Chapter 9 – Boundless Great Snow (1)

“Well, I am off then. Do not think of doing anything foolish and stay cooped up at home. I made all the side dishes, so make sure to feed yourself.”

“Yes, don’t worry. Where would I even go? Have a safe trip.”

With a complicated mind, I saw my mother off to work.

Even though she was a mother whose husband was the Head of the Magic Engineering Department, there was no exception for her according to the long-standing custom that any member of Ember, whoever they were, had to pull their own weight.

“Keep yourself busy with something. A person dies if they have no work.”

It seemed mother herself also had firm thoughts on this.

Left alone at last, I headed to my father’s study. I was just about to rummage through the bookshelves to see if there was any other information about the qualification exam.

“There is… nothing.”

Aside from magic engineering books, there were no other books or materials on the bookshelves. It was a despairing feeling, as if the 200 km bare-bodied crossing of the snowfield was stepping right in front of my eyes.

Staring blankly at the bookshelves with empty eyes, I sighed and sat on the edge of the desk.

“What a load of crap…”

No matter how much I thought, there was no other way.

According to my mother, who was suspiciously well-informed about the qualification exam, there were only two ways to apply: a recommendation letter and on-site application. Since the recommendation letter was out of the question, the only way left for me was the on-site application.

‘A 200 km crossing alone, without a vehicle, proper equipment, or a companion… There’s no way that’s possible.’

To embark on such a long journey, all I had was this single body. The only saving grace was that this body happened to be pointlessly sturdy.

But stepping into the Boundless Great Snow relying on just that was complete madness. Coldness and hunger were passive conditions, and beasts roaming in packs would constantly threaten my life.

Crossing the snowfield alone was truly no different from walking the path of hell.

Yet, I could not deny that no other method existed. The moment I decided to take the qualification exam, I had boarded the destiny of having to carve my way through the Eternal Snowfield.

‘No, perhaps it was a predestined outcome from the moment I possessed a laborer.’

I stopped whining.

Whether it was 200 km or 2,000 km, if I carried the destiny to go, I just had to accept it and think of a way to make it happen somehow.

Above all, since the qualification exam was only two weeks away, I had to finish my preparations and set off as quickly as possible.

Because I couldn’t even estimate how long it would take to cross that endlessly stretching 200 km snowfield. Perhaps it would be too late even if I departed right now.

“Sigh, whatever. It’s not like I won’t go just because it’s late. Let’s just pack my bags.”

Having quickly regained my composure, I began to agonizingly ponder the method to realize this ridiculous ‘Great Crossing.’

‘First, clothing and equipment.’

Thinking simply, I had to dress in layers unconditionally and pack as much as possible. That way, my body temperature would be maintained, and I would be able to respond flexibly to various unexpected situations.

But this was not a short-distance sprint. It was a grand march where I had to assume at least two weeks… perhaps even more. For the sake of preserving strength, I had to minimize the luggage by packing only the essentials.

Simply put, lightweighting.

‘A hooded coat, fur pants and boots. A face cover and fur gloves. Extra socks and even crampons…’

Rustle!

After pouring out the clothes and equipment on one side of the living room, I began to pack them systematically into a travel bag as large as a house.

‘Heavy things at the bottom, light things on top. Items used frequently in the outer pockets, and others in the main pocket…’

There was no hesitation in my hands as I packed the luggage. Because back when my initial class in was set as a hunter, I had experience packing this kind of backpack over and over under the pretext of hunting expeditions.

was a highly realistic game.

“A shovel… I should pack one, right?”

I also grabbed a shovel from the storage room. It was a triangular shovel with a pointed end, meant for digging a trench to camp in. Since I had excluded a sleeping bag for lightweighting, it could be called an absolute necessity.

Even if it weren’t for that, it was hard to exclude the possibility of encountering beasts or running into bandits that might have appeared due to the expansion of the lore.

I needed to have at least one weapon to defend myself.

“Is only food left now?”

After roughly finishing the backpack configuration with the equipment in the storage room, I searched the kitchen. There were plenty of ingredients, mostly frozen meat, but there was nothing worth taking.

Jerky, which was small in volume, high in calories, and could be eaten easily without any separate cooking process, was the ideal food for a long expedition.

But regardless of convenience food, the biggest problem was that an ordinary household did not stock two weeks’ worth of ingredients.

In that case, there was only one way.

“If there is none, I must steal. What choice do I have?”

I had no choice but to raid the tavern, Ember’s only restaurant.

* * *

After hiding the luggage bag in the outskirts in advance to avoid people’s eyes, I headed straight to the tavern.

Perhaps because it was early morning before the sun, which was hidden by snow clouds, could even rise to the middle of the sky, no presence could be felt inside.

Watching my surroundings, I carefully opened the door.

Creak—

Should I call it fortunate, or defenseless? The back door was open.

‘How is the security this lax?’

It was so absurd that wearing a mask felt pointless.

The tavern was half privately run, but half publicly run. Its origin lay in the leadership beginning to patronize the tavern as it functioned as an effective outlet for venting Ember’s complaints.

‘They were entrusting all of Ember’s food supplies to the tavern. No wonder the tavern was abnormally large…’

An immense amount of food supplies filled the vast food storage.

Thus, in return, the tavern managed the food supplies for a thousand people that they were responsible for.

In a world where even securing food, clothing, and shelter was difficult, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry that the security of such a strategic stronghold was in this state.

After all, in the not-too-distant future, the one who would plug the holes of this lax Ember would be me.

