Chapter 128: Chapter 128

Chapter 128: The Northern Lands

“Quickly shut down valves 17 to 30! The 3rd engine is on fire, hurry up and evacuate all personnel in the vicinity. Where is the firefighting squad? There’s no such squad? Forget it, get an ice spellcaster then. There are no ice spellcasters too? What about Princess Reyne?”

“The C15-21 storage rooms on the ship’s port are leaking. Where’s the maintenance team? There isn’t such a team too? Fine, freeze the leaking water and fix it after everything else is stable. Princess Reyne is in the engine room?”

“Knight Elohim, it is your turn to shine. What? Your Frigid Nightmare is a Snowman that is only capable of physical battle, and is unable of freezing anything? You log-head, why are you so useless! Tie you and your Snowman to the hole to clog it up!”

“Where have all those darned engineers gone to? What? They’ve all gone to the bow to look at the newly-fitted ramming horn? Isn’t that an ability of the ship? They aren’t capable of magic, what can they comprehend by looking at it? What?! They are looking at it because it is unscientific? That bunch of bastards! Prince Clint, please help me drag them back here. No, you don’t have to do anything. You just have to stand beside them to make them run back here.”

“Red alert. What happened? What? Knight Elohim really tied himself and his Snowman into the hole and got swept away!? I was only complaining and drawing a comparison! He really did that? That log-head! Darn it, ask Tracy to pull that fool back up. I am already busy as it is! To think he would add to my troubles!”

“Princess Reyne, please head to the control room, someone in there is looking for you. That … Lord Diana, I know that you were looking forward to having a great duel with the enemy, but can you not hinder our job by standing in the corridor, fully clothed for battle? We have already received several complaints of your armor scratching them and you hindering their job.”

“That Legend Beastmaster on the deck, the battle has already ended and your beast taming skills didn’t work. So, get your ass back here!”

“I almost succeeded! Transmitting love takes time! Also, can you blame me for this failure? Do you think you can convince someone by saying that you love him while beating him up?” Alright, the voice of a certain man who could not be evaluated still loudly resounded even in the midst of chaos.

It was already a chaotic sight from the moment I landed on the deck. Kelly and Harloys’s voice echoed from the cabin. That eccentric bunch was either helping or not. Anyway, every one of them were busy with something.

Regardless of how well designed the Borealis was, and how incredible the theory behind it, this was still a new ship that had yet to be tested in a practical battle. Furthermore, it was pushing it a bit for the Borealis to face two powerful Sea Monsters in a prolonged battle for its maiden battle.

It looked like I was overconfident in Envy. It seemed that the Sea Monsters weren’t the only one forced into a corner.

Practical battles were always the most effective verification platform. The first problems to be exposed were always the shortcomings and weaknesses of said platform. Under the strikes of the octopus and the ramming by the Horned Whale, regions that weren’t converted into Undead weren’t able to regenerate. In addition, the energy tubes were proven to be too weak and many of the initial designs were proven to be ineffective. In short, all kinds of flaws started exposing themselves.

“Envy,” as the soul of the warship, was no different from a newborn infant compared to the long lives of the Undead, and it is still far from becoming a force to reckon with. Sustaining the cannon bombardments and ordering the crew around sapped all of its energy while constant regeneration drained a large portion of its mana.

These flaws weren’t really big problems. To make the evolution from a prototype to a real product required exposing its flaws continuously so that they could be fixed over and over again. Even so, it would all be for naught if it fell in the midst of battle.

“Little Roland is back? That’s great. Hurry and help out at the port. It’s still leaking over there.”

I received a quest the moment I landed on the boat. In response to that, I simply smiled.

“Kelly, don’t just grab me to be your laborer. There are also two other old friends here awaiting your orders. Fanderk is an Aurora Knight as well, you know. On the other hand, Camisia may be a little slow mentally, but he does possess incredible strength.”

“Ah! Aren’t they … All right, I get it. It has been long since we last met. Representing the East Mist, I welcome your return. However, now isn’t the time to be reminiscing about the past. Little Fanderk, please help us freeze those places where water is leaking. Sir Camisia, please help adjust the sail on the deck.”

