Ice Castle, My Longed-For Home (1)
"You damned nephew of mine. Is your body finally healed?"
Around the time the crushing fatigue covering my entire body had faded a little,
Ian appeared together with his gruff voice.
It had already been four days since the battle ended and I regained consciousness.
"And where exactly have you been all this time?"
"Where else? Sealing off underground tunnels, hunting nearby monsters, cleaning up undead corpses."
"A wanted criminal is allowed to walk around doing that?"
"What else was I supposed to do? They said the people here wouldn't even be able to farm if we left it as it was."
I could only nod at Ian's irritated response.
'Come to think of it… the snow will start melting soon.'
Unlike the rest of the continent, where winter began in November, November in the far north was spring—the season when the snow melted.
"Funny, isn't it? Everywhere else is just beginning to see snowfall, yet this place spends two months with the snow thawing."
Listening to Ian, I looked out at the sky beyond the window.
A bizarre climate even magicians and spiritists could not explain.
Yet paradoxically, this strange seasonal change served as a precious lifeline for the people living at the Wall.
"Heave-ho—!"
"Over there! More to the left!"
"Who left this barricade here?! Move it already—!"
Several days after the battle.
With the rough shouting of laborers serving as background noise, the Wall—damaged all across its length—was steadily being restored.
"So."
It was while I absentmindedly watched the people working outside.
"You kept singing about wanting to leave, and now you're saying you want to go beyond the Wall entirely?"
Ian glanced toward the winter gear and climbing equipment stacked in one corner of my room.
"There's something I need to look for outside the Wall."
"Look for? Snow, undead, monsters. What else is there to find out there?"
I answered Ian's mocking tone calmly.
"There's something beyond all that."
I pointed toward the blank white region on the map the Watchers had drawn of the land beyond the Wall.
"Wait. Don't tell me you mean…"
Realizing where my finger pointed, Ian frowned deeply.
"You're planning to go to the Ice Castle?"
"Yes."
"By yourself?"
"I'll bring a few guides."
"And the commander of this knight order actually approved that?!"
"He even prepared all this equipment for me and wished me luck."
"Oh, wonderful. Truly amazing."
Since I refused to back down even slightly, Ian clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"And why exactly do you want to go there? You nearly died and now you want to march straight into the underworld?"
"I have no intention of dying. There's something I need there."
"And what exactly is so important?"
"A weapon."
At those words, Ian fell silent.
A long silence lingered in the room before he finally asked again.
"…Are Archimond's weapons still inside the Ice Castle?"
Unlike his usual teasing tone, his voice was serious.
I merely nodded quietly.
'There's no point hiding it from this man anymore.'
Ian seemed to have already guessed the truth about my previous life to some extent.
The interrogation before arriving at the Wall.
Father Garrison's attack.
And the information Ian himself possessed.
Considering all that, it would not be strange if he had figured everything out long ago.
He simply chose not to say it aloud.
"The Empire sent massive reinforcements to Helian."
As I spoke the contents of the letter that had arrived from the main house, Ian's expression darkened.
"The number of reinforcements, and their quality… it's incomparable to before."
Even after achieving several victories, the enemy remained overwhelmingly powerful.
Even borrowing the strength of Rudel, a top-tier swordsman, we had still failed to drive a dagger into Helian's back.
'And considering that red liquid Helian was drinking… I absolutely have to visit the Ice Castle.'
There was another reason I intended to go there as well.
The Cult of Archimond.
Setting aside the irony of fighting a group using my own name, the important thing was their nature.
A pack of pleasure-killing lunatics who treated human experimentation like eating meals and stitched corpses together into patchwork abominations.
They had failed once.
Next time, they would return with even greater strength.
"If I just waste time doing nothing, I have no idea when I'll die. So I'm willing to use whatever means necessary."
At present, all I could control was one Death Knight, thirty skeletons, and a handful of ghosts.
An extraordinary accomplishment for a fifteen-year-old, perhaps.
But compared to what I possessed in my previous life, it was pitifully insignificant.
The collateral branch family.
The Empire backing them.
And the threats lurking beyond them all.
The power I currently held was nowhere near enough to eliminate everything ahead of me.
"And once I leave the Wall, Uncle, you'll have no reason to protect me anymore. And you won't, either."
Ian did not deny it.
He could hide within the Wall for now, but he was still an enemy of the Empire.
If he continued acting alongside me, there was no way to predict what dangers would come for him.
"And one last thing."
Instead of the map I had drawn myself, I unfolded another map the Watchers had handed to me.
The two Watchers who had been captured by the necromancers and turned into lumps of flesh.
This was the map they had managed to pass on before dying—the movement routes of the Cult of Archimond.
"This is only speculation… but there's a chance those bastards have built a nest inside the Ice Castle."
At my words, Ian clenched his teeth.
The route leading to the Ice Castle that I had drawn, and the route the cultists had taken.
Starting from a certain point onward, the two paths almost perfectly overlapped.
"Then those lunatics might've obtained Archimond's weapons…?"
"It's possible."
