The Uninvited Guest
In romance fantasy novels, the North is a staple setting. Less than a year after I possessed this body, the Northern Archduke froze to death. The author had set the average annual temperature at minus forty degrees. Even the coldest parts of Siberia have summers, yet this wasn’t merely a chilly northern region—it was outright Antarctica. Before the forces of nature, even a male lead was nothing more than an insignificant insect. A frozen, abandoned land where no one remained. For me, an imperial fugitive, it was the safest possible hideout.
My crime was the offense of displeasing the princess. The princess’s true identity was the author who had created this entire world. She saw through the fact that I was a transmigrator the moment she laid eyes on me. The problem erupted in that very first encounter.
That stupid bitch who killed the male lead with her own hands.
She had read the inner thought I’d unconsciously recalled. There was no way I could survive the grip of a princess driven into a towering rage. So I fled to the North.
How did I survive in a place where even the male lead had frozen to death? Old habits die hard. As a former new materials researcher, I had gained the Matter Tuning Ability. I could generate heat even in frozen ground and invented various technologies and devices. Yet despite that ability, I had no desire to spend the rest of my life hiding in this fantasy world dreamed up by the princess.
There was only one thing left for me to do.
Collect the Wishing Stones
It was the only key that could send me back home. To that end, I had devoted a full six years to gathering materials and conducting research. And now I stood on the verge of my first real attempt at escape.
“If this works… I can finally get the hell out of this shitty world.”
I carefully placed the materials in their designated positions.
“Whew. All right, let’s do this.”
Bang bang bang—!
The sound of an uninvited guest shattering the sacred ritual. In all this time, no one had ever knocked on that door. Yet here they were, at the worst possible moment. And at this hour, after the sun had already set?
Bang bang bang bang—!
The knocking carried a clear note of desperation. I hastily covered the materials and the formation, then snatched up my dagger first. I opened the small viewing slit in the wooden door.
“Who is it?”
“P-please… save us. We have nowhere else to go. I beg you.”
Beyond the slit, a woman’s ravaged face appeared. Her eyelashes were clumped with thick frost. Her lips had turned purple and split open, the blood that had welled up now frozen solid. Her jaw seemed paralyzed; she couldn’t even close her mouth properly. Behind her, two more figures huddled in thick robes.
They were in no condition to be here for robbery. Still, having my critical moment interrupted was genuinely irritating. On the other hand, if I drove them away now they would clearly freeze to death outside. The words “go away” had risen all the way to my throat, but faced with the situation, I knew I couldn’t overcome the guilt no matter how much I agonized over it.
“Sigh. Show me the faces of the people behind you first.”
At my demand the other two removed their hoods. A young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties and a middle-aged man who appeared to be around fifty. Their conditions were equally dire. Only their unfocused pupils moved at all.
“Send them in one at a time. Once inside, stand against the wall with your hands above your heads.”
“Thank… you. Truly.”
I let them enter one by one, then searched them thoroughly from head to toe. I didn’t hesitate even at the parts that might have been embarrassing. While rummaging through their belongings I watched their expressions like a hawk. If they were hiding something, anxiety should have shown on their faces. But their eyes held only the relief of having survived.
I sat them at the table and served warm tea so they could thaw their bodies. The woman seated in the middle kept darting her eyes around rapidly.
Ah… this is awkward.
Everywhere her gaze landed, unfamiliar mechanical devices were glowing faintly and operating. It didn’t feel like simple curiosity; the look was far more unpleasant. She was dissecting every corner of the room. On top of that… I sensed a different kind of aura.
After a long silence, the woman who had first knocked spoke.
“Thank you for opening the door, really—”
The moment she tried to bow, the woman radiating that strange aura stopped her.
“Tessa. I’ll handle the greeting.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I told you not to use that title.”
“Yes… My lady.”
Your Highness?
My face twisted at the single word. A title that had no business being heard in this remote wasteland. Something was wrong.
The woman who had risen bowed to me with refined poise.
“I owe you my life. I offer my sincere gratitude for the mercy you have shown.”
