Chapter 107

Chapter 107

#107. That House Looks Dangerous… (1)

The core reason the Empire hasn’t fully exerted its power against the Northern Region until now…

There were issues like the Kingdom Alliance and the Mongar Orcs, but the biggest reason was ‘greed.’

The Northern Region was just too tempting a prey.

The Emperor had wanted to make all of the North a direct royal territory to establish absolute imperial authority…

But the nobility and clergy couldn’t tolerate that.

‘The development and strategy of the North is terrifying.’

As it was, there was even the possibility they might have to completely let go of the North.

‘Using magic stones as currency? Only being able to buy magic stones with Northern Region money?’

Knowing better than anyone else the value of magic stones, he couldn’t help feeling anxious.

After learning that low-grade magic stones and coal are used as key fuels for steam engines, his obsession only grew stronger.

‘In the worst case scenario, the strong Northern Region might invade the central-north part of the Empire!’

He concluded that having half would be better than losing the whole thing if things continued like this.

Using the very greed that prevented action before, in reverse.

‘Let’s give them half of the North! If we do that, two out of four legions could be filled with the armies of the nobility and clergy.’

If things go well, we might even deliberately wear down the armies of the nobility and clergy during the Northern Expedition. Anyway, I’m still the Supreme Commander.

Gack! Emperor Khanbraman tightly clenched both fists.

“Rikar…”

Just as Khanbraman was about to speak after organizing his thoughts…

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

A servant rushed into the grand hall.

This was something that never happened unless it was an emergency.

“An urgent report from the Eastern Ruins!”

This servant was responsible for managing the royal carrier pigeons.

“…”

The servant quickly delivered a red-colored message from the carrier pigeon.

Khanbraman hastily opened and read the red letter.

“Apparently, the Mongar Orcs are attacking the Main Wall on a massive scale.”

Bang!

As soon as he shared the contents of the red letter, the Emperor struck his golden throne with his fist.

His hand hurt, and the grand hall became chaotic in an instant, but none of that mattered to Khanbraman.

“…”

He silently looked up at the ceiling of the grand hall.

White porcelain tiles from the East still adorned the ceiling densely.

‘Does the fervent god of the Lenslet really exist?’

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like the North these days was excessively favored by heaven.

As he frowned and looked up at the ceiling, the Emperor’s face slowly relaxed over time.

Huhuhuhu…

And after a while, a smirk appeared on the Emperor’s face when he lowered his head.

‘It doesn’t seem like an entirely bad situation.’

Upon reflection, the current situation wasn’t entirely bad.

‘We can use the Mongar invasion as an excuse to suppress the artisans and guilds!’

Regret mixed with excitement welled up within him.

It’s regrettable that we can’t conquer the North, but it’s fine. We’ll finally get to do something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

More precisely, a perfect justification has fallen right into our lap.

‘Let’s build lots of steam engines and factories in the royal direct-controlled territory! Let’s mass-produce weapons and armor using Imperial Steel!’

Come on, North! Make as many weapons as you want with your steel.

We’ll catch up in no time with dozens of times more land and population!

And when the time comes…

Our fully armed great army will march northward.

* * *

There was another equally terrifying trauma embedded in the DNA of the Imperials, alongside their desire to invade the North.

That was the Orc Legion which initiated the Age of Barbarism.

Among countless Orc tribes, one of the strongest called themselves the Mongars.

It didn’t take long for the war clouds rising at the Largolte Great Wall in the Eastern Ruins to spread across the entire Empire.

“Send every available soldier to the Great Wall!”

“The Noble Council will also dispatch more troops!”

“The Church will send additional relief forces.”

“The Mage Tower will also deploy magicians to the magic battalions.”

Since the North involved divided interests, it was difficult to unite.

But the public enemy, the Mongar Orcs, was different.

When it came to the Mongar Orcs, the Empire united as one.

The true strength of the Empire that Arad had been wary of finally manifested.

“The Mongar Orcs are causing unrest!”

“If the Empire falls, it will be our kingdoms next!”

“Cease all provocations and local conflicts against the Empire immediately!”

Even the Kingdom Alliance, which had been bickering with the Empire until yesterday, cooperated this time.

The Age of Barbarism was a strong trauma not just for the Empire, but for all humans of Arcadia.

* * *

Meanwhile.

This barbarian wave wasn’t limited to the eastern part of the Empire but was also starting to stir elsewhere – in the North where another remnant of barbarism remained in Arcadia.

