Chapter 1323 – Grindel

After being beaten like a dog by the inanimate, we immediately formed an investigation team and headed to Grindel.
Thanks to Mr. Renea’s serious consideration of this matter, he was able to travel quickly through the warp gate without any troublesome procedures.

Grindel is a selfish creature of the fantasy world, located in a remote corner of the North. Even through the warp gate, I couldn’t arrive straight away.

Even after taking the warp gate, you have to travel by carriage for more than five hours to get there.
Now I am moving on a carriage.

The number of people is me. Intangible. Nelf. Three like this.
A large investigation team will come later, and we are the advance team.

“I’m just saying, keep an eye on the horses so they don’t run away from the advance guard.”

Muhyeong, who was looking out the window with his chin resting, muttered.
It’s as they say.

Grindel is currently proudly not moving from where he originally lived, as if they were innocent of any crime, but given the situation, it would not be strange if they ran away at any time. Surveillance is necessary.
For reference, I was originally going to go to Baekmaju, but when I heard that Muhyeong was going, I suddenly dropped out.
Are you making other preparations?

“Anyway, Hero, what are you doing, can’t you even see your nose pierced these days?”
“Right.”

Kaits, who would normally have asked them to go together or added the hero party to their group, is said to have gone on a business trip. He was usually a bastard who ran around here and there, busy with business trips and missions, but he usually came back within the same day.

Beyond the fact that I haven’t returned yet, it’s still a long day [Eight days. What are you doing now?] Seeing that the guy who was sending the same unpleasant text message is quiet, it looks like he’s doing something quite important…

“Ah… It’s boring.”

I looked at the carriage ceiling and lamented.
I’ve been traveling by carriage for three hours already, and it’s extremely boring.
I tapped my foot and asked.

“What kind of place is Grindel?”
“It’s a snowy field.”

The answer was given by Nelf.
She seemed nervous and nervous at first, but she was smiling brightly.
Nelf knows a lot, and the way she likes to show off that knowledge is really cute.

[Then eat it.]
Wow.
Muhyeong should have been able to hear what this fucking bastard said.
Then I would have beaten a dog with Muhyeong…!

[I think it would normally be used together with Intangible Army and Drehem.]
While I’m at it, I want to beat up this black dragon’s stud as well.
I cursed at my two soul friends and stared at Nelf.

“Snowy field?”
“Yes. Grindel settled in a place where blizzards blow all year round.”
“Blizzards all year round…?”

What.
It smells like a quest…! It’s also a thriller!!
I glanced at the intangible and saw that he was still looking out the window with an expression of disinterest.

“Why did you settle down in a place like that? Was Grindel’s magic a blizzard?”

It is said that Waikatsu’s magic name is Baekbeop and Grindel was in a similar position as their collateral, so maybe it would be fitting?

“That’s not true.”

Nelf denied it.

“First of all, let me tell you about the climate of the snow field currently named Grindel. There is an oral tradition about it that has been passed down for a long time.”
“Word of mouth!”

That’s an interesting story.

“A long time ago. A kingdom now forgotten. A baron fell in love with a woman.”

Other than her outstanding beauty, the woman was born into an ordinary family.
But. The village was not ordinary.
Closed. A custom that was old-fashioned and terrible still remained.
The village people absolutely followed that terrible custom, and the woman could not understand the village.

One day. A promising young nobleman who stopped by her village to prepare for war or something fell in love with her at first sight, and a woman who was fed up with her closed village and the men who hung out with it also saw a cute girl she had never seen before. I fell in love with a man.
The problem was that the woman had a fiancé chosen by her parents.
The two were attracted to each other, and their fiancé was only a distraction.

“It is said that in that forgotten kingdom, unlike the current aristocratic system, the power of the nobility was not that strong.”

It would be a different story if you reached the count level, but the baron level was not much different from the average person.

What I want to say is that a baron could not have used his power to suppress the ignorant people and steal the woman.
Because that’s what it was. The choice between the two was obvious.
Secret affair.

