Chapter 153

“Lammi…?”

Asies’s eyes widened in surprise.

The last place Asies had seen Carami was definitely on the cliff. But Carami had come out from the inner gates of the fortress where Valkras was.

From Asies’s perspective, it felt like teleportation.

Of course, it wasn’t teleportation. Carami had honestly snuck in through the underground.

The expression of hiding underground and being honest seems contradictory, yet considering Carami’s incompetence, it was indeed correct.

If one had their wits about them, no one would think to sneak into an orc fortress.

Of course, Carami was sane this time as well.

“What are you?”

“You don’t need to know. I’m tired of explaining everything one by one now.”

A bluish vein bulged out on Valkras’s forehead. How dare this scrawny human brat speak to him, the emperor of the north?

Valkras exuded a terrifying aura as if he would tear Carami apart at any moment, but the incompetent Carami was oblivious to it.

With a leisurely walk, hands behind his back, he approached Asies. He spoke in a bright voice with a smile.

“Now, the job is done, so let’s go back.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ve found everything we need. I’ll make sure to get the music box as well, so you can look forward to it. Let’s hurry back. I can’t stand the smell here.”

Carami pretended to leave the fortress amidst the countless gazes, including orcs, but glanced back at Asies.

“Are you not coming?”

“But…”

Asies anxiously stared at the slaves surrounded by orcs.

The orcs were still breaking the ice. The thickness of the ice curtain surrounding them had clearly thinned.

It was only a matter of time before the orcs pulled out the slaves and killed them.

“Lammi… those people…”

“Oh, the slaves? That’s already a lost cause. If we try to save them, we’ll only put ourselves in danger. Unfortunately, we should ignore and move on.”

“Huh?”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

Carami tilted his head with a mischievous expression.

“They are strangers whom we have never met. You don’t need to worry about them, Asies.”

That was probably true.

At least, according to Asies’s experience, it was.

To Asies, Carami had always been a prophet who only spoke the truth. Following his words resolved situations smoothly, and all problems disappeared.

So Carami’s suggestion to leave the slaves behind should mean it was the right answer once again. Yet, for some reason, Asies couldn’t bring herself to move.

An unspeakable sense of frustration.

There was clearly a reason, but she didn’t know what it was.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Um…”

“If you don’t speak, the other side won’t know. If you want something, say it directly. I won’t keep it up like this forever.”

Asies flinched.

Her voice was cold, devoid of the usual warmth. The gaze directed at Asies was dry, and even she could feel the sudden change in tone.

Yet Asies didn’t avert her gaze.

She had to say it.

There was something she desperately wanted to say.

“I… want to save…”

“Who?”

“Those… people.”

“Why?”

Asies froze for a moment.

But she spoke up again.

“I don’t… know well. But… they’re crying. They’re asking to be saved…”

“And?”

Her legs wouldn’t move.

With the shattered sword, her will had once been scattered.

“Will you… save them?”

But like gathering snowflakes on her hand.

She reassembled her scattered will into a single point.

Asies stood, supporting her trembling legs.

She was soaked in helplessness.

Crushed by inferiority.

Yet amidst that, a budding aspiration.

Like a small sprout taking root in the snow.

The will to take root and bloom in the frozen ground.

A beautiful and poignant determination to rise again in the very spot where she had fallen.

It was the first feeling that had ever surfaced.

A small spark thawing her frozen heart.

Still, no path was visible.

Even if she stood up again, the outcome wouldn’t change.

But Asies knew.

She had a supporter to help her.

A master who would always stand by her side.

“I need… help.”

In the words that Asies spat out lay a resolute determination that wouldn’t be shaken by the snowstorm, causing a smile to appear on Carami’s lips.

As if this was what she had been waiting for.

And yet, she feigned nonchalance.

“Hmm~ I’m not really keen on this. There’s not much to gain either…”

“…”

“But what can we do? When a slave asks for help, it’s the master’s role to assist the slave.”

With a cheeky response, Carami poured water into the chalice. The transparent liquid turned purple. Carami set the cup down on the ground and stepped back.

“Here. Drink.”

“…?”

