headquarters for some hidden benefit.
Therefore, the majority trusted what they had seen and heard firsthand, rather than the explanations that came afterward.
Of course, even with their resentment, none dared to voice it openly.
The poor understood that even if they spoke out, nothing would change. In reality, they were too busy devoting their strength to daily survival in the harsh winter to waste effort on actions that would bring no good result.
To openly express dissatisfaction risked retaliation from zealous believers, or even from the Church itself.
For example, the Church of Light could forbid anyone who spoke out in criticism from accessing their charitable activities. Even such a measure alone was enough to terrify the powerless poor.
Yet, although no one dared to speak openly, curses whispered behind their backs were not few.
Constantly using his 'Feathers' to observe and gather information, Tris noticed that many people still showed faces of regret and disappointment whenever they passed by the place where the White Church had once stood.
At such times, vulgar words were often hurled toward those they believed had robbed them of the steaming bowls of porridge and the warm, delicious loaves of bread they might have received.
Witnessing all this, Tris wondered whether this was truly the outcome Rose's group had intended. It seemed as though they had sown seeds of division and resentment against the Church of Light in this land.
However, upon careful analysis, Tris judged that such an effect could only be minor and insignificant.
Thus, perhaps they truly did not care about the outcome, just as Rose had said:
"Preach, observe, divide, slay the leaders and elites, the White Spiders…"
Tris murmured these words softly as he continued to ponder.
The actions of the White Church's group could be said to be both simple and complex, seemingly encompassing many smaller objectives within them.
After a while, he shook his head in weariness and sighed:
"Tired… Won't think about it anymore."
He decided not to waste any more brain cells on the matter.
Rin: "??"
Sitting nearby, Rin's face seemed to display a giant question mark as she heard Tris suddenly speak.
'Just what was Master thinking while watching the snow fall?' she wondered.
Though confused, Rin quickly let it go. After all, Tris often acted strangely, and she was used to it from spending so much time at his side.
Soon after, Tris began putting on his coat and equipping his gear. Seeing this, Rin asked curiously:
"In this weather, Master still intends to go out?"
Tris: "To hunt."
Rin: "Hunt?"
Tris: "Yes. The Magical Beast I want to hunt only appears in this freezing season. Recently, the guild reported that someone accidentally spotted it."
Rin: "What kind of beast is it?"
Tris: "The Ice Pillars Beast."
Rin: "Can Rin come along?"
Tris: "It's a B‑rank Magical Beast with a very thick hide. Even if we succeed in hunting it, you wouldn't be able to help with gathering materials. So stay here and keep training. Make sure to master 'Flash Steps' as soon as possible."
Rin: "Uuh… That technique is so hard."
The girl groaned just thinking of the difficulties she faced in training.
Tris: 'If it were easy, it wouldn't be a high‑level skill that so few have mastered. But of course, I won't tell her that.' He smiled inwardly.
Tris believed Rin was far from reaching her limits.
Precisely because she did not fully understand, she felt no fear, and thus refused to give up—throwing herself into the effort to learn it no matter what.
Tris: "I'm going."
With that, he spoke and left, quickly stepping into the cold, wintry air outside.