EP.129 Business Trip, Nightmare (3)
The Warriors of the North are brave.
In the snowy mountains where the snowstorm rages, the bodies of warriors enduring training show no signs of cooling down. The warriors of the North are like heated iron. They are eternally hot steel.
For them, defeat is not merely humiliation.
They learn from defeat. They gain enlightenment.
“How unfortunate.”
Someone said that.
“It can’t be helped.”
There is someone who continues that thought.
“Because I misjudged the level of the opponent.”
Oyakal lightly shook his head. He brushed the snow from his ear, and cold water dripped down his cheek.
“I only believed what I saw. I didn’t accurately assess my opponent’s level, so I was careless. It’s only natural to be defeated. In fact, calling it a defeat is rather inappropriate.”
He cracked his creaky neck as he spoke.
“It wasn’t even a proper fight.”
It was a battle that could have insulted the opponent.
It was quite shameful. He hadn’t done his best to test someone. Because of his carelessness, the fight never even took place. He had committed a faux pas.
“How disgraceful.”
At Oyakal’s one word, the warriors nodded.
“There’s still time, Oyakal.”
Someone pointed deep into the mountains.
“If we run the shortest route, we can meet the guest one more time before the final checkpoint.”
Oyakal nodded.
“If I committed a faux pas, I need to rectify it.”
He picked up his weapon and turned around.
There were warriors standing up. Some warriors were still gazing into the空 with dazed faces. To them, Oyakal said.
“Warriors who know shame, follow me. I will go and request a rematch with the guest.”
The warriors looked at Oyakal.
Oyakal’s eyes were sparkling. They were as hot as a roaring flame.
‘…Defeat is shameful.’
The warriors closed their eyes and opened them again.
‘Shameful and humiliating, that is defeat.’
Shame and humiliation.
Disgrace and anger.
The emotions stemming from those feelings are one.
‘That is why we yearn for victory.’
The desire for victory is what drives a warrior.
“Haha.”
Seeing the warriors standing up one by one, Oyakal burst into laughter. He thumped his chest with a display of gleaming white teeth.
“This is how Warriors of the North should be.”
They stand firmly on the ground with both feet.
Shaking off the snow stuck to their bodies, they lift their heads. There is no fear in their eyes. The warriors, who once trembled with fear, now gleam with soaring ambition.
“I will go ahead.”
The warriors raced after Oyakal.
The snowy mountains feel like the front yard to the warriors. Even in the snow that sinks beneath their feet, their steps are unimpeded. No obstacles, no hindrance.
They stomp on trees and leap over piles of rocks, sliding down the slope.
Swish!
Snowflakes scatter.
They land gracefully, looking up.
“Oh.”
There stands a girl.
The girl, who was about to pass the last path leading to White Night Castle, stops and looks at the warriors.
“…”
The warriors quietly prepare their stances.
No one is careless. A silence envelops the snowy field. The silence is broken by the girl.
She takes a bold step forward.
What approaches is a wall.
Feeling the massive wall, the warriors gulp nervously. Their eyes are filled with excitement.
‘Admit defeat, but constantly challenge.’
The warriors ask themselves.
‘How long?’
The answer is singular.
The warriors of the North share one thought.
‘Until it can be accepted.’
That is the way of the North.
“Whoaah!”
The warriors roar as they stomp the ground.
2.
Snow fell. The endless snowfall did not only come from the sky. The snow piled on the ground bounced back up. It scattered in all directions.
Swish!
The snow that a warrior swung a great sword scattered. The practice sword, dulled just in case, or the heavy sword itself is threatening.
Wham!
However, Raniel grabs it bare-handed. She held the great sword with one hand and spun her body. Her ashen hair fluttered. Amidst the swaying hair, a white hand emerged.
Wham!
Raniel, seizing the warrior’s head, kicked off the ground and leapt up. Her knee strikes the warrior’s temple.
“Guhh…!”
The warrior’s pupils shake.
But he does not faint. He stretches out his arms, trying to grab the girl before him. Raniel kicks the warrior and leaps into the air.
‘In mid-air.’
A gap is formed.
“Oyakal!”
The warriors don’t miss the gap.
Swish!
Oyakal slides over the snowy plain, closing the distance. Several other warriors close in with him. Not all warriors charge with brute strength. There are agile warriors like Oyakal.
They calculate where the girl will land.
