Why am I doing this?

[Kazuma Mizushima]

For those rare few that truly knew of Kazuma, there were two things he downright hated. The first and most important one of all was that he detested anyone who he deemed ugly to touch him. This was well known as everyone, and I mean everyone, felt this in one form or another. The second and less known fact was that he hated the cold. When it was cold outside, he loved to sleep in a warm home. That was totally fine to him. As for him being out in the cold? That was a completely different story. There were more thing that he hated, some being more commonly known than others, but these two were the worst. So it’s simple to understand the reaction Charlotte had. The two of them trekked up Mt. Hakobe, Kazuma dressed head to toe in winter clothing. Snow shoes, a scarf, a beanie. You name it. If it kept him warm, it was on. Charlotte on the other hand, only had the normal clothes on his back and a scarf to keep him warm. His natural fur did most of the work.

“Where is the hell is the person who is offering this stupid job? The sooner we get the hell out of this blasted weather the better!” Kazuma mutters under his breath.

He was tired and just wanted all of this to be over. The quicker he could finish whatever he had to do here the better. Looking ahead, he could see what appeared to be a lodge. Probably the main tourist attraction for many of the guests here. It was there, to their knowledge, a little girl there named Amy who was supposed to be their contact. They quickly shuffled inside, being greeted by the attendant.

“Hello, how are you two today?”

“Is there a girl named Amy here?” Kazuma said flatly. He wasn’t in much of a mood for small talk. He just wanted the shit to be over with.

The woman smiled and pointed to small little girl who sat by the fireplace. The duo went to talk to her, a small girl with orange hair and orange-ish brown eyes. She couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old. During their conversations, she instantly took a liking to Charlotte. It seemed to be more of the normal, he was quite the commodity among the females. Kazuma didn’t mind, it prevented him from really talking to her. He had no qualms about being the muscle with this one. The less conversation the better. He gathered, through the ramblings of the two, that the little girl simply wanted to sled down the mountain on the back of a Penguin. There was a whole colony of them at the very top of the mountain and according to other tourists, they seemed to be friendly. Give them a few fish and they seemed to do whatever you wanted, within reason of course. As they continued their incessant talks, Kazuma headed towards the kitchen area, easily convincing the chef to spare a few of the left over fish. With everything ready to go, the three of them bundle up and depart up the mountain.

531/700 Completed

[Kazuma Mizushima]

The trek up the mountain was surprisingly easy. There was a blast of cold here and there but for the most part, things went swimmingly. Charlotte’s wings were large and strong enough to sustain flight in these harsh conditions so he picked up Amy and flew slightly behind Kazuma. He didn’t mind it in the slightest, it kept the both of them happy. An hour later was when they found it. A haven for anything and everything penguin. A place to slide around, a good amount of fish for them to feed on and nothing but space for them to enjoy. At the sheer sight of it, Amy was ecstatic. This was a dream of hers for quite some time. The realization that it lay directly in front of them was astounding. From there, it was a simple matter of getting the Penguins together and seeing which would take some fish. After finding two that were willing, it was a simple task of riding down the mountain. The actual action of doing so was a lot more fun than Kazuma initially gave it credit for as he happily laugh along with Charlotte and Amy. At the bottom, Amy thanked them for their efforts and rewarded them accordingly.

738/700 Completed
Penguin Sliding Completed