Chapter 312:

Chapter 312:

The sky was dark and low.

In the midst of the endless blizzard, I smelled the storm that I had experienced in the sea.

The snow on the ground did not melt.

The snowflakes that were blown by the wind swayed like waves.

The sky was full of dark clouds, and the world that was piled up was white but dark.

Every time I breathed, cold air entered my lungs and seemed to freeze my body.

As soon as we went outside, the scouts divided into groups and scattered.

There were ten groups of ten people each, and I was in the last group, group ten.

And then, the ten people in each group paired up and moved in five teams.

“But why did I end up with you?”

I asked that to Lean, who was walking silently next to me, cutting through the blizzard.

Lean did not answer. He looked determined not to say anything at this moment. I sighed.

‘This is ridiculous.’

I vaguely thought that I would have to move with someone anyway, but I never expected that Lean, that man, would come out himself.

He wouldn’t tell me why even if I asked, so I decided to focus on my duty as a scout.

“So where do we go?”

“...We’re heading to the unexplored area.”

He would talk if it was about work, huh?

He’s such a boring man.

His behavior reminded me of another guy who spoke in a stiff tone.

‘But he’s softer than Choi Do-yoon, right? No, he’s just a psychopath.’

At least Lean made remarks that showed he cared about his colleagues, like telling them to come back alive.

He wasn’t as bad as Choi Do-yoon.

“Where is the unexplored area?”

“Look at the map.”

Lean unfolded the map.

It showed the northern part of the continent in detail, and the map divided the northern continent into several large areas.

More than half of them were crossed out with red letters.

The marked places were where the exploration was finished, and the places that weren’t marked were where we had never been before.

The place where I would wander today was northwest from Gardian.

I nodded after checking the direction, and as I was about to move again with Lean, I saw something suspicious in the distance.

“Is that the Frechen Emperor? And his subordinates too....”

Frechen was leading his subordinates somewhere. Unlike the other scouts, they were moving in groups of dozens.

Did they follow after the scouts left?

Lean opened his mouth before I could tell him that.

“Don’t mind them.”

“Don’t mind them? That’s clearly a personal action, don’t you think?”

“He’s a man who won’t listen even if we talk to him. And they’re also doing their own version of scouting, so we can’t say anything. It’s better to leave them alone. As long as we don’t interfere with them, they won’t interfere with us either.”

“...It would be nice if they helped us too.”

I muttered that, but Lean didn’t answer.

We walked around the land that hadn’t been explored yet, cutting through the blizzard.

We jumped over the cracks in the ice cliffs and moved around the huge icebergs.

Sometimes we saw something other than snow and ice.

It was a forest of trees that grew sharply together, but the trees were black and dead and had no leaves.

The forest of mummies.

That was the first word that came to my mind when I saw this place.

Lean took off his glove on his right hand and touched the black grain of the tree with his bare hand.

“It’s a Longglove apple tree.”

“I didn’t know apple trees grew here.”

“The northern land was always cold, but it was also rich in the past. Longglove was one of the most representative trees that had a very strong vitality and survived in the harsh environment of the northern continent. The fruits that this tree gave were a blessing for the northern Gardians.”

For Gardians, Longglove apple trees were a symbol of strong vitality.

But those Longglove trees were dying.

“They’re still alive, right?”

“For now. But as soon as we pull out the tree by its roots to save it, it will die right away. It’s just holding on to its last lifeline in this state.”

Eventually, they would die someday.

Even this tree, which could be seen as the core of the northern continent, could not overcome the curse of frost.

I looked at Lean’s side profile with a bitter feeling and wanted to ask him something.

Did he know why he took Keira’s appearance?

Did he know that Keira made a deal with the system and tried to do something to protect this world?

“Hey...”

“Shh.”

Just when I thought I had a chance to ask him, Lean put his index finger on his lips and looked outside the forest.

His eyes narrowed.

“It’s a frost giant. There are two of them.”

At his words, I listened carefully and heard a different noise mixed in between the gusts of wind.

The heavy footsteps of the frost giants and the screams of resistance.

Human screams.

“...We’ve met them.”

“Let’s move.”

I nodded and followed behind Lean.

As we crossed the snow-covered hill, we saw two giant frost giants chasing the scouts.

There were two of them.

One was unconscious, and the other was desperately carrying him on his back as he ran.

The one carrying him was bleeding.

Red drops of blood fell to the ground along the way they passed, and the swirling snow covered them.

The red traces were erased in an instant.

The frost giants were close behind them.

Before I could shout anything, Lean moved like lightning.

Whoa?

Lean slid down the snowfield and soon reached the foot of the frost giant in the lead. It didn’t take much time to get there, and Lean didn’t leave any footprints on the snowfield.

“Well. That’s it for now. Let’s go. I don’t think we can find anything else today anyway.”

“...Yeah.”

Leann obediently followed Yu-hyun’s words.

When he first came here, Leann was ahead, but when he went back, Yu-hyun was leading the way in a strange scene.

