Home/The Ice Age Came? And I Just Got Married?!/ch 61

Chapter 61.

I looked toward Nathan—but he was already being helped down the wall ladder by Marcus.

"We need to hurry."

Urging Logan on, I followed them down the ladder.

Of course, another obstacle remained.

We made it off the wall safely—but by then, the village had already entered the storm's path.

We had no choice but to take shelter in a nearby empty house.

The moment we closed the door, the howling wind outside quieted—but inside, the stillness was just as piercing, along with a bone-chilling cold.

Marcus looked around and said,

"Damn—there's only a minimal amount of firewood here. Not enough to last four days. No food either."

That made sense—we'd planned to gather everyone at Eve House and stock everything there.

The other houses had only been reinforced against the storm, with minimal Redstones and Goldstones.

Just then, a solid warmth enveloped me from behind—Logan had draped his coat over my shoulders and pulled me into his arms.

"We should all gather in that room for now."

Logan pointed to one room.

Having been through countless disasters, he was always quick to act—it was just that he didn't want to use that experience for others.

I quickly thought it through.

Unfortunately, most of the Redstones were concentrated at Eve House and the greenhouse, leaving only a few here.

I could use the Redstone within my own body, but simply radiating heat to warm the entire house would be inefficient.

And I hadn't tested whether I could sustain that for four days—so I wasn't confident.

So I decided to find the best way to survive without using Winterstones first, using them only as a last resort.

"Good idea, Logan—it's harder to keep heat in a large space."

At my answer, Logan spoke as if he'd been waiting.

"Right—pooling five people's body heat in one place increases survival odds."

"Then we should insulate the room. Logan—agreed?"

"Hmm—I see a lot of gaps that need sealing. We'll need cloth or wool."

"Ah—should we use curtains or carpets? Maybe tear down the wallpaper?"

As Logan and I discussed the room, I felt eyes on us. I turned—the three of them were staring at us with bewildered faces.

"You two are awfully good at handling situations like this."

"You could call it an occupational hazard."

I gave a brief answer, then felt like I hadn't explained enough, so I added,

"Now's the time to use what we learned at the Royal Academy, isn't it? Logan and I were top and second in our class."

"Hey—I graduated second in my class too."

"Senior, your major wasn't specialized in this."

"Ah—was it Winter Ice Studies?"

"Northern Snow and Ice Environmental Change Studies."

"...What?"

As expected, no one could remember it in one go. Logan was the strange one for getting it right.

I shrugged and clapped my hands lightly.

"We can explain the rest after the storm passes."

I smiled and said,

"So for now, action comes before questions. Let's all move quickly—first, gather anything that can block the wind: carpets, curtains, blankets."

Fortunately, the house we'd taken shelter in was a single-story villa, so there weren't too many gaps to seal.

We sealed all the gaps on the first floor, then sealed the gaps in the small room we were sheltering in.

As I stared at the ceiling, Logan asked,

"You're worried about warm air escaping upward."

"How did you know?"

After asking, something occurred to me.

"Ah—did this happen in another life?"

"Not here—but something similar in Rosebrook."

I thought so.

"I have no idea what you two are talking about."

Marcus chimed in, so I smiled and changed the subject.

"Senior—do you know that warm air rises?"

Marcus raised an eyebrow with interest. I continued.

"Most of the heat we generate in this room will accumulate up there—and escape through gaps in the ceiling."

"So you want to reinforce the roof? Junior—we don't have time."

"We don't need to use that space at all."

Logan interjected.

"You're saying we make a room within a room."

I clapped my hands together.

"Exactly. Curtains, carpets, bedspreads, tablecloths—anything will do. We'll seal the gaps and use leftover fabric to make a low tent in one corner of the room."

Nathan chimed in.

"Ma'am—I don't understand. We're making a temporary ceiling out of fabric?"

"Yes, Mr. Holt."

Nathan stroked his chin, processing my words.

"So you're saying it's more efficient to huddle together under a tent than to heat the whole room."

"Just like a Duke's aide should think."

Nathan's face swelled with pride at my answer.

He seemed so happy that I couldn't even tease him—though I didn't really understand why.

I gave him one more task.

"Ah—if you can find a shovel or an axe, that would be great. Could you look around?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

As Nathan hurried off to search the house, Marcus approached me.

"Junior—why a shovel or an axe?"

"I said warm air rises, right? Then where does cold air go?"

"Downward?"

"Right. So we'll deliberately create a lower space—let's dig out the center of the floor with the axe and shovel."

Nathan, overhearing us, looked at me with an admiring expression—as if he were proud of me. Then he glanced at Vincent.

Did Vincent look down on me or something?

Even if he did, it wasn't something I cared much about.

Just then, Logan spoke.

"You're making a cold sink."

"Right—if we create a lower area than where we're staying, cold air will pool there. Even in the same room, the perceived temperature will be much different."

"Instead of driving out the cold, you're trapping it."

"Exactly—more like sinking it."

I turned my gaze to the window again. Outside, the blizzard was pounding against the walls like a mad thing.

"Junior—I'm really curious about something."

Marcus spoke up.

"Yes?"

"What do you two normally talk about?"

I scratched my cheek awkwardly and glanced at Logan.

Now that I thought about it, since the disaster, we mostly talked about the future or how to survive.

"We don't really talk about anything special."

"No—I knew our junior was smart... but does majoring in Northern Ice Studies make everyone an expert on ice ages?"

"Northern Snow and Ice Environmental Change Studies."

"Northern Snow and... whatever—anyway."

"Hmm—my second brother was an assistant professor, so I can't say family influence had nothing to do with it. But more importantly, we're in a hurry—let's move!"

Just then, Logan brought back an axe and a shovel.

I clapped my hands to change the mood.

"Our Knight Commander should focus on recovering—sorry, but Mr. Holt, we'll need you to keep helping. We'll treat Sir Rayburn's wounds."

Nathan's wounds weren't too serious—most had already healed, thanks to Pipi.

But Vincent's injury was significant—we'd need to use the Pinkstone.

"Ah—yes, yes. I'm fine now—I'll help. What should I do?"

Nathan answered, looking a bit flustered, and stood up.

From then on, we moved in perfect coordination.

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