The Perfect Bait
“Do you really have to go this far? There are plenty of more comfortable ways to do this.”
Kasla glared at Adel, eyeing the ropes binding her wrists.
“What, you think driving the sleigh yourself is bad? Where else are you gonna find something this convenient?”
“This is a sleigh?”
Harun, sitting beside her, let out a low sigh. And who could blame him? What he was leaning against was none other than the corpse of a mammoth.
They were riding together on a sled made from the monster’s body, used for hauling carcasses.
“Lucky this is the North Sea... If we were in the desert, you’d be stuck smelling the rot by now.”
“Haha...”
“Ugh, you think this is funny? Is this a joke to you?”
Whoosh—whoosh—
Kasla scowled and kicked toward Adel, but he was on the opposite side, so her foot just swished through empty air.
“The guy who said ‘sweep ‘em first, ask questions later’ back at the Garam Archipelago is awfully quiet up here in the North Sea. What gives?”
“Obviously the situation’s different. The pirates in the Garam Archipelago were simple. They kneel easy when you show overwhelming power. You handle guys like that with brute force, but the North Sea’s another story.”
Adel brushed aside Kasla’s flailing foot as he spoke.
“The Ice Palace lord is one of the Eight Lords. She’s not someone you beat easily.”
“Even with an ancient god’s power?”
“If we went all-out, we’d probably win. But what about the over ten thousand Ice Palace knights in the Ice Palace? We’re just four people.”
“Hmm...”
She nodded.
“Plus, the Ice Palace has secret ice arts we don’t know about. Even Hanna Kran, head of the Spirit Formation, only handles high-tier spirits. But you saw it earlier, right?”
Adel continued.
“Karin Samakal, the Ice Palace lord’s daughter, can summon the Water Spirit King.”
“...You’re saying she’s far superior to the head of the Spirit Formation?”
[No, not quite. Thinking about it now, she doesn’t seem like a proper contractor. I thought Muenel’s form was blurry just because of an injury at first...]
Everyone turned to look at Kalderet at his words.
[It seems like a forced summoning. Of course, she’d need high spirit affinity to pull it off... But she’s got no business handling a Spirit King.]
Adel gave a faint smile at his words.
“As expected of an ancient god. Kalderet’s right. I told you before—before getting caught in the Black Tortoise blizzard—that the North Sea has the most ruins of the ancient ones, right?”
“No way...”
“That tiara she’s wearing. It’s a relic that calls the Water Spirit King.”
[Ah, that explains it... It looked familiar. That’s 【Thousand Snowflakes】.]
Kalderet spoke as if the memory had just clicked.
[A sacred tool made by the ancient alchemist Absian. But that’s weird. It’s not supposed to be for contracting spirits...]
“Yeah. She probably doesn’t know the tiara’s true potential yet. She’ll figure it out pretty late.”
[...No wonder the little princess was so brazen. She had something to back it up. You told her about it in your previous life, right?]
At that moment, Kalderet’s lips twitched as he spoke into Adel’s mind alone.
‘To be precise, it was with your help. Once she unlocked the tiara’s true power and used it, she made massive leaps forward.’
[Even so, she still tried to kill you.]
‘She’s also the one who warned me about that assassination.’
[She did her best to help you when she could... Is that what you’re getting at? Hmph. Doesn’t change the fact that her blade was aimed at you, not Karon Azal.]
Adel gave a wry smile at his words.
[Well, that regret must be why you risked everything to regress. But memories of your past life are yours alone. Don’t let them soften your resolve.]
‘I know.’
Adel nodded and let out a quiet breath.
As Kalderet said, even those among his former comrades who felt a shred of guilt had still pointed their swords at him in the end.
‘I won’t let that future happen. This time, I’ll make sure of it.’
In his past life, he had been a top hunter, leading the charge to slay gods and found an empire.
But his comrades had ultimately become his enemies.
‘I wasn’t strong enough. So this time, I’ll get strong enough that no one can touch me.’
Kalderet felt an inexplicable chill at Adel’s murmured vow.
[Do whatever you want. I’ll follow as your contract god, no matter the path.]
He buried his head nonchalantly, but his tail wagged as if pleased.
“Adel. The little princess calls for you.”
It was then. The cloth covering the corpse lifted, and at Jeo’s summons, Adel stood.
“Be careful.”
Kasla stopped kicking and said to him.
“Take it off.”
At Karin’s command, her subordinates removed the black sack over Adel’s head.
“You already know where we’re headed. Do you really have to do it like this?”
“We don’t know where you might run.”
Adel shrugged at her words.
“Considering the time it took at the Storm Wall, we’ve probably reached the Dorn frontier village by now. Don’t worry. I’m not planning to run or dodge responsibility for what I did.”
“...You. You memorized the map?”
“I’ve traveled more of the continent than the little princess thinks.”
