After a good sleep, we arrived at our destination.

“Wait a moment. We need to get permission to enter.”

Hadel spoke with the gatekeeper. Meanwhile, with nothing else to do, I stood by the horse and looked around curiously.

‘This place is called Neris, right?’

Even at a glance, it seemed more prosperous than Hadel’s domain. There were many people passing through the city gate.

‘I think I’ve passed by here before. That city wall looks familiar. That dent over there seems like something I made.’

At first I wasn’t sure, but as I kept looking, the terrain became more familiar and memories started coming back.

‘I fought a big battle against Dark Elves around here.’

Now the city looked bright in the sunlight, but back then it was a dark place where sunlight barely shone. Strangely, places where dark races dwelled were always cloudy.

Thinking of the Dark Elves made me frown involuntarily.

‘The Dark Elves were truly the worst. Their enchanted arrows were a constant headache.’

Whatever magic they used, wounds from those arrows would quickly fester and rot. Even outside of war, in a world where sepsis was the leading cause of death, Dark Elf arrows were lethal.

But those terrible memories now only remained in my mind. Looking at the castle with no trace of war left, I gave a bitter smile.

‘100 years since that war. To think such a peaceful city has been built on top of it.’

It was truly a stark contrast between generations.

‘Somehow it doesn’t feel as satisfying as I thought. It’s a bit empty.’

Though it should be something to be proud of, the horrible memories of the past and the peaceful scenery before me didn’t mesh well in my mind. I scratched my cheek.

The people here probably won’t remember me and my comrades who fought hard to return this land to humans.

‘We all fought so desperately.’

Though we didn’t fight for recognition, seeing all traces so cleanly erased left a bitter taste. After biting my lip for a moment, I shook my head.

‘Still, it’s better than if the Dark Elves had taken all the land and still ruled here.’

Everything is forgotten with time anyway. But if given the choice, isn’t a won game better than a lost one? I decided to accept it that way.

Just then, Hadel called out to me with perfect timing.

“Marian, let’s go in.”

“Okay!”

The more I thought about the past, the more it brought my mood down. I resolved not to dwell on the past anymore.

Passing through the large city gate, a wide road leading straight to the lord’s castle stretched out before us. And along that main street, shops bustled with activity selling goods and people came and went buying things.

“Wow.”

I looked around with curious eyes.

‘I heard this region also gets a lot of snow, but it feels different. The clothes seem thinner too.’

In Hadel’s domain, everyone was bundled up tightly, but it was different here. I thought it seemed unusually bright, but it was because the city walls were noticeably lower than in Hadel’s domain, opening up the view.

‘Such low walls must mean there’s little external threat, right?’

Well, the mountain range where I drove out the other races 100 years ago is much further north than here.

With heavy snow and food shortages in the north, there’s no room for wasteful territory wars, so there are hardly any external enemies.

‘Still, to be this prosperous. It feels unfair that we’re treated so differently despite both being in the north.’

I pouted lightly. Hadel pulled me along.

“We need to go this way to the lord’s castle.”

“Huh?”

I had gotten distracted and was about to get swept up in the crowd. I looked at Hadel’s hand holding onto me, then at the people passing around us. Then I asked Hadel:

“Do we have to go to the lord’s castle right away?”

“We don’t have any set schedule. Why?”

“I want to look around this domain.”

It doesn’t seem like we get to visit other domains often, so I wanted to explore every corner while we’re here.

At my sudden request, Hadel nodded without objection.

“I’ll send someone ahead first.”

Hadel handed his horse’s reins to a subordinate. Then he ordered the subordinates to go to the lord’s castle first. Though they hesitated at first, saying it was dangerous for just the two of us, after seeing the peaceful atmosphere of the city, they eventually left for the castle ahead of us.

‘Good. Now we can look around freely.’

Since horses are such valuable assets, just leading one around tends to make people wary. Now that we’ve sent the horses and subordinates ahead, we can really blend in with the common folk.

Taking the lead energetically into the street, I asked Hadel. First, a question to confirm if my memory was correct.

“How long has it been since Neris became part of the kingdom? About 100 years?”

“That’s about right.”

I knew it. So this is indeed the place where I fought the Dark Elves. I nodded. With past memories overlapping, even the same scenery felt different.

“Humans can put down such deep roots in 100 years.”

