Ep 133. I Did? (1)

  A lone warrior climbed the wooden stairs, carrying a pte of cold, dried meat. As soon as he opehe door to the tower's top, a breeze of freezing winds greeted his arrival. A curt gnce soon followed from a hulking figure, adorned with a bear hide over their head.

  "Chief. I've brought you some food."

  "I told you, just call me Urgus...oh? Is that bear meat?"

  "I've heard they're quite to your liking."

  "Ahahaha! Whoever told you, they told yht."

  "...Everyone knows. You have a hide over your head, it's not hard to guess."

  Urgus' expression instantly brightened as he approached his guest, chug at their st remark. He casually tossed a pieto his mouth, g down on the cold, tough meat.

  "Mm. It's a shame we 't drink."

  "We don't have much, but I could spare you a bottle?"

  "Haha. No, it's best I hold myself. If Brother Orkaan found out, I'd be dead before the war even begins. Being able to eat is good enough for me."

  "...Good enough, you say."

  Chewing on his unsavory meal, Urgus returned his gaze to the eastern mountains. Although the sight of stretg snow-tipped mountains had been mesmerizing at first, Urgus felt nothing but unease now.

  He'd watched the same spectacle for nearly a month. And still, nothing had ged - food or worse.

  "...Peska. How long do you suppose we'll be here?"

  "I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that."

  "I've been w if this is truly for the best. At this rate, we'll be starved to death - Chell was never meant to hold so many warriors. We'll be fine a while longer, but the children won't st very long."

  "But we ot leave. You know this, chief."

  Urgus grimaced at the adamant reply. Even though he was well aware of how poiheir discussion was, he seemingly couldn't help himself from speajing.

  "...Sure I do. I know we must remain for Asarda's sake. But..."

  Sighing in frustration, Urgus brought another pieeat to his mouth, ripping off the top half with his teeth.

  "I suppose I'm growing impatient. That all we do is wait...for a battle that we ot win."

  "If we had no ce of winning, the empire would already have marched into our nds. I'm sure they're wary of Asarda's might."

  "...No, that's not it. What they fear is not us."

  Both warriors soon turheir eyes towards the northern pins. A frozen ndscape endlessly stretched into the horizon - towards where their guardian was said to remain.

  "What they fear is the Star. The guardian that may not even e to our aid."

  "...You worry needlessly. Her presence alone is deterring the empire's march. She protects us regardless."

  "Haha. Yeah...must be, right? I'm simply being a dumbass..."

  "Of course. The Star is always watg over us."

  "Ahaha! That's right. That's right..."

  An awkward silensued betweewo warriors.

  It was an age-old belief they'd held onto all life: a belief that the Star would proted oversee Asarda's well-being for eons to e. The people's belief in their guardiay was engraved so deeply into their culture that it had cultivated what an outsider would call blind faith.

  But standing before the reality of war, that age-old belief was slowly beginning to crumble within Urgus.

  '...It's never been like this.'

  Fathered by a man who'd uheir frozen nds, Urgus had enjoyed a life free of worries or flict. He'd been strong from birth, and had used that strength to cultivate himself even further; alongside his two elder brothers, Urgus could now fidently cim himself as one of Asarda's stro warriors.

  nor monster could threaten the chief warrior. Asarda's harsh climates had long bee insignifit. If he was fated to die in battle for the nd that had raised him, then he would gdly accept his end.

  But before the looming threat of war - a battle that could rob his entire people of their lives - even Urgus was driven to his wit's end. If there really was a guardiay, then he wao depend on her.

  Even though one of the watchers had reported a strange, e-haired girl that abandoned Asarda to head eastward...

  "...Well, w won't do us any good!"

  After the overly enthusiastic shout, Urgus swallowed the st bits of the meat strip. He once again turowards Peska to grab another - until he noticed his friend's narrowed eyes.

  "? Peska?"

  "...Chief, do you see that?"

  "Hm?"

  When Urgus followed Peska's gaze, he could see another warrior to the east, seemingly returning from his huntiure. But there wasn't so much as a single leaf in their hands; instead, the warrior was walking ba the pany of a number of outsiders.

  Urgus frowned as he studied the party. They were far too few to be the imperial army, and they the returning warrior didn't seem particurly threatened by their presence.

  But what caught the chief warrior's attention most was the peculiar girl in their midst, dragging her long, e hair along the frozen ground.

  ? ? ?

  30 minutes ago...

  "Brr...it's sooo cold here..."

  Light rubbed her hands against each other, breathing upon her palms in an attempt to keep herself warm. The crimson tail around her waist tightened a little more to lessen her shivering.