The nobleman promised his lady her sweet love and future, and the lady quickly fell in love with him.

The nobleman gave her rare gifts that an ordinary woman in the countryside would never see, and the woman felt her love for him with her sincere gratitude.

In the end, the woman became pregnant with a nobleman’s child.

And that’s it.
The Baron disappeared.

The woman was devastated, but she did not sit still.
She made efforts to visit his hometown in person, which she had told him about in the past.

But everything her man told her about himself was a lie.
His hometown, the man said, is a ruin that was destroyed long ago.
Now I couldn’t even tell if the man was really a baron.

Meanwhile, my stomach started to get full.
The woman had no other choice but to return to her home.

And. The man’s eyes rolled back when he saw his fiancé’s stomach full even though he had not had sex with him.

The closed-minded villagers also shunned the woman, calling her an unfaithful woman.

“As I said at the beginning, there was a terrible custom in that village.”

The custom was like this.
If you commit a crime, the court determines the punishment. So far, normal.
The problem is that the family implements the ruling.
Moreover, it was a court of law; in reality, it was a place where angry villagers decided what kind of terrible death would be inflicted.

“A terrible punishment has been appointed.”

The terrible punishment is cutting open the stomach and pulling out the unclean fetus.
After that, she forgave the woman’s sins. He said he would leave her life and death to the will of heaven.
It’s bullshit.
She had to cut open her stomach and pull out her fetus. Is there any way she could survive without treatment?

The woman’s parents decided to judge her based on the villagers’ sanctification.
The wronged woman poured out her curses on the noble man who whispered her love and on her parents, whom she loved.

The punishment was carried out.
After that, her woman’s fate was unknown.

But. Years later.
A chill began to sweep through the village.

From somewhere, mite… Mite… The sound of a baby crying rang out, and when the sound was heard, the villagers disappeared one by one.

The phenomenon soon spread beyond the village and throughout the country.
The frustrated kingdom sent priests and troops to the village, but ended up losing only a small number of troops due to the harsh cold.

What they chose was to find that noble man and punish him.
Unlike women, a nation found a noble man with great ease, captured him alive, and placed him on the site of her woman’s death.
Next day. The noble man was frozen to death with a face filled with fear.

“…After this, the kingdom was destroyed too, right?”

Nelf nodded his head to my question.
Is it a forgotten kingdom for no reason?

“It is just a local legend. Currently, relics that appear to be from the old kingdom are occasionally found in the area collectively called Grindel, so historians are divided on whether it is an invention or a true story.”

If historians are discussing it, does that mean it is not a simple tale?
Following the folk tale, Nelf also told a realistic story.

“Of course, there is no way people will believe the legend literally.”

A continuing snowstorm. Snow field.
The wizards focused on the source of the infinite power that maintains this cold.
Region: Considering Grindel’s location, the climate of a snowy field with blizzards all year round was absurd.

“Many wizards investigated the area due to the strange phenomenon, but they could not find the cause of the blizzard.”

When the wizards gave up one by one and left, there was a family that bid on the entire area.
That’s the family: Grindel.

“It looks like Grindel has a lot of money.”

The same goes for being self-sufficient with orchards and fields.

“It was a lot of money, but there was also a good reason.”

First, since relics of the old kingdom have been discovered frequently, if you have proper excavation capabilities, you can hit a jackpot where the money you bid will look like change.

Second, as other wizards have noted, if we can find something infinite that can sustain this blizzard, that would also be a jackpot.

Third, since it is a fortress in the deep sea, always surrounded by cold, it can naturally block intruders who try to steal magic research.

Fourth. You can experiment with Grindel’s unique magic to your heart’s content.

“Unique magic.”

I tried to evoke that ecstatic sound on purpose.
They may just be wizard families, but the families called ‘famous families’ all have powerful unique techniques.
The same goes for Grindel.

