“Wow, the more I look at it, the stranger it seems.”
Hugo muttered while waving his hand in the air.
As soon as you stepped outside the designated area, a terrifying gust slammed into your body, but if you took just one step inside, the wind stopped dead.
He had heard stories of places where, just a few steps apart, one area was soaked by rain and the other completely dry—but this was something else.
While a snowstorm raged all around, only the spot where Lucian’s group stood remained untouched.
“I don’t get how in the world people like this lost. If they set their minds to it, they could flip a whole kingdom.”
“That would be true if all the mages in the world were at my master’s level, but even among mages, the difference in skill is huge.”
Colin replied with a bitter smile to Hugo’s doubt.
“Even I can’t use such advanced magic. Only high-level mages, like my master, can do it—and even then, it requires thorough preparation. He must have been getting ready for over ten years at least.”
“From what I heard, it took exactly fourteen years. Before that, even for him, going there and back just once was a gamble with his life.”
“…I see.”
When Helen chimed in, the smile vanished from Colin’s face. He still seemed bothered about having been left out by his master and fellow disciples.
The atmosphere grew tense for a moment, until Lucian’s serious voice broke the silence.
“Leave the magic lesson for later. You’ll have plenty of time. What matters now is finding a resting point along the way.”
Thanks to the magic, a path had opened to cross beyond the snowfield.
But just being able to cross didn’t mean they could camp.
Even if that area was warmer than the surroundings, trying to sleep in that cold would turn them into frozen corpses by morning.
Since they would have to travel for several days, they needed a safe spot to rest and sleep.
“Helen, where’s the first rest point? If what you said is right, we should be close.”
“We’re almost there. Look over there.”
Helen raised her finger and pointed. At first, it looked like just a snow-covered hill, but upon closer inspection, a window was sticking out from the mounds.
Only then did Lucian realize it wasn’t a hill but a cabin half-buried in snow.
“…Is that really okay? Even if we remove the snow, the door looks like it’ll be frozen shut and won’t open.”
“It’s a cabin full of runes engraved to prevent freezing. Just clearing the snow is enough to open it surprisingly easily. Besides, there are two mages here, so we don’t even have to clean it by hand.”
“Do we really need two? I’ll take care of it, you rest. I want to show off a bit too.”
Colin walked forward reluctantly as he spoke. His tone clearly showed he was still bitter, so Helen stepped back with an awkward smile.
Soon after, standing in front of the snow-buried cabin, Colin raised his hand.
“Disperse.”
Whoosh.
With a voice that echoed like in a cave, the accumulated snow collapsed and fell away.
For a cabin that had been buried under snow, its appearance was in better shape than expected. Lucian opened the door as carefully as possible.
Creeaak.
‘It’s really not frozen.’
He had feared that trying to open a frozen door might break it or rip it off, but there seemed to be no risk of that.
Just as Helen had said, the engraved runes prevented it from freezing.
Upon entering the cabin, Lucian’s eyes widened in surprise at the warmth inside.
“It’s warm. Is this also thanks to the runes?”
“Yes. They prevent the door from freezing and also serve as heating. Only the food storage doesn’t have engraved runes, so be careful with that.”
“Food storage?”
“It’s that box over there.”
Helen walked toward a corner and opened a cabinet-like piece of furniture. Inside, several chunks of fresh meat hung from hooks.
At the same time, a cutting chill poured from the interior into the cabin.
“If you leave it open too long, the temperature drops, so you have to take only what’s needed and do it quickly.”
Just like she said, Helen quickly pulled out a few pieces of meat and headed toward the fireplace.
Standing on the spread-out hide on the floor, she placed the meat into a pot already set up, and at that moment, flames flared up.
Upon seeing the faintly glowing runes around it, Lucian clicked his tongue.
“More runes? How many did you engrave here? No, wait—how do you even know runes like these?”
Runes were practically lost knowledge due to the mage persecution.
Even court mages barely knew a handful of essential ones used for combat.
However, the runes now glowing didn’t look like combat runes, but rather everyday-use runes, lost long ago.
They might seem minor, but when used well, they could improve the quality of life many times over—not just for nobles, but for commoners too.
“My master is a Magus, the highest rank among mages. This is one of the support points he created, pouring in all his strength over more than ten years, so it should be this impressive.”
“No, what I meant is…”
Lucian shook his head, realizing Helen had misunderstood him.
He hadn’t yet confirmed what kind of person her master really was, and there was no need to praise him in advance.
However, Helen continued speaking without losing her satisfied expression.
“You haven’t seen anything yet. There’s something even more impressive.”
“Now what, is the cabin going to turn into a palace?”
“No. The meat turns into medicine.”
“Medicine?”
Lucian was about to ask what that meant, but when he closely observed the meat Helen had just taken out, he froze completely.
From the meat, slaughtered quite some time ago, magical energy was clearly flowing.
***
“Umm.”
“Ah.”
After tasting Helen’s cooking, Lucian’s group couldn’t stop exclaiming in amazement.
It wasn’t because it was incredibly delicious, nor because it was a dish they had never seen before.
