Chapter 85

The reverential gazes of the priests.

And the devout escort knight who blindly followed him.

Sir Philip, who viewed this entire scene like a collective uprising of lunatics.

He quickly instructed the servants to treat the priests well, and then called only the pitiful Sir Philip and Sir Russel, who was leading this madness, to his office.

"Russel, I ordered you to visit the temple, deliver donations, and give them a hint about the north, but I don't think I told you to bring all the priests with you."

"But how could I stop them when the brothers were willing to come? The brothers will certainly be of help in the north."

He was at a loss for words before Russel's bright, eager eyes.

Putting aside the matter of feeding and housing sixty-five priests.

"That would be nice, but things have become a bit complicated. I originally planned to immediately rebuild the northern temple. But..."

"What? Has something happened?"

"To explain simply, you know that butterfly monster we saw in the north? There are stronger entities than the butterfly."

The gods basically stayed confined within their territories and didn't move.

It was similar to the deified Margrave, the Winter Butterfly, who was cooped up in the castle.

The Lord of the Extreme Realm would be like that too, and so would the other gods.

But what worried him the most was the 'pair of stars that walked.'

It was impossible to know where that god roamed from and to.

Moreover, he still didn't know the true identity of that god.

With such entities openly prowling around, he couldn't take priests with absolutely no combat ability.

"So I think I'll need the help of the mercenary band in the north and you."

"Where is Sir Leandros?"

"Leandros is."

Damn it. The thought of being abandoned raised its head again.

"...temporarily away. Right now, I only have you, is that alright?"

"Yes, if it's a holy war for God, what wouldn't be alright? I will follow you."

Sir Russel seemed quite mentally unstable despite having left the north for some time.

Surely it wasn't serious?

He turned his head to Sir Philip.

"I know about your toil. But would you help a bit more? We are collaborators after all."

"Not at all, since Your Grace is busy even with two bodies, if I can be of help like this, I would be extremely pleased."

Sir Philip's eloquent tongue was still as skilled as ever.

He tied a paper containing a short message and handed it to him.

"Isn't there a fountain in the capital? At noon, give this to the woman sitting at the fountain. Also tell her she can come back."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for giving you such a troublesome task."

He gestured to the servant standing by the door, and the servant discreetly approached Sir Philip and held out something.

A secretly gleaming jewel was placed in his hand.

"After this is over, shall we have tea at the townhouse in the capital? The Corpus Christi celebration isn't far away."

"Is that so? Does Your Grace plan to attend the eve festival banquet?"

"Yes. If it's alright with you, entering together wouldn't be bad either."

"T-that means."

Sir Philip's nostrils flared.

There were few cases where one could enter with another high noble or head of a family.

First, if they were fiancée or fiancé.

Second, if they were an escort knight or tutor.

Third, if they had built a friendship that transcended social status.

Philip transformed into a smiling face and kept bowing.

"How could I refuse? It's a great honor just to see you in the capital. Then, I will go to the capital before it gets too late, Your Grace."

"Sure, tell the servants what you need. We'll prepare everything without shortage."

"Thank you, Your Grace."

Philip bowed several times and left.

Russel was still waiting for him.

"You heard, right? Since we need to return before the Corpus Christi celebration, let's depart the day after tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Since the priests couldn't be sent back immediately, they decided to stay at the ducal residence for the time being.

Russel and he would head back to the north, and Arndt would continue to oversee the castle.

Arndt seemed internally displeased that he kept leaving the castle, so he promised to return before the Corpus Christi celebration.

The people were himself and Russel.

The horse they would ride was Sleigh.

But Sleigh, whom he hadn't seen in a while, had dry, disheveled fur.

"...Didn't you feed my horse?"

"Your Grace, but the horse didn't eat. I tried all sorts of ways to feed it."

"Even so, that's too much. If two people ride him now, he'll collapse."

He had planned to ride Sleigh to shorten the journey to the north.

At this rate, they might not be able to return until after the Corpus Christi celebration.

While worrying and considering whether to have another horse brought out, Sleigh leaned his head against him.

Sleigh was begging him for something.

"...What?"

-Snort.

"You want to eat that? You're a horse now. I know what horses shouldn't eat."

No, even so, this was too much.

Sleigh made groaning sounds and paced back and forth around him.

Everyone was surprised at this unprecedented sight and tried to calm Sleigh by grabbing the reins, but it was futile.

The more they pulled, the more the horse acted up.

It was tiring to watch the chaos that erupted when they were supposed to depart.

Well, whatever.

"Sir Russel. Would you cut my hair for me?"

"Now, Your Grace?"

"Yes. Make it clean, please."

