Ch.124Chapter 124

Angrid jumped up in surprise, causing Dario to back away in terror. It was obvious that if she were to charge at him, he wouldn’t stand a chance of resistance.

Standing beside Wendigo, Dario warily eyed Angrid and unconsciously turned his head…

“Um… Your Majesty? Is it my imagination, or is Gulmarg glaring at me like I’m his mortal enemy?”

As Gulmarg stared at him with a terribly distorted face, Dario swallowed dryly and asked Wendigo.

Wendigo pretended not to notice and said to Dario:

“Must be your imagination. Perhaps it’s just your instinctive fear of Ogres?”

“If that were the case, I would have been begging for mercy at Your Majesty’s feet long ago. He’s definitely glaring at me!”

People with sharp intuition often suffered by noticing things others would miss.

Clicking his tongue, Wendigo moved away from the group with Dario and pointed at Angrid, who was chatting away with Jermy.

“Angrid is the giant Gulmarg was pursuing.”

“Well, isn’t that good news? Gulmarg found his companion, and we can return to the warm palace to carry out our damned duties.”

“Yes, it was going well until you showed up and stole his attention, making Gulmarg miss his chance to confess.”

“……”

At Wendigo’s blunt statement, Dario blinked repeatedly, looking back and forth between Angrid and Gulmarg.

In truth, Dario wasn’t really at fault. If they had been called from the beginning, this awkward situation could have been avoided.

But when does reason ever prevail in matters of love?

Realizing he had interfered with the love of an Ogre—a formidable warrior even Wendigo acknowledged—Dario wailed:

“I truly had no idea that was the situation!”

“Try persuading him as you usually do.”

“Damn it, I don’t mind getting involved in other issues, but interfering in matters of love is something even family members get stabbed for!”

In this world, wielding a knife against someone who interfered with your love would earn you applause.

And if the person in question was Gulmarg, it wouldn’t be a knife but a club that would smash your head.

Of course, Gulmarg wasn’t that irrational of a person—or rather, Ogre.

“Wendigo! Gulmarg has agreed to visit my tribe with me!”

Somehow the conversation had progressed, and Angrid was now waving with Jermy and Anna perched on her shoulders.

While this was good news for Gulmarg, Wendigo found it a bit strange.

He had thought they were a reclusive tribe since he’d never encountered them before, so he hadn’t expected them to invite someone they’d just met.

“Won’t the other tribe members mind?”

“For the Hrimtur, there’s no better connection than hunting armor spiders together. And the little ones will be popular with everyone else too.”

Angrid smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Anna could only let out a weak sound with her disheveled face, while Jermy smiled brightly as if in agreement.

Unlike Anna, who was uncomfortable with the mere thought of going to a place with giants, Jermy liked the Hrimtur for recognizing his master’s true worth(?).

Now all that remained was for Wendigo and Dario to agree to come along…

“Ahem. Your Majesty, isn’t Gulmarg both your personal friend and a guardian who protects the peace of the forest? I think it would be appropriate to support his marriage.”

“Didn’t you once say a king’s duty was to sit on the throne and squeeze his subjects dry?”

“I said coordinate, not squeeze! Anyway, that’s not the point…”

How could his sincere advice possibly be misinterpreted as encouraging the exploitation of subjects?

But that wasn’t important right now. Dario groaned and glanced at Gulmarg.

His gaze was less hostile than before, but still stern enough to be intimidating. Dario whispered to Wendigo in panic:

“If we leave now, Gulmarg might kill me! Surely you don’t want to lose such a capable subject as myself?”

“Calling yourself capable is a bit much.”

“Damn it, I’m about to be chopped into six pieces—can’t I say whatever I want?”

Though Wendigo didn’t think Gulmarg was that petty…

Since they had set out on this journey to help Gulmarg in the first place, there was no reason to turn back now.

Wendigo looked at Angrid and nodded.

