Chapter 12

Chapter 12 The Daughter of Gahra 1 “You need to go on a trip, boy,” Arza’s combat instructor, Logan, suddenly declared. Arza was perplexed. “To study the blade?” “That is one reason for it. You need to sharpen your sword, your body, and your mind.” “Won’t I get stronger just by making progress in the labyrinth?” “You have it backward, boy. You’ll become too strong. You’re already too strong. I sent you into the labyrinth when you turned fourteen, but I never imagined you’d reach level sixty-five in only two years. You’re already an S-rank, too. Even Druga was astonished.” Druga was Logan’s nephew and the current president of the Micaene Adventurers Guild. When Logan retired as president of the guild and moved into the Mercurius estate, his successor was the former manager Eador. Druga became the next guild president when Eador finally retired at age fifty-four. After passing along his guild responsibilities, Eador became an officer of finance in the Banust domain, which was ruled by Arza’s mother. He was in charge of House Goran’s finances, and he was still in great health at sixty-two. Speaking of age, Logan was the very picture of health at 105 years old. Very few people knew this, but Logan was a half-dwarf, and dwarves had longer life spans than humans. His nephew Druga was a pure-blooded dwarf. That was also a secret, of course, as people believed dwarves had gone extinct ages ago. “I’ve heard that the Heavenly Blade Percival reached S-rank when he was fifteen.” Percival was a former head of House Mercurius who’d died in the Sazardon Labyrinth. His godlike swordsmanship had earned him the nickname Heavenly Blade. “He became an adventurer at age twelve. He only reached that point after four years of hard work. Try not to change the subject. Though now that you’ve brought up the Heavenly Blade, I’ll say this: He did not start out by holing himself up in the labyrinth. He went on many adventures in the outside world as well. Actually, he became an S-rank adventurer directly after his overwhelming subjugation of the Zoahard mountain bandits.” “I know. He defeated the eight leaders including the chief all by himself, or something like that.” “That job was a request from the country, and a certain noble from a well-to-do family was placed in command. He was apparently a knight of some skill, but he lacked real combat experience. Mountain bandits are typically exterminated after being lured into a trap on level ground, but this knight decided to attack the bandits’ hideout directly. Well, I won’t say that can’t be an effective method, too. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could manage to wipe them all out at once, after all. Still, if you are going to do it that way, you should send an advance scout, move covertly to hide the nature of your forces, then break them up into squadrons and surround the enemy hideout. There are a number of ways to do it effectively.” “I understand that. Is that not what he did?” “Not in the slightest. He marched up to the hideout in broad daylight with everyone together, making a right racket all the while.” “Did he not order everyone to be quiet?” “He may have, but the apprentice knights, who were just looking for some combat practice, and the other people tagging along under his command probably wouldn’t have listened to him. Traveling along a narrow mountain road with a great number of people causes your formation to stretch very long, which makes it difficult to control everyone. If he ordered them to be quiet, he probably gave the order at a certain location rather than telling them to be quiet over and over again for hours. Regardless, they arrived at the hideout. Attacking the bandits all at once after casting support magic should have worked.” “But the bandits were ready for them?” “That’s right. The bandits had set a trap. They were probably keeping careful watch. There’s a chance the bandits might have bribed a government official for information. Regardless, the subjugation force that was supposed to surround the hideout and lay siege to it ended up being surrounded themselves. The bandits rained down a storm of bullets and magic, inflicting heavy damage. Something good came out of all that, however. The force’s system of command was thrown into chaos, and it became impossible to relay any orders.” “That was a good thing?” “Yes. It was a good thing because the adventurers were freed up to make their own decisions. Those who joined the expedition as a party quickly met up with their comrades, and everyone else was able to tighten into smaller groups as well. With each group acting individually, they avoided the bandits’ attacks, circled around, and managed to turn the tide of battle.” “Even Lord Percival?” “No. The Heavenly Blade was near the commander, who was an acquaintance of his father. During the march, he realized the Heavenly Blade was the son of House Mercurius and invited him to stay by his side. I doubt they talked much, though.” “Why is that?” “Oh-ho. ‘Why?’ he asks. That’s right, you never knew the Heavenly Blade. He was not an easy person to hold a conversation with. Most people probably never heard anything from him beyond the typical ‘yep,’ ‘nope,’ and ‘huh.’ Whenever someone said anything he deemed boring, he wouldn’t even respond. And he was a very fast walker, so before anyone could manage to strike up a conversation, he would already be long gone.” “I have heard he was quiet. But you talked with him often, right, Uncle?” “That’s right. Strangely enough, he would talk to me. Getting back to the story, though—he was next to the commander. At first, the commander was planning to have the sorcerers launch a unified magical attack, and then he would send everyone charging into the hideout. However, just before the attack, a magical barrier was erected over the whole building. The bandits were prepared for them in every way. I heard the defensive magic was quite strong and that no magic attacks could penetrate it. The commander assumed the bandits wouldn’t be able to hold such powerful magic for very long, so he ordered the sorcerers to keep bombarding it with spells.” “Huh. That doesn’t sound like a bad order.” “Yes, tactically, it was the correct decision. He also had the shield-bearing knights protect the sorcerers from arrows. Suffice to say, he wasn’t a complete idiot. However, allies were falling left and right. That’s when the Heavenly Blade took action.” “Did he act without orders from the commander?” “It would be more accurate to say his intuition told him what the commander wanted. He knew they needed to dispatch the enemies within the hideout. When Percival arrived at the magic barrier, he equipped Alestra’s Bracelet and passed directly through