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Of course, Natsume Rin's brainstorming department leader had no idea, and after deciding to go to Northern Europe for the winter vacation, they continued to ski on the empty snow.
After an unknown amount of time, light snow began to fall from the sky. Natsume Rin took out his cell phone to check the time. Because he had not charged it at noon, the battery level had turned red, which gave him a bad feeling.
"Yukino, it's time to go back."
Although he was very enthusiastic when he asked to go skiing with us, he was always able to give up all temptations and stick to his bottom line when faced with a choice.
It was getting late, there was light snow, and my phone was about to shut down, so leaving now was the wisest option.
"Ok?"
After sliding quite far, Yukino stopped and looked at the sky. The white snowflakes falling in the dim night made her realize the hidden danger.
"Walk."
When preparing to go back, Natsume Rin asked her how much battery her cell phone had, and her heart couldn't help but sink.
"I didn't bring my phone."
You don't look like a high school student at all. How could you be without a cell phone?
To be on the safe side, Natsume Rin sent a message to Shiina Mahiru in advance, and agreed that if he didn't send another message after two hours, she would ask the resort staff for help.
"Don't worry, there's still time."
Even as she spoke comforting words, the girl's tone no longer had her usual confidence. The color of the sky made it impossible for her to judge the exact time, and the five points revealed by Natsume Rin didn't look like the correct time at all.
"It's normal that it gets dark early in winter. I still remember the way back. You held the corner of my clothes." Natsume Rin held her hand and chose to give up the sled in her arms.
The compensation money is just a small issue. Physical strength is particularly important in this situation, and no errors should be made due to this factor.
Yukino followed suit and threw away her skis. In fact, Natsume Rin was most worried about her. This idiot had very weak physical strength, and they had been skiing for so long, so he was ready to carry Yukino on his back.
They came to the back mountain from an unopened ski trail which was halfway up the mountain. After all, it was a snow mountain with an open resort and the altitude didn't seem to be very high. They had fun here this afternoon and only walked down about a hundred meters.
If it were on flat ground, Natsume Rin was confident that he could run back and forth several times in ten minutes with Yukino on his back. However, walking up a snowy mountain from the bottom was difficult, especially when one could not see the road clearly. Every time he stepped into a snow pit, he would gasp and remind the girls behind him to avoid it.
He had turned off his cell phone a long time ago, and he wanted to save the remaining power for the most critical moment. The snow in the sky was getting heavier, and Yukino's strength in pulling on the corner of his clothes was gradually becoming heavier.
It's not that there's a problem with his physical strength, but Xiaoxue can't bear it anymore. Her fair face turned unnaturally white, and her tightly wrapped body still moved like a penguin.
But this time it was like a stupid penguin that was sick and dying.
"Damn it." Natsume Rin cursed, then grabbed her hand and forced her to put her on his back: "After you go back this time, remember to exercise for me."
I have reminded her more than once that she should do at least some proper exercise every day, but this proud girl just doesn't listen or doesn't take it seriously at all. Although she exercises a lot, she relies solely on her brain and her endurance is terrible.
But her body is so light that if she takes off her heavy clothes, she won’t feel any extra weight when carrying them on her back.
Natsume Rin ignored her instinctive resistance and carried her sister on her back. She looked towards the not-so-distant exit of the woods, but at this moment she had the illusion that she could see the mountains with her eyes.
Although it seems to be right in front of you, it is still a long way from actually arriving.
"Natsume." Yukino, who had not yet fallen into unconsciousness, put her white lips close to Natsume Rin's ear: "Put me down, this is too dangerous."
Yukino, who has the title of encyclopedia, certainly knows the difficulty of carrying someone on the snow.
If the difficulty for a good swimmer to rescue a landlubber in the water is 10, then the difficulty of carrying someone uphill on the snow is 100. In special extreme circumstances, when climbing to the top of a snowy mountain, the first reaction after a companion loses the ability to move is to abandon him.
The small hill in front of them wasn't that high yet, but Yukino felt that she could still move forward, and Natsume Rin would be in danger if she continued to act stubbornly.
"Shut up," Natsume Rin said loudly, full of energy. "Let's go to the woods first. There should be some shelter where we can find a place to rest. When you have replenished your energy, we will return to the snow trail. The difficulty will surely be reduced by then."
"Don't underestimate my physical strength!"
Even though she knew he was just bragging to reassure herself, Yukino still managed a smile when she heard Natsume Rin's immature tone, and put more strength into the hands that were holding Natsume Rin's shoulders.
"Tell me when you can't hold on any longer. Don't be so stubborn. If I make a mistake and you get hurt, they will kill me."
"Hey." Natsume Rin suddenly became serious: "Yukino, I'd rather hear you feel sad because I'm injured than feel sad because someone wants to kill you."
"What a corny statement." She lay weakly on Natsume Rin's body, still having the leisure to comment.
"How can it be corny? This is the true emotion of walking side by side in the face of life and death. Tell me quickly, so that I can have more strength."
Natsume Rin did not show her physical strength, but was as active as a monkey.
"Sorry, telling the truth is one of my strengths."
Yukino thought about a lot of things and finally exhaled white air. Although the words she spoke were not cold, she was ultimately not as submissive as Natsume Rin wished.
"I see. What a pity."
Natsume Rin felt a little regretful, but she had not yet changed her temperament because of the change in environment. She did not have the impulse to leave her here to fend for herself just because her sister insisted on her principles.
However, it was extremely difficult to climb the last few dozen meters. After falling several times, Natsume Rin felt a little numb.
