Ch.121Chapter 121

Gulmarg hadn’t sent a letter only to Jermy. How else would Dario know the contents of a letter he hadn’t opened?

Wendigo shook the letter he had received from Dario and asked him.

“Did I see that correctly?”

“If Your Majesty hasn’t caught a curse or disease. If you have, please let me know. I should probably tell everyone to run away.”

“Seeing you grumble as usual, I must be in my right mind.”

Wendigo nodded calmly and handed the letter to an attendant. Honestly, he had been expecting this day to come eventually.

It wouldn’t be strange if there existed at least one being in this vast world who could be Gulmarg’s match.

After all, the reason he had settled in the north was to find a mate, so there was no need to be greatly surprised.

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

Meanwhile, Jermy, who had just learned today why his master had been staying in this land, was quite bewildered.

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

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

Wendigo asked Jermy with puzzlement.

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

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

“Well, certainly, it is strange to take someone you’ve never even seen as a lover.”

“And finding that clue in the traces of battle would be hard to find even among the most warrior-like tribes of the north.”

As Dario shrugged and made a joke, Jermy nodded. While it was confusing that Gulmarg had found a companion, it was certainly something to be celebrated.

But to find that clue not through fate but in the traces of battle… it was indeed strange, even for his respected master.

“To take someone as a mate based on just that. Falling in love in an instant is definitely strange!”

Flinch!

As Jermy shouted in concern for his master, Anna, who was standing nearby, startled and fumbled. Wendigo looked at her with pity.

If one were to analyze it, Anna also seemed to have fallen for Jermy at first sight.

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

“B-but I’m sure Gulmarg 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 contemplation and inner conflict.”

“But…!”

“Whoa, calm down and let’s talk.”

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

“Was your master the type to cause problems on a mere momentary impulse?”

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

“Right. If such a person wrote about finding a mate, there must be a reason. If the partner is truly strange, you can meet them later and speak to your master directly.”

Dario showed mature composure as he calmed Jermy down.

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

When the atmosphere had improved sufficiently, Wendigo rose from his throne.

“Then I should prepare to leave.”

“What? Surely you’re not thinking of visiting Gulmarg?”

Dario asked Wendigo in surprise. Even for a friend, it was unusual for a king to visit personally.

Originally, a king was supposed to stay put, coordinating people while living in luxury…

“Most affairs are being handled systematically anyway. I understand that the talents Geron selected are performing their roles well.”

“That’s true, but…”

“And you’ll have to come with me.”

“……”

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

With all the work he was responsible for, why would he be chosen among so many people?

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

“I refuse! No, it’s not that I refuse, it’s that I can’t! The amount of work I’m currently handling…”

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

“Ahem! The establishment of the Kingdom of Manheimr was too sudden, so it couldn’t be helped. You know that delegations from all over the north are visiting.”

Geron, one of the founding contributors of the Kingdom of Manheimr, was highly respected for his years of loyalty.

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

Even the shameless Dario felt self-conscious about having more officials than Geron.

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

“Besides, I also serve as the legal officer. That was originally Geron’s responsibility.”

“Considering Geron’s age, it’s about time he got some rest.”

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

Dario barely held back the retort that was about to escape. If he spoke up and Wendigo actually made Geron retire and passed the work to him, he wouldn’t even break even.

“Will you come?”

“… As a loyal subject, how could I refuse Your Majesty’s command?”

Dario finally gave in, slumping his shoulders.

… Today of all days, he missed Elhemina.

* * *

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

Gulmarg typically wandered around places with few human traces and where monsters liked to nest.

In simple terms, these were definitely not places suitable for humans to roam.

“Damn. I’m the Minister of Foreign Affairs, yet here I am in such a remote place.”

Dario grumbled as he looked around the dense forest.

Thanks to the elves teaching people how to prosper in forests without destroying them, many people had come to live in forests, but not all forests had become habitable.

Especially the inner parts of the forest were difficult to find people in due to the extreme cold.

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

“The last village we passed said they saw Gulmarg heading in this direction.”

