CHAPTER 62………………………..
Ambitions of the North
The southern part of the continent met the sea.
It was the main stage for mercenaries who moved between the countless islands of the archipelago.
Because large and small conflicts were frequent, many mercenaries had settled in the south.
Among those famed even within mercenary circles, “Tristan” was, by his own renown and everyone else’s, the South’s greatest fixer.
Island pirates feared him, and his skill could be compared to the domain knights.
He was the most highly paid mercenary in the southern seas.
That man was Tristan.
This time, having come with hundreds of mercenaries and signed a contract with the Mordis family, he was called the mercenary king of the South.
And yet….
“Beaten with bare fists?!”
Edrain was speechless.
“By just one person, too?!”
“Calm down, Edrain.”
“Do I look like I can calm down?! Aren’t you angry, sir?!”
Edrain stared in disbelief at Hartmun, who merely smacked his lips; he could not understand it.
They had maintained good relations with House Stuvan for a long time and exchanged visits frequently.
Edrain had watched the young Hartmun since childhood.
He had seen with his own eyes the martial might and presence of Hartmun—known as the Sword of the North—so he couldn’t fathom Hartmun’s weak appearance now.
“What on earth are those people?!”
“We’re looking into it. For now… all we know is that they’re mercenaries.”
“So even the information network of House Kroven has become useless.”
“Watch your words, Young Lord Edrain.”
“Why? Did I say something wrong?”
Bardo narrowed his eyes and glared at Edrain.
Edrain didn’t back down.
In the North, aside from the Icemaker family, there was no house that could contend with Eirvalt in power.
Because they knew that clearly, the head of the domain had sent not the house head but Edrain to attend the banquet.
To showcase Eirvalt’s strength to the other lords.
“You’re saying that because you haven’t seen their skill with your own eyes, Young Lord.”
He certainly wouldn’t look good to the other lords who knew that fact.
“If it weren’t for me and Lord Hartmun, you might have been killed in the barracks without anyone knowing.”
“No matter how skilled they are, how could mere mercenary riffraff—!”
“Frankly, we don’t even know if they’re genuine mercenaries. They could be pawns of the Empire or the Order.”
At Roger’s words, Edrain shut his mouth.
“We respect House Eirvalt, but we are also lords of our own domains and heads of our houses. None of us are younger than Young Lord Edrain. So stop acting like you’re throwing a tantrum because your betrothed doesn’t pay you attention.”
Roger’s threatening tone silenced Edrain.
If the measure was who disliked the three coins the most, Roger topped the list in this hall.
“Are they really that strong? Those guys?”
“The dark-haired one knocked down Guron.”
“If you mean Guron… isn’t he the North’s greatest swordsman?”
When Hartmun nodded, Edrain finally felt the gravity of the situation and swallowed.
“I… I got excited. I apologize, lords.”
“Enough.”
“That’ll do.”
“That is why Baron Gunter could not be present.”
Bardo summarized the situation.
“Could they be linked to the Second Prince?”
Drake, who had been twirling his hand axe as if bored, spoke for the first time.
“The Second Prince comes here hoping to recruit for the Icemaker, savage. Is that head for decoration?”
“So maybe they’re planting strong people on purpose, you bastard! Are you sure the Second Prince will side with us in the first place?!”
“Enough, enough. Stop fighting.”
Hartmun shook his head in disgust at the two who snapped at each other whenever their eyes met.
“Lord Drake’s point isn’t completely without merit. Among the three princes, the Second is said to be the cleverest. There could be some scheme.”
“That’s right. From childhood, the Second Prince has been known as a bright and gifted youth.”
“You haven’t kept up with the recent rumors.”
At Bardo and Edrain’s words, Roger waved his hand.
“He doesn’t go a day without a woman on his arm, wanders about under the pretext of inspections while picking the lords’ pockets. Petitions have even reached the Emperor… ‘bright’ is far from the truth.”
“So he’s come to the North to plunder House Icemaker?”
“Rather than that…”
Bardo hummed and considered Hartmun’s question for a moment before speaking.
“I suspect Lord Balhar pulled the Second Prince into this.”
“…The very man who instigated rebellion against the Empire bringing in the Empire’s prince?”
“…That would be a solid pretext.”
“What? What do you mean…?”
“To present a candidate for the next emperor and legitimize our rebellion with him! That’s what I mean, you green Eirvalt.”
Drake slung an arm around Edrain’s shoulder, who looked puzzled.
The firm pull of Drake’s muscular arm made Edrain’s face contort.
He shoved Drake away with a show of force and strength.
“Th-then that would mean they aren’t with the Second Prince?”
“But they don’t look like Order people either…”
“They didn’t use the divine, did they?”
Roger doubted, but Hartmun felt certain.
In his younger years Hartmun had fought monsters alongside paladins of the Solius Order.
The power priests and paladins of the Order used was a miracle granted by the gods.
The power permitted by faith was the Divine.
“Paladins who don’t use the Divine can’t be that strong.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Paladins weren’t originally knights—many are common believers. People who have never held a sword in their lives. The Divine is the force that allows even such people to stand shoulder to shoulder with knights.”
