Chapter 320
Chapter 320
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 320
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Seven months had passed since the Yaksha Great War.
Most of the ghosts that had crossed over through the hole in the Khan had returned to their original ghost realms or been annihilated by the central army.
After the rain comes fair weather, as they say.
The imperial citizens who had witnessed the Yaksha Great War firsthand remembered a few of the heroic figures who had fought without sparing their lives.
Naturally, Tae-yul, Shin-yo, and Seol-hong were among them.
Opinions were divided on Tae-yul's rational demeanor during the war, but no one denied that his presence had allowed it to end without greater casualties.
Shin-yo had shone alongside Jang-du in various battles during the war. However, her actions lacked any warmth, leading the populace to view her as an untouchable being.
And then, Seol-hong.
“Lady Seol-hong! Take a look here!”
“Oh, that smells good.”
“Yes! Fresh bread just came out! Here you go!”
An imperial citizen hurriedly handed her bread wrapped in paper.
Seol-hong accepted it with a smile.
One of her escorts tried to intervene.
“Lady Seol-hong, with food, you never know…”
*Nom…*
Before he could finish, Seol-hong had already taken a bite.
“S-Seol-hong!”
“It’s fine.”
Wherever she went, crowds gathered around her.
What was unusual was that their clothes varied wildly.
Some wore golden silk adorned with lavish ornaments, while others donned threadbare garments with gaping holes between the fibers.
Both the poor and the wealthy adored her.
Not just for her achievements, but for the tales woven into her journey to this point.
From the underworld to the clouds.
Seol-hong’s story held undeniable charm.
No one knew what the Dragon Palace’s internal assessment was, but the imperial citizens’ love for her only grew.
*Clop…*
*Clop…*
The horse carrying Seol-hong entered the palace.
She dismounted and handed the reins to an attendant.
“Please.”
“Yes…”
The attendant led the horse away.
Soon, only Chi-u and Seol-hong remained.
“Seol-hong.”
“……”
“Seol-hong?”
“…Oh, I was lost in thought for a moment.”
Seol-hong had grown taller than before.
She still didn’t match her portrait from life, but she was gradually coming to resemble it.
Her body showed growth like this.
A detailed, easy-to-follow progress report: I’m growing this much.
But her heart was different.
Far from growing, it sometimes shrank instead.
“Any news?”
“…None yet.”
“…I see. We’ll have to wait a bit longer.”
Chi-u scowled fiercely.
It had already been seven months.
Seasons had passed, one after another.
Kang Seol had vanished, to some unfindable place.
“Maybe we should call it quits…”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean Kang Seol…”
Chi-u lowered his voice as he spoke.
“It wouldn’t be strange if he were dead…”
Jin-ryeo approached with a yawn and sat beside Seol-hong. Leaning against the window, she said,
“Lady Seol-hong, do you see those dark clouds?”
“Dark clouds?”
“Yes, dark clouds. It feels like it’s been raining too much lately. Like a massive serpent trying to become a dragon.”
“…You’re right.”
Jin-ryeo gazed at the dark clouds reflected in the window and continued.
“I came from the north. I didn’t know much about the culture or people here. Whenever Tae-yul had time, he’d explain things to me like I was a child. Seeing those clouds reminds me of a legend he told me back then.”
“A legend? What legend?”
“The legend of how Dragon Emperor Hong-cheon was originally a salmon who couldn’t stand Hogrumu’s tyranny, swam upstream against the current, and became a dragon. Funny, right? How could a salmon—not even a serpent—become a dragon?”
“The Khan reveres salmon as sacred, so they often appear in legends… but I hadn’t heard that one.”
“Maybe… just maybe…”
Jin-ryeo looked at Seol-hong and said,
“…Kang Seol is a salmon?”
“A salmon?”
“Yes! Lord So-cheon mentioned salmon. Salmon always return! The one who’ll return… it has to be him, right?”
Seol-hong pondered for a moment, then smiled faintly.
“I hope you’re right.”
* * *
At that moment, Kang Seol was pursuing the beings who had taken Ishii and Yeba.
[Jamad uses Ancient Glacier Sorcery: Guidance of the Snowman.]
[Can only be used in snowy terrain.]
[Accurately tracks the traces of those who have passed over the snow.]
“They went this way.”
- These footprints…
“Definitely not human…”
The direction had pointed toward Whigeltung from the start.
