Chapter 237 : Chapter 237
Chapter 237
The Drako Great Mountain Range was the border between the West and the Empire.
Quite simply, the east of the great mountain range was the Cordis Empire, and the west was called the West.
This mountain range, incomparably high, vast, and more dangerous than any fortress wall, had split the continent for over a thousand years, separating the West and the Empire.
There wasn't a single place in the great mountain range that wasn't treacherous.
Across the entire length of the great mountain range, long enough to divide the continent, there were only three paths wide enough for a carriage to pass.
Those three had gates and were called Throat, Waist, and Tailbone.
It was said they were named because the Drako Great Mountain Range resembled a dragon when seen from the sky, and the three gates were located near the dragon's throat, waist, and tailbone, respectively. Though who exactly saw it from above was unknown.
Steep slopes, dense vegetation that permitted no human approach, and swarming magical beasts.
It was a distance that would take even a skilled hunter at least a month if they hurried, but even that was impossible as they would inevitably encounter magical beasts.
The great mountain range was this dangerous, but Secundus and Nana were exceptions.
One was the former Nine Streams General, and the other was the Three-Mi Grand General.
They were more dangerous than any danger in the Drako Great Mountain Range.
Secundus and Nana climbed the mountain.
They slipped away at night, avoiding the eyes of the soldiers.
They had also minimized their gear.
Secundus was dressed as if going hunting, and Nana wore thin cloth clothes, as if she were going bathing.
They ran lightly in their light attire.
As they climbed the mountain, they soon encountered a steep cliff.
Looking up at the sheer rock cliff, Secundus glanced sideways.
“It's steep. Will you be alright?”
“Who are you asking?”
Nana scoffed, finding it absurd. She was Nana Nereyades.
If she put her mind to it, she was so swift she could run on water without sinking.
Nana wrinkled her nose and leaped three times.
Just like that, she was at the top of the cliff.
“It seems I spoke unnecessarily.”
Secundus laughed heartily and stepped forward.
His large build meant he carried a lot of weight.
Instead of hopping lightly like Nana, he powerfully kicked off the cliff and walked.
He plunged his ankles into the rock as he walked, so there was no reason to fall.
Secundus ran vertically up the rock cliff and scratched his head.
“Hmm. The wound was deep, so I wondered.”
“It's already all healed, Grand General.”
Nana swept her hair back.
A severe burn remained on her right face.
It was because of Shion's ‘Soul Fire’ and ‘The Heated Iron Bloodline’. Secundus felt a sense of beauty looking at Nana, who had lost half of her fair face yet conversely looked more valiant.
“Brother Ferbias is truly fortunate. To have so many good people around him.”
Words like, despite that personality of his, he managed to hold back.
No matter what, he was the Emperor.
No matter how much Secundus disliked Ferbias, he tried to observe his duty as a subject.
Nana quickly ran up the mountain and spoke.
“Don't you also have many good people by your side, Grand General?”
“But they're all men.”
Secundus Debius said bluntly.
No, it was something to be thankful for.
The men who trusted and followed him lacked nothing.
Looking at them, he felt reassured and deeply grateful.
But sometimes, he felt like he would suffocate from the smell of sweat.
“Right, the Grand General hasn't had his marriage yet. Your age is….”
“Twenty-nine.”
“…Pardon?”
Nana turned her head in surprise.
This enormous build, the short hair, the skin hardened by the harsh sun…. With a little exaggeration, one might believe he was forty.
Nana inadvertently gave him a rude look, and Secundus immediately frowned.
“Even so, looking at me like that hurts my feelings.”
“…Oh, I'm sorry, Grand General.”
“It's fine.”
“…You, you'll find a good match. You just missed the timing, traveling from one battlefield to another….”
“I know that much.”
Secundus's voice was still blunt.
He wasn't truly offended; there was a slight hint of playfulness mixed in.
“In truth, there are many marriage proposals. But I'm going to keep living on the battlefield, no, I'll be living there even more. Thinking of that, I felt sorry, so I couldn't easily get married.”
“…That, I can empathize greatly.”
Nana chuckled.
She, too, was one of the Ten Great Generals of the Empire.
Unlike her small, girlish appearance, she wasn't young either.
But since she had only been fighting all this time, she couldn't even dream of marriage.
As Secundus said, she probably wouldn't be able to dream of it in the future, either.
They didn't stop their feet even while talking.
They leaped over the trees of the treacherous great mountain range with ease.
“Then what kind of woman would you like to marry, Grand General?”
“Hmm. I'd prefer if she weren't too young. And I'd prefer if she weren't too delicate, either.”
I break delicate things too easily. Secundus grumbled.
“And honestly, I always want to spend time with my family. Going to war and seeing their faces once every few years, I really hate that.”
“You could just go around the battlefields together, couldn't you?”
“Hey, Legion Commander Nana. Where in the world is there a woman like that?”
“You're right, I suppose?”
Nana giggled playfully, and Secundus Debius waved his hand.
A woman who wasn't too delicate, not too young, and would also accompany him on battlefields, in the eyes of the Three-Mi Grand General of the Cordis Empire…….
“……Maybe there is?”
He looked at Nana.
She was the granddaughter of the Whale of Hobel Bay, and she had attained the position of one of the Ten Great Generals of the Empire in a woman's body.
“…Come to think of it, Legion Commander Nana, how old are you?”
“Me? I'm twenty-nine.”
