5. Bread and dagger (21)
The North was cold and dark.
Even the pure white sunlight was cold. It was the only place in the whole continent where you could feel the sun.
The empty lot, which was once a barren field, was lined with guns of all kinds of civilizations. Various buildings and crowds filled the streets proved the authority of the Yurdina family.
The only big city in the North and the true center of its name.
It was a place called ‘Yurdina City’.
The potential of the Yurdina family, who built a downtown area in this dry frozen land, was amazing. It was a truly historic achievement.
Originally, the North only existed in village-level communities. However, with the migration of the Yurdina family, the northern part could finally be incorporated into a well-organized administrative district.
So, talking about the Yurdina family’s influence in the north only hurts.
The person who sent me the invitation was also a member of the Yurdina family.
The only heir to the Yurdina family, the 5th noble family in the empire and in charge of military power, asked me for help directly.
Her name was Delphine Yurdina, a woman commonly referred to as ‘the northern sun’.
‘Sun’ has a mythological meaning in most regions.
He was the one who enriched the land and the source of light and heat to the world. There were not a few areas where they were revered as divine beings.
Right now, even if you are a Celestial God, don’t you think of the sun as being associated with the god Arus?
A long time ago, the heavenly god Arus and the evil god Omeros made a bet, and the god Arus, who fell for a despicable trick, took out the liver and eyes and implanted them in the sky.
Among them, the liver became the sun, and the eyes became the moon.
That’s why the evil beings of the world melt under the sunlight.
This reverence for the sun was the same in the North.
On the contrary, the northern part was a place where the sun was more precious than anywhere else. It was because without the sun, it would be a land of eternal snow and ice.
It was a cursed land because of the sins of Delphirem from the beginning.
Survival itself was impossible without relying on Mother Nature’s grace. So even in the North, the meaning of ‘sun’ had to be special.
The leader of all northerners, and the absolute next to the Emperor of the Empire.
It was a fitting nickname for Yurdina’s unique successor who had accumulated undefeated achievements.
However, perhaps because of the barren conditions in the north, the aesthetic sense of the northerners was not very good.
It was because he had valued practicality over fashion and strength over logic.
If they had the resources to invest in art, they would rather feed starving warriors. As a result, even the lord castle of the Yurdina family had no choice but to give off a desolate feeling.
Of course, everything you need was provided.
Rather, the facility itself was luxurious. All of the materials and tools seemed to be of high quality.
Even so, Yurdina Castle gave off a somewhat desolate feeling. Shall we say that he lacks the splendid elegance that a great aristocrat should have?
I walked along such a dingy hallway.
In front of me, an old knight who had been attached as a guide was walking. He was already a familiar figure.
It must have been ‘Sir Alex’, or he had been taken care of in the Percus domain before.
He was a knight who led 1,000 Yurdina’s enlisted soldiers in a bloody battle with the corpse giant. That much meant being trusted by the family, but it seemed that he had just returned to Yurdina City.
Delphine, who actually invited me, had left to take care of work for a while.
It was just a sheer coincidence that they met while leaving the warp gate. In the first place, there was no word on when they would arrive, so there was no time for a person like Delphine to be leisurely killing time.
After arriving at Yurdina Castle, another message came to the car that had been taking a breather.
Delphine is looking for me.
There was no reason not to respond. I started walking straight down that road, following Sir Alex.
In the process, I realized something new.
How great is Delphine’s family.
I had been walking for several minutes, and the corridors in the castle were endless. It was unclear where I was standing now.
It was only for a moment to be immersed in silence, and it was hard to overcome the boredom of walking without saying anything.
Eventually, I ran out of patience and spoke to Sir Alex.
“Me, Sir Alex?”
But there was no reply from Sir Alex. Every time I saw him, he was a man like a stone statue.
I thought it was a more relaxed impression in the Percus Territory.
I didn’t give in to the cold treatment and continued to talk.
“Thank you for the last battle. Thanks to that, countless territories who were cornered were saved…”
“It wasn’t a battle for anyone.”
It was a word that was cut with a single knife.
I fell silent for a moment at Sir Alex’s determined tone. It was because I didn’t expect such a cold reaction to greet me.
