episode_0128
by fnovelpiaNorthgard.
This refers to the warriors who protect the north in the permafrost zone of Isenggar.
Of course, not everyone is a fighter. Northgard is a minority, and the rest are ordinary civilians.
Most of the Northmen live in tribes scattered throughout Isenggar, the largest of which is Lake Fortress, where we came from.
The interior of Lake Fortress was a small world where creatures forged in the harsh north wind lived together.
The canyon walls were a mixture of ice and rock, and the huge ice walls blocked the wind and brought silence to the village.
When a stranger arrived, the villagers came out in curiosity.
The tribesmen were all wearing outer garments. Clothes made from thick animal skins, necklaces decorated with animal tusks, etc.
The tents standing on the snow were made of animal skins and sturdy wooden poles, and there were clear signs of thick insulation to keep out the ice.
Smoke rose from all over the town.
They sat in a circle around the fire pit and warmed their frozen bodies.
A cold but strong life. The landscape of Lake Fortress was a space where their survival and will were fully expressed.
I waved lightly at the girl who was looking at me with her nose sniffling. The girl who was waving back without knowing what was going on was immediately stopped by a woman who seemed to be her mother.
‘Ugh.’
Northerners are basically self-sufficient, unless you count the cramped quarters of the mutants who bring in supplies from outside.
It is a very closed attitude because there is virtually no interaction with outsiders.
For such a northerner to come out onto the roadside and look at Asia as if in a trance, beauty is indeed the greatest boast.
Just by staying still, you can greatly reduce the sense of distance.
“Go in. The chief is waiting.”
The place that Yorn led us to was the largest tent inside Lake Fortress. As we entered the tent, there was an old woman sitting on an animal skin.
“Be an example. This is Darka, the chieftain of Lake Fortress.”
Chief Darka.
He is a sorcerer.
From bone necklaces, to canes with bone necklaces, to bone earrings, to bone caps. There are so many that you don’t have to worry about dentures even if all your teeth fall out right now.
But what caught my eye more than anything was the bright blue gem hanging in the center of the bone necklace.
Lazrite.
The reason we came here.
It emits a refreshing blue light even though it has not been processed in any way.
‘You’re just wearing that precious thing.’
If you really want to take it away, you can’t do that.
“Chief, it’s an outsider. These guys cut off the bridge.”
“What? Cut off the leg???”
Darka is so surprised that her throat almost bursts.
She has one very unusual setup and that is:
“Are my legs attached well?”
This person is suffering from dementia.
“No, I’m talking about the bridge leading to the other side.”
“Across?”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Who is the chief?”
“This is Darka.”
Darka opens his eyes wide and points at himself with his finger.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Chief?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The conversation went on and on as if it would never end. If it were me, I would have given up at this point, but Yorn acted skillfully, as if he had done it more than once or twice.
“Darka, you have a guest.”
“Guest?”
“Yes.”
Only then does he recognize our presence. He stands up from his seat. He moves around in a circle, staring at us with such intensity that it feels burdensome.
“We have a guest!”
Yorn winks at me.
I set an example for Darka.
“Nice to meet you, Chief. My name is Karami, the slave trader.”
“Slave trader? What is that?”
“A term meaning the best person in the world who frees slaves.”
“Oh! That’s right!”
Yorn glares at me fiercely and scolds me.
“You bastard! How dare you lie to the chieftain!”
“Oh my, why are you screaming when you startle someone? Right, Darka?”
“That’s right! Why are you yelling? I was surprised!”
“… … Sorry.”
Yorn nods his head at Darka’s urging. He soon raises his head and glares at me.
Cow, honestly… I think it’s your fault for not knowing Darka’s personality even though you were assisting him right next to him… .
“Who is the woman next to you?”
“This is my slave. My name is Miss Asia.”
“Huh?”
The people inside the tent interject with questions. The suspicious eyes looking at Assis are like, ‘That kind of person… a slave?’
I understand. Assis’s appearance is too unrealistic to be called a slave. Clothes are clothes, but even if you dress her in rags, her beauty cannot be hidden.
“Slave…you say?”
“Yes.”
Yorn still looked incredulous, but since Assis, the person involved, did not deny it and remained silent, he reluctantly gave in.
“What is the slave trader doing here? Are you here to make us slaves?”
“No way. I never force anyone into slavery. I always choose the right way.”
“Then what brings you here?”
I said, looking at the Razzlight hanging on Darka’s necklace.
“I want the blue jewel that the chieftain is holding.”
“What?”
At that moment, the room started to shake violently.
Darka stepped back in horror, hiding the Lazrite with both hands.
“No! This was given to me by my grandmother! No one can take it!”
“This jewel is a symbol of our tribe’s chieftain, passed down through generations. Do you want to take it?”
“That’s right. I’m thinking of making some jewelry that would suit our princess.”
“Just for decoration… .”
Yorn frowns deeply and puts his hands on his waist. He looks as if he’s about to draw his tomahawk at any moment.
“I have nothing to give to savages like you. Get out of the village right now. Otherwise, your skins will be hung as decoration.”
So it turns out like this.
Well, it was a reaction within the expected range.
They are already sensitive to outsiders, so why did they come to me out of the blue and ask for the symbol of their chieftain and the relics of their maternal grandmother?
Rather than forcibly breaking through, I want to build up affinity with them and ask them questions secretly, but this damn soul synchronization doesn’t allow me to do as I wish.