“……”
At her impeccable courtesy, both the man and the maid bowed their heads as well. Their eyes were sorrowful, somehow filled with resentment and pain.
The thanks were unnecessary. There was something far more important.
“Who are you people?”
“……”
The woman who had spoken for the group bit her cracked lip without answering.
“I’m asking. Who are you?”
“Vesper… Scala…”
The name that finally left her hesitant lips was shocking.
The sole daughter of the Conterno Duchy. A formidable political rival whose talent had shaken the empire’s power structure—a talent said to rival even the princess. The woman the frozen Northern Archduke himself had coveted. The author had labeled her a meticulous and vicious villainess, but strictly speaking she wasn’t evil. If anything, she had simply carried out her responsibilities with ruthless determination.
Recalling the novel, I stared at the woman before me. Her skin was deathly pale, her hair a tangled mess. Yet even through that wretched state, the beauty the original work had praised still radiated.
When she’s expressionless she really does look like a textbook villainess.
I could roughly guess how she had ended up like this. Being toyed with by the princess was the only explanation. No matter how flawless a strategy she devised, what meaning could it hold before a human who could read minds?
But it had driven her all the way here?
I introduced myself first.
“I’m Jerome Weaver.”
“Jerome… Weaver. I’ll remember it.”
She quietly repeated my name. That was enough for greetings. I didn’t waste time on pleasantries and went straight to the main issue.
“How did someone as noble as the daughter of the Conterno Duchy end up in this frozen wasteland?”
“……”
“And with only two companions, no less—as if you were fleeing.”
At my blunt question the man flinched and clenched his fist. Vesper raised a hand slightly to restrain him. I was a wanted man myself; I had to verify everything thoroughly for my own safety.
“What happened to the duchy? Why did you come here? I need clear answers. I’m not exactly in a position to welcome uninvited guests.”
At my icy interrogation she spoke, as though she had already resigned herself.
“…Conterno has fallen. At the hands of the princess and the imperial army.”
Her voice carried more rage than despair.
“We fled from the pursuit and somehow ended up here…”
So it really was the princess’s doing. And the fact that pursuers existed was something I couldn’t simply ignore.
“What about the pursuers?”
“I thought we had shaken them off… but with this blizzard, maybe not…”
“Are you certain you shook them off?”
“……”
Memories surfaced of the several times I had nearly died while evading the imperial pursuit teams. If they had followed, returning would not be easy. Yet the uneasy feeling refused to leave me.
Bang bang bang—!
Fuck. Of course it wasn’t going to be that simple.
At the violent knocking, Vesper’s group jumped in fright and pressed themselves against the wall. I spun my thoughts rapidly. If these really were imperial pursuers, worrying about Vesper was the least of my problems. I had an active warrant on my own head.
“Open the door!”
The man’s shout came from beyond the door. The sheer audacity of demanding entry as if the place belonged to him confirmed it was the pursuit team. While I debated whether to simply hand Vesper’s group over quietly, my eyes met hers.
With the most heartbreaking gaze in the world, she bit her lip and shook her head desperately. So that icy impression could change so completely. I knew it was pitiful, but I was about to die too, damn it.
Bam—!
“Open the door right now!”
Goddamn bastards.
Having trudged through this knife-like wind, their bloodlust must have reached its peak. I quickly pulled my robe up to cover my face and opened the viewing slit.
“Who the hell are you to—”
“We’re chasing a fugitive. We know they’re inside, so open it. Now.”
Vesper’s group hid behind the curtain I had used to conceal the formation.
Wait, if you go there…!
There was no other choice. I opened the door and let them in. Sturdy men in clanking armor burst inside. Bear pelts draped over their bodies were crusted with snow that had frozen solid. They seemed intrigued by my space as well; they began fiddling with the devices attached to the walls.
“Why is it so warm in here?”
They picked up my belongings, examined them, then tossed them aside like trash. It made my blood boil.
Hey, handle those gently, damn it.
The man who appeared to be the leader stared straight at my face, then gestured for me to lower the robe. As he did, his eyes narrowed. The warrant might still be valid, but after six years there was no way he would recognize my face so easily.
