Chapter 134
Chapter 134
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: The Trial One Must Endure (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The North is an unknown land. It always has been.
Even after a long time had passed since people first settled and began living there...
The North was still full of mysteries. Even those who lived in the North didn't know much about their own land.
It can't be helped, given the environment.
The North is surrounded by treacherous snow-capped mountains.
Snow falls year-round, and every winter brings blizzards so fierce you can't see an inch ahead. Once such a blizzard hits...
The paths painstakingly carved out often vanish.
Paths made to survey the snow mountains.
Maps drawn following traces of ancient ruins.
All of it returns to nothing with a single blizzard from the North's winter. That's why the North remains an unknown land.
Many adventurers have challenged the North's snow mountains in the past...
But now, those are all just old tales.
A land where you could spend years digging and still find nothing. To keep investigating such a place...
You'd need more than ordinary patience.
And so, adventurers stopped coming.
As far as I know, there's only one person still investigating the North's snow mountains.
Sword Ghost, Draka.
To call him a person was a stretch—he was more like a beast. And this homeless wild animal's obsession with the North wasn't a recent thing.
I wonder what the hell he's convinced is hidden there...
I let out a sigh and spoke up.
"Anyway."
Rak, who was leading the way, turned back at my words.
His eyes seemed to ask what came next. I continued.
"That's why such an unknown land could hide the secret of your ancestor's unfreezing spring."
"Is that so?"
"Pretty much."
I nodded, and Rak made a face like he accepted it. Our conversations always went like this.
"Still."
I gave a wry smile as I spoke.
"This wouldn't be possible anywhere but the North."
"Pardon?"
"Using a place with that kind of value just for a family coming-of-age ritual? The mages of the Mage Towers would clutch their necks if they knew."
"...?"
Rak tilted his head, clearly puzzled. I could only let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
Who the hell uses a mana spring like that?
Truth be told, that part puzzled me a bit too.
When I first heard about the unfreezing spring, I immediately thought of a mana spring. But the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
It's weird that no one noticed.
From the Grand Duke's attitude, it didn't seem like they were hiding the coming-of-age ritual in secret. Yet no one had realized it was a mana spring... That was odd.
Especially since the White Mage Tower Lord is in the North.
She might have zero tact and be a bit dim-witted...
But she's still a Mage Tower Lord. Her knowledge of magic theory isn't something to scoff at.
Yet she didn't recognize a mana spring?
Missed a spot thick with concentrated mana right in front of her?
If that's true, the White Mage Tower Lord should step down immediately. She'd have no right to the title. And from what I remember, Celly Dvella wasn't that incompetent...
"..."
I fell silent for a moment. What came to mind was the recent sight of the White Mage Tower Lord I'd run into.
-You...! Do you know how long I've been looking for you!
A tactless meddler barging in.
-Here, take this! Or this! I've got camping gear too—how about some mountaineering supplies...!
Less a mage, more a peddler.
"Hmm..."
I touched my lips thoughtfully.
...Does she even qualify...?
Thinking back on her recent behavior, I couldn't quite be sure. I made a deeply ambiguous expression.
"There's a lot of snow piled up."
Rak's words snapped me out of it.
I looked up at him. Rak, who had been leading, had stopped in front of a stone statue.
"But we're almost there. These mechanisms are visible now, after all."
Rak pointed to a statue resembling a bear.
"When I was a kid, I'd see these statues and walk another thirty minutes to get here. Ten minutes should do it now."
Come to think of it, the blizzard was intensifying.
The storm growing fiercer as we climbed wasn't natural.
Thud.
We climbed silently for a while. The blizzard raged, but it was bearable.
I've got the muffler Master gave me, after all.
I'd once climbed these mountains half-naked after my robe got shredded in a trap. Compared to that, my clothes were intact now, and I had a muffler around my neck.
"Hoo..."
A short breath sent up a white puff, but I didn't feel cold.
"Ah, we've arrived."
After some time, we stopped where statues lined up in a row. Each bore the emblem of the Grace family.
They're oddly shaped.
I took a step toward one of the statues.
"Ah, touching the statues is dangerous..."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
By the time Rak spoke, my hand was already on the statue. I blinked, and Rak made an "oh no" face. And that was the moment.
Screeech!
A sound like wind slicing through the air came from somewhere. I reflexively reached out and caught what flew at me.
Crack!
When I opened my hand, shards of ice fell clattering down. I shook off my hand and turned to Rak.
"What happens if you touch the statue?"
"Uh... If someone from the Grace family doesn't touch it first to deactivate it... a trap triggers."
"A trap?"
I tilted my head.
Rak pointed to the ice shards at my feet.
"...Usually arrows like that fly out."
"Ooh..."
Rak wore a subtle expression as he placed his hand on the statue. With a click, it spun around.
Whoosh!
As the statue turned, the swirling blizzard around us cleared. Or more precisely...
It returned to where it belonged.
That was the right way to put it. The blizzard was sucked away beyond the statue. It was an unbelievable sight, but real. Rak pointed beyond the cleared storm and spoke.
"This is the Grace family's sacred ground."
What the blizzard had hidden was a massive barrier. But it wasn't the kind that blocked intruders.
It felt more like it was containing something inside.
The inside of the barrier was pure white. The raging blizzard battered against it, making ticking sounds.
"You go in there and endure—that's the coming-of-age ritual?"
"Yes. Normally, holding out on the outskirts for half a day counts as passing. Or you could push through the center to the other side..."
"But no one's done that."
