Chapter 6 – 0. Northern Twilight (6)
The tightly closed door of the snow-covered citadel opened.
Unlike yesterday’s weather, which was endlessly turbulent, today was a sunny day. In the snowy field outside the massive iron gate, I could see ten thousand troops tightly packed and encamped. It was a portable tent yurt, which was said to be the unique culture of snowfield nomads.
The tribes in the far north here are called ger.
It had only been three days, but there were hundreds of tents on the white plains. It might have been fine today since it was quite sunny, but the last few days it would have been difficult to stand guard properly due to the strong snow wind.
However, is it that this level of cold is nothing to a nation suffering from severe cold?
The more extreme the environment, the faster the consumption of materials. According to the reports of the soldiers who were in charge of scouting missions, there was no sign that they were receiving special supplies. And what that means is clear.
“Sir Dior, are you really all right?”
Rom appeared with a black-maned courser and turned his head to the side. He was there, he was the guard who had arrested him three days earlier, and one of the ten soldiers recruited by Oriane.
His name is Antoine, and he is a commoner a little over forty.
Did she say that she was one of the squire who, originally an outsider, migrated to the north with her when she married her Marquis Gerard? Most of the free people residing in Lemoang Fortress were also said to have been stuck here at that time.
“It’s okay.”
“But to go to the enemy camp with a short-term shooter…”
Antoine muffled his words in a worried voice. Although he did not have a title, it was definitely not the right manner to deal with Rom, who was a knight, but it was not unreasonable for him to react that way. It was an act of bravery to go out alone against the militant aliens of the snowfield.
“Don’t worry about me. More than that, I wonder if the things I asked for were well prepared.”
“Ah, yes!”
Antoine hurriedly found the bag on his belt and pulled out something.
“Here it is.”
“There is no need to take it out, so be careful.”
“Of course.”
Antoine nodded her head. He said that he had brought different types of soldiers to the other soldiers, and reported with certainty that all of them had migrated to the north following Orianne, Mrs. Le Moin.
“Don’t be burdened. All you have to do is do as I tell you.”
“Thank you. I hope you have a safe trip too.”
“I will,” Said Rom, and got on the horse. In his hand was a well-propelled armed sword. It was the favorite sword used by Margrave Gerard in the past. He was very rough for a leader who took charge of the northern border area, but he was also like a warrior.
“Hey!”
A well-trained courser raised his foreleg aloft while weeping. Unlike any ordinary horse, the guy, dressed in clothes and wearing iron hooves, soon made his way to the snowy field, vigorously crashing through the slippery snow.
What is the intention?
Oriane and the four barons watched from the citadel’s watchtower, holding their breath. Also, on the walls where they stood, there were soldiers ready to face the enemy at any time. It was truly a complete exhibition system.
Although the descendants of the famous family from the center dismissed it, saying that unlike the people in the castle, there would be no bloodshed.
The black horse, which stood out even more because it was a white snowy field, and the man holding the sword of the dead margrave on top of it were unreliable. Even though I heard that his skills and reputation his were excellent, he was alone.
“Chief, someone from the enemy camp is approaching this way.”
A soldier who was on guard at the alien camp in the snowy field on the other side reported to the central tent.
“Is it offensive?”
“Seeing as there’s only one person, I think it might be a messenger.”
The man who had been sitting like a giant tree on a wooden bench made of tall, dried branches and stems stood up. He wore armor lined with leather and fur from the attendant, and held two axes in each hand that he could only barely lift if he clung to them, and opened his mouth.
“I will meet you myself.”
After breaking through the rain, the chieftain opened the door, which was stacked in layers to keep out the wind. Everyone who found him started to salute him with respectful eyes, probably because he was a fairly good person. He didn’t even give an order, but he followed behind and headed towards the knight who arrived in front of him in a group.
It was a loyalty that could not be obtained simply by having the status of a chieftain.
It was a counter-proof that this man, like a giant tree, had more special authority than his position.
“Stop, stranger!”
An ethnic archer holding a gakgung shouted as he placed an arrow on the string. Standing on the chief’s right hand, he was a second-ranked warrior, just like I was.
“You are now in front of Temur, the great chieftain of the snow fields! Get off your horse quickly, disarm, and pay your respects!”
“I have no interest in disarming in enemy lines.”
He raised his voice on behalf of the chieftain, and when he saw Rom running without stopping, he became furious and aimed his bow at his.
“Dare!”
The archer immediately let go of the bowstring. At first glance, it seemed arbitrary without the chieftain’s permission, but it wasn’t. The etiquette of their people was very strict, and even the messengers of the other party could be summarily punished if they did not follow the rules.
Wedge liquid!
A barrage of foreign traditions, rarely seen in Gaul, flew towards Rome. In a moment of about a second or two, it was pointed right at the head and fell to the floor at the same time as the knight’s unleash.
“… !”
