005. The Journey Begins - 2
Escorting someone was a first for me.
It couldn't have been anything else, given that I'd always traveled alone with an attitude of wanting nothing to do with other people.
That said, I'd once been looked after by my master, the Sword Emperor, so I at least knew how I was supposed to act.
"Stay down as low as you can until I tell you it's safe."
"Ugh!"
"Kyaaah!"
CRACK!
A beast's arm, hard as iron rebar, swept around and snapped every tree in the vicinity like so many twigs.
It was the deer-headed monster, the Wendigo, having tracked us down with a demonic nose for the scent of humans.
A creature that swung its ten-foot arms to crush carriages and people alike, then tore off their flesh and devoured it. But because its body was rotted and putrefying, anything it swallowed was promptly expelled from the festering mass again.
The Wendigo's hunger could never, ever be filled — which was exactly why it endlessly hunted humans.
The only way to put a stop to its infinite cannibalism was to return the thing to the dirt once and for all.
"As expected, this filthy iron sword just can't cut through it."
Even if only to keep anyone from learning that I was the Sword Emperor, I had to hide the true art of Sword Unity as much as possible.
So I was temporarily using a sword I'd picked up from that assassin, and it was a sorry piece of garbage — worse than the block of steel it would take to carve my own body.
Even in its decayed state, the Wendigo's hide was harder than ordinary steel. A cheap iron sword could barely scratch it.
Of course, if I gathered all my strength, I could cut through it even with an iron sword.
The problem was, I had absolute certainty that the one sword I'd bothered to bring would shatter without question.
"Time to use my head instead of my strength."
I drew in a deep breath, kicked off the ground, and sprinted, closing the distance to the Wendigo's back in an instant.
Though its legs looked like quivering aspens, they were sturdier than they had any right to be — I kicked its right calf with everything I had.
BOOM!
The blow came with a shockwave, and the creature dropped to one knee.
I seized the opening, leapt, and clung on for dear life, gripping tight to the Wendigo's antlers.
"There it is…!"
Between the exposed ribs of its rotting chest, where the flesh had withered away, I could see the Wendigo's frozen heart.
No matter how tough a monster was, its heart couldn't possibly be.
I let go of the antlers and swung the iron sword in a clean diagonal arc in the same motion.
SHRRRK!
The blade skated across the surface of the ribs, drove inward, touched the Wendigo's heart — and carved it out in one clean stroke.
"Groooooohk!"
With a grotesque shriek, the Wendigo's heart burst free of its chest and tumbled onto the snow.
A moment later, the creature's left knee gave out as well, and it collapsed where it knelt, dead on the spot.
The heart lying on the ground was crushed beneath the weight of its own body and burst like a rotten fruit.
"It's over. You can get up now."
"Haah…! Haah…! Th-thank you so much!"
"Not at all. I was simply doing my duty as your escort."
"Are monsters like that common in the North?"
"Not exactly common. It's just that the road we're traveling happens to be a particularly treacherous one."
The snowfields of the North were divided into three regions: Pernil in the west, Magel in the center, and Freldishu in the east.
The region where we stood, Pernil, took its name from the Pernil Snow Mountain — a land of relentless blizzards, so desolate that few people ever set foot there.
And precisely because human hands so rarely touched it, the ecosystem had been left untouched, turning it into the monster-infested wasteland it was today. Magel, with its comparatively calm weather, was packed with people and had become the heart of the northern trade routes, while Freldishu, riddled with mines, was home to great numbers of dwarves and human blacksmiths.
In other words, only the west was abnormally dangerous; the other two regions were reasonably safe.
"By the way, I heard you two came from the south — which route did you take to get here?"
"We came through the Kinel Holy Kingdom."
"If you came from the Kinel Holy Kingdom, you could have simply headed straight north and reached Magel without any trouble."
"We ran into a band of brigands along the way, and had no choice but to take a detour."
"Ah, I see."
They'd tried to avoid a wolf, only to walk straight into the tiger's den. What terminally unlucky women.
Or rather — could I really call them unlucky, having run into me along the way?
It had happened to be the very moment I was ending my life of seclusion and stepping back into the world, so in a sense, they'd been blessed.
"Next time something like that happens, you should turn back — or at the very least, flee east. This region is extremely dangerous."
"I'll engrave that advice in my memory."
"Speaking of which, what brought you to such a dangerous place in the first place, Lord Aron?"
