~Chapter 05~
. The Stragglers
Boom.
Behind us, a massive iron gate slammed shut.
Everyone inside turned at the loud noise.
The soldiers who had been lined up outside stood in formation, and in front of them towered a white-haired, white-eyed man.
“I am Cedric Icemaker. I am the one in charge of guarding the entrance to Ice Rock.”
Cedric looked at us with a cold gaze as he spoke.
“There is no exit from this place.”
No sooner had he finished speaking—
Fwoosh.
Flames roared up beyond the fortress wall.
Thick, black smoke billowed upward.
Then came the sizzling sounds and the stench of burning flesh.
I suddenly recalled the pile of corpses in the pit.
…They’re burning those?
I frowned in disgust.
“You will never leave this place until you die. And…”
Cedric arrogantly tilted his chin upward.
“I will decide where you die.”
What the hell kind of bullshit was that?
Those around me muttered the same thought.
Cedric ignored us and continued speaking.
“If you prove useful to me, you will remain here and serve as guards. If not, you’ll be sent to the fortress as members of the Defense Corps.”
He pointed his finger behind us.
Naturally, everyone followed his gesture with their eyes.
On the opposite side stood another solid wall.
Beyond it, we could see the snow-covered mountains.
“So, from now on—prove your worth.”
His voice carried arrogance.
“At the very least, if you want to die like a human being.”
From behind the soldiers emerged several figures draped in robes.
“They are magicians belonging to the House of Icemaker. They will now check your engravings. Your worth will be judged accordingly. If you have inscribed magic useful in combat, you can remain here as guards.”
Groans of despair echoed here and there.
Dyke had told me that ordinary commoners usually couldn’t inscribe combat magic.
Simply because it was too expensive.
That was why the value of combat inscriptions was so high.
Ridiculously high for something so useless.
“Begin the classification.”
At Cedric’s order, the magicians moved in perfect unison.
They pressed their palms against people’s chests.
“Single. That way.”
“Single. Over there.”
After classification, the soldiers shoved and herded people in one direction.
What they were doing was checking the number of engravings inscribed.
It was the same kind of magic used to analyze artifacts.
A Single meant only one engraving.
Most people were pushed into the Single group.
“Double Chain. That way.”
“Double Chain.”
A handful who had two engravings were moved in the opposite direction.
Out of more than a hundred people, not even ten.
Among them was that thug Orsen, who had been bawling and whining earlier.
Then a magician approached me.
Thud.
The moment he placed his hand on me—
『 Magic interference detected. 』
『 Opponent is using Optical on the Contractor. 』
The voice of the Book echoed in my head.
“…Huh?”
The magician tilted his head at me.
“What? You…?”
Watching him blink stupidly, I smirked.
Of course he wouldn’t sense anything.
Optical could only check for the existence of engravings.
It couldn’t measure circles or mana levels.
So to him, I looked like someone with no engravings at all—a complete half-wit.
『 Magic interference detected. 』
『 Opponent is using Optical on the Contractor. 』
The magician checked again, then clicked his tongue.
“Straggler. Over there.”
“Over there” wasn’t with the others, but in a place closest to the path toward the fortress.
So I was headed to the fortress for sure?
For me—wanting to stay far away from Jeras Grimm—that was actually a good thing.
The others didn’t know how satisfied I was, and instead looked at me with pity.
“Straggler. You too, over there.”
Another straggler appeared.
Someone else without engravings?
I craned my neck eagerly.
It was the black-haired boy—the fake prince Cedric had stomped on earlier.
But the looks people gave him were very different from those they gave me.
“They say he was pretending to be royalty? And he doesn’t even have a single engraving?”
“That bastard’s insane.”
“Filthy worm.”
They mocked and ridiculed him without restraint.
He accepted it with a dull expression, as though used to it.
But in his jet-black eyes gleamed the feral light of a beast.
Like he might leap up and rip someone’s throat out any second.
I liked him.
“Hey.”
“…?”
At my call, the boy glared at me.
“I’m Esric Spelder.”
I extended a hand to him.
“Let’s get along.”
“…Are you mocking me?”
He growled and slapped my hand away.
That only made me grin wider.
No engravings, heading to the fortress with me—
If handled well, he could be very useful.
You’re the one I’ve chosen.
The Double Chains were all assigned to the guards.
That thug even shouted in joy when he heard it.
The Singles were checked again.
This time, to confirm what kind of magic they had inscribed.
