Two days later, after traveling over mountains and a large expanse of snow-covered trees, they had entered the north of the country.

"Haa…" a white breath leaves Cirrus’s mouth as the area is covered in snow.

"Ah…the snow of my home!"

‘This place is cold as hell! I think I prefer the desert over this!’ said Nox in Cirrus’s bag.

"Come, we are close enough to walk." Said Ai leading the way.

"Don’t worry, Nox, we're almost there."

They move through the built-up snow that reaches the top of their shins.

For Ai, this was nothing. She walked as if it was nothing, but for Cirrus, who had never really experienced so much snowfall in Orario, it was a pain for him at first.

The trees had thick snow on them. A single tap of the tree would drop the snow onto the person, and the sounds of water only made the area even colder.

They kept moving for a while when they reached an opening where a village stood. The empty farms were occupied with snow, and far off in the distance were other Renards with white hair like Ai.

"Heeey!!! Uncle!! Aunty!!!!" Ai said running.

‘And there she goes.’

"I'm curious how things will turn out."

Cirrus followed along to find the Renard’s all talking to her, and soon enough, more people came.

"Ai-chan! Your back!"

"We heard Lord Susanoo returned, but you didn’t come with him?"

"We were worried something happened to you?"

"Your mother and father will be so proud of you!"

She was being praised. It brought comfort to Cirrus to know she came from a warm and loving place like this.

"Oh? Who’s the human?" said one of the villagers.

"Oh!" Ai came up to Cirrus and stood in front of him and turned to the village. "This is Cirrus, my boyfriend!"

"B-boyfriend!?!?" They all screamed like a massive family.

"T-this human!?" said a man.

"He is rather handsome…" said an older lady.

"Hey! Hey! Big bro, are you strong?" said a kid walking up to Cirrus.

"Strong? Like this?"

Cirrus picked him up with one finger and placed him on his shoulder.

"Whoa!! I can see so far!!"

Cirrus then put him down and he ran to the other kids.

"You got a Familia kid?" an older man asked.

"I do."

"Heh, then can you beat me in a match!!" he shouted, ripping off his shirt.

"Put on your damn clothes! It's too cold to be taking off your clothes, hey! Does he do this all the time?"

They all agree by nodding their heads. Seems this wasn't the first time he did this.

"So! What of it!! Are you afraid of the cold??"

"The cold? Naw, how could I be afraid of something that can't fight back? Besides." Cirrus then brought Ai in close knowing it would get to him. "With her around, I’m never cold." He gave a slight smile that made all of them blush.

"C-come on, Cirrus, not in front of everyone!" She said shyly, with a red face.

"What a lucky girl!" said one of the older women.

"So charming!" said an old woman.

"I wish that was me…" said a younger girl.

"Grrr!!! My name is Hirashima Arinori!! I challenge you to a duel! "

"…Really? You really wanna fight me?"

"Of course!! To be worthy of Ai-chan, you must prove yourself!!"

"…Fine, then, Ai could you hold my stuff."

"Try not to hurt him." She said.

"Don’t worry, Ai-chan, I won’t!"

"Oh, I was talking to Cirrus."

"Eh?"

As Cirrus removes his top, they can see several faint scars all over his body, with the major ones on the right side of his body and a tattoo on his right shoulder.

"Say you never said what your level is?"

"I-its three! I served under Lord Susanoo for a good amount of my life before working for the Gojouno's! "

"Three? I'll give you three hits for how impressive that is. Make sure they count because when you're done, I'm next. " He made a sinister grin as Arinori gathered what courage he had.

'I'm surprised they have level 3s in this country? How rough is this place?'

"Fine then!! Haaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He punched Cirrus in his stomach, but he barely moved.

‘…MY HAND!!! IT’S LIKE I PUNCHED A DAM MOUNTAIN!!!! I THINK I CRACKED MY FIST!!’

"Nice punch, but you didn’t put enough power in it."

He looked up to find not even a slight bit of discomfort, not even a drop of sweat or irregular breathing.

"W-what level are you?"

"Mines? Oh, it’s higher than yours and Ai’s."

"!!!"

"Remember Cirrus!! Don’t hurt him too bad!! Even if he brought this on himself!!"

Cirrus turned to see all the villagers hiding behind Ai.

"I won’t." He turned back to Arinori. "Hey, do you still wanna do this? I mean, your fist is already fractured?"

"…Seems I bit off more than I can chew, but I should at least take one hit to make it even."

"You sure."

"Hm!" he said with a stern face.

"Alright then."

He clenched his fist and wound it up and, with the force of his punch, he blew past Arinori, causing the piled-up snow to be blown away.

"Whoa…he cleaned up the snow!!" said the children running along.

Ai came up to Cirrus and helped put his clothes back on when Nox came out of his bag and landed on his head.

"See I didn’t hurt him."

"Yes, you kept your word."

They smiled at each other warmly.

"Ahem!" said Arinori. "You should head to your parents, Ai-chan."

"Hm! Let's get going! They are in that house over there!" She said, pointing at a 3-story house.

"…Welp time to make good first impressions."