“In other words, paladins who don’t use the Divine are nothing?”
“Considering that the highest paladin of the Order, Elnore, is a woman, that could be so.”
“Indeed… that dark-haired fellow knocked our men down with bare hands…”
“Then… what are those people?”
Edrain frowned as he listened to Hartmun, Drake, Bardo, and Roger talk.
No one answered.
They couldn’t find a satisfying explanation.
Real mercenaries…?
A mere mercenary possessing such strength?
If that were the case, Gunter with only three coins could field a force comparable to each lord’s power.
Deploy few people, accomplish great deeds.
After the rebellion, how much would House Vainhelm’s influence grow?
The lords’ minds filled with such possibilities.
“Unknown threats…”
Hartmun, who had been thinking, was the first to speak among the lords.
“It’s better to eliminate them.”
“I agree.”
“We welcome a fight.”
“If we do that, it should be after reaching Icecrown. Convince Lord Balhar…”
Edrain Eirvalt only rolled his eyes quietly at the adults’ grim conversation.
He had no intention of checking House Vainhelm’s influence.
He was merely annoyed that his betrothed, Sirina, had taken an interest in that gold-digger.
As he listened to the lords, Edrain found himself nodding unconsciously.
…Better to kill them, after all.
Night deepened.
With two additional forces joining, their numbers approached a thousand.
The column lengthened accordingly, but perhaps because the roads were well-made, their speed quickened.
They encountered no monsters; the wind was light and snow drifted down like falling petals.
“Feels like this is the first smooth trip so far. Am I imagining it?”
“You’re not imagining.”
“Not, uh, imagining, I think.”
Since Ronan had taken care of the mercenaries, no one approached them.
Even Sirina no longer sought me out.
She must be tangled up with her betrothed, Edrain.
That girl stuck close to him even while they moved, never planning to leave his side.
She chattered nonstop, yet my scalp still prickled.
“…If only I could do something about that gaze.”
“Clearly lovestruck at first sight…”
“Shut up already, really.”
The march that had been going on like that finally began to show signs of ending.
“We should reach Icecrown by tomorrow.”
Gunter left our barracks after telling us to rest well because a banquet would start as soon as they arrived.
Tomorrow?
“Everyone, gather.”
I spoke in a low voice and beckoned. The two who had been tidying bedding came over to me.
“When we arrive I’ll first check whether my guess is right.”
“What if it is?”
“We’re here for that.”
In response to Ronan’s question I answered in a low, heavy voice.
“Revenge.”
Somehow we had come this far together, but we were here for vengeance.
Siruela was dead, countless comrades had died, and Icelock’s operatives we didn’t know about had been killed.
For hundreds of years, innumerable lives were buried beneath the snow of the mountains.
All because of House Icemaker’s ambition.
“We’ll do it.”
“We will.”
My anger was at the fewer people left to spread my renown, but these two had more personal, human reasons for their rage.
Their fury equaled or exceeded mine.
“When I call your real names, that’s when it starts.”
“Understood.”
“Y-yes.”
“Good. Then before that….”
I placed both hands on the shoulders of the two.
“Let’s erase the contract first.”
“What do you mean?”
“Erase the contract?”
They tilted their heads. I ignored them.
“<Call the bound name, and shatter the firm vow>.”
I began chanting the spell.
“.”
A magic to release contracts with a target.
“<Break, Oathbreaker>.”
A black mist flowed from the palms I had placed on their shoulders.
A chill coursed through their bodies and fell to the ground.
“W-what is this?!”
“…Creepy.”
Hog and Ronan shivered.
“You erased the contract.”
The magic that had bound us through Gunter’s daughter, Myla, via a contract.
Magical bonds and restraints made by contract were strong.
Especially when mixed with emotions like resentment.
To break such contract magic required a large amount of mana and, next, a high understanding of magic.
Of course, I satisfied both conditions.
More importantly, Myla’s magic itself was flawed.
Myla had merely used a sigil-inscribed spell and lacked a deep understanding of magic.
That she hadn’t chanted the incantation proved it.
If she had chanted, it wouldn’t have been so easily undone.
It would have taken at least half a day, or consumed an entire circle’s worth of mana.
It was another moment confirming how broken the magic system of this world was.
“So we don’t have to obey Gunter’s orders anymore. We can do as we please.”
“Just because you say we can do as we please, I’m asking—what about that woman?”
“What woman?”
“Sirina Icemaker.”
Ronan said it calmly.
“Either way, she’s Icemaker blood. And she has the Dragon’s Eye. Even if she didn’t know about Icelock, she’s connected to dragons. So… are you asking whether we’ll kill her?”
“Hmm.”
It was an unexpected question.
I didn’t think Sirina knew about Icelock.
I didn’t even think she would have been involved.
Ronan probably asked me because he felt the same.
“Well…”
If my guess was right, the Dragon’s Eye implantation was probably—
I finished the thought and let out a small half-smile.
“I’ll handle it.”
