Chapter 121

Gulmag hadn’t sent a letter only to Jermy. How else would Dario know the contents of an unopened letter?

Wendigo waved the letter he had received from Dario and asked him:

“Did I see that correctly?”

“If Your Majesty hasn’t been afflicted by a curse or disease. If you have been afflicted by such, please tell me. I think I should tell everyone to run away.”

“Seeing you grumble as usual, it seems I’m in my right mind.”

Wendigo nodded calmly and handed the letter to a servant. Honestly, he had been expecting such a day to come eventually.

It wouldn’t be strange if there existed at least one being in this wide world that could be Gulmag’s mate.

Originally, the reason he was staying in the north was to find a mate, so there was no need to be greatly surprised.

“Wa-wait a minute! So you’re saying the reason Master was staying in the north was to find a lover?”

On the other hand, Jermy, who had just learned today the reason his master was staying in this land, was quite bewildered.

To think that his master, who wielded his violent nature with cold reason, had been wandering to find a mate.

The truth(?) about his master, whom he had regarded as an eccentric who had transcended the world, was harder to accept than expected.

Wendigo asked Jermy, puzzled:

“Then did you want your master to remain single for life?”

“No! Of course not… but it’s too sudden.”

“Well, certainly it’s strange to try to make someone you’ve never even seen your lover.”

“Even finding clues from traces of battle would be hard to find even among the most warrior-like tribes in the north.”

When Dario threw out a joke with a shrug, Jermy nodded. While it was confusing that Gulmag had found a partner, it was certainly something to be congratulated.

But to find clues not from a fated encounter but from traces of battle… Even for his respected master, it was strange.

“To make someone your partner based on just that. Falling in love in an instant is clearly strange!”

Flinch!

When Jermy shouted out of concern for his master, Anna beside him was startled and flustered. Wendigo looked at her pitifully.

After all, Anna also seemed to have fallen in love with Jermy at first sight.

Anna pulled on Jermy’s collar with a gloomy smile:

“Bu-but Gulmag must have made this decision after much… consideration, right?”

“Ahem, I think so too. It might seem sudden to others, but for the person involved, it could be the result of much worry and anguish.”

“But…!”

“Whoa, calm down and let’s talk.”

Dario patted Jermy’s excited shoulder to calm him down. He looked into Jermy’s eyes and asked:

“Was your master the type to cause problems on a mere moment’s impulse?”

“No… He always taught that while the heart should be hot, judgment should be cold. He’s absolutely not the type to act impulsively.”

“Right. If such a person wrote that he found his fated one, there must surely be a reason. If the partner is really strange, you can meet them directly later and talk to them.”

Dario calmed Jermy down, showing adult-like composure.

Above all, what stabilized Jermy’s heart was that Dario justified Gulmag’s actions based on the respect in Jermy’s heart.

When the atmosphere became somewhat better, Wendigo rose from his throne.

“Then I should prepare to leave soon.”

“Huh? You’re not thinking of going to see Gulmag, are you?”

Dario asked Wendigo in surprise. No matter how close a friend, it was strange for a king to visit personally.

Originally, a king was supposed to heavily guard his position, coordinating people while living in luxury…

“Most matters are being handled systematically anyway, aren’t they? As far as I know, the talents selected by Geron are performing their roles well.”

“That’s true, but…”

“And you’ll have to come with me too.”

“……”

Dario, even more surprised than before, pointed at himself with both fingers, opening and closing his mouth.

With all the work he was in charge of, why would he take him out of all the many people?

Dario hoped Wendigo would say it was a joke, but he just nodded.

“I don’t want to! No, it’s not that I don’t want to, but I can’t! The amount of work I’m currently in charge of…”

“You must have quite a few talents you recruited because you didn’t want to work? Honestly, I think you have more officials working under you than Geron.”

“Ahem! It couldn’t be helped because the founding of the Manheim Kingdom was too sudden. You know delegations are coming from all over the north, right?”

Geron, who had been loyal for the longest time among the founding contributors of the Manheim Kingdom, was highly respected.

Some even said that Wendigo’s benevolent rule was due to being moved by Skadi and Geron’s devoted loyalty…

Even the shameless Dario felt a bit uncomfortable having more officials than Geron.

Of course, Dario could make excuses if he wanted to.

“Besides, I’m also serving as a legal officer. It was originally Geron’s job.”

“Considering Geron’s age, it’s about time he took a rest, isn’t it?”

‘Then why didn’t you just make him retire?’

Dario barely held back the rebuttal that was about to burst out. If he said anything unnecessary and Wendigo really made Geron retire and handed over the work, he wouldn’t even break even.

“Are you coming?”

“… How could I, as a loyal subject, refuse Your Majesty’s order?”

Dario finally gave in, dropping his shoulders.

… He missed Elhemina especially today.

---

The reason Dario was reluctant to follow Wendigo to find Gulmag wasn’t just because he had a lot of work.

Gulmag basically lived by seeking out places with few people and suitable for monsters to nest.

In simple terms, it was definitely not a place good for people to wander around.

“Damn. I’m even the Foreign Minister, yet I’m coming to such a remote place.”

Dario grumbled, looking around the dense forest.

Thanks to the elves teaching how to prosper in the forest without destroying it, many people had come to live in forests, but that didn’t mean all forests had become habitable.