“T-the traces are also leading this way.”

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

The artifact, which revealed traces in the surroundings when one visualized the target and infused it with mystery, was flickering with blue flames, illuminating the surrounding traces.

Moreover…

“And these footprints would be inexplicable if they weren’t Gulmarg’s.”

“Ugh…”

Wendigo pointed to the ground where enormous footprints remained. Dario, who had already figured out that Gulmarg was heading north, could only groan.

After walking for some time…

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

“What is that…?”

The place they arrived at, following Anna, was a forest in disarray.

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

Dario rode around to survey the surroundings and grimaced.

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

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

Wendigo nodded as he examined the wood Dario had pointed to. The fragment, covered in green liquid, appeared to have penetrated something.

Wendigo cleared away the fragments and observed the surroundings carefully.

‘Although Gulmarg’s goal is to find a mate, he wasn’t wandering around to bond with just any Ogre.’

Gulmarg was clearly looking for an Ogre who had awakened to reason like himself, or a being equivalent to that.

Then Gulmarg must have found some clue in this scene of violence and sent the letter.

Dario, who was looking around with them, noticed something strange among the broken trees.

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

“Hmm…”

As Dario said, the trees had large holes pierced through them. Wendigo inserted his nail into one of the holes to gauge its size.

The size was slightly larger than a human fist…

“There are traces of scraping in the holes. The direction is consistent, so it seems like traces of a monster moving… Judging by the number of holes, it’s likely something with multiple legs, like an insect.”

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

“Hiiieek!?”

Anna recoiled in disgust. The fact that a giant insect had died here meant that insect fluids were likely splattered all over the area.

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

While Jermy calmed the flustered Anna, Wendigo searched the surroundings for more definitive traces.

If one was a giant insect, then the other would be Gulmarg’s first love…

“What’s this?”

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

There was a deep, thin trace that seemed out of place in this crude battlefield.

Upon recognizing it, Wendigo noticed that the surrounding soil had burst outward from that trace.

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

“Uh… you mean this enormous trace? It seems almost as big as Your Majesty’s sword.”

“Yes. It also means there’s a being with enough intelligence to craft and use such a weapon, and with a size that’s just right for Gulmarg.”

This meant there was a high possibility that Gulmarg hadn’t sent the letter by mistake.

Wendigo urged the group to continue following Gulmarg’s traces.

* * *

“Is this the place?”

“Yes. If the brazier worked correctly, Gulmarg should be inside this cave.”

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

While it didn’t seem like a particularly good place to live by normal standards, Jermy assured Wendigo with confidence.

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

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

Wendigo thought that this was plausible for Gulmarg. He was an Ogre who had gained intelligence, but he wasn’t a being who completely rejected his instincts.

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

Flap flap!

“That owl is Master’s owl!”

“It’s the one I saw before. Has it come to guide us?”

The owl that emerged from the cave showed signs of delight and cutely hooted before perching on Jermy’s shoulder.

Jermy, as if familiar with it, tickled the owl’s chin and took out jerky from his pocket to offer.

After accepting a few pieces of jerky, the owl happily flew up and guided them inside.

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

“Gulmarg.”

“Wendigo, you came looking for me?”

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

Wendigo admired Gulmarg’s appearance. Unusually adorned with bones, leather, and feathers, Gulmarg exuded the aura of a warrior.

Looking as if he might rush onto the battlefield and unleash his ferocity at any moment, Wendigo asked him.

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

“No. This is preparation to meet the other person.”

As Gulmarg answered with determined eyes, Dario asked him with a dubious expression, wondering if he understood correctly.

“Um… are you saying you dressed up to meet your beloved?”

“Yes. The other person is a strong warrior. This appearance shows respect to a strong warrior.”

“……”

Was it really the right decision to go meet someone you fell in love with at first sight while painted with battle markings and adorned with trophies?

Wendigo’s group couldn’t speak carelessly. That’s how serious Gulmarg’s gaze was.

‘… Perhaps Ogres need to defeat their partners before they can marry?’

Wendigo thought it was quite a plausible speculation.