Reading the girl’s movements as she spins in the air, they swing their weapons. They throw them towards the girl.
Whoosh!
Raniel slightly tilts her head in mid-air. An axe grazes past her hair. A long chain connects the axe to the warrior.
Wham!
Raniel grabs it.
Swish!
In mid-air, Raniel spins while holding the chain. Her ashen hair flutters, and the warrior holding the chain is pulled towards her.
A warrior beneath her.
“Ugh!”
As Raniel lands, she strikes the warrior’s back with her heel. The warrior’s body jolts. She incapacitates one warrior.
‘One, but three ahead. Five behind.’
Raniel counts.
She grabs Oyakal’s wrist, who had closed the distance. Just as she tosses him, Oyakal twists his stance. Crack! He dislocates his shoulder to slip away.
Twice with the same move won’t work.
It’s as if he’s saying that.
Oyakal grinds his teeth and throws a punch. That too is blocked. However, the original purpose of buying time succeeded. Oyakal smiles.
Swish!
The snow rises.
Beyond the scattering snowflakes, five warriors simultaneously overwhelm Raniel. Their encirclement leaves no gaps.
‘If we’re going to block her, we’ll need to strike five at once.’
To corner a big prey, the warriors sometimes cooperate. They are excellent hunters and know how to corner their prey well.
Whoosh!
The warriors’ weapons all target the girl.
The swords swung almost simultaneously form a dense net. It would be impossible to deflect them all.
That is what Oyakal thought.
Not for Raniel.
“Ugh!”
Raniel, elbowing Oyakal in the stomach, takes a step to the side. Using her planted foot as a pivot, she spins.
Pivot.
Her feet become entangled with those on the snowy ground. It almost looks like a dance. As she spun, she swung her arms.
Crack!
She deflects one sword.
Four remain. Dropping almost simultaneously, the swords leave no openings. But a gap can be created.
Swish.
Raniel lowers her posture, sliding skillfully over the snowy ground. Leaning backward, she draws the swords down under. It may look simultaneous, but there’s a subtle gap between each sword. Raniel seizes that gap.
Whoosh!
Bouncing back from her bent waist, she rises. With both outstretched hands, she deflects two swords. The two swords shatter. A gap is created. Raniel slips through the opening.
“Gah!”
“Cough!”
The remaining two swords are also shattered.
Free from the encirclement, Raniel shakes her wrists. She exhales sharply and raises her head.
“Whew…”
Her gaze turns to the remaining warriors.
There are many left. Even those she thought she had incapacitated are staggering back up.
‘Really tough.’
Raniel smirks inwardly.
While she had taken the trouble to soften her blows… Any decent knight would have fainted from a single strike. Yet, even after taking numerous such attacks, the warriors stood up.
‘Well, they’ve always had incredible tenacity.’
Even on the battlefield, the warriors of the North were like that.
They fought until the end, even after losing arms, breaking ankles, and bleeding profusely. Like berserkers.
“…”
Raniel suddenly touches her forearm.
Red handprints remain. The marks of Oyakal’s grip just before she had elbowed him in the stomach.
‘This won’t do.’
Raniel makes a decision.
It’s better to discard any half-hearted thoughts of breaking the warriors’ will.
Crack.
She grips the ends of her gloves and pulls them off.
The wrinkles of the gloves stretched out.
“…!”
Several warriors flinched at this.
They sensed a disturbance. Oyakal felt it too. Reflexively, he opened his mouth.
“Immediately lower your head—”
That phrase never completed.
Snap! The sound of fingers snapping rang out. In that moment, Oyakal saw it. As he was known for his keen eyes, he caught a flicker of light in an instant.
The flickering light.
And the intangible shockwave shaking the snowy mountain.
RUMBLE!
A deafening sound slammed against the snowy mountain.
The snowy field turned over. Piles of snow leapt into the air. More snow was shooting up than falling down.
“…”
After one shock passed.
The shock did not target the warriors. However, they understood that it was merely a circumstantial misfire.
Only then did the warriors realize.
They recalled the fact they had momentarily forgotten.
‘…That person was not a warrior.’
A professor from Apuria Academy.
‘She was a mage.’
Not a warrior, but a mage.
One by one, the warriors dropped their weapons.
One spell, and that’s all it took.
Realizing the overwhelming difference, the warriors accepted defeat. However, unlike before, it was not a humiliating defeat. They had given their all in the clash and lost.
