episode_0368

The wind started to get harsh.

Jesse and Merson, who said they would warm each other up with their bodies, got into the same sleeping bag and held on to the reins with only their hands out. The hands are also overlapping each other’s hands in wide gloves, as if they have been merged together.

“It’s cold…”

Anne was trembling.

‘Why do you say that the warmest-dressed person is cold?’

Anne’s area became a sleeping bag.

Sleep in a sleeping bag, wake up in a sleeping bag, eat in a sleeping bag, and rest in a sleeping bag.

···.

It’s like looking at my past self.

“Please go in and warm up Anne.”

Steri glances at me.

“Isn’t it okay for the ball to do it?”

“Don’t you sleep with Anne anyway? Even though there is nothing to do, think of it as taking a nap.”

“Come in! It’s dangerous outside the sleeping bag!”

Every day, Anne cuddles up to Steri, who has a high body temperature.

Sterry seemed to like Anne, who clung to her, but was avoiding her.

“···Is it really okay for Gong not to sleep?”

“It’s okay.”

The Sajok were born in the central or southern regions.

It seems that they are not weak to cold, but their sense of smell is paralyzed in extreme cold.

Since quite a few of the hosots and terubs were suffering from colds, I volunteered to stand watch until they left the north.

It was also because there was so much to think about.

“When on earth will Freya arrive?”

” I want to wash… And I’m thirsty…”

Drinking water was also a problem.

This is because the water has completely frozen.

However, I couldn’t scoop out the snow.

“If it’s a reindeer, you can kill one, but would you like some blood?”

Jesse’s ears flutter, and even Merson looks at me.

It seems tempting.

“What are you trying to do this time?”

It seemed like Sterry was already fed up.

It’s always been like that, but it seems like receiving something from me is a burden.

“Whatever it is, shouldn’t you just catch it?”

It’s a bit inhumane, but you can do this by shooting the animal’s lungs.

It will die very painfully, but it will be alive, and in the meantime, if you cut its throat and receive blood, it will quench its thirst.

Could it be because Jesse’s ears were fluttering?

Merson smiles broadly.

“Why, the way he thinks and speaks makes him seem like he’s from the deep south.”

“Didn’t you say you were an indigenous person?”

“In fact, aren’t you really indigenous?”

“So are you going to eat it? Are you going to tell me?”

“I want to eat it!”

One in favor.

“···I will eat it too.”

It’s obvious that Merson won’t eat it, and I don’t think Anne will eat it either.

But it was enough if both of them agreed.

“Then I will come back.”

When I opened the clock, the hands pointed to 12:30.

I have to get it within 30 minutes.

He broke the bowstring and tied the bowstring.

“···Was that a bow?”

“Yes.”

Anne makes a dumb noise.

Well, who would think this is a bow?

I had plenty of arrows.

It would be best not to use it, but you might end up using it.

“Have a nice trip.”

“I will be back before lunch is over.”

“Try well.”

He took a piece of frozen rope, tied it around his arm, and then shot an arrow.

I immediately followed the scent of the reindeer and moved my feet.

How many minutes did he play like that?

Even though I didn’t run much, I came across a fairly large herd of reindeer.

‘I was lucky.’

It was God’s care to discover a herd of medium-sized animals in this cold region.

Should I use a bow? Or is it better to hold it by hand?

After thinking about it, I decided to hunt with a bow.

Although I was confident that I could hide anywhere, I had never learned how to reduce the sound of stepping on snow. The moment when an arrow was put on the bowstring.

Good profit!!! Great!!!

Strange reindeer screams irritate your ears.

But the reason this sound particularly caught my ear was because it was so strange.

‘This is not a reindeer scream.’

He is a chaser.

It was a fake cry so elaborate that if it weren’t for Jules’ hearing, he would most likely have been fooled.

It seemed like there were other hunters besides me.

Herbivores live in groups, but when someone in the group screams, they are unscrupulous and run away in the opposite direction without even looking.

‘If that’s the case, I don’t know why we live in groups…’

Reindeer was one of them.

Judging from where the herders drive the deer, they may be able to catch at least one deer without injury.

The sound of snow falling was clearly starting to come towards us.

How close did it get like that?

‘little bit more.’

You have to be patient.

And, you must attack first before the chaser shows up.

Eventually, the presence got close enough to handle.

I immediately got up and ran towards the group.

─What is that?!

sorry.

I’m going to get some spoons.

I fired my bow at rapid fire at those who came close.

Wow!! phut!! phut!!!

The lungs and hearts of the three reindeer exploded in a loud noise that could not be determined whether it was the sound of an arrow being fired or a ballista being fired.

It is an arrow for seawater rescue.

Reindeer that fell down after being shot by arrows never got up again.

