The Approaching North Wind (2)
After finishing the dungeon conquest and returning to Agehis Territory with Lia, I'd wrapped up a brief investigation into the slave trader issue and the dungeon raid, and now I was a free man.
"Haaah...."
Right now, I was sprawled out on the bed.
In the bed of a guest room in the Agehis mansion, no less, courtesy of Lia herself.
During the journey, I'd lost my luggage and had nowhere to stay, so she'd generously offered me a room in her own mansion.
Thanks to that, I'd gotten some fine new clothes and was lounging in a room better than my old one back home, enjoying every luxury.
The only downside was no smartphone, but otherwise, it was perfect.
"Life really is full of surprises."
I'd been on the verge of becoming Chun-sik, slave property.
Then Lia had shown up out of nowhere with her insane hard carry, flipping the whole situation in an instant.
That's why adults always say not to get too worked up over little things.
You never know when a jackpot like this might hit.
'Ah, it's great... but maybe too great. That's what's worrying me.'
I was nobody in this world, after all.
For a guy like that to receive a legendary sword as a gift, stay in a countess's guest room, and get waited on hand and foot—it just wasn't realistic.
'I can't figure out why she's being so generous....'
According to Lia, it was gratitude for my help in the dungeon.
But that didn't fully explain it.
She'd already given me Excalibur, and honestly, that was more than enough—I'd gotten way too much already.
There was no way she didn't know that.
She had to be thinking something more, but I couldn't guess what.
"....I'll stick around for a few days at least."
I had no place to go right now anyway.
I needed to get a read on this world first, make some plans or secure a base, before I could venture out and survive.
Until then, uneasy or not, this was my best bet.
She'd said to stay as long as I wanted, so I'd milk it for now.
'For starters, it doesn't seem like I've derailed the original plot too badly from the main timeline, but I need to pinpoint exactly where we are....'
This was urgent.
Having transmigrated out of the blue with nothing to my name, the only card I had was my knowledge of the original story.
To make full use of it, I had to nail down the exact point in the timeline.
'Might as well live comfortably since I'm here.'
The original threats would be handled by the heroine and hero anyway.
If I rode their coattails and leveraged my knowledge right, making a pile of money would be a breeze.
She'd even tossed me a handful of gold coins as a bonus—I could turn that seed money into a cushy life easy.
'Perfect.'
The dream of every modern slacker—rich and unemployed—was shimmering right in front of me.
Maybe transmigration wasn't so bad after all.
"....Still, things going this smoothly makes me uneasy."
They always say to look back when everything seems to be falling into place....
'What could go wrong...?'
The moment that tiny worry crossed my mind, the door flew open with a bang, and someone stormed into the room.
I jolted upright and whipped around to see Lia standing there, gazing down at me with a gravely serious expression.
“My apologies for disturbing your rest, but might we have a word?”
“......Is something the matter?”
Lia nodded silently at my question. Her face told me this was no trivial affair.
She sat down before me with a dark expression, let out a deep sigh, and began to speak.
“Of late, monster incursions have grown frequent, so I dispatched scouts northward to assess the situation. I wondered if a new dominant species had emerged, or if the beasts were simply famished.”
“That's troubling indeed. The north is always crawling with monsters....”
“Yet upon investigation, the monsters themselves bore no anomalies.”
Her expression grew even heavier as she finished. Then, looking me in the eye, she delivered a single sentence in as even a tone as she could muster.
“Instead, the northern barbarians were deliberately driving the monsters southward.”
“......!!!”
Deliberately herding monsters—that was provocation, plain and simple.
From the north's perspective, dealing with waves of beasts would drain resources and manpower inevitably.
If the barbarians were resorting to this, the Empire couldn't let it slide.
'They know that full well.'
If they were willing to risk imperial retaliation and keep sending monsters south, it meant they had something worth that gamble.
Something that required bleeding the north's resources and forces dry.
There was only one answer, no matter how I sliced it.
“......War.”
“Aye. War.”
Now it made sense.
Why Lia wore such a grave look.
War was no small matter. She'd guarded the northern strongholds her whole life—she knew that better than anyone.
'So this is the point we're at.'
The original story had an event like this.
Warriors descending from the snowfields to clash with the north.
I hadn't pinned down the exact timeline yet, but now fate had revealed it without asking.
“Isn't the northern army formidable? With you, Lady Lia, and countless knights at its core.”
“As thou sayest, the north is mighty. It has never fallen, not once. The issue lies elsewhere....”
“The Khan.”
“......Aye. As thou sayest, their Khan is the crux.”
Khan.
