The Northern Barrier (1)
……Some time passed.
Mok Gangcheol, who had been watching, signaled that the situation was over, so I descended once more to the bottom of the rift.
Thud—
My shoe heel touched the ground.
I looked at Sylvia, who had collapsed in exhaustion near the crystal tree. She was sprawled over the table I'd made, fast asleep. The ghost was in the same state.
“……”
I removed my gloves and gauged the temperature around us.
The body of Iron Man is different from that of an ordinary human. Having even acquired the sub-trait Cold Resistance from the snow globe, I barely felt the chill at all.
This body of mine was fine, but that one might not be.
“……You must be cold.”
I walked over to Sylvia. Exhausted as she was, she didn't even notice my approach and remained asleep.
Tzzzzzt—!
I created a blanket with Polymorph and draped it over her back. Just to be safe, I even bestowed Midas' Hand up to stage two.
“Well done.”
For some odd reason, I felt an inexplicable affection for her.
Or perhaps she was the only one who allowed me this foolish emotion called 'guilt.'
I placed a hand lightly on her small head and checked her condition.
Fractures, bruises, bleeding, and more.
I applied Duct Tape to the numerous injured areas.
Her recovery would finish while she slept, and she'd just think she'd healed on her own.
“……Rest well.”
I turned back to the crystal tree.
Main Quest: Time
Time. The Demakan Sanctuary.
On the surface of this mysterious tree, Ifrin's name—which had been so vivid moments ago—had already vanished.
The magic's lifespan must have ended, returning the crystal tree's time to normal.
Whirr——
I maneuvered Mok Gangcheol. On the rough wooden surface, I carved a name.
At that moment, the Time quest was completed.
“Hey. Do you even know what that means? It means you're joining Time. Do you know what Time is?”
A voice echoed from the entrance. There stood the named Idnik.
To the robed woman, I said,
“Is it not a secret society bent on destroying the Altar?”
“Oh ho? Close enough…… But aren't you the type who despises that sort of thing?”
Idnik approached with clicking footsteps and sat across from Sylvia. From her bosom, she produced a set of tea ware, including black tea and cups.
“It's been ages since I was last here.”
“……”
“Heh.”
Idnik chuckled softly and nodded toward Sylvia's blanket.
“But it's curious. You seem to care for Sylvi quite a bit.”
I did not reply. I merely gazed at Sylvia. Suddenly, the figure of 'Cielia' came to mind from the sleeping girl.
A person I had never met, not once.
“She has the talent to become an archmage. I merely respect her potential.”
In clearing main quests, not only the 'player' but also the 'named' ones are crucial. The scenarios are designed so a player alone cannot clear them.
“I shall take my leave.”
I straightened my attire. I adjusted my loosened necktie. I brushed the dust from my sleeves.
“Handle the rest yourself.”
As I turned to go, Idnik asked a single question.
“Do you feel sorry for killing that child's mother?”
“……”
My footsteps halted abruptly.
Fragmented memories flooded my mind.
Deculein strangling Cielia's throat. Rage spewing like blood. Cielia merely saying she was sorry.
Every scene pierced sharply.
“……Even if I had not killed her, Cielia would have died.”
Idnik's fingers, sipping her tea, froze.
Cielia had a terminal illness. No more life had been granted to her.
“So? You're saying you just killed her early since she was going to die anyway?”
Idnik spat the words bitterly. I shook my head.
Deculein had probably killed her in a fit of rage. There would have been no grander reason.
Deculein that day had clearly lacked dignity.
“Then and now are different. From now on, as is proper, Cielia's illness will remain a secret from Sylvia.”
“……What?”
Idnik furrowed her brow. I glanced at Sylvia for a moment.
Her peacefully sleeping face. Her steady breathing. Her slow heartbeat.
There was no chance all those vital signs were an act.
“Right now, all this child has left is hatred.”
The current Sylvia was hollow. She lacked the most essential elements of a human.
Thus, like a wind-up doll, she could not move on her own.
“If hating me can make her talent bloom. If it can let her live.”
Then a strand of her hair drifted into her mouth. I removed it with Telekinesis.