“I’d be delighted to accept your invitation. Dario here is also happy to accept!”

“Wonderful! Let’s prepare to leave then!”

Satisfied that everyone would be coming along, Angrid bound the armor spider tightly with chains and prepared to depart.

She pulled on the chains binding the armor spider, gauging its weight.

“Ugh. It’s a bit heavy, but I’ll manage.”

“Angrid, let me pull it.”

“Oh, really? That would be great, thanks!”

At Gulmarg’s offer, Angrid gratefully handed over the chains. Gulmarg pulled the chain with one hand, as if showing off his strength.

Angrid marveled as Gulmarg dragged the heavy armor spider with just one hand.

Gulmarg cleared his throat and acted as if it was nothing. Wendigo smirked at Gulmarg’s uncharacteristic behavior.

It might have seemed foolish and unlike him, but isn’t that what love does?

Love always makes people act like fools.

* * *

The Hrimtur, Angrid’s tribe, weren’t living in isolation from the world due to their reclusive nature.

Surprisingly, they were so open that they consistently maintained their lineage by accepting seeds from outsiders.

They were so welcoming of external encounters that they would throw festivals when meeting other Hrimtur tribes.

The reason such sociable Hrimtur remained unknown to the world was their weakness to heat.

What humans considered the pleasant warmth of spring felt like a scorching desert to the Hrimtur.

“My goodness… I want to take off even the leather clothes I’m wearing now, but you’re saying this weather is cold for you?”

Angrid was amazed as she listened to Jermy’s stories about the south.

She was considered quite modest(?) among the Hrimtur; most of them typically covered only essential parts with minimal leather.

Angrid pointed at Wendigo and Gulmarg in disbelief.

“Those two don’t seem cold at all?”

“Well… they’re special. For one thing, Master is an Ogre…”

Having forgotten that he was an Ogre since they could communicate, Angrid nodded as she recalled that Gulmarg was indeed an Ogre.

Jermy then pointed to Wendigo, but found it difficult to explain and scratched his head in embarrassment.

He hesitated to call him a Djin since the elves had insisted he wasn’t one.

But there wasn’t a simpler expression than Djin…

Wendigo spoke up to help the troubled Jermy.

“Think of me as something similar to a Djin.”

“Ugh… you’re actually a Djin?”

“Do Djin cause problems here too?”

At Wendigo’s question, Angrid made a face and nodded while gradually increasing the distance between them.

“Sometimes, they claim to be noble beings born from ice or something… as if the rest of us weren’t born from ice.”

Wherever free-flowing mystical energy existed, there was always at least a small possibility for Djin to be born.

Especially in snowy plains where a single attribute was concentrated, it was an ideal environment for Djin to be born…

However, an environment favorable for a Djin’s birth wasn’t necessarily favorable for its survival.

The Hrimtur were not a tribe to be easily intimidated by newly born Djin.

So why did Angrid dislike Djin?

“The worst part is there’s nothing left after catching them. Hunting mammoths or saber-toothed tigers leaves something behind, which makes the fight worthwhile. But these creatures are dangerous to children, so we can’t ignore them either.”

“Pointless battles, useless for survival.”

“Exactly!”

When Gulmarg agreed, Angrid snapped her fingers and pointed at him as if they were on the same wavelength. As he said, what use was fighting something that left nothing behind?

Hunting saber-toothed tigers or mammoths yielded plenty of trophies, but hunting Djin didn’t even produce a piece of meat.

Creatures that harmed children yet left nothing when caught—that was how the Hrimtur valued Djin.

“……”

Of course, Wendigo, who had just been classified as something similar to a Djin, felt rather dejected.

Seeing Wendigo’s lack of response, Angrid seemed apologetic and scratched her cheek awkwardly as she apologized.

“Um… I don’t mean you’re like that. I just overreacted because of past incidents. Will you accept my apology?”

“It’s fine. Honestly, there aren’t many Djin I’d want to be friendly with either.”