The fierce overlord ruling dozens of tribes, the mightiest warrior among them.
Undoubtedly the instigator of this war—and the north's most formidable foe.
“A force even I cannot guarantee victory over.”
In the original, the Khan's strength rivaled a Swordmaster's.
That presence alone made this war possible.
“I see. But....”
Why was she telling me all this? I was just a commoner.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Lia rose slowly before me. Then, abruptly, she took my hand and bowed her head.
“Thus, I make this formal request of thee.”
'Request...?'
A Swordmaster and imperial marchioness—what could she possibly need from me? Enough to bow her head?
A bad feeling prickled just as Lia, head still lowered, spoke.
“As a Swordmaster, join the northern forces in this war.”
“......?”
What as what where to do what?
I doubted my ears, but I'd heard her clear as day.
Even so, it was so absurd that as I tried to sort my whirling thoughts, she pressed on before I could respond.
“I know full well, Ian. Thou wishest to conceal thy identity.”
“But the situation is dire. Thy strength is desperately needed.”
This didn't feel like a joke, no matter how I looked at it.
And Lia wasn't the type to jest in a crisis anyway.
So there was only one conclusion.
'Now I get it....'
I'd thought it odd.
Treating a mere commoner like me this well.
But that was my view. From Lia's standpoint, if I wasn't a commoner, everything changed.
'Lia mistakes me for a Swordmaster.'
I couldn't pinpoint what caused the misunderstanding, but something had gone badly awry.
Before it could deepen and tangle things further, I waved my hands and denied it outright.
“I'm not a Swordmaster.”
“No need to deny it. I speak knowing all.”
But Lia just shook her head, denying my denial.
She seemed convinced I was hiding it to the end....
“Or dost thou claim a mere commoner detected threats I myself overlooked—multiple times?”
As I pondered how to untangle this, she drove the nail in, assuming I was just dodging.
'......Shit. What now?'
Swordmasters weren't normal humans. Their senses were superhuman.
Spotting things a hundred meters off crystal clear, then claiming "just luck"? Even I'd call bullshit.
It'd only make her more certain.
'No way to talk my way out of this.'
I shouldn't have shown off so much back then.
At the time, it felt harmless, but I never imagined the fallout.
What could I do? Damage was done. Time to salvage it.
'Saying "I read it in a book" won't fly....'
Even I knew that was lame.
Could I brush off knowing the dungeon's secrets by claiming some book? One question about which book, and I'd be caught.
That'd be game over.
'Think. Think....'
I had to refuse her plea to join the war.
Forget my lack of power—not even soldier-level—I could die.
'....Because I'm not a Swordmaster.'
Swordmasters were like decisive battle weapons, sweeping enemy lines from the vanguard.
If I cluelessly stood at the front like them, my head would be gone in a blink.
'Just refuse outright.'
No good excuses came to mind.
Lame ones wouldn't convince her, and I'd have to explain the dungeon stuff anyway.
Plus, enjoying her hospitality would bite me too, regardless of her views.
'Might as well drop denying I'm a Swordmaster cleanly.'
Acknowledge it. Then negotiate from equal footing.
I carefully voiced my refusal to Lia, who shot me a sharp look after my drastic strategic shift.
“.....I don't want to shed blood.”
“'Tis a war to shed no more.”
“Nor do I wish another's blood on my blade.”
“I'll take their heads. Lend but thy aid—that alone will help greatly.”
I tried polite refusal, blunt refusal—nothing budged her.
Instead, certain I was a Swordmaster, she grew more persistent.
I'd glimpsed it in the dungeon, but her stubbornness was unreal.
'But not this time. I won't bend.'
This wasn't like before—the stakes were life and death.
I refused without an inch of give.
When we reached impasse after long debate, Lia finally yielded.
“......Hoo, then wilt thou at least stand upon the wall?”
“Just stand there?”
“Aye. Prevent the wall's fall—that much, canst thou not do?”
This was awkward too.
But refusing even this would look terrible.
Like a thief crying thief—after all I'd received, it'd seem suspicious.
'The wall won't fall anyway.'
The original had this war.
But the northern wall held. Bloody victory, but victory nonetheless.
Standing by invisibly and slipping away? Doable.
'Bolt the second it ends.'
Stand watch, then vanish quietly.
She'd pushed despite my refusals; she wouldn't chase a silent ghost.
Not bad at all.
“.....Very well. When do we march?”
“Now.”
With that, Lia turned and left, as if further talk was a luxury.
I stared at her retreating back, overwhelmed by the sheer hopelessness, and could do naught but close my eyes and sigh softly.
'Now I really don't know anymore.....'