He does have good physical strength, but that doesn't mean he is insensitive to cold or heat. Every time he stepped into a snow pit, he felt so sore, especially when the edges of his shoes were soaked by snow water, he felt like his feet were soaked in ice water.
"Natsume!"
When his consciousness began to blur, he heard a girl's soft call, and then a not-so-warm little hand reached inside his collar. The cold touch barely lifted his spirits.
"That's great." Yukinoshita Yukino kept repeating this sentence, looking at the small opening that was squeezed out when it came out, gritted her teeth and dragged him inside.
Chapter 188: Miss Shiina's Power
Relying on her accumulated strength, Yukino finally brought him back to the woods. Although the temperature here was not high at all, it was still much better than being exposed outside in the snow.
"Natsume? Natsume!"
Natsume Rin, who was in a trance, heard soft whispers and faint sobs in his ears, and his memory began to revive.
By the way, he went skiing with Yukino, but the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse halfway through the trip, so he had to carry the exhausted Yukino back on his back.
Yukino?
After thinking of her, Natsume Rin suddenly opened his eyes and saw Yukino kneeling in front of him, fanning his face with her hands and crying.
No wonder he always felt like someone was bumping into him while he was half asleep!
"Stop it."
Seeing that she didn't even notice that she woke up and was still slapping him while sobbing, Natsume Rin quickly shouted.
There was nothing seriously wrong with his body. The reason he fainted was because of the temperature. By the time he arrived at the relatively warm forest, it was almost time for him to wake up.
The minister's slaps helped to accelerate the process.
"Natsume!"
Yukino looked at him stupidly as he was about to stand up. Her actions spoke louder than her thoughts and she held on to Natsume Rin tightly.
"I thought you would never wake up again. I was scared to death."
Although it was very happy to hold a cute girl like my sister on my back, but wearing thick winter clothes, this level of hug was just a psychological effect, and they were not out of danger yet.
It was nice to be in the woods, but when the weather was good and I was in good physical condition, I passed through the woods with a relaxed and playful mood. Now, after being exhausted and looking towards the dim forest, I felt like I was on a death march.
"Xiaoxue, I won't die so easily."
Natsume Rin helped wipe away the tears from her eyes. After realizing that she had lost her composure and realizing that she was not out of the predicament yet, Yukino became worried again.
"Can you still walk?"
"I'm actually fine. It all depends on you." Natsume Rin looked at her dimly, with worry almost written all over her face.
The fact was indeed as he said. Yukino's legs, which seemed to be clean on the surface, had the same problem as Natsume Rin. She almost lost consciousness after stepping into several snow pits.
Dragging Natsume Rin to the woods exhausted all the energy she had accumulated.
"I……"
Yukinoshita Yukino pursed her lips and finally looked at Natsume Rin with determination.
"Go back and call for help first. I'll wait for you to come back."
"No."
Natsume Rin frowned and refused, staring at her seriously, "It's not because of the nonsense of living and dying together, but if I leave now, you will definitely get into trouble if you stay here alone."
"It will take at least three hours to get back to the resort, call people back, and find you in the dark forest. The temperature will continue to drop, and your body won't be able to withstand it."
"What can we do?" Yukinoshita Yukino was not surprised. She certainly knew what would happen before she made the suggestion. This was a solution she came up with after careful consideration.
"Instead of both of us staying here and suffering without finding a way out, it's better to rely on you and give it a try. At least one of us can escape."
"I was the one who brought you to the ski resort. Now that you've caused such a big trouble, I should bear this risk."
Natsume Rin shook his head. He knew that it would not be good for anyone to fight over the pot now, but he couldn't help it.
"You are the one leading the way, but I am the one who has been asking to come. And let's not talk about who it is now. Both of us must return safely."
He knew that it was not realistic to take Yukino out by himself at this time, so he decisively chose to use up the last bit of power to notify Shiina Mahiru.
Without having time to read the long message she sent, Natsume Rin briefly explained the situation, but the problem was that it was in the woods at night and they had no lighting equipment. It was really a big problem whether the people in the resort could find them in the woods.
In fact, Yukino's idea of asking him to leave was very dangerous. They had already lost their way in the forest, and finding the way back without light was a gamble of luck.
"Okay, let's leave it to fate."
After sending the last message, the phone popped up an automatic shutdown interface. Natsume Rin smiled bitterly and prepared for the next test.
What they can do now is to find a relatively warm place to hide and wait for rescue. If they want to wait until the weather gets better the next day to save themselves, they have to be prepared for the possibility that they will never get up again after falling asleep at night.
In the woods on a snowy day, it wouldn't be surprising if such an ending really happened.
"I know a place."
Yukino climbed up with the help of his shoulder, identified the exit, determined the direction several times according to her memory, and pointed firmly to a certain place.
"There's a cave there, there might be less snow in there."
A cave? I just hope it's not the lair of some wild animal.
The current situation made it impossible for Natsume Rin to think much, and she could only follow the path that Yukino had taken.
If they could find a cave that was warm enough, their chances of surviving by cuddling together would greatly increase.
While they were struggling to survive in the wilderness, things were in turmoil at the resort.
Shizuka Hiratsuka, who had a cold, couldn't lie in bed peacefully, so she dragged her sick body and took Mahiru Shiina to find the person in charge of the resort.
The resort managers felt dizzy when they heard that someone had taken a detour to the unopened snow area. Then, after listening to Shiina Mahiru's description, they smiled bitterly in helplessness.
It was really strange that they hadn’t found the road leading to the back mountain from the snow trail, but this group of students who had only been there for one day had figured out the direction.