Silbern’s scouting team consisted of exactly seven members.
The leader, Silbern Caldias.
Other members included her deputy, Anna.
Isaac, Sharen, and Jonathan, three from Helmunth.
Meladik Drakemore, who had sparred with Silbern before and learned swordsmanship from Isaac.
And finally, Polu Blackson.
“I, I don’t really know why I’m included here.”
Polu Blackson was one of the younger nobles sent on this mission.
Just turned 20, he nervously wondered why he was part of this team.
‘Silbern sure took a bold move.’
Isaac was skeptical of Silbern’s decision to include Polu Blackson in her scouting team.
The Blackson family had been branded as traitors to the kingdom.
Not many knew about it yet.
With Uldiran’s report, the royal family was secretly investigating the Blackson family.
Isaac thought it would be better to leave them alone until then.
But Silbern believed that dangerous individuals should be kept close.
Both had their own reasonable arguments.
“A, A, Isaac, sir! Th, that person…!”
As Silbern gathered the members before departure, Jonathan approached Isaac.
Pointing at Polu, who was standing awkwardly next to Meladik Drakemore, Jonathan stuttered.
‘Ah, right.’
When Isaac revealed the truth about the Transcendental Tribe and the Blackson family,
Jonathan had been nearby.
“D, don’t worry. I, Jonathan, will protect Isaac with my life-!”
“Jonathan, don’t talk to him. You’ll give it away.”
“Ah, understood.”
Jonathan seemed relieved.
He knew well that he wasn’t good at lying.
But Jonathan’s condition was strange.
His gait was slightly off, and his posture was crooked.
“Take off your armor.”
“Huh?”
“Quickly.”
Hesitating, Jonathan removed his armor, revealing bruises and wounds.
The injuries, cleverly hidden under the armor, made Isaac’s eyes burn with anger.
“What the hell-!”
When Helmunth’s second dispatch arrived, Isaac had seen Helmunth’s knights come with them.
But he hadn’t expected them to do this to Jonathan in just one day.
He was about to storm off to confront them.
“A, Isaac, sir! It’s fine! No problem at all! The seniors were just disciplining me because I was lacking!”
“What kind of discipline is this! We’re about to go beyond the wall, how do you expect to do anything in this state!”
“It’s fine! I can handle it! Don’t worry!”
Jonathan acted as if nothing was wrong.
This only made Isaac more frustrated.
But Jonathan, on the verge of tears, grabbed Isaac.
“Please, I beg you. If you make a fuss, it’ll only make things harder for me later!”
“Jonathan…”
Isaac bit his lip.
Jonathan was right.
Though Jonathan didn’t know about the divorce, Isaac was leaving Helmunth in a month.
Making a scene here wouldn’t change much since he was just a son-in-law.
Many knights had seen Isaac being beaten by Helmunth’s direct line.
They probably wouldn’t care much.
“What’s this.”
Then.
Sharen, standing behind Isaac with her arms crossed, looked at Jonathan and asked.
“Is he also a knight from our family? Why don’t I recognize him? But why is he like this?”
“Sh, Sharen, ma’am!”
Jonathan saluted.
Isaac sighed and gave a brief explanation.
“Hmm?”
Sharen raised a finger and simply said.
“Everyone above you, assemble.”
“…Huh?”
“Assemble, I said.”
Jonathan looked confused.
Isaac smirked and gave him a slight push.
“What are you doing? The second daughter of the direct family is giving an order. As a Helmunth knight, you should obey.”
Since they had just arrived yesterday, the Helmunth knights hadn’t been assigned duties yet.
In other words, now was the only time to gather them all.
Ten minutes later.
Knights in armor lined up in the training ground.
Even though Sharen was only 17, she was from the direct line.
Especially since Sharen had never called them like this before, everyone was bewildered.
“Those who beat him up yesterday, step forward.”
Sharen, with Jonathan by her side, spoke sharply.
The knights started glancing at each other.
“Not coming out? Should I go back and tell Father right now? That Helmunth knights are bullying someone like kids?!”
“Sh, Sharen, miss.”
One knight cautiously stepped forward.
The most senior among the dispatched knights, slightly older with a dignified beard.
“This is the Malidan Wall. Doing this will only tarnish Helmunth’s reputation-.”
Sharen hesitated at his words.
“Is that so?”
She tilted her head, pondering, and the confidence she had shown earlier vanished.
