EP.151 North, Epilogue (Part 1)

Beneath the Kurakt Mountain Range.

The snowy fields adjacent to the nearby village.

“The North has such nice wind.”

Raniel muttered to herself, hands behind her back.

With each step she took, an crunch of snow beneath her feet echoed.

“Isn’t it? It’s cool and pleasant… I think the snowflakes flying around are rather pretty. Right, right.”

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of snow being trodden on continued steadily, yet Raniel hardly moved forward. She kept wandering in circles.

“This is the view of a lifetime. What else could be a view like this? If something is beautiful to see, it’s a view of a lifetime. In that sense, the North is a great place for tourism. Honestly.”

She paused.

After circling the same spot about three times, Raniel looked up. She gazed at the figure standing in the center of her perfectly rounded footprints.

“Yes, please continue, Senpai.”

The tracker, Kalt.

His hollow gaze resting upon her, an old subordinate.

His eyes were so vacant that if a church priest were to be present, they might mistake him for an undead and casually cast a purification spell.

“Um…”

He looked almost like an undead.

Gazing at her old subordinate, who had grown notably thinner since she last saw him, Raniel forced a somewhat awkward smile. Seeing Kalt’s hollow state sparked a flicker of guilt within her.

‘I should probably offer him some words of comfort.’

Raniel tried to piece together words in her mind.

Having worked in parties for a long time, she surely had memories of comforting Kyle, who had been downcast.

‘Think positively.’

With a slight nod, Raniel opened her mouth.

“So what I mean is…”

“Yes, Senpai.”

“You should just stay out of sight. Now that it’s come to this, how about thinking positively? You can see it as a holiday or a trip, shouldn’t it make you feel a bit better? Right?”

Kalt’s expression hardened further.

Just because it was thrown out with good intentions doesn’t mean it was a good remark. The word ‘tourism’ made Kalt’s brows twitch.

‘…Tourism? What’s that?’

What sprang to Kalt’s mind was the grueling journey they had to endure before reaching the North. Far from a pleasant holiday.

‘There was no carriage hurrying to the North, and to make matters worse, a snowstorm had ruined all the roads.’

So how would they go?

Kalt was a soldier from the battlefield. Having been plunged into combat, he quickly found the answer.

‘Marching through the blizzard.’

Marching without rest.

Marching while cutting down on sleep.

Walking, and walking again, in an endless loop of marching.

‘It had been an exhausting journey. Very much so.’

During that process, Kalt had a moment to reflect on his past experiences on the battlefield, but… it was hardly a pleasant recollection. Not at all.

“Tourism…”

Kalt let out a chuckle.

A smile hung on his lips, but his eyes remained unchanged. This made for a chilling smile as Kalt replied.

“Senpai.”

“…Yeah.”

“What the hell is all this?”

Kalt gestured ahead.

Raniel cast a sidelong glance. Kalt, with his hollow gaze, glared at the snowy fields.

Chaotic sword marks swoosh across the ground.

The altar situated at the center of those marks.

The bodies may have been cleared, but the minor traces remained.

“I didn’t do that.”

“Then what is that?”

This time, he pointed at the snowy mountain.

A giant hole was carved into the ridge. It was so massive it could be seen from a distance, and it seemed an attempt had been made to cut it into a cliff to prevent the damage from spreading, but… the size was alarming.

“Umm…”

Raniel bit her lip.

After a brief moment of silence, she spoke.

“That’s… ”

“Yes.”

“I did that, indeed. But it’s not my fault. Really. The Sword Demon, that crazy guy…”

“Senpai.”

Kalt mumbled weakly.

His voice dripped with exhaustion.

“Why are you doing this to me, seriously…”

Yet at this moment, Kalt still did not know.

How many surprises remained ahead.

That what he faced now was merely the tip of the iceberg.

“There’s still something I haven’t mentioned…”

Raniel wiggled her fingers.

As if ordering someone, it seemed. There was one who followed that command. Upon realizing this, Kalt’s complexion turned pale.

Thud, Kalt smacked his forehead.

“What’s this…?”

A groan-like lament echoed through the snowy landscape.

2.

After receiving the explanation, Kalt fell silent for a while. It was as if he were closing his eyes to think about something. After a little time had passed, Kalt opened his eyes.

“Indeed, it seems I needed to hear that.”

“It’s a matter hard to explain in words.”

