After Steven had satisfied his curiosity, Surtr finally finished off the last of her ice cream. Despite her impressive physical resilience, she couldn't help but press a hand against her forehead, feeling a wave of brain freeze.
She had eaten too much, too fast—a headache was inevitable.
But, more than that, she was curious.
How had he done it?
Laevatain was incredibly temperamental—not just anyone could touch it, let alone lift and wield it while engulfed in its flames.
Yet he had done exactly that, and with almost casual ease.
Surtr reached out and gently ran her fingers along Laevatain's blade.
She could feel a trace of resentment lingering on its surface, as if the weapon had just been violated in some way.
Like a proud, noble maiden who had just been roughly handled against her will.
Surtr felt a strange mix of emotions.
She wanted to laugh, but she held it in.
If Laevatain sensed her amusement, she might have to deal with some serious attitude from her weapon later.
So instead, she simply hugged it close, running a comforting hand along its blade.
Only then did she tilt her head and turn her gaze toward the boy beside her.
To her surprise, he seemed even more mysterious than she had first thought.
Surtr had always considered her talking weapon to be unique, but it turned out, there were even stranger people out there.
Even setting aside his fire resistance, the fact that he could effortlessly lift and swing Laevatain was already proof of his incredible strength.
If Laevatain chose not to cooperate, its weight would be far beyond normal human limits.
And then there was the question of where the hell had he even gotten that much delicious ice cream?
…Okay, maybe that last part was the real mystery here.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
Steven, noticing her curious gaze, responded with a simple, honest smile.
"It was just a normal trade. You got what you wanted, and I got what I needed. Fair deal, right?"
With that, he narrowed his eyes and looked toward the distant sky.
The timing was just right.
Now that he had satisfied his curiosity, it was about time for Rhodes Island's people to arrive.
At the far end of his vision, a familiar-looking Osprey-style aircraft was gradually approaching.
Steven thought about it for a moment—
As far as he knew, in all of Ursus, only Rhodes Island had something like that.
'Looks like Kal'tsit was rational about this.'
She hadn't brought the entire floating fortress just to pick him up, instead, she had sent a faster aircraft.
That was...
Pretty reasonable.
Surtr had also noticed the approaching flying machine.
Glancing at Steven's expression, she quickly put two and two together.
"So, they're here to pick you up?"
"Yeah, more or less. This is just the pickup vehicle—"
Steven waved a hand dismissively.
"The actual 'car' is much bigger."
To be honest, he was a little disappointed that Rhodes Island hadn't come in their full battleship mode.
Who doesn't love big vehicles?
But thinking about it logically, it made sense.
A mobile fortress had set travel routes, and suddenly changing course would be a huge hassle.
Sending a smaller aircraft was already a decent compromise.
"So, this is where we part ways?"
Steven turned toward Surtr with a grin, raising a hand in a casual farewell gesture.
Though they had only met once, he had found her surprisingly easy to get along with.
Since they were both travelers, there was no need to force anything.
If fate allowed it, they would cross paths again someday.
"Farewell. May your journey be a great one."
Surtr returned his smile with equal brightness, waving as she bid him goodbye.
"I'll take your words as a blessing!"
Steven watched the beautiful Sarkaz girl, who had appeared so suddenly and now departed just as swiftly, disappear into the snowy horizon.
A faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
This was exactly why he was growing fond of this world.
Meeting people he liked, sharing moments with them.
That kind of thing had never been possible in the world of Minecraft.
As Surtr's striking crimson figure faded into the distance, the aircraft approaching from the sky finally reached him, descending toward the snowy plains.
It wasn't exactly hard to find him.
After all, who else would be bold enough to make a fire and set up a roadside dining area in the middle of the Ursus tundra?
But in reality, the aircraft hadn't been drawn to him because of that.
The real reason was the pillar of flame that had erupted when Steven forcibly wielded Laevatain—a beacon that was impossible to ignore.
As the hatch of the aircraft opened, Steven finally saw her again.
After nearly a month apart, there she was, that green-haired, grumpy-looking cat.
"Yo~ Kal'tsit, long time no see! Come on, let me give Mon3tr a good rub! I bet it missed me, huh?"
