I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 91

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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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#91. The Scent of Money (1)

Whooooosh—

The blizzards of the Northern Region blow 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, without rest.

White frozen shadows and permanently hardened Frozen Ground.

The northernmost edge of the Rikeion Empire is this barren and harsh.

The Sky hangs low as if to crush Humans, and the towering Mountain Range makes everything around it seem insignificant.

The night is so dark that even the most sharp-eyed Guide cannot help but lose sight of the starlight.

That’s why the faces of Northerners bear marks other than frostbite scars.

Those are marks carved by being crushed under the weight of life.

Only those who face and overcome the cold wind survive.

Only the strong who overcome the cruel winter nights can live to face tomorrow’s sun, and to do so, they must rely on each other and strengthen their bonds.

For Northerners, winter is fear and fate, life, and home.

…But the situation is a bit different for Outsiders who aren’t from the Northern Region.

Merchant.

They come from distant places to this Northern Region to buy and sell goods.

The Northern Region as seen through their eyes is truly a nightmarish place.

Any Merchant who has built great wealth usually has at least one experience of traveling to the Northern Region for business in their younger days.

And along with that, the regret and fear about the nose, ears, Fingers, and toes they lost there.

Is that why?

They never bring up stories of business trips to the Northern Region while completely sober.

When they’re heavily drunk and have gained the courage to face those memories, or when they need to prove their courage in front of Family Members or Friend.

That’s when they tell stories about their experiences of traveling to the Northern Region for business.

They grimace and break out in cold sweat as they reminisce about the ice roads and snowy fields covered in snow, and the white monsters that roamed above them.

What these merchants trade after breaking through the bitter cold and gray blizzards are mostly salt and grains, and spices cultivated in the warm south.

These are common supplies in places with ordinary weather, terrain, and vegetation, but when they reach the Northern Region, they gain tremendous value.

In fact, there are many cases where several types of herbs that are liberally sprinkled in the south’s slums to eliminate the foul smell of low-quality meat are traded in the Northern Region at prices higher than gold of the same weight.

An opportunity to accumulate enough wealth to feed several generations if just one proper trade is accomplished.

That is precisely what the journey to the Northern Region represents.

…But there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Great opportunities come with great risks.

There’s a saying that to carry 1kg of goods to the Northern Region, one must sacrifice the same weight in blood, flesh, and bone.

Merchants practically live with charcoal fires attached to their bodies to avoid freezing to death in the Northern Region’s harsh climate.

They build bodies as strong as decent warriors to avoid dying from exhaustion in the Northern Region’s treacherous terrain.

They train to swim out even if thin ice breaks and they fall into water, and wear thick, heavy fur armor to protect their bodies from monsters’ teeth.

…Despite all this, the survival rate of merchants who depart for commercial ventures to the Northern Region falls far short of even 1%.

Only an extremely small number win this battle of nerves and seize enormous wealth, while the absolute majority are buried in raging blizzards and become just another layer of the eternal frozen ground.

* * *

And here are those who have joined this gamble with their lives as stakes.

Merchants who embarked on a long journey from the south and finally arrived here in the Northern Region.

They came here through countless hardships to reach Mörsolt Castle.

“Mörsolt Territory will be visible soon. That’s where the real challenge begins, so steel yourselves.”

“The hardships we’ve endured so far are nothing. From here on, it’s a journey where most die.”

“It’s a place teeming with bitter cold, steep mountain slopes, and monsters. Nine out of ten of us will die.”

Veteran merchants lead the novice merchants.

However, even among these so-called novices, none have less than 10 years of experience.

The merchants climbed the hill carrying their luggage bundles.

Once they crossed this hill, Mörsolt Castle would be visible beyond the horizon.

They crossed the hill prepared for death.

And soon the bitter cold earth where only death and solitude, regret and lingering attachments would rage…

“Huh?”

…was what they expected?

“What is this?”

The merchants had to open their eyes wide in bewilderment.

How should they describe this scene?

“What is all this commotion…?”

The road to Mörsolt Castle was completely leveled without a single bump or dip.

And on top of it was packed full with countless merchants and cargo wagons.

The coniferous trees towering on both sides of the road perfectly blocked the blizzard, and there wasn’t a single gravel stone on the straight new road that cut through.

So many people had come and gone that the ground was firmly packed and smooth.

“Don’t push!”

“Hey! Are you cutting in line!?”

“Stop fooling around and get out! I’ve been in the same spot for three days already!”

“Damn it! At this rate, I doubt I’ll even see the gatekeeper’s shadow this month!”

“Gentlemen over there, don’t fight! We have roasted sweet potatoes and roasted corn that are perfect for eating while waiting!”

“Let us in quickly! At this rate, I’ll eat all the provisions I brought right here at the castle gate! I’m starving to death!”

“For those who’ve eaten all their provisions, we have roasted sweet potatoes and roasted corn that are perfect to eat. We’re also roasting chestnuts right now~”

In front of Mörsolt Castle Gate, those wanting to trade were lined up, creating a sea of people.

To exaggerate a bit, there were as many people as snowflakes carried by the blizzard.

The merchants who had just arrived in the Northern Region looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

“Is it because the forest grew? There’s no wind at all.”

“Well I’ll be. They’ve cut down all the mountains, so the road is incredibly comfortable.”

“There are soldiers patrolling over there. I don’t see even a single Frost Wolf, which are so common around here.”

Even the old and experienced merchants are gaping with their mouths wide open.

The young merchants keep looking around constantly.

A young man wearing a deeply pulled hood set down an apple crate and spoke.

“This is completely different from what I heard? It’s incredibly prosperous! I can hardly believe this is a city in the Northern Region. At this level, I’d believe it if you told me this was a central city in the warm Central Region.”

