Count Spinel looked at the report from Spinel territory with a serious expression.

[There was no significant damage to the territory. As you are leading the army away from the territory, I am leaving a detailed report.]

It was a subordinate’s report that a monster had appeared in the territory while she was briefly away.

Count Spinel picked up a pen and replied:

[It’s unusual for a monster to appear at this time. However, as you know, once the forces gathered at the Inkhart Grand Duke’s estate inspect the northern mountains, the monsters will quiet down again. Please reassure the people of the territory.]

Although she wrote in her reply to her subordinate that there was not much to worry about, Count Spinel herself felt uneasy inside.

‘I should talk to the Grand Duke.’

Count Spinel immediately went to see Darius.

“This winter is strange.”

“What do you mean?”

Darius looked at Count Spinel and asked.

“Actually, I encountered a monster on my way to Inkhart. Even beasts have instincts, so it’s strange for a monster to appear before an armed army as if throwing its life away.”

And then came the report of monster appearances in Spinel territory. Fortunately, it was an attack that could still be repelled with the remaining personnel in the territory, but there was no telling when something strange might happen again.

“Grand Duke. Do you believe in the intuition of an old person?”

Darius was higher in rank. However, Count Spinel had more experience participating in the annual winter monster subjugation.

“Let’s make more thorough preparations.”

Darius accepted her suggestion.

“Your stay will be longer than planned.”

“The monsters are getting stronger every year.”

Count Spinel was getting older. However, it wasn’t just because of that that monster prevention was becoming more challenging.

“We don’t know where the monsters come from, Count Spinel. Even though we’ve lived here all along.”

“Herbalists and hunters… We need more professional guides, Grand Duke.”

“No matter how much someone was born and raised here, they can’t set foot in the northern mountains.”

The northern mountains were an unconquered, unknown space where even those who gathered herbs and hunted animals at the entrance would lose their way if they went just a little deeper.

Therefore, when the subjugation team went up to the mountains to prevent monsters, they could only deal with the monsters living at the entrance of the mountains.

So without solving the fundamental problem, they were only busy blocking the monsters coming down from the mountains, which were called cursed places that no one could cross.

However, there was one entity that could traverse these infamous northern mountains.

“The outsiders.”

Darius said.

“It’s said that only the outsiders, who are said to have originally lived in the northern mountains, can come and go there.”

Count Spinel swallowed.

‘But the outsiders never cooperate with the northerners.’

They were called outsiders because they didn’t mix with anyone. That’s why the northerners had to solve their own problems themselves.

* * *

“Count Spinel!”

“Count Aleksei.”

Count Spinel was in a gloomy mood due to the problem of rampaging monsters.

Not noticing Count Spinel’s dark expression, Count Aleksei spoke cheerfully. Count Aleksei was a figure who easily gained the favor of women with his splendid appearance and smooth speech.

“You know that my godson, Alexander, has visited the north on business this time, don’t you?”

“I heard earlier.”

“I came to express my gratitude. I was reluctant to return like this after coming all the way to this distant north for my godson, but thanks to Count Spinel viewing me favorably, I was able to join this northern mountain journey.”

“You’re too kind.”

Despite Aleksei’s skillful speech, Count Spinel responded coldly.

“Although we’re not particularly close, your reputation is well-known. If that reputation is not unfounded, having a good knight join the army is good for everyone. So there’s no need to express special thanks to me.”

“Hahaha… You’re too stiff.”

Count Spinel was actually less stiff when exchanging formal letters.

Aleksei gritted his teeth at the fact that this Count Spinel had suddenly shown trust in Darius.

He needed to somehow talk today and turn Count Spinel’s heart back to having negative feelings towards the Grand Duke.

“Ah! I brought cold medicine as a token of gratitude. The north is cold, so people are prone to colds, right?”

“Is it perhaps a nasal rinse?”

“That’s right. These days, a good nasal rinse is popular in the capital…”

“Good heavens!”

Count Spinel’s face suddenly wrinkled.

“To think that such things are trending in the capital without even knowing their dangers. It’s truly terrible. Be careful and research well before using it. You might end up killing someone, Count!”

