Chapter 122 – Return of the Winter (4)

The soldiers of the Fourth Division witnessed the moment when the northeastern rebels were crushed between ten thousand strong heavy cavalries and the fortress of Beldeve. They also watched Urkel, the Revenge King, leading the warriors of Arbalde to leave the battlefield and attack the Order of the Evil Snake. There were many who also witnessed the end of the warriors of Arbalde.

Nienna Nelben’s northern army didn’t hesitate to trample on the villagers, not leaving even a single one alive. Throughout the entire mission, none of the cavalrymen said even a single word—they only communicated using sign language.

It was only after all the villagers and warriors had been killed that the soldiers of the Fourth Division understood the reason behind this.

The battlefield, which had been filled with the songs of the Crack, was now completely silent. The northern army was able to ensure that they didn’t miss a single warrior or villager who was still hiding somewhere by using just sign language.

The northern army was approaching the fortress of Beldeve, and the soldiers of the Fourth Division looked at them nervously even though they knew the northern army was here to aid them. Standing at the forefront, right beside General Nienna was a knight holding a sword that was stabbed into a head.

“Urkel.. that’s Urkel’s head, isn’t it?”

The mutterings of one of the soldiers spread throughout the fortress of Beldeve. This meant only one thing—it was the end of the civil war that had plagued the northeast for decades. The soldiers of the Fourth Division had a hard time adapting to the unexpected reality of their long-fought war ending in such a short time.

The civil war led by Urkel, the lord of Arbalde, that continued for thirty-three years ended in just one day with the intervention of General Nienna and the Northern Army. It was such a futile ending that the soldiers wondered why Duke Henna had put so much effort and suffered so much over the years. It felt as if they were being shown that the civil war in the east is not even a big deal to the Imperial Army—and this was the truth.

Rather than feeling the joy of victory, the soldiers felt rage and anger as they questioned why the Imperial Army had left the eastern territory unattended until now. But the Northern Army’s momentum was overwhelming, causing the soldiers of the Fourth Division to not dare to show their anger and rage. But, the Northern Army was clearly not given a warm welcome.

“We don’t seem to be welcomed here,” Suvole said as if he was teasing Nienna.

Nienna could feel that as well, but she was used to such a situation; her army was often not very welcome anywhere they went.

Nienna felt the urge to freeze and pull out Suvole’s deriding tongue. In fact, she wasn’t the type to hold back when she could do what she wanted.

Two of the knights from the Order of Fenrir grabbed Suvole’s arms from both sides and grabbed his chin upon seeing Nienna give a signal. It was only after NIenna grabbed onto Suvole’s tongue that he knew what was going on. Suvole desperately begged Nienna.

“W-wait, don’t do this. Please hear me out!” Suvole shouted.

“These will be the last words that you can say with your tongue, so say something meaningful.”

“N-no. What I’m trying to say is that they don’t seem to respect your authority, General. They should be paying their respects to you, who is their savior.”

“It doesn’t matter; I didn’t come here to receive their respects. Hm, but I just remembered something that I had forgotten about.”

Nienna didn’t think that Suvole’s excuse was good enough to change her mind about pulling out his tongue, but she decided to let it slide for now. She would have a lot of time to pull out Suvole’s tongue anyway.

Nienna beckoned slightly to the back of the line, and a woman with a small figure came forward and stood next to Nienna while riding a horse. She was wearing a hood that covered her entirely.

Suvole had often seen her meeting and talking to Nienna, but he had no idea who she was. He simply thought that she might be one of the easterners that Nienna had brought in for interrogation purposes.

‘But why is she standing beside Nienna right now..?’

Nienna drove her horse toward the front of the fortress of Beldeve.

“Who’s in charge of the fortress these days?” Nienna asked.

Nienna could enter the fortress as she pleased, since the main gate of the fortress had already been destroyed. But Nienna did not act arrogantly.

Soon, Horhell and Sina Solvane walked out from behind the gate, causing Nienna’s eyes to widen.

“Horhell? You look like you haven’t aged at all.”

“Thank you. I can see that the same is true for you, General Nienna Nelben.”