it. The enemy must have been shocked. He was immediately targeted by arrows and spells inside the building, but he dodged every single one.” “He dodged the spells?” “That’s right. I didn’t see it myself, but I’ve heard it from eyewitnesses. The Heavenly Blade did often tell me he was capable of dodging arrows and spells.” “…! He could even dodge arrows…” “No, don’t make that face yet. Here comes the good part. Even though the Heavenly Blade was wearing Alestra’s Bracelet, he hardly needed it. He didn’t even use it to absorb magic. The moment he entered the building he cut down eight men. They were the only eight people in the building, and they turned out to be the bandit leaders. The chief, Zoahard, was among them. Zoahard was formerly an S-rank adventurer, but the Heavenly Blade apparently entered the building and cut his throat in the blink of an eye. Once Zoahard was dead, most of the bandits stopped resisting.” “Hmm, that’s amazing.” “The Heavenly Blade’s level at that time was lower than yours is now. But can you do the same thing he did?” “No, I don’t have Lord Percival’s skill.” “You do have the skill. You’ve been receiving instruction from some of the greatest swordsmen of the present era since you were small. I may not be so elegant, but I’ve also had more than my fair share of combat experience. If we’re talking strictly about skill, you’re not inferior to the Heavenly Blade. However…” “What is it?” “You don’t yet know battle outside of the labyrinth.” “True.” “Battle in the outside world is completely different from battle within labyrinths. You can’t use potions. If you lose an arm or a leg in the outside world, it won’t grow back. Even if you lose your right arm and then enter a labyrinth and drink a red potion, it won’t regrow. To the labyrinth, not having a right arm will be your original condition. Not even the changes your body experiences after a level-up will bring back extremities that you lost in the outside world. There are medicines and healing charms that work outside of labyrinths, but the most they’ll do is accelerate self-healing. Well, you’ll occasionally encounter a priest or monk whose abilities will make them seem like a miracle worker, but even they can’t restore lost limbs.” “I know.” “It’s the same with mana. As long as you keep chugging blue potions, you can use your magic and skills as much as you want. But that won’t work in the outside world. You need to be careful about how you manage your mana, and you can’t fight nonstop like you can in labyrinths. If you run out of physical and mental energy, you’ll be finished. Running out of stamina in the middle of a fight will be the death of you.” “Yes, I promise I’m aware of that. I’m being mindful in my training.” “I suppose you are. However, you’ve gotten too strong. If you continue down your current path, you will not learn fear.” “The monsters in the labyrinth are plenty scary. And I always go alone, so I do feel fear.” “Sure. But the thing is, no matter how strong an enemy is, all you have to do is keep chugging potions, and you’ll defeat them eventually. Killing enemies also increases your level, and a higher level means you’ll be able to easily take down enemies that struck fear in your heart before. Labyrinths are a drug. There’s no limit to how strong you can grow, and the rewards only get better the deeper you go. The more you venture into labyrinths, the harder it gets to keep yourself away. You do feel fear, but that only adds to the thrill. You feel real pain and stress as well, but you have nothing to worry about, because any problem can be fixed by working hard and increasing your level. Once that way of thinking becomes ingrained in your mind, you won’t be able to fight in the outside world.” “My battle is in the labyrinth.” When Arza’s father, Panzel, was posthumously given the rank of marquis for his achievements in life and the Banust domain was granted to House Goran, House Riga, to which Arza’s mother belonged, was thrilled. Esseluleia’s older brother Draydol, who was the current Duke of Riga, attempted to send prominent vassals to the Banust domain in order to have Arza raised in House Riga. He tried to appoint someone from that house to serve as the Marquis of Banust until Arza came of age. He was hijacking the position in the name of support. Esseluleia appealed directly to the king. Her husband, Panzel, had made a promise to the minotaur in the labyrinth: that he would return to finish their duel. His son, Arza, had to be the one to keep that promise. She wanted Arza to be raised in House Mercurius, which was famed for its military prowess, and asked for him to be given the title of Marquis of Banust after he grew up and slayed the minotaur. She asked for permission to serve as the marquis until that point. That was her plea to the king. It was highly unusual for a woman to be entrusted rule over such an important and sizable region, but the king granted her permission. That was why Arza needed to become strong enough to defeat the minotaur, no matter what it took. “That’s right. However, as you are now, you wouldn’t stand a chance.” “Is there something I am missing?” “It might be the pain that all humans experience. The Heavenly Blade knew that pain. Your father also knew it well. I can’t imagine he didn’t.” “Are you saying I need to understand how precious and fragile a life is?” “That’s right. That’s one way to phrase it. However, I don’t think you’re capable of understanding that as you are now. Once you defeat that monster, you will have to fight in the outside world. You need some more perspective. Go on a trip. You still have time.” “If that is what you want, Uncle, I will do it. Where should I go?” “It doesn’t matter. That said, we can’t have anyone in Baldemost learning of your true identity. That would be problematic. That goes double for Fenks. Which leaves the south, I guess. Travel far and experience all you can.” “Understood. I will go south.” “Make sure to have lots of battles down there. Your movement will be restricted even in the south, though, if your identity is discovered. The adventurer medal I had made under the name of Zara was partially for this purpose. That trick wouldn’t have been possible if Druga hadn’t been the guild president and the person handling your family registry wasn’t a subordinate of Eador.” Arza’s holy occupation was knight. Even knights could have an adventurer medal issued at a temple, but his true name would have been given away as soon as his medal was inspected. If the name “Arza Goran” were to get out, he wouldn’t be able to move nearly as comfortably, and rumors would spread like wildfire. For that reason, they changed his name to “Zara.” They did not report that to the royal