The standard: whether it was useful in combat.
An inscription’s nature followed the first magic carved.
If the first was fire-type, the second and third had to be fire too.
That chain of similarity was why two or more engravings were called a “Chain.”
If you had garbage inscriptions like the mercenaries did, you couldn’t even use proper magic—only inject mana into it.
Classification dragged on until sundown.
Only five Singles were kept as guards along with the Double Chains.
“This… this can’t be!”
“Just once more, please!”
“No! I don’t want this!”
Those sent to the Defense Corps screamed in protest.
But Cedric didn’t so much as blink.
“Your place of death is not here.”
Clang.
The guards aimed their spears at us in unison.
“Leave.”
That was it.
Resistance was not permitted.
No one eager to die tried.
With spears at our backs, we trudged toward the opposite wall.
By the time we reached it, the sun was long gone.
Clank, clank.
Chains rattled as the gate rose.
Through the open gate stretched the path up the mountain.
Or rather—it barely stretched at all, before it vanished.
Pitch-black night had swallowed it.
Terror froze the others in place.
They pleaded.
“P-please, just one night of shelter!”
“Yes! If we leave now, we’ll freeze to death!”
“One night, that’s all we ask—we’ll depart at dawn!”
But the guards didn’t answer.
Instead, they pressed their spears closer, forcing us forward.
Well—we had to go anyway.
I stepped out of the crowd alone.
I walked toward the open gate.
I could feel it even without looking—
The countless stares piercing my back.
Past the gate, the wind was sharper, colder.
I tightened the fur cloak I’d taken from the driver and the clothes stolen from those mercenaries.
Then someone came up right beside me.
The black-haired boy.
The false prince.
“Ronan.”
He whispered as he drew level with me.
“Ronan Raimond.”
Heh.
So he was shy about it.
With the two of us leading, the rest finally began to move as well.
“Damn this, fine—we’re going!”
“Enjoy your meals, you bastards! Ptooey!”
“Rot in hell, you dogs!”
Some cursed in rage, but no one on the other side responded.
This was nothing new to them.
“They’re all gone now.”
“Well done.”
Cedric nodded at the captain’s report.
His pale eyes stared into the darkness of the mountain path.
Every time they sent people to the Defense Corps, Cedric thought the same thing.
How many of them would reach the fortress alive?
No one knew the answer. But it didn’t matter.
They were nothing but stragglers.
Only when their figures vanished completely into the dark did Cedric give his order.
“Close the gate.”
Clang.
The chains slackened, and the gate dropped with a heavy thud.
Through the iron bars, the mountain wind howled.
It was a single narrow trail.
Thanks to that, even in the pitch black, we couldn’t lose our way.
On either side, massive rocks and skeletal trees rose close together.
Like stones bristling with thorns.
Some people began snapping off branches to use as staffs.
When we stopped to rest, others lit fires and made torches.
“Hey, don’t get cocky—fall back.”
“Brats without engravings have no place up front.”
“We’re not wasting fire on you. Just follow quietly, got it?”
A few rough-looking men picked a fight with me and Ronan.
Ronan was about to grab one and start brawling, but I pulled him back.
So we fell to the rear.
“Why stop me? Think I’d lose?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Nothing good comes from being up front.”
“…What?”
Ronan blinked at my unexpected reply.
“Monsters roam these mountains. They could jump out anywhere. Those guys with torches are practically volunteers to go first. I’d say we’re lucky.”
“…You mean to use them as bait?”
“Who’s using them? They volunteered. Did anyone push them?”
“Well, no, but…”
Ronan looked at me like I was something strange.
“I thought you were just insane. Turns out you’re frightening.”
“And here I am, being called insane by a fake prince.”
“I told you—I’m not a fake.”
He sighed.
“It’s just… I don’t know who my father is.”
“…What do you mean?”
“My mother was of royal blood. She fled the palace but carried Raimond blood. After she passed, I went to the palace to tell them the truth. They branded me a pretender instead.”
I bit back the thought No wonder.
Without proof, who would believe him?
“I wanted to clear my mother’s name, but now it doesn’t matter. No one leaves Ice Rock alive.”
“You never know. Don’t resign yourself yet.”
He was about to answer when—
“Aaaaargh!”
A piercing scream cut the night.
Torches ahead flared violently, shadows dancing wildly.
“W-what’s happening?!”
“What is it?!”
“M-monster…!”
Shrill cries erupted.
“It’s a Snow Worm!”