And that day.

There were no deaths in the exploration team by miracle.

***

After Yu-hyun’s first day as an explorer was successful, his perception of him changed for sure.

The rumor that he risked his life and defeated the frost giant spread, and the explorers’ eyes that ignored or guarded him disappeared.

It was an honorable act to fight for his comrades’ lives.

The explorers, made up of Gard’s warriors, valued it very much.

And the rumor spread further, and the survivors of Gardian sometimes greeted Yu-hyun lightly or even talked to him.

Right now, Yu-hyun was sitting outside the city with the explorers and having a meal together.

“Hahaha. We’re grateful to have such a strong warrior with us.”

“Sister. Do you know the names of the other people?”

Yu-hyun shook his head at Ringug’s question. Ringug took this opportunity to introduce the people around him.

“This hairy old man is Ethan.”

“Hey! I’m not an old man yet!”

“He claims to be a young man in his prime, but he’s not, right?”

Ringug’s playful words made the surrounding colleagues laugh.

“This sturdy lady with an eye patch is Sugara. She’s amazing with daggers. This guy here is Hanson. He has the best eyesight. This old man with scars all over is Durpf. He’s a veteran who’s been an explorer for 20 years, and he swings a huge double-edged axe.”

Ringug introduced the ten or so explorers who were sitting there to Yu-hyun.

Yu-hyun greeted them.

They all knew about Yu-hyun’s exploits and welcomed him with a smile.

“And, that old man sitting alone over there is... Ryan. You know him, right?”

“Yeah.”

Ryan sat quietly and drank beer. His sharp eyes and lonely appearance were like a lone wolf running through the snowfield.

“He looks like that, but he’s actually very old. Almost 50.”

“Really? He doesn’t look like it.”

Ryan looked no more than his early 30s at most.

He had no beard and no wrinkles on his face, which made him look even more so.

“Ryan is the most experienced in our exploration team. He has been active as an explorer for 32 years. He is practically a living history of Gardian, who has been acting with Leann.”

“Ringug. Stop talking nonsense.”

Ryan snapped sharply as if he didn’t want to hear that flattering praise.

“Hey. How many frost giants have you killed so far? You deserve to hear that.”

“I’m just doing what I have to do as an honorable warrior.”

“Sigh. Ryan captain always says that grumpy stuff. That’s why you’re still single at that age.”

“Hahaha! Sugara. Don’t be too hard on him. The captain must have his reasons.”

“That’s right. I think Ryan is cool. He’s so strong and humble too.”

Ringug also joined in and Sugara shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn’t help it.

Just as the atmosphere was getting warm, a huge shadow suddenly came up.

“Hey, missy. You did a great job last time?”

Emperor Frechen.

He approached Yu-hyun and spoke to her in a friendly manner.

The expressions of the explorers around him were tense. They didn’t know what Frechen’s purpose was for coming here, but it didn’t seem like a good intention.

“...What?”

“Ha ha. Don’t be so wary. I’m just here to check out the interesting rumor I heard. You joined the exploration team, saved your comrades, and defeated the frost giant. I wasn’t mistaken then.”

Why was this man praising me so much?

Even though he had insulted me in front of everyone, Frechen didn’t seem to hold a grudge.

That made me more suspicious of him.

I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Frechen. Stop interfering.”

Ryan glared at Frechen. Frechen glanced at Ryan and raised his hands in surrender.

“Well, there’s always another chance. I look forward to seeing your next impressive feat.”

Frechen said that and left. I didn’t know what he was plotting by trying to be friendly with me, but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

Besides, Ryan, who was usually quiet, became very aggressive when he spoke to Frechen.

‘He’s Lean’s right-hand man, so he must hate Frechen who opposes Lean.’

Not to mention, Frechen was the second-in-command and Ryan was the third. That gap must have also contributed to their bad relationship.

Ryan was tense and curt, while Frechen was smooth and self-indulgent.

Their personalities were polar opposites.

‘Well, it’s none of my business. The important thing is Lean’s situation.’

Lean had been avoiding me since that day, as if he had something on his mind.

Of course, he never missed an exploration day, but he didn’t hang out with me like before. He avoided me whenever he could.

I wanted to ask him something, but I couldn’t find the opportunity.

***

A week had passed since I came here.

During that time, I participated in four explorations and successfully completed them.

And every time I succeeded in an exploration, I felt a power rising in my body.

As I gained people’s recognition, became closer to them, and brought down the frost giant.

A small amount of stories filled my body.

‘It’s not a complete story yet, but I guess I’ve stirred the water a bit.’

This meant that my life span had been extended by a few weeks.

But it wasn’t enough. The most important thing was to find the cause of the frozen curse, not just defeat the frost giant and get people’s approval.

And also, the fragments of the Codex that were somewhere in this world.

‘I hope I find something today. Who will I be working with this time?’

As I arrived at the square early in the morning.

“Uh...”

“...”

I ran into Lean who was already there.