It might even be more serious and threatening than the great invasion in the East.

However, since it was such an isolated land, no one noticed the birth of this enormous threat.

Not even the High City, which guarded against the northern barbarians at the front line, nor Arad, who knew the original history, realized this unexpected wave.

At the northernmost tip of the Arcadia Continent lies the Duchy of Lenslet.

And at the farthest north of the Duchy of Lenslet is Lenslet itself, located in the Lenslet territory of the Duchy of Lenslet.

But if you think this is the northernmost and coldest place in the world, that’s not true.

Beyond the High City and the Northern Great Wall lie two barbaric tribes that humanity hasn’t yet conquered.

One is the Druid tribe living at the northern end of the Manus Mountains.

The other appears when you silently walk through the Arctic glaciers and ice seas.

They are the Arctic Orcs of the polar continent and the monsters of the ice sea.

Koo-ooo-oo!

Ki-ra-ra-ra-rall!!

Somewhere in the polar continent beyond the ice sea,

Ice and glaciers were mixed so much that it was hard to tell whether the land they stood on was part of the polar continent or a floating ice island.

But there was one unmistakable fact: neither the Frost Haven of the High City nor the Northern Expedition Army had ever set foot on this land.

Iri-iri-iri-irill

Kua-aaa-aaak!!

In this land that fiercely rejected civilization, and in Arcadia, a primeval barbarism gathered that few remained.

Ayayayaya Uhu Ayayayaya Uhu Hirurururu Hirurururu

A group of creatures covered in thick furs, resembling Bigfoots at first glance, were screaming and dancing wildly on the snowy plains.

They were Druids of the Barbarian Tribe. For some reason, those who should have been in the Manus Mountains were gathered here.

Their screams and dances looked like a prelude to some kind of spell-casting.

Koo-ooo-ooo-oo!!

Although less so than the Druids, the Polar Orcs, mostly covered in white furs and steel, were roaring on the other side.

Kugu-gu-gu-gung

Their roars were so loud and thunderous that parts of the surrounding frozen ground collapsed.

Ee-ha-la-la-lal!

Kua-aaa-aaak!!

Despite this, the rarely gathered Druids and Orcs continued their ritual of dance and roars without hesitation.

Kang! Kangkangkangkang!

The Polar Orcs armed with steel weapons that no civilized place could produce were deeply focused on the ritual.

“I-muga! I-muga! I-muga!”

“Hamon-to! Hamon-to! Hamon-to!”

The Orcs and Barbarians screamed continuously, calling out some entity in their language.

Translated directly into Arcadian Common Language, it meant “White Snake.”

Goo-ooo-oo

Finally, at the center of this ritual stood a small group of black-robed Dark Wizards.

Though wearing thin robes, they didn’t shiver at all, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

They silently stared at the underground of the frozen wasteland, their gray bandaged leader emanating emerald green light.

[Oh Jormungandr, has your shedding been completed successfully?]

Right there, the fusion of the White Serpent Jormungandr and the legendary Isaac, the master of Demon Den, was taking place.

* * *

Outside the Northern Great Wall. The outpost built among the snow mountains of the High City was also a watchtower blending nature and barriers in the harsh cold.

Paris, an elite agent of Frost Haven stationed at this northern outpost, glared fiercely at the snowy plains through sunglasses.

He didn’t know why these glasses were called sunglasses.

It was just what everyone started calling them because Arad Jin named them that initially.

Wearing sunglasses definitely made his eyes more comfortable. Thanks to them, he could gaze at the snowy plains for extended periods without strain.

Human eyes are so fragile that looking at the sunlight reflected off the snow for too long easily damages them.

But thanks to these sunglasses, there were no longer agents retiring due to eye injuries.

Paris placed a long cylindrical rod in front of his sunglasses.

This rod was called a telescope. Unlike the sunglasses, it was somewhat understandable why it got this name.

With the telescope, he could see farther, more clearly, and for longer periods across the snowy plains.

The extreme land where glaciers and icebergs mix.

A bit further up from here lies the eternal frozen sea, the Ice Sea, inhabited by the Arctic Orcs and Ice Sea Monsters, one of the many enemies of the North, and also the final course of the Northern Expedition Army.

According to legend, beyond the Ice Sea lies the resting land of dragons.

But legends remain legends; no one has ever crossed the Ice Sea.

Even Rune Lenslet, the ancestor of Lenslet, proclaimed that the entrance to the Ice Sea was the limit of the Northern people’s territory.

“Hmm?”

