Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Black Forest
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The North is a place where it snows.
It's a snowy plain, a snowy mountain, buried in snow all year round.
But there's one exception.
There's one place in the North that can't be called the North.
That's the Black Forest.
Even when snow falls there, it doesn't accumulate. Only dark, dense trees thrive, giving off an eerie atmosphere. Even in broad daylight, the forest interior is pitch black.
The trees here mysteriously emit a faint heat, melting snowflakes the moment they land.
Thus, amid the North's snowy landscape, only the Black Forest remains untouched by white.
In such a forest.
Kallias looked at Helena with a serious expression and asked,
"So. Helena. You're saying you want to marry me?"
"W-What are you talking about! Who would marry you! The kingdom's most notorious playboy? Are you insane!"
Kallias gracefully wielded his fork and knife to cut into his steak.
"……."
The sight was like a masterpiece painting, and Helena found herself staring, her lips unwittingly loosening.
*He's so handsome.*
Even in the middle of this shabby forest, the moment he picked up fork and knife, his demeanor turned aristocratic.
The muddy ground was soaked with snow, and the forest reeked of mustiness and grass, but with him there, none of it mattered.
*Should I ask what cologne he uses? It smells so good…….*
Unconsciously, she closed her eyes and focused on her nose. It was floral yet honeyed, sweet and subtle—a scent she wanted to keep inhaling.
*But marriage? No way. He has a kid.*
The position of Northern lady was tempting enough to make even her hesitate.
Still, no.
"But why bring it up then?"
"It was just something I said. Your daughter's twelve. If she marries soon and has kids? I'd be a grandma."
Helena had apparently already imagined a nonexistent future in her head.
"That's why I'm asking. Do you want to be a grandma?"
"That's not it!"
"Then why say it?"
"I can just say it, can't I? A few words and suddenly I'm the woman desperate to marry you? That's not fair!"
"That's because you're talking nonsense."
Nonsense.
She hadn't meant anything by it, but now she felt indignant.
"You're the one who can't even say a kind word to your own daughter."
She blurted it out, and Kallias bristled as if it were obvious.
"What nonsense is that? I'm doing my best."
He had his own pride.
It was recent that he'd learned he had a daughter, yet he acknowledged Emily and treated her with utmost sincerity.
In his own way.
"Just tossing gifts at her isn't enough. Girls are delicate! A hug now and then would make her so happy!"
Kallias flinched.
Come to think of it, he'd never done that.
It just felt too awkward.
"She's not the type who wants that."
She prefers clashing swords.
Probably.
"Did Emily say that?"
"No, she hasn't……."
They hadn't talked much lately.
Emily was always training, and Kallias had his own duties.
The war was over, but that made things busier.
Post-war cleanup was always crucial. They held grand funerals to appease the souls of fallen knights and soldiers.
Bernard and Kallias.
Along with the attending Heretic Inquisitors reciting prayers.
Emily naturally earned the knights' recognition, mingling with them or teaching children alongside Bernard.
Meanwhile, Kallias handled matters Elbton had passed to him bit by bit, preparing for hunts and church visits, so they rarely crossed paths.
Occasionally, Elbton would call him for meals, light dinners.
But even then, they didn't talk much.
Father and daughter remained somewhat distant.
Kallias wanted to shut Helena up before she pressed further.
Leave her be, and her machine-gun chatter would pierce his eardrums.
"Helena."
"Y-Yes? What?"
"I've been in the North for a while, out of touch with kingdom affairs. You hear a lot as a merchant—can you fill me in?"
As a merchant, Helena was sensitive to rumors.
In this era, information was money, so she likely knew plenty.
"Hmm, for free? You still haven't repaid the thousand gold I lent you."
"Where do you think we are? This is the North."
A mere thousand gold.
He could hand it over with a word.
"True, the war produced over ten thousand carcass swords. Free from the church too! You're swimming in wealth, so a thousand gold is pocket change."
"But did I borrow a full thousand? Wasn't it five hundred?"
"Including interest. Surely a count like you isn't dodging interest payments?"
"……."
Irritation flared, but it had been three years since he borrowed it.
Even if interest had ballooned to match the principal, he had little to say. He had been desperate then, and it was necessary.
Beyond money, he'd owed her his life—not an insurmountable sum.
"And the real debt is your life. The one I saved."
Leave her alone, and she'd drain his marrow.
Time to fortify defenses.
"I never asked to be saved."
"Come on~ How can you be so stingy? You owe me for saving you."
She made a huge fuss of it.
Kallias changed the subject.
"Did you get my letter?"