palace, however. Normally, nobles of above-average rank had to file a report when they changed their names. The contents of the report were then entered into the Family Lineage Registry. But because it would be a blemish on their registry to record that he’d changed his name to Zara—with no family name—they were holding off on the report. He would, of course, eventually use the name Arza Goran again. His adventurer medal was issued at the temple affiliated with the guild, and thanks to the authority of Druga, he was able to discreetly perform activities such as buying consumables and information about the labyrinth and acquiring lost items. “I hope I can raise my level at least a little.” “No, I don’t think that will happen. It’s a lot harder to level up in the outside world. It’ll be even harder for you since your level is so high already. I’m not positive you would level up even if you spent a year fighting in the outside world. But you shouldn’t be thinking about that. You can always come back here and train if you find you’re not strong enough.” “Yes, sir.” “Fight well and fight often. Encounter a wide variety of people and places. Have many fruitful experiences. By doing all that, you will come to know this world. Journeys are a great way to learn about yourself as well. Admittedly, I’m parroting all this from an old friend. Ah, one more thing. Make sure not to open your Treasury in front of people.” “Okay, I understand.” People who went on adventures usually took up the holy occupation of adventurer. The adventurer job awarded a storage system called a Bag. Bags were extremely easy to use. The holy occupation of knight, on the other hand, awarded you a storage system called a Treasury. It was possible to share a Treasury with other people and set it up for inheritance. Because you took items out of Bags simply by reaching inside the magical space and grabbing the item you wanted, people could not see inside them. However, Treasuries worked by displaying an operation screen from which you would choose the item you wanted. For that reason, using them in front of others would immediately give away that you had one. Depending on where people were standing, they would even be able to read your screen. Anyone who saw Arza’s would immediately realize the size of his Treasury. “Don’t just pull your sword out of your Treasury whenever you need it. Wear it on your hip at all times. Put items you use often in a rucksack and carry it around. Don’t rely on your Treasury. This will both serve as good training for you and make people think you’re a novice adventurer with a low-capacity Bag.” 2 “Are you…awake?” The clear voice cut through his hazy consciousness. Zara thought it sounded like a girl’s. A fire was crackling. He was in some kind of cabin. He could see the fire, which meant he was awake, but Zara couldn’t remember when he had opened his eyes. Actually, he couldn’t remember when he’d lost consciousness in the first place. He felt like he was inside a very nostalgic dream. Zara once again drifted off to sleep. 3 “Your luck good. If you fall in snow, you die.” Zara had collapsed in the snow. Just before he had frozen to death, he had been saved by this girl. He thought he had been fully prepared for the extreme volatility of the weather here. He did not mean to underestimate the Gahra Mountains, which were commonly referred to as the Mountains of Death. He definitely hadn’t expected a blizzard to suddenly hit the foot of the mountain, though, when he could see spring buds blooming all around him. Zara lifted himself out of bed and ate the soup the girl gave him. The soup contained salted, dried meat; roasted pieces of tree root; and potatoes. He could feel his cells absorbing the nourishment. “That was delicious. Thank you,” he said, setting his bowl aside. The girl nodded without smiling, collected her and Zara’s bowls, and washed them using a bucket full of snow. “You have name?” “I’m Zara.” The girl had been expressionless until then, but she looked at the boy in surprise and then burst out laughing. “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You get name from blizzard?” Zara stared at the girl blankly. She made a slightly troubled face. “You not know legend of Zara, Bora, and Gahra?” “No.” And so the girl told him a story. 4 Once, there was a god named Zara. He had two younger sisters named Bora and Gahra, and the three of them got along very well. They lived together for a long time, protecting the earth and bestowing blessings upon the people. In time, Bora fell in love with Zara, and the two were joined in marriage. They had a daughter. But afterward, Bora noticed something: Gahra had also fallen in love with Zara. So Bora took their daughter and fled. Gahra did not believe she could be happy without a love of her own, so she hid herself away. Having lost his two sisters and his child, Zara was devastated. He became the wind in the sky and embarked on a journey to find his sisters and his daughter. With their gods gone and their blessings lost, the people entered an era of suffering. The people searched for the gods. Bora had torn up the earth and was living underground. Gahra had hidden herself in the mountains. Nobody knew where Zara was. The people of the plains worshipped Bora, and the people of the mountains worshipped Gahra. No one worshipped Zara. Bora and Gahra granted abundant harvests to the plains and the mountains, respectively. But to this day, Bora and Gahra still lament being separated from Zara. That’s why when people get too close to these gods, they die. 5 Zara had never heard that legend before. He knew of Bora, of course, but he had never heard of gods named Zara or Gahra. The Gahra Mountains must be named after that goddess. He felt a little embarrassed that he had coincidentally chosen Zara as the name he would adopt as an adventurer. His choice had nothing to do with myth or legend; he’d simply picked it because it was a play on his real name. “What’s your name?” “I not have name yet. Called daughter of Gerie.” That meant her father’s name was Gerie. Her answer made it clear that she was from Zolzoga. You should never put your faith in rumors. As the people of the plains knew them, the people of the mountains—or the people of Zolzoga—were more half-beast than human. They were covered in hair all over their bodies and were only capable of broken speech. They lived in the mountains and never went down to the plains. They thought and lived like beasts. They were knowledgeable of the mountains and traded valuable goods like monster fur, medicine, and minerals in exchange for wares from the plains. Children were not named by their parents but instead named themselves when they deemed it necessary. The girl in front