When I asked Nelf, he said that there are a few magics that only Grindel possesses.
Just like my decomposition magic.

“What kind of magic are these?”

Nelf made an innocent face at this point.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know that.”

Even Nelf doesn’t know!

“I understand that Grindel’s unique magic is a top secret and is only passed down to blood relatives. “He was very close to Waikatsu, but he didn’t even tell us about it.”
“Hey, Intangible. Do you know what Grindel’s top secret magic is?”

Muhyeong snorted.

“The unique magic that made Grindel a famous family is only passed down to successor candidates who have passed the ordeal. It wasn’t even mentioned to a bastard like me.”

Nelf cautiously opened his mouth to the intangible, mocking voice.

“What a waste… Intangible brother.”

Nelf’s sad face was chewed and the intangible continued speaking.

“But I can roughly guess what type of magic it is. There is actually one more reason why Grindel purchased this area, which Nelf mentioned earlier. In fact, there is a fourth reason. It is almost the same reason as being able to freely experiment with Grindel’s unique magic. Ji.”

First of all, as he was a direct descendant, he listened to Muhyeong, who knew about such situations.

“Huh? Is there another reason? What is it?”

Nelf’s eyes lit up with an expression of interest.
Her strong curiosity must have made her a candidate for recognition of her quadruple talent.

“First of all, this land. It’s incredibly cheap.”
“Huh? Cheap?”

Nelf had her face down in confusion.

“I remember it was very expensive due to its high magical research value…”
“The publicly known price is high, but think about it. This is a land that has been visited by countless wizards and excavators, but has only achieved so much results.”

It was popular at first, but no one came to visit it after that.
This land belongs to the Suruta Empire, and from the Suruta Empire’s point of view, it is a land of sorrow and evil inventory.
Therefore, contrary to popular belief, land is said to be very cheap.
At this point I asked:

“If it doesn’t sell, can’t we just leave it alone? Is there any reason to sell it?”

The answer came soon.

“Here. It’s full of monsters.”
“…”
“…”

Nelf and I looked at each other and saw the intangible again. Nelf opened his mouth.

“Monster…? I’ve never seen a monster since I’ve been here…”
“How could you show dirty monsters when that Faikatsu is coming? Every time you come, you wipe out the monsters and spread a magic circle that creates a smell and presence that the monsters don’t like. Anyway, it wasn’t a fuss.”
“Did… Did you…?”

Nelf looked slightly shocked.

“Grindel is in the middle of an area where merchants frequent.”

It used to take an entire year to go around this snowy field.
So the Sruta Empire sold this land very cheaply to Grindel, who was willing to buy it, on the condition that he build a minimal road.
It is also said that it was guaranteed that all research results produced here would belong to Grindel.

“Actually, it was worth it. Even though I have magic, I’m dying from the cold, but I have to prepare the road every day, and monsters constantly appear, so I have to exterminate them at certain times.”

If we leave it alone, monsters will come out and cause damage to the surrounding territories, but there is no organization strong enough to manage this snowy field, so Grindel’s purchase offer was a willing one for the empire.
Is it.
I was wondering how Grindel, who committed countless crimes, was still safe, but I wonder if this situation may have something to do with it.

“If there are a lot of monsters, what kind of monsters will appear?”

Speaking of snowy fields, are there monsters related to snow?

“That’s also very strange. Usually, when it snows, you’d think things like yetis would come out, right?”
“Huh? No?”
“No. Orc. Troll. Goblin. Wyvern.”
“Wyvern?!?!”

Nelf let out a loud voice and then sat back down with his face turning red.
Perhaps it was an expected reaction, but Muhyeong spoke calmly with a completely unsurprised expression.

“Things that can only be found in distant regions come in a comprehensive set. Well… That’s not what I was trying to say. You said you could guess what type of unique magic it was, right?”
“Oh, I did.”

It fell into samcheonpo in the middle, but it was Grindel’s unique magic story, right?

