Lighthouse

Solaon, the northernmost city owned by the Perkus family.

As befits its name as the northernmost, the Northern Wall appears not far from the outskirts of the city.

Having completed my primary goal of obtaining the Formless from the main family, I now turned my attention to the Wall.

The Pen of God.

To find it, I must head to the end of the Wall.

I filled my stomach with a breakfast as delicious as last night’s dinner and asked Lykan in a subtle tone.

,Master-nim. Now that I’ve come to the North, may I do some sightseeing?

Lykan, who was cutting into his steak from the morning, frowned and scratched his head.

Come to think of it, it’s your first time in the North, isn’t it? Sorry, I forgot.

Lykan, wearing an awkward smile, stroked his chin and continued.

The acquisition of the Formless was faster than expected, and the conversation with the head of the family went well… There’s plenty of time. You can rest for a few days. I’ll even give you a guide if you want.

The guide you give is just for show, and it’ll end up being close to training, so a relaxing tour is impossible.

Raellan, who smiled with a long stretch of his lips along with the joke, turned his head to me.

Unlike Lykan, whose simple emotions could be read in his eyes, Raellan’s eyes were always calm and hiding something.

Eyes that make the viewer feel nervous. The awkwardness I feel whenever I meet his gaze is similar to Bella.

How about going with Navier-yang? Use this opportunity to go on this month’s date too. Seems like a good idea.

It was a voice asking for an opinion, but judging from Raellan’s eyes, refusal seemed impossible. It was a promise I made just yesterday. There’s not enough justification to refuse.

I hid my disappointment and turned my head towards Navier-yang, who was elegantly eating vegetable soup.

Shall we?

Great, I know where all the good restaurants are around here. Leave today to me.

Judging by the way she answered immediately as if she had been waiting for my suggestion, it seemed that she was focused on the conversation here while keeping her eyes fixed on the soup.

Like a sly cat. I smiled slightly when I thought this. Navier-yang must have noticed my thoughts, as she focused on eating the soup elegantly again.

*

After finishing our meal, we immediately prepared to go out. The inside of the carriage has temperature control, but outside, a bone-chilling north wind is blowing.

I put on the clothes I had prepared in advance, and wore gloves and a mask to cover my ears and face.

This is basic in the North… I set it up that way.

When I came out of the room and waited at the front gate, Navier-yang, who was dressed warmly, looked at me and laughed, ‘Puhut.’

What’s with that outfit? Are you going to war instead of sightseeing?

It seems like I was overdressed. I took off my mask slightly out of embarrassment. To be honest, it was a little hard to breathe.

Following Navier-yang, I went outside and headed to the carriage. The moment I opened the door, I could feel that this was the North. It’s cold.

It seems to be a better carriage than the one I rode yesterday. It feels like I’ve entered a small room, as if it’s been enchanted with space expansion magic.

Inside the carriage, there was a table, a sofa, and even a bed. On the table, there were books, tea, and desserts, as if they had been prepared in advance.

I decorated this carriage myself since I was young.

At Navier-yang’s words, who spoke as if she was embarrassed, I responded politely.

You decorated it well. Um, it suits you.

Suits me? What do you mean?

Hiding my true feelings that it seemed to need organizing from Navier-yang’s sharp gaze, I answered as if muttering.

…Pretty.

Hmph, so where are you going? I can give you recommendations if you want.

Was that the right answer? I smiled at Navier-yang’s appearance, who pouted her lips for no reason and changed the subject. Seeing her eyes narrowing, I answered immediately.

The end of the Wall, where you can see the Sea of Darkness.

The end of the Wall? There’s nothing to see there. The places people go to see are typically Mount Bold or Lake Zairen… You’re making a strange choice?

At her suspicious gaze, I shrugged my shoulders. I had already thought of an excuse.

I saw it in the academy library. I was looking forward to coming to the North a little. The book said that there’s a lighthouse at the end of the Wall that no one knows when it was built.

At my plausible excuse, Navier-yang opened a small window above her head and told the coachman to go to the end of the western Wall.

When Navier-yang closed the window, the sound of a dog barking suddenly came from inside the carriage.

Tilting my head, Navier-yang said in a stuttering voice as if making an excuse.

T-This was installed when I was young. There’s no need to announce the departure with vibrations, right!

I didn’t say anything.

Navier-yang forced a smile with a troubled expression, then returned to the topic from earlier. Is it a habit to change the subject when she has nothing to say? I could relate a little.

