EP.127 On Business Trip, Nightmare (1)
Clang, clang! The metallic sound that had been ringing for a while finally stopped. Kurak nodded as he turned the silver gleaming axe this way and that.
“This should do.”
He tossed the axe whoosh to Lac.
At first glance, it seemed like a rude and reckless act. However, Lac didn’t mind at all. Gripping the axe, he smiled contentedly.
“Thanks, Kurak.”
“From what I see, it looks like you’ve even taken down a beast. Did you come back from the battlefield or something?”
“Battlefield? Ah, I stopped by for a field trip. I faced a beast there. It really felt like a training ground for warriors.”
It was a good experience.
Seeing Lac mumble with a proud face, Kurak made a rather complicated expression.
“… Training grounds don’t usually send students to the battlefield.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. It seems Apuria teaches its students… quite aggressively. Well, the axe is well-prepared, so it should hold up until your next visit.”
Kurak waved his hand lightly.
That was a signal to leave. Just as Lac and Rania were about to step out of the smithy…
“Oh, by the way, young master.”
Kurak said as if remembering something.
“I heard the warriors are preparing a ‘festival’.”
“A festival?”
“You know, the regular one. The warm welcome from the North.”
“Oh, that? I’m aware of it.”
Lac nodded as if he understood the gist.
Kurak looked at Lac with a skeptical gaze.
‘Did he really understand?’
If he did, he didn’t seem like it based on his reaction.
Kurak once again questioned Lac.
“Since you’re used to it, that’s fine, but… is that lady next to you alright?”
Kurak cast a glance at the woman standing beside Lac.
At first glance, she looked like she could be Lac’s peer. The atmosphere around her was mature, but… if judged by appearance alone, she looked like a girl.
‘Didn’t they say she’s a professor from Apuria?’
She certainly had an impression that suited a professor.
In other words, she didn’t have the air of a warrior.
“I don’t see her handling weapons at all…”
She was a demure and graceful girl.
No matter how one looked at her, she seemed far removed from fighting. She looked more suited to wearing a dress and enjoying social gatherings. Kurak narrowed his eyes.
‘She doesn’t even use weapons. She has no muscles for combat either. She looks weak enough to fall over with just a light push.’
Being a blacksmith who had forged weapons for a long time gave Kurak insight. The girl bore no traces of long-term handling of any armament. She lacked even scars or small calluses.
As Kurak was observing the girl…
“… Festival?”
The girl tilted her head slightly.
While they were having a conversation regarding her situation, she showed no sign of urgency whatsoever.
‘She must have lived in a greenhouse.’
Kurak shook his head in disbelief.
“Um, miss.”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to give you a piece of advice.”
Kurak said.
“If you expected to receive treatment like in the royal capital from the North… it’s better to set that thought aside for a bit. The warriors of the North respect only the strong.”
That was a sincere piece of advice.
“If you underestimate them, you’ll regret it.”
Saying that, Kurak watched for her reaction.
She blinked and opened her mouth.
“Ah, okay.”
It was a remarkably indifferent response.
‘… This is maddening.’
Kurak clicked his tongue inwardly.
—
2.
In the North, the four seasons are meaningless.
There’s only a difference between slightly less cold and slightly more cold. The raging snowstorms in the North do not distinguish the seasons. That’s the North.
‘The land of extreme cold.’
Those who live in such a land inevitably become strong. They must have trained themselves to survive.
“But during summer, it’s comparatively mild. When the snowstorms hit in earnest… going outside the castle walls becomes hard. Even the warriors avoid it.”
That’s how Lac described it.
Even now, snow was falling quite a bit, yet Lac seemed to treat it as nothing serious.
“A moderate snowstorm is refreshing, isn’t it? Warriors wipe away the sweat from hunting with the snowstorm. They roll in the snow to clean off blood too.”
… Wasn’t that a bit too much?
Thinking that, I remembered the northern warriors I met on the battlefield and somehow nodded.
‘They’d probably do that.’
They were the type that would do anything.
Ashen!!!! Mage!!!!
A booming roar.
Each syllable seemed to have an exclamation mark after it, making it quite the noisy way of speaking.
For a great warrior, there must be an attire that befits them! How about adorning themselves with the hide of the guardian of the snow mountain? This is the symbol of a ‘warrior’!!!
But you said it’s a guardian. Can you really wear the hide like that?