It would be better to cut it than keep it long.

Though perplexed, Russel drew his sword behind him.

With a swishing sound as the large sword came out, his head suddenly felt lighter.

"Sleigh, stop being stubborn and come here."

-Neigh!

It was the first time in his life he had seen his hair being used as a hay substitute.

Sleigh devoured a bundle of red hair very deliciously, while people watched in amazement.

After the brief meal, Sleigh stamped his hind legs and stood sturdily as if saying to ride him.

Why did demonic beasts like him so much?

After overcoming this small incident, they leapt into the shadows heading towards the north.

* * *

Having safely arrived at the courtyard of the northern castle, they immediately went inside.

When they pushed open the door leading to the hall, contrary to their expectation that no one would be there, blinking eyes focused on them.

Each person was holding a piece of meat or bone in their hands.

Why were they all here?

"Have you been well?"

As soon as he dismounted, the mercenary captain awkwardly wiped his greasy hands and stood up.

"Ah, Your Grace. You see, normally we're not like this and stay quietly in our rooms. But today it was a bit cold and empty, so..."

"No, no. It's an empty castle anyway, use it as you please. Is there anything you need?"

"Thanks to your care, there isn't."

"I see. Ah, this is my other escort knight, Sir Russel Nabilov."

Russel bowed his head slightly.

The mercenary band and Russel had probably rarely crossed paths.

Thinking it would be good for Russel to familiarize himself with the faces of the mercenary band, he sat down on a visible stone.

As Russel stood behind him, everyone became quiet.

"Hmm. I haven't heard much news. I hear you're struggling because of the cold here."

"Oh, that. We weren't complaining."

"It's understandable if it's cold. I'll include plenty of cold weather items in the next supplies."

"Uh... Thank you."

Was it his imagination that the captain seemed strangely anxious?

As the silence grew heavier, the captain, unable to stay still, smiled awkwardly and said.

"I see your wounds have all healed. I was worried because they were so severe. There must be a skilled physician in the ducal family."

"? No. There's no particularly skilled physician."

"Then, Your Grace must have excellent recovery abilities. Hahaha. Hahahaha."

The captain's laughter faded emptily.

And then no one opened their mouths and silently stared at the bonfire.

Somehow, it felt like a company dinner where the boss suddenly joined in.

Was he perhaps an unwelcome guest?

"I came to investigate and also check the areas we cleared before. How is the map coming along?"

"If you mean the map, it's almost all done."

One of the reasons he had died seventeen times in the north was precisely for the map.

The map copied from the village couldn't fully explain the northern terrain.

Only maps of the lower regions could be made, but even that was something.

Considering the demonic beasts and monsters that had killed him seventeen times, those seventeen deaths had been a bargain.

Since they couldn't observe until they figured out their habits, he had found a shortcut.

The results seemed not bad, better than expected.

He nodded.

"This time, I want to go upwards."

"By upwards, do you mean towards the border?"

"Yes. But it's dangerous there, so we can't go in a large group. So I need someone who can help with mapmaking."

"For that, our cartographer could help."

"Yes, good. There's one thing I'm curious about. Can they handle seeing terrible things?"

"Pardon?"

The captain asked back.

He knew it was a strange question.

But it was that important.

"It's good if they know how to make maps, but it would be better if they have a strong stomach."

"How strong a person do you need?"

"Well. How strong should they be?"

After thinking for a moment, he spoke.

"Strong enough not to scream if a person suddenly bursts with a 'pop' right in front of them?"

The mercenary band didn't know much about the north.

Partly because Leandros had paved the way so well, but also because he had pre-shared the strategies for dealing with monsters that he had discovered by throwing himself in first.

So they had less wariness about the north.

The captain answered with a quite sour attitude.

"I'm asking in advance just in case, but what exactly is this investigation you mentioned earlier that requires such a dauntless person? No matter how much it's an unknown territory, it doesn't seem like such horrific things would happen."

"I guess I didn't explain enough."

He pointed beyond the window, illuminating the sky that was neither day nor night.

"I'm planning to track a giant living in the north."

It was a method he had come up with.

Track and investigate by following the giant.

He would like to kill it if possible, but since that was impossible, at least seal it in one place.

If that happened, the north would become relatively safe, and the mithril mine development could proceed without issues.

Everyone seemed to think it was a crazy plan, though they didn't say it.

The captain barely managed to answer.

"Is that possible? I've never heard of a giant in the north. Even if it really exists, could you really meet this giant?"

"Do you think I'm saying this frivolously?"

He took out a bundle of papers from inside his garment.

The name of the bundle was,

The Incomplete Collection of Northern Folklore.