He didn't know at first, but that person's days of rest that Choi Han saw was more of a period of recovery than days of rest.
Of course, the person himself thought that he was playing around, but it did not seem like that to Choi Han at all.
That was why his people, who at some point realized the meaning of this rest day, tried their best not to bother his recovery.
* * *
December 31st.
The eve of the new year.
Choi Han, who was spending the last day of the year in a residence located on one side of Harris Village, brushed the snow off his shoulder.
Plop. Plop.
His gaze headed toward the yard.
'We need to make a snowman family!'
Quite a few snowmen were made at Raon's excited shout.
The snowmen who were made with the first snow were still maintaining their form after multiple repairs. Based on what he had heard, Raon checked on the snowmen first thing in the morning as soon as he opened his eyes.
Choi Han confirmed that his snowman was among the snowman family before walking into the building.
'It's calm.'
The inside of the building was warm and calm.
It was quiet.
"No."
It was calm but not quiet.
It wasn't loud, but voices as clear and bouncy as the sound of a xylophone could faintly be heard from the kitchen.
"Hey Beacrox, hey Beacrox."
"......."
"I'm bored!"
"I'm bored too, nya!"
"...Haaa."
"I want to help make the cookies!"
"I can knead dough very well, nya!"
"...Haaaaaaaaaa........"
The corners of Choi Han's lips oddly curled up.
It was because he was not too familiar with this kind of calmness.
The Forest of Darkness becomes calm in the winter.
It was to the point that it could seem peaceful at a glance.
However, that was just like looking at the surface of a lake without being able to see beneath it.
The weak animals in the Forest of Darkness moved extremely cautiously in the winter, to the point that they didn't dare to make any noises.
Making any noise would catch the attention of a predator, who would be roaming for food as their source of food had decreased.
It was calm, but... Blood was shed, screams were heard, and the hidden Choi Han could hear the sound of the predators eating despite not wanting to hear it.
Whenever he heard that noise, Choi Han had to clench his stomach that wanted to growl from hunger but could not go out to look for food because he was worried that he would die. Choi Han thought that his extremely weak self of the past was pitiful.
Of course, he figured out how to survive the winter in the Forest of Darkness at some point and his sword arts improved to the point that he could make it through the winters.
However, he still had to hear the things within that calmness year after year.
"Hey Beacrox, hey Beacrox. Can I really not try kneading the dough?"