“Big Sister Kelly!? Great, you’re fine!” Hearing that voice, Fanderk was slightly agitated. However, he regained his cool quickly.

“All right, we’ll do our best.”

As the type whose actions spoke louder than words, Camisia had already started moving the moment he heard those commands. However, judging from how motivated he looked, that “welcome your return” seemed to have made him very happy.

That day, the trademark spell Ice Aeon was cast. Coupled with the insignia of Emperor Yongye, the divine apparition of a black skeleton king, there was no way that the secret could be hidden any further. Furthermore, the flags that the Red Hunting Hounds carried then were the Mist War Flags. Rumors that Emperor Yongye was Holy Knight Roland had been spreading in the upper echelons of human society for a very long period of time. In the eyes of the wise, my identity had probably already been exposed.

I did not doubt that there would be people who would make the link between me and Emperor Yongye, especially when the fact that I was an Undead Lich in my previous life had been exposed. At the very least, Kelly is aware of it. Of course, there were some matters that were better off not exposed. A huge batch of trouble would arise if the East Mist were to be associated with Emperor Yongye. Since they’ve decided not to reveal the truth, it is best to leave it that way.

Perhaps it is due to the camaraderie built in the midst of a crisis, or perhaps they had expected it to happen, but the two Undead Knights were swiftly accepted by the masses, even though terming it as “the masses” was slightly pushing it.

Ignoring the Gentlemen from the Underground World who had gotten used to living by the Undead, the knights of East Mist were initially stunned by the assistance of the Undead Knights. However, upon realizing that they were their senior, heroic knights, their attitude changed.

The initial estrangement between the living and the dead was resolved after Kelly and Reyna pulled them to one side to say something. After seeing the trademark Frigid Nightmare Mount, their wary gaze turned into one of reverence.

The Knights could be found surrounding the two Undead Knights every day, asking for pointers. Camisia and Fanderk also happily imparted their experiences and battle techniques to their juniors.

Upon seeing such a sight, I heaved a slight sigh of relief. After all, sending Undead into a country of living beings was a gamble. However, since the Undead Knights were able to get along well with the other knights from East Mist, this could be considered as a good start.

Of course, this also had something to do with the numerous Gods being too busy with the prelude of the Sacred War. If that wasn’t so, even if the national religion of East Mist was the absolutely fair God of Law, which was protected by Wumianzhe, I would have never considered such a preposterous cause for action.

While the dwellers of the Underground World and people of East Mist were able to accept the two Knights, the reason why I said that “the masses is slightly pushing it” was because of Aulanders.

To most human kingdoms, the East Mist Communal Country was a nation of barbarians living at the borders. From the very start, they were living at the edges of the human society. Furthermore, with the past incidents, their relationship with the other countries and churches was bad. Due to Diffindor turning into a Land of Death in history, though, and the Royal Knights exacting vengeance against their enemies as Death Knights, they did not view Undead with much hostility. Furthermore, given the position of the two as historical heroes of East Mist and the guarantee from the Mist royal family, it wasn’t hard to achieve harmonious coexistence.

On the other hand, Auland was one of the human empires. They had been brought up with the notion that Undead were evil and the enemies of the living. Furthermore, the occurrence of the Undead Calamity more than a century ago and the appearance of Xiluo Empire had increased the pressure on them. The numerous churches of Gods also repeatedly spoke out against them. To them, being on the same boat as the Undead was no different than being locked in a cage with lions.

This was the mainstream view of the human society. Anything associated with Undead was evil, and the Undead Emperor was the worst of the lot.

Thus, the next day, I received over thirty complaints, and more than a dozen of them changed their mind and decided to disembark from the ship.

“Umm … why don’t we fly behind by ourselves? We were already very happy these few days. After all, it is normal for the living to shun the dead.”

Hiding behind their cloaks, the two Knight volunteers asked to leave. However, I shook my head to reject their proposal. I had already expected this and my will was resolute.

