Chapter 30 —

A Winter I’m Used To

The Icelock guard.

A long, sturdy wall blocked the gorge that led up into the snowy mountains.

The wall — already tall and thick by nature — had grown even taller and thicker over the past year.

“Is the repair work going smoothly?”

Cedric Icemaker, captain of the guard.

His pale, white eyes stared at the wall that blocked the mountain pass and asked.

“Of course, Captain.”

The guard who followed him bowed his head and spoke with a servile bend at the waist.

“We’ll finish it before this winter ends.”

“Good. It has to be.”

Cedric turned his head almost indifferently from the wall — no, from the gorge of the snowy mountain that lay beyond it.

“We can’t waste time here forever.”

“Pardon? I misheard?”

“Just talking to myself.”

“Ah, yes.”

The guard shut his mouth immediately to avoid souring Cedric’s mood.

“Go take care of your duties.”

“Yes!”

After the guard bowed respectfully and stepped aside, Cedric moved into the guard compound.

The guards inside parted to let him pass.

“Glory to Icemaker!”

“Glory to Icemaker!”

The men lining both sides bowed their heads and bent at the waist.

No orders were needed; hundreds of guards answered him with complete obedience.

Cedric strode through them as if it were only natural.

“Marken.”

“Yes, Captain!”

At Cedric’s call, Marken stepped out from among the guards.

“We’ll cut supply shipments to the garrison we send next spring.”

“If you cut them… by how much?”

“It’s your discretion.”

“Sir?”

“These are people we’ll be getting rid of soon. But until then, they need to hold the snowworms back.”

“Ah, understood.”

There was no other reason Marken had become adjutant.

He had the sense and the initiative to avoid offending Cedric.

That was his only merit.

Marken understood immediately what Cedric meant.

Enough supplies to hold the flood back, but certainly to reduce numbers.

As he answered, he was already calculating in his head what the minimum would be.

“Report when you secure the goods.”

“Yes, understood!”

Cedric finished issuing the order without even looking at him.

“Glory to Icemaker!”

“Glory to Icemaker!”

Behind the booming voices of the men, Cedric walked toward his office.

Snowflakes began to fall in front of him as he walked.

“Winter again…”

He muttered irritably; his breath scattered in the air.

“How tiresome.”

The victor of the north.

Head of the Icemaker family.

He had spent more than ten years in the guard under his father’s orders.

Cedric had grown sick of winter.

But not much longer.

He had no attachment left for this loathsome place.

If there was anything he wanted instead…

It was those two.

Ronan, who had the audacity to impersonate royalty and rebel.

Esric Spelder, who had been expelled from the academy yet walked around brazenly.

“…I want to kill them.”

If they survived this winter… maybe…

There might be a chance.

Cedric thought that as he stepped firmly on the snow piled before him.

Winter had come.

Snow poured down.

The falling snow accumulated indifferently.

On snow-covered ground, all other colors were erased.

Even the boundaries of the valley leading up to the mountain disappeared.

When the snow piled up enough to seem as if everything had been wiped away…

Screech—

Monsters came pouring in.

“It’s snowworms!”

A sentry on watch in a watchtower shouted as he rang the warning bell overhead: clang, clang, clang, clang.

The loud alarm echoed and the guards rushed out.

Thanks to repeated training, their speed in arming themselves and forming ranks was obvious.

To raise their morale even further, before them—

“<Hard as stone, dazzling as light, from a low sky>.”

They came out onto the battlefield and began the magic incantation.

“<Do not give life, do not shine, simply fall and reap>. ”

Vvvvv—!

Mana spun quickly within three circles.

Flames flared intensely overhead.

The more mana they consumed, the larger the flames became.

The fire surged and the destructive power increased.

A massive globe of flames burning like a sun.

Its size and power were completely different from last winter — even the casters themselves were astonished.

“.”

Whooooo—

The giant ball of flame melted the falling snow, dropping down over the heads of the charging snowworms.

Before it even hit the ground, the piled snow melted and the snowworms that had been sliding forward on it skidded to a halt.

Kreeeeek—!

They opened their round maws and shrieked, but the falling didn’t stop.

A flat voice rang in their heads — the voice of ‘Magic’.

『As a privilege of the contract, the power of magic is amplified.』

Then the fell.

“Die.”

Kraaaang—!

Flames spread in every direction and swallowed the snowworms.

Those that had stopped below were reduced to charred remains.

Even the snowworms at some distance could not escape the blaze.

Kieek— Kreeek—!

Creeping, skin-crawling shrieks echoed through the snowy mountains.

Then, whooooo— a hot gust of wind swept through the area.

The raging snow melted into water and sprayed everywhere.

“Ha!”

A laugh burst out.

From the watchtower, the battlefield looked markedly different from last winter.

One only had to look at the bare ground revealed by the ’s firepower.

Much more land, much farther, had been exposed compared to last winter.

“You see that?”

He spoke to the magic unit members who had already taken positions on the watchtower.

