Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Back to the Snowy Mountains - 2
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Suddenly, the ice sheet began to crack.
The startled Frost Claw warriors tried to react quickly, but it was already too late.
The cracks spreading across the ice shattered in an instant, sending most of the warriors plummeting into the lake below.
"Damn it!"
"Is everyone okay?"
Fortunately, thanks to the unique mana affinity of the northern tribesfolk, they were highly resistant to the cold and didn't succumb to hypothermia easily.
But the problem was that none of them knew how to swim.
"Get us out quick!"
"Got it!"
To the northerners, lakes and rivers were places to break the ice for fishing or fetching water—not for swimming.
Naturally, they were defenseless against attacks from the deep waters.
"Gaaah!"
"W-what is it?"
"S-something's in the water!"
The unknown entity kept dragging the warriors deeper and deeper, never letting them resurface.
The warriors still on the ice panicked at the sight and tried to flee the area, but
Crack-crack-CRAAACK!
with the ice sheet crumbling away beneath them, escape wasn't easy.
"Damn it all! What the hell is this?!"
Ethan barely managed to scramble to safety and spat curses as he turned his gaze to the lake.
The tribesfolk he'd been laughing and joking with just moments ago were nowhere to be seen.
They had all sunk into the depths and never come back up.
Shaken, he stared intently at the lake from a safe distance. Then, suddenly, a monster he'd never seen before emerged from the water.
"Ngeeeeeng!"
Ethan recoiled in shock at the creature's appearance.
"Could this be the wrath of Lady Ornach that the elders warned about?"
The words of those foolish old fools who insisted they shouldn't attack the Frost Flower Tribe finally dawned on him, filling him with dread.
Had they touched something they weren't supposed to?
Ethan bolted straight back to his tribal village to report everything he'd just witnessed to the chieftain.
...
"Whew... Swimming after so long is tougher than I thought."
Holding my breath and diving under the ice for dozens of minutes was more exhausting than expected. And the psychological toll from that deep-lake beast didn't help.
But what the hell was that water dragon? Way bigger than it needed to be.
"Eats well, at least."
Blood hit the water, and hunger must've kicked in because it started gobbling up the warriors in a frenzy. That let one slip away.
Eh, no big deal. Letting one go shouldn't cause problems.
"Camilla's side looks fine."
Clara, with her mobility boosted by the Sole Tribe's sleds, sniped enemies with arrows to wound them, while Vivian—who moved freely even in the northern chill—finished them off.
Outside the lake, Camilla and the holy knights who arrived first cut down the fleeing warriors.
'No great warriors like Vivian mentioned.'
The three Frost Claw great warriors, said to be around 4th rank, apparently hadn't come here.
Wish I could've taken them all out in this ambush.
'Eh, this should be enough to make them think twice.'
There were plenty of warriors gathered here, and now most were dead—they'd have to play it cautious now.
"Ng! Kiiing! Kkineng!"
"That cry's creepy as hell."
When Camilla and I first planned this, we hadn't expected it to end so quickly. We'd figured on testing the waters first, but that dolphin-like screech from the water dragon collapsed half the ice sheet, wrapping things up in a flash.
"Handy, but kinda suspicious."
The water dragon didn't attack or wary of me at all. It welcomed me like a dolphin reuniting with its trainer after ages.
A man-eater greeting a human like me warmly... Probably thanks to Ornach's blessing.
It was sleeping right under Ornach's tomb, after all.
"If you're Ornach's patron's pet, I won't hunt you. Go on, scram."
"Kiing~"
I waved it off, and like it understood, the water dragon vanished back into the lake depths. I headed toward my companions.
"Sian!"
"Clara, you done over there?"
"Yeah! Camilla's cleaning up. But what was that monster earlier?"
"No idea. Popped out of the lake outta nowhere. Ask Irina if you're curious."
"Grandma Irina's kinda..."