“Wrong.”
Finally, Isaac stepped forward.
“Coming all the way to the Malidan Wall and committing such cruelty is already a disgrace. Covering it up? That’s the real disgrace of Helmunth.”
“Isaac, sir…”
“And. Do you think this is just a matter within Helmunth?”
As if waiting for Isaac’s words, Silbern stepped forward.
Her cold gaze, like the northern wind, pierced through the seams of the knights’ armor.
“Making a member of the scouting team, who’s supposed to go out today, like this? Do you know this could escalate to a military tribunal?”
“…!”
“We trusted Helmunth to handle this because they’re your knights. But if you just let it slide, we can’t stay silent.”
Silbern stood firmly by Jonathan’s side, supporting him.
Even Caldias stepping forward like this seemed to help Sharen finally grasp the situation.
“Helmunth being insulted like this?! Should I really tell Father everything?! I wonder what he’ll say!”
The moment Arandel was mentioned, the atmosphere changed drastically.
“Sorry!”
The senior knight bowed his head in apology.
“Where did you sell your chivalry?! Proud Helmunth knights doing such dirty deeds?!”
Sharen, riding on her momentum, scolded them even more fiercely.
“S, sorry, Jonathan.”
“We were wrong.”
“Please, forgive us…”
The three knights who had beaten Jonathan stepped forward and deeply bowed in apology.
It seemed like this could have been a bigger issue, but since Jonathan, the victim, didn’t want to drag it out, they let it go.
The knights, having received a collective reprimand, dispersed, and Silbern looked at Jonathan with concern.
“Jonathan, if you’re not feeling well, you can sit this one out.”
“No, I’m fine!”
“Sigh, we have a recovery mage, but… we can’t just use it recklessly.”
Practically, it was wartime.
They couldn’t waste such precious recovery magic on this.
“Jonathan should probably sit out today.”
With Isaac joining in, Jonathan had no choice but to relent.
He went to the medical room for treatment and decided to rest today, so the scouting team proceeded with six members.
“If something like this happens again?! I’ll really run straight to Father, no matter what!”
The middle-aged knight was still being scolded by Sharen.
Apologizing to a girl younger than himself, promising to manage better, he looked somewhat pitiful.
“Can I ask something?”
Isaac intervened.
Sharen seemed annoyed that he interrupted her, but she kept her mouth shut.
“Yes, Lord Isaac!”
Grateful for Isaac stopping Sharen’s nagging, he looked at Isaac.
Lowering his voice, Isaac asked honestly.
“Do the knights of Helmunth also value chivalry?”
“Y-yes, they do. That’s why I’ve been thinking a lot about this matter-.”
Even if the main family is a mess, the knights wouldn’t stoop to such lowly thuggery.
Ignoring his attempt to claim genuine remorse, Isaac added another question.
“But why Jonathan, though?”
Specifically.
Just Jonathan.
To the question of why.
The knight hesitated for a moment, then explained quietly, so only Sharen and Isaac could hear.
After hearing the story.
Sharen slowly turned her head, looking for Jonathan.
Watching his back as he trudged toward the infirmary, Sharen shouted.
“Is that guy insane?!”
* * *
The scouting team stepped outside the barrier.
Leading the way, Silbern calmly advanced, spear in hand.
Time had passed lunch, and it was now 2 PM.
Due to the brief commotion caused by the Jonathan incident, they arrived at the planned point later than expected.
“This place should keep us hidden from the nearby area. It’s called ‘Snowflower.'”
The location Silbern introduced as ‘Snowflower’ was a dense forest.
Near the entrance of the mountain range, known to be inhabited by demon beasts.
In the north, the trees were covered in snow, resembling blooming white flowers, blocking the sunlight.
“Here, if demon beasts come, we can quickly notice them thanks to the snow. We can see footprints or deduce their location from the snow falling off the trees.”
“That’s a northern way of doing things.”
It was quite impressive how nature itself served as a security measure.
Moreover, in emergencies, one could hide by burying themselves in the snow.
“Especially in large colonies, there’s a high chance of encountering intelligent demon beasts. That’s why it’s important to name locations like this, so they can’t easily identify them.”
“Here, take this.”
While Silbern was explaining, Anna pulled a water bottle from the bag she had brought.
“Put on the coat I gave you earlier. It’s a strong deodorant, so be careful not to get it on your clothes.”
