Chapter 123: The North (7)

Clatter clatter, the carriage was shaking just like my heart. Lorena and Alice were trying their best not to meet my eyes, and I was straining with all my might not to look back at the receding mansion. Is this how a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse feels? We hadn’t even gotten close to the North yet, but terrifying rumors about Baara surfaced, making me shudder.

“Dad. Are you okay?”

But there was no choice. If Lorena and Alice went alone, they might get caught and killed by Baara. Right now, we knew nothing about the fugitive who fled north except for a general description. We had to search the entire North meticulously, and it was unlikely that nothing would happen during that time.

Harsh lands have always been unwelcoming to strangers. Two beauties arriving in an unfamiliar land were nothing but prime prey for criminals hiding in the snow. To prevent unexpected accidents, I had no choice but to get involved.

Alice and Lorena both looked anxious, so I had to be the brave one here.

“Of course, I’m fine. Who am I? Huh?”

I tried to create a warm atmosphere by highlighting my strengths. Alice thought carefully and then opened her mouth.

“Um… A dad who’s good at sex.”

Is that a strength? Amidst a vague feeling, I tilted my head.

“…..Will that be a strength when we meet Baara?”

“…..It wouldn’t be a disadvantage, would it?”

Alice said that with a peculiar expression, and Lorena’s lips twitched before she let out a soft chuckle. My feelings were ambiguous, but it seemed we had succeeded in lightening the mood. Alice scrunched up her face looking at me, then grinned and said.

“Ah, well, nothing major will happen. That Demon King’s Branch Manager, the Demon, must be super busy, right? If they’ve been quiet until now, maybe nothing will happen to us either?”

“I hope so too. If that fugitive hadn’t run off too far in the first place, this would be over quickly. Even if that bastard is crazy, if he were killing people escaping the North, the Hero would have shown up by now.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Nothing will happen.”

We comforted each other. It was less about cheering each other up and more like we were hypnotizing ourselves to ward off anxiety. Just like reinforcing soldiers gripped by fear before battle with spells and potions, we listed the best possible outcomes and logic for each other.

Of course, no one was unaware that things in the world don’t always turn out for the best, and that life often spirals into the worst with just a few missteps. We were simply choosing to ignore reality and face our romanticized notions.

“By the way, what does that bastard look like? I want to see his face too.”

I changed the subject. Excessive optimism eventually circles back around to force you to face reality.

“Here.”

Alice took the man’s composite sketch out of her bag and showed it to me. It was a middle-aged man with a mustache, sharp, hawk-like eyes, and a slightly crooked nose. What’s more, he had a large, cow-like birthmark on his forehead; the facial features were distinct enough to be easily recognizable even in the snow.

“This should make him easy to find. If we ask for a man with a birthmark on his face, someone there should remember him, right?”

“With a birthmark that big, it should be easy to remember. If we say he looks like a cow, they’ll probably know who we mean, right?”

Lorena examined the sketch closely, nodded, and said.

“Oh, yeah. There was a cow with a birthmark like that at the ranch where I used to work.”

We nodded. With Lorena chiming in, it really did seem like the man’s face resembled a cow’s. After scrutinizing the man’s sketch for a while, we put the paper back in the bag and changed the subject.

“But if he ran off with evidence of corruption, doesn’t that mean others are after him too?”

“Probably. The Thieves Guild or maybe the Hero’s party is likely after him. An assassination request went out to the Thieves Guild, but he luckily escaped.”

I nodded, looking at the bag containing the sketch. Escaping the Thieves Guild… he must be no ordinary person.

“He must have some hidden ability, right? It’s not easy to escape the Thieves Guild. I only caught them easily because they didn’t assume I was a demon.”

“Right. That’s why the client suspected he might have some magical artifact. So, they told us to reason with him carefully without provoking him unnecessarily and just get the materials.”

“If he runs again, we won’t be able to catch him this time. The North is vast. If it comes down to an area that can’t be solved by investigation, we’ll just have to give up.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Alice nodded. Lorena asked.

“But instead of just heading north blindly, wouldn’t it be better to have someone who knows the North well? Evan. Do you know any demons or people who have experience going to the North?”

“No. I haven’t been deep into the North either. Just came to the outskirts briefly before being dragged elsewhere… That’s how traveling slave merchants are. They don’t give slaves time for sightseeing.”