of Zara looked nothing like a beast, though. Her clothes were made of tanned animal hides, and she wasn’t wearing makeup. Her hair was cut short. Her face, hands, and feet were covered in sweat and dust. Even then, he thought she was beautiful. The way she moved was both lively and graceful at the same time. Her speech was awkward, but her choice of words and manner of speech made it clear she was very intelligent. Her voice and her eyes had the greatest impact on him. She sounded dignified without forcing it. Her gaze was free of arrogance, and whenever their eyes met, he could feel her stare penetrating his very core. He looked to his side and saw his sword and rucksack. It should have been hard enough to carry his unconscious body out of the blizzard. He hadn’t expected her to bring his belongings as well. The fact that she grabbed my sword and rucksack proves her kindhearted nature. “Do you live here alone?” The girl answered that her father had died three months ago and she had moved into this cabin that her father owned because she could no longer stay in the village. The girl’s mother was from the plains, so she’d learned the language of the plains from her. Zara was about to inquire after her mother but then felt a presence outside. 6 After seeing the boy notice something and pick up his sword, the girl ran to a wall of the cabin. She opened a window and looked outside. The violent snow from earlier had stopped, and soft rays of sunlight characteristic of spring were illuminating the peak of the mountain. The girl stared intently at the forest. She then closed the window and hastily picked up a bow and quiver, tension plain on her face. The boy had already pulled on his boots and was headed for the door. “No!” screamed the girl, but Zara ignored her and rushed outside. It was an ettin. Also called snow ogres, ettins were monsters that only lived in high elevation on snowy mountains and would grow violent and attack as soon as they smelled a human. They were covered in long white fur all over their body and face. They didn’t have any special skills but were very strong and resilient against physical and magical attacks. Humanoid and bipedal, they were over twice as tall as humans and had extremely long, thick arms. Ettins were thought to be around the monster level of 50, and A-rank adventurers would only fight one with a party. The ettin was about thirty meters away. The blizzard had stopped, but the snow on the ground should have still made it difficult to walk. Despite that, the boy used his nimble speed to run on top of the snow. Watching from the door, the girl’s eyes widened in surprise. The snow wasn’t that deep, but it was fresh and soft. Running fast enough to land on top of fresh snow was something not even the people of the mountains were capable of. Zara reached the ettin but did not attack it right away. The creature swung its right arm with a whoosh. That attack had enough force behind it to either seriously injure or kill even an A-rank adventurer, but the boy ducked and avoided it. The monster attacked with its left arm next, lifting it high and slamming it down violently. Carefully watching the movement of the ettin’s hands, nails, and the rest of its body, Zara dodged quickly to the left just before the attack could hit him. The monster’s swing caught only air, and a massive amount of snow was kicked up when its arm hit the ground. With its left hand still in the snow, it pulled itself forward and then swung its right hand down diagonally. From a distance, the ettin’s expression seemed to indicate that it was enjoying itself, but up close, nothing could be further from the truth. Even the bravest adventurers would be intimidated by such a sneer. But the boy stayed completely calm. The people of the plains call them snow ogres, but they have horns, and the structures of their faces don’t match ogres’, either. I wonder if this creature belongs to a different classification of monster altogether. Those are the kind of idle thoughts speeding through Zara’s mind. When the monster shifted its center of gravity to its left arm, the boy bent down and swung his sword with his right hand. He severed the ettin’s left arm, and it came crashing to the ground. Zara lunged to the right and decapitated the ettin with a single stroke. Warm blood erupted from the monster’s neck and left arm, and it collapsed into the white snow, painting it red. The boy landed across from it, avoiding the blood spray entirely. Still holding her bow and quiver, the girl stood in the doorway dumbfounded by what she had just witnessed. Seems my mind and body weren’t sluggish at all. My movement was the same as ever. Zara reflected on the battle while studying the monster’s corpse. 7 The girl began skinning the ettin and harvesting its meat. Zara talked to her as he helped. “I want to cross the mountain and pass through the Great Ravine. Can you please tell me the way?” “I not know how to say. Lots of snow up mountain. Blizzard coming. Very rough for many days.” The girl pointed to herself. “We go together. You help with hunt.” The girl was saying she would guide him to the ravine and that she wanted him to assist with hunting. Zara had planned on crossing the mountain on his own, but at this point, he understood that wouldn’t be training. It would be suicide. “Thank you. We’ll go together, then.” This was the first time he had ever skinned a beast, but as he lifted the heavy limbs, rotated the body, and washed the fat with snow, he felt like he was being decently helpful. He knew monsters in the outside world didn’t vanish after death, but he didn’t know they were this warm on the inside. The ettin’s flesh actually felt hot. “Can you sell skins? Or do you use them yourself?” “Can sell. Ettin is rare. Good that no injury. This sell for high price. This very good. It big, warm, soft. You killed, so you keep.” “I want to give it to you, but would that be rude?” The girl’s hands stopped moving for a moment, and she spoke in a subdued voice. “Man give woman big pelt…have meaning of sleep together. Do not say that.” He wasn’t expecting that kind of response at all, so it took a bit for him to understand what she meant. Aaaahh, okay! So I would be proposing. “Okay, then please take this pelt and sell it yourself. I want you to have the money as thanks for helping me out.” The girl didn’t respond at first, but after a short while, she gave a small nod without looking at him. After that, they continued their work in silence. The girl didn’t speak, didn’t make any facial expressions, and didn’t give any orders. Zara taught himself how to help by observing her actions. Once he got a good enough handle on what they were doing, he did most of the knife work. He had no idea skinning was this difficult. By the time they finished, he felt excruciating pain in his shoulders, back, hips, and more. Given how muscular he was, the task shouldn’t have been excessively burdensome, but he had apparently overexerted himself. He watched as the girl massaged the skin with grass juice. That night he rubbed some medicinal herbs on his body before he went to sleep. 