Walking up with a cocky stride, Steven casually threw an arm over Kal'tsit's slender shoulders, raising an eyebrow at her while glancing over her perfectly curved back.
Kal'tsit gave him a deadpan look, her voice calm and unimpressed.
"This conversation serves no purpose. It fears you. And it has only been a month—not exactly 'long time no see.'"
She glanced at his hand, now resting on her exposed shoulder, but didn't bother to brush it off.
She knew this man well enough.
The fact that he was this comfortable around her meant he was starting to see her more favorably.
In the past, he wouldn't even acknowledge her existence unless necessary.
Steven frowned, pulling his hand back.
"Ugh, you're still talking in riddles? Seriously, isn't that exhausting?"
The amount of disdain in his eyes now outweighed hers from earlier.
Kal'tsit sighed softly.
"That's better than someone who likes to perform spontaneous combustion on the snowy plains of Ursus."
For once, her cold, sharp expression softened slightly.
She knew all too well that Steven was the type to respond better to a gentle approach rather than a confrontational one.
Honestly, when she had first seen him engulfed in flames, she had been genuinely worried.
If anything happened to him, it would be a massive loss.
Not just to her, but to all of Terra.
After all, the technology in his hands was quite possibly the only hope for solving one of the biggest crises on the planet.
At least... the only hope they could see for now.
"Haha~ it was just an accident. Besides, a little fire can't hurt me. I'm the kind of guy who could do the butterfly stroke in molten lava."
Steven laughed awkwardly, scratching his head.
Yeah... getting set on fire in front of people he knew was kinda embarrassing.
It made it look like he had some kind of weird masochistic kink or something.
Kal'tsit didn't press the issue.
Instead, she changed the subject.
"Who was that person with you earlier? A friend?"
She had noticed the red-haired girl standing next to Steven just before landing.
They seemed... close.
Come to think of it, this guy actually got along with people pretty well—so why was it so difficult for the two of them to interact smoothly?
"I guess you could say that... more or less. But really, it's just the kind of mutual understanding that comes from being the same type of person."
When Kal'tsit brought up Surtr, Steven simply laughed it off, giving a vague response.
Kal'tsit didn't press further.
"Alright, then. Are you done with your business in Ursus?"
She knew how he was—impulsive, always acting on a whim.
He left suddenly, and now he was back just as abruptly.
"Can't say I've wrapped up everything completely, but there's nothing urgent keeping me here anymore. I think it's about time I moved on to the next stop."
Steven scratched his head.
If he was being honest, Talulah still had a mountain of issues left to deal with—but that was her problem, not his.
As far as his goals were concerned, he had achieved what he came for—at least when it came to mining.
So, really, there was no reason left for him to stick around in Ursus.
Kal'tsit simply nodded, then led Steven into the aircraft.
"So, how long do you plan on staying on Rhodes Island this time?"
"Who knows?" Steven shrugged. "Depends on if I find anything interesting there. But let me tell you, my trip to Ursus was pretty damn rewarding!"
He had originally wanted to brag about everything he had gained on this journey, but when he saw Kal'tsit's utterly uninterested expression, he suddenly lost all motivation to share.
Would she even appreciate it? Probably not.
Might as well save the stories for Outcast and the others—they'd actually find it fun.
Kal'tsit frowned slightly.
"Why'd you stop talking?"
"Because it's pointless telling you," Steven said bluntly. "You don't care anyway."
He shrugged it off, but just as he was about to settle in, his eyes lit up.
He spotted something interesting.
He quickly walked over to the passenger seats, where a certain girl was resting.
A girl with a massive, menacing chainsaw clutched in her arms.
Yet despite the sheer brutality of that weapon, her twitching cat ears made for the most adorable contrast imaginable.
Two extremes clashing together—only making her cuteness even more obvious.
Moving silently, Steven snuck up to the sleeping girl.
After rummaging through his inventory for a while, he finally pulled out a feather.
Then, with a devilish grin, he gently tickled the tip of her tiny nose.
"Ah-CHOO!"
With a sudden sneeze, Blaze jerked awake, rubbing her nose groggily.
Then, she turned—and saw a certain someone crouching beside her.
"Yo. Long time no see."
Steven grinned, clearly pleased with his little prank.
<+>
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