The Dangerous One from the North
After polishing off the buttered toast that had been served for breakfast, I turned to Airi with a question.
"Airi, there's something I'm curious about."
"Yes? What is it, Master? If even this adorable disciple of yours has piqued your curiosity, I'll be happy to tell you everything~"
"The mouth is an organ for taking in food, not for expelling waste, Airi."
"Tsk... So what are you curious about?"
I straightened my posture and asked her seriously.
"You don't... want to go visit the Northern Grand Duchy or anything like that, do you?"
At that, Airi's entire demeanor shifted. Was that a faint hint of killing intent I sensed from her? All I did was ask if she wanted to go north. Her anti-communist spirit must run incredibly deep. Do you really hate communism that much?
Airi pulled back her killing intent and answered.
"Absolutely not. I hate the cold, and I hate the Grand Duchy even more."
Didn't she like snow? I distinctly remember that being part of her setting. It seems my memory must have been faulty.
Well, I hate the north too. It's not just the anti-communist sentiment—heading north would mean getting captured for real. By my terrifying fiancée, no less.
"Yeah, I don't like the north either. The cold is fine, but... there's someone there who makes things awkward."
"Really?"
"What?"
She was completely ignoring my anti-communist principles. In my previous life, I may not have been able to join the military due to my status, but my patriotism was ironclad. Airi looked like she was doubting whether I truly shared her anti-communist views and asked again.
"You really find that person in the north awkward, right? You don't want to meet them, do you? Right?"
Of course I don't want to meet that pig—no, that supreme leader in the north. But even if she was asking about my fiancée instead, that option was equally awkward to face. Still, how could she possibly know about either of them? Especially since in the original story, Airi only learned of Werner's fiancée after going to the Northern Grand Duchy.
"Ah, yeah... she's a bit of a troublesome friend, so... yeah, I do find her a little off-putting."
If she was talking about the supreme leader of the north, that one possessed dangerous weapons. If she was talking about Werner's fiancée, that one possessed dangerous weapons and had a dangerous personality to boot.
"Then let's never go anywhere near the north, okay? I also have someone in the north that I absolutely despise."
Only then did Airi break into a bright smile. Her smile was so radiant I thought it might actually emit light.
"Good. Never, ever say anything about wanting to visit the Northern Grand Duchy."
For the sake of anti-communist principles, and for the sake of my own life.
"You really hate the north too, right? Should we count to three and shout 'I really hate the north' together?"
"Yes!"
We took a deep breath for the sake of our shared resolve.
"One, two, three."
"I really hate the north!"
As expected, the daughter of a hero knows how to recognize a villain. It would've been nice if that sense had shone through before Werner died.
After finishing our breakfast in such high spirits, Airi skipped off to her room humming a cheerful tune. I, too, was in a good mood and sang while doing the dishes.
"Yeah, that probably won't be easy~."
At that moment, a single hawk appeared outside the window. A note was tied to the leg of the pure white hawk, and it was painfully obvious who its owner was.
It was none other than Werner's fiancée.
"...This really isn't going to be easy, fuck. I should've picked a different song."
Cursing my song selection sense, I unfolded the note. I started reading slowly from the very first line.
Werner, first of all, I apologize for sending my messenger hawk Sugar without any prior notice.
Well if you're going to apologize, don't send it in the first place. That aside, naming a white hawk Sugar? She has quite a cute sense of naming. How does one name a hawk after sugar, of all things...
But haven't you also committed a grave discourtesy toward me? I accepted this engagement for the sake of my family, yet my fiancé ran away.
Technically that was something I did, but it wasn't something I did. I'd appreciate it if she blamed the other Werner, not me. Though honestly, she'd have every right to be angry. What kind of orphan-born mage would dare reject a lady of the Grand Ducal family and flee in the middle of the night? Even I had to admit it was despicable.
If you're wondering how I located your residence, allow me to inform you that I placed a special 'treatment' on the note you received yesterday.
This fucking... So she cast a tracking spell on yesterday's note. I pulled the note from my pocket and ripped it to shreds. When I tried to do the same to the current one, the next line read:
Tearing up the note is already too late.
