The Courier Yukino's Signpost

The story began on a chilly winter morning.

Shirayuki-cho. As the name suggests, it is a small town nestled in the mountains that is struck by heavy snow every winter. The people there were more concerned about an old, strange rumor than the cold itself.

I wonder if we will make it through the winter safely this year too.

Keisuke, the owner of the long-established bookstore Yukimido, muttered to himself while flipping through the pages of an old book. By safe, he did not just mean avoiding damage from the snow.

A young man entered Keisuke's shop. It was Ueda, a courier who worked at the local post office. His cheeks were always red, and he was constantly rubbing his fingertips, which peeked out from his gloves.

Keisuke-san, good morning! May I have the usual, please?
Oh, Ueda-san. I'll brew it for you now. Have some warm bancha tea while you wait.

Ueda made it a daily routine to stop by Keisuke's shop on his delivery route. The warm tea in the small tearoom at the back of Yukimido and the unique scent of paper from the old books warmed his frozen body to the core.

But, Ueda-san,Keisuke said, lowering his voice as he handed him the tea. Have you heard the rumors about people seeing the mark of Shirayuki-sama lately?

Ueda stopped mid-sip. The mark? You don't mean that signpost, do you?

There is a legend in Shirayuki-cho that has been passed down for generations. It is said that in the winter when the greatest disaster approaches the town, Shirayuki-sama, the town's guardian deity, leaves a special mark in the snow. It is not a beast's footprint or a wind pattern, but a strange spiral pattern that looks as if someone had drawn it with their finger.

Yes, that's the mark. It seems it appears all alone in the middle of the snowy field. And they say that whoever sees it must never speak of it to anyone,Keisuke said in a trembling voice. I am old now, but you are still young, Ueda-san. Be careful on your way.

Ueda said nothing and drank the bancha tea he had been given in one gulp. For some reason, the warmth felt bitter.

Ueda's delivery route extended near the Himuro Forest on the outskirts of town. By the time he finished his afternoon deliveries and the sun began to set, he was walking along a frozen forest road. The deep, fresh snow under his feet swallowed the sound of his boots.

His next destination was a house standing near the forest. There were no footprints on the snowy road other than Ueda's own.

At that moment, he stopped in his tracks.

There it was, on the pristine, untouched snow by the side of the road.
A spiral.
A perfect, swirling pattern, delicate and graceful, as if drawn with a brush.

Ueda felt his heart pounding violently as he reached out toward the mark.

And then, just as his fingertips were about to touch the snow,

Oh, are you the delivery person?

A clear, crystalline voice came from behind him.

Ueda turned around as if repelled. Standing there was a woman named Yukiko, who lived in a house in the Himuro Forest. She always wore white clothes, and her long black hair played in the wind.

“Oh, ah... yes, here is your mail.” Ueda hurriedly held out the mail.
“Thank you. It must be hard for you in this cold.” Yukiko smiled. Her smile was as cold as melting snow, and beautiful.

Yukiko glanced at the letter she had received and immediately went inside the house.

Ueda looked at the spiral mark once more.

It had already vanished.
Just as if it had been an optical illusion, nothing remained in that spot.

That evening, Ueda revisited Keisuke's shop.

“Keisuke-san, about that mark...”

Keisuke looked at Ueda's anxious face and said quietly,
“Ueda-san. You should pretend you didn't see anything.”

Ueda remembered Yukiko's cold smile. And the vanished spiral mark.

“Keisuke-san. What if the one who saw the mark... was Lady Shirayuki herself?”

Keisuke's eyes widened.

Ueda gripped his delivery bag tightly. He had decided not to leave Shirayuki Town this winter. If that mark was a signpost from Lady Shirayuki, he wanted to know what he could do in this cold, beautiful town.

The story has only just begun. Shirayuki Town was quietly holding its breath in the deep night snow.

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