Wendigo wasn’t so lacking in understanding that he would be upset over such a minor misunderstanding.

It was natural to have an unconscious aversion to beings similar to those who had caused harm in the past.

They continued chatting as they walked for a little over an hour.

“Ah, there it is! That’s where our tribe is staying!”

Angrid’s eyes lit up as she shouted when the tribe finally came into view.

Though there was no palisade, it was easy to tell that the Hrimtur tribe was there.

The sound of massive mammoths feeding on trees they had knocked down could be heard.

Angrid grabbed Gulmarg’s hand and cheerfully shouted:

“Let’s go! Everyone will be delighted to see you!”

“Ahem!”

Gulmarg, seemingly embarrassed, cleared his throat loudly and followed Angrid as she ran ahead.

The thunderous sound that seemed to shake heaven and earth was clearly the pounding of their hearts…

“I sincerely hope they never visit Manheimr. A few jumps with those legs would destroy our newly paved roads.”

“…When you eventually date Elhemina, don’t make such gloomy remarks.”

As Dario grimaced while looking at the footprints left by the departing pair, Wendigo sighed and offered his advice.

* * *

In truth, both Gulmarg and Wendigo had one concern as they approached the Hrimtur tribe.

Although Angrid had said the Hrimtur liked Ogres, they worried she might have lied to spare Gulmarg’s feelings.

In their experience, Ogres weren’t exactly popular in terms of appearance.

However…

“Angrid! Where did you find such a handsome Ogre?!”

“You young thing, getting all flirty…”

“No! I just happened to meet him while hunting an armor spider!”

Their worries proved unfounded. The Hrimtur showed great affection for Gulmarg, who embodied their ideal image of an Ogre(?).

If he had been just an ordinary handsome Ogre, the reaction wouldn’t have been this extreme. But Gulmarg was no ordinary Ogre, was he?

“My name, Gulmarg. Angrid, invited me—”

“Wait wait wait! He just spoke!”

“A-Angrid! Can I spend just one day with him?! I want to make him—”

“You crazy woman!!!”

As Gulmarg began introducing himself, the Hrimtur—specifically, the women—couldn’t contain their excitement.

Angrid struck her friend’s head for crossing the line and pulled Gulmarg’s hand, pushing the women away.

“All of you, back off! When guests arrive, it’s customary to introduce them to my father—I mean, the chief first!”

“Who cares about customs right now? You’re just being selfish, keeping the good stuff to yourself!”

“Aaaaargh!!! Do you think I’m as love-starved as you?! Want to taste my chain?!”

“…What a mess.”

Wendigo muttered as he watched Gulmarg following Angrid through the wall of giants.

Who could have imagined he would be this popular?

“Well… I didn’t expect it to be this extreme either. But with this level of popularity, Gulmarg should have no trouble getting married, right?”

Dario was equally dumbfounded, but he exhaled in relief with a grin.

Judging by that reaction, it seemed unlikely that Gulmarg would be rejected when he proposed.

And naturally, if the marriage succeeded, Gulmarg wouldn’t come looking for him to smash his head in resentment.

“Well, shall we head inside too?”

“Yes, we should… Huh?”

A fierce-looking Hrimtur warrior blocked Wendigo’s path as he tried to enter. He looked Wendigo up and down suspiciously and asked:

“Are you a Djin?”

“This person is not a Djin. Besides, if he were a Djin, would Angrid have invited us?”

“You never know. She might have made a mistake because of that Ogre who just passed by.”

Even a man would be impressed by such an Ogre, so it was possible that Angrid had been too distracted to pay attention to Wendigo.

The warrior pointed at Wendigo’s head and requested:

“It may be rude, but would you remove that skull so I can confirm your species? As a warrior protecting the tribe, I need to check.”

“……”

While it was right to respect someone diligently performing their duty…

Being essentially asked to tear off his head left Wendigo speechless with bewilderment.