Chapter 83 – Dead Ember (4)

Rattle, rattle, rattle—!

The modified off-roader of our Core Expedition was sliding over the Boundless Great Snow.

On the outer surface, iron plates were crudely patched together.

Since iron was scarce in our ember, deciding what to use as reinforcement was a dilemma, but we ended up attaching the outer plating of the Eternal Embers that had been stripped off for repairs.

It was the moment when we began to cross the snowfield with Will Ford’s mana gun W701, manufactured in just a day.

“Aylen, so where are we going now? Is there an empty ember among the ones you know?”

One of the four hunters who had followed with Sullivan spoke questioningly.

The others also turned to look at me, as if curious about that point.

This was all because I had not mentioned the destination when we departed.

However, there was a reason I had no choice but to do so.

‘And it is also a time that can no longer be avoided…’

Sighing inwardly, I replied.

“The nearest Nameless Ember to our ember. That is where we are heading.”

“What?!”

“Pardon?”

As expected, an uproar broke out among the people.

Harley, the driver, stopped the off-roader, turned around, and looked at me with contempt, and the rest of the crew did the same.

And for good reason, as we were an expedition going to retrieve a core. For an expedition with such a purpose to go to a lived-in ember instead of an empty one…

What that meant was only one thing.

“Aylen, are you saying you are going to plunder… no, murder now? And that too, hundreds of innocent people just so we can live?”

‘This is why I didn’t want to tell them…’

Sullivan, frowning, spoke in shock, and the others looked at me with similar expressions.

Even Natasha and Jeremy, who could now be called firmly on my side, did so.

As if asking whether my claim to build an ember where people wouldn’t die meant I didn’t care about the lives of outsiders as long as it was to protect my own ember.

“That is not what I mean.”

Although it was tiring to explain, I calmly shook my head.

Naturally, I was prepared to kill others for my own survival, but that by no means meant indiscriminate slaughter.

There was a need to explain.

“It is true that we are going to an ember where people are living. However, I have absolutely no intention of plundering or harming them.”

The expedition members still had faces showing they did not understand.

That is, how could taking the core of an ember where others lived not harm them?

It was Jeremy who stepped forward at my contradictory words.

“I see that you have some sort of plan. But you will have to convince us.”

His expression was nothing short of resolute.

It was not the relaxed appearance he had shown at the tavern, nor the lighthearted look he had when drunk.

Sensing that the time had come, I looked around at everyone and replied.

“The plan to retrieve the core of the Eternal Embers there remains unchanged. However, we will migrate the citizens of that ember to our ember in their entirety.”

“…!”

The complete migration of the residents of the corresponding ember.

It was a natural course of events that immense backlash would follow such a shocking and nonsensical plan.

“You are talking absolute nonsense! Do you even know how many people live in the ember you mentioned to say such a thing?”

“I know it to be roughly five hundred people.”

“A guy who knows that still says such a thing?”

“And what is the reason it cannot be done?”

“…That is an absurd thing to do. Our ember does not have the capacity to accommodate that many outsiders, and in the first place, you want to cross this perilous Boundless Great Snow while even escorting that many people? When even we are trembling with anxiety while riding an off-roader with reinforced outer plating?”

“…”

“They will not follow us. And there is no way they will hand over the core obediently. Ultimately, what we are doing will end up being extortion and plunder…”

Sullivan bowed his head with a gloomy expression.

The expedition members inside the off-roader also wore complicated expressions, as if agreeing with his words.

They were feeling pangs of conscience.

However, what they truly sympathized with was the impossibility of crossing the snowfield.

This was because crossing the snowfield required risking one’s life just to fight the cold, and with the emergence of mutants, the difficulty had doubled.

At least we could think of crossing because we had the benefits of magic engineering, like mana guns and the off-roader; without even those, we wouldn’t have even dreamed of it.

Moreover, the number was a whopping five hundred people.

For such a large-scale crowd to cross the snowfield was truly close to impossible.

‘Especially if the number of people to lead them is only our squad…’

I also knew that fact well.

However, convinced that this very reason left us no choice but to do this, and that they had no choice but to accept it, I spoke.

“There is nothing more meaningless than arguing about possibility and impossibility in this situation. If we do nothing, only death awaits.”

“You… is it fine to speak in such a way? Were you planning not to care whether they died on the way back as long as you could retrieve the core?”

Sullivan began to stare at me with the expression he used when looking at the scoundrel Aylen, as if he had misjudged my character.

Ignoring him, I countered.

“That is an extreme leap in logic. Doesn’t it occur to you that this is rather the only way for them to survive, and their last opportunity?”

“How on earth can your plan turn out like that?”

“It is because of what you and we know so well and have experienced painfully. The mutant attacks.”

“…!”

Sullivan, who had been momentarily angered by my seemingly anti-humanitarian stance, shut his mouth tight.

It was the same for the others.

As direct or indirect victims of the mutant attacks, having lost family members or neighbors, they knew that even the embers below the ice wall were no longer safe zones.

“Aylen is right.”

Moreover, David, who had closed his eyes earlier, nodded and said so, having already grasped my intention from the start of the conversation.

Since he, who had lost his wife in this attack, adopted such an attitude, it was difficult for others to open their mouths carelessly.

In the suffocating silence, I continued speaking.

