Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: 62-2. Can a Frozen Heart Melt?
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There are all sorts of rules in chess.
Stalemates that end in draws, like right now. Castling, where the king and rook swap places.
Unlike other board games, it has a lot of unique ones. And among them...
"This time, I'll summon my friend as a hero—in reverse."
Promotion.
The rule where a pawn that reaches the far end of the board can change into another piece.
I placed my hand on the chessboard where I'd just been playing against Kiseok.
"Right now, my friend's soul is possessed by a vampire's body."
I moved the pawn that had been part of the stalemate a few more spaces, placing it at the edge of the board.
This must have been the reason for leaving clues with chess from the start.
He could've easily used anagrams or puzzles to avoid the Authority of Lies.
'You always had a knack for surprising people.'
His eyes were hazy, like his soul had slipped away, but as expected of our guild's vice leader, the role stuck with him.
"It might be dodging the Authority because his body and soul don't match."
The Demon Kings' Authorities don't fade unless the caster dies.
Dennis forgetting the White Magnolia was one case, and now Empress Bellin, whose soul was sealed in a card, was another.
An Authority that blankets the world in 'concepts.'
But nothing's perfect, and Kiseok's state was anomalous.
He wasn't forgotten by people like someone else, nor had his name vanished.
It was different from Pine, the Nameless Saintess.
"Guess it's a blessing in disguise."
Right now, Kiseok was possessed.
His original body and soul were separate entities.
So, what if we summoned his real body from the real world here?
"If we call his body from the original world, he might come back to life."
A dull thud echoed.
As the pawn turned into a bishop, the stalemate became checkmate.
Just like a promotion in chess.
The idea was to hero-summon Kiseok's original body here.
"Impossible. A hero summoning another hero?"
Hearing my words, the Northern Archduchess trailed off.
Sophitia glanced back and forth between Flintz and me with worried eyes.
I had no idea how close she'd gotten to that pillar husband of hers.
Status window numbers don't tell the whole story.
"The Hero Cult's Demon Kings did it. Theoretically, it's possible for us too."
I lowered my gaze to the chessboard.
Thinking from the opponent's perspective to find weaknesses is basic strategy.
It was a method Kiseok often used in guild wars.
Pretending to be the enemy guild to revise our own weaknesses and strategies.
"Like during the Demon God War?"
The mess the Demon Kings pulled during the Demon God War.
Summoning Demon Kings from other worlds to keep the war going.
"So... his face might change too?"
"Yes. Or maybe his whole body."
That was why the war didn't end easily even after the Ten Heroes appeared—and the backstory behind Sophitia losing her father.
"So, how exactly do you plan to pull it off? Pray at a temple?"
"Simple."
Her body trembled slightly, perhaps recalling past events.
I'd only heard about it from Kiseok myself. Had the wound not healed?
"...We have the hero from the prophecy."
I glanced at Pine beside me as I continued.
Her snow-white hair fell to her waist, and her perky wolf ears were striking on the glass knight.
"What? What does that even...?"
"It's probably true. If I weren't the hero from the prophecy, none of this would've happened."
She looked at Flintz with sad eyes.
Since my confession at the temple, Pine's emotions had been spilling out plainly.
If only she weren't the hero from the prophecy.
Was she agonizing over dragging everyone around her into this?
"Pine... are you...?"
The princess of the Granasia Empire, chosen by the gods as a hero.
Sophitia stared at Pine, unable to close her mouth.
"I found out today. The Demon King said he has to deal with me because I'm the hero from the prophecy."
"......"
Pine spoke calmly despite her friend's worried gaze.
I lowered the corner of my mouth, studying her expression.
Guilt.
Did she blame herself for Magic Hat's air raid on the North too?
I couldn't easily offer words of comfort.
"Pine... are you okay?"
"Thanks to that, I got to meet Soo-hyun."
She steadfastly placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat.
A heartbeat that had become utterly precious to Pine now.
"...Then it's fine."
Straighter than anyone.
The moment our eyes met, I saw resolve in her gaze.
"Pine's ability is Affection. True to its name, it grows stronger the more intimately we love each other."
I nodded in response and began.
She'd even reversed the effects of the Potion of Oblivion on me.
Maybe my resistance to the Demon Kings' Authorities was thanks to her too.
"Hero summoning should definitely be possible."
Her Love Meter in the status window was in the negatives.
Was it right to quantify love like this? Probably not.
"Archduchess Sophitia."
After explaining everything, I posed a question to Sophitia Coldheart.
No matter how much it could overcome a Demon King's Authority, the key was the parties' hearts.
"What kind of person was my friend to you?"
To melt a frozen heart, nothing less than the warmest heart would do.
A pale face and white hair.
Gazing at the blood-red eyes, Sophitia sank into thought.
'Flintz.'
