The Land Where Tears Freeze
I had ridden Gansinbae for nearly a whole day. This was the first time I had spent so long on horseback.
“Are you all right?”
I tapped the horse on the neck with my knuckles.
Whinny.
The defiant snort clearly asked whether I was questioning if the animal was okay. The beast had carried me through an entire day without rest; of course it was tired.
*And I managed it without switching riders.*
My body was light, but this was no simple task.
The other elves had brought two or three horses each. They had planned to rotate riders so the mounts wouldn’t tire.
“Sorry. We’ve pushed hard today.”
*Whuff.*
Yet Gansinbae still looked fresh. It was the Khan’s horse, after all.
“The sun is going down soon. We should start preparing camp.”
Ashtien studied the position of the sun and spoke.
I clicked my tongue.
“So we’re stopping?”
“Of course. A day’s journey isn’t something you can cover at a gallop.”
From there on it was a nonstop march. Everyone was elite soldiers; the pace was terrifyingly fast.
“Ahor.”
“Yes, Khan.”
While Ashtien spoke with Ahor, I went looking for Uushun.
“Oh, Vesta-nim.”
She was rewarding the horses that had worked hard all day.
*They did switch, but she still carried Uushun the whole time.*
I felt a surge of respect. Honestly, Uushun wasn’t light to begin with. And Uushun wearing armor made it even harder.
*She looks tired.*
“What are you thinking?”
“Nothing. Just thinking.”
Saying something like “It’s amazing how you ride the horses” might have made Uushun angry and cling to me. So I kept quiet.
“What brings you here?”
“Just… nothing to do.”
“Ah. Since the Khan is busy, you must be bored.”
She had hit the mark. I stepped back, embarrassed.
“If you’re busy, then just keep quiet.”
“Ehehe. I’ll play with you.”
Uushun readily took up the role of companion.
*
While chatting with Uushun, Bia appeared. Naturally, she joined the conversation.
*An odd trio.*
Bia and Uushun together. I had never seen them side by side before.
“Ah, Lady Bia.”
Uushun greeted her warmly.
I hadn’t had the chance to meet her yet, but it turned out they knew each other perfectly well.
Vesta was the one who steered the conversation.
“What is the Salt Plateau like, Ainuwail?”
Uushun answered.
“It’s amazing. There’s even a lake whose bottom is made of salt. The stones on the shore are nothing compared to the fist-sized salt lumps that roll around.”
I could imagine how precious salt must be, but I still couldn’t picture it.
“Is that all?”
Uushun is right.”
Bia nodded.
“To feed the people of the steppe and the livestock, you need that much.”
You can’t just hand it out to anyone, and harvesting is limited to certain seasons.
She added that even if there were salt mines, the value of the salt itself wouldn’t be ruined.
“Upon hearing that, it makes sense.”
Once I understood, Uushun continued.
“The Salt Lake is famous for its beauty too. You can’t picture it from words alone. After it rains, the lake bottom turns into a mirror.”
“Turns into a mirror?”
“Hah. You have to see it for yourself.”
“If luck is on my side, I might see it this time.”
“Yes. Bia.”
Uushun tilted her head.
“Um. You two seem quite close. I didn’t know.”
Indeed. We had grown close when we went to meet Lycaon.
*We talked a lot of honest things.*
I asked lightly.
“It seems ordinary. Uushun, are you jealous?”
“No way. Impossible.”
Uushun muttered with a pout.
“When you first came to the tribe, you were so scared. How did you become like this?”
“Scared of what?”
Honestly, I had been scared.
“True Uushun, do this. Do that. Just like back then.”
“What?”
Who was she talking about? I had never said anything like that. Not even once.
“Vesta. Did you really say that?”
Bia teased me. She knew me well.
“This is a lie. Stop joking.”
“Hmph. To my eyes, that’s exactly what it looked like.”
The two women continued to tease me for a while. Then the conversation returned to Ainuwail.
“It is beautiful and has history and tradition. But it is, of course, a dangerous place.”
Climbing the Salt Plateau in winter was almost impossible.
“For the cold?”
Ashtien had once called the plateau “the land of hatred.”
“Yes. It’s no joke. You can’t even carry water because it’s so cold. That’s why it’s called Ainuwail in the first place.”
Bia chimed in.
“Vesta. Do you know what ‘Ainuwail’ means?”
After hearing Bia, I rubbed my chin.
Uushun teased me.
“You haven’t even grown a beard yet, why are you scratching your chin?”
“Ah, let me think.”
“Mm-hmm.”
*Ainuwail…*
I had studied under the empire’s greatest elven scholar. Guessing the meaning was easy.
“It doesn’t seem to be a word we use every day. It has a poetic feel. Perhaps…”
Ainuw- meant “tear.” And -wail meant “to stop.”
Putting them together—
“Stop the tears. Or to stop the tears?”
“Oh, you know it well. Correct.”
“The Plateau of Stopped Tears. Such a romantic name. Why?”
“Because it’s cold. Even tears freeze.”
“It’s so harsh that tears don’t even flow. Something like that.”
“Is there really such a place?”
“…So we’re heading to a place like that.”
“Haha. Even in summer it’s not that cold. Don’t be scared.”
Accidents caused by wild beasts were more frequent than the cold itself.
“So many animals, plus the steppe-adapted ones are all vicious hunters.”
When I asked for examples, she talked about the sky snow leopards.
“They’re also called sky snow leopards. Truly ridiculous creatures.”
They had one special feature.
“A snow leopard that can fly. Between its legs there’s a membrane like a bat’s wing, so it can glide. It drops from cliffs tens or hundreds of meters up straight toward its prey.”
That’s why they were also called white lightning.
“No, really… Wait, I think I’ve seen one. I saw a white snow leopard pelt in the Khan’s residence.”
“It’s true. The Khan loves hunting snow leopards.”
*
The meal was pleasant.
Normally, cheese and condensed milk were the rations, and we could supplement protein by catching the livestock we had brought along with the horses.
A little alcohol made the atmosphere even warmer. It peaked exactly when Ashtien held the wrestling tournament.
The elves who claimed strength stood as contestants.
“Uushun isn’t wrestling?”
She was famous as a top wrestler on the steppe.
If Uushun competed, the prize was already hers. Yet the woman herself simply smiled and tilted her cup.
“What’s the point of winning? It would ruin the fun.”
If she won, she would receive the reward the Khan promised. Uushun didn’t care much about that and happily watched her comrades’ matches.
“You have to know when to step in and when to step out. Otherwise you’ll be disliked.”
Just like this time.
She patted my back.
“…?”
“The Khan’s seat is empty.”
“When to step in, right?”
Uushun didn’t answer and whistled instead.
“Go. I’ll drop out. Hehe.”
I headed for Ashtien’s seat.
“You look busy playing with someone else.”
*Her reaction is cold.*
I didn’t reply and sat beside the Khan.
“Bold of you. You weren’t given permission and yet you sit in the Khan’s seat.”
She only said that much. Then she began watching the match with a sullen face. I followed her gaze.
“Wow.”
An elven woman knocked down her opponent with a magnificent technique. I genuinely admired her.
We weren’t talking, then—
“Actually…”
The words were directed at me but her eyes looked elsewhere.
“I wanted to come outside with everyone like this.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. It makes me happy to be able to do this. It’s also fun.”
Perhaps it was too embarrassing to say while looking into each other’s eyes.
“Me too. I’m having fun too.”
“Really…?”
“Yes.”
Our hands reached out and clasped. Hers were warm.