What a shitty spell. All the mages who create magical tools that invade privacy like tracking or eavesdropping should be burned at the stake. Of course, Werner himself had developed quite a few of those tools and profited handsomely from them.
Interestingly enough, the one who developed that tracking paper was you, Werner. I wonder how it feels to be caught by a magical tool of your own creation.
Wow, fuck... Can this girl read my mind? If I marry her, I'll never be able to even dream of cheating.
I will repay in full the humiliation I suffered from being called 'the woman whose fiancé ran away.'
Werner, you son of a bitch... Because of you, my life is about to be ruined. They say when a woman holds a grudge, frost falls even in June. Since her homeland is the north, that means frost falls 365 days a year. So where would that frost go? It would turn into blades and spears aimed at my throat, that's where. Fuck. Did this bastard just dump all the troublesome parts on me and run away? Was the reason for my reincarnation just to clean up his shit?
Cursing Werner, I continued reading the note.
As much as I would like to come punish you immediately, unfortunately the north is currently in a period where magical beasts starved for prey are running rampant.
O God of magical beasts, I thank you. You have just saved one life today.
Feeling relieved, I looked at the bottom of the letter, where it said:
By the way, this note has been imbued with a special magic that will place a tracking spell on the hand of whoever receives it.
If you try to run away like you did at the engagement ceremony... this time, you'll have to leave one of your wrists behind.
How many trap cards does this woman have, for fuck's sake...
Please wait quietly and reflect until I come to find you.
If you wish to make any excuses, tell my messenger hawk Sugar to wait, then tie your reply to Sugar's leg and send her back.
The girl who once respected you as a hero,
Glacia Winterhart
In summary... it's like your mom calling to say, "Mom's coming home soon, so don't you dare move." Of course, this situation is about a hundred times more terrifying than that. The line below is a threat to send a reply. And the final line means she no longer respects me, so I shouldn't even dream of mercy.
"Hahaha... I'm so fucked."
The white hawk sent by my fiancée tilted her head and stared at me.
"Hey, I'm going to write a reply, so wait a bit."
Fortunately, I could easily understand and write the language of this world. Some kind of reincarnation commemorative perk, I suppose.
I roughly scribbled down what I wanted to say and tied it to the white hawk's leg.
"Please put in a good word for me with my fiancée, Saccharin."
At those words, the white hawk pecked my forehead and flew away.
Just how tempting must Werner's skull be that they're all so desperate to crack it open?
Glacia Winterhart, Werner's fiancée. One of the protagonist's companions and the most overpowered character in the game. In fact, the highest difficulty challenges are literally impossible to clear without her. She's also incredibly popular—having the most fan art among all characters in the Dragnity Fantasy series. Eighty percent of the reasons people diss Werner in the community are because of Glacia.
There were definitely posts like this...
Yeah, stuff like that.
Anyway, when I looked closely at my hand, I could see that a tracking spell had indeed been cast on it. Is this yandere behavior? If the tracking spell's number had been 4885, I had a feeling she'd show up one day and say, "Hey, you're 4885, aren't you?" The thought terrified me.
While I was trembling in fear, I came back to my senses and looked up to find Airi standing right in front of me.
"Master, I don't have any clothes to wear! Let's go buy some together!"
That's right. I had Airi. If I said, "I'm sorry, but I took responsibility for this child," maybe she'd forgive me. And if I added that I still had so much to teach her, she would probably back off quietly. As expected, Airi was my lifeline, my rope of salvation.
"Alright, Airi. It's been a while—shall we go on a date?"
"Huh?"
Airi's face turned bright red.
Weren't you the one who said you hated the north?
"This master of yours is feeling generous today. I'll buy you a few outfits, so let's go."
"...Yes."
Suddenly, Airi linked her arm with mine and leaned against me. Even when she was little, she used to throw tantrums demanding Werner give her piggyback rides. It seems she's still a spoiled child at heart.
"Ah, but nothing too expensive."
"You're really good at killing the mood, aren't you?"