Shiori is an average Japanese office worker who was suddenly teleported to another world. Four years later, she’s managed to carve out a niche for herself—as a housekeeping mage. Alec is an A-rank adventurer, just returned from a long-term assignment. When his friend Zack, the local Guild Master, tempts him into going on a manticore hunt by promising to bring in a mage with special skills, what Alec finds is the last thing he could have expected. On the outside, the two couldn’t be more different. Yet deep in their hearts, they each yearn for the same thing: a place to belong. In the face of old wounds, their dark pasts, and the everyday challenges any adventurer must overcome, will they find the courage to risk being hurt again?
Shiori is an average Japanese office worker who was suddenly teleported to another world. Four years later, she’s managed to carve out a niche for herself—as a housekeeping mage. Alec is an A-rank adventurer, just returned from a long-term assignment. When his friend Zack, the local Guild Master, tempts him into going on a manticore hunt by promising to bring in a mage with special skills, what Alec finds is the last thing he could have expected. On the outside, the two couldn’t be more different. Yet deep in their hearts, they each yearn for the same thing: a place to belong. In the face of old wounds, their dark pasts, and the everyday challenges any adventurer must overcome, will they find the courage to risk being hurt again?
When Shiori and Alec venture into the Blue Forest for what should be a simple gathering request, they find that winter in the heart of the forest is as dangerous as it is beautiful. An encounter with a rare magical beast known as the snow wolf entangles the two adventurers in a life-threatening series of events—events that neither of them could have imagined. And what follows brings to light scars from the past that have yet to heal...