“If you drink it, it will grant what Asies desires.”

The third treasure that had to be delivered under Darika’s orders.

While Asies was fighting, it had been stolen from Valkras’s bedroom, hidden under the cloak of invisibility.

This chalice wasn’t just an ordinary treasure. While the tiara was for decoration and the music box was junk, the chalice was a usable active item.

It wasn’t exactly a wish-granting artifact, but a cursed magical tool that helps fulfill the user’s desires.

For example, if someone who yearned to become a king drank from it, they would become a tyrant, eliminating everything standing in their way.

Or if someone wished to be with their unrequited love, they might end up causing that love interest to become incapacitated, ensuring no one else could take responsibility except for themselves.

It helps realize desires by any means necessary.

Even the mere explanation showed it was no ordinary object.

It was speculated that the cause of the kingdom’s downfall was a prince’s wish, “Please let my princess live long!”

Thanks to that, the kingdom was destroyed, but as a result, Asies became a frozen human who would live on for hundreds of years. Captain Asies had attained achievement by this wish.

Due to its dangerous nature, it was sealed in the reports, but following the kingdom’s destruction, it had been leaked.

The one who picked up the leaked chalice was none other than the orc who was freezing to death in the cold.

Orc king Valkras.

“You human. How did you…?”

“To clarify, I don’t know everything. I only remember certain things.”

In other words, it meant that if Asies drank, the chalice would grant her wishes.

Valkras scoffed.

“Looks like you’ve been fed some nonsense. The chalice grants desires only to those who are born with the qualities of a king. A weak human like you will achieve nothing from it.”

Carami returned Valkras’s sarcasm with a smile.

“I can assure you that no one suits this chalice better than Asies.”

Valkras did not heed that.

He contemplated organizing meaningless tasks.

He prepared to strike down.

Asies, grasping the chalice.

She focused her gaze on the purple liquid.

It was unidentifiable, but she had no doubts.

Without hesitation, she downed the chalice.

The cold, thick liquid flowed down her throat.

Carami crouched down on the steps, watching Asies’s condition.

The chalice explosively stimulates desires.

Even the ugly desires that betrayed humanity to achieve goals.

According to those who had used the chalice, it led to ruin.

If one hundred people use it, one hundred would fail.

If one thousand people use it, one thousand would.

Without a single exception.

But what if the one thousand and one person to use it were Asies?

If Asies, who lacked emotions and desires, were to have emerged with that one desire being a pure sense of justice devoid of any wicked heart.

Then the story would change 180 degrees.

Thunk.

The cup dropped from Asies’s hand and embedded into the snowy ground.

Drops of liquid splashed from the cup.

The pure white snow was stained with purple.

“Ah….”

A small sigh escaped.

Asies felt it in the depths of her being.

The will she had not recognized until now.

The yearning to save those people.

The recollection of her kingly nature.

A bright blue light radiated from Asies.

And.

“Oooooooh!”

Far away from the orc fortress, at the chief’s tent of Lake Fortress, the tiara Darika had cherished like a treasure shone brightly.

“What’s happening!”

Jorn hurried into the tent.

The tiara that had left Darika’s arms floated into the air, sparkling with blue light before bursting and vanishing with a pop.

“Oh, my god!”

With hands clasped together as in prayer, tears of joy streamed down Darika’s face. She soon jumped up and grabbed Jorn’s hand, dancing joyfully.

Jorn, taken aback, could not keep up with the situation.

“Chief?”

“It has appeared! Finally, it has appeared!”

“What has appeared?”

“A hero has emerged!”

The hero who would drive away the chill of Isgangar and defeat the wicked dragon had come forth.

***

The vanished tiara was now resting atop Asies’s head.

As if returning to where her master should be.

In Asies’s left hand was a sword of ice. Embedded in the now-full pommel was a gem resembling her blue eyes, infused with purpose.

Valkras had called Asies a weak human, but Carami knew the truth about her.

Asies was the true master of Isgangar, born with the qualities of a king.

The Asies of an unliberated timeline is referred to as this.

The tyrant of the harsh cold.

Frost Tyrant.