"Ah, well, you see…"
Only then did I realize I hadn't come up with a single decent excuse.
I could wave it off with some vague story about unavoidable circumstances, but if word ever reached these women's ears that I'd been living in seclusion on Mount Pernil, it would become a serious headache. Anyone who learned that would naturally start questioning my identity.
I needed a plausible cover story, and I needed it now.
"I-I was training!"
"Training? Here? In a place where blizzards rage without end and monsters swarm like flies?"
"Yes. They say you can only reach a new realm by driving yourself to the very limit, don't they?"
"Well, when I recall the martial prowess you displayed, Lord Aron, the story is quite convincing."
"Hahaha…"
I'd managed to smooth things over for now, but I clearly needed to prepare a proper excuse for the future.
This was exactly why I never wanted to expand my circle of human connections.
Still, being able to chat pleasantly with the women as we made our way toward the village was rather nice.
"By the way, how was the Kinel Holy Kingdom?"
"As beautiful as ever. It's flourishing in all sorts of ways, centered around the sacred Holy Sword, Lady Aleyna."
It had been a long time since I'd heard news of Aleyna.
Just as I'd expected, she seemed to have returned to the Holy Kingdom the moment I sold her off.
Though I couldn't quite wrap my head around Aleyna being called the driving force behind Kinel's revival. Best guess, she'd found some decent hero to work with and things were running smoothly.
If I ever ran into her again, she'd surely strut around boasting about how she'd found a hero far superior to me.
"…I see."
I made a mental note to avoid crossing paths with Aleyna at all costs — not even a single glance.
"Where are you from originally, Lord Aron?"
"I was born in the Margal Kingdom."
"Margal… I visited once, long ago. I remember it as a lovely place."
Externally, he wasn't wrong — it looked fine enough.
But the kingdom's interior was crawling with the corrupt, who bled the common people dry like leeches.
It was no accident that back alleys festered in the capital, or that countless orphans starved to death in them.
Having been one of those orphans, I despised the Margal Kingdom with every fiber of my being.
I had plenty of hiding places lined up for my next retreat, but not a single one of them lay anywhere near Margal or its surroundings.
"We've been chatting so pleasantly that we've arrived at the village before I knew it."
"Ohhh! Finally…!"
The moment the village came into view, color began to bloom across the women's faces.
Well, of course. They'd come within a hair's breadth of death more than a few dozen times — how could they not be overjoyed?
Frankly, the impressive part was that they hadn't collapsed right where they stood and burst into tears.
"Then, Lord Aron — I'll be waiting here at the main gate tomorrow morning at six!"
"See you tomorrow!"
"Yes, until tomorrow."
A little later than planned, but Fabiel and Rama decided they would go sell their goods starting now.
The village's public order seemed decent enough, and judging that they'd need no escort, I parted ways with the women for the time being.
I had free time until the following morning, so I took a leisurely stroll around the village.
It's really been far too long since I've had this feeling.
The bustling market, unchanged by time, and the endless crowds weaving back and forth through it. The rich, savory scent of bread drifting faintly from the chimneys made my mouth water.
Only now did it truly sink in that I'd arrived at a village where people actually lived together.
If I'm in a village, then naturally the first order of business is to wet my throat, right?
Fresh-baked bread was tempting, but it was alcohol that flickered at the front of my mind.
I dashed straight to the tavern and, the moment I stepped inside, ordered a bottle of wine and a plate of dried fruit to go with it.
I took the wine bottle from the innkeeper and poured it straight down my throat.
For wine sold in a backwater village, the balance of sweetness and tartness was spot-on, the aroma mellow and pleasant.
Above all, the intoxication seeping slowly into my body was something I had missed more than words could say.
Not that I'd actually get drunk, no matter how much I drank…
But being able to sip wine at my leisure in a cozy little tavern put me in a fine mood anyway.
That is, if a pack of mercenaries with curling at the corners of their smiles hadn't decided to come bother me.
"Hey, mister! Never seen you around these parts, mercenary — we've got a saying that good drink should be shared, so how about—"
"Here."
CRASH!
I raised the wine bottle by the neck and brought it down on the skull of the man who'd come over to chat.
With a crisp, refreshing sound, the bottle shattered cleanly, and the man crumpled to the floor.
As my master used to say: never waste words on beasts — rule them with a club.