Chapter 30: Four Silhouesttes

“Hey, Luke!”

“Hey, Bill?”

While on duty at the Winter Palace, a familiar face called out to me.

It was Bill, the owner of the weapon shop and a blacksmith.

I had recommended him to Grace along with Elaine when we were at the Snowflower Tower, and Grace, showing

interest, had invited Bill to the Winter Palace.

It seems today is the day.

Bill, recognizing me, approached and suddenly gave me a hug, causing me to be genuinely surprised.

“Wait, you two know each other? From your reaction, it seems like you…”

“No, senior.”

The one guiding Bill was Jimmy, a member of the 3rd Escort Unit.

Seeing a large, bearded man like Jimmy hugging me so warmly, he gave me a suspicious glance.

The only openly gay person in this Winter Palace right now is having a conversation with Grace.

By the way, Grace also has a big chest, so I noticed that Sophia looked happy as we walked here.

“Bill, don’t spread weird rumors about normal people and stay away. Why are you being so embarrassing?”

“Ah, sorry. I was nervous, but seeing a familiar face made me too happy to control myself.”

Even when he visited the weapon shop with Elaine, Bill acted the same.

Aside from his excellent blacksmithing skills, Bill is an ordinary citizen. It’s only natural for him to be nervous when

the Northern Duke’s Escort sends a team to find him. Imagine a regular restaurant owner suddenly being visited by

an agent in a suit asking him to come cook for a presidential barbeque party.

“Hey, the Duke apparently called for me. Do you know why? Why would the Duke want someone like me?”

“You’ll find out when you go. Who knows? Maybe the Duke will give you some special materials and commission you to make a weapon.”

“Are you serious? Did you really recommend me? Why are you putting me through this trial? The Escort Captain is

tough enough, but now the Duke?”

“I didn’t recommend you, the Escort Captain did.”

“What? What?!”

“Just do your best. This kind of opportunity doesn’t come around often. Honestly, aren’t you intrigued? The Duke

could provide the materials you want, so why not try making something? The Duke’s sword.”

Bill, who was scared of power but couldn’t resist rare materials, started thinking about making a sword for the Duke,

who is known as the kingdom’s greatest swordsman. That’s how his thought process works.

While other blacksmiths hesitated at the complexity of the rare materials, Bill showed the most confidence and

passion for sword crafting. Because of this, Grace took an interest and assigned him to make the sword.

Currently, the information about the sword is confidential because Bingjeong is still researching it at Snowflower

Tower, and Grace’s invitation wasn’t for sword-making but for a conversation, which is why Bill was so nervous.

So, I wasn’t worried.

If Grace suddenly asks about the sword, Bill will probably change his tune.

“Let’s go. The Duke is waiting for you.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry about that.”

Bill, now flustered, laughed awkwardly as he became more polite.

We’re both part of the Escort, after all.

Sigh.

Time passed quickly, and after the Silver Sabertus Expedition, it was finally our unit’s turn to go on another mission.

It wasn’t a major event mentioned in the novel, nor was it a huge deal, so I thought of it as a practice run before the

upcoming knight challenge.

“At least the Serhan Sword technique is fine.”

First snow, snowstorm, and flurries.

I had become proficient at handling them naturally.

“My stamina is good too.”

I made sure to train whenever I could with the 3rd unit leader.

The 3rd unit excels at primitive strength training, and they’re very welcoming of new training partners.

There’s an unspoken rule that you have to take off your shirt to join in, so I wasn’t exactly the most popular in the

group, but I didn’t care. If it works, I’m fine with it.

Despite the misunderstanding, Unit Leader Gi was incredibly moved when I trained with the 3rd unit in their way

and even gave me one-on-one personal training, which made me feel a little uneasy.

I didn’t ask for it, but he volunteered to do it.

Knights are supposed to be above bribery, so it’s not a bribe—it’s a gift.

One peculiar thing was that every time I trained shirtless, Elaine would show up out of nowhere and stare at me

before walking off.

I pretended not to notice because I was scared.

“My heat manipulation has also improved.”

Aside from my duties, I practiced heat manipulation with thin clothes, following Elaine’s teachings, and I also gained

knowledge from Sophia’s magic lessons.

Now, I can create a heat blade even with a regular iron sword, not just the obsidian one.

“Alright, all preparations are complete.”

I clenched my fists as I checked today’s date.

There’s only one week left until my meeting with Grace.

That’s when the knight exam will take place.

And…

The incident mentioned in the novel would probably happen as well.

The first preliminary operation in the Brave Road Northern episode.

I sat lost in thought, recalling the events from the novel.

During the journey of vengeance, Aran and his companions receive news about the events happening in the North and arrive there,

reuniting with the Duke of the North, Grace,

and hearing the full story of what is unfolding in the North from her.