I couldn’t sense any trace of Dark Elves anywhere in this city. At my murmur, Hadel gave me a curious look. I grinned sheepishly and covered it up.

“It’s similar yet different from the Grand Duke’s territory. It’s interesting.”

It was an ambiguous statement, but the quick-witted Hadel immediately explained the part I was wondering about.

“Instead of building high walls, they planted dense trees to block the cold wind. But in the Grand Duke’s territory, they had no choice but to build high walls in inhabited areas due to the constant appearance of ice monsters.”

“I see.”

I thought the walls seemed low, but it seems they created windbreak forests instead of walls. I poured out numerous questions.

“Do they use the same currency?”

“It’s all the same as the kingdom. Originally the Grand Duke’s territory could use a different currency, but there’s no need to.”

“I hope the population grows quickly.”

We had walked about halfway down the main street when we came across a large fountain. Around it was a wide open space where people could sit and rest or talk, which seemed to be the center of this city.

‘No, even so, there are too many people walking around. Is today some special day?’

I was thinking of asking someone when someone tapped my shoulder. It was an old woman with a basket full of paper flowers.

“Young lady, is that your lover next to you?”

“Lo-!”

Hadel’s face turned bright red at the old woman’s words. I quickly covered Hadel’s mouth with my palm and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

The old woman, as if she knew it all along, took out a yellow paper flower from her basket and gave it to me.

“Then take this flower.”

“The color is different?”

I prefer red flowers. The old woman explained the meaning of the flower colors with a kind smile.

“Starting today is the Snow Flower Festival period. When it snows, don’t most people stay quiet?”

“That’s right.”

Winter is the quietest season in any region. It’s difficult to do outdoor activities because of the cold. People huddle together in small houses, drinking warm mulled wine and listening to stories from the elders about the old days.

But here in Neris, they catch people off guard by holding a festival in such winter. The answer was in the old woman’s story.

“That’s why we set a festival period so people can come out to the streets on purpose. Especially young people who are restless from being cooped up indoors are actively walking around, but we can’t have fights breaking out if they try to seduce someone who’s already taken, right?”

“Ah, so the different colors mean whether someone is taken or not.”

“This means married, this means in a relationship, and this means single.”

I nodded as I listened to the explanation, then opened my eyes wide.

“Why classify married and in a relationship separately?”

The old woman laughed as if I should know this already. It was a mischievous smile.

“Just because there’s a gatekeeper, does that mean you can’t enter the gate? Isn’t it true that you never know what will happen with a relationship until you put the marriage seal?”

“Hahaha, that’s true.”

I burst out laughing too.

We accepted the yellow flower and began exploring the festival grounds in earnest. There were many street stalls with a variety of foods.

“Pretty young lady, how about a sandwich with goat milk cheese?”

“We also have whole roasted pig barbecue!”

Goat milk cheese really didn’t suit my taste.

‘Ugh. All this time I thought I could eat anything, but I was just eating things that were palatable.’

The sour smell was bearable, but the sharp taste was hard to describe.

As I rinsed my mouth with water, I noticed Hadel standing there blankly. I rolled my eyes.

“What, Hadel, why aren’t you eating?”

Hadel shrugged.

“I was going to eat after watching you eat.”

How annoying!

When I made a face full of betrayal, Hadel laughed out loud.

‘When he laughs like that, I can’t stay mad.’

Hearing Hadel’s rare laughter, my sour mood also vanished somewhere.

After somehow finishing the goat cheese sandwich, we ate the whole roasted pig barbecue. The barbecue tasted just like everyone knows it.

“Ah, I’m full now.”

After eating the sandwich and barbecue, I felt my stomach bulging. As I turned around patting my belly, a man I’d never seen before suddenly held out a wooden cup to me and said loudly:

“Hot brewed beer is the best when it’s cold.”

Though his beard was bushy, he was a young man. It seemed growing long beards was fashionable for men in this region, as I could find plenty of men with lush beards just by turning my head slightly.

In the middle of that beard, a bright red nose stood out like a strawberry. I giggled and pointed at his nose.

“Your nose is so red.”

“I’ve had a lot to drink.”

“But brewing beer doesn’t make you drunk, right?”

When you boil alcohol, the alcohol evaporates away. When I pointed out this fact, the man winked and joked:

“Still, I have to pretend to be drunk. How else could I talk to a young lady even with that fierce-looking man glaring next to her?”