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150. Engagement – Ice Island

“Lena! Step back!”

The sword wobbled in a dizzying drunkenness. Leo stood in front of Lena, desperately trying to steady his spinning mind.

Malhas.

That Ashin with two entwined crows loved bloody battles.

The blood on the victor’s blade became the sweetness of victory, eagerly licked by the red crow, while the body of the vanquished was torn apart by the black crow, leaving a bitter taste.

‘They’ were Ashin who stirred chaos in search of their prey, existing since distant antiquity.

“What on earth is going on?!”

The innkeeper shouted in panic, but Leo didn’t lower his sword. Instead, he pressed it even closer, almost piercing the man’s uvula.

This guy was highly likely to be the culprit who turned the Barnau South Gate Market into a shrine.

The hexagonal divine power I had seen there was of a remarkably high level. And if Malhas was one of the oldest Ashin recorded in {The History of Ashin}, he had the right to wield such divine power.

But as Leo scrutinized the frightened innkeeper from top to bottom, he was puzzled.

Nothing registered with {Divine Power Detection}. If this guy were a demon, Malhas’s divine power should have manifested, but there wasn’t even a speck of divine power within his body.

He was an ordinary… human.

“What the hell is going on?!”

Large warriors who had been drinking with the innkeeper brandished their axes. As they surrounded him with fierce expressions, Lena waved her arms.

“Wait! Wait! There seems to be a misunderstanding. Hey! Leo! Put the sword away right now!!”

With the situation poised for a knife fight, Leo felt a tug at his waist.

Feigning reluctance, he complied and sat down. I must have overreacted.

The tension in the air eased somewhat. However, the warriors still refused to lower their axes, and Leo felt the need to defuse the situation.

“…I’m sorry. I must have misjudged in my drunken state.”

“…”

As that wasn’t a sufficient explanation, he distracted them with a half-truth.

“It was because of that tattoo…”

Following Leo’s pointing finger, the warriors’ eyes fixed on the innkeeper’s forearm.

A feather tattoo. One warrior, knowing its significance, asked.

“That’s just the symbol of the Ainar Tribe. What does that tattoo have to do with you drawing your sword?”

“…My enemy had a similar tattoo on his arm.”

Leo kept his words sparse.

With no way to explain, he had tried to gloss over the situation with a lie…

The innkeeper, calming his startled heart and stroking his neck, suddenly widened his eyes. Forgetting almost being stabbed, he leaned in and bombarded Leo with questions.

“You’ve seen someone with this tattoo? That person is definitely from our Ainar Tribe! When and where did you meet him? What did he look like?”

“…I don’t know. It was such a long time ago…”

With the innkeeper’s detailed questions, Leo’s lies were getting trapped. Just as he was about to stick with ignorance, Lena chimed in.

“His mother was killed by a nobleman’s private soldiers over ten years ago. He was probably one of them.”

That was news to Leo.

Leo Dexter stared blankly at Lena, while the innkeeper eagerly asked.

“Which noble was it?”

“Hmm? It was probably from a noble family that bore a grudge against his father.”

“Then which noble family? Don’t you know which noble has the grudge?”

I don’t know.

There were tons of nobles that Uncle Noel killed. Moreover, all those noble families were on the side of the Aster Kingdom, long been disconnected from this Austin Kingdom.

It didn’t seem necessary to reveal that the infamous noble slayer was Leo’s father, so Lena changed the subject.

“It was such a long time ago that we don’t know either. By the way, you mentioned the Ainar Tribe? Do you happen to know a girl named Ran or Anne Abiker?”

“Ran? Anne?! How do you know their names? No way…”

“I met them on the way here. They said they also escaped from Ice Island.”

“Oh my! They’re alive! They’re alive! I’m not the only one who survived! So, where are they? Are the Chief and the Priest still alive?”

The innkeeper cheered.

His clapping hands were filled with joy mixed with longing, and Lena interjected a quiet apology.

“I’m sorry beforehand. Leo must have had too much to drink. You’ll forgive us, right? Hey! Apologize quickly.”

Lena smacked Leo’s back for show. As he tried to bow his head, the innkeeper waved his hands.

“No, no. It’s fine now. I wasn’t even stabbed… Plus, just looking at you, you seem stronger than I am, so a strong person doesn’t need to apologize to a weak one.”

That was a familiar tone. Lena vaguely remembered her sister Ran saying something like that.

“It seems you really do know Ran and Anne.”

“Of course I do. They’re the daughters of our Chief and Priest… Could you tell me a bit more? They must be all grown up… Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak informally to you.”

The innkeeper set the fallen chair straight. Sitting Lena beside him, he realized that the warriors were also gathering their seats, noticing the oddly flowing situation.