Clara seemed uneasy around Irina. Fair enough. Meeting a rare aunt-grandma figure like her for the first time in this era? Plus, Irina looked about Clara's age. Who'd guess she was family?
No matter how I sliced it, the Frost Flower Tribe's trait was busted.
That beauty into her fifties... Chloe and Clara would probably keep their looks forever too, right?
"Sian, you're thinking something weird again, aren't you?"
"Was thinking how I get to share hot love with Clara forever."
"Ugh!! I told you not to say stuff like that in public!"
Blushing at my confession, Clara started lightly smacking my shoulder.
Cute.
"Hero."
Camilla approached me as I took the hits.
Despite the fierce battle, not a drop of blood stained her pristine white armor.
"Cleanup here's done."
"Good work. Camilla, why'd you let that guy live?"
He was being dragged along like a dog by the shady-looking holy knights.
"Prisoner."
"Prisoner? Unlike with the Empire, I doubt the Frost Claw Tribe honors POW conventions."
"I thought the same at first, but his uniqueness made capture worthwhile."
"Uniqueness?"
"Yes. He's not one of the northern tribesfolk. He's a northerner."
"Not tribesfolk but northerner? What's that mean?"
"He's a man of Northern Archduke Duke Star."
"Empire guy, huh."
The North wasn't all harsh, uninhabitable frozen wastes claimed by the Empire. There were livable lands too, ruled by Northern Archduke Duke Star.
And Duke Star had a history of invading tribesfolk territories. One of his men hanging with the Frost Claw Tribe, who wanted northern unification?
This smells fishy as hell.
"Looks like the Frost Claw Tribe's sudden unification push has Duke Star pulling strings behind the scenes."
"Same thought here. But we don't have solid proof yet."
"Krrgh!"
Camilla kicked the shady guy, clearly annoyed, as she spoke.
"Even for the Holy Kingdom, snagging one errand boy won't let us press Duke Star."
"Fair. So why bring him? Gonna torture him?"
"Best option, but no time now. Bit rough, but thought of handing him to the Apostle."
"You'd do it if time allowed, huh."
Her casual tone about torture threw me off a bit.
Didn't you guys start as righteous vigilantes or something?
"Handing him to Helen?"
Didn't seem like reformation. Why give him to the gentlest-looking one? And why was that 'rough'?
"Nymphs, proxies of the gods, can interfere with human minds. At the Apostle's level, full mental domination's possible."
???
Camilla dropped that bombshell so nonchalantly, leaving me stunned.
"You're joking, right?"
"I'll knock him out before taking him to her."
"W-wait! I really didn't—Guhk?!"
"Knew it was a joke, huh?"
.
.
.
.
.
"Just as Sian and Camilla suspected—Duke Star's scheming from the shadows."
Thankfully, Camilla was only half-right. Helen could do mental domination, but only on unconscious targets, and not freely puppet them. Still, reading memories had no limits—she even uncovered why Duke Star was meddling.
That's pretty scary.
"Duke Star covets the tribesfolk's technologies."
"Tribesfolk tech? You mean the cursed weapons I got from the Tusk Tribe?"
Why the hell would he want those?
"Not just those. The Sole Tribe's monster-taming, Icicle Arrow Tribe's frozen arrows, Frost Claw's frost weapons, and finally, Frost Flower Tribe's divine essence of Lady Ornach—all huge boons for Duke Star's northern ambitions."
The Tusk Tribe's cursed gear got glossed over naturally, but that wasn't the point.
"So what now? Storm Duke Star's place?"
"No. I'll contact the Holy Kingdom to handle the sanction."
Helen fiddled with the antenna on her head, then started conversing with someone in thin air.
"That's the situation, Your Holiness."
[Got it. Stay cautious, you.]
That thing even does calls?
Nymphs just get more fascinating the more I learn. Weirdly, the voice from beyond the antenna reached me too.
Another nymph over there? Even through static, that beautiful timbre shone through.
"Sian, we can head up the snowy mountains worry-free now."
And with that, our expedition reached its final stretch.