Lorena looked apologetic hearing my words.

“Sorry, Evan was a former slave. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No need to apologize so much. Lately, I’ve even started to feel grateful for my unhappy past. It’s made me live each day with gratitude.”

“Really?”

Lorena looked at me with a curious expression. I shook my head and said.

“No. Actually, what you said hurt my feelings.”

“You, you’re too mean!”

Lorena pouted and acted spoiled, seeing the change-up that suggested I might forgive her. I placed my hand on her chest and said.

“I’ll forgive you if you let me touch your breasts.”

“You don’t need permission; you can touch them anytime……”

Lorena said that and lifted her clothes. A black, form-fitting bra supported her large breasts. It was a shame the tight undergarment made her breasts look slightly smaller, but just feeling the soft texture in my hand brought me peace.

“Ah……”

“Ah, come to think of it……”

Alice’s eyes widened, and she frowned. Seeing her expression, as if she’d seen a ghost, I asked her.

“Why the sudden change? Did you forget something?”

“Dad, remember Orland from back then?”

I nodded. Orland was the villain who tried to NTR my beloved Sylvia at the academy. He was a scoundrel who had his eye on Sylvia while also trying to assault Sophia; if I hadn’t shown up, Sylvia and Sophia would undoubtedly have fallen victim to his schemes.

“I remember. That scumbag.”

Lorena listened to our conversation with curiosity. Alice agreed that he was a scumbag, but she shivered slightly and said to me.

“He went north looking for Sophia. Seeing as we haven’t heard anything since then……”

Alice trailed off, and I shrugged.

“Forget it. He probably forgot about Sophia and Sylvia too.”

Alice nodded. Lorena seemed curious about who Orland was, but she didn’t ask, likely put off by me calling him a ‘scumbag’. Alice looked at Lorena and said.

“Lorena. Are you curious about who Orland is?”

“Huh? Yeah. Who is he? What kind of person was he for our Evan to call him a bad guy?”

Alice smiled and began to talk about Orland. From her perspective, Orland was a villain who tried to assault Sylvia, and the one who separated from Sylvia thanks to my cleverness. To her, Orland was merely an obstacle between Sylvia and herself, and she initially thought I was like that too.

“Honestly, at first, I disliked our dad a little. My biological father was quite a bad person, so I wished my mom had married someone better… but she was marrying a former slave. So, I had some reservations.”

The story about Orland and the academy eventually shifted to how Alice and I first met, and even the process of Alice falling truly in love with me during our academy days. Lorena blushed listening to this lewd youthful tale, clutching her scabbard like a doll and hunching over.

“Really, that was the first time I felt it. That Dad truly loved me. That I was someone who couldn’t live without Dad. I love our dad so much now.”

Alice said that and hugged my neck. I kissed her too, and Lorena, not wanting to be left out, clung to me. The journey north continued like that. Through idle chatter, we shared our inner thoughts and tried hard to forget our anxiety about the North.

In villages along the way, we bought maps of the North to familiarize ourselves with the terrain, and prepared individual rations for emergencies. The carriage, stuffed full with cold-weather gear and food, reminded me of a cramped cargo hold.

Several days passed like that. The carriage reached the threshold of the North. Carriages laden with luggage occupied the inn’s parking lot, and a cold blizzard swirled in the sky. The dirt ground was frozen solid, and every time horseshoes struck it, the sound of cracking ice could be heard.

“We’re really here now.”

I smiled, watching the breath escaping my lips. Lorena, unaccustomed to the cold, got out of the carriage shivering, while Alice nodded, sticking close beside me.

“I know. We’re here… but isn’t it too cold? How can people live in a place like this?”

“Y-yeah, Evan…! It’s t-too cold…! I think…!”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Demons possess bodies far more resilient than ordinary humans. Unfazed by the cold northern wind, I threw my arms around the two women and opened the inn door.

Rough-looking patrons fixed their gazes on the man who seemed like a gigolo, flanked by two beautiful women. I shot them a look asking ‘What are you looking at?’ and smiled, holding my women’s hands. Some clicked their tongues and looked away, while a group of bearded men whispered and kept glancing at us.

And then, a blue-haired man’s eyes widened as he stared intently at me.

I couldn’t help but stop smiling and stare back at him.

Because I definitely remembered seeing that face somewhere before.