Will Karon Kill Me? Haha, Karin. You're Drunk.
"Will Karon kill me? Haha, Karin. You're drunk."
"And I'll be there too."
"You serious?"
"Yeah. I'll point my sword at you too. If you can't kill me, I'll kill you."
On the day he unified the continent. At the feast, she handed him a glass of liquor and said those words.
Adel was at a loss for words at how calmly she spoke.
"……."
He thought it was an absurd lie. But the moment he saw her eyes, Adel realized.
The lord of the Ice Palace in the North Sea didn't make boring jokes—she never lied.
"Oh? Cat got your tongue? What, are you embarrassed? Why? Because of my beauty?"
'……Just roll with it.'
Kalderet let out a sigh of disbelief at her winking eye and playful expression.
'Still making those lame jokes.'
"For someone bold enough to trek from the desert all the way to the distant North Sea, that's a fun reaction."
Oblivious to their thoughts, Karin spoke in her haughty tone.
"Makes sense. I've met someone like you before. Yeah, it's intriguing. Do all desert folk get this shy around people?"
"You've met a desert tribesman?"
In that instant, Adel instinctively knew who she meant—it was Bin.
"Yeah, not long ago. He said he was from the desert too. Looked scared pale."
"……Do you happen to know where he went?"
"Hmm, no idea about that. I figured he was pale from not adapting to the North Sea cold, so I gave him a heat stone and that was it."
She pulled a heat stone from her bosom. The stone bore intricate runes—quite advanced incantation patterns.
"Here. As an apology, I'll give you one too. It's engraved with spells, so it's semi-permanent. Hard to come by. Keep it safe."
Karin said it with a smug look of pride.
"Of course, it's not hard for me to get. No need to thank me too much. Just bow three times to it every morning and say thanks."
Adel gave a wry smile, pressed down hard on Kalderet's forehead, and looked at her.
'Her endless lame jokes are the same, but her personality's better than when she was young.'
'The lame jokes are just as annoying, but she's not the bitchy personality from my past life.'
The Karin he remembered from his past life had been so prickly you never knew if her words were jokes or serious—impossible to read.
People said it was the cold North Sea air that made her that way, but the one he'd just met was overflowing with energy—almost too much.
'Maybe her personality change comes later.'
Honestly, this trip to the North Sea had been full of surprises so far.
From Juwan Regian on the train to Karin Samakal now. They were completely different from how he remembered them in his past life.
'If they changed during the time I didn't know about, then this time I can get involved in that change.'
He suspected the change in the Ice Palace lord was key.
'With a personality like that, she doesn't seem the type to start a rebellion…… Why did the Ice Palace lord change?'
Adel thought he needed to investigate not just the map's location, but the events unfolding in the North Sea.
"Jeo, let's head out. If you need help, come to the Blue Tower anytime."
Karin mounted her reindeer and said,
"The Ice Palace doesn't snub young adventurers."
Adel nodded unconsciously at her words.
Thwack—!!
"Ow!"
Caught off guard, Adel yelped and jumped as if his butt were on fire from the scorching heat.
"W-What the—?!"
"What do you think? It's me. Look at that grin—you're thrilled to get a welcome gift from the Ice Palace lord's daughter right away."
"……What are you talking about."
Adel rubbed his throbbing butt and shot back at the fuming Kasla.
"……Shut up."
"Anyway, I've booked the inn, so do whatever—sleep or not. I'm off to buy heat stones now."
She snorted.
"Unlike some people who get rare ones from the little palace lord, I have to stock up on cheap ones."
"……Good luck."
Harun patted Adel's shoulder lightly in encouragement as he followed her.
"The inn's inside the city. Blue roof. Easy to find, so go ahead."
Adel grimaced and nodded.
"What's her deal."
Adel gave Harun a wry smile at his jab.
"Cut the nonsense."
Kalderet flailed playfully at Garon circling him teasingly.
"……."
Adel left them behind and started walking.