Whigeltung’s inhabitants fell into two main groups.
Ice moles, Emon, and the fallen glacier-jaw trolls.
In this case…
“Glacier-jaw trolls.”
- Emon burrow underground.
“Why, though? If it was a clash, they’d have killed Ishii and Yeba on the spot. Why take humans?”
It was impossible to know without confronting them directly.
Stuck playing reluctant babysitter by fate, Kang Seol couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘Still, this is a nice change sometimes.’
The East had been a nonstop string of dire events, leaving no room to relax. Perhaps it was perfectly timed with the Khan’s crisis that Kang Seol had appeared.
He missed the tension but savored this brief respite.
Truth be told, Kang Seol whistling a tune while chasing glacier-jaw trolls all the way to Whigeltung was the odd part.
“Wait…”
Following the glacier sorcery, Kang Seol frowned.
“Not toward the snow mountains?”
The glacier-jaw trolls clearly used Whigeltung’s snow mountains as their stronghold, ruling the polar regions. Even if their power had waned, that base wouldn’t change…
“…No way, Emon?”
- Did the moles steal their fortress?
Even Jamad let out a hollow laugh.
It could be a misjudgment by Kang Seol and Jamad, but if the glacier-jaw trolls had truly lost their snow mountain fortress to the Emon, that alone hinted at the state of affairs.
Of course, even if so, it didn’t neatly connect to the current situation.
They’d raided an innocent federation patrol and kidnapped them. For what reason?
Kang Seol twitched his brow, staring hard in the direction they’d vanished.
“Well, well?”
- Kang Seol.
Kang Seol picked up speed, delving deep into Whigeltung in pursuit.
[Consumed Hot Breath Potion.]
[Cold resistance greatly increases.]
[Body temperature does not drop easily.]
“…Hm?”
- Planning to intervene? In the Emon and glacier-jaw troll war.
Kang Seol scratched his chin.
“Who knows…”
- The feud between Emon and glacier-jaw trolls is ancient. With the tide turned… it won’t be easy to flip.
“…Let’s watch for now. No reason to get involved yet.”
- Right. Focus on the pursuit first.
The chase didn’t last much longer.
Had the glacier-jaw trolls headed for the snow mountains, it would’ve meant plunging into the heart of the polar extremes, but they halted in an unexpected place.
“…Got you.”
Finally, the glacier-jaw trolls’ trail stopped.
Kang Seol slipped swiftly into the crudely built fortress after them.
* * *
“It’s your fault.”
“No, it’s yours.”
Ishii and Yeba were thrown into a cell barred by cold iron.
At least the glacier-jaw trolls weren’t completely heartless; they’d tossed in some blankets for cover.
“Ugh… cold… Whigeltung… so cold…”
“What if supplies arrive while we’re gone?”
Ishii growled at Yeba’s question.
“Wanna spout nonsense? Supplies are the issue right now? Trolls eat people!”
“…For real? I’m not even that fatty!”
“That’s what you question?”
“Gotta nitpick? That’s why you’ve got no girlfriend.”
“Yeba…”
Ishii stared piercingly at Yeba.
His stubble looked especially greasy today. Feeling uneasy, Yeba asked,
“W-Why!”
“Actually… there’s something I’ve always wanted to say.”
“Hey! N-Not here…”
“…Should I not?”
“You brought it up! I’m ready, spill it.”
“Last supply run, your cigarettes didn’t go missing. I took them.”
“Our friendship… What? You bastard!”
“But I shared them out of conscience.”
“You psycho, taking credit for my smokes! I… I thought you were a stand-up guy…”
Yeba cursed Ishii.
“Get eaten by trolls, you jerk.”
“If I get eaten, you will too.”
“…True. Never mind.”
*Haa…*
Their sighs turned to breath clouds drifting through the fortress.
Ishii asked,
“Why’d they take us?”
“Yeah, they brought us here all nice and tidy… makes no sense.”
“What’s the federation protocol for this?”
“Fend for yourselves!”
“Keuk… Classic federation. …Trash bastards.”
After some thought, Yeba said,
“Think he escaped okay?”
“Who? Oh, the Korean…”
“Yeah, Kang Seol.”
“Dunno. Probably ran or froze.”
“How about hoping he comes to save us?”
“From a Japanese perspective, that’s a trash idea.”