A soul in the form of a slave trader tries to push forward in a useless straight line.
But who am I?
Aren’t you a thief?
Even in such an emergency situation, there is a solution. They have prepared an offer that cannot be accepted without giving them Lazrite… .
“Chief! Look at this! There’s a person hiding in the luggage! ”
I did it… .
A commotion broke out.
“Well, I’m a dwarf too! Let me put this down!”
“Be quiet! Where did you come from to say you’re a dwarf!”
“I’m a half-dwarf!”
The person the soldier brought was Perka.
“Why is Miss Perka here?”
“Hidden…was. In the luggage compartment… .”
“Yes?”
No, ASSS. What the hell are you talking about? If you knew that, why didn’t you tell me?
I thought I heard a woman screaming when I fell earlier. I thought it was a hallucination, but it seems it was Perca.
As a result, the northerners’ wariness toward us reached its peak.
“Hiding someone. You were plotting something.”
“There seems to be a slight misunderstanding. First of all, she is a dwarf, and she just followed us without telling us.”
“I have no intention of listening to your cunning tongue any longer. Kneel down and surrender. Otherwise, the hostage will die.”
“Eek?!”
The soldier who subdued Perka puts a sword to her neck.
“What are you doing…?”
Assis tilts her head and asks. With her abilities, she should be able to subdue him faster than the sword can pierce Perka’s neck.
But if you fight here, it will be irreversible.
Stealing Lazrite by force is a possible method, but it is the worst option. It is true that Lazrite is needed, but the process of obtaining it is omitted.
The interaction that Assis feels when he is connected to Northgard is gone. He may be able to block the cold air, but he is far from being completely liberated.
Here it is right to take a step back.
“Oh, I didn’t realize it was such a precious item. Okay. We didn’t come here to fight, so let’s just retreat. Can we take our luggage and comrades?”
“You want me to let go of those guys who came to steal the jewels?”
“If a battle breaks out in the middle of the village, won’t my precious tribesmen get hurt? Even if they surrender, I doubt there will be a prison powerful enough to completely subdue my slaves.”
“That’s….”
“I propose the most peaceful way.”
Jeonggok-Yoren shut his mouth.
He immediately nodded to one of his subordinates, who went out and brought Jim and the frozen Hargran.
“We will hold the hostage until we are far from the village.”
***
We were driven out of the canyon under the watchful eye of Northgard.
Perka followed from a distance, still fearing for his life.
When they judged that we had reached a certain distance, they released Perca, and Perca ran towards us in a panic.
When our eyes met, he must have felt his feet go numb, so he bowed his head and apologized.
“Sorry, I’m sorry… .”
“Why did you follow me?”
“Something looks really interesting… .”
“It looks like you followed me without permission. I guess Mr. Torvar is worried.”
“My father is worried about me? He would never do that. He’s just a guy with a hammer in his head.”
Perka smiling innocently.
If I had known this would happen, I would have held on to the leash instead of letting him go.
“But what should I do now? I guess I’ll be chased out by the northerners and get the jewels.”
“That’s right, thanks to whom.”
“Hehehe… . It’s not like there’s only Lazrite here. If you look closely, there must be one more in the world, right?”
Of course it should be there.
Since there is an abundance of money, you can buy it.
But as I’ve said repeatedly, we can’t leave out the various interactions between Northgard and Assis. It’s definitely Darka’s Lazrite.
“Let’s first spread out a spot near Lake Fortress.”
“Should I say that here? The northerners will be angry?”
“I told you to get out of the canyon, I didn’t tell you to stay here.”
There is nothing to be defeated by in terms of power.
“But what about Mr. Hargran? Is he still alive?”
“Of course it’s alive. But I’ll melt it later. If I wake it up now, it’ll just cause trouble. It’ll melt on its own over time, so let’s just leave it alone until then. Okay, let’s get to work. It’ll get colder at night.”
The dwarves start a fire and skillfully set up their tents with hammers and hammers. Luckily, before the sun sets, a decent campsite is created near the canyon.
Perka, who was warming herself by the fire in the tent, asked me a question.
“But Mr. Karami. Do you really plan on negotiating with them? I’m not in a position to talk about it after the issue has been raised, but I’m sure it won’t be easy.”
“I guess so.”
I looked at the outpost in the valley.
If we light a fire in the middle of a snowy field, they must have discovered us. The problem is that Perka’s activities and Karami’s unnecessarily honest speech have heightened their alertness.
What I originally planned was to hunt demons and give them high-quality meat and leather as gifts to raise their favorability rating, but it’s not easy to raise favorability rating with normal activities.
We need to get the story back on track.
A situation where a little MSG is needed.
‘There’s an item I got for times like this.’
I showed my hands to Perka and Assis.
“Okay, you two. Look here. As you can see, I have nothing in my hands.”
“… ?”
“But what if you clench and unclench your fist like this?”
Empty hands, with nothing in them.
One of the dice that appeared inside it.
“Voila~ The dice pops out like this.”
“Oh! Is it magic?”
“Please call it magic.”
“Magic! Karimi-san, you can do that too! But why the sudden injection?”
“This is a very special die.”
Dice with a pink base.
A regular icosahedron.
Each side is adorned with numbers in brilliant gold and blue.
“This is a dice that twists fate.”
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