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Chapter 98

"I assure you, Karha doesn\'t care about such things. Even if we left it behind, it would be fine."

Urd\'s mouth opened and closed without words, his expression one of consternation. The new Northern Great Warrior was bold, perhaps too bold.

Ian, nonchalantly walking toward the door, added, "I\'m washing my hands off of this now, you handle the rest."

"...Understood." Urd nodded without holding him back any further.

***

"Not bad," Ian muttered as he climbed onto the wagon.

The watching villagers exchanged glances and nodded.

Urd smiled. "I\'m glad it meets your standard."

The wagon prepared for Ian and his group was a product of the few craftsmen in the village putting their all into it. It had walls and a roof to block the wind, small windows, and the interior was laid with animal skins and spacious seats, making it a sturdy wagon fit for a Great Warrior. Moreover, they had attached two of the healthiest and strongest horses.

The horses were small in stature but robust, with thick legs and full manes, as expected of a Northern breed.

"You said you\'re heading to Travelga," Askel asked, standing next to Urd.

Ian nodded. "Yes. A commander I know should be there by now. I\'ll let him know you\'re coming. It should make passing through the gate easier."

Ian looked back at Urd and added, "If we pass through the barbarian settlements, I\'ll mention it there too."

"We\'re very grateful."

"It\'s the least I can do for the wagon and horses. Beyond that, I won\'t meddle, so handle things yourselves."

"We\'ll prepare as quickly as we can. It looks like a blizzard might be brewing soon." At Urd\'s words, Ian\'s brows slightly furrowed.

"A blizzard?"

"The warriors who went hunting told us. The clouds beyond the mountains look ominous. Usually, it ends at the mountains or just hits nearby, but last year, the storm clouds came right up to the village. So, it might be worse this year."

"Hmm..." Ian nodded thoughtfully and turned to Urd. "You\'d better hurry. You never know what might happen while you\'re stuck here."

Sensing the ominous tone in his eyes, Urd nodded. "Understood."

Ian looked at Charlotte as if he had said all he had to say. Charlotte, as if waiting, cracked the reins.

"We\'ll see you in Travelga, Great Warrior," Askel said.

Thesaya waved to the villagers.

Ian smirked without turning his head. "Sure. If I\'m still there by then."

The wagon moved away.

Askel, still watching the wagon, suddenly spoke up. "Can you believe it, old man? These foreigners, in just a few days, saved our entire village."

Urd placed his lone hand on his grandson’s head.

"That’s why he’s a Great Warrior. Great warriors do effortlessly what others deem impossible."

Facing an adversary like destiny, one that could not be overcome.

Urd swallowed the rest of his words and turned to hurry the preparations for the relocation, troubled by the last look Ian had given them. But his steps soon halted.

"..."

His eyes met those of a large man standing behind the villagers. A gaunt face with missing teeth and eyes dimmed by lost pride. It was Valeri, the village\'s former Great Warrior.

"Old man... I... just..." Valeri mumbled with a slurred speech.

Urd stepped closer, placing his arm, which ended in a wrist, on Valeri\'s shoulder.

"Ambition is a warrior’s privilege. Don\'t make excuses for the past. A young warrior like you should look forward, not back."

"...!" Valeri looked back at Urd.

The old warrior added gruffly, "You seem to be healed enough, so stop dwelling on thoughts and put your strength to use. We need to build a wagon sturdy enough to carry the statue."

***

Ian, leaning back in his seat on the winding forest path that finally emerged onto a main road, was lost in thought. Two particular thoughts floated through his mind: the barbarian village and high-level magic.

Since leveling up, he hadn\'t allocated a single skill point, indecisive about which attribute of high-level magic to learn first. In fact, there wasn\'t any high-level magic immediately available to him. To master high-level magic, he needed to unlock all the prerequisite spells in the skill tree.

In the game, Ian Hope had been a character capable of learning high-level magic but had only managed mid-level spells. Since becoming the real deal, while he had managed to learn a few higher-level spells with additional skill points, he still hadn\'t reached the high-level magics.

I might have to use all my skill points just to learn one...

It was then Ian snapped out of his reverie.

"Everywhere we go, something interesting happens." Thesaya, fiddling with a broad leather strap, made an offhand comment.

It was a gentle jab at the chaos that typically followed their group.

Ian scoffed quietly, and Charlotte\'s sarcastic comment followed. "That would be right. You just watched, after all."

"I said interesting things happened, not that I found them interesting. Idiot," Thesaya retorted with a frown. "I want to roam around freely too. Honestly, you had the most fun in that last village."

"I won\'t deny it. It\'s always easier hanging around warriors."

"I\'ll be joining in more often now that I have this." Thesaya lifted the strap she\'d been playing with.

Charlotte turned around, her eyes narrowing.

"I saw Askel give that to you, but what unnecessary idea are you planning now?"

"Oh, are you losing your memory now, beast?" Thesaya taunted, flipping the strap over her face to cover his eyes. Her ash-colored hair seemed to move on its own, draping over it. She then turned deliberately toward Ian.

"With this, no one will know I\'m a vampire."

"...Are you serious? You\'re actually going to walk around with your eyes covered?" Charlotte asked incredulously.

Ian also frowned slightly, looking down at Thesaya wearing the makeshift blindfold. Thesaya shrugged nonchalantly.

"Of course. I can sense my surroundings even without seeing them. Especially at night."

"How?" Ian blurted out.

Thesaya lifted his hair to reveal pointed ears.