‘I guess this is enough.’

What I have to take must be taken alive.

I threw away my bow and quickly ran towards the guys.

The reindeer herd was startled and quickly changed direction, but not to the point where they couldn’t catch up.

This was thanks to the herders rushing in and starting to herd the reindeer.

I body-blow the side of the nearest reindeer.

Crack!

The sound of the sternum cracking can be clearly heard.

‘···Sorry.’

He quickly climbed up to the animal, grabbed one of the reindeer’s antlers, and subdued it.

Only then did the hunters appear.

It was Hosott who appeared.

He seems very dissatisfied with my disruption.

However, judging from the fact that they are not attacking, it appears that they are not barbarians.

Soon the hossots rushed at me.

“What on earth are you doing! What a thief!”

“Ah?! ah! Sorry!”

I pretended not to know and apologized as I glanced at the hosots.

The three hossots were glaring at me.

However, perhaps because he received an apology, his tone calmed down considerably.

“When the reindeer suddenly came towards me, I thought it was an opportunity.”

“This is our hunting ground to begin with!”

“Sorry. I didn’t know.”

Hosott’s armament was extremely crude.

Bone blades and slings.

Considering the armament, it would have been only one.

“I’m really sorry. I will never hunt here again.”

After receiving my apology, Hosott looks me up and down.

He doesn’t seem to be rude enough to spit in the face of the person apologizing.

“I’ll give you three over there, but can you give me just this one? I’m traveling in the north… but my group is starving.”

I asked with a sad smile, and they looked at the reindeer whose lung had been pierced.

Three heads, three reindeer.

Agreement and understanding of the situation were quick.

“···Don’t do this next time.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

The hosots began to cut open the belly of the dead reindeer.

I led the reindeer and took the arrows from their bodies one by one.

One of the hosots showed its fangs to show me, but the rest pulled out their own arrows and threw them at me.

‘Have a nice lunch.’

He quickly ran towards the top, dragging the reindeer’s antlers.

How far did he run like that?

“···I really caught it.”

Jesse looks at the reindeer and then at me with a dumb expression.

“Blood will be drawn. Please tell the members of the upper tier to gather together.”

“······I will bring you.”

Steri laughed and walked off somewhere.

Drinking blood also meant that this reindeer would die a very pitiful death.

May you rest in peace.

After handing over the reindeer to Sterry, he got into the carriage.

The guy died pitifully.

He was hung upside down, his throat cut, and he died, spilling all his blood into a bucket.

Primal’s mercenaries and some members of the upper division were sitting around there, drinking warm blood from mugs and chopping up the warm deer with daggers.

‘If there is nothing to eat, blood is the source of life.’

Among the thieves, there was one who cut off my throat and sucked all my blood.

Among the executioners, he was called ‘Mosquito’.

Even now, when I think of that time, I feel bitter.

That’s excellent for maintaining a prayer secret.

If it weren’t for Jules, I would be dead.

Before the reindeer knew it, only scraps remained.

In return, she received water, which Anne keeps in her arms.

“How on earth did you hunt reindeer in a snowy field with nowhere to hide?”

“When I saw some of the hosots gathering game, I snuck in.”

“Yes?! You stole game from a snowy barbarian?!”

“No. It was a deal. I caught four and gave up three.”

Steri, speechless, stared at me, then shook his head.

“Ha, don’t lie.”

At this point, it feels unfair.

I don’t think I’ve ever lied before, so why can’t you trust me like this?

“Do you know that if you get hit by one arrow, a reindeer will die?”

You won’t be able to catch it with a mediocre bow.

But this is Giant’s shortbow.

He took out a bloody arrow and showed it.

“If you get hit by this arrow, Hae-su will die.”

“······.”

“Why are you so distrustful of what people say?”

Steri looked at me with a heavy expression on her face, and then sighed deeply.

“It’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s that the ball itself doesn’t make sense.”

Sterry said and snuggled into his sleeping bag.

* * * * * *

Fredin’s Giant mainly hunts mammoths.

The important thing is that mammoth meat is not that delicious.

After all, it is meat for large giants, and the place that wants this type of meat is Freia.

“I don’t know why people live in a place like this.”

Anne mutters in resentment inside the white bear skin.

Does this person know?

In the northernmost part of the world, where your lungs freeze just by breathing, there are thorn-ear trees and gargoyles that eat the living.

“Because of iron ore.”

“They say ore is that important?”

“Yes. For them, that’s karma.”

It is safe to say that half of Pangea’s iron ore comes from the north.

That’s why northerners make a living through mining.

That’s also why they stop by the North to sell food.

To buy iron ore and sell it to the Romaria Empire, the largest consumer.

“Will it arrive today?”

