Ch.4141. Preliminary Skirmish (3)

“…Did I faint again?”

I opened my eyes in the storage room, which had become more familiar than my bedroom. As always, a crown of thorns lay scattered on the floor, and the morning’s white light filtered through the blackout curtains. With a limp hand, I carefully picked up the crown and placed it in a wooden box.

“[Are you alright? It’s the first time I’ve seen you spend the night tied to that pillar.]”

I shook my head as I skillfully untied the ropes.

“No. I’m not okay. Sleeping while tied to a pillar made my body really stiff. I think today I need to do some stretching and sleep in a proper position.”

As I straightened my bent knees and twisted my body, my joints cracked loudly in protest. Well, circulating some mana and wearing the Holy Sword before taking a few laps around the training ground would help me recover. I was fortunate that the Holy Sword could restore my body to some extent.

“[I won’t tell you not to overdo it. But don’t kill your body. You know where that line is, Ilroy.]”

“…Yeah. Thanks.”

After infusing some vitality into my body, I looked at the clock hanging on the storage room wall. It was creepy how my body had woken up at exactly five o’clock despite collapsing in such an uncomfortable position. Is this the power of habit?

I organized the ropes, picked up the wooden box, and left the storage room. It seemed too early for people to be up and about, so except for those who worked from dawn, the entire Evernode was wrapped in complete silence. To avoid being caught, I carefully headed toward the annex where the hero’s party was staying. I could hear George, who woke up as early as I did, running around the field near the annex. Diligent guy.

Entering the annex, I saw Marianne sitting quietly, seemingly absorbed in meditation. Sensing my presence, she opened her eyes and looked at me. Before her gaze could fully capture me, I placed the wooden box on a table and approached her.

“You’re awake?”

“Yes. I woke up early. It was an awkward time to go back to sleep, so I was meditating for a while.”

Marianne always had the same expression. By that, I mean she was always expressionless, except for those rare moments of genuine surprise. While this bothered me somewhat, I had decided to observe her more over time, so I didn’t mention it.

“Why is the hero up so early?”

Even though I told her to call me Ilroy, Marianne still called me hero. I figured it was her own kind of stubbornness.

“I usually wake up around this time. I was just coming back from a short walk. George was running outside, did you see him?”

“Yes. He asked me where you had gone, and I told him I hadn’t seen you either.”

“…I see. I should tell George later too.”

I sat across from Marianne and stretched my body. There was still plenty of time before patrol, so I might as well hang around here for a while before going to wash up.

“Would you like some tea?”

Marianne asked as she looked at me. Tea was usually Daphne’s responsibility. I blinked a few times, but wanting to dispel the chill that had seeped into my body while I slept, I eventually nodded. Once I gave my permission, Marianne diligently rose from her seat and walked to the small kitchen area.

“[You seem more relaxed than I expected.]”

The Holy Sword spoke to me in a sharp voice. After suffering all night, cut me some slack. As I was having this internal conversation with the Holy Sword, Marianne quickly returned with steaming hot tea and biscuits.

“Thank you.”

“It’s my duty.”

Marianne answered nonchalantly and sat back down, wrapping both hands around her cup. As I quietly sipped my tea, I suddenly looked at Marianne and asked:

“Aren’t you nervous or afraid?”

Marianne tilted her head, as if asking what she should be nervous or afraid of.

“The war. The approaching fourth calamity.”

“I am a believer of the Blue Orthodox Church. I cannot fear an enemy of a god I have never seen.”

Marianne shook her head from side to side.

“I will simply follow the hero and defeat the enemy.”

“…Do you trust me?”

“I am simply following orders.”

Marianne nodded as she said this. Her unhesitating response made me smile bitterly. Marianne watched my smile with her expressionless face as she sipped her tea with me.

==

“I will increase the patrol groups.”

Duke Quenore declared this before we set out on today’s patrol. It seemed he intended to cover as wide an area as possible, as thoroughly as possible.

“We’ll expand from the current three patrol units to five. Each patrol unit will narrow their intervals and establish middle zones to closely check each other’s safety. …And,”

The Duke turned his head toward our party.

“This time, Ilroy, I plan to distribute your party members among the patrol units rather than keeping you together. Would that be acceptable?”

Rather than concentrating our forces in one place, he wanted to distribute us evenly among the patrol units to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances. I turned to George to ask for his opinion.

“…How unusual for you to ask my opinion on such matters.”

George raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“I agree. With the patrol experience we’ve accumulated, there’s no reason for us to stay together. It’s better to assign one of us to each patrol unit to increase the average combat power.”

Duke Quenore rubbed the roof of his mouth and allocated the personnel. The Duke himself was assigned to the 1st patrol unit, I to the 2nd, and George, Marianne, and Daphne to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th units respectively.

“This patrol is not only to identify potential dangers in the area but also to check how monsters might form battle lines during the defensive battle and where the vulnerable areas might be.”