“I heard that you were beaten up pretty badly by Barth, but I see that you’ve become the commander of the division. Congratulations.”

“Thank you for your high regard, General. But I’m not the commander. The commander is Sina Solvane, who is standing next to me,” Horhell pointed to Sina Solvane standing next to him.

“I’m Sina Solvane from the Order of the Blue Rose, General Nienna Nelben. I welcome you in the name of the Fourth Division,” Sina said politely.

Nienna tilted her head in wonder when she saw Sina.

“Did Hela have a daughter? She only had a son as far as I remember,” Nienna asked.

“Unfortunately, Duke Henna passed away during the time I had been staying in Beldeve as a guest. I am temporarily leading this place. Now that General Nienna is here, please recommend a suitable person to command the Fourth Division and I will humbly put down my position.”

“Ah, I see. I thought you were Hela’s daughter because you only had one eye as well. My apologies. I happen to be a little indifferent toward everything other than the land I rule. Now that I’m taking a closer look, you are prettier than Hela. Hela, too, used to have a beautiful face when she was young.”

“...Thank you, General.”

There was no way that having a single eye could be inherited, but Nienna shrugged with a straight face. Sina thought that Nienna might be even weirder than the rumors said.

“Let’s not continue this chat here. Why don’t we go in and continue our conversation? Oh, I had something to give you before that..”

Nienna rummaged through her pocket inside her cloak as if she was looking for something.

Sina patiently waited to see what Nienna was talking about, but Nienna couldn’t find what she was looking for even after a long time. Nienna’s expression changed into one of bewilderment.

“Hmm, well this is..”

“Um, General Nienna? May I ask what you are looking for?” Sina asked.

“Oh. I’m looking for the previous commander of the Fourth Division.” historical

Nienna pulled her hand out of her pocket, almost as if she had been waiting for Sina’s question. However, Nienna’s hand was still empty.

Sina tried taking a closer look at Nienna’s hand to figure out what Nienna meant, but she couldn’t quite figure it out.

The moment Sina raised her head suspiciously, the hooded woman who had been standing next to Nienna took off her hood. Seeing her, Sina’s eyes opened wide.

“Long time no see, female knight. It seems like you’ve been guarding the fortress pretty well.”

At the same time, the sound of Horhell dropping his sword was heard from behind. Similar sounds could be heard from all over the fortress, while Suvole was surprised as well.

It was Hela Henna.

Nienna shook her empty hands and grinned.

“Ta-da.”

***

Nienna, Hela, and Sina moved to the audience chamber of the fortress. The Northern Army settled in the open space outside the fortress, since there was not enough room for ten thousand people in the fortress of Beldeve despite its large size. The Northern Army wasn’t upset that they had to stay outside, since they were being supported and treated by the follow-up units.

“How..what happened? Everyone thought that you were dead.”

Sina was still looking at Hela in disbelief. Horhell was even more surprised than Sina. He knew that it was rude, but he was so shocked that he grabbed Hela’s hand to make sure that she was real.

“I know. I thought I was going to die too,” Hela admitted in a calm manner. “But I can’t really explain what exactly happened either. I remember seeing the waves engulfing me after I was thrown into the sea by that monster from the Crack, but I have no memory after that. I was in the barracks of General Nienna’s support unit when I came to my senses.”

Sina turned her head and looked at Nienna. Nienna just shrugged at Sina’s gaze.

“We don’t have much to say either. We found Duke Henna in a pit that was made to prevent the wind from blowing into it, and it was quite well made too. She was wrapped in high-quality leather. She even had a flag with the Henna family’s symbol on it to make sure that we could identify her. Without that.. I would have just passed by her or killed her because I would have thought she was one of the warriors of Arbalde. The last time I saw Hela was fifty years ago, so I wouldn’t have been able to recognize her at all. Back then, she used to have both her eyes and arms. She looked much more beautiful as well. Anyway, it’s a good thing that I was able to bring her back alive. Although I don’t know how Dame Sina feels about Hela’s sudden return.” Nienna said.

“I couldn’t be more grateful. The position of the commander was quite burdensome for me and I am not suitable for it in the first place. It’s only right to give it back to the rightful owner.”

