To the Northern Ice Palace (2): The North Sea Ice Palace Awaits
“Ouch… I’m all right.”
It had been five years.
The last time I had seen him, he had still carried the youthful glow of a young man, but the figure now standing before me was completely different. Deep stubble covered his face, and the lines of age had carved themselves deep around his eyes.
“Ugh… (He’s really old…)”
When I gave a startled cry, he somehow caught the sound and answered for me.
“It seems you haven’t changed at all, either.”
At the surge of emotion that had risen without my permission, he let out a light chuckle, then headed toward the carriage. He carefully lifted a large crate from inside and set it down right in front of me.
“Here you go. A gift I brought just for you.”
When I opened the lid, unfamiliar fish appeared.
'Fish?'
I had hunted countless fish here over the past five years, but none of them had ever looked like these.
“This is a delicacy cherished even in the Central Plains. It’s called the si fish. It’s not easy to catch. I went through a lot just to bring it to you after remembering the day you hit me with your beak.”
For a moment I froze.
'That… I do feel a bit sorry about that…'
Still, the memory of whacking him as a thief who stole someone else’s fish still stung.
“Gak… (Hmph… I’ll eat it gladly)”
I accepted his kindness and began to eat the fish, but…
'Why is this so delicious?'
The rich flavor and silky flesh were nothing compared to the meals I had eaten alone for so many years.
'It’s insanely good!!!!'
I gobbled the fish down without a second thought, forgetting all about my pride and dignity, and ended up burying my face right in the fish.
“Gak-gak!”
Watching me, he smiled quietly, the same way someone smiles when they see a long-lost family member.
After a while.
“Gluck.”
Satisfied with his satisfied expression after slapping his belly, he slowly opened his mouth.
“It took a long time, but… I kept the promise I made to you.”
“Gak? (A promise?)”
“Yes.”
He glanced once more toward the cave and continued.
“Cleaning up the Xiongnu took more time than I expected… I suffered heavy losses in the battle with Muk-hyeol Seon-woo, and it took time to rebuild the fortress. Of course, we’re still working on it…”
At those words, I finally understood.
“Gak? (So…?)”
“Yes. Now I’m ready to keep my promise to you and take my father home.”
A brief silence fell.
“So… please. Guide me to the place where my father’s body lies.”
I nodded without a word.
“Gak (Follow me)”
I led him to the snowdrift where an old man was buried.
“Gak (Here it is. It used to be plain, but I kept it clean every chance I got)”
For five years, whenever I had the time, I tended the old man’s grave.
I shaped the mound like a tomb and even erected a snow tombstone.
It wasn’t until about four years later that it finally took on a proper shape.
He stood there in silence, staring at the grave I had made.
“… Thank you. For building a home for my father in his place…”
“Gak (No big deal. I helped that old man too)”
He had thanked me.
“Hoo… Then… first, let’s dig out the body.”
He took a shovel from the carriage he had arrived in.
Thud.
Thud.
Slowly, he lifted the shovel and began to dig through the snow.
His hands never shook as he scooped up one shovelful after another, but his eyes did. They trembled.
When the body finally appeared, he lifted my father with the careful tenderness one would use for a fragile object that might break.
Whoosh.
He wrapped the body in the cloth I had prepared in advance.
“… Father.”
It was the final farewell I had been unable to give for five long years.
A short while later, he returned to his usual calm expression.
“Hoo… This should be enough for now.”
He carefully placed the body into the coffin he had prepared in the carriage.
“Now… it’s truly time to go. Pack your things too.”
I followed his words and returned to the cave to gather the remaining items.
I took the three martial arts manuals, the Fire Crystal, and the wooden sword he had crafted, then walked back in front of the carriage.
“Gak (Everything’s packed. Let’s go.)”
“All right. Then… yah!”
“Gya… gak? (W-what?)”
He lifted me and settled me onto his lap.
“The inside of the carriage is narrow because of the coffin… I hope you can bear it.”
'Ah… no… this is even more uncomfortable…'
I thought about what to say, but…
'Tsk… just go…'
I gave up and resigned myself to it.
“Then… we’re off! Yah!”
Once I was settled, he began to guide the horse.
“Hee hee hee-hee!”
Clip-clop.
Clip-clop.
Clip-clop.
'Looking back on it… it’s actually kind of amazing. Horses run so smoothly and don’t mind the cold at all?'
Well… there are places in Japan and similar places where people ride horses even in winter… but this cold seems a bit much…
'Well… this is a martial arts world…'
I decided not to overthink it.
As I stared blankly ahead, he said,
“When we arrive, I’ll wake you. Get some rest.”
He had given me a kindness, and
“Gak… (Then… I’ll sleep a little)”
I closed my eyes to rest.
***
“Ugh… where am I?”
I had clearly fallen asleep in the carriage, but when I woke, I was in
“Ah… my dantian.”
