Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer
Vol. 4 - Ch. 149 - 149

——Alps Mountain Range, Mont Blanc.

The snowy mountains were a home for chilly weather which, depending on the time of day, could refresh from being harshly swept by winds to bone-piercing chill. It was a white hellscape where even a couple of minutes without proper insulation measure would spell death for an ordinary human.

Leon, having a blanket rolled around his bound, was warming himself with the coffee at the summit of Mont Blanc while waiting for someone. Perhaps because of his lack of measure, even he didn't seem to realise his body was trembling---an ordinary human would have long become an icy statue.

"......Darn it, I don't even get why I am doing it..."

Leon cursed in lamentation as he drank his coffee.

From there, he gazed down at the jet-black dungeon gate located nearby the Mont Blanc summit. Even with the thick blanket covering the peak, it couldn't mask away its strong presence.

This place was one of the few first-grade labyrinths in the world, called the "Mont Blanc Dungeon," and due to its location, it wasn't a frequented spot for explorers. Nonetheless, there was a small town created nearby by the country.

His eyes were glued to that gate. As if he was waiting for someone to return from it, he didn't budge from his position.

However, seeing there was still no sign of anyone returning, he decided to return to the town for the night. He put his hands in his pocket and without any safety rope or parachute, jumped off from the summit.

From beginning to end, he was as casual as an ignorant kid who didn't know this was the world's tallest peak and returned to town with an unhurried gait.

"Uhh~ cold~."

Sniffling, he gripped the pocketed hand warmer tightly. His words fading away into the frigid expanse of Mont Blanc.

—--Three days after that.

As usual, Leon was still waiting for someone at the summit of Mon Blanc, withstanding the freezing cold. Though in other eyes, it would look like a lanky guy sitting amidst the white, snowy expanse, all alone.

"I'm really going to die at this rate for god sake. How much longer you're going to keep me here, Aubraka."

Leon cursed and glared at the towering mountains with such intensity as if he couldn't wait to tear them apart, and sipped on his coffee.

"Hmm?"

Just as he was feeling it was going nowhere, the person Leon was waiting for, finally appeared.

Seemingly in response to his cursing, a small figure emerged from the narrow gap of the pitch-black dungeon gate.

"I be damned! He's finally here!" Leon shouted in euphoria when he confirmed that shadow. He gathered all his spirit and leaped up from the summit and toward the dungeon gate. His gaze locked on to that odd man.

The man was dressed in black trousers, an indigo colour shirt, a tattered and moth-eaten coat, a cloth that covered his face and a blue scarf-like cloth that hid every single inch of his skin---except eyes---from top to bottom.

He was wearing a sparkling accessory in each of his left hand's fingers, while his left hand was grasping a cane almost the length of his height. The white cane, inlaid with colourful jewels, was releasing a radiance like a star in this silvery-white world.

If anything, many might even label him as a homeless person or someone suffering from a late-stage delusion. Albeit, that person, armed with top-grade accessories even in this world---Zero grade accessory—was a bonafide explorer.

Leon landed in the vicinity of that man called 'Aubaraka,' gallantly scattering the snow around. Though, he nearly lost his balance in his enthusiasm but somehow latched into the white cane Aubaraka was holding on. And the next moment, he drew his face close to Aubaraka's, and intently stared into his eyes.

"......You almost gave me a heart attack, man. ......Leon?"

"Great cane. Saved my wool there."

"Hey, my cane isn't some walking cane alright. What do you know, this is the world's top—--"

"Who cares, leave it for later. Anyway, give me a hand there, chunni."

"Chunni? ......I don't speak your language, but that sounds like speaking ill of me."

"Don't mind, just follow me for now. Haven't you realised if I'm taking action, that mean we have an emergency."

"......Can’t deny. It's strange for you to be here."

This was how their reunion panned out.