Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: LavenFell
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“You met Frisvia?!”
After we explained everything that had happened, Kasena’s face went as white as a sheet, then twisted into a teary pout as her eyes darted around wildly. Wait, seriously?
“No way! I wanted to meet her too! Why do you always get to meet her and come back alone? I could’ve gone!”
“We knew it’d be dangerous. And she seemed like a really dangerous person.”
“She’s not! Sure, her personality’s a bit prickly, but she’s actually super kind and has accomplished so much!”
That was according to Kasena, a total fanatic for adventures and adventurers.
While most adventurers operated south of Harvadoria in the Trident Point, Frisvia was the overwhelming force active on the Harvadoria mainland itself.
On top of that, she’d made breakthroughs in biological and geological research here and unearthed relics from the era of the gods, advancing technology by leaps and bounds.
“And the place she calls home is the Battleship Base!”
“Yeah, she told us to head there if things went south.”
“Really? It’s the warship the [Ones Who Came] dragged here for the Harvadoria subjugation, wrecked on an iceberg. But the [Ones Who Came] turned that ship into a forward base! That’s the Battleship Base!”
I nodded along enthusiastically as she ranted about everything she knew on the adventurer Frisvia, and the young lady’s mood seemed to brighten a bit.
I didn’t know much about Frisvia myself, but I was familiar with the Battleship Base. An adventurer who’d made a colossal relic of the [Ones Who Came] her stronghold.
And here she was, operating freely in Harvadoria and taking down ancient relics without a care.
- Her personality’s a bit prickly, but she’s actually super kind and has accomplished so much!
Was Kasena right?
Looking back, her personality was pretty eccentric, but she’d explained everything to us kindly...
I could think about that later. Right now, there was something else giving me a headache.
“Alakishi, is what Frisvia said true? That the White Wolf Corps was wiped out...”
Alakishi stroked his chin, glaring northward with deep worry in his eyes at the colossal peaks piercing the sky at the world’s end.
「She’s twisted in her ways, but she doesn’t lie.」
“Then...!”
「But it’s hard to say it’s accurate. It was just a rumor, after all.」
Alakishi patted my head as if to say not to worry too much, but now we really had no choice but to hurry.
There were too many variables. If the white wolves’ patrols really had been annihilated, if the power to control the ancient ones had truly awakened...
Despite the bone-chilling cold and sleepless anxiety, Alakishi took on his draconic form every night, cradling Kasena like a mother.
‘Without Alakishi, the extreme cold and fatigue from insomnia would’ve taken us down long ago...’
I didn’t know how to thank him, but thanks to that, we pushed south busily for ten straight days.
We couldn’t rush too much because of the elderly and children, but Chief Beduel picked up the pace more than before.
With Alakishi standing solo night watch, even the warriors could get a full night’s sleep.
「We’ve arrived.」
Finally, as the plateau’s edge gave way from flatland to a steep descent, Alakishi halted, and Kasena’s mouth fell open in awe.
“Wow...!”
A frozen river thawing into the vast North Sea—a breathtaking vista of nature.
Sailing that sea route would take us back to Holy Human Empire territory.
And beside that silvery glittering bay stood an ancient city, solidly built of stone, wood, and earth, exuding heavy dignity.
「That is LavenFell, the Winter Harbor.」
* * *
Two months and a fortnight after the black sun’s appearance, Delaiten cadets were undergoing intense interrogations by the special task force mages.
The investigations focused on those with any connection to Student Council President Valensidis, big or small, but most cadets were defending him, stalling the probes.
Our president wouldn’t do that, you must’ve gotten it wrong... Something like that.
“Man, even during break, the second- and third-years keep getting dragged out for this crap.”
Ilin from Chaihak Academy muttered, sticking out her tongue.
In Delaiten’s gym, two second-years had just been hauled off mid-training by special task force mages.
Even during break, no cadet could leave the city—going home was a pipe dream.
“But doesn’t it feel kinda refreshing?”
Lifting a barbell, Ilin looked up at Logan, who was spotting her.
“The Calamity Prodigy’s gone.”
“What?”
“No need to pretend anymore. No more bullshit from those 16th-class losers about Chaihak being Ludwig’s lapdog.”