8 The daughter of Gerie had a Tirika Bow. This blessed item was made up of the bow, arrows, and quiver collectively and was typically dropped on or around the twentieth floor of the Sazardon Labyrinth. The quiver held eleven arrows, and once the user had exhausted them all, it would magically replenish itself after a certain amount of time had passed. Arrows fired from the bow disappeared. They couldn’t be used with other bows, but the bow could fire other arrows. Conveniently, the bowstring did not make a sound when firing. Most blessed items dropped from monsters weren’t helpful outside of labyrinths, but Tirika Bows were an exception. It was a difficult item to obtain outside of labyrinths, and as it was a relatively rare drop, it would fetch a pretty hefty price whenever there was one for sale. There was no doubt that this was a valuable item to the people of the mountains, as they didn’t have much in the way of plains currency. This Tirika Bow was a memento of the girl’s father, but when he’d died, some men from the village had asked her to sell it to them. The girl refused, saying it was her job to pass down her father’s techniques. I have plenty of bows and arrows in my Treasury. Zara opened his Treasury and searched for bows and arrows. The Treasury he’d inherited from Panzel was enormous and full of rare and powerful items. It contained many varieties of blessed bows as well. There was even a Tirika Bow. “Ah, I have one, too.” He took out the bow and showed it to the girl. He thought she would be happy to see he had the same weapon she did, but for some reason, her expression stiffened. She looked away quickly, not saying anything for a while. When she finally spoke again, her voice was thick with resolve. “I teach you how to use bow!” 9 “Ya, ya, ya!” The girl was running and shouting in a high-pitched voice, driving the three red deer they were hunting toward the rock Zara was hiding behind. Zara readied his Tirika Bow in his left hand and nocked an arrow with his right. He was holding three more arrows at the ready. He fired without making a sound, and the arrow pierced the neck of the red deer in front. Without delay, he fired the second and third arrows, accurately piercing the necks of the remaining two deer. He didn’t need to use the spare arrow. Okay. I’m getting used to this rapid-fire method. He gave himself a passing grade. When the girl first told him about this technique, he’d tilted his head in confusion. He had always been taught by his bow instructor to remove arrows from the quiver one at a time. The people of the mountains, however, used them differently. According to his companion, it was considered wasteful to break your posture after hitting your target, so it was best to pull multiple arrows from the quiver at once. Zara’s shots all pierced vital points. The girl approached the red deer and slit their throats with her dagger. She was careful to ensure their pelts wouldn’t be dirtied with blood. Once she finished draining the three carcasses, she cut open the abdomen of one of them and started gorging herself on its entrails. Now that was something the boy couldn’t follow her example on. Next, they skinned the deer and butchered the flesh. They were probably going to smoke some of the meat later. They also stored some of it raw in order to eventually roast it or use it in stew. The girl had a Cargo, which was the storage system possessed by merchants. It could store especially large items, and in addition to the convenience of being able to sort items by classification, it had the special characteristic of being able to preserve perishable foods for long periods of time. That didn’t mean her holy occupation was merchant, however. She was actually a hunter. Zara found it a little weird that a hunter had a Cargo, but that was apparently common in her tribe. She put the red deer skins in her Cargo to be tanned later. 10 As he was guided through the mountain range named after a goddess, Zara learned plenty from the daughter of Gerie, besides her technique with a bow. He learned how to hunt, how to find medicinal herbs and edible plants, how to tan animal hides, how to get accustomed to high altitudes, and how to live in the snow. Zara returned the favor by offering her ingredients he happened to have in his Treasury and by making food from the plains. Her reaction when he had her try some sugar candies with fragrant powder sprinkled on top was perfect. She looked like she would melt into a puddle of ecstasy. From then on, her eyes lit up every time Zara offered her sweets. She reminded him of an adorable woodland critter in those moments. I guess the rumor about them being animalistic was accurate, in a way. He leaped at every opportunity to ask about her village, her family, and how the people of the mountains lived. The girl, on the other hand, didn’t ask a single thing about who he was or what he was trying to do. Crossing the mountains like this was not something any sane person would attempt. If you wanted to go from Baldemost Kingdom to the southern countries, it was best to travel along Bera Road and go to Mazulu. If you took the North Elga Highway north of Mazulu, you would pass along the bank of the scenic Dona Lake and end up in the southwestern part of the continent. Bera Road was a highway built on the western edge of the Gahra Mountains and could have been considered the only bridge between the north and south. It was traversable any time of year except for the dead of winter. If you were embarking on a pilgrimage to the Holy Kingdom of Roahl to the southeast, you could cross through the Principality of Yenna, which bordered Mazulu to the south, and travel along the South Elga Highway. Baldemost and Mazulu each had checkpoints on the border that required pricey tolls to pass through, but because they were patrolled by guards, they were relatively safe. If you had business in the east and Bera Road was too much of a detour, you could circumvent the Gahra Mountains by traveling through the borderlands. Large expanses of that region had nothing resembling a road, and the risk of encountering monsters or thieves was high. Still, it was safer and faster than the alternative. Even among the mountainfolk, very few tribes lived in the Gahra Mountains. Most were nomadic and traveled across the southern mountainous region, which was known as the bosom of the Zolzoga people. Anyone attempting to cross through the Gahra Mountains either didn’t want to pass through the checkpoint or were criminals trying to shake off pursuers. Zara would have understood if the girl suspected him of belonging to either category. 