What remained was to acknowledge the outcome.
“The exam is over.”
Oyakal said.
“I will escort you to White Night Castle.”
The welcoming remarks were concluded.
The warriors pay their utmost respect to the esteemed guest who has come to the North.
3.
The master of the North.
Duke of the North, Eryhal von Grace.
He sat with his chin resting on his hand, waiting for the guest. A fair amount of time had passed since the welcoming had begun. It was about time for the guest to arrive.
“Are you worried?”
Eryhal’s wife, sitting nearby, asked, and he chuckled softly and shook his head.
“Not at all.”
“Is that so? I’m a bit worried.”
She spoke with some concern.
“After all, they are a guest from the capital. If something were to happen on the snowy mountains…”
“That won’t happen.”
Eryhal, still with his chin resting on his hand, replied.
“They are someone Lac recommended.”
With an impassive face, he continued speaking.
“The one thing he has inherited well is the sense of identifying strong individuals. If Lac recommended them, they can’t just be some mediocre person.”
The sixth sense.
In that one aspect, the child surpasses him. Eryhal trusted Lac’s vision.
“It seems like they’ve arrived.”
Someone knocked on the door.
Moments later, creaking, the door of White Night Castle opened. Looking down from the hall, Eryhal chuckled and smiled.
The ones entering through the door are warriors.
Their bodies were bruised, and some limped as they walked. Another had an arm hanging as though it were broken. Yet, smiles bloomed on their faces.
“We’ve brought the guest.”
It wasn’t a winner’s smile.
Rather, it was the relieved laughter of those who had faced an undeniable defeat.
The warriors parted.
Through them, a girl stepped into White Night Castle.
“…Huh.”
Eryhal, with his chin resting, chuckled.
“What a monster has come to visit.”
He slowly stood up from his seat.
He extended his arms to welcome the warriors. Eye to eye with the girl, Eryhal spoke.
“Thank you for your efforts in coming such a long way. I will prepare a banquet shortly. We’ll discuss the details during the banquet.”
The butlers of White Night Castle guided the girl.
As Eryhal made his way to the banquet hall, he felt a smile spreading across his face. His son had brought back someone extraordinary.
‘Two monsters arriving at the same time.’
The esteemed guest who’s acknowledged by the warriors.
Eryhal also trusted the warriors’ judgment. If the guest was recognized by them, then they deserved a worthy reception.
“Invite the warriors too, and let them eat their fill. The more boisterous the banquet, the more enjoyable it is.”
“Yes, understood.”
The commanded butlers moved.
“…Huh?”
Just as he was about to head to the banquet hall, Eryhal tilted his head for a moment. He felt as if he had forgotten something.
However, it was just for a moment.
‘It must be nothing important.’
As the Duke of the North, he did not let trivial matters bother him. Eryhal walked towards the banquet hall.
*
Grumble.
“…”
Selly nibbled on the snacks on the table.
She couldn’t eat too much since she shouldn’t eat the guests’ share and must leave some for chatting… so she only had a little to snack on.
“They’re late…”
After waiting a long time, they didn’t arrive.
While fiddling with the now-cold coffee cup, a sense of sadness washed over her. Selly sighed deeply.
Creak.
That moment.
Selly straightened her back at the sound of the door opening. She brushed her hair aside and looked at the opening door.
“Welcome, you’re a little late…”
Just as she was about to speak lines she had rehearsed multiple times, Selly shut her mouth. The person entering through the door was not the expected guest.
“…Huh, Master of the White Tower?”
It was one of the warriors.
One of the few who could communicate among the warriors, the sharp-eyed Oyakal blinked at Selly.
‘Why is Oyakal here?’
She began to guess the reason.
It wasn’t hard to guess the reason. Selly nodded with a relaxed smile.
“Are you maybe a little late?”
That could certainly happen.
The climate of the North is unpredictable. An unexpected snowstorm could delay their arrival.
‘So that’s why Oyakal, who was supposed to supervise the exam, is here. Yes, that makes sense.’
But when would they actually arrive…?
Just as Selly was about to ask that, Oyakal said.
“Uh… They’ve already arrived.”
“Yes?”
“The exam is over, and a banquet is taking place at White Night Castle. I came to clean up this place…”
Oyakal cautiously asked.
“Didn’t the message get through…?”
Selly felt like tears might come at the thought.
Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)
‘Being treated as nothing important’ – Master of the White Tower…
