I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 48

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#48. Mountain Lord (5)

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Whiiiiing—

The icicles hanging under the eaves slice the cold wind into fine pieces.

Perhaps due to the unprecedented cold wave, even the northern monsters that usually ran rampant around this time had holed up in their caves.

…But for humans, the situation was a bit different.

“Heave!”

“Hup!”

“Haaah!”

The Mörsolt Family Territory was bustling with activity.

In the streets, merchants who had flocked there were burning with the heat of bargaining, and in the training ground within the fortress, bare-chested soldiers were sweating profusely as they trained.

These were scenes unbefitting the depths of winter ruled by General Winter.

Meanwhile.

In the administrative building of Mörsolt Castle, a woman was gazing at the scenery outside.

“…”

Rorschach.

Large eyes, a straight nose, and flawless white skin.

Her appearance was that of a noble lady from a painting itself.

If she aged just a little more, artists who specialized in painting beautiful women would be desperate to capture her image on canvas.

Who could think that this woman was a being born in Narok and raised in Narok?

“…How boring.”

Rorschach’s face was deeply troubled.

All the policies she had devised had achieved successful results, greatly advancing the military power and finances of Mörsolt Territory.

But despite this, Rorschach’s expression was only growing darker.

“Why hasn’t there been any contact lately?”

Though she was making Mörsolt Territory prosperous, it wasn’t because she had any special affection for this territory.

Even though the gazes of the administrative officials who had looked at her with suspicion had changed to admiration and respect, and the number of people following her continued to grow, Rorschach felt no particular emotion about it.

She needed neither recognition, nor respect, nor loyalty.

What Rorschach wanted was the attention of just one person.

“Could something have happened?”

She murmured quietly.

The person Rorschach always thought about these days.

She recalled the last conversation she had with that person.

That characteristic dry tone and calm voice.

‘The reason I can easily kill criminals is because I empathize far more with the victims than with the perpetrators.’

‘…’

‘People like you and your parents.’

‘….’

‘After putting all my strength into empathizing with those people with all my might, there’s no power left to empathize with those perpetrator bastards.’

After that conversation, she came to see him differently.

Until then, she had honestly only thought of him as just an ‘excellent person’, a ‘cold-blooded person without blood or tears’, or the ‘Young Master of Iron Blood’.

However… that wasn’t the case.

His blood was Iron Blood, but it was like the boiling molten metal of a blazing furnace.

So hot that it would burn away evil and corrupt things, yet infinitely warm and merciful to the weak and good.

After learning that, working somehow became enjoyable.

Whether the gazes of subordinates who had looked at her with distrust gradually turned to loyalty, or whether the anxiety of superiors changed to firm trust, she didn’t particularly care.

Even her salary jumping up and bonuses being generously granted didn’t serve as much motivation.

Only that person’s attention and praise could move her.

The time spent sitting across from him during busy periods to review progress was her only source of vitality.

Rorschach closed her eyes and recalled that person’s voice.

That low, calm voice with a hint of coldness that emerged whenever those small, pretty lips moved delicately.

‘Work diligently until the deadline. If you have time to change underwear, I recommend looking at one more document.’

‘I’m changing this underwear for the first time in a week. I don’t even have time to wash, so I’m wiping my body with a towel soaked in water. My body smells like well-fermented cheese.’

‘I also haven’t washed once since coming up from Narok until attending the banquet.’

‘When did you change your underwear?’

‘I wasn’t wearing any to begin with.’

‘Is this why you pulled me up from Narok?’

‘It’s what I said from the beginning. Didn’t I pay the proper price?’

‘Thinking about it now, passing around one beer each was too cheap a deal.’

‘If there’s something you want, feel free to tell me. If it’s within my authority, I’ll grant you anything.’

‘…I’ll remember those words.’

He had said he would grant anything she wanted.

That is, if it’s something he can listen to.

And Rorschach is not a greedy woman who would desire things like immortality or world domination.

“What I want is clear.”

She gazed at the white horizon visible through the window and let out a sigh.

“You’ll have to come back alive first before we can decide whether to accept it or not.”

He went on an expedition.

The destination is the Beauvoir abandoned mine, which the Empire has designated as a zone uninhabitable for humans.

Rorschach recalled the conversation he had just before departing on his expedition.

‘If I manage the merchant group, what will you do now, Young Lord?’

‘Conquest.’

‘Conquest? Where?’

‘The entrance of Meursault Mountain, the abandoned mine zone. I will reclaim that place.’

‘…I learned that place is a sealed zone? Designated by the Empire as a Human Survival Impossible Zone.’

‘Whether survival is possible or impossible is not for the Empire to decide.’

‘Then who decides?’

‘I do.’

…It’s so absurd that I let out a hollow laugh.

The Empire’s Emperor is not such an easy person.

That mad conquest monarch who claims all under heaven as his territory and plants flags everywhere in the world gave up completely on Beauvoir Mine at Meursault Mountain, saying ‘this place is absolutely impossible.’

And he wants to subjugate such a place with about a hundred dying prisoners?

‘If anyone else had said it, I would have called it impossible crazy talk.’

But somehow Rorschach didn’t think Featherback’s words sounded like empty boasting.

He thought that even if not completely reclaiming the Beauvoir Mine region, at least paving a path to Beauvoir Mine seemed like something he could accomplish.