The guardian is! A being that watches over warriors! A being that is with the warriors! The guardian would surely be pleased!!!
The image of them shouting while holding up bear hides is deeply ingrained in my mind. They were such colorful characters that it was hard to forget them.
‘They were excellent warriors, but… how should I put it, it was a bit much…’
I shot a glance at Lac.
Unlike those beasts, who could only move on two legs and speak human language… Lac at least had a minimal level of intelligence. I muttered quietly.
“… Just don’t resemble them too much.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just, you know.”
I only hoped he wouldn’t lose that intelligence.
Pausing my thoughts, I looked out the window. The carriage, freshly arrived in the city, was now penetrating deeper into the North.
Clatter.
Even the top-class carriage vibrated as it passed over a rough road. Crossing over the castle walls and through the steep cliffs, wherever my eyes landed was breathtaking. The vastness of nature, unseen in the royal capital, captivated my attention. Of course, it wasn’t my first time, but…
‘In battle, I had no leisure to look at this.’
Even the beauty of nature transforms into a ‘trap to use’ under extreme circumstances. In reality, when faced with an uncontrollable calamity, we often resorted to strategies that involved collapsing terrain to block the way.
‘I remember Ganikalte being trapped in such a canyon.’
He buried it whole to hold the monster’s feet for even one more second. Though that was also useless… still, that’s how it was.
“Ah.”
As I was lost in those thoughts, Lac spoke up. He pointed outside.
“There’s someone out to greet us.”
Beyond the canyon, a wide expanse of snowfield.
In the back, the snow-capped mountains, and ahead the castle walls of the northern capital were drawing closer. Following Lac’s gaze, I saw a crowd lined up in front of the castle walls.
‘Quite a lot.’
Are they trying to give us a welcome?
Just as I thought that, I blinked. Something strange caught my eye.
“… What are they all doing?”
“They are the warriors of the capital. In other words, they’re known as the protectors of the snow mountain, or winter hunters.”
“No, I mean those.”
I pointed to the people standing in front of the castle walls.
With each passing moment, as the carriage approached the walls, their appearances became clearer.
“Why the hell are they all bare-chested?”
Snow was falling. Heavily.
They were laughing, exposing their white teeth, all while facing the pouring snow with no concern whatsoever.
“Why on earth…?”
There was not the slightest hint of wavering in their laughter.
Straight-faced, they stood still until the carriage arrived.
“… They’re just really heated guys.”
The answer came from the butler.
As he opened the carriage door, he continued.
“To the northern warriors, a trained body is like a treasure. They proudly display what is most precious to them… to our guest.”
The butler brushed his eyes.
Letting out a long sigh, he added.
“They may appear like this, but they’re really good-natured. So please, even if they look unseemly, please be understanding.”
It seemed like this wasn’t a rare occurrence at all.
The butler looked quite exhausted, so I reluctantly nodded.
“Ah, yes…”
While I was listening to the butler’s explanation, Lac had already stepped out of the carriage. The moment Lac met the warriors’ gazes as he disembarked…
“Lac Young Master!!!”
It was a thunderous cheer.
The voices of about twenty warriors intertwined in a loud uproar. They pounded their left chests thud and shouted at the top of their lungs. The sound of them hitting their chests rang out as if striking metal plates.
“It’s been so long!!!”
Their voices echoed back.
I couldn’t hold back and covered my ears with both hands. However, I was not the only one doing this. The butler sighed as if it was familiar, and Lac…
“Glad to see you! Warriors!”
“Wooooo!”
With their teeth displayed neatly, Lac smiled just like the warriors and dashed toward them. Watching that, I blinked in a daze.
‘What am I looking at?’
It was quite an avant-garde scene.
As I struggled to catch up to the situation, the butler, who had been standing next to me, spoke.
“It’s usually like this.”
His tone suggested he was rather accustomed to it.
I wondered if I had misheard.
“… You say it’s usually like this?”
“It’s not for nothing that we carefully ‘selected’ guests for the North.”
“… Oh.”
Is this the norm?
“Hmm…”
I stared at them with eyes gone cold.
Amidst the raging snowstorm, there was a heat that refused to cool. It was an image that filled me with an intense desire to stay as far away as possible.
—
3.
In the North, the Duke, Eryhal von Grace.
The castle he resides in was located on the snow-capped mountains surrounding the capital. The people of the North did not build that castle. It had always been there.