“Universal, huh? Russian me just thought the same.”
“……”
“……”
Yeba muttered, leaning against the wall in her restraints.
“They say Koreans are sentimental…”
“Kimchi’s decent too, though not my thing.”
“Wouldn’t abandon someone in trouble?”
“High public safety too.”
“You idiot, what’s public safety got to do with this.”
“Sentimental enough to storm a place? Always thinking dumb stuff…”
*Krraaaak-!*
A glacier-jaw troll approached and roared.
“Okay, got it! We’ll be quiet…”
“Huh? Huh? They’re opening the door?”
“No! Don’t wanna die! Not going!”
Bound, they were led away by the glacier-jaw troll.
*Kruk…*
*Waaak! Kak!*
“What’re they saying… damn it…”
“Breath reeks too. Worse than yours, Ishii.”
“Hey, comparing’s wrong from the start. Fart already, collapse the fort.”
“You bastard… that wasn’t me.”
“No one else here but you…”
*Kwak! Kaaak!*
“S-Sorry, we’ll be quiet. Yeah?”
“Thinks we understand…”
“Quiet!”
*Kugugugung…*
*Keeek…*
Yeba and Ishii were dumped into a tense, ominous chamber.
Before them sat a massive troll on a throne, flanked by a sorcerer who seemed his underling.
“Damn… figured there was a reason for the nice treatment.”
“Sacrifices?”
*Kruruk…*
*Kraaaak!*
The troll spoke, and the sorcerer stepped forward.
*Whoooong…*
Muttering over his crystal orb, the sorcerer placed hands on Ishii and Yeba’s heads.
“Aaak! Don’t wanna die!”
“Stop!”
*Shii…*
The troll sorcerer said,
“Be solemn, humans.”
“Huh? Sp-Speaks human…”
“Translation sorcery! To understand us! …Why?”
Ishii and Yeba’s faces twisted.
The throne troll asked,
“Human, I have questions.”
“S-Sure! Anything! Answer right and we live?”
The troll’s questions were nothing like what Ishii and Yeba expected.
“If Emon overflow Whigeltung, what would humans do?”
“What? Well…”
Yeba and Ishii answered earnestly.
But the more they did, the more they realized no positive responses were possible.
“…You’re leaving Whigeltung?”
“None of your concern. Next…”
The same for every question.
The sorcerer spoke to the questioning troll.
“Seems… we can’t evade Emon borders and evacuate all forces from Whigeltung.”
“It ends, then…”
“I’ll stay.”
“…You?”
“Yes. I’ll buy time, so at least you, Lord Burtul, must flee Whigeltung swiftly. For the glacier-jaw’s next era to come someday…”
Burtul chuckled darkly.
“Glacier-jaw’s next era… music to my ears. But it won’t happen.”
“Lord Burtul!”
“Fleeing like this, where to? Glacier-jaws fight. If fight, with full strength.”
*Swish…*
Burtul stood abruptly and declared,
“Once resolved to fight, no turning back! That’s all my father taught me.”
“…I’ll devise a plan.”
“Yes… do so…”
Burtul glanced at Yeba and Ishii, then closed his eyes.
“No spare strength for the coming battle. Kill them.”
“What? W-Wait…”
“No… don’t wanna die…”
The sorcerer nodded.
*Whoooosh…*
Glacier sorcery swirled in the sorcerer’s hand.
“No pain, humans.”
“Nooooo!”
*Whiiiiiing…*
*Shrieeek-!*
Crystallized wind howled toward Yeba like a gale.
*Pak-!*
Ishii leaped like a fish, blocking her.
“Ishii!”
“……Huh?”
Ishii, eyes shut awaiting death, peeked open. No pain came despite waiting.
*Whooooosh…*
A black silhouette flickered before Yeba and Ishii. In its hand gripped the sorcerer’s just-fired glacier sorcery.
“Too hasty…”
“Wh-What! Guards!”
Ishii and Yeba recognized the voice instantly.
It was Kang Seol.
“I-I said Koreans are sentimental, right?”
“Waaah… Kang Seol… save us…”
Kang Seol eyed the snot- and tear-streaked Yeba and Ishii, then turned to Burtul.
“…And who’re you?”
“Earthling.”
“What?”
“Let’s talk.”
“Not interested.”
Kang Seol smirked.
“Dunno… you might wanna be.”