11 They spent ten days passing through a region where the snow remained on the ground year-round, then walked for twenty more days through a section of the mountain with intense snowfall. They were covering their faces with items called gaugaro masks. These were made of tree bark and were intended to protect the wearer’s skin against the elements. Zara could see and breathe through the gaps in the mask just fine, but he couldn’t get used to how prickly it was. They did a lot of hunting. The girl insisted on dividing the pelts evenly between the two of them. She said even half of them would give her more than enough money to build a whole new cabin and completely replace all her furniture. They slept with their backs touching to keep warm at night. The next day, they would be traversing the most dangerous part of the mountain. As he drifted off to sleep, Zara reflected on something that had happened a few days earlier. They had found a couple of quartet birds. The quartet bird was given its name because it could look like four different creatures, depending on the angle from which you viewed it. Its meat was rumored to extend your life span, so it sold for a lot. They’d managed to capture the two birds, but their cries and the scent of their blood had attracted some ice wolves. Ice wolves were roughly the same level as gray wolves, which put them around level 10. Unlike in the labyrinth, however, monsters in the outside world grew and learned, making them significantly more dangerous. Despite that, Zara could handle dozens of ice wolves no problem. He’d actually sensed them coming and cut down three of the four the moment they leaped at them. As he was about to slice the throat of the fourth, he sensed more wolves approaching thanks to his Detection skill. Another pack happened to be in the area, and they’d started moving toward the travelers after smelling the blood. I can’t let them surround us. The moment the thought had occurred to Zara, his right arm froze up, and he only managed to give the wolf a light scratch. Without delay, he’d struck the side of the beast’s face with his left hand and then dodged a snap of its jaws, but then he’d started shaking as if afflicted by some kind of curse. He was having difficulty moving and thinking. The effect had been brief, and with the girl’s help, he’d managed to repel the wolves. As he drifted off to sleep, though, he couldn’t help wondering what that feeling had been. No. I know what that was. It was fear. When he’d entered the Sazardon Labyrinth for the first time at age fourteen, Zara had reached the staircase of the fourteenth floor. His training up to that point had made that feat more than possible. On the way back to the surface, he’d caught sight of a party being attacked by a pack of wolves near the tenth-floor stairwell. Zara had ran up to help them, and while protecting the injured adventurers, he’d ended up getting three fingers bitten off. He’d immediately healed the injury with a potion and then finished off the wolves. He considered that moment a learning experience and had assumed he would forget it. After finding himself in a similar situation, though, the event returned to his mind. As individuals, the ice wolves stood no chance against him. He wouldn’t have even taken much damage had they managed to get a few bites in. However, being assailed by a large number of wolves simultaneously made dodging all their attacks difficult. When fighting outside of the labyrinth, you also had to deal with accumulating injuries, and you could end up with a serious wound that couldn’t be healed. Zara had a goal. He had a mission he needed to complete. He could not die until he did so. He could not lose a hand or an arm. That was why he’d felt fear when fighting the ice wolves. Zara had no idea what to do about his newfound feeling. 12 “Now we go onto sacred ground.” It had been two days since she said that. On the sacred ground you were not allowed to spill blood. You had to do your best to avoid monsters, and if you did happen to run into one, you had to distract it and flee. Meat drained of blood was used traditionally as a decoy, and the girl had prepared a large amount of it. The daughter of Gerie said they would spend that entire day passing through this dangerous section, then descend through a calm and gentle stretch, eventually reaching the ravine in a week. Zara couldn’t imagine this area would be as difficult as what they had passed through to get there. The girl, however, appeared very nervous and was looking around carefully as they advanced through the mountain. I’d like to take a break soon and eat something… As soon as Zara thought that, he heard something in the distance. In the mountains, it was difficult to pinpoint the source of a noise. In spite of that, he turned toward the direction from which he thought the sound had come and looked down the slope. There, he spotted seven people cornered by ice wolves on the edge of a cliff that towered over a ravine. The weather was clear, allowing for good visibility. There were four people wearing clothes that suggested they were from the plains. Two of them were small—probably children. Judging by the clothes of the other three, they were likely from the mountains. The trio were wearing gaugaro masks. One of the people from the plains had a cloth wrapped around his face. They were being attacked by twelve wolves. Four of the beasts were already dying on top of the snow. Zara could tell at a glance that the party didn’t need saving. The person from the plains with the cloth wrapped around his face was overwhelmingly strong. He had a large frame and swung his broad sword around with ease as he bisected any wolves that approached him. The three from the mountains were also dispatching the wolves easily. The one protecting the children was a sorcerer, who would occasionally shoot down the animals with fireballs. The pure-white snow was stained red with the blood of the dying wolves. “This not good. Must leave now,” the girl said, tugging at Zara’s sleeve with a tense expression on her face. This was around the time the last wolf was defeated. Zara was about to do as the girl said when something odd appeared. A strange, pure-white monster rose out of the snow. It looked a bit like a child wearing a snug-fitting white cloth over its entire body. Its hands, feet, eyes, mouth, nose, and more were nowhere to be found, and its entire body was trembling. More of