Chapter 89

Jonas knew how dangerous fog could be.

People often got lost and walked in circles when encountering fog on unfamiliar paths.

The cartographers he had met always warned about fog.

-Jonas, if you get lost and fog sets in, it's best to stay put. If you wander around carelessly, you'll end up in strange places.

Of course, Jonas was aware that his father had been a mercenary longer than himself.

Therefore, his father would already know how to deal with being lost in the fog.

Maybe there was no need for him to go; his father might already be on his way back.

But just in case.

If by any chance he couldn't get out of the situation.

Jonas had to save his father.

Though he was sorry for deceiving Arenheit, he would be back soon and could apologize then.

Jonas ran in the direction Max had gone.

Feeling the subtly inclined path, he was able to advance straight without wandering.

As far as Jonas could tell, this seemed to be the entrance to a mountain.

If so, where would his father have headed for reconnaissance?

Rather than going around the mountain, wouldn't he have gone upward?

Jonas headed deeper into the mountain, checking if there were any footprints left.

The trees became more numerous until they eventually formed what could be called a forest.

As Jonas wandered through the bare forest, he heard a faint sound from somewhere.

Was it his father?

Jonas instinctively moved towards the sound.

He didn't mind sinking into the thickly piled snow up to his knees.

After walking diligently, Jonas caught his breath while leaning against a tree.

Jonas suddenly realized that the tree he was leaning on was white, unlike other trees.

No, it wasn't white.

This tree just appeared white because it was covered in crisp frost.

Jonas was distracted by the ice crystals falling off in clumps.

Because of this, he failed to notice the enormous and terrible being looking down at him.

By the time Jonas noticed its presence, it was too late.

A giant horned figure hidden in the fog.

Long nails that had something stuck to them, dried and blackened.

Beyond the hand that was about to pounce on him, there was only one thing he could see.

A pitch-black mouth like a cave without any light.

The cold wind from its mouth caressed his cheek.

Was he going to be eaten by the giant?

If not, would he be dragged away somewhere?

If only he could scream, but he had been unable to speak even a single word for some time.

He should have just stayed with the Duke.

This was punishment for running away from the Duke secretly.

He was going to be eaten by a scary monster because he couldn't stay still.

It was just as Jonas tightly closed his eyes.

Someone let out a terrifying shout.

"Jonas!"

His father was running toward him.

After throwing away both his heavy axe and the firewood he had been carrying, he embraced Jonas.

In the large, reassuring embrace, Jonas felt his father's hands covering his face.

"Jonas, cover your ears. Cover your ears! Don't look at anything. Don't look at anything until Dad says it's okay. Jonas, close your eyes! It's looking at you!"

Due to Max's trembling hands, Jonas sensed something ominous.

Dad, what do you mean?

What do you mean something is looking at me?

Eventually, Jonas heard his father's painful scream above him.

Dad!

"Close your eyes! Jonas, don't listen to anything! Don't believe anything! Don't look at anything! Please!"

Dad, are you okay? Are we all okay?

The wind, which had stopped, began to blow terrifyingly.

Beyond it, Max's screams began to mix with a very ancient whispering.

Jonas clung tightly to his father's cloak, relying on the arms that were holding him.

So that he and his father wouldn't be blown away by this wind, and praying that the scary monster would disappear.

The wind ceased.

Jonas realized at some point that his father had disappeared.

And the monster with him.

There was no one in the forest clearing except Jonas.

* * *

"The wind... has stopped."

"That's good. Flying snow would only make it harder to secure visibility."

Because of the missing Jonas, Russel and he had set out to search, just the two of them.

Since Jonas couldn't shout, they deliberately looked behind rocks and trees.

But even so, Jonas was nowhere to be seen, and as a result, the search area kept expanding.

"What should we do? I don't understand why Max isn't coming back either. We're all going to miss each other."

"Then stay here for a moment. I'll go up further. He might have gone upward."

"I'm scared, so I want to go too."

Did he not know the rule of horror movies that you die if you're left alone?

They slowly climbed up, calling Jonas's name.

In the midst of this, Russel suddenly stopped.

"What? Is there something there?"

"I can hear some kind of sound, Your Grace."

"Sound?"

Though he also listened, he couldn't hear any sound at all.