The power in Duke Quenore’s words seemed to possess some magic that raised the morale of the knights and soldiers. He wasn’t saying anything special, just calmly explaining the operation overview, yet the soldiers’ concentration and spirit were visibly rising. Or perhaps it was the mere fact of his presence that had an impact. In fact, I too was gradually being uplifted by the Duke’s words.

“And from today, Evernode enters a state of war. We will reinforce troops across all walls and conduct equipment and supply inspections and repairs.”

After this declaration, the Duke turned his head toward the outer wall, which he had been looking at frequently these days. The city gate creaked as it was raised. For now, the spirit of Evernode’s soldiers was not overwhelmed by the chill coming from outside.

“Now, let’s go. Today’s patrol is not just a patrol but reconnaissance, the beginning of an information war.”

Unlike usual, I watched our party members separate and go their different ways, then firmly gripped the reins and drove my horse forward. Today, I alone had to lead the soldiers of the 2nd patrol unit.

“If you notice anything even slightly unusual, don’t hesitate to let me know. We’ll proceed at a slower pace than usual.”

“Whatever you wish, hero!”

“No matter how good you’ve become lately, we can all keep up with you, hero!”

The confident and spirited northern soldiers. I smiled at them and lightly nudged my horse’s side.

The patrol moved differently than usual. We carefully examined the terrain that we had previously only known by instinct and recorded anything noteworthy. The forest was not quiet as usual but noisy. I thought it was because many patrol units had entered the forest at once, but it seemed we weren’t the only visitors this time.

“Ravens spotted ahead. They’re flying around restlessly.”

“Troll spotted at 2 o’clock, 40 paces away. We’ll go and quickly take care of it.”

“11 o’clock. Pack of white wolves. There are quite a few of them, so let’s change our route and eliminate them.”

There were many monsters. Quite many. My enhanced senses were constantly detecting monsters. Since we couldn’t move to take down every monster, I roughly identified their positions and only eliminated those that crossed our patrol route as we headed toward the “Eye of the North.”

“…I don’t recall seeing so many monsters recently. Why are there so many today?”

A knight asked me. I frowned as I looked down at the decapitated leader of the white wolf pack lying at my feet.

“Either the boundary line has come very close, or like us, those monsters have sent forces for a preliminary battle. We can’t know for sure without checking, but…”

At my words, the knight’s face hardened.

“…Either way, we need to be vigilant. Perhaps the lake has started to freeze. What should we do?”

“We’ll pick up the pace. If the boundary line has approached closer than we thought, we might be in a more dangerous situation than we realize. If other patrol units have realized this too, they’ll head quickly to the lake like us, so we’d better hurry.”

I nudged my horse’s side again with my heel. The horse, seemingly anxious, looked around nervously before starting to move again at my urging.

“[…I don’t have a good feeling about this. Stay alert.]”

Even the Holy Sword, which usually remained quiet during my missions, said this. I began to gradually draw and circulate mana from my heart. The edge of the forest was rapidly approaching. I hurried, cutting down the monsters blocking our path. The chill was intensifying. My breath was becoming visible even though the lake wasn’t yet in sight.

“…Hero.”

Hearing a voice from beside me, I nodded and increased our speed further. The forest’s obstruction of light and visibility began to clear gradually. As soon as I passed the last trees and arrived at the Eye of the North, I was left speechless.

“Damn it.”

The blue lake had frozen over. It was obvious without having to go forward and check. Cracks had formed across the white ice covering the surface. I raised my gaze from the lake to look at the mountain ridge on the opposite side.

“It’s right in front of us.”

The knight’s voice was tense. As he said, the boundary line had already crossed the mountain and was lurking in front of the lake. The sky was hazy. The entire body of the mountain was covered in snow, turned completely white.

And I could feel it very clearly. The terrible beings lurking beyond that stark white curtain drawn like a border. And beyond those terrible beings, an enormously terrible existence quietly watching us.

“…When the patrol units gather here, we must stay together and not separate.”

I said, looking at the forest. The boundary line was approaching much faster than the Duke and I had anticipated. I hope they all reach this lake safely. As I was grinding my teeth, someone appeared through the undergrowth with a rustling sound.

“…Damn it.”

At least, it didn’t appear to be a human being. Nor was it an ordinary monster. What emerged from the undergrowth was a damn huge white wolf. Had they released so many monsters just to disrupt my senses?

“Poor humans who have walked right into the wolf’s jaws.”

The wolf growled and “spoke” thus.

“Before His great stride, I shall prepare an aperitif with your blood.”

The rustling behind the wolf grew louder. White wolves, dozens of white wolves, revealed themselves one by one. I clenched my teeth tightly and drew the Holy Sword. The knights and soldiers behind me also drew their swords one by one.

“…Roy. The flare.”

At my words, the knight, Roy, took out a flare but then froze. I too, following Roy’s gaze to the sky, let out a sigh.

Wheeee.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Against the clear summer sky, distress flares were being fired simultaneously.

“Abandon hope. Lay down your swords.”

The wolf spoke with the sound of bursting flares as background music.

“Quietly, become our sacrifice.”