Chapter 95 – Representative (1)

Randolph, who had fallen asleep as if passing out when Aylen, carrying the sled made of wooden planks, began the march with the off-roader.

The sight he witnessed when he woke up not long after was highly shocking.

“…!”

Through the rear window of the off-roader, he saw Aylen taking step after step with the sled carrying the patients hoisted on his shoulders.

Checking the time at the same instant, Randolph’s eyes went wide. It had already been over ten hours since Aylen had been pulling the sled.

Even in the biting wind that sliced through his flesh, sweat was pouring down his forehead and the back of his neck.

Although the snowfall was growing heavier and blocking his vision, his footsteps did not waver. Despite the pain of his shoulders aching from the weight of the sled and his palms freezing, the look in his eyes did not lose its resolve in the end.

It was not something that could be done with the physical strength of a normal human, and the same went for his willpower. Whatever the reason for going that far might be, it was impossible without a kind of tenacity… no, an obsession bordering on madness.

However, that was not the truly surprising thing.

‘Celica, Badna, Joan, Loretta, Adeline, Willa…!’

The names of the women flowing from his murmur. They were sharing the weight of the rope Aylen had been carrying, pulling the sled shoulder to shoulder with him.

“How could this be…”

With a face that could not recover from the shock, Randolph rested his body back on the seat.

Even when he suggested abandoning the corpses and leaving, and even when he suggested resuming the march leaving the missing elders behind, the citizens’ hostility toward Aylen had seemed to pierce the sky. Yet now, they were stepping forward first to share Aylen’s burden.

Although they did this for their children and sisters on the sled, their expressions contained emotions beyond mere anxiety to save their families.

The eyes that had initially been filled with fear and suspicion were now shining with resolve and camaraderie.

“I will carry it now.”

“But…”

“You have not rested even once so far. Please.”

“Then… I ask of you for just a moment.”

That tone and expression shown while taking over Aylen’s rope meant that their sacrifice was not simply for themselves.

Like Aylen’s words declaring that they were one family from the moment they set out together, they might, just like him, be considering Aylen as family.

‘He said a natural moment to hand over the representative position would come; was even this intended…?’

Randolph marveled at that dramatic change.

He recalled the words from the conversation in the pit, where Aylen said that when the proper moment to hand over the leadership came, he would know it without having to be told.

‘…His skill in handling people is no ordinary feat.’

He knew that a young man passing the magic engineer exam at the top of his class was already extraordinary.

However, governing public sentiment was of an entirely different nature from being good at magic engineering.

While magic engineering had fixed answers, public sentiment was unstructured and unpredictable.

In the first place, didn’t the two require different abilities? Randolph, who had the founder of the ember as his father and had lived his entire life as a leader succeeding him, knew that disparity well.

Ruling over people was by no means something that could be done well just by being smart.

‘A magic engineer, or a leader? Now I no longer know which one suits that young man.’

At first, Randolph was puzzled by his words saying he would become a leader.

Judging by the achievements made at a young age, he was destined to achieve great success as a magic engineer, yet he was going to throw that path away and transition into a leader. He had thought it bold, but also foolish.

In this world where today and tomorrow were uncertain, discarding a guaranteed future was not common sense.

It was even more so since that smart top scorer of the magic engineering exam was committing such an absurdity.

“Just how grand a dream is he dreaming…”

But now, he could not harbor any doubts about Aylen’s qualities as a leader.

Behind the off-roader, the women who took over Aylen’s rope numbered in the dozens, even hundreds, becoming the whole.

Thus, the march that began with Aylen’s sacrifice and leading by example did not stop for a single moment.

Although everyone’s body was heavy with the fatigue and cold accumulated from the previous journey, their steps continued even as the fierce wind clawed at their faces.

With every single step, the snow compressed beneath their feet made a crunching sound, and their cold breath dispersed into the air like a faint mist.

The people following behind walked in the footsteps of the one ahead, pressing down the pain they could not bring themselves to voice.

This procession, where not a single person gave up, was truly close to a miracle.

And they finally arrived.

It was the snow-buried ember where the deactivated Eternal Embers stood desolately, the ember of Aylen Vale where they would settle.

“We have… arrived.”

Thud.

Below the sheer ice cliff, the giant pit buried in the snow, the snow-buried ember, came into view.

Only then could I set down the rope of the sled carrying the patients. The long and arduous Great Crossing had finally reached its end.

“For so many people to arrive alive… this can only be called a miracle.”

At Jeremy’s words, even I, who had driven this task, had no choice but to nod.

This was because, excluding those who lost their lives to the mutants and the missing elders, everyone arrived at the ember alive without a single casualty.

Moreover, this Great Crossing had been a sudden, poorly prepared start.

Even under perfect preparation, success would be hard to guarantee, yet we had succeeded in the crossing with over five hundred people, two off-roaders, a few mana guns, and our bare bodies.