While observing the snowy plains with the telescope, something unusual caught his eye.

Far to the north, the arrangement of icebergs and drifting ice in the Ice Sea looked different from yesterday. The order seemed significantly disrupted.

Though the floating icebergs naturally change positions, this time it felt excessive.

“The detector is quiet.”

First, he checked the Arad Radar installed at the outpost.

The radar was silent. This left two possibilities:

Either the radar was broken or something beyond its detection capability had appeared.

“It’s probably the former, right?”

Still, it was hard to be certain immediately.

Honestly, he wanted to dismiss it as a malfunction, but the unique intuition of the Lensretians prevented him.

An unusual sense of discomfort gripped Paris’ instincts.

“Ambiguous.”

He decided to check whether this chaotic appearance of the Ice Sea was artificial or natural using a simple method.

Sometimes primitive methods are the most effective.

“Whiiiiik!”

Paris poked his head slightly outside the outpost door and whistled for a Winter Hawk.

Goo-ooo-oo

But the Winter Hawk didn’t respond to his call. Only the silent winds of the Arctic sky answered.

“…”

Similar to the radar situation, there were two possible cases here.

“Strong winds today.”

Firstly, in the Arctic, when strong winds blow, even Winter Hawks, known as spirits of the wind, stay hidden.

“Or… there are Druids nearby.”

The other possibility is when Druids, who have significant influence over flora and fauna, are nearby.

“Surely not monsters, right?”

Unless there are powerful monsters emitting strong auras.

“Eh, it’s not like this is the Magic Realm or anything…”

For now, Paris leaned towards attributing it to weather and Druids.

“The sightings of Druids have increased recently.”

Especially concerning was the frequent appearances of Druids residing at the northern end of the Manus Mountains in the eastern Arctic, a situation closely monitored at the High City recently.

“…”

Paris gazed blankly at the sky again.

The harsh cold winds, the silent sky, and the recent increase in Druid appearances.

Perhaps the Winter Hawk’s non-response was due to both factors.

“Is this phenomenon caused by strong winds? Or did the Druids do something?”

Therefore, he still couldn’t determine the cause of the anomaly he observed earlier.

“I need to get closer to be sure.”

He hurriedly prepared to leave, gathering his weapons.

He wore sturdy fur armor and strapped three axes made of Northern Cold Iron to his waist.

In such harsh cold, swords are rarely used unless by exceptionally skilled fighters. Axes are generally more advantageous.

“One last thing… the heat magic stone…”

Before leaving, he collected something inside the outpost.

Inside the northern outpost where Paris was stationed, five red magic stones emitted warmth and light.

Even though he was a Lensretian with roots similar to Druids, accustomed to the cold, the extreme chill of this land was equally terrifying.

“To have to leave this warm outpost and venture into the freezing cold… ugh…”

The small greenhouse barrier installed by witches in the past helped endure the Arctic conditions.

However, it was clear that the barrier had its limits in such extreme cold.

“Really, how did they conduct reconnaissance in the old days?”

Muttering to himself, Paris tucked a heating magic stone into his bosom.

With one heating magic stone in his pocket, he could comfortably explore the Arctic for extended periods.

“Hopefully, nothing serious happens.”

Praying repeatedly in his heart, he set out on this ominous reconnaissance mission.

A short while later…

“Crazy…!”

Paris, who ventured far from the tower for reconnaissance, exclaimed in surprise.

“What is that…?”

Through the sunglasses and telescope, in the middle of the Ice Sea, there was a massive churning motion.

Around the churning area, swarms of tiny figures buzzed like ants.

What’s more, this wave was slowly but surely approaching his location.

“?!”

Fleeting though it was, he caught a glimpse of a pure white snake-like body.

It was so enormous it wouldn’t fit within the telescope’s view.

Yet its movement was so fast that Paris almost doubted if he’d really seen the white snake.

“…”

Looking through the telescope for a longer period, he identified the tiny figures swarming around.

Arctic Orcs and Barbarian Druids, along with various Ice Sea Monsters.

“Legendary White Snake and a monster wave! And it’s a supermassive monster wave!”

Paris quickly pulled out a magic orb from his pocket.

“If I hadn’t had this, it would have been a real disaster.”

Unable to use Winter Hawks in this situation,

Even special horses wouldn’t last long in such harsh cold.

In the past, as a member of Frost Haven, he would have had to run desperately to deliver the news personally.

But not anymore.

Paris quickly activated the Magic Communication Device.

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