Idnik watched me intently.
“That is not so bad. I am accustomed to being hated, and I can accept it easily. I shall watch over her as she grows brilliantly within that hatred.”
Hmph— Idnik sneered.
“……You're just like Gilteon.”
I shook my head.
“At the very least, I care for this child.”
“Hah. You?”
This was no lie.
One of the few proofs in this world that I am Kim Woojin. One who evokes emotions Deculein could never harbor.
Sylvia was one such person.
“Therefore, for now, leave it as is.”
I looked at Idnik.
“Let this one hate me.”
“……”
Idnik met my eyes steadily.
In that brief silence, a small laugh escaped.
“What can be done? The feelings Sylvia harbors for you now are not mere hatred. You are still under a misconception.”
I waited for her next words. What that misconception was.
But Idnik merely shook her head.
“Go now. I understand your words well enough.”
“……”
I nodded.
I dismantled the duct tape that had healed Sylvia's body, erased every trace of mana, and stepped back onto the Mok Gangcheol platform.
Watching me, Idnik said,
“Farewell. Whatever the reason, I do not dislike this changed you……”
Clop clop—
A single horse trod across the northern plains. Sophien and Ifrin sat upon the broad back of the red steed, a cool wind tousling their hair.
“……”
Yet the future scenery was little different from the present.
It held no interest. Her heart was merely heavy.
“Your Majesty.”
Ifrin cautiously addressed the continent's most noble person. Gripping the reins, she replied,
“Speak.”
“……It has not even been four years.”
“This future, you mean.”
“Yes.”
Deculein's life would last at most three or four years.
Such a short time. For some reason, Ifrin's heart ached.
Deculein was clearly her father's enemy…… and her father was Deculein's enemy as well…… and because of her father, Deculein's fiancée……
Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
“I see.”
Then Sophien nodded. Glancing back at Ifrin on her back, she said,
“Luna.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“……Nay.”
Sophien swallowed her words. She had read all of Deculein's letters.
The letter began with: From now on, I entrust my life to Your Majesty—
The first two pages were intriguing and amusing, the next two made her serious, and the final three evoked indescribable emotions.
“Yes? Ah, yes. Understood. I shall not pry.”
“You understand well.”
After reading all his letters, Sophien had realized something.
Your Majesty, I entrust my life to you.
That phrase did not mean 'save me.'
Rather……
“Let us go. The comet will return soon.”
“Yes~ Your Majesty~”
Clop clop—
The horse moved slowly.
Sophien felt languid all over. Riding on, she closed her eyes for a moment, when ah—! Ifrin pointed to the sky.
A shooting star streaked across the distant heavens.
I returned to the fortress. Ifrin and Sophien had vanished somewhere, but I began full-scale research and investigation with Allen and Drent.
Having secured solid samples, the margin of error would be minimal.
“Calculating now, Professor!”
The process itself was complex, but the steps were simple.
Calculate the 'demonic energy concentration in the soil' and the 'mana concentration in the atmosphere,' then derive the 'demonic energy-mana collision value' from them.
With this collision value, we could predict the danger of the upcoming northern monster wave.
“Calculation complete, Professor!”
To explain in detail: First, the denser the demonic energy in the soil, the larger and more prolifically the untamed lands' monsters grow and breed.
This was nearly a confirmed causal relationship, so I had even devised a direct formula. The so-called 'Deculein Monster Theorem.'
Next, the mana concentration in the atmosphere.
Monsters exhale demonic energy when they breathe. But when demonic energy mixes with convection, it dilutes into mana, leaving only mana in the end.
From the difference between the 'average atmospheric mana concentration' and the 'northern mana concentration,' compared to the soil's demonic energy concentration, we derive my unique concept: the 'collision value.'
The higher the collision value, the greater the quantity and quality of the monster wave.
In other words, a more dangerous wave.
“……Professor.”
But the result of that analysis.
Allen handed me the paper with a grave expression. I took it absentmindedly, then widened my eyes.
“The result seems…… a bit off, doesn't it?”
> Mortality Variable
This was a first, but looking at the collision value, I could somewhat understand.
