Episode 22
#22. northern spring (3)
Even the particularly harsh and long northern winter has an end..
Although it is still bitterly cold from evening to morning, from noon when the sun shines, it is okay for northerners only to take off their fur coats for a while..
Spring has begun in the North.
“……here?”
Feeling the smell of early spring and the warm sunlight seeping through the window..
Enjoying the soft feel of the bed and blanket for not knowing how long it has been since then.
At the same time, I frowned due to the discomfort of not having washed for quite a while..
Just like that, Arina Rune Lancelet opened her eyes..
“……!”
Arina got up and looked around..
The scene in his room, which he had missed so much in the magic world, was unfolding..
It's probably not a dream?
Arina pinched her cheek without realizing it..
‘Now that I think about it, I… … . at the end……?’
Then, I recalled the memories right before I lost consciousness..
-North! I hate this whole fucking North!
When I remembered Doyle's betrayal, my expression hardened..
-Then, how about welcoming me with a state letter??
-Because you are so beautiful?
When I remembered the conversation I had with Arad, my stiff expression softened and my face turned red..
“Are you awake??”
At that time, I heard a warm voice from the corner of the bedroom..
“…….”
Arina looked in the direction where the voice came from and pursed her lips as if she didn't like it..
“Is it really necessary to hide your popularity like that??”
“Hohohohoho! It's a habit, girl..”
A woman with a wrinkled face and a slouchy figure, wearing a woman's tunic who would have been mistaken by strangers for an ordinary old woman in the neighborhood, smiled softly and approached Arina..
“grandma…….”
“Yes yes my lady.”
“It was so hard this time.”
Arina buried her face in the arms of Isabelle, the Great Witch of Spring, as if she was being pampered..
If the knights and officials who had always respected Arina had seen it, it would have been a sight that would have left them in shock..
“is it so. Thank you for your hard work..”
Arina's biological mother, Grand Duchess Lancelet, passed away when Arina was toddling. For this reason, she was raised under the care of the witch Isabelle..
No matter how much her biological father, Baikal Rune Rensleyt, cared for his daughter, he was always busy with official affairs and invasions by foreign enemies..
For Arina, the Great Witch of Spring was also her nanny, tutor, and head maid..
“Are you feeling okay??”
Isabelle looked at Arina closely again and asked..
No matter how carefully she examines her body, she knows her own body best..
“very good. It's refreshing. I want to take a shower more quickly..”
“I told the maids to prepare warm bath water..”
“And there is someone I need to meet and repay..”
“Arad Jin, that's right.?”
“okay. To him I and the whole North owe a great debt..”
Arina said, trying to ignore the conversation she had with Arad before losing consciousness..
“Arad Jin is doing well in High Castle now. It was especially popular with witches..”
“To witches?”
“yes. He is the developer of the famous Arad salt..”
“He is the benefactor of the North. I hope the witches don't bother me too much.”
“Of course. I already paid close attention to you..”
“Did the witches listen to the old woman??”
“I don't listen well?”
“By the way, are you okay? Arad is also a wizard. Wouldn't it be bad if you just hang out and end up violating the witches' restrictions??”
“Since you're not a kid, you'll take care of everything.?”
“…….”
“If you're really worried, I'll take a quick shower and eat, then meet you..”
After saying that, Isabelle took a deep breath for a moment and continued speaking..
“By the way, Your Highness.”
“huh?”
“The bottom line is empty due to this injury. Miraculously, his life was saved and his Danjeon was healed... … . Instead, you will have to learn the sword from the beginning..”
“……embrace.”
As soon as I woke up, I felt both refreshed and empty at the same time..
I was sad that the core of Danjeon I had collected all my life was gone, but I did not despair..
Because I am still young, my mind and body still vividly remember the sword..
I didn't think it would be a task to get my old skills back..
“Or, there is another way..”
Then suddenly, Isabelle made a suggestion to the Archduke in a rather serious tone..
“another way?”
“It's about learning magic, not the sword..”
“……?”
Arina's eyebrows rose significantly at Isabelle's words..
