The story picks back up at the same point it left on: Zaou screaming out his second favorite word in the whole wide world. You react with either an 'I knew it,' ask if this is the guidance of the mountains, or yell it back at him. If you go with C, Zaou is pleased as he says it's the best calling chant out there. Shirou is surprised to see Zaou over here, and Moritaka asks if shock if Zaou deliberately followed you guys. Durga and Chernobog are surprised to hear this and turn to Zaou with some doubt, and Zaou desperately tries to explain he already had plans to be on this mountain.
Durga reveals she was messing with him since she knows they were asked to gather some mountain edibles. Chernobog says that the mountain cabin shopkeeper also asked their group to get them supplies, and he puts this down to Zaou's personal virtue. A quick bit of thinking has him wondering if he should phrase it as mountain virtue instead. Zaou turns back to you and insists you not misunderstand things and that he didn't follow you up here because he was lonely. You can either respond by saying you get it or say the lord doth protest too much.
The latter gets an extra line as Zaou gets flustered and tells you not to make fun of him as he says it's been a while since you've been so nasty. Anyways, time skips a bit as Kimun Kamui comes back, and Kimun laughs at seeing more people around talking with you guys. Durga greets him, and Shirou explains that they're there as part of their school's club stuff. He also asks if it's an issue that you guys are talking together.
Kimun says it's fine and actually preferable for him to have you guys take the initiative to talk to other mountain climbers. Durga takes a moment to sit down more comfortably and asks why you guys are on this mountain. Zaou asks her to hold onto something before she gets too comfortable as he hands something over, which he says he got when they brought things to the shopkeep before. Durga cheers about being given some soba exchange tickets and says Zaou's a good guy. Aizen is surprised to find more people around when he gets back, then says he'll go get more water.
Once everyone has some noodles, your party and the mountaineering club start having lunch. By this point Durga has been informed of the scout jamboree event, and she throws in a side note about how great the noodles go with tempura mountain vegetables. Kagutsuchi mentions that you guys have camped, hiked, made curry, and played in the river. Chernobog talks about how there was a poster for it by the faculty office at school, and he thought they'd be going as part of the club. But if it meant being with you, he says it'd have been fine for him to join the jamboree too.
Moritaka says there are a lot of new experiences around for Chernobog, so maybe this would have suited him perfectly. Aizen agrees that there has been a lot of new experiences, then comments on how nice the soba and mountain foods are. Kimun is impressed at how much the mountaineering club has gathered and asks you if that's due to your senpai. Zaou is happy that Kimun took a liking to what they picked up, and he says that his third eye can see where to find the most food. In the course of following his eye's lead he ended up walking over the mountains dozens of times. Kimun is wowed to hear this, and you can either say he admires Zaou or say he's shocked.
In A, Zaou laughs and basks in the moment as he says you should take this moment to show him some respect too. In B, Zaou attempts to deny this but can't completely convince himself to believe himself. Kimun stays quiet either way. Anyways, time skips to after lunch as the teams start moving out to descend the mountain. Maria says she'll be going on ahead to confirm the path is safe. Arslan says that the event's not really over until you get home, and he cautions you guys to be careful. Zabaniya asks you to call him if anything happens so he'll come running, then says he'll see you at the bottom.
Maria wonders where Jacob could have gone, commenting that he always drops in and out without a word. She sighs about how prone most of the Missionaries are to wandering off. Ryouta says that their group's turn to head down is coming up before you guys, and he asks you to call him once you get to the bottom. Chouji tells you guys that there's some preserved food in the bag that's been given to your party, and he suggests having some candy and enjoying your walk down. Ryouta says it's time to go and waves bye to the mountaineering club.
Durga says it should be about time for them to go to the next mountain, and Chernobog explains that they'll be taking another path out since there are other shops to deliver to. Zaou points out on a map where the club will be splitting off, so he says they'll go with you until that point. Kimun says that will be the final plan for the for the day, outlining that you guys will take the path down to head for the bottom.
Shirou describes the path as easy and calming. It'll take time, but you guys should be able to make it safely using that road. Moritaka mentions being sad at having to leave the nice view at the summit, but he reports being ready to go whenever. Aizen says there isn't that much water left, but it should last until you guys make it back down. He also throws in another reminder to stay hydrated. Kimun says it's time to go, putting himself at the front and asking Aizen to take the rear. You call back in acknowledgement.