‘Who knows? Perhaps you might even reveal the identity of the monster that made Beauvoir Mine a Human Survival Impossible Zone.’

Even just that would be an tremendous achievement.

Because humanity still doesn’t know the identity of the culprit that annihilated thousands of natives from nearby villages and the three hundred knights who went on subjugation at Beauvoir Abandoned Mine.

“…Lord Featherback. Please return safely.”

Rorschach muttered while watching his breath rise outside the window.

Though budding spring was still far away, his heart felt somehow ticklish.

* * *

[Kaaah!]

An enormous fountain of blood gushed from Ice Dragon Adara’s mouth.

The culprit that made Beauvoir Abandoned Mine Zone, and furthermore Meursault Mountain, a Human Survival Impossible Zone had met its end.

Thud!

Adara stuck out its tongue and collapsed.

Featherback brushed away with his hand the blood that soaked his hair and flowed down his cheeks.

Crack—

Perhaps because the weather was so cold, the dragon’s blood froze quickly.

When blood freezes, butchering becomes difficult.

Featherback hurriedly butchered the ice dragon’s corpse.

“The first thing I need to secure is…”

Inside Adara’s maw, he could see the single horn protruding from the roof of its mouth.

While all the other teeth were completely cracked and broken, this one alone didn’t have even the slightest scratch.

“As expected, it’s the fang.”

A half Ice Dragon possesses one fang.

Featherback repeatedly stabbed upward at the soft flesh of the palate with the dagger at his waist.

…Squelch!

The long fang was pulled out.

“Next are the scales.”

Featherback crawled out of the Ice Dragon’s mouth and headed toward the lower jaw.

There, he could see one exceptionally large scale that protruded in a different direction from the other scales.

That one too, unlike the other scales, didn’t have even the slightest scratch.

Passing through scales that were hideously cracked like broken mirrors, Featherback stood before the special scale beneath the jaw.

Reverse Scale.

A single special scale that protruded between Ice Dragon Adara’s lower jaw and uvula.

“This one scale alone rivals those of the Pureblooded Dragon Clan.”

Pureblooded Dragons have scales of this caliber protruding all over their entire bodies, but in Ice Dragon Adara’s case, there was exactly one—this single Reverse Scale protecting only the vital point of the neck.

Featherback scraped away the surrounding flesh with his dagger and dug out the scale.

…Riiip!

Finally, Ice Dragon Adara’s fang and Reverse Scale came into Featherback’s possession.

Featherback bound them with a leather cord and slung them over his shoulder.

“I’ll make the fang into a sword and process the scale into a shield.”

It was a nice side income from coming to Beauvoir Abandoned Mine.

“Lastly…”

Featherback dug into Adara’s lung cavity with his dagger.

Crack— Crack— Crack— Crack—

As he cut through the belly and entered, a cave-like interior was revealed.

Broken and bent ribs stood here and there like abandoned timber supporting a mine shaft.

Melted flesh and entrails had pooled up to his knees, rippling like a swamp.

Featherback followed the bluish light flowing from deep within the darkness.

Soon, a round bead shaped like a pearl in mud revealed itself.

A small sphere barely the size of a thumbnail.

Inside the clean and transparent orb, white cold aura was swirling violently.

“Dragon Core. This too cannot be overlooked.”

A crystal that the Ice Dragon had accumulated by absorbing the mountain’s spiritual energy over the past several hundred years.

The world calls this a dragon heart, but in truth it’s a concept far removed from an actual heart.

If we’re being precise, it’s closer to sediment that accumulated during the process of converting spiritual energy to mana.

‘If a warrior eats this, their body becomes cold and hard like eternal snow. If a mage eats it, they gain another mana ring, and if a priest eats it, God’s voice becomes much clearer. It’s a priceless treasure.’

Featherback immediately tossed it into his mouth.

His stomach felt burning hot.

Energy that’s too cold is no different from extreme heat in its intensity.

‘For now I’ll just consume it, and postpone melting and absorbing it for later.’

Absorbing a dragon core was dangerous even now that he’d reached 3-Star.

Featherback planned to digest the dragon core after making full preparations in a safe place.

‘Now I should return to the territory. With the report of Ice Dragon Adara’s death, Beauvoir Mine will be officially reclaimed.’

The end of an expedition is the return.

This means the expedition isn’t over until you successfully return.

Featherback pried open Ice Dragon Adara’s belly hide and emerged outside.

Having finished the most important part, now only storage remained.

“Can’t let other scavengers devour it. A dragon’s corpse has many uses.”

Featherback swept up the surrounding snow and ice fragments to bury Ice Dragon Adara’s corpse.

As long as it doesn’t give off a rotting smell, scavengers won’t come flocking.

The mountain’s snow and ice would hide the corpse and prevent decay.

Later he would formally bring soldiers to proceed with bone extraction and processing.

Featherback descended the mountain carrying the dragon’s fangs and scales.

Having thoroughly consumed even the dragon core, he was now taking everything possible from this place.

….

…However.

There was one thing so trivial that even the meticulous Featherback forgot and left behind.

That was.

“Young masterrrrrr!”

A man coming down the mountain peak with tears and snot streaming.

“Me, me too! You have to take me toooooo!”

It was goat-bearded Sancho, the only survivor among the prisoners.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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