episode_0024

10 years later.

Yawn~

Driving the carriage slowly, pulled by giant reindeer, the old coachman yawned languidly.

Then he looked at the massive snow-capped mountain before his eyes.

“About two days left, perhaps.”

Until they reached that snowy mountain.

Sirius, the City of Eternal Winter.

At the peak of that massive snow-capped mountain, covered in perpetual snow, lay the largest and most beautiful imperial capital of the Shahlnu Empire.

That was the reason the old man was heading to that snowy mountain.

‘When we arrive, bone-chilling cold will be waiting, I suppose.’

Although there was a teleportation portal on the city’s snowy mountain that allowed instant entry into the city, the thought of having to endure the bone-piercing cold until they reached the mountain filled him with weariness already.

‘When you get old, your bones get cold, you see.’

When he was young, such cold felt like nothing, but now that he was old, it was undeniably difficult to endure.

‘Perhaps this will be the last time I set foot in the imperial capital.’

He had earned enough money, and done enough coachman’s work.

It was about time to retire anyway, and he was deliberately enduring hardship to go to the capital to give his grandchildren a good experience, so it was probably true.

At the faces of the two children that soon came to mind, the old man lifted the carriage curtain and called the names of the little blessings playing inside.

“Mikhail, Maria. Is it not cold inside the carriage?”

Looking inside the carriage, the two little blessings replied with bright smiles.

“Yes!”

Fortunately, there was still warmth inside the carriage.

“Haha, that’s good. Tell me if you get cold. I brought heating equipment, so just say the word and I’ll turn it on right away.”

“Yes, Grandpa!”

Looking fondly at the two little blessings, who were only about five or six years old, the old man lowered the curtain again and looked ahead.

“Hmm?”

A man in armor was walking alone towards the snowy mountain.

‘Was he separated from his group?’

Judging by his neat armor and decent build, that didn’t seem to be the case. If he were a mercenary or a bandit, the old man would have pretended not to notice, sped up the carriage, and fled, but since that didn’t seem to be the case, he slowed down the carriage and called out to the young man.

“Hey, young man.”

The young man with white hair turned his head.

‘He’s a uniquely handsome young man.’

Given that the Great Hero Kara was famous for her pure white hair, the white hair was understandable, but those white eyes strangely drew attention.

‘No, rather than simply white…’

It was more like white marble had been set into his eyeballs. The more he looked, the deeper they seemed, and he was a young man with uniquely colored eyes.

The old man looked at the young man’s face for a moment, lost in thought, and the young man, in turn, asked the old man, who had stopped him and was just staring in silence for a long time.

“Did you not call for me?”

At those words, the old man, finally roused from his thoughts, realized his lapse.

“Ah, that’s right. My apologies, getting old makes one a bit scatterbrained, you see.”

The young man nodded lightly.

The old man, having stopped the carriage, addressed the man.

“Where might your destination be?”

“It’s Sirius.”

“Sirius?”

The old man asked, as if wondering if he had misheard.

“Are you truly heading to Sirius?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Indeed, there are many problems.”

The old man gestured towards the snowy mountain.

“If you head to the snowy mountain on foot without a carriage, you’ll suffer quite a bit from the mountain’s cold snap. Did your traveling companions perhaps leave you behind?”

At those words, the young man made a troubled expression.

Even if not abandonment, it clearly seemed he had experienced something similar.

“I was supposed to travel with a merchant caravan, but I was delayed by personal matters. So I’m traveling alone now.”

“Oh dear. How foolish.”

Asking this much might seem like meddling, but it wasn’t mere meddling. He was asking this much because he genuinely worried the young man might die.

“You’re not even wearing winter clothes.”

The young man was wearing ordinary armor and light, dark cloth clothing.

“Even if you disregard winter gear, going like that without winter clothes means you could freeze to death in the mountain’s cold.”

“Even with the teleportation portal below the snowy mountain?”

“That’s right.”

One might think that traveling there wouldn’t be very difficult, given that it’s the most populous city on the continent and also perceived as the largest.

But it’s a city built on a snowy mountain halfway up the Minerva Mountain Range, a colossal peak that seems to reach even the moon.

The blade-like winds descending from above the clouds are notoriously fierce even among the locals, to the extent that citizens of the imperial capital and the five surrounding cities don’t even attempt to travel to or from the city on foot.

If one lacks money, they typically use a reindeer carriage, or if they have a bit more to spare, they travel by train.

When told this, the young man replied in an even tone.

“I see. This is my first time here, so I wasn’t aware such things existed.”