This was the story Grace had shared with Aran.

Looking back now, I think that was the starting point. Several months ago, during the knight exam season, an urgent

report came in.

What was it about?

There was an issue inside the Snowflower Tower, and cold air began to leak, causing chaos. Thankfully, the tower

master and mages responded quickly, so there were no casualties, but the facilities and tools of the tower were

damaged, and it took a while to clean up.

Does that mean…?

Yes, exactly that. It’s just a possibility, but perhaps it wasn’t an accident. Maybe they intentionally tampered with the

Snowflower Tower to weaken the defenses before targeting the North.

And the ominous suspicion turned out to be true.

While the Northern Duke and key officials were distracted by the excitement of the knight exam, the Snowflower

Tower was attacked.

This was the event I had been waiting for.

“Now that I think about it, if this story is about to start, I wonder if the other one has finished by now.”

Whether it was underground or in a cave, or maybe they didn’t even bother to make windows,

a light appeared in a dark, secluded room.

Red.

Purple.

Green.

Brown.

The colors that appeared each formed the silhouette of a different person.

Soon, a red silhouette, resembling a man, crossed his arms and spoke.

[“I’m saying this because I can’t take it anymore. Doesn’t this look like utter nonsense? What the hell is this?

Whispering through magical communication in some dark, rat-like place? Are you kids trying to act like villains?”]

With an insulting tone and curse words, the red silhouette grumbled, and this time, the purple silhouette nodded.

Though she seemed young based on the contours of her silhouette, she was a woman.

[“Oh? I’m really surprised to hear such words from you. You like dark and gloomy places, don’t you? Like a rat.

Hehehe.”]

[“What?”]

[“Why are you angry, ‘King of Crime’? Or should I call you Your Highness? Hahaha! ‘King of Crime,’ huh? Doesn’t it

sound like a joke? So pathetic.”]

[“Hah! Looks like you like the new appearance, huh? You’re all excited. Well, it’s a good thing. You can sell your taste

at the tavern, but first, I’ll cut off your arms and legs and make you touch gold coins. Maybe you’ll even end up under

a dirty man and scream.”]

At that moment,

footsteps could be heard, and a real human body, not just a silhouette, appeared in the room.

“Everyone’s gathered. I’m so glad to see you all in good health.”

At the pleasant and warm voice, both the red and purple silhouettes fell silent.

A handsome blonde man with curly hair sat down and smiled kindly at the four silhouettes in front of him.

[“Don’t you dare smile like that in front of us. It’s disgusting.”]

[“I agree with that jerk.”]

The red and purple silhouettes, who had been arguing just a moment ago, teamed up to criticize him, but the blonde

man seemed unaffected and continued to smile brightly.

[“Where’s Luna? Didn’t she respond to the summons?”]

The heavyset brown silhouette, who had been silent, spoke.

“Ah, Luna is dead.”

The blonde man replied in a calm voice, as if recalling last night’s dinner.

At that, the four silhouettes shook simultaneously and each spoke up.

[“How did she die? Was it from syphilis? Gonorrhea? Or did she finally get torn apart by talking too much?”]

[“She wasn’t killed, was she? Who would kill that zombie-like girl? If I could kill her, I’d have done it when she was

shaking her hips beside me.”]

[“I can’t believe it. She was a saint, so she could heal aging and diseases on her own.”]

[…How did she die?]

The flood of questions was dismissed as the blonde man raised his hand to silence them.

“By the holy sword. Aran is still alive.”

At those short words,

[!!!!]

The silhouettes shook even more violently.

“You’re surprised, aren’t you? I was too. Aran’s alive. How did he survive? I clearly pierced his heart and threw him

off a cliff. It was a cliff with no water below. Amazing, isn’t it? How did he survive that hell and come back to kill

Luna?”

The blonde man spoke excitedly, and the silhouettes listened in silence.

“It’s fine. I don’t doubt our precious comrades. You all chose to be with me, right? Everyone helped kill Aran.”

[······]

“Then let’s take a moment of silence for our poor comrade Luna, and then continue talking. Alright, silence.”

The four silhouettes did not move.

However, the blonde man closed his eyes, bowed his head, and after exactly five seconds, he opened his eyes again

and smiled brightly.

“Seeing that Luna was killed, it seems Aran’s goal is indeed revenge. He’ll probably come after us. Who’s next? Me?

You? Or you?”

He pointed at each silhouette with his finger, and the brown silhouette spoke up, looking uncomfortable.

[“Please give us orders. What should we do?”]

“Orders? There’s only one. Find Aran and kill him. This time, let’s cut him into pieces. It’s such a shame to harm that

beautiful body… but, well, since that disgusting resurrection is so revolting, let’s just chop off all the limbs.”