the strange creatures rose out of the snow until there were ten in all. They surrounded the people, their bodies writhing as they moved unsteadily toward them. The three people of the mountains bellowed a command, and the entire group ran away from the faceless ghosts. A few of the monsters dove into the snow and disappeared. A moment later, the same number reemerged to block the party’s path. The mountainfolk drew their respective weapons and began attacking the faceless ghosts. No amount of cutting or slashing seemed to do any damage, however, instead only sprayed something resembling snow into the air. The warrior with the large sword slashed at a faceless ghost chasing him. This time, he succeeded in cutting off its head, and he sliced the rest of its body to pieces. It stopped moving for a bit, but then its body began to shake, and the monster quickly reconstituted itself. Before long, the ten faceless ghosts had completely surrounded the seven people. The cliff was to their backs. It was so steep that the ground below wasn’t visible. A red hole opened wide on the torso of each of the faceless ghosts. Are those…mouths? The faceless ghosts threw wide their crimson maws and began biting their prey. In no time at all, the party was covered in bloody wounds. The two adults among the plainsfolk were doing everything they could to protect the children, but because the faceless ghosts were capable of stretching their bodies, it was very difficult to completely defend against their snapping. One of the mountain men thrust his dagger into a faceless ghost’s mouth. Blue sparks began flying from the monster, and then it burst into snow and disappeared. The nine remaining faceless ghosts immediately stopped moving. They then shrunk their stretched bodies and shook violently. More sparks began racing across their incorporeal frames, and they simultaneously fired bolts of lightning at the man who had killed one of them. With a sound like a large tree snapping in two, the mountain man’s flesh was charred black, and he collapsed. Zara opened his Treasury, performed a search, and pulled out a sword. It was one with which he was especially comfortable. He put away the cane he had been using as a walking support and then retrieved and equipped a bracelet. “No! Bad if kill! Those foster child of Gahra. If kill, make Gahra mad. No! Do not go!” “Wait there.” Zara ignored his guide and ran down the slope. Before long, the other two mountainfolk were dead. The three corpses lay cold in the snow. Eight of the faceless ghosts remained. The warrior with the large sword was a man, and the sorcerer was a woman. The children were a boy and a girl. They were probably a family. The children were covered in blood, having been bitten all over by the faceless ghosts. The wounds of the woman protecting the children were even deeper. One of the creatures opened its mouth wide and tried to chomp down on the boy’s head. The man stabbed his sword into the faceless ghost’s mouth and killed it. The remaining seven stopped moving, began to shake, and simultaneously fired lightning bolts at the warrior. The man was hit with an explosive blast, sparks flying everywhere. He smelled of cooked meat, but it didn’t look like he had suffered a lethal wound. He probably had equipment to defend against magic. The cloth around his face, however, was blown off, and his hood was thrown back as well. His head was hairless and decorated in strange tattoos. There was something carved below his eyes as well. He’s a gladiator from the Gorenza Empire. Zara finally arrived on the scene, drew his sword, and set about slashing at the faceless ghosts surrounding the woman and children. However, his targets didn’t pay him any mind. One of the faceless ghosts tried to bite the gladiator, so Zara quickly thrust his sword into the monster’s mouth and killed it. The remaining six faceless ghosts fired lightning bolts at Zara. He held up the bracelet on his left hand and negated the blasts. Alestra’s Bracelet was a treasure that protected against magical attacks. The faceless ghosts fired lightning bolts at him again, but the bracelet nullified those, too. The monsters’ attention was now directed entirely at Zara. “I’ll keep them occupied. Hurry and get as far away from here as you can!” There was no guarantee that more of these foster children of Gahra, or whatever they were, wouldn’t appear. Zara could manage fighting them alone, but it would be difficult if he had to protect those four people as well. That was why he told them to run. “Sorry.” The man beckoned to the woman and children and they fled to the north. Just before their figures disappeared over the hill, Zara saw the woman give him a bow. As the travelers ran, Zara slashed continuously at the faceless ghosts, but he didn’t kill any of them. He didn’t know whether something would happen if he took out too many. The movements of the faceless ghosts were unfamiliar and strange, but they weren’t very fast. Also, because slashing them would stall them for a bit, he felt no fear fighting them. What he was afraid of was what would happen after he killed them. The faceless ghosts fired lightning bolts at him intermittently, but they didn’t do any damage, thanks to Alestra’s Bracelet. The creatures always fired their blasts simultaneously, which made them easy to handle. After Zara decided he had bought enough time, he killed the remaining faceless ghosts one by one. After the last of the foster children exploded into powder snow and vanished, he braced himself and waited to see what would happen. Nothing. He then noticed the girl was standing next to him. Her face was deathly pale. Zara cleaned off his sword, sheathed it, and smiled. “Doesn’t look like Gahra is angry with me.” But he’d spoken too soon. 13 The ground rumbled. Over time, the quaking grew more intense. Zara and the girl held each other, waiting for the shaking to stop. But there was no end to it. A clamorous noise reverberated through the mountains, sounding at once like thunder and as if something were being smashed into pieces. Something’s coming. Something impossibly huge is coming from the ravine. The presence Zara felt was enormous. An adversary with destructive potential rivaling a natural disaster was manifesting before them. Thanks to the clear weather, they could see every mountain peak in the vicinity. The shaking was causing avalanches, sending snow tumbling down the mountains. Zara shut his lips tight and observed the developing situation. On the other side of the towering cliff, the face of an enormous woman appeared. Zara and his companion were standing about six meters from the cliff. The beautiful woman’s face was just over the edge, her eyes closed. Actually, she wasn’t