"Place it here." I command Jasiin while waving my wand, all while cautiously doing my best not to point it at him. There's a charge of [Water Ball] inside of it already so I can accidentally freeze him instead of the igloo if I'm not careful.

  Jasiin carried the block of snow towards the spot I ordered him to and dropped it there, his movements slow enough to let me know that he doesn't want to mess things up. It's kind of impressive how he's so scared of breaking the block honestly, he's treating it like we can't make more of it in a few minutes.

  "Good." Nodding, I pointed my wand to the half-finished wall of snow and made a layer of ice to grow on top of it. Snow can naturally bind itself together but I think that this is much better, it's sturdier too. "I'm gonna freeze up the rest of the wall and after that, we're gonna add the second layer, and eventually, the roof."

  Jasiin nodded and walked away, he sat by the other teens from the pier and I can occasionally pick up pieces of their conversation.

  "You sure this would work dude?" A tall, lanky guy said with a frown, next to him, a girl who's slightly older nods in agreement. "We're making things out of snow, how is that supposed to keep us warm?"

  "I trust her." Jasiin said with a shrug. "You don't?"

  "Of course I do, I know she's smarter than all of us, but she's also a bit... You know, mad?" The teen spoke like he's trying to defuse a bomb, his face says that he's failing. "Not that she is! You know what I mean?!"

  Jasiin looked away from him, "I trust Rontress more than you do, so if she says that this will work, then it will."

  "Okay then. Do what you want. I'll leave if it doesn't work though." With a sigh, the guy stops talking.

  "It will work."

  Guess Jasiin trusts me enough to willingly treat a house made of snow as a home for the winter huh? How does that look from an outside perspective? To me, I basically know that Igloos are an effective way to keep warm during winter but this is the first time these guys have encountered something like this.

  Do I really look insane?

  That can't really be happening, right?

  "Hey! Make sure that it's curved!" My line of thought got cut in half the moment I noticed one of the workers made an oddly shaped block. "I've said this before but we need to make a half circle! A dome!"

  "Sorry Miss Rontress." The guy said with an embarrassed smile. "I just don't know what to do?"

  "You shave it with your fingers." Upinte came up to him and started making a physical example. "See?"

  The man watched my bodyguard remake the block of ice with a passive gaze, holding little to no patience about the fact that a kid is telling him what to do. I caught him giving me a glance, he quickly averted his eyes, scared.

  I couldn't help but scoff at that, for someone who's feeling arrogant he sure can be pretty fucking meek. It's not a secret that the pier mostly has criminals or desperate people, you know, the kind that would willingly take advantage of others if given the chance.

  Would it surprise me for this same man, who's begging me for food and acting all obedient, to turn on me when I don't have any magic or money in the future? Nope. He's a bad investment, that doesn't really mean he's not useful though.

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  Labor is labor, even if some of it is a bit morally questionable and risky.

  None of us disturbed my bodyguard while he saved the block and like he said, it only took him a few minutes to give the upper half a curved angle. The sideways triangle was exactly what I was looking for, with this, I will be able to shape the dome easily.

  Upinte climbed up the wall of ice that now covered the outer layer of the Igloo and placed the block on the highest point. I let it stay there for the time being, choosing to wait for the rest of the middle half to form before I freeze everything in place.

  While waiting, I walked over to Laself to make some small talk. "How are your parents?"

  "They're doing okay, I've talked to them and they've told me that the new house they got is much better than our old one, they're starting to earn money as well." Came the reply, making me feel somewhat optimistic for the couple in question. "Rontress, are you sure that this is okay? Our food supply isn't as high as we needed it to be."

  "What's okay? Giving away food like this?" I smile at Laself. "It's fine, don't be selfish, and besides, Howaph needs to learn how to hunt during winter, everything should be fine if dad is there to help him."

  "You're sure?" Laself didn't look like she believed me, her hands wrung the hem of her dress and a forceful gulp went down her throat. "Howaph won't get hurt will he?"

  "Doubt it." I waved off her concerns, not once would it cross my mind that Howaph can die from something like a winter animal. He won't. I know this. "If you're worried about him being attacked from behind, don't, there are other people there with him."

  The chances of my family being attacked during the many winter hunts is fairly low, and the casualties during it is actually fairly low— with animals being mostly responsible for the deaths. — so there's nothing to be worried about.

  "You wouldn't be there, right? How can we be sure that they will be safe?" Laself didn't look at me, but I know she's angry. "If you were there..."

  "I'm not staying for the winter Laself, I have things I want to do." My reply was too harsh, but it needed to be. "You don't need me all the time, I'm sure you'll do well without me, just like before we met."

  "That's not the same though." She tried to argue, which I don't see the point of. How is it not the same? "We are doing things now, not just... Playing around," I didn't understand what she was trying to say. "We need you."

  "I'm sure you do." I held her hand and patted the back of it affectionately. "I need to go, the middle half is about to be finished."

  Laself didn't call me back, I didn't know what she was thinking and I didn't care. Or I try not to. I know she's stressed, and I've grown to love her enough that I don't want her to feel that way, and that's exactly why I need to put some distance between us.

  After freezing the igloo for the second time, I stood by it to inspect the ongoing construction. That's part of the reason why I didn't come back to Laself's side, mostly, I just don't think I can keep up my tough act if I talk to her again.

  Funny how my resolve is starting to waver, and I'm not even a mother yet. Will I be a helicopter mom if I ever have a child? I hope not.

  When the igloo got finished, I told Upinte to make a campfire inside of it. He stared at me like I was insane.

  "Trust me," I said patiently. "The snow won't melt, it's too cold for that."

  He slowly left my side and fetched some firewood, then he disappeared behind the Igloo's door with it. Waiting for him to come out was pretty painful, I hated the stares everyone was giving me, all full of expectation and hope. It rattled my guts and made me want to puke.

  Upinte came back out after a few minutes, he stared at me, then back at the Igloo. "It's warm inside," he says. "No water droplets either, the snow didn't melt."

  "Like I said, it works." Did my tone have a hint of condescension to it? Yeah. Quite frankly, the amount wasn't enough, I wanted to rub it in the faces of everyone who looked at me weird for suggesting to make a house made of snow. "You do realize that animals out there have to find a way to survive winter right? Getting covered in snow is one of those."

  Actually, I don't know if this is true in this world or not, there's a frog species that hibernates during winter by hiding under a thick carpet of snow but I don't know if they exist in this world.

  "I guess you're right." Upinte didn't look at me as he replied, busy as he was watching people get inside the Igloo to check the situation for themselves. "Do we make more of it?"

  "Yeah, time is limited so we need to work hard." I pause. "Well, all of you need to work hard, it's going to be your house during winter after all."