Right at that moment.

Suddenly, thunderous cheers erupted from the middle of the waiting line.

“Wooooaaah!”

“The Young Lord is coming!”

“Long live Lord Blood Lily! Long live!”

The merchants who had just arrived craned their necks to see what was happening.

The young man who had been fiddling with the apple crate did the same.

“What? Who is Blood Lily?”

“Shh.”

An old merchant beside him cautioned him.

“Blood Lily refers to the Young Lord of Mörsolt. You’ll be in big trouble if you don’t know that here.”

“Why is his nickname Blood Lily?”

“He caught all the criminals who were eating away at Mörsolt Territory overnight and had their heads cut off. Because of that, all the lilies around the execution ground turned red.”

“Come on, that’s quite an exaggerated nickname, isn’t it? Just executing a few people for show couldn’t possibly turn flowers red…”

“Well. I’ve personally counted the number of heads hanging on the tall poles. I don’t think that nickname is an exaggeration. And do you think this current transformation could be created just for show?”

“…”

At the old merchant’s words, the young man cupped his chin and fell into thought.

Soon, the crowd parted to the left and right, and a boy appeared.

Snow-white hair, pupils sparkling like rubies.

A white sword and white shield hanging down beneath the white horse’s flanks, white cloak trailing.

The old merchant spoke while looking at the boy.

“That boy is Featherback, the Young Lord of Mörsolt. Take a good look at him. From now on, all trade in the Northern Region will be conducted under that boy’s name.”

“….”

The young man gazes at the boy in the distance.

Just then, the boy named Featherback shouts loudly.

“Let all the merchants waiting here into the castle interior!”

At those words, the waiting merchants all burst into cheers in unison.

It was because the examination had been so strict that they had been sleeping outside the castle gate for several days.

Several knights express their concerns to Featherback.

“Is it alright to let them in without any inspection?”

“I looked them over thoroughly on the way here. I don’t see anyone with sinister energy clinging to them.”

But Featherback dismissed the surrounding concerns.

His tone carried absolute confidence in his own judgment.

“Heave-ho!”

The young merchant shouldered an apple crate.

Then he gazed at Featherback with a smile on his lips.

‘With just one word, he saves countless people a week of their time. How charming.’

At that very moment.

Featherback and the young merchant’s gazes met at one point.

The boy’s piercing gaze, extending through all those crowds of people, landed precisely on the young merchant’s two pupils.

‘Huh!?’

The young merchant had no choice but to lower his gaze in that instant.

Those were absolutely not the eyes of a fifteen-year-old boy.

If that person’s age was truly fifteen, then he must be of a different species entirely.

Just as the gaze of a fifteen-year-old dog and a fifteen-year-old tiger are not the same, the power and mind that could develop within those fifteen years would exist in completely different dimensions.

The young merchant felt this and dropped his gaze downward.

Right at that moment.

“You there.”

Featherback raised his finger.

As he extended his finger, like the miracle from the Mythical Age when a Hero parted the sea with a single finger was being recreated, the massive crowd split in half.

At the end of that path stood the young merchant carrying an apple crate.

“Hiccup!”

Though he was a young man who prided himself on having experienced all sorts of hardships to get this far, at this moment he couldn’t suppress his hiccups.

The old merchant beside him tugged at his sleeve, but the young man froze in place, unable to move a muscle.

“Hey! Qu-quickly step aside! Lord Featherback is pointing this way!”

“I, I, I, I think he’s po-po-pointing at me?”

“Why would he point at you! Come here quickly!”

While they were arguing, Featherback turned his horse’s head.

The surrounding merchants held their breath and cowered.

Finally, Featherback and the young merchant came face to face.

Thud—

As Featherback approached, the young man collapsed to the ground.

A red apple fell from the crate he was carrying and rolled across the floor.

Soon after, Featherback dismounted from his horse.

And picked up the apple that had fallen to the floor.

“How much?”

“…Yes, yes?”

The young man asked with a trembling voice.

Featherback took a bite of the red apple that was as red as his own pupils.

Crunch—

Sour juice dripped from the red apple covered with white snow.

Featherback asked again while chewing the apple.

“The apple, how much for one?”

“Ah. I bought it for one copper coin, but I brought it to sell for seven coins!”

It felt awkward to directly ask for payment for the apple, so the young man mentioned the price he originally intended to sell it for.

A merchant’s way of asking for money without saying to give him money.

Featherback quietly nodded his head.

“Since it fell on the ground, I’ll give you five coins.”

Even in this situation, Featherback was haggling down the price.

The young merchant bowed ninety degrees at the waist.

“How could I give a dirt-covered apple to the Young Lord of Mörsolt! I’ll pick out a cleaner and more delicious one for you! Please!”

“How can I exchange something I’ve already eaten. Take five copper coins.”

Having finished speaking, Featherback flicked something toward the young man.

It was a heavy gold coin.

“Huh!?”

The young man takes the gold coin and looks at Featherback with a startled expression.

At this, Featherback spoke briefly.

“When you have the change ready, come find me, Portia.”

With those words, the boy on the white horse moves away toward the castle gate.

The young man stands there dazed, clutching the gold coin in his hand.

The old merchants swarm toward him and ask.

“My goodness, a whole gold coin!”

“It’s even an ancient gold coin made during the Mythical Age!”

“Good heavens! This should be priced not as gold but as an antique!”

“At this rate, haven’t you already achieved your main purpose for coming to the Northern Region?”

“More importantly, Portia, how does Lord Featherback know your name?”

Amid the companions’ barrage of questions.

“I… how would I know either…?”

The young man named Portia just stands there completely dumbfounded.

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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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