After Berkel and thirteen knights drove swords into Archimond's heart, the five million undead covering the continent lost control and became feral.
Those mindlessly rampaging undead were barely defeated piece by piece by the allied forces, and by pushing the undead beyond the Wall, the continent was finally able to claim victory in the war against Archimond.
But the seeds of anxiety always remained.
Archimond was dead, but his stronghold—the Ice Castle—remained an untouchable domain.
"Other than Berkel and the Twelve Knights, no human has ever set foot inside the Ice Castle. Even Archimond's corpse was never recovered."
"Then…"
"That means the countless magical devices and weapons inside the Ice Castle have remained dormant there for centuries."
At those words, Ian let out a low groan.
"So the biggest reason you want to go there is…"
"Wouldn't it be better for me to take those things rather than let them fall into the hands of people like them?"
Ian spread both hands as though he had finally given up.
It meant he no longer had any grounds to stop me.
"Just don't die. Got it?"
Watching Ian add that final remark, I answered with a mischievous grin.
"I absolutely won't die."
***
"Huff…! Huff…!"
Crash—!
A transparent medicine vial struck the wooden floor and shattered into pieces.
A single drop of red liquid remained inside it.
Ignoring it completely, a woman clutched her chest and breathed heavily.
"Klein… Klein…!"
Every time her voice, filled with fury, escaped her lips, the room trembled.
Klein Leinrant.
A filthy thing worth less than a pebble beneath her feet.
The spawn of a monkey born from the legs of some lowly barbarian had dared to humiliate her.
Not only had he rejected the hand she extended toward him and publicly disgraced her—
He had even driven her knight to his death.
And worst of all, he had…
'That insolent bastard dared touch my son…!'
Just as Helian's rage surged—
"Duchess Helian."
At the voice from behind her, her expression instantly changed.
Only moments ago, Helian had looked like a vengeful demon consumed by hatred and madness.
"You arrived sooner than expected."
But now, illuminated between flickering candlelight, she appeared gentle and elegant like any noble lady.
The only difference was her eyes.
The eerie presence within Helian's gaze was enough to make even seasoned knights tremble.
"I'm relieved to see the progress is going well. At this rate, it should be complete in roughly two months."
The clear voice of a young man filled the study where Helian stood.
"Yes. Two months…"
Turning around, she saw a man dressed in priestly robes standing there.
"There won't be any changes to the conditions the cult proposed, correct?"
"Of course, Duchess."
The priest answered with a warm smile covering his face and bowed his head.
His long black hair brushed against his robes like a flowing waterfall.
"If you provide the agreed payment and 'materials,' the cult shall support Your Grace in the coming war."
"Good. Very good."
Nodding in satisfaction at the priest's answer, Helian gazed out over the territory beyond the window.
Land that once belonged not to her, but to Duke Paul Wyvern.
But no longer.
Status.
Land.
Power.
Wealth.
Even strength.
She would seize all of it and place the entire world beneath her feet.
'Yes… Just a little longer…!'
Cough!
Helian, baring her teeth as she chuckled darkly, suddenly broke into a dry cough.
Blood pooled thickly in the hand covering her mouth.
For an instant her face turned pale, but after checking the color of the blood, she relaxed and slowly rose.
'Thank goodness. It isn't Sacred Blood… it's my own blood…!'
Not the transparent ruby-like color.
Just murky blood.
The fact that the disgusting Leinrant blood she hated so much was leaving her body filled her with exhilaration instead.
Yes.
I am no longer one of the Leinrants.
I am a chosen being who has accepted holy blood… Sacred Blood…!
"Archbishop Palliman."
At the sound of her voice, the priest with long black hair bowed his head.
"I want you to be certain to convey my gratitude to His Holiness the Pope."
"I shall obey your command."
"Ah, and one more thing."
As though something had just occurred to her, Helian stopped Palliman and spoke with a sinister smile.
"No matter how much we may be friends, I believe public and private matters should remain completely separate… What do you think?"
Rumbleeeee…!
The moment Helian uttered those words, every object in the room began to tremble.
Craaack! Craaack!
Unable to withstand the pressure, cracks spread across the fireplace and marble surfaces.
It felt as though an earthquake had struck.
An indescribable pressure dominated the entire room, yet Palliman—standing directly beneath it—did not move even slightly.
He remained perfectly calm, as though nothing were happening at all.
And after the confrontation between the two continued for some time—
"There is no need for concern, Duchess Helian."
Duchess.
The fact that someone of an archbishop's standing addressed her with such extreme reverence seemed to satisfy Helian, and the pressure suppressing him finally disappeared.
"You already possess a body overflowing with Sacred Blood."
As he spoke, Palliman withdrew a small box from inside his robes and placed it atop the desk.
A luxurious box decorated with gold and jewels.
When Helian opened it, three vials filled with red liquid glimmered beneath the firelight.
"Ahh…!"
Palliman's eyes curved into a smile as he watched Helian stare at the vials with greed-filled eyes.
"Soon, you shall wield a power beyond the reach of anyone else in this world."