The Nightmare of the North
The sparring match with the northern nightmare had come to an end. There simply weren’t any more superhumans left to fight. Every capable fighter who had been staying in Winter Forest had already been cut down by my hand, so it was only natural that no one remained to continue the bouts.
Moreover, the superhumans who had witnessed that final clash with Elain seemed to carry their own impressions of it. Even as they dragged their exhausted bodies away, their eyes gleamed with renewed purpose. They would surely return in even better condition next time.
‘It wasn’t entirely without benefit, I suppose.’
Still, since they had all reached the rank of superhuman in their own right, using Heavenly Thunder to handle combat style had been perfectly appropriate. The way multiple opponents had rushed me at once even reminded me of the times I fought alone against the warriors of the north. Of course, I couldn’t fully project their ferocity and desire, but at the very least, I had succeeded in grasping the feel of battle as a lightning mage through the vow I had made to myself.
That was why I should have returned to the room Elain had given me and reviewed my spell formulas again. But instead…
“I’m sorry, okay….”
“……”
Rather than checking my spell formulas, I found myself facing Elain inside her room. It was because I had mindlessly agreed to a group sparring session with the superhumans and had even dragged Elain herself onto the training grounds. I already knew that she hated showing those wolf ears—symbols of her beastman heritage—to others. And yet.
Of course, in the heat of battle her ears would inevitably be revealed anyway, so the superhumans who had watched the recent match had most likely already seen them. The custom-made hood she wore completely sealed away most of her beastman abilities in exchange for hiding those ears.
Still, knowing that didn’t mean I had to force her onto the sparring field. I had practically dragged her up there by exploiting what little drive for improvement remained in her as a superhuman. It was an act that overturned the heart of a woman living as the lord of Winter Forest.
Knead. Knead.
That was why I was personally massaging her back, even channeling my mana into it.
“You really don’t have to go this far, you know.”
Perhaps thirty minutes had passed. The mana-infused massage must have been effective, because Elain spoke in a slightly loosened voice. However, while she was more relaxed than before, the fact that she was still sulking remained unchanged. This was the moment I needed to put in maximum effort.
“When someone from the north challenges you to a fight, how am I supposed to av—”
“That’s exactly the problem!!”
Ah. Wrong answer?
Elain, who had been receiving my massage, suddenly whirled around with flashing eyes.
“What are you, some kind of battle maniac? Do you have to fight every single day? Isn’t stopping the barbarians from descending from the north enough for you?”
“No, it’s not that it’s not enough. But sparring and real combat are different, and the way each side fights—”
“……”
“Sorry.”
The same reaction that often appeared in my conversations with Beatrice or the Emperor had now come from Elain as well. So I immediately bowed my head in apology. Of course, she wasn’t as sharp-tongued as the owner of one of the Empire’s five great merchant groups or as politically gifted as the Emperor of the Empire. Nevertheless, I offered no excuses and simply lowered my head.
‘Don’t make excuses. No, just don’t talk at all! If you feel like you did something wrong, just say you’re sorry and bang your head on the ground!’
‘…When I look at you, I sometimes truly feel that the gods are fair. To possess such talent in so many fields yet have every word you speak only serve to inflame people’s resentment. Brother, I strongly advise you to refrain from adding unnecessary comments.’
These were lessons learned from long experience with many people. Since my fault was clear, I had a firm conviction that speaking any further here would only worsen the situation.
“Haa…”
It seemed women truly understood a woman’s heart best. As the two of them had advised, staying silent and simply apologizing caused Elain’s expression to soften a little. When I kept my head deeply bowed like that, she seemed to have vented enough anger. She slowly sat up and spoke.
“You can stop now.”
Elain gently pushed my hand away, turned her chair around, and looked at me. I sat down on the edge of the bed that had been placed in the room.
“The fact that you’re here must mean His Majesty the Emperor has accepted my request for support, right?”
“It would seem so. Sending the army directly would take time, so he sent me first.”