“Honestly, for this time, I find it difficult to say if it should be seen as something unfortunate or good… it’s a bit ambiguous.”

Kalt wore a rather complex expression.

His gaze turned toward the Sword Demon standing in the snow. Draka, stripped of self-awareness, stood there like a puppet, obediently following orders.

“You said it’s a puppet following orders.”

“That’s what the binding contract entails.”

“I don’t quite know what that contract is. I know little about it, but one thing is certain…”

Kalt forced a bitter smile.

“It seems like a banned spell.”

“I think so too. Even after doing it, I feel a bit uneasy. It feels like I’m doing something I shouldn’t.”

“What could possibly make you uneasy, Senpai? The Sword Demon himself wanted that… perhaps it might even be better this way.”

This way is better.

It was a phrase packed with meaning.

“Hoo…”

Sighing, Kalt continued.

“For the order, the Sword Demon is an important asset. Given that you’ve retired from the front lines, every superhuman is quite valuable.”

“That’s true.”

“Because of that, there had been a strong tendency to tacitly condone the Sword Demon’s outrages… but now there’s no need for that.”

Kalt’s gaze shifted toward Draka’s waist.

There, a sword was still sheathed — the one Draka had always carried. The scabbard, which held a broken blade, swayed in the winds.

A broken blade.

A sword that bore resemblance to the current Draka.

“For the order, this is better. Not just for the order, but from humanity’s perspective as well.”

However, Kalt said, “But…”

“Personally, I think it might have been better had he died.”

“That’s the nature of such a contract.”

Thus, it’s called a punishment worse than death.

A contract that completely tramples upon human dignity.

“I’ve gone on too long. My thoughts are a bit complicated.”

“That’s understandable.”

Such feelings can’t easily be summed up in words.

I shared similar thoughts with Kalt, so we quietly stared at Draka and the snowy landscape for a while. The introspection, out of place, was not long.

Both Kalt and I had many things to do.

Kalt began erasing the traces near the altar, while I re-etched Draka’s command authority into the circuit.

“Verification of contract modification complete.”

While the process of establishing a binding contract is troublesome, once formed, it is surprisingly lenient. Hard to believe it was a contract interfered with by a Star.

Thanks to that, the work wrapped up quickly.

I infused mana into the completed circuit.

“I limited the authority to Uncle Heinkel alone. There’s no need to create redundant privileges.”

“I’ll inform the Order Leader about that.”

Thus, the incident was wrapped up. The journey in the North was also nearing its end.

3.

In Hameln Village, near the Kurakt Mountain Range.

The funeral for the Hameln residents murdered by the Holy Knights was held. The joint funeral, led by the Duke of the North, took on a slightly different form.

“No assistance from any priest.”

The Duke, Eryhal von Grace, declared firmly.

Though he did not believe in the gods, he had always relied on their power during funerals. But not this time. Since it was a matter tied to the Deloheim Church, their assistance could not be solicited.

“That would be an insult.”

Originally, the North was disbelieving of the gods, but this incident intensified that mistrust. The joint funeral followed the traditional Northern form.

The collected remains were cremated and scattered in the snowy mountains.

However, not all of the ashes were blown away by the wind.

A handful of ashes were buried in the snow.

There were no grand tombs.

Only the weapons or cherished items they had in their lifetime remained as gravestones.

“The North is the land of warriors.”

Every one of them was a valiant warrior who survived battling harsh conditions. Even if they died old and frail, the history of their resistance remained intact.

“Therefore, I honor the brave warriors.”

The old man who had weathered the blizzard to reach the capital.

The bold warrior who had alerted the village of the ambush.

The Duke personally buried a handful of the warrior’s ashes at the sacred site of warriors. Standing beside him, Lac, placed the weapon the old man had used during his life in lieu of a gravestone.

The brave warrior of Hameln.

Ironman, Tugalit.

The name of the old man was etched into the blade.

Eryhal, Lac, and the warriors paid their respects to the valiant warrior. With that, the funeral came to a close. The North returned to its normal life.

The land of warriors, the North.

To survive in the harsh land, warriors play their roles. As they always have.

*

“Hoo…”

Lac let out a short breath as he changed his clothes.

It felt a bit itchy being in attire that didn’t quite fit him. Stepping into a formal occasion was still unfamiliar to Lac. It still didn’t seem to sit well with him.

“Hmm.”

After changing, Lac lingered in the room before finally stepping out the door. He wandered aimlessly through the halls of White Night Castle.