Rak nodded.
"...Yeah, the storm intensifies toward the center, so the second method is practically impossible."
"Hmm..."
I stroked my chin as I examined the barrier.
It was covered in rough, primal circuits—not the standardized ones I used now. Unfamiliar to most mages, but...
"...Aha."
To me, they were familiar.
Circuits written in ancient language.
What I'd studied in the Ashen Mage Tower.
And the ancient incantation formats I'd hammered into my head facing Skeval endlessly. I traced the barrier with my fingertips and spoke.
"Interesting."
My words made Rak shudder.
"What? Cold?"
"Pardon? No, just suddenly something..."
"Something what."
"Felt like great danger was coming..."
Great danger?
I let out a snicker.
"Come on, I'm not gonna die or anything."
"...Pardon?"
"Anyway, shall we get started?"
I rummaged in my robe and pulled out some tools. Some from the White Mage Tower, some I'd always carried.
"What's... that for...?"
"Hm? This?"
Rak pointed to the rope and stakes.
I picked up the rope and tugged hard. It was high-quality, not snapping easily.
"What do you use rope for?"
Tools are for their purpose.
"Tying stuff."
"T-Tying...? What do you mean?"
"What else?"
I pointed at Rak.
"Anyone else here but you?"
Rak's face went pale.
Seemed the weather was really cold.
2.
Rak, raised playing in these snow mountains, doesn't shiver from cold. He doesn't flinch at most blizzards. Even bone-chilling cold doesn't faze him.
But.
Shiver.
For some reason, he was trembling now. His fingertips quivered. His pupils darted. Though midway up the snow mountain, it wasn't the cold.
Tying... me up?
Rak trembled in fear.
Hoping he'd misheard, he looked at the professor before him. Lania van Trias, a nightmare in human skin, smiled at him.
"I learned this from the warriors. They say this knot doesn't come undone easily. See? Like this."
A radiant smile.
A warm smile like spring sunlight.
"Now, tie it around your arm like this..."
She tied the rope around Rak's arm with a gentle smile that belied no malice. A stake dangled from the end. Rak couldn't guess its purpose.
"Hold the stake."
"Uh, um, yes."
"Let's go in."
"...Like this?"
"Yeah."
"Sh-Shouldn't we regulate our breathing or... prepare mentally or something..."
"Psh, it's no big deal."
To Rak, it was a huge deal.
But to her, it seemed trivial, her tone casual as if going for a stroll.
"Shall we start lightly on the outskirts?"
It wasn't light at all.
"What're you doing? Not coming?"
Was this how livestock felt being led to slaughter?
Hell lay before him. Guiding him to it was the nightmare with the radiant smile.
Whooooosh!
Rak swallowed dryly at the blizzard beyond the barrier. His hesitation was brief. In the end, he forced his feet forward. Walking to his death on his own.
If I don't go willingly...
Professor Lania would drag him. Rak chose to walk rather than be dragged.
"..."
Rak glanced at the stake in his hand.
The rope tied to his wrist, stake dangling at the end... It felt just like an iron shackle. Suddenly, he was a condemned man marching to execution.
Ah, Father...
Rak pictured his parents one last time.
As those facing their end often do.
"...Let's go."
He spoke with resolve.
"What, you heading to your death? Relax your shoulders, man."
Lania smacked Rak's shoulder. The sharp sting brought tears to his eyes.
3.
"By the way, I heard Rak went up the snow mountain today. Seems Professor Lania took him."
Peylia's words brought a satisfied smile to Eryal's face.
"A quick-acting professor."
"She seems to have taken a liking to her?"
"She looks frail on the outside, but a fierce beast lurks within. A case where appearance and reality differ—in a good way."
Peylia blinked at Eryal's chuckling. It was rare. For her husband to welcome a guest from the capital so warmly.
"Well, she was a rather special guest."
Peylia nodded slightly.
What came to mind was the conversation she'd had with the girl at the banquet recently, food laid out before them.
-Does it suit your taste, Miss Lania?
-Yes, it's delicious.
-Is it? Northern food has a different texture from the capital's... Most from the capital find it unfamiliar, but not you, it seems?
A noble lady from a fine house.
She reeked of nobility, so Peylia assumed Northern fare wouldn't suit her palate.
I thought she was just pretending to like it.
What a considerate girl.
Peylia planned to praise the girl's politeness. But the response was far from what she'd expected.
-Uh... Isn't food fine as long as it's warm?
-...Pardon?
-Warm, not fishy, not spoiled, not burnt... How could it not taste good...?
Her tone implied she'd eaten worse. Not something a refined young lady would say. Never.
A special guest.
That's why she was special.
And her husband always liked special things. Peylia glanced at Eryal. He looked in high spirits.
"...That pleased?"
"Aren't you excited?"
Eryal said, propping his chin.
"She didn't seem the type to bluff. Even less to lie. That professor spoke sincerely. Said it's not difficult."
No one in the Grace family had ever accomplished it, despite ages. Yet the professor declared it "not difficult."
"I'm looking forward to seeing what method she'll use."
"Aren't you worried?"
"Not at all."
As always, Eryal dismissed it lightly.
"She wouldn't kill him, after all."
"...Aren't you being too harsh on Rak?"
"It's not harshness. It's trust. This is the trust Northern warriors share."
Peylia shook her head.
Years after marrying into the North, she still struggled to understand Eryal's mindset.
"Rak has it rough."
"Any Grace family warrior must face such trials."
His tone said it was only natural.
Peylia sighed deeply.