“The last reason is, ‘If it’s an extreme snow field, no one will get caught up in it for no reason.’ There are a lot of monsters, so why would you accept it as a good thing?”
“…Perhaps. Grindel’s unique magic is something like Yanghak magic?”

The intangible, who now understands my original world language to some extent, giggled.

“That’s true. Grindel’s magic is focused on ‘wide range’.”

Wide area.

“First of all, since they are a famous family, they can perform other magic at a high level, but at least when I was around, wide-area magic was considered the most important.”
“In other words, if there is a unique magic, it would be an AoE spell…?”
“Probably so.”

Whiooooo…

“Oh.”

Before I knew it, it had gotten dark outside the window.
I check the clock and see that it is not yet dark.
At some point, tiny snowflakes began to flutter.
We must have gotten closer to the snowy fields of Grindel.

As I was looking out the window, an intangible figure was staring at me.
Just turn your eyes and tell me something, you idiot. I asked, and the guy opened his mouth.

“…Hey.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You… That…”

Muhyeong stammered with a look on his face that showed he was having a hard time saying something, and finally managed to spit out something.

“Would you like to be faithful to your girlfriend this time?”
“This bastard?”

What are you talking about in front of Nelf?!?
The moment I grabbed the intangible by the collar, Nelf noticed and spoke.

“Uh… Instructor. Would you like to continue the consultation from last time?”
“Uh…”

I started consulting with Nelf regarding Maychi.
But now was not the right time to bring up this topic.
As expected, Muhyeong was appalled again.

“You. Under the pretext of consulting…”
“I’ll crush this mouth first…!”

That’s when I raised my fist and Muhyeong giggled and clenched his fist against me. Geek. The carriage stopped.

“Guys… I think we should go back.”

A voice full of tension.
I’m just saying this now, but this carriage is very expensive.
A magical carriage coated with a lot of magic, so it is resistant to extreme cold and shock, and is driven by a horse-like familiar rather than a regular horse.
Therefore, the coachman driving the carriage was also full of confidence.
But to react like this…

“Intangible.”
“Okay.”

Me and the intangible get off the carriage and go beyond. I stared at the dark snowy field.
Far away. In the darkness… Numerous small lights flickered.

It’s not light.
That. Pupil.
These are the eyes of a monster that exceeds 100.
The anger in their eyes. To live.

And this energy…

“…Divine power?”
“What?”

Muhyeong and I narrowed our eyebrows.
Why do I sense divine power, no matter how weak, in such a ragtag group of people…?

Sreung!
Sigh!

We drew our swords without any hesitation.
Before the monsters approached us, we took our first step.

Shuuuuu…

A strange sound was heard.

“!”

A roar heard in the sky.
When I looked up, I saw something that looked like a red dot descending.
A skill I occasionally used in previous games. Then, we applied the magic we had learned and spread a shield to protect us.

Right after. Red dot crashes to the ground.

Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-!!

It exploded with a loud noise that shook the earth.
The explosion was strong enough to create a mushroom cloud and I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, this is cool.” I was doing it… Sigh. A further layer of protection was created around us.
This goes for me, of course. It wasn’t even done by Nelf.

What?

While I was wondering, I felt a presence from above.
When I looked up, I saw a female wizard wearing a robe flying over and looking down at us.
Flutter flutter. Her robes fluttered in the aftermath of the explosion and her hood came off.
The revealed face is that of a fierce-looking beauty.
Grindel’s symbol was engraved on the robe.

“Are you okay?”
It looks like she put up the second shield.
However, her face suddenly became astonished.
Her eyes were on the intangible.
Muhyeong also raised the corner of her mouth.

Soon she opened her mouth.

“Tohute-chan…?”
“No.”

Muhyeong clicked his tongue and said.

“I threw away that name. I am intangible. Stupid Little Sister.”

Younger sister…?
At that moment, the woman called my sister looked at me.
And she spoke with a face as if she had seen a ghost.

“Uncle Hachii…?”