  "Yeah...the wind really isn't helping. Even I'm getting a little cold. Stay close, okay? Oh, and make sure you don't touch Raizel."

  "Huh...? Why?"

  "Well...if you touch her when it's this cold, your hand might get stu her skin."

  "...”

  Ign the red dragon’s remarks, Raizel casually strolled through the snowy fields. The youngling’s eyes were fixed oiny wooden frames in the distaanding beyond what seemed like a low, wooden barricade.

  “Hey, birdhead. Is that Chell?”

  “It is. It shouldn’t be long now.”

  Truth be told, they had the option of flying there – and in fact, the party had already flowhe snowy mountains. But after they’d made it through the mountain range, Karas had insisted that they walk the rest of the way, lest they scare any Asardan that would happen to see giant lizards flying towards their settlement.

  Not that Raizel was vinced. She was merely following after Serenis; the steel dragon was still very much displeased with having to walk.

  “…’t we just fly? We tell them we’re not attag whe there.”

  “Asarda should be on high alert due to the empire’s influence. If we were to fly, we’d be seen as enemies and attacked midair before even reag Chell.”

  “Tch. Guess these folks aren’t weakliher, huh?”

  Although she was unaware of it herself, Raizel’s attitude towards humans had noticeably ged since her battle against Lavnore.

  Before, humans had been no different from harmless is to the steel dragon. She could kill tens and hundreds with one swing of her tail, and the few named huhat had challenged her before were nothing to write home about, either. Only after suffering from Lavnore’s magic had the youngling developed some vigiowards humans.

  Unfortunately, Karas destroyed what little vigince she’d gained with his sentence.

  “Actually, they’re beyond weak in your standards. Asarda is known for not even having proper military. Due to their harsh climate, survival alone was a daunting task for its people; I doubt they could even reach you in the air.”

  “…The hell? Then why’re we walking? Isn’t flying safer?”

  “Because oal is to restore Aymeia’s memories, and no good will e out of losing the people’s trust.”

  “…”

  “Which is why you, along with others, must remain outside when we arrive at Chell. A whole group of outsiders is bound to draw unnecessary attention, especially if said outsiders are dragons. The lesser the headt, the easier it will be for Aymeia to gain the people’s trust.”

  Due to the punishing envirohat had persisted for turies throughout Asarda, its inhabitants were already extremely wary of outsiders; they couldn’t help but fear those who could rob them of recious little they had.

  Of course, that same punishing enviro had also deterred outside aggression throughout history. An invasion into these frozen nds required far too much risk and resources, her of which could be pensated even through a successful campaign.

  Hence, wheeetered on the verge of invasion, it wasn’t hard to assume how helplessly unprepared Asarda would’ve been.

  ‘But this is also an opportunity.’

  After turies of bare survival, the threat of a looming empire had suddenly fallehem. Even sidering the remoteness of Asarda’s location, the news of the empire’s advances should’ve reached them by now – as well as the fact that they were the st on the chopping block.

  But what if their guardiay were to suddenly appear during this crisis, announg that the empire’s threat was no more?

  Aymeia’s turies of absence would instantly be fotten, repced with the people’s fervent trust of their nd’s guardian – and, with any luck, lead to an instant reawakening of the deity’s lost memories. She was, after all, once a loved and cherished deity.

  Karas wore a proud grin as he once again examined his pn in his head. While others remain hidden outside, the professor could expertly introduce Aymeia to Chell’s inhabitants. Ohe former deity gained her people’s trust, the people were wont to accept the presence of their guardian’s pany.

  His pn had no faults whatsoever…at least in his own head.

  Unfortunately, life doesn’t alroceed as pnned.

  Rustle. Rustle.

  “…Hm?”

  The professor came to a stop as he noticed a nearby bush, shaking off the snow that covered it. A half-naked warrior soon emerged from within, holding a dead rabbit in one hand, stone dagger iher.

  “Whew. At least that’s something for…huh?”

  “…”

  “…?”

  The warrior’s eyes soon locked with the professor’s midair. His eyes then darted across those people standing behind Karas, his eyes shaking in a mix of surprise and fear.

  Every single one of them were an outsider, and not a single one was human. Their clothes were already radically different from the leather-based attires Asardans wore.

  To make matters worse, the strange party was headed west – meaning, they’d e from the east. Their size was quite perfect for a scouting party as well.

  ‘There’s nothing but mountains to the east…and beyond the mountains, there’s…’

  In the end, there was only one sensible clusion the warrior could draw.

  “E…e…e…”

  “E?”

  “ENEMIES!!!!!”

  Praybird