Chapter 136: Laying the Groundwork (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 136: Laying the Groundwork (3)
Ruuuumble!
An avalanche, triggered by the yeti's stomping, came crashing down.
Trees, rocks, and animals were swept away in an instant. The avalanche swelled, gathering mass as it descended, rushing toward the party with terrifying speed.
"Run, unless you want to be frozen solid!"
The warriors sprinted with all their might, their backs to the avalanche. They too knew how to enhance their bodies, and having spent their entire lives traversing the snow, they ran as if on flat ground.
"Linvar, at this rate, we'll be caught!"
But it was far from enough to escape a natural disaster. It seemed they would die not by the yeti's hand, but by being swept away in the avalanche.
Beside Linvar, who was running with every ounce of her strength, Azyeth bounded lightly over the ground as if on a leisurely stroll. Even on the verge of being swallowed by the snow, she showed not the slightest hint of panic.
Her face was blank, as if she hadn't a care in the world, but for once, she was actually thinking.
She was aware that the current situation was her fault. Her attempt to help had only made things worse.
At this rate, they'll be swept away.
She felt no particular guilt. Even the capacity for guilt had been sealed away.
But people would blame her, and the responsibility would fall not on her, but on her master, Karami.
For some reason, she didn't like that.
She couldn't explain why, but she just didn't.
She had to stop it here, so as not to cause him trouble.
Whoosh.
Azyeth, who had been sliding down, turned around. Planting her feet firmly on the slope, she faced the oncoming avalanche.
"Miss, what are you doing? Run!"
Azyeth paid no mind to the urgent cry. It was too late to go back for someone who had stopped, so the others ran on, leaving her behind.
Azyeth closed her eyes.
Her soul, nestled deeper than her heart.
The dragon's curse that had frozen that soul solid.
She reached for it.
The cold seeping from her soul gathered into a single point.
She grasped the chill, compressed to its absolute limit, and drew it out.
As if drawing a sword.
What Azyeth pulled from her hip was a sword.
Its blade was white, as if forged from winter itself. The pommel was empty, bearing only the trace of something that had once been set there. A cool chill flowed from it like mist.
Just as a witch uses a staff or a yokai uses a fox orb as a catalyst for magic, Azyeth's sword might have seemed similar, but the reality was different.
It was not some tool to make magic easier to handle, but a sword meant to serve its true purpose.
“...”
Azyeth stared blankly at the sword in her left hand.
Even she, the one who had created it, did not quite know what it was. Forging the sword had been an act of pure instinct.
Yet, holding it felt familiar, a comfortable sensation seeping into her hand. Azyeth gripped the sword tightly and stared straight ahead.
The massive avalanche surged down the mountain's spine. The snowfield roared, crashing downward like a white wave swallowing the world.
The line between earth and sky vanished, and only snow and wind danced in a wild frenzy.
In the midst of that chaos, Azyeth simply stood. The wind whipped her white hair and a deafening roar battered her ears, but she remained serene.
Crunch.
Azyeth took a step forward.
The snowfield seemed to kneel, embracing her.
She swung the ice sword lightly.
Crack!
The avalanche stopped abruptly.
The shapeless mass of snow froze solid, like transparent shards of glass.
The wind, the snow, the sound.
A silence, as if time itself had stopped.
The avalanche had become a brilliant, dynamic sculpture of winter.
CRACK!
A section of the frozen avalanche shattered, and the yeti burst forth. Even in a place where the very avalanche had frozen, the yeti was completely unfazed.
Uwooooar!
The yeti beat its chest and roared.
It charged across the snowfield like an incarnation of fury.
Its massive feet trampled the ice, and the snowfield howled in its wake.
The beast's shadow fell over Azyeth.
Azyeth aimed her sword.
Her movements were slow like winter, but precise.
Shhhlick!
The blade cut through the whipping wind and sliced across the yeti's arm.
Kuwoooar!
The yeti let out a scream.
The same arm that Jorn had only managed to scratch, despite hacking at it with all his might, was now cleanly severed.
A fountain of blood erupted from the severed limb, painting the transparent, canvas-like ice with crimson stains.
The moment the yeti tried to swing its remaining arm at Azyeth, the sword glowed, and ice began to consume the beast.
Not from the outside, but from within.
The frost traveled up through the exposed wound, freezing the yeti's insides—its blood, its organs, all of its internal tissues.
The yeti was resistant to the cold thanks to its fur, but that immunity did not extend to its insides.
Its exterior remained exactly as it had been in life, making it a truly living statue.
"Haa..."
A white breath bloomed from her lips, turning into ice crystals.
The snowy mountain fell silent.
The sword in Azyeth's hand, held as if she were the master of winter, dissipated and vanished.
Looking at her empty hand, Azyeth clenched and unclenched her fist.
It felt strangely empty.
*
Despite the minor incident, the yeti hunt ended in success.
