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Chapter 11
The North—the land in the empire with the most monsters, a barren land covered in ice and snow. Jestian was born and raised in the North, and he was its sole heir.
It was perhaps only natural, then, that Jestian came to possess an extraordinary sense of responsibility and mission toward the North, and that he grew to love it. He would do anything to protect the North.
‘An engagement is nothing.’
That was also why, after his father’s death, he had accepted the engagement demanded by the temple. The temple, which made no effort to hide its sinister intentions, used divine power as leverage to shake the North.
The North, which had to fight monsters at all times, desperately needed divine power for healing. There was no other way. Jestian resolved to endure it willingly. He just had to hold out a little longer.
‘Once I come of age.’
After formally inheriting the dukedom and gaining proper power, then—he would repay the temple.
The fiancée sent by the temple was a girl his age who resembled the fruits he had once seen in the southern region. A slender, small girl with pale orange hair and light green eyes—Linea Hanover.
Linea was wary of Jestian, and Jestian paid her no mind.
After arriving in the North, whether out of curiosity or to try to uncover something, Linea would quietly wander around Lefgaen Castle. Sniffling in the cold weather, yet never properly dressed.
〈Why do you go around like that?〉
When Jestian, unable to stand it any longer, wrapped a wool-knitted scarf around her, she seemed moved by such a small gesture, not even hiding her flushed face as she kept fidgeting with the end of the scarf.
When their eyes met, Jestian smiled briefly on a whim. Linea flinched but did not move away.
Whims came to Jestian more often than he expected. Sometimes he would speak to her first. Linea’s wariness gradually faded. Though she pretended not to, she would trot along behind Jestian—a sight that was somewhat amusing, though he did not show it.
But still, she was someone sent by the temple. She might be hiding some scheme. He must not let his guard down.
One day, having apparently heard news of the expedition, Linea came to him and asked hesitantly:
〈Should I go with you?〉
〈Why you?〉
〈I just… I might be able to help. I’ll protect you.〉
Jestian suppressed a laugh inwardly. Linea’s wrist was so thin that one hand could easily wrap around it. Fragile even to his eyes—before a monster, she’d be nothing but a single bite. Who was protecting whom? He did not answer, but Linea seemed to sense the refusal, her brows lowering slightly.
〈Then, should I imbue my divine power for you?〉
The positions of the North and the temple were not equal. The temple stood higher. As someone from the temple, Linea did not need to do anything. Even if she acted arrogantly or rudely while staying in the North, they would have no choice but to endure it.
But Linea did not do that. Instead, she kept finding things she could do. On the morning of the expedition, Jestian silently accepted the small stones Linea gave him.
〈I thought it’d be nice if everyone could have one, so I made a lot. See the blue one in the middle? That one’s yours. The biggest one.〉
Linea’s eyes, whispering with a proud expression, were puffy from lack of sleep. Jestian felt the urge to gently brush the skin around those eyes.
But instead of acting on it, he put all the stones Linea had given him into his own pocket. Every single one, without exception. He thoroughly ignored the knights who had overheard the conversation from afar and were approaching with greedy eyes.
〈Come back safely. I’ll be waiting.〉
〈…Okay.〉
Linea Hanover was a person of the temple. She could not be trusted. She might have come under some order—he could not keep her close.
Yet at some point, he felt something had twisted. And it was not something he could carelessly ignore or reject.
Dealing with Linea had become difficult. Suspecting and watching her, as he used to. Jestian found that—so terribly difficult.
“Sir Jestian.”
“Speak. Any traces?”
It was a knight who had returned from reconnaissance that broke Jestian’s reverie. The knight, wearing a deeply troubled expression, answered carefully.
“We found nothing. It might be in another direction.”
Jestian clicked his tongue inwardly. Monster subjugation was an annual spring ritual, but this expedition had a different objective. A few days earlier, a piece of news that could not be taken lightly had arrived at the castle.