"Letter? Oh, that. The copper mine in Torett?"
"Yeah."
She must have profited handsomely distributing from that mine.
"You're not trying to settle the debt with that, are you? We couldn't touch it."
"What? Why not."
Copper was modest, but versatile.
The reserves weren't bad.
"You didn't know? The church seized all of Torett and swallowed it. Something about a holy relic?"
"Holy relic?"
Kallias's eyes narrowed.
No way a Valterus Church holy relic was in Torett.
For them to lose one there, of all places.
*Not Valterus's Tears.*
Similar caliber, but they wouldn't hunt for that.
"Anyway, we steered clear of Torett. Getting tangled would only hurt me."
"I see."
So that's what happened to Torett.
A holy relic.
*Then maybe Raiburn chasing me was relic-related too?*
Explains the dogged pursuit.
What of Torett's lord then.
Leone.
*Worst case, he might be dead.*
Leone.
A rather fond fellow.
"Anything else?"
"Nothing major. What you'd care about…… Oh! Oliorro's in ruins now."
"Oliorro ended up like that."
"What, you knew?"
"No. Didn't."
Count Altemion had once asked him to escort there.
But he'd refused.
He'd half-expected as much.
That place always ended up trampled by the Empire or whoever.
"Herded heretics were hiding there, they say. So the royals…… You know?"
"The beast, you mean."
"Beast? Say that to the prince's face, and you'll lose your head."
"Not wrong, though."
Helena shrugged, somewhat agreeing with his firm tone.
"Anyway, that's what happened. The prince went in, smashed everything, killed, obliterated."
"I see."
In Trista, Count Altemion had requested an escort.
Likely for Carpe's first prince.
*Good thing I refused.*
The so-called mad prince.
One slip with a sword, and he devolved into a ravaging beast.
"But wasn't Oliorro just a simple revolt? No need for the prince."
"If it were simple, no prince. This is top secret, but guess what weapon the rebels had?"
"A mace?"
"Huh? How'd you know?"
"So that's it. Explains sending the prince."
Mace.
That made sense.
Radon—a nation allied with the Empire, if not absorbed—worshipped the Mace God.
Carpe's people hated them second only to the Empire.
Perhaps even more.
"You really didn't know?"
"Now I do."
"Whatever…… It caused a huge uproar. They're stockpiling, saying a big war might erupt soon. And the North was already at war. You went through hell."
The wheel turns.
The Northern war was the main quest.
It began and ended, but it was just the first step.
*Faster than expected.*
He needed to nip things in the bud before full war.
It would simplify matters.
"But how long are we eating? Let's go already? Sitting still makes it cold……."
"Not cold to me."
"You're loaded with artifacts and North-born! Of course not! But I am! It's freezing! I'm dying here!"
Noisy.
"Quiet. Brans. Clear it."
"Yes! Clear what, sir?"
Brans glanced between the dishes and Helena.
"……I meant the dishes."
"Ah, right away!"
"What, did you just look at me?"
"Don't take it out on the help. You insisted on following. If it's too cold to whine about, turn back now."
"The Black Forest is on the way to the capital anyway. Why keep telling me to go back? So hurtful!"
Kallias shook his head and mounted.
He was hopeless at riding, but people had item advantages. With the Humasis saddle, it was effortless.
"What's wrong."
But the horse wouldn't budge.
"My horse won't go either. It's scared, Kallias."
Because of something in the Black Forest.
With dragon blood.
Ordinary beasts refused to enter.
"Already? I heard it was a hatchling…… Maybe not."
He activated his triple eyes.
The entire forest ahead glowed red. Spots of blue amid mostly blood-like crimson.
Someone must have provoked the Thunder Wolf Dragon's temper.
"Already encountered it?"
Makes sense; time had passed. They'd crossed paths at least once.
Rampaging through the forest, impossible to avoid.
"Leave the horses. Brans, guard them here."
"Yes!"
Bringing him into the Black Forest would just cause trouble.
It was right ahead anyway.
"Helena. Your shadow……."
As he spoke.
Kallias's instincts rang alarm bells.
Every hair stood on end, chill seeping into his bones.
Faster than thought, his body moved.
"Eek!"
He shoved Helena aside and dodged.
Right then.
Kwarung!!
Blue lightning flashed.
-Hiiiing!
What appeared was a wolf's head.
Dragon scales. Light blue tail fur, twin horns crackling.
Hybrid of dragon and wolf. The Thunder Wolf Dragon bearing dragon-blooded lineage revealed itself.
Lightning clutched in its jaws.