TRVLT 18

Chapter 18

The Frozen Wolf had been only the beginning. Somehow, starting the very next day, monsters began appearing across the outskirts of the territory and the nearby mountain slopes.

“Those annoying fairies have turned the entire training ground into an ice rink, Teacher!”
“Fairies? Where? Where?”
“Over here. Uh, they’re a species you can’t eat, so we caught them with nets for now.”

First was the high-tier monster, the Snow Fairy, flapping its wings and whipping up a blizzard.

“Uh, it looks like the White Goblins are coming down the mountain, Captain?”

White Goblins swung their icicle spears. Ice slimes covered every small patch of farmland.

Endless waves of invading monsters piled up neatly in the plaza.

In the dead of winter, the knights rolled up their sleeves and struck down monsters with arms like iron. Goblin mobs, three times the size of an adult man, were handled in groups of ten. The way they formed, scattered, and regrouped in unison was almost beautiful, like performance art.

At some point, Ariretti couldn’t continue speaking.

“Ugh, I wish some wolves would come instead. I can’t eat fairies, goblins, or slimes. What should we do, Teacher…?”

The group turned back and fell silent.

The little girl held by the cow lord was smiling the brightest and clearest smile they had ever seen.

“Amazing, Uncles…!”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just…”

Tombel, Duncan, and Roel blinked innocently.

“Hunting monsters like this is easy for any grown adult in the Hejeit territory. The real challenge is beyond the Colden Mountains.”

“No!”

Tombel scratched his jaw awkwardly, and Ariretti shook her head vigorously. Her cheeks, plump like pudding and dusted with syrup, flushed brightly.

“No. You’re the coolest of anyone I’ve ever seen. The coolest!”

The knights, who had been staring blankly, all choked up at the same time.

‘The baby is laughing!’

This was a child who usually had dark, emotionless eyes. Only exaggerated teasing could make her eyebrows or lips move slightly; she had never expressed emotions like a normal child.

Even when in pain, the child never showed it. She seemed detached from the world, numb to both joy and suffering.

So no one here had ever known this little sage could smile so purely.

Glenn was equally surprised.

‘Warm…’

The child’s body, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, was warm.

The plump little fists held determination. What radiated from her was a soft, lively energy.

“This is enough. This is more than enough!”

Ariretti, so excited, patted Glenn on the shoulder repeatedly. Her voice caught at her own excitement, and her throat tightened.

“So, what should we do with those slimes, Aril?”
“Please catch them!”

Ariretti stomped her feet impatiently, unaware of the wave of emotion sweeping around her.

What do you ask? Bring it all, get it all!

“Banila, can coincidences like this really happen?”

Ariretti stared at the warehouse with her mouth wide open.

The lord’s underground storage, which had only been gathering dust, was now filled with expensive materials and food in just one week.

The barren territory, where not a single grain grew and monster attacks were constant, was in fact a treasure trove of natural resources.

Over the past week, Ariretti had roamed the entire territory with the knights, hunting wolves, collecting fairies, and fighting orcs and goblins.

Soon, even the villagers joined in the monster hunts.

There was no need to bring out Banila. Just pointing out the monsters’ weaknesses and which parts to collect made everything run smoothly.

The snow-covered mountains glittered like gold in the sunlight.

All of that is money, it’s gold!

“Then why, with such enormous resources…”

• What would people from this backwater, who only know hard labor, understand?

Right. They might not know.

In the Hejeit territory, few outsiders ever came, and people here lived their whole lives only experiencing the harsh North.

Even the current lord of Hejeit, the border baron, had spent less than three years away from the territory over the past thirty years. Except for one month a year spent in the capital to collect his stipend, he had lived buried in this remote place.

So they might not know the value of what is common here when compared to the city.

‘But… the real treasure of this territory isn’t monsters.’

The knights had the combat strength to beat most mid-level monsters with bare hands.

They upheld the Empire’s borders without relying on magic, scrolls, or potions, using straightforward, steadfast methods.

They were the true gems of this land.

The skill levels of Hejeit knights were overwhelming compared to any knights Ariretti had seen.

It wasn’t just individual skill. There was one thing no magic, power, brilliant mind, or intricate plan could break: trust and loyalty.

“I wasn’t wrong in my judgment…”

In her past two lives, Ariretti had repeatedly urged the first and second princes that to seize the throne steadily, they had to cut off Hejeit from the start.

Ariretti rubbed her reddened eyes on the back of her hand.

A united heart. Kindness that couldn’t ignore the weak and justice that couldn’t tolerate wrongdoing—she had thought it foolish.

No. That was the true strength of this territory.

Cooperation built on trust and camaraderie increased individual power and overwhelmingly enhanced collective force.

At the center of it was the cow lord, Glenn Hejeit.

Thinking this, she suddenly wondered:

What if I had sided with them from the start?

Would Glenn Hejeit and the third prince have survived until the end?

Could I have avoided being betrayed?

‘Even now… is it too late?’

Her nose tingled, her heart pounding.

‘If I help them in this life, can I take revenge?’

She didn’t need much.

Just something small, really modest.

Enough to hang Albert and Lucius upside down on the castle wall and beat their soles with a whip.

Enough to take everything they had and give it all to Hejeit and the third prince, whom they had ignored and trampled their whole lives.

Enough for them to shed tears of envy, jealousy, hatred, anger, despair, and pain…

Just that much would be enough!

Glenn, stacking White Goblin corpses into a tower, looked over.

“Aril Teacher? Why are you smiling so wickedly?”

“No, I’m not!”

Snapping back to her senses, Ariretti quickly denied it and hurried away from the warehouse.

‘Focus. Focus. Revenge is secondary. Right now, the priority is repayment.’

The territory’s storehouses were now sufficiently filled.

Now it was just a matter of plugging the holes where resources leaked.

Then Hejeit would soon hit a windfall.

Glenn wouldn’t need to hand out resources to everyone anymore.

The knight uncles could eat as much meat as they wanted, and the castle people could keep their fires burning all day without saving wood.

‘This is perfect repayment!’

Imagining the Hejeit territory transformed magnificently, her tears vanished.

If this place was nurtured well, it could grow strong enough to rival the forces of the first and second princes…

‘Maybe I could even surpass them and seize Bertel’s real power.’

Above all, Glenn Hejeit was a Sword Master. Hejeit’s knights were all Aura users.

‘Endless potential!’

Ariretti couldn’t hide her laughter and giggled.

This territory will succeed. It will succeed, no matter what!