Chapter 22

Chapter 22

#22. Spring in the North (3)

Even the unusually harsh and long winter of the Northern Region eventually comes to an end.

Though the freezing cold still lingers from evening till dawn, by noon the warm sunlight makes it comfortable enough for Northerners to briefly take off their fur coats.

Spring had begun in the north.

“…Where am I?”

As she sensed the early spring breeze and gentle sunlight filtering through the bars…

As she enjoyed the soft touch of a bed and blanket she hadn’t felt in who knows how long…

She wrinkled her brow at the unpleasant feeling of being unwashed for quite some time.

Thus did Ariana Rune Renslett open her eyes.

“……!”

Ariana looked around as she sat up.

The familiar sight of her own room spread before her – the very room she had longed for in the Magic Realm.

It wasn’t a dream, was it?

Without realizing it, she pinched her cheek.

“Now that I think about it… What exactly happened at the end…?”

Memories came flooding back until the moment she lost consciousness.

“Hate this damn Northern Region! The whole thing!”

Her expression hardened as she recalled Doil’s betrayal.

“And how about inviting me with an official letter?”

“Because you’re so beautiful?”

Her stern expression softened and her face turned red as she remembered her conversations with Arad.

“Have you awakened, my lady?”

At that moment, a warm voice came from the corner of the bedroom.

“…”

Ariana looked toward the source of the voice and pouted unhappily.

“Do you really have to sneak around like that?”

“Hehehe! It’s just a habit, my lady.”

An elderly woman dressed in a tunic approached Ariana with a gentle smile. To an outsider, she’d look like any ordinary grandmother, with her wrinkled face and stout figure.

“Nanny…”

“Yes, my lady.”

“This was tough.”

Ariana buried her face in the bosom of Isabel, the Grand Witch of Spring, as if seeking affection.

It was a scene that would shock knights and bureaucrats who normally respected Ariana.

“That’s right. You’ve worked very hard.”

Ariana’s biological mother, Duchess Lenslet, passed away when Ariana was just learning to walk. Because of this, she grew up under the care of Witch Isabel.

Even though Bykal Rune Renslett, her father, cherished his daughter greatly, he was always busy with official duties and defending against invasions.

To Ariana, Isabel was more than just a nanny – she was also a governess and head maid.

“Are you feeling well?”

Isabel asked as she carefully examined Ariana once more.

No matter how thoroughly Isabel checked, no one knows their own body better than themselves.

“I feel great. Refreshing. More than anything, I want to bathe quickly.”

“I’ve already instructed the maids to prepare warm bathwater for you.”

“There’s someone I need to meet and thank.”

“You mean Professor Arad?”

“That’s right. Both me and the entire Northern Region owe him a great debt.”

Ariana said, trying hard to ignore the conversation she had with Arad before losing consciousness.

“Professor Arad is doing well in High City. He’s especially popular among the witches.”

“The witches?”

“Yes. Being the developer of the famous Arad Salt does have its perks.”

“He’s a benefactor of the North. I hope the witches aren’t bothering him too much.”

“Of course not. I’ve already given them a firm warning.”

“Do the witches even listen to you?”

“Not really…”

“Still, will it be alright? Arad is a magician too. If he gets too friendly, he might accidentally break some witch rules.”

“They’re all adults, they’ll handle it fine.”

“…”

“Anyway, if you’re worried, hurry up and bathe and eat, then go see him.”

After saying this, Isabel took a deep breath and continued.

“Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

“Due to your recent injuries, your lower dantian has been emptied. Though miraculously your life was saved and the dantian healed…”

“You mean I have to start over with sword training from scratch?”

“…”

“I understand.”

She had already felt both refreshed and empty upon waking.

Though it was sad to lose the core she had cultivated her whole life, she wasn’t going to despair.

She was still young, and her mind and body still vividly remembered the sword.

Regaining her old skills would be no problem.

“Or there’s another way.”

Suddenly, Isabel seriously suggested to the Duke.

“Another way?”

“Learning magic instead of swordsmanship.”