It was simply meat cooked in an ordinary way, and yet it produced an effect similar to that of an elixir.
“Just eating meat already increases mana…”
“Isn’t it like the people living here drink an elixir every day?”
Hugo and Raymond kept murmuring with their mouths full, impressed. Felicia, on the other hand, chewed the meat with an impassive expression.
“But the increase is far too slight. Even if you eat it every day, it would take an eternity to get an effect comparable to a real elixir.”
She wasn’t comparing it to nectar, but to low-level elixirs that, with enough connections and enormous sums of money, could barely be obtained.
Even those elixirs had an almost incalculable value for common people, but still, it was debatable to go through a fixed diet for decades just for that effect.
It wasn’t a matter of flavor, but of the fact that you’d have to live in an environment where that meat was constantly available, which would make moving freely on the battlefield impossible.
“It might be useful for a wealthy noble to strengthen their body, but if the goal is to train knights, it would be better to obtain elixirs and give them directly.”
“Lady Felicia’s words are accurate.”
Helen nodded calmly, supporting her opinion.
“No matter how curious its effects may be, in the end, it’s still beast meat. It can’t compare to an elixir, the very essence of alchemy. It would take decades of consumption to match the effect of a single elixir. But…”
Tap.
Helen set down the wooden utensil on the table and spoke in a low voice.
“The tribes living in this region eat this meat every day.”
“…”
“It’s not that they choose only the best beasts. Every beast hunted here produces meat like this.”
They didn’t have the option of picking only the best cuts. The meat of any animal hunted for survival was imbued with mana.
That’s why, for the barbarian tribes, all of it was nothing more than everyday food.
Until the final moments of their lives, they filled their stomachs with that meat.
“To get the effect of an elixir, one would have to eat it for decades, but the inhabitants here already have. From the moment they stop drinking milk and start chewing solid food, they eat it.”
“Then it’s as if they’ve all taken elixirs. Their physical capabilities must be just as formidable.”
If the goal were to train knights, it might still fall short. Great strength doesn’t automatically mean developing leadership or depth in swordsmanship.
But if the goal were soldiers, that would be a different story.
If warriors with strength comparable to knights formed an army and charged through enemy lines.
If, with a single clash, they could unilaterally wipe out enemy troops.
‘With less than half the enemy’s numbers, they could become the most powerful army, capable of spreading terror.’
The corners of Lucian’s lips lifted slightly. The army beyond the snowfield, which had been a vague idea until now, was beginning to take concrete shape.
***
After spending the night in the cabin, Lucian’s group set off the next morning.
To be honest, it was hard to tell whether it was morning or still night. The blizzards were so intense the sun was barely visible.
They only judged by the color of the sky—if it was violet, it was day; if it turned completely black, it was night.
“…Damn it. Now I understand why no one ever came back after trying to cross the snowfield without magic.”
By the tenth day, Hugo muttered while shivering. With sunlight so faint that it was barely distinguishable from night, and a cold that even knights couldn’t endure for long, it was a frozen hell.
To make matters worse, after ten days of continuous marching, the barbarian tribes’ settlement still hadn’t appeared.
If Helen and Colin’s master hadn’t opened the path, and if he hadn’t set up shelters along the way, they would’ve already frozen to death.
“By the way, the promised fifteen days have passed. Why hasn’t this so-called tribe appeared yet?”
“One more day of marching will be enough. If we forced the pace, we could reach it today, but we’ve slowed down to conserve strength, so don’t worry.”
“That sounds good. Or does it? To them, we’ll just be intruders.”
“The master is aware of our visit, so they’ll receive us as guests. I’ve been here a few times before…”
Helen, who had been explaining everything to Hugo, suddenly stopped. When the others followed her gaze, they saw dark silhouettes in the distance.
The moment they blinked to get a better look, a roar echoed from that direction.
“Who dares set foot in the dragon’s territory?!”
The thunderous voice struck the eardrums of Lucian’s group. Even without containing magic, the shout was so powerful it made their ears ring. If there had been mountains nearby, it would’ve triggered an avalanche.
Lucian frowned at the show of force and was about to step forward when Helen spoke.
“Leave it to me. If this works, we might avoid a fight.”
“Hmm.”
At Helen’s words, Lucian slightly tilted his chin, as if to say, “Go ahead.” With his permission granted, Helen stepped forward and spoke softly.
“A roar worthy of a warrior. Few possess a voice like that—are you Lord Gunstein?”
“A woman? What is a woman doing in this place?”
In the voice from the other side, there was a hint of confusion. Clearly, he hadn’t expected a woman to make it this far beyond the snowfield.
Sensing the other’s softened attitude, Helen smiled even more and continued.
“Have you forgotten me? I’m Helen. I trained as a guide under the master, the Conductor. There was even a banquet where you personally served me liquor. Do you remember?”
After her words, the other side fell silent. Moments later, the shadows cautiously began to approach, as if still on guard.
When both sides got close enough to clearly see each other, Lucian’s group opened their eyes wide.
____
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