“Take off your cloaks now. I want you both to be like you were in Liu Huang Mountain City, living proudly with your heads held high. You two don’t owe this world or anyone anything. On the contrary, it is this vile world that owes you all a debt.”

My words made the two Knights lower their heads, even though they don’t express their approval or disapproval of my words. I know that they are hesitating, afraid that their presence will cause a loophole in my plans.

“Since we’ve already decided to tread on this path, there’s no longer a road of return. Since we are intending to build a Liu Huang Mountain City on the Surface, so as to prevent the innocent from being discriminated or even punished due to their race and identity, we are destined to break away from the status quo of the world. The path will be fraught with dangers, and this stumble is just the appetizer. We have to overcome it. Since they’re bound to leave sooner or later, why should we pay them any need?

“If our paths are different from theirs, there’s no point in them accompanying us on this journey. It wouldn’t work out even if we were to coerce them. So, if they want to leave, let them be. After all, I only need those who tread on the same path.”

***

Winter in the Northern Lands always arrived early. It was common knowledge among the Northerners to, before the arrival of the interminable and harsh frost, prepare sufficient provisions and preventive measures against packs of beasts.

The packs in winter were the hardest to deal with. Starvation would make them rabid, and the result of the winter lockdown of the mountains was that they would start grouping together to challenge the human cities, regardless of the price they would pay for it. Anyway, starving to death was no different to dying in battle. Rather than starve or freeze to death, they would much rather give it a gamble.

When the Mist Country was powerful, they took the initiative to clear away the hordes of beasts around the towns, sometimes even into the snowy mountains. On one hand, it was for additional provisions in winter. On the other, it reduced the number of wild beasts in the surroundings to the minimum, thus reducing the potential stress that each town faced in winter.

When winter set in, the knights would engage themselves in the anticipated Winter Hunt. At that time, even if not for rations, the knights would volunteer to clear away the packs.

In peacetime, the Winter Hunt was the best stage to showcase one’s abilities. Every year, knights traveled into the depths of the mountains to hunt down powerful magic beasts.

However, the current East Mist Communal Country does not hold such power. Lack of provisions and assault by savage beasts were like a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, and it was difficult to persevere through the winter each year.

In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, weak countries would just continue to grow weaker. The war twenty years ago cost East Mist of its final enchanted metal mine, and life there became harsher.

Sorloin was an ordinary city just a short distance away from the capital, Diffindor. When the Auland Empire was still in the midst of a blazing summer, autumn had already started to set in here.

In the past, this was the period where its residents busied themselves with harvesting their crops with the accompaniment of joy and sorrow.

Being able to reap sufficient provisions was definitely a joyous affair. However, if the crops that were harvested were of inferior quality most of the time, then a tinge of sorrow would accompany the joy they felt.

The Northern Lands were plagued with winter half of the time, and most of its lands were frozen. Having crops that ripened once a year in tiny amounts was a normal situation. Furthermore, this involved the issue of whether they were able to safely get by the harsh winter. Thus, whenever autumn set in, everyone would be slightly crestfallen.

However, although the harvest wasn’t splendid this year either, the situation was slightly different.

“Don’t rush, there is enough for everyone!”

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The young knights carrying the insignia of the royal family were giving out provisions with bright smiles on their faces. It was already standard practice for the royalty and nobles to open their stores when food wasn’t enough. However, the royal family wasn’t really wealthy either, so they couldn’t buy many provisions either. The military nobles in the Northern Lands might have been known for their combat prowess, but they were equally known for being penniless as well. It was already difficult for them to sustain themselves, not to speak of helping others.

Thus, the foodstuffs given out every year would run out quickly, and the winter each year remained a difficult trial for most.

Thus, the food distribution in the past was similar to a battle, as everyone tried their best to fight for them. However, this time, they were all lining up neatly.

The reason? The dozens of carriages and resources stacked into a small mountain. Since there was enough of it to go around, naturally, there was no need to fight over it.

“Princess Reyne’s visit to the Auland was extremely successful. Not only did she raise our nation’s prestige, she even won many foodstuffs and supplies for us. Don’t panic, everyone. There is enough to go around, be it food, clothes, or blankets.”