“…Huh?”
Having unexpectedly met someone of the same age, Secundus turned his head.
“…What month were you born in?”
“The first month. And you, Grand General?”
“…The seventh month.”
“Oh my, I'm the older sister, aren't I?”
Nana smiled bashfully.
One side of her face was still severely scarred. But under the moonlight, it was beautiful once again.
Secundus Debius felt an emotion he couldn't explain.
It was a feeling he was experiencing for the first time in his life, so he was flustered.
However, the more flustered he got, the more reckless he became.
“Legion Commander Nana.”
“Yes, Grand General.”
“When we return to the capital, Lutilium, let's have a meal.”
“Are we all going to catch up together?”
“No. Just the two of us.”
Nana's eyes went wide.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon stuck out her tongue and smiled.
“It's alright if I refuse, isn't it, Grand General?”
“I thought you might.”
Secundus laughed heartily.
“Even so, isn't that a bit too quick to reject? A twenty-nine-year-old's heart is easily wounded.”
“You don't look like that at all.”
“Now you're hurting me more.”
“And why do you think you were rejected?”
“Hmm?”
The moonlight was brilliant.
It was strangely bright, allowing them to look deeply at each other's features.
Nana suddenly looked at Secundus's large build and thought of Niko Nereyades, the Whale of Hobel Bay.
So she couldn't help but smile.
“I don't think I'll be able to survive this war, Grand General.”
“That's just a feeling, Legion Commander.”
“We'll have to see to know. But if, just if, I survive….”
She spoke with a face that had become valiant from its distorted half, and thus had become even more profoundly lovely.
“…Grand General, you come to Hobel Bay. I'm sick and tired of the capital now.”
“If I go to Hobel Bay, does that mean the two of us will get to eat alone?”
“Why must you be so uncool and say it out loud?”
“Hmm!”
Secundus Debius smiled broadly.
The muscular prince added vigor to his steps, matching his improved mood.
“Alright! This damned war, I have to end it quickly!”
He shot forward like a chariot.
“I'll go on ahead, so follow me closely!”
***
Secundus Debius just ran, looking only forward.
He wouldn't be seen by people now anyway.
He never hesitated.
Whether the slope was steep, trees or rocks blocked the way, or even if a horde of magical beasts attacked, he just went his own way.
He was utterly reckless.
If he hit a rock, he smashed the rock, and if there was a cliff, he leaped right over it.
He chased away hordes of magical beasts with a single roar.
Occasionally, those that had reached the territory of a Magical Beast approached, but their heads were smashed by Secundus's punches.
The path Secundus passed over became smooth.
It was as if he had made it easier for Nana, who was still limping, to pass.
Nana ran as if swimming over the smoothed mountain path.
They ran for half a day without resting, and soon it was the west.
“We arrived quickly.”
“Are you out of breath?”
“A little.”
Secundus and Nana stopped walking and looked down.
Lights were lined up.
Tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed, surrounding the Waist Gate and outside the soldiers, a moving group of people could be seen.
It was a horde of refugees.
Secundus frowned.
He was reminded of the Horm conquest.
“…Places where people live are all the same, after all.”
War drives out daily life.
In other words, it meant that Secundus Debius had turned them into refugees.
He felt a familiar guilt.
“It was like this during Horm, too….”
“Oh. I didn't have the chance to say it in the confusion. You achieved a great feat in the conquest, Grand General.”
“Don't say such things.”
Secundus hardened his face.
“How is chasing out people who are living well something to be praised for?”
But this is my job, so I continue. Secundus muttered.
He was truly a man unbecoming of his age.
When he talked about having a meal together, he seemed like he was fifteen, but now he looked as if he was sixty.
“…Legion Commander Nana. You used to be in the Intelligence Bureau.”
“That's right.”
“That's why I brought you. If I go down there, I'll definitely draw attention, won't I.”
Secundus was a man far from quiet.
Because his build was so large and he was so strong, he was loud even with the slightest movement.
He plucked out a giant tree by its roots, then struck it with the blade of his hand, chopping it into pieces.
Piling them up created something resembling a makeshift chair.
“I'll wait here, so could you go over there in my stead.”
He fumbled through his old memories.
Memories from 7 years ago. Blond hair, blue eyes, a tongue that spouted lies, and yet, seemed to be in pain himself… his half-brother.
“Shion of Merion… Find that man and bring him here.”
“…Him? Shion of Merion is the one who put my face in this state. He's not someone I can just bring over because I want to.”
“Use my name. Tell him the Second Prince, Secundus Debius, has come, and that I'd like to have a brief chat. He'll follow you out.”
“……”
Nana could not easily agree.
There were too many unsettling factors in summoning the enemy commander from the heart of the enemy camp.
Questions also arose.
Did Secundus and Shion of Merion already know each other?
Secundus was in Horm on the eastern side of the Empire, and Shion of Merion was a hero of the West.
What connection could there be?
“If he refuses, you can return immediately. If you're attacked, send a signal. I'm confident I can get you back alive, at least.”
“…If it's an order, I will obey, Grand General.”
“It's not an order.”
Secundus smiled.
“It's a request, Legion Commander Nana. Will you do that for me?”
“…Alright. I'll go.”
Nana leaped.
She quickly melted into the darkness.
Secundus watched the spot where Nana disappeared and scratched his chin.
“…I should have brought some pumpkin pie.”