But Russel changed direction and left the path, heading towards an area full of protruding trees.

After breaking through the high snow piled between the trees, what was there was.

"Jonas!"

The child was curled up and lying face down in the snow.

Surprised, he ran over and shook Jonas, and the child raised his head.

The moment they saw his face, Russel and he couldn't say a word.

The child silently embraced him with a face drenched in tears.

"Jonas? What happened? What's wrong?"

"Your Grace, over there."

Looking in the direction Russel was pointing, there was a familiar axe and scattered small branches that appeared to be for firewood.

Max's axe.

Firewood that Max would have brought.

Jonas left alone, crying.

White frosted trees scattered around.

They couldn't say a word.

Jonas's shoulders were trembling slightly in his arms.

Upon returning to the sled, they calmed Jonas down.

Perhaps exhausted from crying, Jonas fell asleep as if collapsing.

After carefully laying the small body on the sled, he and Russel sat around the fire.

"What happened to Max, Your Grace?"

"I don't know either. But I have a guess."

"If it's a guess..."

"Remember how all the people in the north had evaporated? They were either used to summon these monsters or became part of the monsters we've been defeating so far."

"Will Max also end up like that?"

"It's just a high possibility. But don't tell Jonas. Let's say we don't know either."

It was enough to drive one mad.

If this continued, Jonas might lose his mind.

There was no way a young child who had witnessed an ancient being and lost his father could act normally.

Though he wanted to send him back immediately, if that happened, they would have to go back too.

They should have just come with Russel, just the two of them.

"We can't go back like this, Your Grace. We can't delay rebuilding the temple any longer."

"Wait. I need time to organize my thoughts."

If the giant had taken Max, it might not show itself for a while.

Should they take advantage of this safe moment to leave this place?

But that would be no different from giving up tracking the giant.

Had the news about the northern mine development rights reached the Aisling Merchant Group?

Furthermore, Jonas might also refuse to leave this place, having lost someone he loved to the giant...

Wait a minute.

"Your Grace? Is there something you're looking for?"

"I had put the folk tale collection here."

As soon as he found the folk tale collection he had read to Jonas, he turned the pages.

In the fable of 'The Giant Wandering Through Blizzards,' there was an illustration of a giant as skinny as a skeleton with deer antlers.

As he suddenly opened the book, Russel looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Why are you suddenly looking for that book?"

"There's something I need to reference."

In the folk tale, the hunter shoots and kills the maiden, then takes his own life. Then an evil spirit snatches the hunter's soul, and the hunter becomes the giant in the blizzard.

He looked at the sleeping Jonas.

The fairy tales contained the habits of the descending beings.

But there was room to expand that thought a bit more.

The Winter Butterfly story only features the Winter Butterfly and its victims.

But the story of the giant in the blizzard was introducing why the giant became a giant.

The giant was originally an ordinary hunter.

But due to guilt, he committed suicide, and the evil spirit turned the hunter into a monster.

Max, who had become a hunter.

Jonas, who had rushed out worried about his father.

The evil spirit that stole the soul.

The bow and arrow that made him flee.

The story of 'The Giant Wandering Through Blizzards' was just beginning.

If this was the case, Max would soon...

He closed the book and looked at Russel.

"Let's go find Max."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, but I think."

Russel followed his gaze.

Up there, a high place obscured by fog.

"He might be wandering somewhere in the background, unable to appear yet."

"Are you saying he could be up there?"

"Of course, we could just go back like this. We could ignore Jonas's crying and hand him over to the mercenary band with compensation. That would be the easier way."

"But."

"Yes, but that doesn't feel very right, does it?"

Russel kept his mouth shut for a moment, then slowly opened it.

"It would be good if we could just know the specific location."

"Don't worry about the location."

"Didn't you say earlier that you didn't know?"

"I don't know. But Jonas can go there."

Though what he was thinking might be foolish, if there was a possibility, they had to try.

Jonas would certainly go to find Max,

And they needed to prevent Max from killing Jonas and ensure his soul wasn't sold to the evil spirit.

To prevent him from becoming the giant who emerges through the blizzard,

To prevent the birth of a god that way.

And a few hours later.

Jonas, awakened from sleep, wrote a short message on his palm.

-I can hear my dad calling.