Time moves ahead to the party making their way down, with nothing much in particular being on the road. As a reminder, Zaou's group is walking with you guys part of the way until they split up to go to another mountain. The mood is calm as everyone engages in small talk, and Kimun comments that Zaou's third eye is something to let him collect so many resources despite not being a bear. Narration says you're standing beside him as he talks to Zaou.
Zaou explains that his eye can show him the one true route to go on a mountain, and finding the route with the most mountain vegetables is one way of doing that. Durga also has the same kind of eye, which helps when traversing a mountain. Kimun finds this amazing and comments that having it means you'd always make the correct choice. Zaou thinks aloud on this as he admits he used to agree with that but thinks a little differently now. Kimun is curious and asks him to explain.
Zaou starts talking about how what he sees with his eye is based on what he currently thinks is Correct. There is no single correct answer that applies for everyone, and what he thinks is correct now is something his future self may think is wrong. That was something he was once taught by a bratty kouhai, he says side-eyeing you. Kimun nods as he says he understands, finding it illuminating and thanking Zaou. Zaou is surprised by this and is glad he's happy about that. He starts to say he's still learning about mountains himself when you try to keep Zaou from going crazy, tell Kimun Zaou gets like this on the subject of mountains, or apologize about him being so noisy.
Kimun is quiet for some reason, so you try to talk to him and see what's up. Kimun starts talking about Kamuy Kotan again, the frozen world covered in snow. The children of mortals are given blessings, but if they ask for more then retribution is placed on them at once. It's a harsh world where mistakes lead to your swift abandonment, a world surrounded by eternal walls of ice. He used to think it was natural, but since coming to Tokyo he's thought of it as depressing. Now though, he floats the idea of coming to find another opinion on it. If something can change there like he did...he'd like to see it. Narration says Kimun doesn't actually say the last parts aloud, and his eyes softly sway.
Some time later, Zaou comments on how time flies when talking to someone and says it's time for them to split off. You can either suggest going together with Durga next time, tell Chernobog to be careful, or suggest going together with Zaou next time. In A, Durga agrees to the idea but makes a point of telling you to keep in mind she still won't let you get to the top first. In B, Chernobog thanks you for your concern and says he wants to talk to you again once break ends. In C, Zaou agrees and says he's looking forward to it.
Anyways, Kimun asks Zaou to talk to him again since he's gotten interested in him. Zaou is surprised and tries turning this into an invite to have Kimun join the mountaineering club as he gets into his space. Kimun is confused by this briefly before asking Zaou to slow down with all the pressure. Durga makes like Pokemon anime Misty and starts dragging Brock Zaou off unimpressed as she says it'd be bad to make the clients wait much longer. Chernobog tells Zaou that it's nice to invite people who are interested, but being so overbearing will drive people away.
Zaou attempts to protest that this is a chance to expand the club. Shirou laughs that it must be tough on Durga and Chernobog, then tells Zaou he'll see him at school. Moritaka says he'll talk to Zaou back at school too, then wishes the club good luck. Zaou gets one more sad wandervogel in before getting dragged off by the others who look totally done with things.
Kimun comments to you about Zaou being an amazing senpai. You say he's more of a pain, describe as reliable despite his craziness, or say he just loves mountains. Shirou speaks up to say that you guys will be taking the path south down the mountain. Kimun notes the weather is great without a cloud in the sky, and he asks everyone to go at their own pace. The party calls back in response.
Camera jumps over to Zaou's group as he reacts to sensing something. Durga doesn't seem to notice anything and prods Zaou to hurry up since the weather can change quick on the mountains. Zaou nods along and figures he must have imagined something. Narration then talks about how Ryouta's group of Chouji and nobodies are excitedly making there way down, and Maria and the others are keeping a steady eye on things...supposedly. A certain group lead by Koropokkur and mobs disappear suddenly like melting snow, and no one notices a thing. It's likely no one could see no matter how hard they concentrate. The only one who does is Jacob, who can't see.
Camera centers back on the party as you all start heading down the mountain as planned after separating from Zaou's group. The road is gentle, the weather is sunny, and everything is lined up for an easy walk. But within the hour, the party finds themselves in the middle of a blizzard as everyone is shocked by the sudden cold and the episode section ends.
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