It hadn't been long since she'd met this vampire man.
That was why she couldn't answer right away when Lee Soo-hyun suddenly asked if she'd still like him even if his face or body changed.
Vampires were a discriminated race, after all.
Ever since they betrayed the First Saintess during the Demon God War, people had viewed them poorly.
'...Come to think of it, he was odd from the first meeting.'
The man's hollow, soulless appearance.
Sophitia grasped the hand he'd injured protecting her.
Human hands are so warm.
Why had she looked at him badly just for being a vampire at first?
"Is appearance what matters, Flintz?"
She recalled their first meal together, when her poisoning attempt had failed.
How could he eat food knowing it was poisoned?
'If it's food from you, I'll eat it even if it's poisoned.' Even now, the words sent chills down her spine.
Luckily, it was just laxative-level poison, but it must've been bitterly numbing on his tongue.
And yet Kwon Ki-seok had forced a smile, pretending it was delicious.
'I thought anyone not an ally was an enemy.'
An extreme mindset, in a way.
It was largely inherited from her father.
Ragna Coldheart.
The Ten Heroes known as the Iron-Blooded Northern Duke.
He'd fallen in battle against the summoned Demon Kings during the Demon God War, sacrificing himself to protect the North's people and the other Ten Heroes.
'...Meeting him taught me otherwise.'
With the ruler's seat vacant, Sophitia had no choice but to take the duke's position alone.
Iron-Blooded Land. Archduchess of Frostia.
That throne everyone admired was lonelier than any other, in truth.
Aside from Pine in a similar situation, she had no one to confide in.
She'd swung her spear until her hands blistered and calluses formed on her palms.
And purged nobles trying to seize the weakened North.
'What if we'd met sooner?'
From childhood, she'd strived to be a strong ruler.
To protect the nation—that was how she'd preserve her last memories with her father.
The young girl had felt the world coldly through her frozen heart.
Then one day.
An outsider arrived by ship from abroad.
White hair, red eyes.
The man who introduced himself as Flintz was peculiar.
'Spear arts are used like this. Put your body weight into it, blending offense and defense.'
'L-Like this?'
Flintz knew Northern spear arts better than she did.
Slim as he looked, his trained body made him seem like a natural spear master.
'No need to hide your hands. Scars like badges are cool.'
Admiring her rough palms.
After the poison incident thawed her wariness, Sophitia often shared private talks with him.
'Surprising. I didn't think anyone played chess like me.'
'Same here, Flintz.'
'Bears are smarter than wolves, after all.'
They played chess together, and he'd help with backlog paperwork.
With so many similarities, they bonded like puzzle pieces.
"You asked what Flintz was to me, Licht."
He'd sniffed out nobles plotting her assassination beforehand.
And become her sole conversation partner in the lonely North.
Like a boyfriend from the future, he understood her favorite foods and hobbies.
Things she thought no one would get.
He cheered and encouraged her as she swung her spear alone to defend the North.
"He was a one-of-a-kind friend..."
Even when she tried dropping formalities first,
'The lady I knew wasn't like this...' made her fail every time.
Setting aside his occasional baffling remarks, his absence felt enormously empty.
"No, maybe we were closer than that."
A campfire melting her frozen heart.
Once she noticed the warmth, they were inseparable.
But if there's meeting, there's parting, as they say.
The happy times with Flintz had flown by in a blink.
'Flintz, do you have to go? It'll be lonely without you...'
'Haha, I can't watch you fall, milady.'
The heart condition passed down in the Coldheart family.
He left with words that without an elixir, she might collapse someday.
'Don't go, just a bit longer...'
At the departing ship's dock, she acted spoiled, unbefitting an archduchess.
Her aching heart's echoes tormented her.
'I'll be back, Sophie.'
As her heart froze cold again, feeling bitterly resentful.
Flintz hugged Sophitia, promising they'd meet again someday.
Waiting for the departed man was lonely.
At first, she vaguely thought he'd return in a day or two.
But a month passed, and he didn't.
She spent sleepless nights waiting for her friend.
After days upon days, they finally reunited.
"This elixir... wasn't as important as you."
The day after returning to the North.
Magic Hat invaded, and he'd ended up like this trying to save her with his life.
Haggard face. Vacant eyes.
Struck by the Demon King's Authority, barely able to speak.
Was appearance truly important in love?
Could she fall for him again, even changed?
"......"
It didn't matter.
She hadn't fallen for his looks anyway.
What melted Sophitia's frozen heart was the man's warmer-than-anyone heart.
"......Appearance doesn't matter in love."
Gently brushing back Kwon Ki-seok's bangs, the archduchess continued.
A truth she'd realized with him.
"I'll love him no matter what he looks like. Summon him."
Tears welled in her eyes as she poured out her heart to Pine and Lee Soo-hyun.