“…”

This unexpected suggestion from Grand Witch Isabel made Ariana’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Your Majesty, take this opportunity to learn magic instead of the sword. Coincidentally, you have two circles embedded in your heart.”

“WHAT?! Circles in my heart?!”

Ariana immediately checked her own heart.

“It seems that when your dantian was destroyed, part of the core within transferred to your heart.”

Ariana confirmed the unfamiliar presence of two energies within her heart.

“You’re telling me to learn magic?”

In response to Ariana’s question, Isabel slowly nodded and said:

“Of course, the decision is yours.”

“Learning both magic and swordsmanship…”

“Even though Your Majesty reached the rank of youngest Sword Master, mastering both is impossible. Your body wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Magic… Ariana recalled what happened in the Magic Realm this time.

If she had learned magic instead of swordsmanship, she wouldn’t have gone through such hardship.

‘The Northern Region has plenty of knights. On the other hand, magic users are quite scarce.’

She felt this situation was like some kind of revelation.

Ariana’s lips moved slightly.

Then suddenly,

“Ariana, my beloved daughter. The pride of Lenslet. You are a genius that appears once in a thousand years.”

A certain voice came to Ariana’s mind.

“You could reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship. The next level after Sword Master: Legendary Grand Sword Master.”

That beloved but now distant voice she couldn’t hear anymore.

“I wish to witness you reaching that level.”

Those words spoken by her father in life had become a posthumous instruction.

“…”

For a while, she remained silent, then shook her head.

Fidgeting with her rough calloused hands, she finally spoke.

“No. I will continue walking the path of the sword.”

Ariana’s determined declaration.

“…”

Isabel gazed steadily at her young ruler and soon responded with a broad smile.

“As expected, that was the answer I anticipated.”

“Understood?”

“Yes, with that we’ve finished checking your mental state and memory.”

“…”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll just have you learn simple daily-life magic suitable for 2 circles. It’ll be quite fun and useful.”

Seeing Isabel like this, Ariana narrowed her brows and asked:

“If I had said I wanted to walk the path of magic, what would you have done?”

“Umm… Used all my abilities to perform a mind-altering spell…”

“Let’s stop investigating that.”

Having said that, Ariana scanned Isabel.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Responding to her ruler’s gaze, Isabel smiled and tilted her head.

“The smell of blood. There’s blood on the hem of your skirt too.”

An unusual color and scent for the Spring Grand Witch, who was usually full of grass and earth scents.

“There’s been a purge.”

Ariana said gravely.

“Yes…”

At Ariana’s words, Isabel nodded deeply with serious eyes.

“The rats had more offspring than expected.”

“I thought they would.”

“In our focus on Haven, filled with imperial adventurers, we overlooked other areas.”

“The price of complacency was steep. It was truly dangerous.”

“I heard about Doil from Knight Valkyrie. This is my fault for not properly managing Frosthaven. Please punish me.”

“Eliminate all the imperial rats as penance.”

“…”

“Understood.”

With this, Ariana indicated she would leave the matters of the purge to Isabel as she stood up.

Perhaps due to lying down for a long time, her legs felt weak and she swayed momentarily.

“By the way, Your Majesty.”

While supporting the unsteady Ariana, Isabel asked:

“What do you know about Professor Arad?”

“…I don’t know his true identity either.”

“Right? He’s quite suspicious…”

“But he saved both me and the Northern Region. Any nonsense regarding him won’t be tolerated by me. Absolutely not.”

Ariana’s firm belief in Professor Arad.

“…”

Seeing this, Isabel looked at her in surprise.

“And… I do have some guesses about Professor Arad’s true identity.”

Avoiding Isabel’s gaze, Ariana continued cautiously.

“Please tell me.”

While supporting Ariana toward the bathroom, Isabel’s eyes sparkled.

“Ahem!”

Ariana coughed and looked around.

Perhaps due to the aftermath of the great purge, there was no one visible on the way to the bathroom.

Not a single servant, maid, or common laborer.

“Professor Arad… Is probably…”

Ariana leaned as close as possible to one of the few trustworthy subjects in the world and whispered quietly:

“An ancient one.”