“It’s nothing special. No need to be scared.”

It didn’t need his saying.

“We know! We won’t let the captain hog all the fun!”

“Thinking of all the training because of those bastards… ugh!”

Maybe because of all the practice, the magic unit’s members were already bursting with enthusiasm.

Kree— kreeek—!

From far off, the surviving snowworms writhed and began to approach.

They screamed piercingly and, still burning, forced their way toward the barricade.

The exposed bare ground was quickly covered by them and whitened again.

“Now, the battle you’ve been waiting for!”

He shouted to the men on the watchtower who were grinding their teeth.

“Blast them to pieces!”

Amazing, really.

Hagen watched the power of the that had fallen before his eyes in awe.

It was clearly much larger and stronger than what he’d seen last winter.

Hundreds… no, at least a thousand snowworms must have turned to ash.

His heart raced.

Not only Hagen but every other magic unit member felt the same.

They had trained magic every day, but had never felt a real change in themselves.

Now at last they had the time to confirm it.

“Whoa…”

A new recruit deployed on the same watchtower as Hagen.

“I’m dead…!”

Barent gaped at the power of the he was seeing for the first time.

Hagen chuckled, remembering how he had looked last winter.

“Shut your mouth. You’ll lose your jaw.”

“Ah—yes!”

“If your jaw falls off and you can’t chant, that’d be a problem.”

“That won’t happen, right?!”

Leaving the scolding Barent behind—

“Front rank!”

Hagen shouted in a booming voice.

“Cast!”

The snowworms had already come up close.

As soon as Hagen’s command fell, the magic unit members on the watchtower and the wall began chanting.

They recited their differently inscribed spells and, whoosh, lines of flames rose in the air.

“Fire!”

“Shoot!”

The moment Esric and Hagen shouted, dozens of flames were fired at the incoming snowworms.

The crackling of burning air stretched on.

Boom—boom—boom—!

With explosions, fire spread everywhere.

The disgusting charging snowworms fell engulfed in flames.

Kieeeek—!

High-pitched screams shrilled even nearer.

“Don’t get careless! They’re coming in ugly numbers again!”

“Second rank! Cast!”

Following Esric’s warning, Hagen barked orders.

The others quickly entered their chants and flames flared up all around.

“<Burn, burn, fly, fly…>.”

But Barent couldn’t concentrate.

He couldn’t focus.

There were too many snowworms.

Despite the earlier barrage, the creatures still remained in countless numbers.

He had heard from senior members like Hagen many times about this, but seeing it in person was entirely different.

Overwhelming quantity.

It was enough to paint a young boy’s heart with fear.

“<Burn, burn, fly, Arther, burn, ugh…>.”

His fumbling chant left the mana in the circle spinning uselessly.

“You! What are you doing—!”

“Calm down.”

Hagen, who had been annoyed, fell silent.

Esric, who had leapt across the air to this watchtower, stood beside Barent.

“Even if you don’t cast, it won’t be obvious.”

Esric said that and gestured at Hagen.

It meant: don’t worry, just lead.

Hagen nodded and turned his gaze beyond the barricade.

Countless snowworms were charging through the burning flames.

“Feel the mana and slowly recite the spell.”

Esric’s calm voice came from behind.

“Produce the spell as it is. Just do what you practiced.”

Barent breathed out, calmed himself, and slowly opened his mouth.

“<Burn, fly, and scorch…>.”

His chant dragged slightly, but that didn’t matter.

Mana that had been spinning uselessly finally found a path.

Sizzle.

Flames kindled along Barent’s hand.

“Good. Like you trained…”

Following Esric’s words, Barent reached his flame-bearing hand out.

He mimed drawing an invisible bowstring—no.

He loaded a blazing arrow of fire, pulling the string taut.

Whoosh.

The flame riding his hand stretched out and took the shape of an arrow.

Barent cradled the blazing arrow in his hand and waited for Hagen’s command.

Hagen’s eyes never left the barricade beyond.

He didn’t glance Barent’s way, but from the mana flow and the sound of the fire, Barent knew he had succeeded.

“Shoot!”

At Hagen’s booming shout, the second-rank magic unit members standing by launched their flames in unison.

Barent spat the start-word he’d been holding back to join them.

“!”

As soon as he released, a crackling tore through the air.

Among the dozens of flames that covered the sky, Barent’s fire was there too.

Boom—boom—boom—!

Amidst the successive explosions, Barent clearly heard Esric’s voice.

“Well done.”

Esric patted Barent on the back and returned to his own watchtower.

“Thank you!”

Hagen finally turned and looked at Barent.

“Chant with that much strength every time, kid.”

“Yes! Got it!”

His reply was so loud that even nearby guards could hear.

“Looks like our youngest has some real power now.”

“We can’t lose to the kid!”

“Let’s burn them all!”

Watching the magic unit cheer, Esric smiled quietly.

It was only their second winter, and he already felt strangely accustomed to it.