“If we leave them be like this, everyone will die, but if they cross the snowfield prepared to die, at least some can live. Sullivan, isn’t your attitude actually standing by and watching their deaths?”

Once I said up to that point, though they might complain about my methods, no one doubted my intentions.

For in their minds as well, my actions ultimately meant going to destroy others’ home, yet simultaneously carried the clear purpose of their salvation.

Even so, Sullivan asked me.

“Then what about the other embers? The ember you are going to now won’t be the only one facing such a crisis. Ultimately, doesn’t it mean that the embers not chosen by you are being abandoned?”

It was a correct point at first glance.

However, I shook my head as if it were pathetic and spoke.

“In our current position, who are we to choose anyone?”

“What?”

“Discard any thoughts of playing a ridiculous hero. This ice age is a wilderness where everyone fends for themselves. And our ember is in a state where even protecting itself is overwhelming. I spoke plausible words about saving them, but this is also ultimately for the survival of our ember, and this matter is not a choice, but for coexistence.”

“…”

“This is not volunteer work. Much less is it cherry-picking whom to kill and whom to let live. Know your place, Sullivan.”

Sullivan was deeply mistaken.

This was to survive, not a charity business.

We obtain the core from their ember, and they receive the possibility of survival in return—it was a kind of trade.

I looked around at everyone and continued speaking.

“I know you find this matter uncomfortable. But it is something that must be done. Furthermore, if sufficient power is secured in the future, we will rally other embers that cannot stand on their own.”

“That too would be for our ember, not a charity business.”

“That is correct. It is to increase the scale of our ember and lay a foundation that will not be shaken by any threat.”

“If so, when will that sufficient power be ready? It looks like a wordplay whose standard can change at any time depending on interpretation.”

When I responded positively to David’s summarization, Sullivan asked once more.

I answered to conclude this issue firmly here.

“I cannot know that either. However, I will not be the one to judge that. Our ember and its citizens will judge together. The decision-making power lies with them.”

“Leaving it to everyone’s judgment…”

I nodded quietly, and Sullivan appeared deep in thought.

However, I had only spoken that way and had no intention whatsoever of leaving the affairs of the ember in the hands of others.

Because if I did not lead, we would be devoured at any moment in this ice age by other powerful embers anyway.

Still, even if I manipulated the ember as I pleased, it would not show.

Because the citizens would ultimately obey me.

The stage of perfect unity of subject and object, where my opinion became the citizens’ opinion, and the citizens’ opinion became my opinion.

Because I would become the truly sole leader in this ice age.

“Let us set off now. We will be late.”

Having dismissed all issues at once like that, I ordered Harley to depart.

Since I was the expedition commander specifically for this expedition, he followed my words immediately.

It was the moment he placed his foot on the accelerator.

“I understand your logic and intention. But humans are beings moved by emotion, not reason. The most important thing is how you persuade them. Are you confident?”

It was the words of Jeremy Scott, piercing the core.

Just as he said, the reason they had to migrate could be made understandable somehow.

Because there was logic and rationality to it.

However, persuasion on an emotional level was different.

In the first place, the ember I was heading to was comprised of those who had established their own home, let alone going to large cities like the Immortal Embers or even small towns.

How many events and memories must there have been in that home of their lives?

Making them leave such a place was no ordinary task.

Perhaps they might say they would rather remain here and face death, even if they collapsed along with the ember.

‘Just like Demian Vale did…’

It was just like our ember, which boasted a tight-knit solidarity.

If an outsider visiting such an ember told them to abandon their home and run away, one could not even estimate how great their backlash would be.

However.

“Persuading them is not important.”

Such things did not matter.

No, it had to appear that way.

Because that was the most powerful weapon to make them follow me.

“Then what is important?”

I spoke to Jeremy, who responded coldly.

“Their survival. Regardless of how resolute their will is, only their survival is important to me. I will make them head to our ember by any means necessary.”

In the end, whatever the reason, isn’t living first?

As long as they were alive, their home could be raised again and rebuilt as many times as needed.

If they died, that was the end.

Clinging to something with zero chance of possibility was bravado, recklessness, and foolishness.

‘Of course, the biggest reason is that it wouldn’t help our ember at all otherwise…’

“Is that so.”

Unaware of my true thoughts, Jeremy smiled with satisfaction.

For some reason, Natasha, who sat next to me, was also looking at me with a glowing expression.

As a strange silence flowed like that, David rummaged in his pocket, took something out, and handed it to me.

It was the magic engineer badge that I had placed in his wife Katrina’s grave.

“This belongs to you, Aylen Vale. You are the one who deserves to wear this. I am sorry for giving it to you late.”

Taking the badge from him, I immediately pinned it to my chest.

Then, the silence began to lengthen, and a heartwarming yet awkward atmosphere bloomed.

“We will really set off now. Everyone, please sit down and buckle your belts.”

Perhaps embarrassed to endure the atmosphere, Harley coughed dryly and started the engine.

The awkwardness was instantly buried in the noise produced by the off-roader, but the warm air remained as it was.

Yet at that moment, Jeremy’s voice rang coldly even within it.

“It is too early to celebrate.”

“Pardon?”

“There is only one thing you should wish for now. That is to hope their ember has not been attacked by mutants.”

“…!”

That meant their total annihilation.