‘An ancient ruin.’
The old kingdom that turned to ashes.
The ancient castle regarded as the ruins of that place.
‘White Night Castle.’
This ancient castle, referred to as such, has held on to its pure white exterior since the day it was constructed, despite the countless years that have passed… as if time had slipped past it.
“This is White Night Castle, the pride of the North. It’s named so because it emits a soft white light like stars in the night sky, even when darkness falls.”
The butler walking next to Rania said that.
“White Night Castle symbolizes immutability. For warriors, immutability is hard, yet it is a value they must uphold.”
The warriors walking ahead explained.
“So, here we are.”
At the entrance of the path leading to White Night Castle, the warriors stopped. One of them took a step forward.
“I’ll provide the explanation as the representative of the warriors. I am ‘Oyakal,’ assigned as the Third Stone among the Duke’s elite warriors.”
The warrior, introducing himself as Oyakal, then addressed Lac and Rania.
“We’ve prepared a little welcome gesture for our guest and the young master. This is a process that one must go through to enter White Night Castle.”
Upon those words, the butler slapped his forehead.
It was a look that suggested that what had to happen was finally happening. Of course, no warriors paid attention to the butler’s reaction. Not a single one.
“Though it’s a welcome gesture, it’s also connected to how you will be treated during your stay in the North.”
The butler whispered to Rania’s ear.
“Warriors, or those equivalent to them, will test you, young lady. Depending on how you behave during that test, their treatment will change. Of course, they will maintain at least a minimum level of courtesy, but…”
The butler declared.
“In the North, you must be evaluated based not on the status you had in the royal capital but on the value you possess here.”
As the butler finished explaining, Oyakal opened his mouth again as if waiting for that moment.
“For you, young master, it’s pretty much a given what you’ll choose. You’ll go the usual route, right?”
“Of course. I’ve heard you’ve prepared especially hard this time. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Of course! We’ve been preparing for a whole month.”
Oyakal smiled brightly, showing his snow-white teeth.
With a refreshing smile, he turned his head swiftly. His gaze landed on Rania, who stood beside Lac.
“Now, the remaining question is for the guest.”
Oyakal looked at Rania and said.
“You are a guest from the royal capital and a professor at Apuria Academy, so I prepared two options not knowing what you might like.”
He spread two fingers.
Then, folding his middle finger first, he said.
“One is the path to compete with the mages of the tower. Master of the White Tower, Selly Devela, will directly evaluate your value.”
“What about the other?”
“The second is a path similar to that of young master Lac.”
Oyakal pointed to the mountains.
“You’ll ascend the mountain to arrive at White Night Castle. It’s the most traditional route. Of course, the path won’t be smooth.”
He thumped his chest.
“It’s a ‘special’ path prepared just for you.”
He emphasized the word ‘special.’
However, he didn’t hold high expectations.
The girl before him was not a warrior. She was a professor teaching magic in Apuria. That meant she was associated with mages. It would be difficult to expect the same boisterousness from someone like that.
‘She will surely choose the first path.’
That’s why he didn’t explain the second path in detail. He felt it unnecessary. Oyakal awaited the girl’s response.
“Hmm.”
Finally, she nodded slightly and spoke.
“Simplicity is preferable.”
The answer that returned was contrary to Oyakal’s expectations.
“I’ll choose the latter.”
The girl responded with a smile.
It was a reply without the slightest hesitation.
“Whew.”
The warriors behind Oyakal whistled and clicked their tongues. Their eyes sparkled. Warriors always cheer for challenge-seeking individuals. They always have.
“Just like someone teaching young master.”
“Just like someone chosen by the young master.”
As they whispered their praises, Oyakal narrowed his eyes. He asked the girl once more in a low voice.
“… Are you serious?”
“It’s better to keep it simple, right?”
Her tone was not boastful.
There was no wavering in her words as if stating the obvious. A grin crept onto Oyakal’s face.
‘A bold young lady.’
The first impression was quite satisfying.
Oyakal nodded enthusiastically.
“You are unexpectedly a fiery guest! Very well! I shall guide you both on your path!”
Oyakal took the lead.
Lac and Rania followed behind him. The butler’s complexion turned pale as he watched their departing figures. In stark contrast to the fearful butler, Lac and Rania walked lightly.
However, no one knew.
The nightmare of Apuria had come to the Snow Mountains of the North.
