Chapter 128
Chapter 128. Snorheim
“Ah, before that, tell me about this village first. Were there humans living in the Arctic, too?”
“Snorheim is a village that has existed since a very long time ago. If you ask the elders, they say their origins come from a ‘completely frozen tundra’ in the north. They say their ancestors, the giants, lived there.”
“To the far north, then.”
It might even be the northernmost point of the Arctic. An extreme place where no living creature could survive.
“But giants?”
“Yes. You saw how tall the Northerners are, right?”
The men who had surrounded and threatened Yul earlier, the women living here, and even the children—every one of them was tall.
Marchand himself was just as tall and large as the Northerners, and he said his child—whom Yul had assumed was five years old—was actually only three.
“Since they are this big, everyone believes they have inherited the blood of giants. They say the tribes living further north are much taller than these people, so it might actually be true.”
“They live further north than here?”
“There used to be a city called Yungdheim north of Snorheim. After that city fell, everyone scattered and became northern hunters.”
“Interesting. Why did it fall?”
“They say a mythical being appeared along with a massive cold wave. It’s called the ‘Stag of Endless Branches.’ In their language, they call it 「Skelkil」. Because of that creature, the city collapsed and completely froze over.”
Around then, Marchand’s wife appeared and silently handed over a bowl of warm soup filled with meat. It seemed she had been boiling it this whole time.
Marchand lifted it with one hand like a bowl of makgeolli and drank before continuing.
“They say they are guardians now, protecting beyond the forbidden rune pillars. I heard some of them were even hired by a mysterious being called the Northern Grand Duke Norspelskard, but that’s hard to believe.”
“What’s a rune pillar?”
“A gigantic structure north of the village. It’s a stone pillar twice as large as the main mast of Le Céleste, and a symbol marking a taboo.”
He said the pillar was densely carved from top to bottom with rune letters written in blood, along with a warning not to go further north.
“After Yungdheim fell, everyone calls the northern lands beyond that stone pillar ‘Sacred Land,’ so people are reluctant to go there. I’ve only seen as far as that point myself.”
Yul picked up the meat soup in front of him to drink, but noticed a child staring at him with bright, wide eyes. After taking a sip, he handed the bowl to the child.
The child drank it as if it were delicious.
“It seems like meat soup, but there’s quite a lot of fat. Not bad.”
“It’s called Toryol, a staple often eaten in Snorheim. I had to get used to it when I first drank it. Now I eat it even better than the food from my homeland.”
“Shall we start talking about the Penguin Kingdom? What happened over there?”
“It was absolute chaos. There’s a peddler who comes from there every time, and when that enormous tidal wave came……”
Marchand waved his hands.
“The Heaven and Earth Resonance?”
“That’s what people call it these days? The northerners call it the ‘Wrath of the Sea God.’”
“People on the continent call it the ‘Great Catastrophe.’”
“Oh. Now I’m curious too. What happened to our homeland?”
“Frangia survived since its scale was large to begin with, though the coastline changed a little. Aragon was the same. Britain wasn’t affected at all. Thanks to the sacrifice of the Archmage… Ian Beltaine.”
“Sir Ian Beltaine? The one who lives in that lighthouse?”
“Ah, Marchand, you also met Ian once.”
Marchand had likely encountered Ian while transporting Yul’s Krelsite spear.
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Yes. Anyway, the Sun King died back then, and his son Lui ascended the throne. They call him the Victory King.”
“That’s a splendid epithet. Surely, as his son, he must be a brave prince.”
“…?”
Would he believe it if Yul said he was about as lazy a ruler as Liu Shan, the son of Liu Bei, from the Records of the Three Kingdoms?
“Ah, anyway. Ahem. Over there, the sea invaded the land and caused complete chaos. Especially since their two leaders disappeared.”
The Penguin Kingdom apparently took the full force of the Heaven and Earth Resonance. Enormous masses of water surged backward endlessly, and some places were completely submerged.
“The water must have receded by now, but the disappearance of their leaders was a huge blow. The ‘Furnace of Eternal Flame’ is also currently shut down.”
“Is that so? I already know the leaders disappeared.”
Yul recalled the Penguin King and mage, ‘Adol,’ whom he had seen during the Ascension. He had ascended toward the moon along with his rival, the Mage King ‘Kroken.’
“The furnace was a mechanism maintained by the power of the Mage King. It poured out enormous quantities of metal. It also constantly maintained the city’s temperature. Without it, the Penguin Kingdom simply ceased to exist.”
“Hm? The kingdom disappeared?”
“Yes. There were attempts to rebuild the kingdom, but they all failed. The powerful central figure who held them together, the king, was gone.”
“Then what about the penguins now?”
“They’ve split into tribal groups or small factions and returned to how they used to live. Like in the days before the Mage King.”
In the end, the Mage King had effectively abandoned the kingdom by ascending along the path of the Heaven and Earth Resonance.
“Hm.”
A place without war, but also without a kingdom. That put Yul in a slightly difficult position.
“I was planning to resume trade with the penguins, but that’s become difficult.”
He had intended to restore the northern route by trading with the penguins again, but if the kingdom was gone, he had no idea how trade could even be arranged.