'Bin was definitely here. On his way to meet the Ice Palace lord, I need to do more investigating.'
"Mmm, delicious!!"
"We ordered a ton, so eat slow. No need to stand watch here, and no one's gonna steal your food."
"Mmph, mmph, mmmph."
Kasla nodded vigorously, mouth stuffed full of food.
Hunting parties were like this, but the Black Crows especially operated in secrecy, so proper meals and sleep were rare luxuries.
"……No need to answer with your mouth full."
Adel placed a napkin in front of her on the table.
"Heila's later than I thought."
"Yeah. She should be here by now…… Nothing happened, right?"
"Nah, no way. We know her skills better than anyone. She's not the type to get jumped by street thugs."
"True, but still."
After arriving at the inn, Adel had ordered food and waited for the others. Strangely, Heila hadn't returned even after Kasla and Harun arrived and the food came.
He felt uneasy, but since she was skilled even before meeting him, Adel decided to trust her.
"So, what's the plan now? To check the map like you said, we need to meet the Ice Palace lord…… Think she'll see us?"
"Won't be easy. She doesn't trust outsiders—especially not ones from outside the North Sea."
Adel nodded at Harun's words and shoved a piece of bread from his plate into his mouth.
"Plus, she's greedy. If we show her the North Sea's Ice Crystal straight up, she won't thank us—she'll probably try to take our lives."
He rinsed his mouth with a strong North Sea liquor unique to the region.
"Hoo."
It burned like fire down his throat, but warmth spread through his body.
"And that's not all. She'll try to snatch the map we're after too. I bet it points to one of the North Sea ruins."
"Ruins?"
"Yeah. The North Sea's barren, but it's actually where the continent has the most ancient ruins buried."
"Whoa…… Really?"
"The artifacts dug up from those ruins alone rival the combined treasures of the central nine kingdoms."
"Whoa…… Combined treasures of the nine kingdoms? That's enough to unify the continent ages ago."
Garon chimed in.
"But their greed grew with the artifacts from the ancient ruins, and they ended up touching what they shouldn't have."
"What was that?"
"Overconfident in artifact power, they hunted the legendary ancient beast living in the North Sea depths—the Black Tortoise. They failed spectacularly, of course."
Garon nodded.
"Ugh…… mmph."
Harun lost his appetite at Garon's words, lifted his foot slightly, and set down his food.
Kalderet, sealed away back then and unaware, sighed anyway.
"The blizzards sealed most ruin entrances. They couldn't recover the piled-up artifacts properly."
One mistake changed everything. Every Ice Palace lord's ambition was to excavate those buried ruins and aim for the continent again.
"And for that, they need this."
Clink—
Adel pulled out the 【North Sea's Ice Crystal】.
"With the Ice Palace lord's affinity, she could probably activate the Heavenly Palace Stone."
"You mean contracting with the high god of winter, Kiransha."
"Yeah. Kiransha's power could clear the blizzards covering the North Sea."
"Rediscover ruins untouched till now…… As Ice Palace lord, she couldn't resist that temptation."
'The problem is that the map we have was made by Daran Samakal, the Ice Palace lord's son.'
In his past life, Daran Samakal was Karin Samakal's brother and her most trusted right-hand man.
'That means he stamped and distributed the map through the Leviathan Guild on orders from the little palace lord, Karin—not the Ice Palace lord.'
If Karin Samakal was plotting rebellion, the current Ice Palace lord, Krishan, might not know about the map.
Going to the Ice Palace lord with it could be dangerous.
In that moment, Adel realized the North Sea deal might be with the little palace lord, not the Ice Palace lord.
And ironically, she was right here in Storm Wall.
"Hmm."
His mind raced as he stared at the pendant.
Bam—!!!
That was when it happened. The inn door burst open.
Cracked armor bore a familiar emblem.
"That guy's……."
The pale-faced man gasping raggedly was none other than Jeo, Karin Samakal's subordinate from the street earlier.
"E-Everyone, get away!!!!"
Panic erupted.