“Deodorant? I don’t want to.”
“Demon beasts can easily pick up human scent. So, you must spray it.”
Despite Sharen’s grumbling, Anna opened the deodorant cap.
Spraying the deodorant on the fur-lined brown coats to avoid detection by scent-sensitive demon beasts.
Pulling up their hoods, the scouting team made themselves untraceable.
“Ha, haah! Haah!”
Polu Blackson, more nervous than expected.
Meladik Drakemore and Sharen teased him.
“Hey, don’t be so nervous. It’s just a scouting mission.”
“Did we bring too much of a kid? Can he even fulfill a noble’s duty properly?”
By the way, Sharen is three years younger than Polu Blackson.
Silbern also didn’t expect Polu to be this nervous.
It was almost embarrassing, considering they were keeping a close eye on him due to his Blackson lineage.
“Polu, if you’re too nervous, stay here for now. We need at least one person to hold the fort-.”
The wind split.
Silently, something flew in—it was a ‘bone.’
“Uwaaah!”
The snowy field was getting dirtied.
Polu, kneeling with dark red blood pouring from his mouth, looked down at the ‘bone’ shaped like a spear embedded in his chest.
“Kuh, heuk! Ugh!”
“Lord Polu!”
Anna, startled, urgently checked his condition.
Silbern and Sharen immediately drew their weapons, aiming in the direction the bone had come from.
“Sniff, sniff.”
Thick leather and white fur.
A massive build and bulging muscles.
“Sniff, sniff.”
On its back were various weapons made from demon beasts and animals.
“Sniff, sniff.”
It was the most famous demon beast of the north, the ‘Snow Ape,’ but its behavior showed it wasn’t an ordinary one.
“Sniff, sniff.”
The Snow Ape’s teeth stood out as it sniffed and smiled brightly.
“Human scent. Sniff, sniff.”
“It remembered the deodorant’s scent.”
Isaac muttered with a bitter expression, and Anna looked surprised.
“Huh? The deodorant’s scent?”
“Probably from another scouting team that got caught.”
“No, such an important report-!”
At that moment.
Crack!
A skull, thrown like a stone, shattered against Silbern’s spear.
“Was there a scouting team that hadn’t returned yet?”
Anna answered Silbern’s question urgently.
“Team 3. They were supposed to relieve us-.”
Hatred filled Silbern’s eyes as she took a stance.
“Proxa, Torvik, Kalden, Irkasr?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Great, this is just turning into a real mess.”
The Snow Ape grabbed another skull. This one, shaped like a human, had exactly three.
Since Silbern had just blocked one, that made four in total.
“How’s Polu’s condition?”
“It’s critical. He’s not bleeding heavily, but he needs a mage’s treatment immediately.”
“Sharen, how long would it take to reach the barrier if you carried Polu?”
“At full speed, 15 minutes.”
Sharen was already dropping her greatsword and other items on the ground.
She was no longer the carefree child from before.
She had become a warrior worthy of Helmunth, ready to run.
“Sharen will carry Polu and go first. We’ll follow and retreat.”
Silbern gritted her teeth, feeling the mission had failed from the start.
Isaac drew his sword and stood by Silbern.
“We’ve learned about Team 3’s annihilation and the presence of a named enemy. That’s enough for a scouting mission.”
“Isaac…”
“If the battle drags on, more demon beasts from the mountain range will come. Retreat is the right call, Silbern. We’ll settle the score later.”
Though the bitter taste remained, he was right.
Silbern took a deep breath and nodded. As Meladik and Anna began to retreat.
“Kyaaaah!”
Sharen’s scream drew everyone’s attention.
A sticky black liquid, instead of blood, began to flow from Polu’s body, covering Sharen.
“What, what is this! What is it!”
Panicked, Sharen dropped Polu.
The black liquid oozing from Polu’s unconscious body tried to engulf Sharen.
‘It’s a curse!’
If humans have magic.
The Transcendental Tribe has curses.
Like magic, it’s not something common.
Realizing instantly that the Transcendental Tribe had played a trick on Polu, Isaac tried to help Sharen.
Crack!
This time, the sound of impact came from the side.
“Guh?!”
A skull flew in, hitting Silbern’s shoulder and shattering.
The impact pushed Silbern back, her brow furrowing.
“Sniff, sniff.”
With heavy footsteps, the Snow Ape began to approach.