The Calamity Prodigy was gone...
Yeah, gone.
The black sun, the Papal Court incident, and Rain Ludwig—who’d gone there that day—had vanished. Even now, two months later.
“Uh... yeah.”
Logan nodded blankly after a long pause, then wandered out of the gym like a lost soul.
“Hey! Logan! Ugh, this is heavy! Hey, don’t just leave! Help!”
The next day, purely by coincidence, all the Eight Great Academies’ later disciples gathered at the school cafeteria.
They’d thought they’d gotten pretty close, but something felt off. Everyone knew why but didn’t say it.
The central figure, Rain Ludwig, was gone.
“Ugh, this sucks~ It was fun with the Calamity Prodigy around, everything felt fresh every day★”
Nora sighed, fork dangling from her mouth, and Kaden pulled out his notepad in agreement.
[Yeah;;]
Weiber, sharp again, snapped at Nora.
“If it sucks, go eat somewhere else. Why whine next to me?”
Lilian, eating silently, spoke up calmly.
“But seriously, what happened? Is he really dead like the rumors?”
“He’s not.”
Logan answered. Unintentionally loud. Everyone stared at him in shock.
“No, I mean... sorry.”
Logan stood, leaving his tray barely half-eaten—he usually polished off two or three. The later disciples exchanged awkward words.
“First time that guy’s raised his voice at me.”
“Well, he was the closest to him out of all of us♣”
[He just looks really worn out.]
“Idiot. What if it wasn’t him? It’s just rumors of death.”
Weiber irritably shoved garlic salad in his mouth, forcing the conversation to end.
Meanwhile, Logan shuffled across the sunset-lit campus like he’d lost something when he suddenly bumped into something solid.
Stepping back, he looked up to see Professor Owen gazing down pityingly.
“What a shitty situation! Logan, you monkey-faced fool carrying the world’s crap on your mug—you’re stinking up the whole school!”
“Big bro... no, Professor. Sorry.”
“What a pathetic guy.”
He smacked Logan’s head like he was snapping him out of it, but the tone and force felt more like pity than scolding.
“Professor, could I... ask what happened to Rain Ludwig?”
Owen turned a bitter gaze on Logan, sighing deeply as he looked up at the summer twilight.
“With Chancellor Madelia bedridden and Professor Elin back at the mansion ready to tell her professorship to fuck off... we have to assume he’s dead.”
“S-sorry, didn’t catch that?”
“The special task force spooks, who excel at hunting people down, couldn’t find a single hair in two months. How could he be alive?”
“That’s... you’re saying he’s dead now? Rain Ludwig?”
“Fuck! Answer me, Logan! With the Imperial Dragon Legion half-wiped and the Papal Court’s guards annihilated in that clusterfuck—how could some Ludwig punk survive?!”
Logan stared up at Owen dazedly, finally dropping his head. Owen scolded.
“That smug shitstain who lived like he was hot stuff—any reason he had to come back alive? Answer me!”
“Well... we just promised to play more magic volleyball, it feels like just yesterday we said we’d do it again...”
A single tear rolled down Logan’s cheek onto the ground as he hung his head blankly.
“Hearing he died so suddenly...”
His sturdy shoulders shook hugely and sadly, and Owen placed a hand on his brother’s back with a sighing breath.
“Ha, what a pathetic guy!”
Owen’s gesture patting Logan’s back was so tender, it was hard to believe it was him.
“You’ve become a truly pathetic fucker this past half-year. Now you’re finally worthy of being Chaihak’s later disciple.”
* * *
I thought I’d braced myself, but entering LavenFell caused far bigger problems than I’d imagined.
It didn’t start problematic.
At first, we all marveled at LavenFell’s size and the vast number of tents stretching beyond its walls, chatting away.
“So many tribes gathered in one place... First time I’ve seen this.”
Barlzen muttered blankly, scanning the unfamiliar sights along the city’s entry path.
“An insane number. The scent of kin is thick in the air.”
“Happy about it?”
“Hmph, warriors don’t rejoice over this. Just curious. Looks like we’re not too late, barely.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Look at the half-folded tents. They’re prepped to leave anytime. Probably heading to the barrier in two or three days.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. A little later, and it would’ve been disaster.