“Then how about trading with Snorheim?”
“Hm?”
“There are about five hundred people living in this Northern village. There’s abundant game nearby. Our main product is leather.”
“Leather makes money.”
To a modern person, it might sound strange that leather could be valuable, but in a world without synthetic fibers made from petroleum, the demand for leather was enormous.
“Magic stones have become quite abundant since the sea flooded onto the land, so there’s no shortage of them in the north.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
The sea in this world contained dissolved magical power. Just as magic stones had overflowed in the east, perhaps the Arctic had also become filled with them.
“Instead, other things are needed. Businesses that require industrial capacity.”
“Hm. I suppose I should discuss that with the captain.”
“When you say captain……”
“It’s Ian Beltaine’s son, Lucian Beltaine.”
Yul briefly summarized what had happened so far.
“What? The son of that lighthouse mage became a captain and is traveling with you, Lord Yul?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s quite an unusual connection. Wait, this means there’s quite a lot to discuss. I should share this with the village chief as well. In any case, how about staying here for a few days? You can stay at our house.”
“Sure.”
“And contacting the new captain……”
“I already did. He’ll arrive soon.”
“Understood.”
Yul planned to stay in the village for a while before heading further north. The idea of a place even further north than this had piqued his interest.
Then he noticed the little boy who kept staring at him with bright eyes even after his father stepped outside.
“What’s your name?”
“Hakor. Hakor Thibautson.”
“Your name, hm.”
Thibaut was not Marchand’s surname but his first name. He felt that it followed the Northern style of including the father's name.
“……”
“……”
What was it again? How were you supposed to play with kids?
Yul searched his memories. The closest, most recent memory of being around a child this age was from the time with Endaira.
Even then, he hadn’t really played with the child—Endaira had simply stayed beside him. There had never been a situation where it was just the two of them like this.
“……”
“Want me to give you an airplane ride?”
“…?”
* * *
Marchand negotiated directly with the village chief.
The chief already knew Marchand’s talents, since he had settled in this village ten years ago, and after speaking with him, he was persuaded.
For one thing, Marchand understood commerce well, and maintaining a village in the Arctic was no easy task.
Especially for a “large-scale” village of five hundred people.
“It’s been quite a long time since Yungdheim collapsed, and this village became the largest one.”
The village had grown crowded with five hundred people after Yungdheim fell. When the people living there scattered, some of them had moved south as well.
“Even if there’s plenty of game here, that won’t remain the case forever, will it? If we trade with the humans who came from the south, it will surely benefit us.”
They would be able to import food and obtain industrial goods. Ever since the Penguin Kingdom collapsed, even metal weapons had become difficult to acquire.
“Father-in-law, we might not get another chance like this.”
“Hm.”
The chief glanced at his daughter standing beside Marchand with her arms crossed.
His daughter had been unable to speak since birth, so she usually conveyed her intentions through expressions and gestures.
A furrowed brow and a motion of her hand. That probably meant she was telling him to accept his son-in-law’s proposal. The chief, with a solemn expression, swept his gaze over the nearby elders and spoke.
“First, we should see who this trading partner is. We should see his face.”
“He should be nearby.”
“Chief! We’ve encountered a suspicious man outside. They say conversation isn’t working. He’s also wearing clothes we’ve never seen before.”
“Ah. That must be him.”
“Bring him in.”
Before long, the chief saw the man appear together with several hunters.
Lucian arrived wearing a splendid Britain captain’s uniform, accompanied by a few attendants.
“Greetings. I am Lucian Beltaine, a trade captain of the Kingdom of Britain.”
Since Marchand could speak Britain, he understood the introduction and translated it.
Lucian had already heard about this in advance from Yul, but he was still a little nervous.
He had never imagined that humans lived this far north, and the fact that communication was possible was astonishing.
Hearing about it and seeing it in person were completely different things. The sheer size and muscles of the chief and the other Northerners gave off quite an intimidating presence.
“He says welcome to Snorheim. I am Thibaut Marchand. I will serve as the interpreter.”
“Is that so? Nice to meet you, Marchand.”
They exchanged a light handshake and began their discussion. To carry out the first trade, they checked what each side had to exchange.
“Metal? It’s Britain-made black steel.”
“Yes. We also have clocks.”
“Oh.”
They exchanged some food supplies, and in Snorheim, they replenished things like meat and leather. They also examined Snorheim’s local specialties.
“Mammoth ivory? This could fetch quite a price.”
“…Are you interested?”
Marchand and Lucian chatted back and forth before finishing the trade on a satisfying note.
If this trust continued, they would likely be able to trade again in the future.
Lucian had thought they had arrived in a place where nothing existed, but he was glad they had found humans.
“Lord Yul is staying at our house. Would you like to meet him there?”
“Sure. I have things to discuss with him anyway.”
Lucian already knew about Yul’s plan to go further north. He intended to talk with him about whether he would join him or not.
“Bwaaaang!”
At the sound coming from Marchand’s house, Lucian and Marchand looked at each other.
When they opened the door, they saw Yul playing with Hakor by floating him in the air with telekinesis.
“It’s a Stuka dive-bomb!!”
“Kyaahahahaha!”