Especially the inner parts of the forest were hard to find people easily due to the extreme cold.

“Your Majesty, is Gulmag really in a place like this? Honestly, someone of his caliber would be greatly welcomed in any village.”

“Didn’t the last village we passed say they saw Gulmag heading this way?”

“Th-the traces are also heading this way.”

Anna said, tapping the artifact she had made, the Tracking Brazier.

The artifact, which illuminated traces in the surroundings when infused with mystery while imagining the target to be found, was flickering with blue flames, illuminating traces around.

Above all…

“These footprints are impossible to explain unless they’re Gulmag’s.”

“Ngh…”

Wendigo said, pointing at the ground where huge footprints remained. Naturally, Dario, who had already figured out that Gulmag was heading north, could only groan.

How long did they walk like that?

“There! I think there’s something over there!”

“Is that…?”

The place they arrived at following Anna was a devastated forest.

The ground was full of holes as if there had been explosions, and broken trees were scattered around in a mess.

Dario rode his horse to look around and recoiled.

“This… seems to be the traces of battle Gulmag mentioned. Ugh, is this blood on this wood fragment?”

“The color is green so I can’t be certain, but it probably is.”

Wendigo nodded, checking the tree Dario pointed at. The fragment covered thickly with green liquid seemed to have penetrated something.

Wendigo cleared away the fragments and observed the surroundings carefully.

‘Though Gulmag’s purpose is to find a mate, he wasn’t wandering to mate with just any ogre.’

Gulmag was clearly looking for an ogre who had awakened five senses like himself, or a being equivalent to that.

If so, Gulmag must have found some clue at this scene of violence and sent the letter.

Dario, who was looking around together, found something strange among the broken trees.

“Your Majesty, these trees… they all have holes in them? And they’re quite large too.”

“Hmm…”

As Dario said, the trees had large holes punched through them. Wendigo inserted his claw into a hole to gauge its size.

The size was a bit larger than a human fist…

“There are traces of scraping in the holes. Given the consistent direction, it seems to be traces of a monster moving… Judging by the number of holes, it’s likely to have multiple legs like an insect.”

“… Are you saying there are insects this big?”

“Hiiieek!?”

Anna recoiled and stepped back. The fact that a giant insect died here meant that insect fluids must be smeared all over the area.

She could handle snakes or frogs, but insects were unbearable.

While Jermy calmed down the flustered Anna, Wendigo searched the surroundings to find more proper traces.

If one was a giant insect, the other should be Gulmag’s first love…

“What’s this?”

While checking a hole, Wendigo found something strange among the traces left on the bottom.

There was a deep and thin trace that didn’t fit the scene of an incredibly crude battle.

Recognizing this, Wendigo noticed that the surrounding soil had burst out centered on that trace.

“It seems clear that someone killed the monster by stabbing it with a spear or sword.”

“Uh… You mean this huge trace? It seems to be about the size of Your Majesty’s sword.”

“Yes. It also means there’s a being with intelligence to create and use a weapon of that size, and with a build that perfectly matches Gulmag.”

It meant there was a high possibility that Gulmag hadn’t mistaken and sent the letter.

Wendigo hurried his companions along as he continued to follow Gulmag’s traces.

---

“Is this the place?”

“Yes. If the brazier worked properly, Gulmag should be inside this cave.”

The place they arrived at following the traces was a huge cave.

It wasn’t a particularly good place to live by normal standards, but Jermy told Wendigo with confidence:

“When I stayed with Master, we often spent days in places like this!”

“Hmm, come to think of it, I think it was a place like this when I first met him too.”

Wendigo thought it was possible for Gulmag. He was an ogre who had gained intelligence, but he wasn’t a being who completely rejected his instincts.

For Gulmag, spending raw life in such a cave might be more comfortable than building a house with wood and stone.

Hoot hoot!

“That owl is Master’s owl!”

“It’s the one we saw before. Did it come out to guide us?”

The owl that appeared from inside the cave showed a welcoming look and cutely hooted before perching on Jermy’s shoulder.

Jermy tickled the owl’s chin familiarly and took out jerky from his bosom to offer.

After receiving and eating a few pieces of jerky, the owl flew up in a good mood and guided them inside.

Wendigo could see Gulmag’s silhouette deep inside the cave.

“Gulmag.”

“Wendigo, you came looking for me?”

At Wendigo’s call, Gulmag picked up the stone club he had been maintaining and stood up.

Wendigo admired Gulmag’s appearance. Uncharacteristically adorned with bones, leather, and feathers, Gulmag exuded a warrior’s aura.

Seeing him look like he might rush out to the battlefield and burst with ferocity at any moment, Wendigo asked him:

“I came after receiving your letter… Were you perhaps planning to hunt something for your future partner?”

“No. This, preparation to meet partner.”

When Gulmag answered with determined eyes, Dario asked him with a disgruntled expression if he had understood correctly:

“Uh… Are you saying you dressed up to meet your love?”

“Yes. Partner, strong warrior. This appearance, showing respect to strong warrior.”

“……”

Is it really the right judgment to go meet a partner you fell in love with at first sight while painted with battle markings and adorned with trophies?

Wendigo’s companions couldn’t open their mouths carelessly. That’s how serious Gulmag’s eyes were.

‘… Perhaps ogres have to defeat their partner to be able to marry?’

Wendigo thought it was quite a plausible guess.