The startled archer took his hand for the quiver on his back. It was to shoot a new arrow. However, Rom and the black horse he rode had arrived in front of the group of chieftains, including archers, and only then did the other warriors draw their weapons as if their feet were on fire.
“Everyone, stop.”
All calmed down when Chief Temur stepped forward, holding them back.
“Nameless Horseman!”
Temur, who has a look that might come to mind when you think of a foreign warrior, spoke with a voice as loud as his bulging muscles.
“Who are you?”
Then Rom stopped his horse at a distance of ten paces from Temur and started his hippo. All of this happened while running rapidly, and it could be said that it was a horseback riding skill that would be difficult to imitate even for a fairly experienced horseman.
“I am Romuald of Gaul.”
Temur wriggled. It was because he realized that he was no ordinary person, judging by his excellent martial arts and previous skills of his, which were enough to knock out flying arrows. He also remembered a warrior whose name had been passed down from him to the Kamag tribe of their snowfields.
“I heard that around this time last year, in Limousin, Gaul, a certain knight turned the tide of battle with only his own might. He is a knight born from a powerful family in the central political world, and although he is born from birth, he who uses the throne nonetheless will be worthy of aiming for the throne.”
Rom was fed up. It was a relaxed attitude, as if that had happened.
“If so, jockey, then are you Romuald Dior, the hero of Limousin?”
“Yes.”
The warriors who followed the chief began to stir. It was because they couldn’t guess why a knight whose name was known even to them appeared riding only one horse. On the other hand, there were those who looked suspiciously at the fact that the proof was not enough just by cutting off the archer’s arrow.
“Isn’t that Temur?”
“Do you know me?”
“The chieftain of the Great Snowfield Camag tribe, the son of the Great Warrior Tamir, and a warrior who seeks to succeed him as the great chieftain.”
Temur looked back at Rom with a surprised expression. As the saying goes, my reputation as an unbreakable person is dug into the great snowfield here. However, the fact that he was the son of former khan and the great warrior Tamir, who was closest to the position of warchief, was a fact that was difficult for an outsider like him to understand.
“Really interesting.”
“Temur, the unbreakable one. I am here on behalf of Orianne, acting lord of the Marquis of Lemoyn.”
Even though I don’t have a single point of contact, there’s no way I wouldn’t be happy with someone recognizing my major. Temur showed a generous side to Rom. Even though he dared to commit rudeness in front of the chieftain of the Great Snowfield, he expressed his intention not to ask for the crime.
“Tell me your business, Romuald.”
“Are you here to become khan?”
Khan was the word for the ruler of the nomadic peoples who wandered around the limits of the Far North. This title was reserved not only for ruling over the twelve tribes roaming the snowfields near Lemoang, but also for those who declared that they considered anyone wandering on the land to be their people.
“Such a prestige is not something I can earn just by asserting myself.”
Of course, it is basic to have the right authority.
“It would be possible if we demolish the northern wall of Gaul, which was like an impregnable castle, and free the Camag tribe alliance from cold and hunger.”
“Do you think this Temur is only here for such a conquest?”
“No, if that was the case, I would have come with an army, not alone.”
“If you do, I will only reply that this body also wants to unite its scattered compatriots.”
There was a nerve war that sparked. It was a phenomenon that appeared due to the collision between a knight who did not back down and a warrior who did not break.
“Where is the Vice-Count of Corvin?”
“He is not here.”
“It looks like they were sent to cross the mountain range and attack the back gate of the fort.”
Temur was taken aback. It was because the secret diversion operation was discovered. It was a truly amazing insight. If the only ones who knew about it were himself, the high-ranking warriors in the tribe who followed me, and the vice-count, he foresaw it like this.
“Romuald, hero of Limousin. Did you come here just to assassinate the righteous accuser?”
“A righteous accuser?”
“The vice-count told me. The fact that our tribesmen who had been kidnapped in the snowfield area were sold to various parts of the continent through your country, Gaul. And the fact that my father’s arch-rival Gerard, the Marquis, has died through the same human trafficking, yet his wife his, the lady, remains in power.”
Rom snorted. A few of the other warriors were furious, but Temur didn’t care and continued talking.
“Nature alone is enough to make us hard in this harsh land. Early on, my father tried to unite the 12 tribes and defeat the Marquis in order to end such exploitation.”
“So the vice-count must have secretly sent you a letter. I must have conveyed the reality of the slave trade in the territory and my intention to act according to my conscience.”
“Then?”
“I don’t know how long the correspondence started between you and the vice-count. I only know that among the contents written there, the person who kidnapped the Camag tribesmen and sold them as slaves was not Marquis Marquis Oriane.”
Temur tilted his head and asked.
“It is an atrocity that has been going on for a long time that the soldiers of Lemoang Territory kidnapped our tribe and sold them into slavery. In that case, who else would do such a big thing if not the lord who is the chairperson?”
And Rome responded right away.
“The righteous accuser you spoke of.”