The North is a very cold place.
While I was realizing that, Sir Alex added in a dry voice.
“It was only a battle for honor. A soldier in the north never turns his back in front of an enemy… So there’s no need to be particularly grateful or feel indebted.”
It was such a soft statement.
So I got even more confused.
Was Sir Alex simply reciting his heart, or did he say it out of consideration for me?
The feeling was quite different from when I saw it at home. At the time, he seemed more reserved, but now he was the epitome of a northern knight who would cut himself with a sword if touched.
Or maybe the recent war situation wasn’t that good.
I recalled the look on Delphine’s face that I met in front of the warp gate. Rarely did he appear somewhat haggard.
If Delphine was like that, it wouldn’t be strange for Sir Alex to be even more sensitive.
How much further did he move while hesitating like that?
Sir Alex stopped in front of the heavy door, and then led us in a low tone.
“The Soga-lord is waiting for you in front of you.”
‘Sogaju’
It was a name I hadn’t heard in a while.
It was not an uncommon expression in aristocratic society. Within the family where the competition for succession was over, in order to respect this, the nickname ‘Sogaju’ was always applied with respect.
This was closer to the culture of the high nobility than the lower nobility.
While lower-ranking nobles grow up in a more liberal atmosphere, high-ranking nobles are immersed in the competition for succession from an early age. As a result, the response after that was bound to change naturally.
At first glance, the high-ranking aristocratic society resembled a wild ecosystem.
winner-takes-all.
When the successor was decided, everyone in the family had to kneel before him, no matter what the previous relationship was. The title ‘Sogaju’ also had such a meaning.
It was not yet the family head, but it was said to be treated as a position equivalent to the head of the family.
Cold sweat ran down my spine when I remembered that fact.
Like this, he was a senior Delphine who received the loyalty of his vassals. What if the scene where she calls me ‘Master’ is discovered?
I couldn’t deny the possibility that my existence would be eliminated in order to erase the family’s disgrace.
Of course, the odds of my anxiety realizing were not high.
Behind me was the Emperor and Imperial Intelligence, and I was gaining a reputation as the rising god of the Empire. It was not easy for even the Yurdina family to touch me.
Yeah, it literally wasn’t easy.
In other words, it wasn’t even impossible.
Because northerners originally had a lot of times to take action regardless of front and back.
Without being able to erase the slightest worry, I quietly opened the door and entered.
There was a beautiful woman with her back against the pouring sunlight.
Intense crimson eyes contrasted with pure white skin without a single blemish, and brilliant golden hair that seemed to have been squeezed out of melted gold ingots.
The slender limbs and alluring curves of the woman’s body stood out even beyond the armor. At first glance, it was so perfect that it felt like a statue.
But everyone realizes the moment they meet their eyes.
Boredom lingered in those eyes, a mixture of burning ambition, yearning, and obsession with victory. Enchanting charm that drips like honey.
It gave that perfect body a surprising vitality.
Her complexion was somewhat tired, but even that couldn’t hide her sun-like beauty.
It was a face I hadn’t seen in a long time.
I was delighted and inadvertently opened my mouth.
“Senior Delphine… … !”
“I’ve been waiting for you, Master.”
It’s the second time I’ve heard it today. I was delighted and went straight to Delphine.
And then, again, there was one thing I was sure of.
Delphine looked a little depressed.
The cause was unknown, but it was clear that Delphine was not in a good mood. Otherwise, they would have already tried to make fun of me.
Something like showing the cleavage, or subtly emphasizing the buttocks.
Seeing that it wasn’t like that today, it was concluded that Delphine-senpai didn’t even have the time to joke around.
So I couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
Wasn’t it Delphine who was always confident and haughty?
Seeing her so weak made me feel uncomfortable.
That’s how I was trying to say something comforting.
Delphine senpai got up and immediately wrapped her arms around my neck.
While I was doing that, Delphine’s face came right in front of me.
She laughed weakly and whispered to me.
“……Do you want to come to the bedroom for a second?”
It was an offer that was hard to refuse.
In many ways.
Yeah, in many ways🌝