Adel poured water into the teacup on the table without hesitation and drank it down. The knights were stunned into silence by his natural demeanor, with no time to protest.
“If I bring you to the Ice Palace lord, she’ll cut your head off in one swing.”
“Of course, I’ll pay for killing the mammoth. But if my head rolls, the little princess won’t escape blame either. You let an outsider interfere—and even got help from one.”
“Help...? You barged in and—!”
“Saying that will just stoke the Ice Palace lord’s anger.”
Crunch—
Karin’s eyes burned with injustice, but she couldn’t refute him.
“You don’t want to shatter the fragile trust you’ve built with the Ice Palace lord like this, right?”
“...What?”
“If you’re going to punish me, make it just me. The little princess needs a perfect way out.”
“Cocky bastard. You think you can handle the consequences?”
“In exchange, there are a few things I need to know. Give me that info, and I’ll gladly pay up.”
“What do you want to know?”
Adel could tell she was already more than halfway convinced.
Killing the mammoth was done. Now she needed a scapegoat to soothe the Ice Palace lord’s wrath.
“We came here because of a map. One stamped with the Leviathan guild’s seal, pointing to the North Sea.”
“...A map?”
“This one.”
Adel pulled the map from his bosom and showed it to her.
“Do you know what this location is?”
“Definitely... The end of the map here is the Ice Palace. Southeast from there...”
She and the Ice Palace knights scrutinized the map.
“Little princess. Don’t tell me... This is that place?”
Jeo said to her with a stiff face.
“The Rakon Triangular Sea Area. Where the ancient beast of the deep—the ice whale that eats humans—lives.”
‘Ice whale?’
Adel perked up at Jeo’s words.
‘The ice whale—one of the mysterious ancient beasts never discovered... It lives in North Sea waters?’
Even for Adel, who had lived his previous life, tales of the ice whale were new.
And for good reason—info on the North Sea had been scarce back then.
‘When I met the Ice Palace, the lord had already been replaced by Karin, and their power was waning badly.’
During Karon Azal’s continental conquest, they’d allied with the Ice Palace—but it was nominal at best. The Ice Palace was little more than a vassal of Azal.
Otherwise, the North Sea’s master wouldn’t have been one of Karon Azal’s twenty followers.
‘Karon always called them comrades and treated them as equals...’
But Karin Samakal had followed him under the pressure of Azal Kingdom, always ready to invade, to protect the North Sea.
Was that why she’d secretly warned him of Karon Azal’s assassination?
Adel shook his head lightly.
‘Foolish hope.’
Even if so, was it for his sake—or to ensure someone who could check a rising Karon didn’t vanish?
‘But...’
Now was different from his past life.
What if... because of him, the Ice Palace’s power didn’t wane but held strong?
Adel instinctively knew that if his trip north changed Juwan Regian and Karin’s futures, Karon Azal’s would shift the most.
“Yeah... Makes sense. These lines look like straits. Southeast of the North Sea Strait—that’s definitely the Rakon Triangular Sea Area.”
Karin nodded.
“A place no human should ever go. What kind of map is this?”
“It leads to treasure in the Abyss. Maybe even a sealed dark sea god.”
“A god’s ruin?”
“Yes.”
Adel didn’t hide the map’s nature. From here on, he needed her help to investigate the North Sea.
“Where the hell did you get this?”
She eyed him with curiosity.
‘As expected... She doesn’t know. Which means her brother, Daran Samakal, got it on his own...’
Adel gauged her reaction, deciding how much to reveal—and how much to withhold.
“I got it in Ruinxen. Verified it with the Leviathan guild. Their vice-leader, Pausa Gwahl, said the one who brought it had an androgynous voice.”
He dropped it casually.
“Someone with a unique voice... Maybe the little princess knows who?”
“An androgynous voice?”
Her face hardened a bit more than when she’d pinpointed the map’s location.
The others just tilted their heads.
‘She’s caught on. Daran’s voice is the Ice Palace family’s deepest secret—known only to blood kin.’
The reason for his voice was mastering an Ice Palace secret art meant only for women.
“...No idea.”
Karin hesitated before answering.
“Too bad. I was hoping.”
“So the one with that voice brought this map to the Leviathan guild?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm... Mind lending me this map for a bit?”
“Of course. Thanks to the little princess, I know where it is now.”
“Thanks.”
Karin tucked the map into her bosom.
“Hmm...”
She kept muttering lowly, deep in thought.
[Looks like mentioning the voice tipped her off that her brother’s up to something.]
‘Yeah. She’ll show that map to Daran the second she’s back at the Ice Palace. Wondering how he knew the Abyss ruin’s location.’
Adel nodded.
‘Something’ll move from Daran’s side for sure.’
The map was bait, pure and simple.
And Adel knew she’d bitten perfectly.