Different from their usual bitter faces, the young knights were giving out food with happiness radiating from their faces as they promoted the greatness of the royal family.

“Umm … big brother knight, can you give me a little bit more food? Last year, you only gave me a sack of rice, and I was so hungry.”

The little knight froze. He remembered this seven- or eight-year-old green-haired girl. Last year, she came here with her mother. Upon seeing how emaciated both of them were, he gave a part of his rations to them. Even though the provisions were obviously still insufficient, the mother and daughter still thanked him profusely before leaving.

“Little girl, I can give you a little more this year, but where are your parents?”

Little Ailee was still so young, how could they send a small kid to collect rations alone?

“Daddy was bitten to death two years ago by a pack of wolves while trying to protect mummy and I. Mummy gave all of her food to me, and she didn’t make it. Now, I am the only one left in the house. But mummy taught me how to sew, so I can still make a living with that.”

The children of the poor matured early. Despite being just seven or eight, little Ailee was like a little adult in her speech. However, what she didn’t know was that her handicraft was poor, and the dolls she made were of poor quality, so how could she possibly make a living out of it? It was only that the little girl didn’t have much to eat, thus the neighbors thought of a way to help this piteous but resilient girl.

Hearing that calm recounting of a terrifying nightmare, the knight was taken aback. He felt as though something was clogged up in his throat and he can’t find any words to say. In the end, he could only sigh. After all, too much of such misfortune had befallen this wretched land. Even if he was motivated and filled with drive, how far could he help them? After such a long time, he was already numb to the endless waves of misfortunes that occurred here.

This land had been poor for many years. As a knight, the only thing he could do was hunt for prey and perhaps, hope that he managed to exact vengeance on little Ailee’s enemies.

“The rations were a little heavy, so you probably will be unable to carry it. So why don’t you play around in the field for a while. After I’m done with the distribution, I’ll help you carry it to your house.”

“Yup, thank you big brother knight. I will be playing at the Twin Princes Square then. Meet you under the statues later.”

The acne-filled face of the young knight continued to stare at the figure of the little girl skipping away before shaking his head to jolt himself back. Putting his thoughts aside, he continued with the distribution.

“Looks like I will have to give out my rations this year too. Right, since it is time for the autumn harvest, there should be rats in the mine. After digging out a few wild grasses and tree barks from the ground, I can steal from the kitchen some … Hey, strong lad over there! Don’t you feel embarrassed taking so much? Share a bit of it with the others! What? You are taking for that old granny over there? My apologies.”

The rash young warrior hurriedly apologized for his misunderstanding.

Little Ailee was very fond of the Twin Princes Square. Not only was it the location where her parents met and fell in love, there were also two beautiful statues depicting the Twin Princes, and her mother had told her many stories under the statues.

The old rock sculptures had already faded in color, but the debonair two young knights were still clear to see. The one standing on the slightly elevated platform was charging forth with a sword that represented the symbol of authority of the Mist Country, and it seemed as though nothing could stand in his way. At the time, his silver plate was soaked red by the blood of his enemies.

The one who stood on the lower platform was a dashing young warrior. He carried a fiery staff in one hand, and a giant sword in the other. His mouth looked as though he was in the midst of chanting some kind of profound incantation.

The two of them looked like thirteen- or fourteen-year-old golden-haired youths. The faces on both of the sculptures were identical, and it was clear to see that they were twins. Even though the sculptures had eroded over time, the elder brother missing an arm and the younger brother a leg, their unyielding will still clearly exuded from the statues.

While the rest of the square was filled with fallen leaves and dust, the surroundings of the statue were swept clean. This showed the special position these statues held in the heart of the people.

This had almost become a symbol of the East Mist Communal Country. Statues of the Twin Princes could be seen in nearly every single town, and in a certain sense, they had become the avatar of the Mist’s unyielding spirit against fate, as well as the Guardian God of the Mist. In order to boost the morale of the citizens, Princess Reyne was also trying her best to imitate one of the two.

“Umm … Big brother knights, I will be giving this to you. Please continue to protect our town.”