“Your Majesty, this is the time to learn magic, not swords. Coincidentally, there were two circles in my heart..”
A sudden proposal from Isabelle, the Great Witch of Spring..
“In my heart... … ? The circle?!”
Arina hurriedly examined her heart..
“Perhaps, when the Danjeon was destroyed, some of the core in the Danjeon was transferred to the heart..”
Arina felt two unfamiliar energies in her heart and asked for confirmation..
“Tell me to learn magic?”
In response to Arina's question, Isabelle nodded slowly and said.
“Of course, the decision is yours to make..”
“Learning both magic and swords is…….”
“Even if His Highness has reached the level of the youngest sword master, it is unlikely that both of them will achieve great success. My body can't take it..”
It's magic... … . Arina recalled the events that happened in the Demonic Palace this time..
If he had learned magic instead of a sword, he wouldn't have gone through such trouble..
‘There are enough knight forces in the north. On the other hand, magic is very lacking..’
She felt like this was a revelation..
Arina's mouth was shaking..
Then suddenly,
-Arina, my beloved daughter. Lancelet's pride. You are a genius that comes along once in a thousand years..
A voice appeared in Arina's head..
-You will be able to reach the tip of the sword. To the next level of Sword Master, the legendary Grand Sword Master..
A voice I love so much but miss and can no longer hear..
-I want to see you reach that level..
What her father said when she was alive has now become Arina's advice..
“…….”
She was silent for a moment and then shook her head..
He fiddled with his rough, calloused hands and eventually opened his mouth..
“no. I will continue to walk the path of the sword.”
Arina's words of determination.
“…….”
Isabelle gazed at her young master..
“Of course, I thought you would answer that way..”
I immediately answered with a big smile..
“I knew?”
“Yes, this concludes the mental and memory tests..”
“……?”
“When it comes to magic, let's learn just a few simple everyday magic that are suitable for Circle 2. It's pretty fun and useful.”
Arina, seeing Isabelle like that, narrowed her eyes and asked.
“What would you do if I said I would walk the magic path??”
“Umm… … . I will use everything I have to cast a mental transformation spell.……?”
“Let's stop looking into it.”
Arina said that and looked at Isabelle..
“Why are you doing that??”
Isabelle smiles and tilts her head at her lord’s gaze..
“I smell blood. There is blood on the bottom of the skirt too..”
It was a color and smell that did not suit the great witch of spring, who was always filled with the smell of grass and dirt..
“There was a purge.”
Arina said with heavily sunken eyes..
“yes…….”
Isabelle nodded with deep eyes at Arina's words..
“The rats gave birth to more babies than expected.?”
“It seemed like it.”
“I didn't even know that other gaps had opened up because I had only been focusing on Haven, which was full of imperial adventurers..”
“It was a great price to pay for being careless. It was really dangerous.”
“I heard about Doyle from Lord Balzac. This is my fault for managing Frostmourne. please punish me.”
“Pay for your sins by exterminating the empire's rats..”
“……All right.”
Arina stood up after conveying her intention to leave the purge-related matters to Isabelle..
Perhaps because I had just woken up after lying down for a long time, my legs felt weak and I stumbled for a moment..
“By the way, Your Highness.”
Isabelle asked while supporting Arina..
“Tell me, grandma.”
“Are you familiar with a man named Arad Jin??”
“……I don't know his exact identity either..”
“Right? It's so suspicious…….”
“But he saved me and the North. I won't allow any nonsense about him, ever..”
Arina's strong faith in Arad Jin.
“……!”
Isabelle sees this and looks at her in surprise..
“and… … . There is some speculation about Arad Jin's identity..”
Arina looked away from Isabelle and continued speaking in a cautious tone..
“Please tell me.”
Isabelle's eyes lit up as she helped Arina and headed to the bathroom..
“Hmmm!”
Arina cleared her throat and looked around..
Perhaps due to the aftermath of the Great Purge, no one was seen on the way to the bathroom..
No servants, no maids, no servants and maids doing chores..
“Arad Jin... … . maybe…….”
