Chapter 323: Bread and Dagger (21)
Chapter 323: Bread and Dagger (21)
The North was a cold and dark place.
Even the brilliant white sunlight that poured down felt freezing. It was the only place on the entire continent where the sun itself could be described as chilling.
In a clearing that must have once been a barren field, the pinnacle of civilization now stood. Various buildings and the crowds filling the streets served as a testament to the power of the Yurdina family.
It was the North's only metropolis and its undisputed heart.
A place known as 'Yurdina City.'
The sheer capability of the Yurdina family to cultivate such a bustling district in this dry, frozen land was astonishing. The term 'historic achievement' felt perfectly appropriate.
Originally, the North consisted of nothing more than small, village-sized communities. However, with the migration of the Yurdina family, the North was finally incorporated into the Empire as a structured administrative region.
Thus, the influence the Yurdina family held over the North went without saying.
The person who had sent me the invitation was also a member of that very family.
The sole successor of the Yurdina family—one of the Empire's Five Great Noble Families and the house that oversaw the military authority—had personally requested my help.
Her name was Delphine Yurdina, a woman commonly referred to as 'The Sun of the North.'
In most regions, the 'Sun' carries a mythological significance.
It is the provider that makes the earth fertile and the source that brings light and heat to the world. There are many regions that worship it as a divine entity.
Even the Heavenly God Religion associates the sun with the God Arus.
The story goes that long ago, the Heavenly God Arus and the Evil God Omeros made a bet. Arus, falling for a despicable trick, had his liver and eyes gouged out and fixed into the sky.
His liver became the sun, and his eyes became the moon.
That is why the wicked beings of the world are said to melt away under the sunlight.
The North was no different in its reverence for the sun.
In fact, the sun was more precious in the North than anywhere else. Without it, the land would inevitably become a realm of eternal snow and ice.
Since the beginning of time, it had been a land cursed by the sins of Delphirem.
Survival itself was impossible without leaning on the grace of Mother Nature. Therefore, the implications of the 'Sun' in the North were bound to be exceptional.
The leader of all Northerners and an absolute power second only to the Emperor of the Empire.
It was a title befitting the one and only successor of Yurdina, who had built a legacy of being undefeated.
However, perhaps due to the North's barren conditions, the aesthetic sense of the Northerners wasn't particularly refined.
It was the result of prioritizing practicality over style and power over logic.
If there were resources to invest in art, they would rather choose to feed their starving warriors. Consequently, even the Yurdina family's lordly castle couldn't help but feel desolate.
Of course, it had everything it needed.
In fact, the facilities themselves were luxurious. The materials and equipment all appeared to be high-quality goods.
Nevertheless, Yurdina Castle gave off a somewhat bleak impression. It lacked the flamboyant elegance that a great noble house should rightfully possess.
I walked along those dark, somber corridors.
Walking ahead of me as a guide was an old knight. He was someone I was already acquainted with.
'Sir Alex,' if I recalled correctly. I had been indebted to him previously in the Percus territory.
He was the knight who had led a thousand Yurdina private soldiers in the bloody battle against the Corpse Giant. That he held such a command meant he was deeply trusted by the family, and it seemed he had returned to Yurdina City in the meantime.
As for Senior Delphine, who had actually invited me, she had left for a moment to handle some business.
Our encounter at the warp gate had been a mere coincidence. Since I hadn't given word on exactly when I would arrive, a person of Senior Delphine's stature didn't have the leisure to just kill time waiting.
And so, after arriving at Yurdina Castle and taking a moment to catch my breath, word had come again.
That Senior Delphine was looking for me.
There was no reason to refuse. I immediately began following Sir Alex.
In the process, I realized once again just how incredible Senior Delphine's family was.
We had been walking for several minutes, yet the castle corridors seemed endless. It was even vague exactly where I was standing now.
The silence was fine for a while, but walking without a word made it hard to overcome the boredom.
Eventually, my patience ran out, and I spoke to Sir Alex.
"Um, Sir Alex?"
However, no answer came from him. He was a man who always looked like a stone statue.
He had seemed to have a more relaxed impression back in the Percus territory.
Undeterred by the cold shoulder, I continued to speak.
"I was grateful for your help in the last battle. Thanks to you, many of the territory's people who were driven into a corner were saved—"
"It was not a battle fought for anyone's sake."