…I didn’t know there was a lighthouse. I’ve never been to the end of the Wall. It’s not our family’s area either.

Navier-yang muttered that and picked up a dessert on the table. Instinctively, I tried to follow her action, but stopped my hand and changed my target to the teacup.

Do you dislike strawberries? Or do you dislike sweet desserts?

She’s surprisingly observant. When I think about it, the reason Navier-yang came in third in the survival test was because she noticed my plan faster than anyone else.

If she hadn’t been observant, she would have been swept away by the currents like everyone else, or eliminated by the flames that burned the island.

I drank my coffee as if I were nonchalant. This is quite bitter.

Strawberries don’t agree with my constitution.

…Surprisingly, there’s a lot to remember. You don’t seem like a delicate man.

Looking at Navier-yang, who sighed deeply, I smiled mischievously and replied.

If I said I was hurt by that, would that make me delicate?

No, I’d think you were petty.

….

Somehow, the more we talk, the more I feel like I’m losing. As I took another sip of coffee without saying a word, Navier-yang, who was eating a cookie covered in strawberry jam, asked.

But are you going all the way to the end of the Wall just to see one lighthouse?

Well, I guess I’ll have to go and see.

The setting is that the lighthouse has a way to find out where the Pen of God is hidden.

The vice-leader explained how he obtained the pen in passing. Even if I arrive at the lighthouse, there was a possibility that I would come up empty.

Even if I fail, I can just use Estelle to recover the pen. It was easier to think of it as a kind of preliminary investigation.

Navier-yang stared at me, as if she didn’t like my ambiguous answer.

At that gaze, I muttered a weak excuse.

…I only saw it in a book.

Even though I wrote the book.

***

About an hour later. An uphill appeared that the carriage could no longer enter. Inevitably, we got out of the carriage.

I heard from the coachman that from here, we would have to walk along the Wall Road for 3 hours to reach the end of the Wall.

There’s no need to follow me all the way.

I probed her with those words. If Navier-yang got involved for no reason, there was a possibility that the problem would get bigger. The secret about the Pen of God could leak to someone through Navier-yang’s mouth.

It’s okay. It would be more of a loss if I didn’t see the lighthouse after coming all this way. If it’s about 3 hours, it’ll be okay to eat more dessert in the evening.

I’ve been teasing Navier-yang for being in third place, but I actually forgot. This kid is also in the combat division.

3 hours is just a light exercise. An exercise that’s enough to not worry about gaining weight even if you eat more dessert.

With a sigh, I climbed the Wall with Navier-yang. A soldier on the Wall checked our identities. Thanks to the name Perkus, we were able to head to the end of the Wall without any particular restrictions.

It was like a roller coaster road where uphill and flat roads were repeated, and suddenly downhill roads appeared. Perhaps because it was built on a mountain range, it wasn’t boring.

Following Navier-yang, who had a wider stride than Luna, I walked diligently along the road. After exchanging trivial conversations with no nutritional value, we finally arrived at the end of the Wall. The lighthouse could be seen in the distance.

As we went down the Wall, there was a delicious smell from the barracks where the soldiers were resting. One of the soldiers asked, wondering if it was strange that a man and a woman had come here.

What brings you here? There’s nothing to see here. The only village nearby is Lake Village.

He had a curious face. He was a stranger, but I could instinctively tell that this person was talkative. Hoping that a good answer would come out, I said briefly.

I came to see the lighthouse.

The lighthouse? Ah, there is. If you go straight up this road, you’ll arrive in about 20 minutes. Actually, it’s impossible to navigate because of the Sea of Darkness, so there’s no separate port, so everyone doesn’t know why they light the lighthouse every day… It’s been passed down from a long time ago, so they’re doing it like a tradition. Delan-ajusshi is living as the lighthouse keeper now.

Is this what it means to be efficient with words? I was satisfied with the long explanation I heard in a short sentence.

After saying goodbye to the unnamed soldier, we headed to the lighthouse along the path the soldier had told us.

Whether he had calculated our stride or not, exactly 20 minutes later.

The end of the cliff.

We arrived at the lighthouse that exists alone, standing tall.

Listening to the sound of the waves coming from under the cliff, I approached the door of the lighthouse and was about to knock when my eyes suddenly went to the flowers carved densely on the door frame.

I don’t know what kind of flowers they are. In fact, I knew very few flowers by name. Just roses and lilies.

I quickly lost interest and knocked on the door of the lighthouse.