‘Jerky, jerky… let’s pack as much dry rations as possible.’

Anyway, since I was in the position of a thief for now, I packed the food with a joyful heart.

Just like that, it was the moment I packed three weeks’ worth of food in preparation for any unexpected situations and turned toward the storage door.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going with all that packed up?”

“……!”

Pausing, I slowly raised my head toward the source of the voice.

‘Oh no…! Of all the people to get caught by, it has to be him.’

A middle-aged man with curly blonde hair growing down to his chest. Holding a liquor bottle in one hand and smoking an ultra-high-class luxury cigarette obtained from who knows where in the other, he was the owner of ‘Night’s Haven.’

Jeremy Scott stood blocking the entrance in a crooked posture.

“What are you glaring at, you bastard? That stuff piled in your hands. Unless you’re going to leave it behind, why don’t you get on your knees? Who knows? Maybe I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything if you do.”

Gulp, gulp—

A relaxed attitude as if subduing someone like me was no task at all, even if he was drunk. His pupils were hazily unfocused, as if he had already downed several bottles, but…

Thud!

“Jeremy, I beg you. Please keep your promise.”

I knelt down without a single moment of hesitation.

That was because, according to what I had heard from Karen, that shabby-looking man…

Was once a general from none other than the third Ember, ‘the Ember of Advance.’

* * *

In the early morning, having sent his wife home early and finally finished tidying up, Jeremy Scott was staying in the tavern, guzzling alcohol, when he suddenly whipped his head around.

“Did some rat get into the storage? What is making all this rustling?”

Quite drunk, he stood up from his seat at the unknown noise.

Yet, it was a strange thing. The tavern and the storage were separated and located in different places, so how on earth could Jeremy, who was in the tavern, hear the noise coming from the storage?

Even in the past when he was called a famous general, similar things had happened frequently, to which Jeremy had replied:

-I just say I hear it because I hear it, so what do you want me to do?

That was right. Even Jeremy himself did not know the cause of this superhuman sense. He just assumed his hearing was exceptionally sharp.

Soon, heading toward the storage, he began to chuckle.

“No, wait! Since all the rats froze to death in the Ice Age… is that thing in the storage a human?”

Legs staggering from being heavily intoxicated, two hands holding liquor and a cigarette without any other weapon. His expression and behavior in dealing with the intruder were light as could be.

But even in his hazy state, Jeremy’s eyes gleamed with killing intent.

‘What’s that? It’s that loafer from the Vale family.’

Jeremy identified the intruder’s identity solely from the dark silhouette visible through the slightly open crack of the door. His vision, as well as his hearing, transcended ordinary humans.

‘But unlike usual, why is that idiot stealing jerky instead of alcohol?’

Finding interest in Aylen’s unusual behavior, he waited in silence. Until then, Aylen continued his thievery without noticing even a hint of a presence.

That was how outstanding Jeremy’s presence-hiding skill was.

“Hey.”

Soon, as Aylen’s thievery finished, Jeremy finally revealed his presence. Just as he was about to convey greetings to the masked man working hard from early morning, and bestow a mercy that wasn’t quite mercy.

Thud!

The masked man of unknown identity (?) knelt down without a single moment of hesitation. It seemed he had thrown his pride as a man somewhere far away a long time ago.

“…….”

At that unexpectedly resolute appearance, Jeremy Scott narrowed his eyes.

‘Yesterday too, and now… is that guy really the one I used to know?’

It had been strange since yesterday. That guy, who was obviously the masked man… no, Aylen Vale.

Despite possessing a sturdy body resembling Demian and a sculpted face resembling Renata, he was a fellow whose self-esteem unusually hit rock bottom. Getting beaten up for no reason by the Wayne brothers, who were smaller than him, was a daily occurrence, and one had to wonder if he was even a man, as he had never retaliated even once after suffering such things.

On the contrary, he had habitually tarnished his own reputation by keeping alcohol and women close.

The only fact by which one could know he was a man was confirmed through the women who constantly surrounded him.

So, to put it badly, he was an idiot, and to put it nicely, he was the scoundrel Aylen…

“What… who are you?”

The domineering look in his eyes that had suppressed the Wayne brothers with a single word, and the quick, intelligent judgment of recognizing the opponent and knowing when to bend.

That was absolutely… absolutely not an appearance that the idiot Aylen Vale would show.

“I am sorry. I cannot reveal my identity. However, I have committed this rudeness due to urgent circumstances. Please pretend not to see it just this once.”

Looked at him even now. Wasn’t he asking for forgiveness with an excessively polite and confident attitude that was unlike Aylen?

As if he were a person who knew exactly who he had in front of him.

In that moment, Jeremy saw his past self reflected in the black-clad masked man.

His own contrasting figure who had accepted fate in self-despair after being purged from the third Ember…

Soon, Aylen politely raised himself.

“Then, assuming you have permitted it, I will be on my way.”

“Where are you going? I said I might pretend not to see, but I never said I would.”

Jeremy, who belatedly came to his senses, held onto him with petty words. He couldn’t save face if he just let it happen like this.

But.

Thud!

“A path once decided! Since I have made up my mind to walk it as a man prepared for death… I will push through somehow.”

Aylen assumed a combat posture while putting down the luggage bag containing food.

Jeremy finally saw the Aylen Vale he knew in that clumsy posture.

“…Go. I am sleepy because I ate too much jerky out of hunger. I should get some sleep…”

He just turned away, leaning lonely against the wall.