right in front of the cliff. Her face was actually several hundred yards away or possibly even farther than that. It only appeared to be closer because of its colossal size. It was made of snow, ice, and rock, so rather than describing it as a giant woman’s face, it would be more accurate to call it a white, icy mountain carved into the shape of a woman. If it stretched all the way up from the base of the cliff, which was so far down it wasn’t visible, then it was taller than any mountain that towered above Baldemost. The mountain with the woman’s visage continued to rise. It had long hair extending past its waist in the form of snowy white icicles. Its enormous white face was a carved glacier. The full spectacle was reminiscent of a woman wearing a white evening dress. The eyes and mouth opened rigidly, each revealing a jet-black abyss and nothing more. Her expression was twisted with hatred, pain, and sadness. This enormous ice monster assuming the form of a woman loosed a wail from its “mouth.” Ooooooooo……… Ooooooooo……… The sight of its mouth opening caused Zara’s stomach to turn. The sound of its cry echoed off the surrounding mountains. The monster screamed again. Ooooooooo……… Ooooooooo……… The area was enshrouded with black clouds, and a blizzard began raging. The monster enveloped itself in the black clouds and began to rock back and forth like a mother who had just lost a child. Ooooooooo……… Ooooooooo……… The winds blew violently, as if responding to the wails of despair. The gale assaulted Zara and the girl, carrying snow with incredible force behind it. Zara ducked, held on to the girl as tightly as he could, and tried his best to endure the blustering onslaught. After the wind passed, the girl let slip a whimper of despair, but she kept a brave face. “That daughter of Gahra. If see her, too late. All die.” The ground shook again. The quaking ramped up very quickly, to the extent that it seemed like it was trying to throw everything off the mountain. While continuing to support the girl with his right hand, Zara used his left to take off his mask and then remove his hat and earmuffs, which were both made of animal fur. He then turned toward the enraged daughter of Gahra and called out with a loud voice: “O Goddess! O Gahra! O daughter of Gahra! Please hear my words!” Zara looked ahead with his feet planted firmly in the snow, undeterred by the tremors. “I am Arza, son of Panzel! I am also known as Zara. I offer my humble greeting to the great daughter born of the gods Zara and Gahra!” Zara’s right arm was wrapped around the girl, and she watched as he addressed the divine being with a sonorous voice. “Spilling blood on your sacred ground was my crime. For that, I deeply apologize. I ask that you find it in yourself to forgive me. I drew my sword out of necessity to protect a group of humans, the beloved children of the gods. I was not making light of you or your family, nor did I see you as a god of destruction and attempt to drive you away. I beseech you. Let your rage be quelled.” Hearing Zara’s calm, authoritative voice, his companion straightened her back, focused her gaze on the divine spirit, and stood by his side as if his words and thoughts applied to her as well. The divine being fixed them both with a stare. “If you honor my plea, I will become your sword and smite your enemies. Please be calm, O great god of the mountains! Please accept my humble declaration!” Once Zara had loudly sworn his oath, he took off his right glove, bit the tip of his middle finger, and held his hand up to the sky. A stream of blood dripped down from the finger, which was picked up by the wind and inhaled by the raging deity. But the tremors did not end. The blizzard, which had calmed for a bit, gained new ferocity. Zara and the girl grabbed each other and fell to the ground, their stamina all but drained. Their total lack of visibility and their inability to move made escape impossible. They merely did their best to endure the blizzard as they were thrown around by the earthquakes. Zara had no idea how much time had passed. It seemed the blizzard and the shaking would never end. Eventually, though, the weather began to subside, and peace finally returned to the mountain. When the sky cleared, they could see stars. Night had fallen. Zara and the girl erected a tent in a mountain crevice. Zara opened his Treasury, pulled out the first pelt he found, then wrapped it around himself and lay down. This was the first time either of them had felt fear or exhaustion of this magnitude. Unaware of who reached out first, the two hugged each other close in their desperate need for solidarity. Zara knew a woman’s skin for the first time. It was a new experience for the girl as well. He was aroused by her scent, and after getting swept up in the flames of passion, the two made love. After joining multiple times, a single thought weighed on Zara’s mind before he fell into a deep sleep. I wonder if that family is safe… 14 When Zara awoke in the morning, he was shocked by how refreshed he felt. Even the cut on his finger had healed completely. He took out his adventurer medal and ran a finger over it. Normally, you needed the merchant skill Appraisal to scan an adventurer medal, but you could check the status of your own with a simple touch. He had become level 68. He’d gone up three levels. Those foster children of Gahra, or whatever they were, must have given him a lot of experience. But he wasn’t sure when the level-up had occurred. In dungeons, level-ups happened after a battle. In the outside world, though, you could only level up if you went to a shrine and had a priest or monk with the Oath skill pray for you. He didn’t really understand what had happened, so he put the thought from his mind for the moment. 15 One week later, the two of them reached the ravine. The girl said she was going to a trading post due west of their current location. Zara considered joining her but ultimately decided to travel east through the Great Ravine as he had originally planned. There were multiple villages and a labyrinth within the ravine. The region was also home to many powerful monsters. There was a famous training hall in Aldana to the south, and Zara had planned to ask the martial artists there to train him. As they were about to part ways, the girl spoke up. “I decided my name.” “Oh really? What did you pick?” “Shariezara.” “Shariezara. That’s a nice name.” “You think so?” “Yes, I do.” The girl grinned wide. Zara thought he would never forget her smile. He said his good-byes and headed east, occasionally turning around and waving. The girl spent a long time watching him go. Shariezara. In the language of the mountainfolk, the name meant “the one who waits for Zara.”