His words cut me off sharply.
I fell silent for a moment at Sir Alex's resolute tone. I hadn't expected such a chilly reaction to a simple greeting.
The North really is a cold place.
As I felt that realization sink in, Sir Alex added in a dry voice.
"It was a battle fought solely for honor. A soldier of the North never shows their back to an enemy... Therefore, there is no particular need for you to be grateful, nor do you need to feel indebted."
It was such a blunt declaration.
Because of that, I was even more confused.
Was Sir Alex simply stating his honest feelings, or was he saying this out of consideration for me?
The feeling was quite different from when I saw him in my hometown. Back then, he seemed to have a more boisterous temperament, but now he was the archetype of a Northern knight, sharp enough to cut if touched.
Or perhaps the recent war situation wasn't very good.
I recalled the complexion of Senior Delphine when I ran into her at the warp gate. Uncharacteristically, she had looked somewhat haggard.
If Senior Delphine was like that, it wouldn't be strange for Sir Alex to be even more sensitive.
After walking a bit further in that awkward silence, Sir Alex stopped in front of a heavy door and announced in a low tone.
"The Young Family Head is waiting for you inside."
'Young Family Head.'
It was a title I hadn't heard in a while.
It wasn't an uncommon expression in noble society. Within a family where the succession competition had ended, members would use the title 'Young Family Head' along with formal speech as a sign of respect.
This was a culture closer to high-ranking nobility than lower nobility.
While lower nobles grew up in a more relaxed atmosphere, high-ranking nobles were immersed in succession battles from childhood. Naturally, their subsequent conduct had to change.
The society of high-ranking nobility resembled a wilderness ecosystem in a way.
Winner takes all.
Once a successor was decided, regardless of previous relationships, everyone in the family had to kneel before them. The title 'Young Family Head' carried that very meaning.
It meant that while they weren't the head of the family yet, they were to be treated as such.
Recalling that fact, a cold sweat ran down my spine.
Senior Delphine was a person who received the absolute loyalty of her vassals like this. What if she were caught calling me 'Master'?
I couldn't deny the possibility that they might eliminate me to erase the family's dishonor.
Of course, the probability of my anxiety becoming reality wasn't high.
Behind me stood the Emperor and the Imperial Intelligence Agency, and I was currently gaining fame as the Empire's rising divinity. Even the Yurdina family wouldn't find it easy to lay a hand on me.
Yes, literally 'not easy.'
In other words, it wasn't impossible.
Northerners were known for acting without considering the consequences, after all.
Unable to fully shake off that sliver of worry, I quietly opened the door and stepped inside.
There, a beautiful woman stood with her back to the pouring sunlight.
Intense crimson eyes contrasted with her flawless white skin, and her brilliant golden hair looked as if it had been woven from melted gold bars.
Her slender limbs and the alluring curves of her feminine physique were prominent even through her armor. At a glance, she was so perfect that she felt more like a statue.
But the moment anyone met those eyes, they would realize.
A sense of boredom lingered in that gaze, which was a mixture of burning ambition, desire, and an obsession with victory. A seductive charm that dripped like honey.
It gave that perfect body a startling sense of vitality.
Though her face looked somewhat tired, even that couldn't hide her sun-like beauty.
It had been a truly long time since I'd seen her face.
Feeling glad, I reflexively spoke.
"Senior Delphine...!"
"I've been waiting for you, Master."
It was the second time I'd heard those words today. Feeling welcomed, I immediately approached her.
As I did, I became certain of something once again.
Senior Delphine looked a bit depressed.
I couldn't know the cause, but it was clear that her heart was heavy. If it weren't, she would have already tried to tease me.
By showing a bit of cleavage, or subtly emphasizing her hips.
Seeing as she wasn't doing that today, I concluded that Senior Delphine didn't even have the mental leeway to play around.
So, I couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
Was she not the always confident and haughty Senior Delphine?
Seeing her so drained made me feel uneasy.
Just as I was about to offer some words of comfort...
Senior Delphine stood up and immediately wrapped her arms around my neck.
While I was still processing the "uh-oh" of the situation, her face was right in front of mine.
She gave a weak smile and whispered to me.
"...Will you come to my bedroom for a moment?"
It was a proposal that was very hard to refuse.
In many ways.