The dark space I had entered about five years ago.
In other words, inside my dantian.
“Hmm… I’ve come here again?”
Last time, after barely surviving a freezing beam from a polar bear, I had passed out and fallen into this place.
'Still… I wonder how I keep coming here.'
Well, since I was here, maybe I should train like last time?
“Um… nothing much to do…”
I sat on the floor and tried to think of something to do, but
“Nothing really comes to mind…”
Just as I was pondering, something caught my eye.
“Eh?”
Suddenly the entire space turned pure white.
'What… what?'
I had only ever seen darkness before, so the sudden white took me by surprise, but
“Ah… it’s my inner energy.”
I quickly realized what it was.
“This view never gets old…”
It was a towering iceberg formed from my condensed inner energy.
“Hmm… it seems… a bit higher than before?”
The iceberg in my memory looked slightly different in height, but
'Well… it’s been so long I’m just misremembering.'
I was about to dismiss the thought as my own imagination when…
“…?”
Suddenly, I felt a small change on the surface of the iceberg.
I tilted my head.
“What was that just now?”
I approached the iceberg for a closer look, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
'Maybe I’m just being paranoid.'
I reached out and touched the icy surface, sensing the temperature.
It was cold, yet oddly comforting at the same time.
'How strange.'
Still curious about the difference, I explored further, and then—
“Oh? Snow…”
Unlike before, I noticed snow falling from the top of the iceberg.
“Snow… is falling?”
I wondered what lay above, but
“I still can’t go up.”
I realized I wouldn’t be able to observe from this distance.
'Well… eventually I’ll be able to climb up.'
For now, I kept moving around in search of something I could do, and then—
“Ah…”
I felt my body being pulled downward.
'It looks like I’m already being ejected.'
The same sense of being pushed out that I had felt when I first arrived washed over me.
'Sigh… I hope there’s a place waiting when I get out.'
Thinking this, I closed my eyes.
***
How much time had passed?
I slowly opened my eyes, and the first thing that greeted me was
“You’re awake?”
“Gak (Yeah…)”
It was still the same man, guiding the carriage.
One hand held the reins while the other naturally supported me so I wouldn’t fall.
'He’s really changed.'
The images from our first meeting came back.
“Gak… (How far have we gone?)”
When I asked, he glanced up at the sky.
“Not very long.”
Then he said,
“About half a day.”
“Gak?”
I was momentarily stunned.
Half a day?
'Did I really sleep that long?'
For five years, I had barely slept properly.
Even inside the cave, I had always kept one ear open.
The sound of approaching beasts.
The sound of snow collapsing.
Or an unexpected danger.
I couldn’t afford to miss anything, so it was a necessity.
But now I had slept for half a day in someone’s arms.
'…I guess it really is more comfortable.'
It was a bit unbelievable.
If it had been my old self, I never could have imagined such a thing.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
He asked, and
“Gak. (No, not really.)”
I shook my head.
“Sorry.”
He gave a small smile.
“The carriage is narrow, so I had no choice.”
I listened to his words for a moment, then looked around.
Ahead lay an endless snowy plain, and behind us, the direction of the cave that was growing more distant.
It was the landscape I had seen every single day for five years.
When I first arrived, it had been nothing but a place to survive.
A place to search for food.
A place to struggle not to die.
Countless other places had passed beneath my feet.
As we passed them, the feeling of leaving this place became more and more real.
'…I’m really leaving.'
Honestly, I had wanted to escape as quickly as possible.
I hated the cold, and searching for food was annoying.
I was tired of facing dangerous beasts every day, but now that I was about to leave, I felt a strange sense of regret.
“Are you sad?”
His sudden question startled me.
“Gak? (Me?)”
“You’ve been watching behind us the whole time.”
I quietly turned my head.
'He noticed?'
“…”
He fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
“I was the same.”
“Gak?”
“Leaving is harder than you think.”
He gazed ahead.
“Memories linger in the places we stay for long.”
As I listened, I thought quietly.
Memories.
He was right.
There were too many memories here.
The moment I realized I couldn’t speak human language.
The first successful hunt and the joy I felt alone.
The day I met the old man.
And.
The time I spent cleaning the old man’s grave every day.
All of it remained here.
“But.”
He opened his mouth again.
“People should keep moving forward.”
I looked up at the sky for a moment at his words.
Forward.
That word lingered strangely in my heart.
For five years, I had only thought about survival.
Getting through today.
Tomorrow had always felt vague and useless to me.
Of course, I didn’t think that way now.
People always live expecting tomorrow.
Everyone outwardly says they hope tomorrow never comes, but in the end, tomorrow always arrives.
While I was lost in various thoughts,
“Alright! We’re about to arrive soon.”
He said.
“The fortress over there… it’s the North Sea Ice Palace.”