“Two women and one man. Where are they?”
“Haha… I’m not sure what you’re talking about…”
“Everywhere I go it’s the same tired answer. You don’t have to speak. But if we catch them, you’ll be punished too.”
“……”
In a space with nowhere to hide, the most suspicious thing was obviously the cloth covering my formation. One of the soldiers tore it away in irritation. The three people hiding behind it flinched into view.
“It’s so obvious. Why do people bother lying? Hm?”
The leader sneered at me. At that moment Vesper stepped forward.
“This person has done nothing wrong and has no connection to me. I will follow quietly, so take only me.”
The leader smiled obscenely and grabbed Vesper’s chin, tilting it upward.
“Even someone with a fearsome reputation looks quite charming when she’s this broken. Don’t you think?”
“Ugh… take your filthy hand off me…”
“The noble Lady Vesper of the past no longer exists. Even if you survive, you’ll only be used as a servant for the empire’s aristocrats.”
Ptui!
Vesper spat at the leader’s insulting words.
Slap—!
“Kyaa! Your Highness!”
“Y-Your Highness!”
Blood trickled from Vesper’s lips as she collapsed weakly. Even so, using a gauntleted hand to strike her cheek?
“Her Highness Princess Ophelia has issued a new command. She said not to capture you or execute you.”
“What?”
Vesper’s group looked at the leader in shock.
“Instead, she wants you to be chased to the bitter end and die miserably of natural causes. Several others are already undergoing the same treatment.”
The broken probability was no longer the issue. The author no longer needed to worry about readers judging her morality. Slyness, cruelty, revulsion. This world was turning into an emotional trash bin forced to absorb her hysteria. Who was the real villainess here?
“After doing such cruel things to my father… was it still not enough…?”
Thick tears rolled endlessly down her pale cheeks. The leader merely shrugged as if it had nothing to do with him.
“So, my lady, where will you head next? Hm? If you’re going to run, at least pick somewhere warm.”
The leader ground his boot into the fallen Vesper’s leg.
“Ugh!”
“You bastard! How dare you lay hands on Her Highness—!”
Thud—!
“The butler should stay out of this.”
The man who had charged forward collapsed helplessly from the leader’s punch.
“If you freeze to death in a place with no one around, Her Highness will be terribly disappointed. At the very least there should be spectators.”
These bastards had deliberately waited until Vesper entered this place. Finished speaking, the leader hurled the lamp he carried onto the floor.
Whoosh—!
Oil spilled from the large lamp and flames raced across it. The growing blaze began to devour the results of my six years of effort.
“No, stop!”
“I told you hiding them would get you punished too.”
The pursuit team laughed at me as they left. I swung at the flames with anything I could grab, not even noticing my own clothes catching fire. Vesper’s group barely managed to escape the blaze, but in the end every last one of my materials was reduced to ash.
“Jerome! Get outside, quickly!”
Neither Vesper’s urgent cry nor the searing pain of the burns on my arm registered. Only the violent fury that everything I had built was gone surged within me.
“…Fuck. I was going to leave quietly, but why…”
I ran to the cabinet near the entrance, flung the door open, and grabbed the self-developed bear-hunting hand cannon. Confirming the compressed magic stone was loaded, I dashed outside. The bastards were cackling while they watched my shelter burn. I no longer cared about the consequences. Letting the sons of bitches who had invaded my home, set it on fire, and laughed about it walk away would make me the real idiot.
I flipped the switch on the hand cannon to power it on.
Whiiiing—!
The magic stone compressed, sending blue light racing along the circuits. The waveform sound grew louder. I cranked the gauge to maximum output.
“You bastards!”
They were still laughing at me. Since they had no idea what I was holding, they kept grinning like fools.
“You’re going to pay the price for enjoying the fire show, you fucking pieces of shit.”
I took aim and pulled the trigger.
Boom—!
A blue streak of light erupted with a roar that shook the earth. The shockwave alone tore the solid frozen ground to shreds. My body, taking the full recoil, was lifted straight into the air.
Was the maximum output too much?