The squad members who had fled downhill survived thanks to Azyeth stopping the avalanche, and Jorn, who had been fighting the yeti, had used his excellent judgment to retreat to safety.
They had faced the so-called master of the snowfields and suffered no casualties. What more could one say but that it was a success?
Of course, it was still hard to believe. Linvar was one thing, but even those who had witnessed Azyeth's battle with the wyvern had to be astonished all over again.
Linvar scratched her head.
"I was acting all cool earlier... I'm so embarrassed I could die."
"You can say that again. Was there even a need for us to step in?"
Compared to Azyeth's magic, the Northguard's organized movements were like child's play.
"Miss, have you ever thought about joining our tribe? We'll treat you well. How about becoming our chief?"
"Now that's a brilliant idea. A pretty chief is a hundred, no, a thousand times better than that stuffy old boss of ours."
Thanks to her overwhelming beauty and skill, Azyeth quickly won the support of the squad members.
Jorn cut in, breaking the mood.
"That's enough nonsense. We're retrieving the yeti and returning to the village."
"Looks like the boss felt his position was threatened. See how quickly he's trying to dismiss us."
“...”
"Alright, alright. It was a joke, just a joke. So stop glaring at us like you're going to kill us, boss."
The squad members snickered.
The yeti's corpse was in pristine condition. With only one arm severed and its insides frozen, the fur was completely undamaged.
It was already larger than the average yeti, and with its condition being so excellent, it was sure to sell for a high price.
Smiles bloomed on the faces of the squad members.
Their steps back to the village were as light as snow.
On top of that, the squad members, whose fondness for Azyeth had grown significantly after the battle, started cozying up to her.
"Miss, what are you, really? I've never seen such powerful magic."
“...”
"You really keep things wrapped up tight. A mysterious lady, aren't you?"
Azyeth didn't answer.
How could she, when she didn't know herself?
The squad members, having more or less figured out what kind of person Azyeth was, didn't press her further. They were simply amazed that someone so pure could exist in this world.
Because of this, a suspicion naturally began to sprout in Linvar's mind.
"By the way, Miss. You said you're that bastard's slave, right? What was his name again?"
"Rami...?"
"Rami? What a weird name. Anyway. How did you end up as a slave to a guy like that?"
Azyeth's eyes darted from side to side in thought before she tilted her head.
"I don't know...?"
"What? You don't know?"
Azyeth nodded.
She doesn't even know how she became a slave.
A suspicion bordering on certainty flashed through Linvar's mind.
"That son of a bitch must have forced you into slavery!"
One might think that all slaves in the world are forced into servitude, but Azyeth's case seemed slightly different.
Azyeth was too powerful to be made a slave. Someone of her caliber could overcome any injustice the world threw at her.
An overly powerful person cannot be subjugated with money. They can simply take what they want by force.
But Azyeth's immense power was inversely proportional to a certain lack she seemed to have. She had a striking, almost child-like innocence.
In other words, Karami must have tricked the clueless girl into becoming his slave. There was no other explanation.
"Miss, you do know that being a slave is a bad thing, right?"
"...?"
"That guy is a slave trader. He's a bad person."
"Rami... a bad person...?"
"Of course a slave trader is a bad guy!"
"Just as I thought, you didn't know. No wonder it felt so strange. It's absurd for someone like you to be a slave."
It wouldn't be strange for nations to go to war over Azyeth, so for her to be the slave of a mere human like Karami was utterly preposterous.
Karami had taken advantage of Azyeth's naivete to enslave her.
Poor Azyeth.
A benevolent desire to help her grew steadily among the squad members.
"Don't worry. We'll make sure to set you free."
Azyeth didn't really understand what they were saying, but their spirits seemed to have lifted.
Nod, nod.
This was a time for nodding.
*
Following the flags, they returned to the village without much difficulty.
At the village entrance lay the reindeer, neatly arranged. The members who had been sent ahead had arrived safely.
Such a haul in just one day.
It was a truly auspicious day. Enough for a meat party, something they hadn't had in a while.
"Let's go to the chief."
It was tradition to report a successful hunt to the chief. Even though Darka wasn't in her right mind, the northerners valued the respect due to their leader.
Jorn and the others from the hunting party headed for the chief's tent.
But something was strange. The expression on the guard standing watch at the tent was not good.
"What happened?"
"The chief... That slave trader bastard finally went and caused trouble..."
Jorn's eyes widened. He strode forward, pushed aside the tent flap, and went inside.
Inside, a scene was unfolding that would shock even the indomitable warriors.
"Aigoo, my sweet child~ You eat so well. Here, have some of this, too."
"Haha, I've already had plenty. Oh? Mr. Jorn. You're back. How was it? Was the hunt successful today? Our slave didn't cause any trouble, did she?"
Karami greeted them with a wide grin, lounging on the chief's furs.
Darka was feeding Karami pieces of fruit—a rare delicacy in the North—with her own hands.
Just like a mother and son.