Sina showed her modesty and bowed her head. Sina noticed that Hela and Nienna were both hiding something. What happened to Hela was not something that could just be passed off with the sentence ‘I don’t know what happened.’ It was clear that there was some kind of secret intervention that could not be mentioned.

But Sina couldn’t argue or ask them what they were hiding. Prying too much could give an impression that Sina didn’t welcome Hela’s return.

Meanwhile, Nienna smiled as if she could read Sina’s thoughts.

“There’s no need to worry, knight. I have checked Hela myself. She is perfectly sane—in fact, no one would believe that she has been fighting against the Crack for decades.”

“Yes, General.”

Nienna’s tone was strong as if she was telling Sina to keep it under wraps. Sina decided to hold back her questions for now.

“By the way,” Nienna leaned over the table. “I have heard from Sir Suvole that there was a remarkable man here.”

Sina couldn’t figure out who Suvole was, but she immediately realized who ‘the incredible man’ that Nienna was talking about. Sina’s shoulders stiffened as she got nervous.

‘She’s probably Juan’s daughter.. Will she recognize Juan? And would she acknowledge him as her father if she recognizes him?’

“General Nienna. I have something to ask you before I introduce you to him..”

“Nienna!”

Sina’s face turned pale at the voice she heard even before she could finish what she was saying.

At the same time, a black-haired young man could be seen leaning from the railing on the second floor—it was Juan.

“Long time no see. I just took a shower; I didn’t want to meet you while I was drenched in blood. So how have you been? Have you enjoyed your hobby?” Juan asked in a joyous tone.

Squeak!

Nienna jumped up from her seat with the sound of a chair scratching against the floor. The faces of everyone became distorted upon seeing Juan who had appeared out of nowhere without giving them any time to prepare. No, everyone except for Suvole, who didn’t understand what was going on.

“Is that the famous black-haired heretic? Wait.. what’s wrong with everyone?”

Suvole’s words were dismissed as they were.

Juan slowly walked down the stairs step by step, while Nienna was staring at him as if she did not want to miss a single scene.

Sina noticed that Nienna’s sword had turned white with frost as she clutched her sword tightly.

“I saw you taking an active part on the battlefield. You’ve become much more experienced. Well, you were the type of child who could run just by being taught how to walk and speak eloquently just by being taught how to speak. I knew you’d have great accomplishments.”

No murderous intent could be felt from Juan. Rather, Sina couldn’t read any energy or expressions from Juan. Sina thought that such a Juan was even more dangerous than usual. Sina inadvertently recalled Juan’s expressionless face when he had calmly annihilated the Order of the Blue Rose.

“It’s a little surprising that you fight without using a weapon now. Are you sick of it now? No, maybe it’s because you didn’t have an opponent who was strong enough for you to need to use your weapon. The only ones who could stand against you were Barth Baltic and Gerard Gain.”

Juan had no hatred for Nienna, but at the same time, he had no expectations either. He intended to decide everything after meeting her at this moment.

“What about now? Are you going to keep holding onto your sword?” Juan asked.

Sina broke out in a cold sweat. Then Sina stepped forward with the sound of ice breaking even before she knew it. Sina didn’t even realize that she was already standing in Nienna’s way.

“General Nienna. Please hear me out first.”

The person most surprised at Sina’s action was Sina herself. Never once did she think that she would be standing in the way of General Nienna who was more respected than anyone else in the Imperial Army and held the highest authority, just after the Regent—especially when her action was to protect Juan.

“Sina, there’s no need for you to come in the middle of our conversation.”

Sina looked down at the floor upon hearing Juan’s laughter from behind her back.

The sound of ice breaking that was heard earlier was the sound of Nienna putting down the sword in her hand. Fragments of ice were scattered on the floor as they fell off of Nienna’s hands, and the murderous intent that had filled the room disappeared completely.

At that moment, all that remained was Nienna’s pure curiosity.

“I thought you were Gerard, that son of a bitch. But I guess I was wrong. Who are you? You look quite similar to someone else I know. Perhaps you’re the result of my dad’s private life?”