Chapter 76: A Storm is Coming. (1)
“……”
deia stood with her arms crossed, looking down, while Hardin sat.
As their gazes crossed, the night wind swept through, sending their hair fluttering in the air.
After a mont of silence, deia opened her mouth.
“Just now, I think you asked what I was doing?”
“We were conspiring to start a rebellion.”
Hardin responded with a smirk, and deia shook her head.
“A foolish joke.”
“……”
Crack.
Hardin’s eyebrow twitched.
‘I really didn’t want to hear that from her.’
Hearing such a remark from soone as stiff as a stone—it felt a little… humiliating.
Hardin waved his hand dismissively and replied.
“If you’re looking for a fight, I’ll head out first. Haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
Just as Hardin stood up to leave—
“Wait.”
“What now?”
deia uncrossed her arms and pulled sothing out from her coat, holding it out.
It was a long bottle filled with a sloshing purple liquid.
“Take it.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? Wine.”
“Well, yeah, I can see it’s wine… but why are you giving it to ?”
deia paused for a mont before answering.
“It’s a reward.”
“A reward? What’s the occasion?”
“You’ve rendered rit, so I’m giving you this. It’s one of the few remaining luxuries in the fortress.”
A reward? What’s gotten into her?
Hardin tilted his head and took the wine, letting out a sharp breath from his nose.
“Well then, I’ll enjoy it.”
Just as Hardin was about to leave—
“Truly, you’re a man with no manners.”
“What now?”
Hardin turned his head and asked in response to deia’s words.
“A superior offers you wine as a reward, and you’re just going to drink it all by yourself?”
“What’s that supposed to an?”
“……”
deia silently stared at Hardin.
With a heavy sigh, Hardin slumped his shoulders and said,
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Let’s have a drink.”
Thud!
Hardin plopped back down on the ground and yanked the cork off with his hand.
Snatch!
deia took the bottle and gulped it down in big swigs.
‘Why did she even give it to in the first place if she was going to do that?’
Does she… actually like drinking?
As Hardin watched in disbelief, deia handed back the half-empty bottle and spoke.
“You drink too.”
“…Right.”
Gulp, gulp.
Hardin took hearty gulps of the remaining wine.
As the bottle was emptied in no ti, another awkward silence settled between them.
Scratching his cheek, Hardin asked,
“Now that it’s all gone, can I leave?”
“……”
deia said nothing but stared at him intently.
Was it the alcohol? A red flush blood vividly across her face.
Moreover, her lips kept twitching as if to speak.
“Um, Your Highness?”
deia slightly turned her gaze away and opened her mouth.
“Why did you go for the food first?”
“Sorry? What do you an?”
“Our promise… was that you’d return to the Imperial Palace. So why was your first thought to secure food?”
deia asked as she fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist.
Hardin simply shrugged in response.
“Well, isn’t it obvious?”
“……”
“Your Highness, otherwise you wouldn’t leave this place, right?”
deia narrowed her eyes and asked again.
“How do you know that?”
“How? It’s written all over your face. You plan to save everyone here, no matter what, am I wrong?”
Hardin replied casually with an indifferent look.
At that mont, moonlight happened to fall over Hardin, casting a halo-like glow around him.
Just as deia’s expression subtly shifted—
“If you’ve said your piece, I’m leaving.”
Hardin waved her off and walked down the steps slowly.
“……”
As she stared intently at his back, a strange light rose in deia’s eyes.
---
Around midday, Ruslan Fortress.
– Guwaaaargh! Guwaaaargh!
– Kkyeeeek!
As usual, hundreds and thousands of Frost Ghouls and various monsters charged toward Ruslan Fortress.
However, today, there was clearly sothing different from usual.
“Haha! Bring it onnn!”
“Fire! Fire! Don’t let a single one get close!”
Shoosh! Shoosh!
From atop the ramparts, soldiers fired arrows and hurled spears.
Normally, they’d be drained and filled with terror, but today, their faces brimd with energy.
The accuracy of their arrows improved, and their range was noticeably increased.
Also…
“Break through the center and scatter! Don’t let them cluster together!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Princess deia and her knights.
“Awoo! Just die already!”
“Stop coming, dammit!”
And even the Maw rcenaries and Hardin were energetically mowing down the monsters, pulling their weight—or rather, earning their at, so to speak.
anwhile, deeper inside the fortress…
“Pass it to the side, quickly!”
“Co on, get this to the back!”
The refugees busily whittled wood into arrows and repaired broken weapons and armor.