“Yes. It will probably arrive around this evening.”

okay.

Then it would be okay to close your eyes a little.

Just as I was about to close my eyes.

“Don’t sleep there, come here!”

Anne taps the white bear skin with her palm.

As if calling a pet dog.

“Sleep with Sterry.”

“If you sleep like that, you’ll catch a cold. If the ball is really human.”

“That’s right! That Rectalian did that! The North is a cold place!”

“Go in and close your eyes. Or are you really immortal?”

“I think you’ve been pushing yourself too hard these days.”

They attack me from all directions as if they were kissing me.

‘I’m really fine.’

But these people seem to want me to rest.

As I took off my shoes and socks, Anne held out her hand as if asking for a hug.

I ignored it and went inside the sleeping bag.

But the two outstretched hands hug me tightly.

“It’s warm, right?”

“···Yes.”

“Give me your arms.”

Anne, who had arbitrarily dragged my arm, laid down with her head on my arm.

He embraces my hands and feet and buries himself in a manly manner.

He took out the inside of the bear’s arm skin, folded it, rolled it up and used it as a pillow, and only then did people’s eyes come into view.

As if I felt relieved only then.

Was I feeling burdened about doing too much?

“If anything happens, wake me up.”

“Don’t worry.”

I hugged Anne and closed my eyes.

·

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Suddenly, my eyes opened.

The night sky with the moon and the Milky Way is so bright that my sense of time is paralyzed.

‘How long did you sleep?’

I tried to get up, but it was nearly impossible without waking Anne up.

“Are you awake already?”

“···How long did I sleep?”

“It’s only been about an hour.”

Maybe I had a bad night’s sleep.

It sticks like this, so it could be so.

Just as I was about to lie down in my sleeping bag again.

Pout.

The sound of stepping on snow was heard.

Horse hooves don’t make that sound because of their weight.

Of course, it is not the sound of carriage wheels.

“Steri. Who is walking outside?”

“Who will walk around on this freezing day?”

The strange sound of snow crashing was extremely clear.

A total of about five people.

“There is something.”

“···What happened when you woke up? Are you possessed by a ghost?”

“Huh?! Who is coming?”

Steri, who was looking towards Merson, then looks at me intently.

“···What on earth is it?”

“Isn’t it time to get used to it?”

If it approaches you directly from the front, it means that it doesn’t have a bad purpose.

In the first place, I just have to judge with my own eyes whether there is evil intent or not.

─I want to buy something!

······I guess there was no need for that.

As several hosots walked out confidently, the mercenaries’ eyes began to focus on them.

I got up from my seat and looked at the guests through the window.

Most of them looked familiar.

‘Were they hunting reindeer?’

Well, because it’s such a remote area.

Of course, you have no choice but to buy things from people passing by.

“Get out!”

However, the mercenaries’ reaction was ecstatic.

“We do not sell goods to Hosott in the North!”

Several mercenaries carrying crossbows aimed heavy crossbows at the barbarians.

‘Isn’t this too harsh?’

The barbarians looked perplexed.

“Why don’t you sell things to them?”

“Are you saying that after visiting the cradle?”

I was soon able to understand the situation.

Even though they were a barbarian from the snowy plains, they didn’t seem to have closed their doors tightly.

‘I think they would rather be open.’

“Are they supplying goods to the barbarians?”

“Yes. They are swindlers. Well, not all of them are suppliers, but it is true that they are people who do not know what to do or not to do. Those bastards who are behind their backs always mix their convenience with civilians.”

“I have the money!”

“If you guys have Soliduse, it’s because you looted it! Golden Road does not accept blood money!”

Hosott, who was approaching the mercenary leader’s answer, suddenly stopped.

A variety of complex emotions were welling up in his eyes like a torrent of water.

Anger, frustration, lament…

And spite.

Only I know their circumstances.

They are without sin, and those who have sinned are their ancestors.

It was true that he deserved to be criticized, but even so, it was not a crime worthy of punishment.

‘Shouldn’t we at least give him a chance to repent?’

That was the duty of a human being.

“···What’s going on?”

“I will leave for a moment and come back.”

Maybe we can find out something about the barbarians of the snowy plains from them.

At the same time, I didn’t know if I would be able to know my hypothesis for sure.

I took out my socks and shoes and put them on.

“······!”

The socks and shoes I had taken off were like ice.

He said he put it in the sleeping bag he paid for and left it out because he felt uncomfortable, but it was to the point where he regretted it for a moment.

“I won’t stop you. Because I know you’re not the one who will listen anyway.”

Steri spoke bluntly and picked up the crossbow.

“I will accompany you instead.”

“Please leave the crossbow behind.”

“Yes?”

He immediately got out of the carriage, carrying only a utility dagger at his waist.