The moment the Snow Woman saw Takumi, she froze.
Seriously—who would understand this?
She'd only just woken up after sleeping for over ten, maybe twenty years, stepped out for a little walk, and immediately ran into a gorgeous man.
He definitely wants to come home with me!!
Under the crushing force of Takumi's absurd charm, the Snow Woman—who had never once felt anything for a man—fell for him on the spot.
"No wonder my sister ran off with a man before… If it were me, I'd run too!"
Muttering that to herself, the Snow Woman smiled sweetly and walked toward Takumi.
As she got closer, Takumi noticed that beneath her long black hair, there was another layer of silver-white hair, almost blending into the snowy landscape around her.
The black and white layers of hair were perfectly arranged, giving her an elegant, refined beauty.
"She's gorgeous…"
Takumi couldn't help sighing in admiration. As expected of a Snow Woman—she was stunning.
Especially the full, lush shape pressing against that loose kimono.
The sight made him think of Yukino.
"Yukino, my Yukino… your mom's got some serious assets. So how did it stop at you…?"
Back at home, Yukino suddenly felt a chill for no reason.
Meanwhile, on the snowy mountain, Takumi and the Snow Woman were now less than three meters apart.
Looking at the handsome man in front of her, the Snow Woman parted her lips slightly.
Her sharp little fangs showed, giving her a faintly ghostly charm.
Like she was playing a prank, she lowered her voice and asked, "Lost traveler in the snowy mountains… looks like you need help~"
"Do I look like I do?"
Takumi glanced down at himself.
He was standing in a freezing mountain blizzard wearing nothing but a shirt and casual pants.
Could this Snow Woman really not tell what the issue was here?
Hearing him mutter that, the Snow Woman tilted her head.
"I went to all this trouble to pass by, and now you're saying you don't need help?"
"I don't care. You're a really handsome man, so you obviously need help!"
She tossed aside her headscarf, planted her hands on her hips, and declared it like she was laying down the law.
Listening to her, Takumi lifted a hand and asked, "You really don't seem to know much about humans, huh?"
"You can tell I'm a Snow Woman, right? I think I look pretty obvious!"
The Snow Woman looked down at her outfit, then shot Takumi a speechless look.
Wasn't it only natural that she didn't know much about human things?
Looking at how confident she was, Takumi was at a loss for words for a second.
She looked cold, elegant, and gorgeous at first glance, but once she opened her mouth, she was weirdly funny.
Nodding thoughtfully, Takumi said, "You definitely look like a Snow Woman. But then why bother dressing up like this as a disguise? And… I don't really have anything I need your help with."
That immediately made the Snow Woman puff her cheeks out.
"Hmph~ This isn't how the story went at all. You're not sticking to the script."
"The story?"
Seeing Takumi's confused expression, she got even more annoyed and said, "Haven't you read classic literature?"
"I mean the Snow Woman story by Lafcadio Hearn."
"In it, the young man gets saved by the Snow Woman."
Takumi gave her an odd look. "Compared to classic literature, I'm more curious why a Snow Woman would be reading stories about Snow Women."
"Because sometimes I disguise myself as a human and wander around places where humans live!"
"You don't even know what a library is, do you?"
"If I want to know how people wrote about us, I just go to a library and borrow the book."
The Snow Woman said that with a completely serious face.
After hearing her out, Takumi had to admit she made perfect sense. Apparently, his horizons were still too narrow.
Crossing his arms, he asked with interest, "So what—you were planning to copy the Snow Woman in the story? Make me keep your secret, then marry me in disguise and keep an eye on me forever?"
The Snow Woman's face flushed a little, and she immediately rolled her eyes at him.
"That's just a story, okay? It's not like I'd marry some random human that easily…"
That was what she said, but deep down, she was definitely tempted.
A man as good-looking as Takumi was exactly her type.
Even if she lived a very long time and couldn't have children with him, she still kind of wanted to marry him.
Still, she pushed those thoughts aside and held out her hand.
"I don't need you to keep any secrets."
"Just give me some money, and I'll take you down the mountain."
The second she asked for money, Takumi almost lost it.
And the way she held out her hand for it was way too cute.
So he simply sat down right there in the snow and asked with a laugh, "What do Snow Women need money for?"
"The food and alcohol humans made back before I went to sleep ten-something years ago were really good."
"I just woke up not long ago, so now I'm craving some. I want money so I can buy some."
She said that with an adorable grin, then proudly added, "I understand human rules, you know. You can't buy things without money."
"You're pretty smart."
Takumi immediately gave her a thumbs-up.
She was a tall, gorgeous woman with a mature figure, but the way she acted was so playful and cute.
Though from what she'd said, she'd only recently woken up after sleeping for over a decade, so it made sense her mentality still felt so young.
Then Takumi casually reached into his coat and pulled out a lollipop.
"Whoa~ What's this?"
The Snow Woman cupped it in both hands and immediately asked.
After Takumi showed her what to do, she started licking it.
The sweet taste instantly won her over, and a bright, happy smile spread across her face.
Taking advantage of the moment, Takumi got to the point.
"I'm going to talk business now."
"First, my name is Takumi. I'm not some lost traveler."
"Second, I came here specifically to find the Snow Woman race."
After saying his purpose plainly, the Snow Woman blinked with wide, watery eyes, a lollipop in her mouth.
"Huh?"
Under her puzzled stare, Takumi explained why.
"I'm basically an exorcist right now. One of my classmates is a human–Snow Woman hybrid."
"I already investigated her mother's side and found nothing unusual. The only clue was that one of their ancestors had contact with a Snow Woman."
"So I came here to ask your people about it."
"Whoa~ You're an exorcist?"
The Snow Woman's eyes widened in surprise.
She had seen exorcists before, but they were all old men in their seventies or eighties.
A young, handsome one like Takumi was a first for her.
But after hearing the rest of his explanation, she immediately shook her head.
"That's impossible. Snow Women and humans have that… what's it called… reproductive isolation."
"We're not even the same species, so how could we have children?"
"And our race doesn't have any males."
"Besides, I've lived a long time, and I've hardly ever seen any…"
She trailed off abruptly.
Then she frowned slightly.
"Though… many years ago, my sister did leave with a man."
"She never came back after that."
"So… could it be my sister's child?"
Now even she was confused, because this had gone way beyond what she understood.
"Your sister?"
The moment he heard there was an older sister, Takumi's interest shot up.
And under his questioning, the Snow Woman began to explain.