Outside the city, non-combatants were positioned—most beastkin in sight looked tame, almost human-like.
Laughter and tribal songs echoed from the tents, making Kasena’s eyes sparkle.
“We’ll set up camp here. Barlzen, take the kids to meet Griffion.”
For the exhausted tribesfolk after the long march, Chief Beduel pitched tents in the city’s northeast.
Tents reached this far, so the city inside was likely full—sound judgment.
That left four of us entering LavenFell proper: me, Alakishi, Barlzen, and Kasena.
“Alakishi!”
“It’s Alakishi!”
As expected, Alakishi commanded respect across tribes—kids swarmed him, begging for fire tricks or fun stories.
‘Good, everyone’s full of energy.’
That brief relaxation ended when a kid staring intently at me and Kasena suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.
“H-human?!”
That scream ignited the chaos.
Terrified kids shrieked and scattered, warriors howling eerily as they charged from all directions.
In seconds, dozens of warriors surrounded us, more pouring in.
「Calm down, these children are...」
Alakishi tried to mediate but shut his mouth and stepped aside.
Because I’d asked him to.
Amid the taut killing intent, beastkin bared claws and fangs... with hateful glares like we were monsters.
“Humans...”
“Humans...”
Kasena stepped back, clutching my fur cloak tightly.
“What do we do? What now, Rain?”
Even if she asked, conversation wasn’t possible here...
“Kill them!”
“Kill!”
I’d told Alakishi not to intervene forcefully—using his power might make it worse.
“Hey, please hear me out.”
My desperate shout fell on deaf ears.
Kill, kill... They just advanced, fangs and claws gleaming.
Then, stepping forward protectively was, surprisingly, Warrior Chief Barlzen.
“These two young ones are friends of the Durankus Tribe!”
“What?”
“Any who bare fangs at them challenge our tribe—and I, Barlzen son of Batu, will personally shatter every one!”
Friends with humans? The warriors gawked at each other in disbelief. Then one stepped out from their ranks.
A warrior with a massive polar bear head, bigger than even the large Barlzen in height and build.
“You dare bring hairless beasts into LavenFell?”
A cyclops with a long scar over his left eye socket—his remaining eye scanned us coldly.
“I watched thinking I was wrong, but grown here in the heart, and your head’s rotted in the abyss, Barlzen!”
“My eyes and mind are sharp as Father left them, Opus. Clear your damn carcass and make way. I need to see Griffion.”
“With those human brats?”
“Yes.”
“We can’t let Griffion suffer such shame. I’ll kill these hairless whelps right here!”
In that instant—before Opus finished, some warriors lunged for our necks—
Barlzen grabbed the first attacker’s shoulder and slammed him into the ground—
Alakishi, fed up, decided to force control with his draconic form—
“Stop!”
A shrill yell, and ornate glowing runes in the air transformed into some force.
A translucent gravity field bloomed round us, gently pushing back the beastkin who’d closed in—without harming them.
The peak tension eased into eerie silence.
‘A telekinesis barrier?’
The wind magic circle spinning in my palm crumbled powerlessly.
I’d planned to summon a gale to shove the riled warriors. It would’ve been rough, possibly worsening things.
Perfect control like this telekinesis... Haven’t seen it in ages.
“Why won’t you listen? Why jump straight to fighting?!”
The spell’s caster—obvious, but we all stared at the girl in surprise anew.
Kasena Page, who’d made explosive progress under Alakishi’s guidance these three months.
That hair color—pale purple strands—left the polar bear Opus blinking his one eye stupidly before roaring.
“What talk with hairless beasts?!”
Undaunted, Kasena marched up and kicked Opus’s thick shin with her tiny foot.
“Who cares about fur? You, me—we’re all the same humans, right?!”
Opus blinked, too shocked even by a human kid kicking him.
No wonder. Even we, knowing her personality, gawked at Kasena.
If purity is a weapon, Kasena wields the world’s strongest.
Her flawless innocence in that voice and gaze threw the beastkin warriors into confusion.
‘Same humans...?’
‘She sees us as humans too?’
In that turmoil, Kasena pointed at me with all her might.
“Rain came all this way to help you! So just listen to what he wants to say! You can do that much, right!”