Though the work was tough, perhaps thanks to their recent feast, everyone was full of energy.
While the entire fortress was bustling in and out—
“……”
A soldier looked around and slowly walked toward a corner of the fortress.
He approached a spot in the wall where there was a hole the size of a fist.
Tap, tap.
He snapped his fingers, and about a minute later—
– Chzzik! Chik!
Through the hole, a small white rat, as white as snow, crawled inside.
The soldier rummaged in his clothes and tied a small note to the rat’s tail.
The white rat then slipped back out through the hole.
– Chzzik! Chzik!
The white rat sped across the snowy field.
After running for hours through the falling snow, it entered a cave nestled between rocky cliffs.
Though the cave should have been pitch black, the low-grade magic stones embedded here and there lit the interior. At the far end, a large, do-shaped chamber revealed itself.
The stone floor and walls were densely inscribed with various languages and magic circles, from which a faint blue glow seeped out.
“…Prepare the next wave.”
“Yes, as you command.”
“This ti… let’s deploy a Troll as well.”
Old n seated in a circle were conversing with grim expressions.
Their bodies were so emaciated it was hard to tell if they were human or skeletons, with bronzed skin.
Their eyes glead with a malice that felt poisonous, and the skin that peeked out from beneath their thin white robes was densely covered in tattoos.
They looked nothing like the common mages of the Fabian Empire; they radiated a suspicious aura at a glance.
So of them placed their hands on the magic circles and repeatedly chanted incomprehensible words in a strange language.
– Squeak!
The white rat passed among them and headed toward the far end of the chamber.
“You’ve co.”
– Chzzik! Chik!
A man dressed in white, with a long white beard that reached the floor, extended his palm and took the rat into his hand.
He removed the note tied to its tail and read it.
His brow furrowed instantly, and a look of displeasure spread across his face.
“What’s the matter?”
“Did sothing happen…?”
As the others turned their attention to him, the white-bearded man let out a heavy sigh and spoke.
“There’s been… a slight complication in the plan. It seems an interloper has appeared.”
“What kind of interloper?”
“Has the princess found backing?”
The white-bearded man shook his head.
“Doesn’t seem like it. But at this rate, our schedule might face a delay.”
“Is that alright?”
“Of course it isn’t. We promised them a specific tiline.”
“Then what do you plan to do…?”
He stroked his beard for a while, then let out another deep sigh.
“We’ll have to move the operation forward a bit. And…”
He took a stone from his coat, from which a dark red glow slowly emanated.
As he gripped the stone tightly with all his strength—
Woooooom!
The light coursed up his arm, and dark energy began to seep from his eyes.
“…I’ll lend it a bit more power.”
“…Understood.”
The expressions of the white-robed n watching him hardened fiercely.
---
Thanks to the at supply made possible by Hardin and the Maw rcenaries—
Perhaps because of that…
Ruslan Fortress slowly began to regain its stability.
– Gwooooooo…
“Stop them from getting too close at all costs!”
Not only had everyone recovered their strength thanks to the food supply, but with the addition of Hardin and the Maw rcenaries, their overall fighting power had been reinforced.
“Whew, thanks for your hard work, everyone.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
As a result, they were finally able to rest in shifts, and people began to find so breathing room.
“Whew… feels like we can finally live a little now, doesn’t it?”
“Exactly. The monsters don’t even feel all that scary anymore.”
Strangely, it brought a sense of relief.
Monsters that had been threatening their lives daily still ca in droves, but having been constantly exposed to that danger—and after everything they had endured—it sohow all felt more manageable now.
In any case, stability had co to Ruslan Fortress.
At a glance, it looked like those peaceful days could last forever.
The problem was, not everyone believed that.
As dusk fell, within the fortress—
Tok tok tok! Tok tok!
Princess deia tapped the inner wall of the fortress with the back of her hand, slowly inspecting it.
Cracks marred the large stone bricks, and in so places, gaping holes had ford.
After months of relentless monster invasions, the accumulated damage had pushed the fortress wall to the brink of collapse.
“……”
deia closed her eyes for a mont and sent mana through her fingertips.
Wooooong!
The mana flowed into the voids, emitting a faint blue glow.
The cracks now spread throughout nearly the entire fortress wall.
But the area that was especially serious…
“That side, huh.”
The western wall of the fortress.
The spot that had been punctured recently by a large Ice Hog.
The extent of the cracks there was particularly severe.
“Phew…”
A deep sigh escaped from Princess deia’s lips.
At that mont—
“Whew… Your Highness.”
“Hmm?”