Only Leo remained slightly separated in his own space, while Lena shared the stories she had heard in the hot spring village.

+ + +

“Honey! Just keep walking straight. I’ll catch up soon.”

Ran, a child on the verge of being called a girl, was bouncing along, holding her daddy’s hand without a clue.

Frozen ground.

The earth, which always lay under a layer of ice throughout the seasons, was somewhat soft and less slippery since it was supposedly summer.

But one mustn’t let their guard down.

The ground below, which freezes and occasionally thaws, often holds empty spaces. If a child were to step on a spot with subsurface water still frozen, they wouldn’t be able to wiggle a toe.

Ran chose to step on solid ground. For a member of the Ainar Tribe living on this ice island, knowing whether the ground could be walked on or not was a simple task.

Those men over there seemed to lack that knowledge, though.

“Catch them! Don’t let the ones who believe in the false god escape!”

Warrior uncles donned in shining white armor shouted. They waddled, picking only the unsteady ground to stomp on, yet chased after them quickly.

“Honey, I can’t leave you behind. I’ll fight too. Lord Malhas will help me…”

“No! Please! If the kids are around, I can’t fight. So take the kids and run away first. I’ll definitely survive. I swear on the honor of the Great Warrior.”

Dad clutched Mom’s shoulder. For some reason, Mom was sobbing, and Ran’s eyes were reddening in sympathy.

“Mommy. Don’t cry. Did Daddy make you cry again? I’ll cheer you up.”

She knew that with those words, Mom and Dad would look at each other and smile, even when they were fighting. But for the first time, that special tactic didn’t work.

Dad ruffled my hair. He patted my sister’s head once before turning away.

“…Take care!”

Mom shouted from behind Dad. He glanced back, smiling lightly as if to say not to worry, then charged off with an axe in each hand.

We ran with Mom.

We soon reached the white frozen beach. When we were about to step, the ice sea cracked precariously beneath our feet, and we carefully began to walk across.

As Ran crossed the endless sea that stretched out like a plain, she looked back. A huge ship anchored near the ice island, now the size of a palm.

A sail with a cross pattern. A hull layered with dark steel was swaying, and the sound of ice being shattered around it reached her ears.

And black smoke rose from the ice island, shaking her childlike heart with anxiety.

*

“When is Mommy and Daddy coming back?”

Anne whined.

Ran firmly held onto her younger sibling’s hand and replied.

“Mommy will be here soon. She said she’ll come back in just two more nights.”

Having successfully crossed the frozen sea, we arrived at a village. Mommy begged to explain the situation and asked to stay for a few days, somehow managing to secure a small storage room.

Mom lost a few bracelets she had but felt happy just to have a place to lay down after walking for days.

Did we spend a single night there? Mom was fidgeting, biting her nails, then finally said.

“Kids, wait here for five nights. I’ll bring Daddy back.”

“Five nights?”

“Yeah. Ran knows how to count, right? Hide here tight with your little brother. I’ve already told the village chief, so you must listen well.”

Contrary to what had been promised, Mommy didn’t return until seven nights had passed. And contrary to the promise… Daddy was also nowhere to be found.

All she brought back were Dad’s two axes, thick and broad.

Mom didn’t say a word. “Daddy? You said you’d bring Daddy back! I want to see Daddy!” Even as she spoke, the young mom in her mid-twenties only teared up.

We left the village.

When the priestess mom began losing all her ornaments, we finally arrived at a large city.

It was called Barnau.

Here, Mommy ran all around to find a house. I still remember this. For the few days we couldn’t find a home, we huddled and slept in the cold roadside.

I buried my ear under mom’s right armpit, while my sister quietly snored at her left. During that moment, I probably heard a small prayer slip through the warm armpit.

“Lord Malhas. Please help me. I will devote this pitiful body, so, my daughters… may they grow without lack.”

After many twists and turns, Mom finally found a home. It was a shop located in the far corner of the South Gate Market, and even to Ran’s eyes, it looked small.

When my sister and I lay down, there was no left space, so Mommy had to bend down under the workbench.

A meager shop. But Mommy worked day and night to save up for the rent by making ‘hair ties.’

Feathered hair ties, which the women of the Ainar Tribe wore. Starting with that, as her mediocre skill gradually improved, she eventually crafted rather elegant bracelets to display by the window.

Was it around that time? My sister probably still thought Mommy was who she always was, but I saw.

Each passing day, darkness began to gather more and more in Mommy’s once-bright eyes.

Then one night, Mommy called us over and took up an axe. She lightly sliced our thighs, staining the axe blade with blood, and lit candles on eight. It was a rite to welcome a new follower.