“The highest collision value in the past 20 years was 0.137.”
“Yes? Ah, yes! Exactly! According to your flawless theory, Professor!”
Nineteen years ago, the monster wave's collision value was 0.137.
Hundreds of knights died then, Recor Dak collapsed, and thirty-three villages and tens of thousands of civilians were sacrificed.
“……0.437.”
Over three times the raw number. But since the danger scales exponentially, the destructive power would exceed fifteen times that of nineteen years ago.
Even considering the upcoming main quest, this drop was unnaturally severe.
“Wh-what do we do? Did we miscalculate?”
“No. The calculation is correct. My theory cannot be wrong, so this is the truth.”
Just then, the door burst open. It was Sophien and Ifrin.
“We're back~”
“““……Your Majesty!”””
The imperial knights rushed over and knelt. They wailed about where she had been, but Sophien paid them no heed.
“Your Majesty. You have returned.”
I approached her and knelt on one knee. I handed her the paper.
“What is this?”
“The results of predicting the monster descent.”
“Explain with your own words.”
“This wave will be the worst in the past twenty years. Perhaps the worst in imperial history.”
The knights' eyes bulged. Ifrin was the same.
Sophien asked calmly,
“Deculein. Are you confident in your prediction?”
“Yes.”
“Confident enough to take responsibility?”
“Gladly. I shall stake my theory and my life upon it.”
I answered without hesitation. Sophien nodded. Her face was quite sleepy, quite annoyed, quite weary.
But her next action was utterly peculiar.
“I shall believe you.”
Sophien placed a hand on my shoulder. The knights' eyes nearly popped out.
Even I felt something close to shock. Sophien was someone who pathologically hated physical contact.
“Then, reinforcements will be needed for the north.”
“……Yes.”
As I hid my surprise and replied, Sophien withdrew her hand and chuckled.
“Very well. I shall return to the capital now, so we shall discuss it properly there.”
……Julie was handling Recor Dak's duties as well.
Of course, she was a knight, but since Recor Dak itself—like Yukline's 'Rohalak'—fell under Phairden jurisdiction, Julie had taken it upon herself.
“We must not neglect training or repairs……”
Recor Dak was a detention camp, but also a vital bulwark. If it fell this winter, countless subjects relying on it would die.
She could not allow honest rural folk to be trampled.
“First, reinforce the walls and gather the more diligent prisoners into a detachment. But funding is the issue. Expecting financial aid from Phairden—”
Bang!
Then the door flew open, and Railey burst in.
“Knight! Look at this! It's bad, really bad!”
Shouting, she slapped a paper on Julie's desk.
A report from above, a class-3 confidential accessible only to officers and above.
“What is this?”
“Look! Just look!”
“……Why the fuss?”
“I said look!”
Julie glanced at it casually. Her eyes, scanning the text slowly, twisted in horror.
“What in the world……”
The content was dire. The concept of 'collision value' was unfamiliar, but the summary in the report's 'conclusion' section,
Expected casualties exceed 15 times those of the massive wave 19 years ago.
was hard to believe easily.
“Does this make any sense?”
Railey cried out with genuine fear.
The memory of nineteen years ago was vivid even for Julie. Talk of the north's annihilation had even circulated.
“Fifteen times! Fifteen times! We'll all die, right?”
“Hush. Be quiet. It will be fine. Mages always assume the worst……”
Julie first checked the report's credibility.
Of course, she knew little of magic or formulas. Only what she'd skimmed at the academy.
But seeing the name of the one who derived and reported it……
[Deculein von Grahan Yukline]
“Ah.”
A name she despised. Yet a mage trusted infinitely on the floating islands.
In this field, an absolute authority on credibility: Deculein.
“……Deculein.”
“Ah, haha…… Yeah, well. But what do we do?! His theories are still acknowledged!”
“……”
Julie gritted her teeth but soon sighed.
She strictly separated public from private.
Right now, she was not the person Julie, but Knight Dayia of Phairden. If Deculein had staked his name on this prediction, she had no choice but to believe it, however unwillingly.
“What else? Send a reinforcement request to the inner northern citadel at once, Railey.”