Ailee placed a half-eaten rye bread below the statues. This was a part of the very few provisions she had left. She remembered that, in the past, her mother used to do the same as well.

When she was younger, Ailee’s mother often recounted stories to her, and the story of these two big brother knights was the one that was retold the most frequently. Even though the contents of the story had blurred in her mind, little Ailee remembered that the big brother knights managed to chase away the evildoers and protected everybody.

She also remembered her mother saying these words.

“… Under the perseverance of the Princes, the Demons and Beastmen were driven back to their lair, while the greedy neighbouring kings and hypocritical church got their retribution, and everyone lived happily ever after.”

“But… But Ailee is still hungry. Is this happily ever after?”

She can still see the bitter smile on her father’s face then.

“… Daddy is useless, being unable to grant you a life of happiness. But believe in your daddy. The moment danger strikes, daddy will be just like the Twin Princes who fought to their deaths for the country. I will give up my life to protect you, mummy, and everyone else.”

She still remembered the blissful smile on her mother’s face then.

“Martin, I believe that you are the best knight, and that you will work hard to fulfill your vow when danger strikes.”

She still remembered the moment when her father fulfilled her vow, and how miserable her mother wept.

“Stupid Martin, I don’t need any knight, I just need you back!! … When will these bitter days come to an end!”

She also remembered the smile on her mother’s face before she departed.

“Little Ailee, don’t resent the world, and don’t hate this country. Our King has died in battle, and Princess Reyne was crowned when she was just fourteen. The Mist royalty has already gave their everything to fulfill their vows, so what do we have to complain about?”

“Just remember the favorite catchphrase of your daddy, ‘Hope lies at the end of despair. As long as the Mist flag continue to hang up high, we, as the people of Mist, will never give up hope!'”

“Little Ailee, your mummy and daddy were useless, unable to give you a life without woes. However, please live on with a smile. As long as you persevere, one day hope will arrive. Perhaps, the Twin Stars might even descend once more to salvage this country that is on the verge of collapsing…”

She remembered how hard she had tried to carve these words in her mind, but was still unable to recall the entirety of it. However, what left the greatest impression on her mind was the Twin Stars who would salvage this country.

“Big brother knights, perhaps you won’t be here to save this country even by next year, but please bless me so that I can get past this winter. There’s also Grandpa Marge, Big Brother Klore, Aunt Emmy, please bless them so that they remain safe through the winter as well. Oh right, there’s Lulu too. She might always bully me, but don’t blame her. She doesn’t have her daddy or mummy. Please look over her so that we can play together next year. Also, please bless … yeah, that kind-hearted big brother knight from before as well …”

In a single breath, little Ailee recited over a hundred names; even the name of the dog who bit her was on the list. Just as she was still trying her best to think of the names of people who required blessings, her prayers that had never been answered received an answer for the first time.

“They will be here. Next year, the country will be salvaged by the Twin Princes.”

“Everyone will be blessed as well. At the very least, no one else will starve to death.”

“At the end of despair lies a glimmer of hope! When the Mist flag flies high once more, the people of Mist will be saved!”

The moment these words fell, a figure dashed past her. That familiar face made little Ailee exclaim in surprise.

“Big brother knight!!”

At that moment, the young knight had finally finished distributing the foodstuffs, and was carrying Ailee’s and his own rations over. What welcomed him was a panicked look on little Ailee’s face.

“Big brother knight! It is the other big brother knight! The other big brother knight has come to life and he said that he will protect everyone and salvage this country!”

The direction which little Ailee’s finger pointed to was the elder brother of the Twin Stars sculpture. The Roland Sacred Sword in his hand pointed into the distance, as though showing them the way to a brighter future.

Knight Cloone was taken back for a moment, before nodding his head with a smile.

“Yup, Prince Roland will protect the Mist Country forever. The Will of Mist never yields.”

TL Notes:Sir Camisia -> Sir, as in how people address Knights.

Ailee addresses Roland as Big Brother Great Knight but as it sounds awkward… Gonna use it as the way it is now.

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