"Through sounds and smells."

"..."

Her confident demeanor suggested she wasn\'t just boasting.

Was this a trait of fairies or vampires?

After a moment, Ian shrugged it off. It hardly mattered.

"Travelga is our destination, right? Will interesting things happen there too, Ian?" Thesaya added.

Ian leaned his chin on his hand and replied. "We\'ll see when we get there. Maybe..."

He glanced down at Thesaya again.

"We might not stay for long and rather head down to Lu Sard instead."

"...!" Thesaya froze momentarily, her expression like someone who had been abruptly awakened from a sweet dream.

"Lu, Lu Sard...?" Thesaya managed to repeat.

Ian nodded. "Yeah. If things go as I expect them to."

"What do you expect?"

"..."

Instead of answering, Ian turned his gaze back to the scenery outside the wagon. In the game, the North suffered substantial damage from waves of undead pouring over the mountains. The effort to repair that damage led to an incident with the Black Wall, resulting in the collapse of the border regions. But now, with Ian having killed the Queen sleeping in the underground palace, perhaps the invasion from the mountains might never happen.

The future was uncertain for someone who had always made the worst choices in the game. However, considering he had changed several tragic stories in the game, it wasn\'t impossible to hope for a different outcome. Even the barbarian village, which in the game had been overrun by specters leading to its annihilation, was now safe.

If things turn out that way... there won\'t be much to see in the North for a while.

"Do we really need to go straight to Lu Sard?" Thesaya suddenly spoke up, clearly having done some thinking of her own.

Her eyes remained covered, obscuring her gaze.

“The adjudicators will keep chasing me, so wouldn\'t it be much easier to deal with the ones who come looking one by one? That place is a den of vampires.”

"Right. For now, that could be a feasible approach," Ian agreed, nodding his head.

"However, they won\'t send adjudicators forever. The cost is too high."

Ian recalled a fleeting monster he had lost in his battle against Ascold. It was likely meant to communicate what had happened to Ascold to the vampire clans. Although Ian\'s fireball might have partly damaged it, it was unclear how much had survived.

"They might already know that you and Charlotte are with me, and they would have prepared accordingly."

"What kind of preparations are you talking about?"

"Well..."

Ian merely flicked his fingers against his chin, a sign he had several thoughts but chose not to share them. Thesaya bit her lip, frustrated. Indeed, while the enemies knew quite a bit about her, she knew very little about them.

"I don\'t understand the hesitation," Charlotte scoffed disdainfully.

"It\'s your mission, your revenge, coward. If what you say is true, we must inevitably go to Lu Sard eventually. It’s just a matter of whether that moment is sooner or delayed."

"...For once, you’re right, puss." Thesaya lifted her head after speaking, her resolve firming.

"Not running away is tough, Ian. But I\'ll try. It was I who asked for this, after all. I shouldn’t have spoken lightly."

"I understand," Ian smirked.

"My point is merely hypothetical. There\'s nothing certain yet."

"There\'s one more certainty now."

"...?"

"I\'ll never truly know what you\'re thinking, Ian."

That was inevitable. You would never know this world was originally a game. Nor that I was the protagonist who had played through it.

Ian swallowed a bitter smile and finally spoke.

"I was wondering if you could still fight with that blindfold."

"...!"

"We’ll see tonight. You\'ve been lounging around while Charlotte and I did the heavy lifting, so you owe us some work."

"..."

***

Indeed, Thesaya could fight remarkably well, even blindfolded. During their journey southward, nightly attacks by ferocious, starving monsters became routine. Handling these creatures fell to Thesaya and Charlotte since Ian, realizing these foes yielded no experience points, didn’t bother joining the fray. Charlotte had no complaints.

"My body won’t get rusty, at least. Good."

Surprisingly, Thesaya felt the same, especially since Ian allowed her to feed on the monsters’ blood. Suffering from chronic thirst, she relished the chance to quench it by battling to her heart’s content.

"Still, none of these creatures taste special. Just wildly ferocious without any substance."

"Ferocity from starvation isn’t surprising."

On the third night after another battle, Charlotte sat by the campfire and reflected.

"I can’t tell the difference between those that charge at us and those that just pass by."

"The ones that just pass by...?" Ian asked while chewing on some jerky.

Charlotte nodded. "Some don’t even acknowledge us and keep moving. I only really noticed today."

"I felt that too. Just walking ones," Thesaya chimed in.

Ian looked into the darkness beyond. "Do you feel any of those around now?"

"I did earlier, but not now. They couldn’t have gone far. Need them?" Charlotte asked eagerly, her eyes shining.

There have always been those that didn’t approach us...

Ian shook his head after a moment\'s thought.

"No. If you\'re right, there will be more tomorrow. We’ll ask them then."

However, the next night presented an entirely different scenario.

"Stay close to the wagon!"

"Keep the formation tight! They’re coming!"

Another group loomed beyond the main road. The attack by monsters had commenced. Flickering torches and wagons surrounded by a rushing wave of ash-gray creatures caught Charlotte’s eye.

"They look like a caravan. Didn’t expect someone bold enough to venture beyond the barrier."

"Anyway, it’s good for us," Ian said as he stepped up to the driver\'s seat.

"We’ll have company all the way to the gate."

Ian, who had told Thesaya to stay in the wagon, watched the fighting caravan group and instructed.

"Speed up, Charlotte."

Charlotte, as if she had been waiting for the command, cracked the reins.