There were no offerings. Skipping even prayer, she fell asleep as if fainting.

And the next day, she suddenly stepped into the streets.

“Going shopping?”

I nuzzled against her from behind. Rubbing my sleepy face against her hips…

“Yeah. You are still useless, so just wait here.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

For some reason, I couldn’t clearly hear Mommy’s voice. It was so low and emotionless that it felt like someone else’s voice brushed past from afar.

But Mommy gently stroked my head and patted my sleepy back, sending me off.

That was the last time I saw Mommy. No matter how long I waited, she did not return. My sister and I asked nearby merchants to help us find her, but we became orphans in an instant.

“You bad woman. I didn’t think much of you, but you were a really bad woman.”

The merchants cursed Mommy. They just assumed she couldn’t bear the hardships of life and had abandoned us.

“Oh, no. Mommy will come back. She will come back!”

Amidst the gathering merchants, I hugged my sister and cried. She was quietly sobbing, holding the hair tie that Mommy had left behind.

The merchants of South Gate Market pondered our treatment. Even if a barbarian with a large tattoo on their back stood before them, we were still just little girls. Their conscience wouldn’t allow them to simply drive us away, and one merchant ventured to raise us as his unofficial brides.

I was thirteen, and my sister, twelve, married the brothers of that house.

Though it was called marriage, there was no ceremony.

We simply started sleeping together one day, and that was our marriage, and Anne and I had children at a young age.

Fortunately, both husbands were warm-hearted boys. They were earnest and, uh… earnest… well, simply earnest.

That was enough for them to be deemed a good husband and merchant making trinkets.

I gave birth to a son. A cute and pretty son. And by the time my sister, who had given birth to a daughter, was having her second child, the king died under mysterious circumstances. About five years had passed since Mommy disappeared.

A civil war broke out.

Looking back now, those were harsh times. It had become a routine to wake up with corpses sprawled on the streets. Occasionally, knights would come desperately bleeding, seeking refuge in South Gate Market.

Once the knights left, reprisals were imminent.

Angry nobles would unleash their soldiers, ransacking the market and slaughtering innocent merchants.

This repeated for three long years.

The merchants of South Gate Market finally reached their breaking point and formed a vigilante group. Whenever knights came, they would drive them away, wielding weapons to defend against the nobles’ soldiers, warning them not to touch us.

Ran and Anne also took up their father’s axes. To protect their dear husbands and children.

Every night, they stood guard. Often engaging in one-sided skirmishes.

They were usually the ones losing.

The knights were formidable monsters, even if they were injured. If they refused to allow us to hide them, they would start a ruckus and flee.

Moreover, the noble families that amassed soldiers to plunder property during the civil war were powerful. Even though the merchants of South Gate Market banded together, once targeted, countless merchants and their families would be annihilated.

As they spent days soaked in the stench of blood, Ran and Anne had become the strongest warriors of the vigilante group… The civil war, which seemed never-ending, met a hollow conclusion.

The two heirs who instigated the civil war were killed by their own sons.

The sons, who rose as leaders of each faction, proclaimed themselves kings and formed an agreement.

The Asran Kingdom was split into two. The western part became the Austin Kingdom, while the eastern part became the Aster Kingdom.

Barnau belonged to the Austin Kingdom. Regardless of our will, we all became citizens of the Austin Kingdom.

Peace came after three years.

Ran and Anne returned to their everyday lives. Raising children and supporting their husbands… Yet they felt an emptiness within.

Their father’s axe haunted their memories. Somehow, this peace didn’t feel right.

While spending dull days, they occasionally trained together when one day, they heard that a friendly merchant named Vernon was ‘re-establishing’ his merchant group.

He was struggling financially, only able to hire two mercenaries, asking if anyone from among the vigilante group could accompany him.

However, most of the former vigilante members were merchants, making it hard to fulfill the request unless they traveled as merchants.

After some thought, Ran and Anne volunteered. Although guilty toward their husbands and children, the warrior blood flowing through their veins wouldn’t let them rest.

Vernon was delighted and soon set out on his journey.

“Whoa—look at that. That must be a monster.”

During their travels, they spotted a monster called Spirit Reindeer in a forest.

A massive, white creature with enormous antlers, it seemed as if it was beckoning them over.

In that moment, Ran realized.

Their fate as warriors, the great trial awaited them there. It was waiting for them.

“…We need more people. I’ve heard the trial of the Great Warrior involves five participants.”

Though the words to capture it were omitted, her sister understood instantly.

“Alright. Let’s find more people.”

Vernon’s merchant group slowly headed toward their next destination, Abrival Castle, and the hearts of Ran and Anne beat wildly—infusing meaning into their lives.