‘My body feels fine.’

Maybe it’s time to head for some training.

How far had he walked? Suddenly, a familiar figure caught Lac’s eye.

“Professor Rania?”

Flowing ash-gray hair.

She turned around at Lac’s call. Her blue eyes stared back at him. To Lac, still busy with the preparations for the joint funeral, it had been quite a while since he last saw her.

“Feeling better?”

At Rania’s question, Lac nodded.

“Professor Rania, have you…”

Is everything alright?

Just as he was about to throw out the cliché question, Lac shut his mouth. The professor before him didn’t seem to ever encounter anything too troubling. Wasn’t she the person who could easily swing the ‘Sword Master’ with her bare hands?

‘…Superhuman.’

That thought sparked something within him.

Lac fell momentarily silent. While he was sorting through his words, Rania tilted her head curiously and asked.

“What? Do you have a question?”

“Um…”

Lac hesitated briefly.

“There’s one thing I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

Lac presented his question.

It had been on his mind since he first arrived in Apuria before the semester even began. He finally voiced it out loud now.

“Professor, what exactly do you do?”

A mage who wields Balance with ease.

The most perfect battle mage Lac had ever seen.

A mage capable of close combat against the infamous Hound.

Those were the things Lac had always observed.

And a doubt began to sprout within him. It transformed into a near certainty here in the North. More precisely, it was due to an incident from a few days ago.

‘The mage who overwhelmed even the Sword Master.’

As far as Lac knew, there was only one such mage.

“Could it be…”

Lac attempted to say something.

Just as he was about to voice his suspicions with certainty, Rania interrupted him. She cut off Lac’s words.

“That’s enough.”

Rania raised her finger to her lips.

“It’s better to keep any further thoughts to yourself.”

“…Yes?”

“Otherwise, a scary person might come looking for you.”

A scary person?

The moment Lac cocked his head in confusion.

“Who is this scary person?”

A voice reached Lac from behind.

Lac turned his head sharply. Standing there was Kalt, the Hound he had seen once before. He slightly nodded to Lac.

“I’m Kalt of the Hound. Nice to meet you, young master. It seems we’ve met before.”

“Uh, um…”

“Though it wasn’t my intention, it seems we will be seeing each other often from now on. I hope to get along well.”

The notion of seeing him often sent a chill down Lac’s spine. He blinked in confusion as Kalt lowered his head towards him, then turned to Rania and whispered something before disappearing down the hallway.

After he left, Rania opened her mouth.

“You asked who I am, right?”

Lac nodded slowly.

A breeze wafted through the slightly-open corridor window, ruffling Rania’s hair.

“Well…”

She brushed her flowing hair aside and said.

“For now, I’m a professor at Apuria Academy.”

A professor from Apuria.

“I plan to teach you, and I will remain your professor until you graduate from Apuria.”

Then, what would she become after graduation?

Lac chose not to ask that question.

Instead, he presented another inquiry.

“At some point.”

Lac asked.

“Can I stand beside you, Professor?”

The mage standing far away, beyond the wall.

Would he be able to stand beside her?

As Lac asked this, Rania replied.

“I’ll make sure you do.”

As Rania, not as Raniel.

“That’s the role of an educator.”

As a professor at the academy, she said.

Rania gave a faint smile. Her slightly opened blue eyes looked at Lac. Lac could read the expectations nestled within. Aware of that, he nodded.

The wind blew through the open window.

The breeze that entered was chilly.

Although the northern winds were always chilly, it wasn’t so cold as to make one shiver. It was pleasantly cool, making it a good wind to move about in.

“I will do my best.”

Ultimately, it was the only promise Lac could make.

At his answer, Rania couldn’t help but smile.

‘Just like a rival.’

It was a response not unlike that of Belnoa.

As she imagined the dissimilar yet similar pair in her mind, Rania nodded in satisfaction.

“Alright.”

The journey in the North also comes to an end.

It was a journey where forgotten pasts were unveiled, and an ending finally dealt with a long-standing enmity. Upon reflection, it seemed she spent more time as the Ashen Mage than as Rania, the professor of Apuria.

‘Therefore, this time at least…’

It would be best to send it off like a proper educator.

Rania pointed her finger out the window.

“That reminds me, shall we finish up with training?”

With the usual smile, she said so. Lac looked at her for a while before finally nodding his head in slight amusement.

“Yes, Professor Rania.”