Of course, the fact that no more mutants appeared could be called heaven’s luck.

However, even considering just the weather right before the snowstorm, it was an impossible challenge all the same.

“Indeed. Honestly, I did not know this many people would arrive alive either. I can only say we were followed by heaven’s luck…”

When I replied with a hollow laugh, Jeremy spoke as if it were absurd.

“Heaven’s luck… Are you saying you are heaven itself?”

“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”

“Are you asking because you really do not know, or are you acting humble? I can never tell with you.”

“…?”

As I blinked, finding it hard to understand, Jeremy spoke.

“The word miracle was referring to you, Aylen. If it were not for you, no one would have made it this far. Miracles are made by humans, not heaven.”

Since the casualties occurred, I had never slept even once, acted as a watchtower day and night to keep the mutants in check, and did not give up on the patients until the end.

Thus, since all the luck and opportunities that accompanied this Great Crossing ultimately originated from me, calling it heaven’s luck did not make sense—that was what Jeremy was saying.

“I think you are praising me too much. I admit my contribution was significant, but it would have been impossible without the help of those women.”

I said, shaking my head. I said this not to act humble, but because it really was not an achievement I made alone. However, Jeremy was firm.

“Who moved those women? And who took the lead so that the journey could be completed within the time?”

“That is…”

“You were that pivotal point. You were the one who made the necessary choices and boldly executed them so that they would not wander within the limited time. If not for you, everyone would have met their end in the boundless great snow.”

I could not deny it. In the end, what moved those women was my leading by example and sacrifice.

The best efforts made to fulfill the promise drew out their voluntary participation. The countless choices and decisions up to that point were also entirely my responsibility as the expedition leader.

“Just as responsibility follows a choice, a corresponding credit follows the result.”

I recalled a famous line from a hero movie at Jeremy’s words: the line ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’

In other words, it meant that if one could only fulfill a great responsibility, one deservedly could hold great power.

“You are telling me to be confident.”

He was saying that now was not the time for me to act humble, but to showcase it.

“Being humble is good, but if it is excessive, it is worse than not being so. From the perspective of followers, they tend to trust a shameless leader more.”

It was Jeremy, who was once the commander-in-chief of a large army. Engraving this advice, which was filled with a maturity incomparable to simple knowledge obtained from a game, into my heart, I replied.

“Let us settle the credit later. For now, there is a set priority…”

The Great Crossing had finally come to an end. However, it was not yet time to calculate the merits. People were still shivering in the cold, and the patients alone now numbered three hundred.

Bang—!

I fired the mana gun toward the ember. It was a signal flare to announce the arrival of the expedition.

At the sound of the gunshot echoing off the ice wall, small dots opened a wooden door down below and poured out like a swarm of bees. Judging by the size, location of the building, and the number of people, it was the hunting squad building…

“Did they recruit more hunters in the meantime? They are coming out endlessly.”

Just as Jeremy said, a head count far exceeding the capacity was rushing out of the building.

Seeing that, I worried if Yan and the leadership had already taken over the ember by force, but.

“It seems the entire ember was gathered at the hunting squad building, waiting for the expedition to arrive.”

Seeing the number continue to grow, it seemed that since the Eternal Embers were also deactivated, they had gathered in the hunting squad building to stage a sit-in against the cold. Soon, with the help of those who moved busily, we were all able to enter the ember safely.

“Thank goodness you returned alive. You really, really worked hard!”

“Go inside quickly and warm yourselves up. We made a bonfire in the hunting squad building as a temporary shelter and prepared sleeping areas.”

We received the hospitality of many. Since we brought back the core, it was only natural treatment.

However, the unexpected guests, Randolph and the hundreds of people, remained silent in tense apprehension. Having become refugees, their hearts could not help but shrink since they had to lean their fates on the warmth of our ember’s people.

But their worries were groundless.

“Are the people in the back the ones from the ember who gave us the core?”

“It seems so.”

“Then we should treat them as benefactors just the same. What are you doing not bringing them inside quickly?”

As I expected, and as Randolph and his citizens expected, our ember’s people were good people.

Without thinking of the problems that would arise from the joining of such a large crowd, they actively stepped forward and welcomed them.

It was also because they did not know the inner details, as there was no way for them to know that Randolph’s ember would have perished anyway.

Their attitude could change if they knew it was not a touching story of them willingly handing over the core after hearing about our ember’s pitiful situation.

“That is correct. Without their cooperation, we would not have been able to make it back in time before the snowstorm arrived.”

However, since there was no need to mention it, I kept my words to myself.

“Please clear the way now. We need to replace the core.”

“Ah, yes. The most important thing remained. Go on quickly.”

At that moment when mutual greetings were wrapping up in such a friendly atmosphere.

“Wait! It seems the important thing is the treatment of these refugees rather than the core…”

The figure I had expected not to welcome this situation, Yan Casellos, was blocking the path after all.