“Pardon? Count, Count Spinel…? What do you… Please listen to me before you go!”

Leaving behind a dumbfounded Count Aleksei, Count Spinel strode away. She had thought of additional content to add to the letter she was sending to her territory.

First, she had to arrest the doctors who had poured saline into her son’s nose. Re-education was necessary to prevent forcing the wrong treatment method on patients who showed no improvement, as this method might not be suitable for everyone.

* * *

“Prince, how long are you going to sleep! Are you just going to eat and play today too?”

Thump, a tanned outsider girl woke up a young man who was sleeping lazily.

“Yawn, my sister. If you’re going to wake me up anyway, I wish you’d do it gently with your nightingale-like voice… Ouch ouch ouch, alright! I’ll get up. I’m getting up.”

“You lied about going to meet the lord! As always, the men of our tribe are all talk!”

The outsider tent, usually cold to outsiders, had recently gained a new family member.

This freeloader had rolled in claiming to be a blood relative during the harvest festival.

When he took off his cloak, the face revealed was tanned like an outsider’s.

The cloak in the man’s hand was stamped with footprints as if someone had beaten him thoroughly. Even to the outsiders, he looked very suspicious.

Coincidentally, the day the man appeared was the day when the notorious slave market that had been dominant in the north was overturned.

The man answered, dusting off his cloak, even though no one had asked.

His wavy black hair was shaggy, and his round eyes like grape seeds were particularly noticeable. The man smiled brightly, squinting those big eyes.

There was no time to deny that they didn’t have a family member like him.

The elder leading the outsider tribe, for some reason, immediately recognized him as a member of the outsider family as soon as he saw him.

The elder said. He had come here because he had something he was supposed to do.

He was said to be someone who could make prophecies.

However, this mysterious and special person had been busy playing around every day since the first day he came to the outsider’s tent, instead of making money by fortune-telling.

What use is a prophecy that doesn’t make money!

“Sister, a hero always waits for the right time.”

“So when are you going to do that thing!”

The young man scratched his chin. He thought about the dream he had been having before this outsider girl woke him up.

“When that time comes… now?”

A dream where a woman falls, spilling red blood on the snowy field.

The woman who couldn’t even leave her last words in the end.

The gradual fading of her blue pupils was still vivid.

A nightmare-like dream where one woman’s death would bring about more bloodshed. He had come to prevent that.

* * *

Bang!

“Quack!”

Rattle, bang!

The sound of multiple gunshots was heard.

“Hick.”

My shoulders trembled at the loud noise.

“Are you alright?”

Darius hugged me from behind, worried. Count Aleksei glanced at us like this and sneered.

“Hmph, I heard northern women were strong, but unexpectedly, the Grand Duke’s wife can’t even handle this. Ah, come to think of it, the Grand Duke’s wife isn’t from the north, is she? I apologize for my rudeness.”

“You’d better watch where you’re aiming, Count Aleksei. You missed again this time.”

“Well, this much is nothing.”

The man retorted with sarcasm.

“Aren’t you paying too much attention to my prey, Grand Duke? I thought you had no interest in hunting since you haven’t caught a single one yet.”

“Shall I cover your ears, Anette? Does this make the noise a bit better?”

“I’m sorry, Darius. I’m not usually startled by loud noises…”

“It’s alright, Anette. I’m just worried that you’re startled.”

“The couple, both of you…”

Rattle rattle!

Bang! Bang!

“That dimwit should stop already. Has he no sense?”

As the gunshots poured out nervously, I burrowed into Darius’s arms. Although it must have been annoying, Darius comforted me without showing any displeasure.

“I’ll stay by your side as long as you need, so don’t worry too much.”

“But then you can’t hunt because of me.”

“Hunting can be done later.”

Today, we were holding a hunting competition hosted by the Grand Duke’s family to warm up before the monster subjugation.

While everyone was enthusiastic, Count Aleksei, who had been particularly active, seems to have finally succeeded in hunting after a series of nervous shots.

The loud gunfire stopped for a moment, and then he could be seen dragging his bullet-riddled prey. Seeing the red blood trailing along the path made me feel sick.