“Yes…?”

“He must be a magician from the Golden Age who was sealed in one of the many dungeons created during the ancient Golden Age and recently awakened.”

“…”

The Golden Age civilization existed approximately 5,000 years ago.

However, Ariana had experienced a space-time bending barrier in the Magic Realm this time.

If barriers capable of such feats exist now, they were surely even more advanced during the height of magical development in the Golden Age, she was certain.

“Eh… Hmm…”

“On the contrary, he was extremely kind and compassionate, unlike the legendary magicians described in ancient texts.”

“…”

At these words, Isabel showed an expression of bewilderment she’d rarely shown in her life.

A conclusion far removed from the theory that Arad was a low-level magician who gained fortune from an ancient Golden Age dungeon, theorized by the Coven.

“Why… Why do you think that? From what I observed, Arad’s magical power was between 1 and 2 circles.”

“That’s why.”

“Excuse me?”

“From Arad Salt to the Golden Carriage, burning magical arrows, and elixirs – those aren’t things a mere 2-circle magician can accomplish.”

“That is true…”

“He must be concealing his strength for some reason. Or perhaps he lost much of his power after awakening from a long seal.”

“Umm…”

Heh! Seeing Isabel’s dumbfounded reaction, Ariana wore a smug smile, apparently pleased that her conjecture surprised Isabel.

Unfortunately, Ariana’s words lacked persuasiveness to Isabel, a grand witch who had studied magic.

‘To bend time across thousands of years with a barrier… While creating a barrier utilizing hyperspace or gravity to the extreme might make it possible, but…’

‘Warping time by 5,000 years would be impossible without all the dragons in legends awakening. The greater the temporal distortion, the exponentially more magical power it consumes.’

Even if by miracle such technology existed in the Golden Age, it wouldn’t make sense.

‘If such technology existed in the Golden Age, countless ancients should have appeared on the continent by now, not just Arad.’

Rather, the dragon theory about Arad seemed more plausible.

Of course, Isabel didn’t believe the dragon theory about Arad either. She assumed Arad was merely a low-level magician who happened upon a Golden Age ruin.

‘Umm…’

Isabel pondered how to respond to her ruler, who was so pure-hearted.

Should she refute with the conclusions drawn by herself and the witches?

Or should she protect her ruler’s innocence(?)

‘Even so, it’s problematic for Her Highness to mistake a mere low-level magician for an ancient who lived in the Golden Age.’

Moreover, Her Highness is the ruler of the Northern Region! Mistakes in judgment must be avoided.

“Your Majesty…”

Finally, Isabel was about to tell Ariana that her speculation was incorrect.

“But Nanny… I have a question.”

“Hmm?”

Before Ariana could continue…

“Thi-this is genuinely out of curiosity… By any chance, could children be born between people from the ancient Golden Age and modern humans?”

“?!”

Ariana’s face was filled with fluster and blush.

Even Isabel, who had watched over her since infancy, had never seen such an expression.

“Y-yes, it’s possible. Humans from the Golden Age and modern humans are the same species after all.”

“T-that’s good!”

“Besides, you’re a Northerner, aren’t you? You know that Northerners share roots with the Barbarian Druids, right?”

“I do.”

“The distant ancestors of the Barbarian Druids who first settled this land were actually the ancients from the Golden Age. They were known as Nature Mages.”

“I seem to recall hearing something similar from Father when I was young. Anyway… It doesn’t matter then. That’s fortunate.”

“?!”

‘This reaction?! Could it be…!’

At her ruler’s obviously smitten appearance, Isabel inwardly screamed.

‘Spring has finally come for our young mistress!’

Her mind raced rapidly.

Compared to a low-level magician who luckily found an ancient ruin, the background of an ancient who transcended 5,000 years of time seemed much more appealing.

‘Let’s observe a bit longer!’

Therefore, Isabel decided to let it be.

It seemed spring had arrived not only for the Northern Region but also for the young Duchess of the Northern Region.

She thought the truth could wait until their relationship developed further.

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