“Although it doesn’t snow at the foot of the mountain, if you get drenched by the year-round drizzle and then face the cold wind, it’s truly dangerous. Train fares aren’t that expensive, so next time, take a train from a nearby city.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

‘Looking at his appearance, he seems like a young master from a noble family.’

His armor, overall appearance, and looks certainly gave that impression, but contrary to his outward appearance, his very polite demeanor gradually increased the old man’s favorable impression of the young man.

‘Originally, I was going to charge him.’

“Hey, young man.”

The young man, who was about to resume walking, turned his head.

“Do you, by any chance, want to ride in the carriage?”

At those words, the young man, silent for a moment, slowly shifted his gaze to the old man’s carriage.

“I apologize, but I have no money, so that would be difficult.”

“Who said anything about paying to ride?”

“Excuse me? Then-”

“I’ll give you a free ride.”

Grin-

“Instead, be a bodyguard for the carriage and a conversation partner for the children inside.”

The old man showed a benevolent smile.

***

“Mister, Mister.”

The curious gaze of the little child turned towards the man.

Then the man, who had been staring blankly at the snowy mountain, turned his head towards the two children.

“Mister, are you a knight?”

“A knight?”

At those words, the two children nodded.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because you’re wearing armor.”

“And you’re carrying a sword.”

As the boy and girl, who looked like twins, spoke in turn, the man replied with a faint smile.

“Mercenaries and soldiers also have armor and swords, don’t they?”

“But you’re different, Mister.”

The girl said.

“Different, how?”

“Well, the armor you’re wearing, hmm… what should I say…”

“It looks cooler!”

The boy, who appeared to be her older brother, answered instead.

The armor the children referred to as worn by soldiers was brigandine, and the armor they thought knights wore was plate armor, but it seemed this was the limit of explaining the difference with the vocabulary of children who appeared to be only five or six years old.

The old man, who had been listening to the three of them, chuckled, finding his grandchildren’s words quite endearing.

“That’s called plate armor, dear. Knights usually wear that kind of armor.”

“Plate armor?”

“Yes.”

At those words, the eyes of the two children, Mikhail and Maria, sparkled even more.

“C-Can I touch it once?”

Mikhail asked in a trembling voice.

When the man nodded slightly, Mikhail beamed and fumbled at the breastplate.

“Wow…”

“I want to touch it too!”

Maria also scurried over with her short legs and touched the man’s armor.

Just then, the old man driving the carriage in front turned his head and asked.

“Come to think of it, young man, are you perhaps a knight?”

“Didn’t you know already?”

“Oh, you. You didn’t tell me, so how would I know? Well, I had a hunch, though.”

The old man gave him a subtle look, signaling if he was indeed a true knight.

“Yes, I am a knight.”

“Just as I thought.”

The old man, who had been half-certain but wanted confirmation from the man, nodded contentedly.

“Then, what level have you reached? As a knight, you would, of course, have reached the second stage.”

The second stage. It’s another way of referring to someone who can hold two stars in their soul.

From this point, physical abilities and magic sensitivity begin to slightly exceed the level of ordinary people, which is why most knights and mages remain at this stage.

However, the old man’s intuition, having seen various types of people during his long career as a coachman, told him that the young man’s stage was definitely not one where he would remain at the second stage.

“It seems like you’ve reached at least the third stage.”

The third stage.

If the second stage represented the most basic level of knights and mages, possessing slightly superior physical abilities and strength than ordinary people due to magic sensitivity, then from this point on, one receives proper treatment as a knight or mage.

Knights begin to properly wield aura, earning the title of Aura Beginner.

Mages reach the 3rd tier and simultaneously gain a much more advanced mana circulation structure than the previous stage.

Judging by the young man’s aura alone, it seemed possible he was at an even higher stage, but since the extraordinary aura unique to the fourth stage wasn’t present, he was likely indeed at the third stage.

The old man thought that and simultaneously asked.

“You’re unlikely to be a mage, and you don’t seem to have reached the level of an Aura User, so I’d say you’re around that stage, am I right?”

“……”

The young man, who had been silent for a long time, spoke.

“Yes. The third stage is correct.”

“Just as I thought.”

His prolonged silence was a bit strange, but since his own intuition also said so, it was probably correct.

‘He must be offended, thinking he ‘only’ looks like he’s at the third stage.’

Of course, that level was by no means insignificant, but given the characteristic hot-bloodedness of young people, such a question could have bruised his pride.

Even more so if it was this young man, who was presumed to be the handsome son of a noble family.

‘Young masters born into noble families have immense pride.’

As he thought that far, the old man realized that they hadn’t introduced themselves to each other yet.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves. What’s your name, young man?”

The old man’s head turned back again.

His uniquely deep eyes turned towards the old man.

“It’s Joshua.”