Arina put her mouth as close as possible to the ear of one of the few people in the world she could trust and spoke softly..
“must be ancient.”
“yes……?”
“There are many dungeons in the Demonic World created during the ancient Golden Age. He's probably a golden age wizard who was sealed in that dungeon and then awakened..”
“……?”
The ancient Golden Age was a civilization that existed about 5,000 years ago..
However, this time, Arina experienced a barrier that warped time and space in the Demonic World..
Even now, this level of barrier is possible, but she was sure that in the golden age when magic was extremely developed, it would have been more and not less..
“uh… … . hmm…….”
“Anyway, it seems very different from the legend. He was very good and kind, unlike the magicians of the golden age described in ancient literature..”
“……?”
At her words, Isabelle had to make the most dumbfounded expression in her life..
This statement greatly deviates from the reasoning of the Witches' Council, which thought Arad's identity was simply a low-level wizard who gained skills in the dungeons of the ancient Golden Age..
“why… … . Why do you think so? Arad Jin's magic power I saw was between circle 1 and circle 2..”
“So it is..”
“yes?”
“From Arad salt to golden chariots, scorching magic arrows, and elixirs. They're not something only a 2nd circle wizard can do..”
“That's right……?”
“He must be hiding his power for some reason. Or maybe it's because he woke up from a long seal and lost a lot of his power..”
“Mmm…….”
Hehe! Arina smiled triumphantly at Isabelle's dumbfounded reaction. He seemed to think Isabelle was surprised by his guess..
‘It is a barrier and seal that twists thousands of years of time... … . It might be possible if you deploy a barrier that utilizes subspace or gravity to the extreme. but…….’
Unfortunately, Arina's words were not persuasive to Isabelle, a witch who studied magic..
‘Warping time by 5,000 years would be impossible without awakening all of the legendary dragons. As the space-time distortion gap widens, the magic power consumed becomes squared..’
Even if such technology miraculously existed in the Golden Age, it makes no sense..
‘If such technology existed in the Golden Age, countless ancient people besides Arad should have appeared on the continent by now..’
I think the Arad dragon theory is more convincing..
Of course, Isabelle did not believe in Arad's dragon theory. It was deduced that Arad, who was just a low-level wizard, discovered the Golden Age ruins by chance..
‘Mmm…….’
Isabelle wondered how to react when she saw her master so pure..
Should I just refute the guesses made by myself and the witches??
Or should I protect my lord’s innocence(?)??
‘However, it is a problem to mistake a low-level wizard for an ancient person who lived in a golden age..’
Moreover, our lady is the monarch of the North! There should be no mistakes or errors in judgment..
“majesty…….”
In the end, Isabelle tried to tell Arina that her master's guess was wrong..
“But grandma… … . I have a question.”
“yes?”
Until Arina’s next words.
“Ugh… … . I'm really curious about this, but... … . Is it possible for a child to be born between a person from the ancient Golden Age and today's humanity??”
“?!”
Arina's face as she asked the question was full of embarrassment and blushing..
Even Isabelle, who has been watching her since she was a baby, is seeing her face for the first time..
“Well, it’s possible, right? Humanity in the golden age and humanity today are the same humanity..”
“Yeah, I see.!”
“Besides, you're from the North, right? You know that northerners have the same roots as barbarian druids.?”
“embrace.”
“The distant ancestors of the barbarian druids who first settled in this land are the ancient people of the Golden Age. He was called a naturalist..”
“I think I heard it from my father when I was young. anyway… … . It doesn't matter. thank god.”
“?!”
‘What is this reaction?! no way……!’
Isabelle screamed inwardly at the sight of her lord, who was clearly looking flawless..
‘Spring has finally come to our lady too.!’
Her mind spun rapidly..
The background of being an ancient person who jumped over 5,000 years of time seems more attractive than a low-level wizard who was lucky enough to discover ancient ruins..
‘Let's watch a little more first.!’
So Isabelle decided to leave it alone..
It seems like spring has just arrived for the Northern Grand Duchess as well as the North..
The truth is, I thought that once their relationship became closer, it wouldn't be too late to tell them then..
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