[“Heh, you were quick to screw Luna, though.”]

“Roh, speak properly. I didn’t embrace her. Luna mounted me, and every time she did, it was so exhilarating because

she regenerated for the first time.”

[…Crazy bastard.]

The red silhouette clicked its tongue and fell silent, while the purple silhouette shook its head.

The blonde man paid no attention to them and looked back at the brown silhouette.

“Dorgon, what do you think Aran’s next move will be?”

[“He won’t come straight to the capital. Given Aran’s straightforward personality, he’ll probably target the most

important person later.”]

“Hahaha, so that means I’m the one Aran hates the most?”

[······]

“Just kidding, just kidding. Keep going.”

[If you don’t come to the capital, you’ll be safe. Excluding Low, who rules the back alleys and whose whereabouts are

unclear, from the remaining three.]

The brown silhouette turned and headed toward the green one.

[One of us will come after you, and since the closest place to where Luna was is the Moonlit Forest, your next target

is probably you.]

[······.]

The green one remained silent, and the blonde man asked.

“Can you kill him? Do you need help?”

[······.]

“Surely you don’t think Aran will save your forest again, do you?”

[······!]

“Eh, really? But it’s already too late. Your forest has walked a path that can’t be undone. If Aran goes there, he’ll

probably try to kill everyone, not just you. You corrupted the World Tree with your own hands and tainted your own

kind.”

“Ah, I’m not blaming you. When the World Tree’s life ends, it leads to the extinction of the species, so it can’t be

helped in that situation. I respect your choice. Even if it’s poison, if it works, you should take it. Surviving is what’s

important, right?”

What? Are you angry? That’s too much. You turned away from the difficult path that keeps things pure and chose the

easy but messy one. Ha ha!

[Shut up………….]

“Did someone make you do it?”

[Ugh! That’s………….]

[Tch. Hey, stop it. So, if Aran goes to the Moonlit Forest, we’ll have to kill him there. Do you want help or not?]

After a long silence in response to the purple one’s question, the green one answered.

[I’ll do it myself. Betraying Aran was my choice.]

With that, the green silhouette vanished.

Only four remained. The red one chuckled.

[Do you really not know who corrupted the World Tree? How stupid.]

“Why don’t you tell him, Low?”

[What would I gain by helping that fool?]

“Typical of you. Well then, let’s talk about the next thing. Doragon, how’s the plan going?” Ha ha ha,

[There’s a report. We obtained a mineral called Bingjeong from the Snowflake Tower.]

“Bingjeong?”

[It’s a mysterious mineral that greatly enhances ice magic. Even if we destroy the facilities of the tower as planned,

with Bingjeong, their forces can quickly recover.]

“That’s interesting. Scary. Isn’t something like that supposed to not exist? Take care of it.”

[There are elder-level mages researching it around Bingjeong, so it’s difficult to destroy it.]

[The problem is…]

“Hmm…”

The blonde man thought deeply for a moment, then said,

“Low, I need you to go to the North.”

[Huh?]

“If Doragon goes, it will start a war, and of all of us, you’re the best at infiltration and scheming.”

[Why me? Let that fake kid do it. He’s the head of the tower, so visiting the Magic Tower should be easy for him.]

“You’re more suited for it. Low, do it.”

[You little………….]

“I’ll allow you to run a s*ave business in the North if you succeed. You know, northern men are great for labor, and

northern women can attract lots of customers. Plus, northern women are beautiful.”

[······-.]

“You can also expand the drug farms in the South.”

The red one remained silent for a while before responding.

[Hmph, fine.]

With that, he vanished.

[That scumbag, so simple-minded.]

“Well, that’s fine. It’s easy.”

[But why do you want to eliminate the North so badly? Aren’t you poking a beehive for no reason?]

“Hahaha! Asking such an obvious question, even though you’re a sage.”

The blonde man reminisced about old memories.

“Grace Northlain, she’s an uncontrollable variable. If she ever figures out our secret…”

How troublesome. And now, there’s even more reason to get rid of her. Aran will surely head to the North.”

[Are you trying to use Grace’s power?]

“Yeah. And Grace will let us use her. Because she’s… Aran’s woman.”

[Eh? Were they like that?]

“Maybe? I’m not sure. Anyway, they’re close, being teacher and student.”

[If it’s true, that’s amazing. That eunuch who didn’t fall for Luna’s temptation managed to seduce the Duke of the

North.]

“That was pretty cool. His character is upright.” Aran is

[Then he was betrayed.]

“I’ll be going now. Talking about this makes me miss Luna. Was there a maid with pink hair in the castle?” Hmm,

[Perverted bastard.]

With a brief curse, the purple one disappeared, and shortly after, the brown one vanished as well.

Only darkness remained in the room.