Most people, except for the Emperor and the Chancellor, did not know the true identity of Heavenly Thunder. However, everyone knew where the identity of Heavenly Thunder was connected. The Empire. The nation that ruled over most—no, virtually the entire continent. The information that the Emperor of that nation wielded Heavenly Thunder. The truth was slightly distorted, but since I had used the name Heavenly Thunder during my time in the Special Affairs Division, my identity was naturally tied to the Empire. It was precisely because the Emperor had shown me every possible convenience that I had been able to act so freely. The Emperor had also made good use of me as the card called Heavenly Thunder.
“How long until the reinforcements arrive? I’d really appreciate it if they could get here within two weeks.”
“One week. They’ll probably arrive even sooner than that.”
Since it was an answer given directly by the Emperor himself, there was no room for doubt.
“One week…”
Elain’s expression brightened noticeably at my answer. Considering the distance between the imperial capital and Winter Forest, as well as the scale of the legion that would be moving, arriving in one week was practically the same as flying here. From the state of the food supplies I had seen when I entered the fortress earlier, it looked like they had been prepared to hold out for months. So the news that reinforcements would arrive in just one week brought clear relief to her face.
“The supplies…”
“They were cut off two weeks ago.”
Elain spoke as if it were routine. When the northern barbarians wanted to attack a fortress, their first move was always to isolate it. If it were an individual of my level sneaking in, that might be one thing, but receiving supply shipments was nearly impossible. Winter Forest had endured only because they always stockpiled food for months in preparation for northern invasions. Other fortresses could not hold out for long once the warriors’ strategy began. The previous fall of Winter Forest had also happened because support requests were delayed and the supplies and reinforcements that should have arrived never came. At that time, only the survivors had been able to escape safely thanks to Arlea’s help.
“This time will be different from before.”
As I spoke, I naturally reached out and stroked Elain’s head. Beastmen did not share all the same senses as the animals they resembled. Perhaps that was why Elain didn’t show any particular reaction even when I stroked her head. Nevertheless, the reason I did so was closer to a form of comfort. It felt less like treating an animal and more like patting someone on the head and saying “well done.” It also helped calm my own mind. So in a moment like this, stroking her head didn’t seem all that strange.
At least until Elain suddenly let out a strange sound.
“……?”
“…Ah.”
Realizing what kind of noise she had made, Elain widened her eyes in shock.
Thud!
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Huh?”
At Elain’s words, I instinctively looked down at my own hand. I wondered if I had done something to it without realizing. But there was nothing in my hand. I hadn’t touched anything with mana either. It was just a perfectly normal hand.
“Why are you suddenly touching someone else’s head…!”
Elain scrambled backward, even knocking over her chair, and covered her head with her hands. Her face was flushed bright red—she was clearly flustered.
…Though I was just as flustered.
“But I used to do this all the ti—”
“Even so, who suddenly strokes someone else’s head like that?”
“Are we strangers?”
I was starting to feel a little hurt. When I looked at her with that expression, Elain hesitated as if choosing her words, then eventually shook her head.
“That’s… not it.”
“Right.”
“But the head is still off-limits.”
“Why?”
“It just is!”
Only after I gave the flustered, huffing Elain an “I understand” did the conversation finally settle down. I scratched my head while watching Elain frown, then brought up the main topic.
“I wiped out their vanguard earlier, but the leader of that vanguard called himself Wolf Fang.”
“……”
“Since there are still many beastmen living in the north, I thought there might be some overlap. I’m asking just in case…”
“It’s him.”
The words cut off sharply. As Elain answered, silence fell over the room. We both knew exactly who that person was.
The fourth arm of the Khan. Formerly ranked ninth in the entire northern region. The leader of the wolf-headed beastmen across the vast northern lands. A warrior uniquely born with pure white fur, known alone as the White Wolf. And.
“Lycan…!”
The 7-ring superhuman who wandered the north and killed any wolf with green fur regardless of reason. The one who had led the vanguard in the last war and destroyed the gates of Winter Forest. The enemy who had killed Elain’s parents and siblings was waiting just beyond those mountains.