She turned her head at the voice beside her, and her expression subtly twitched.
“You slacking off instead of working?”
There stood Hardin Daphne, arms crossed and a grin playing at his lips.
deia let out a sigh and asked,
“What are you doing here?”
“? Just… getting so air, clearing my head.”
Hardin scratched his cheek as he replied, prompting an exasperated look from deia.
“You…”
“Co on now, enough nagging. For the record, Lord Varlach always emphasized that resting is part of battle too. I’m just following that wisdom.”
“Ridiculous.”
deia shook her head as she continued walking along the fortress wall.
Hardin walked behind her with his hands behind his back, casually tapping the wall with the back of his hand.
“This fortress… it won’t last much longer, will it?”
“…You know?”
Step.
As deia stopped walking and asked, Hardin shrugged.
“Wouldn’t it be weirder not to know? It’s covered in cracks, so of the stones are shattered… especially that western wall. Looks like it’d collapse with a single tap.”
“……”
“Well, it’s not like they’ve been able to repair anything properly, and they’ve been fending off monster waves for months. It’d be stranger if it were still in good condition. Don’t you think?”
deia closed her eyes tightly and then reopened them, asking again.
“So, do you have a solution?”
“Nope, not a chance.”
“What?”
“There aren’t any materials nearby, and with monsters coming, there’s no ti to leisurely do repairs either.”
deia exhaled as if drained and shook her head slowly.
Hardin rubbed his chin and said,
“Still… feels like it’s coming soon, doesn’t it?”
“…What is?”
“Well, think about it. They tried to starve us by cutting off supplies, but that didn’t work. Now the fortress is halfway wrecked… If it were , I’d strike while the prey’s still caught in the trap.”
“……”
A strange seriousness flickered across Hardin’s face, and a faint furrow ford on deia’s brow.
After a short silence, Hardin spoke in a calm tone.
“Your Highness. Can I ask you one more thing?”
“…Speak.”
“Why are you insisting on holding out here?”
“What do you an?”
“No offense, but… you’re a princess. Couldn’t you just brace yourself for the scolding, grab a few knights, and run for it?”
deia’s pupils trembled intensely.
She remained silent for a while before changing her gaze and answering.
“If I did sothing like that… this fortress would fall imdiately.”
“Hmmm…”
Hardin slowly turned his head and looked around inside the fortress.
Refugees were gathered in groups, diligently crafting arrows and maintaining weapons.
Children ran around playing with stones like balls.
A stark contrast, considering there was a battle raging just outside.
In that mont, a mory suddenly resurfaced in Hardin’s mind.
– Young Master! Why are you pushing yourself like this? You must retreat!
– If I pull back, what happens to those left in front?
– But… but…
Even though it was snowing, he could still vividly recall the heat and the suffocating tension of that ti.
‘So it’s that kind of thing.’
Hardin let out a small smirk and replied.
“Well, I get what you’re thinking. But if you shoulder all that… won’t you end up dead yourself?”
“What do you an?”
“Sotis, a person needs to know when to let things go. Especially when the noose is tightening around their neck.”
“…Are you insulting ?”
“Insult? No, I’m just giving you a practical answer. And well, maybe we could even help with that.”
deia clenched her teeth, as if trying to suppress her boiling emotions, and spat her words out like venom.
“Seems I’ve misjudged you.”
Crack!
Her fist clenched tightly.
“If that’s how you think, then you’re free to leave the fortress. But in that case, our deal… consider it null.”
“Really? You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
As Hardin shrugged, deia turned and walked away without another word.
Was she angry?
Each step she took seed to carry heavy weight.
‘Maybe I pushed a bit too far.’
Hardin watched her retreating figure for a while, then muttered with a satisfied grin,
“…You don’t find soone like that every day.”
He gave another shrug.
‘Well, she’s her own person.’
He brushed his hand against the wall as he continued walking forward.
Eventually, he ca to a stop at one spot.
Lowering his gaze, he saw a small hole at the seam where the floor t the wall.
“Yaaawn…”
Standing with one leg bent lazily, Hardin stared at the hole for a while.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a white blur darted inside.
In that instant, Hardin reached out his arm.
– Chzzik! Chzzzik!
A white rat got caught at his fingertips, squirming violently.
There was a note tied to its tail.
Hardin removed it with one hand and quickly scanned its contents.
Then—
Crunch!
– Chiiiiik!
He crushed the rat in his hand, and its blue blood splattered across his face and body.
“Looks like it’s ti to start getting ready for our guests.”
A smile rose on Hardin’s face as he looked up at the night sky.
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