〈Even though it wasn’t night, everything around went dark. At first, I, I didn’t even know it was a monster.〉
The young man stammered, still frightened just by recalling it.
〈I thought a mountain was moving. When it rose up, the whole village was swallowed by darkness, and then, and then…〉
The young man’s village had vanished without a trace. Literally evaporated. The sole survivor was the young man himself. Jestian immediately sent several skilled knights, but they could not find anything.
〈I’m sorry. There was only piled-up snow.〉
〈Could the snow have covered the traces?〉
〈We dug around a few places just in case, but we found no signs of a monster having passed through.〉
A monster as large as a mountain, yet capable of moving stealthily—that would be a rather cunning one. The damage would only grow worse. After much deliberation, Jestian decided to focus this subjugation on that monster.
He personally led the knights, expanding the search radius far beyond where the village had stood. But the problem was that they had found nothing so far. The knight commander, Liam, who had heard the report alongside him, muttered.
“How can something that big leave no trace at all?”
“I wonder. Liam, have you ever seen a flying monster?”
“Yes. Only once, though. …Do you mean to say that monster might be able to fly?”
Jestian slowly nodded. No flying monsters had ever been discovered in the North. But if there were no traces on the ground, everything had to be questioned.
“From tomorrow’s search onward, tell them to focus on the branches and tops of large trees. Even if it can fly, it must have landed somewhere to rest.”
“Understood. We’ll call it a day for now, too.”
“Yes. Everyone heard that? Move it, move it!”
Liam urged the knights. Even with spring’s arrival, the days were still short. They had to set up camp before it got darker. The knights moved in perfect unison. In the midst of this, one grumbled.
“This kind of thing should be done by the youngest.”
“Come to think of it, I don’t see Sylvia. Did she fall behind?”
It was Liam, building a fire beside them, who cleared up the question.
“Sylvia stayed behind by Lady Linea’s side, on Sir Jestian’s orders.”
“What?”
At Liam’s indifferent words, the knights grew noisy.
“Surely Sylvia wasn’t selected as Lady Linea’s escort knight?”
“No way. When was an escort knight ever appointed? I didn’t even get to apply.”
The knights stopped what they were doing and looked at Jestian. A silent protest. Just then, Jestian, who had been about to take up his holy sword and survey the area, raised an eyebrow.
“What.”
“I can do well too.”
“I just do well.”
Toward the knights growing ever more talkative, Jestian said without hiding his annoyance:
“It’s not that, so everyone drop it.”
But the commotion did not die down. Eventually, Jestian gave a short sigh and left the area. The knights’ voices faded to a tolerable level, and he walked until the firelight was just barely visible, then drove his holy sword into the frozen ground.
The divine power imbued in the holy sword swirled around and enveloped the clearing where the party was staying. This much wouldn’t be enough for a large monster, but it would drive off smaller ones.
“An escort knight, huh…”
Linea did not have an escort knight. She had come to the North alone. He had found it odd, but assumed that someone chosen so carefully by the temple could at least protect herself. He had not wanted to care more.
When had that thought changed? Eventually, he simply thought that since he himself was by her side, it would be fine. Jestian was one of the most skilled knights not only in the North but in the entire empire. Having him watch over her directly was efficient. And it would also make surveillance easier.
Yes, that was surely it. And yet, this time, he had deliberately left Sylvia by Linea’s side.
〈…You were bad.〉
〈…Who was.〉
〈You were bad.〉
His body froze instantly. Why? A sudden fear gripped him. Had she noticed something? Had she heard something from the temple? Or if not that—perhaps she wanted to leave the North?
But he could not ask. He did not want to. He could not bear to hear that answer from Linea.
He heard someone approaching hurriedly. Jestian quickly composed his expression. Showing a disheveled side was not something the heir of the North should do.
“Liam, what is it?”
“A carrier pigeon arrived from the castle. You need to check it urgently.”
Jestian took the small piece of paper handed to him. As he read it, his blue eyes slowly sank.
