Thump, thump.
The only sound in his ears was the beating of his own heart.
The cold frost flowing along the blade brushed Walter’s cheek.
The moment it touched his skin, it melted away.
—HISSS....
At the same time, his mana heart, which had been pounding wildly only moments before, gradually stabilized.
The heat slowly faded from his body.
Walter looked toward the tip of his sword.
“.......”
A wyvern hung from the end of the blade, its maw gaping and its entire body frozen solid.
The ice thorns that had begun at its heart had mercilessly pierced its entire body, then swallowed even the cliff behind it.
Only the long sword wound across its right eye proved that it had been the leader of the wyvern group.
Walter tightened his grip and pulled free the sword that had pierced the beast’s heart and lodged in the cliff behind it.
—CRACK, SHATTER...!
At the same time, the ice clinging to the blade shattered into pieces.
Amid the scattering ice crystals—
Walter’s body fell beneath the cliff.
And at that moment—
—SCRAAAAAPE...!
Walter drove his sword into the cliff with a crash.
His blade carved through the rock, leaving a long scar behind it.
When he had descended about halfway—
—WHOOSH.
A black mountain goat that had raced down the cliff approached his side.
Walter snatched hold of it and climbed onto its back.
The black mountain goat used its distinctive pointed claws to leap from one protruding rock to another as it carried him down the cliff.
—LEAP, LEAP.
At last—
—TAP.
They safely reached the foot of the cliff.
“Whoa, whoa.”
Walter brought the black mountain goat to a stop and gently stroked it.
“Good.”
Before long—
Familiar faces hurriedly rode down from the distance on black mountain goats.
They were Lenin, his guard knight, and Von, the Knight Commander.
“Lord Walter, are you injured anywhere?!”
“Your Grace, are you unharmed?”
Walter grinned and nodded.
Yeah. I’m fucking fine, so stop worrying.
But despite Walter’s response, Lenin must have been terribly worried.
Brush, brush.
She gently swept the ice crystals from his black fur coat.
“Honestly, what would you have done if you had missed and fallen from the cliff?”
“But it looked impressive, didn’t it?”
“......If only you couldn’t talk.”
Lenin muttered with a small sigh.
Even so, her touch was exceedingly warm.
Walter smirked and looked at her and Von.
“Even if I’d fallen, you two would’ve caught me somehow.”
“......I cannot deny that.”
Lenin murmured quietly.
“See?”
Walter grinned.
Just as his father David had told him when he was young, Walter now had many precious people beside him who cared for him.
Walter could now choose to trust them and entrust burdens to them instead of carrying everything alone.
That was the greatest difference between Walter before his regression and the man he was now.
—CLANK.
Walter sheathed The Winter.
The Winter.
The sword passed down through House Levior was so exceptional in size and length that it could hardly be called an ordinary sword.
An average person would likely have struggled even to control it.
But for the massive Walter, it was the perfect weapon.
“.......”
Von flinched and found himself staring blankly at Walter.
The black fur coat and immaculate black hair.
The deep golden eyes and The Winter in his hand.
He looked so much like the lord Von had once served, David Levior.
—HISSS....
A distant scene from the past passed before Von’s eyes.
—Father, look at this!
The training grounds of Gray Castle.
A black-haired boy whose youth was still obvious spoke with an excited expression.
His cheeks were flushed red, and an innocent smile filled his face.
He held a sword in both hands.
A bluish haze had gathered at its tip.
That was the day Walter first manifested Aura.
—HISSS...!
The young boy repeatedly showed off his sword before David and Von.
—Remarkable, Young Master. To think you have already manifested Aura at your age.
—Well done, my son!
The young boy seemed delighted by their praise.
Beneath the white snow of the North, he smiled radiantly.
How beautiful that smile had been.
And it was likely around then—
That Von vowed to protect that smile, even if it cost him his life.
But that vow did not last long.
—Von, please take good care of my son...of Walter.
The day his lord, David Levior, passed away—
Those were the final words his lord left him.
At the funeral held on an exceptionally cold winter day, the young Walter shed not a single tear.
Because that was the one vow he had made to his father.
Walter neither cried nor smiled.
He merely watched his father’s final moments in silence.
That was all.
From that day onward, Walter learned how to stand alone.
Alone, he buried his grief deep within his heart.
Alone, he cultivated eyes that would never waver.
The more he did, the closer he came to becoming the Grand Duke of the North.
And the more he—
—Young Master, are you all right?
—Yes. There is no problem.
He hid his emotions and lost his smile.
In the end, Von had failed to protect the Young Master’s smile.
That was the old knight’s lifelong regret.
But now, things were different.
Walter was smiling before him.
He was no longer alone.
At last, the young boy from those days had learned how to rely on others.
Only now did Von sense that he could leave the Young Master’s side with peace of mind.
He smiled faintly and bowed his head to Walter.
“Thank you, Young Master.”
“Huh? What brought that on?”
Walter tilted his head.
“It is nothing.”
Von merely answered with the same faint smile.
That was the day Walter reclaimed the North Road.
—HISSS....
White snow fell upon the southern cliff region.
Just as it had on that day long ago, when the young boy had smiled so radiantly.
***
The southern cliff region, now bereft of its leader.
The knights of the North busily cleared the surrounding area.
They dealt with everything from the wyvern carcasses to the recovery of the iron net.
“Handle the hides carefully! We’re selling them to merchants later!”
“Take the other parts too, just in case.”
“Got it!”
Wyvern hides and their byproducts had many uses.
The knights therefore dismantled the wyverns with great care.
I watched them and asked Von.
“What about the remaining wyverns?”
“Yes. Most of the wyverns scattered in different directions after losing their leader. You should not need to worry about them for the time being.”
And what those words meant was—
We had reclaimed the North Road, fulfilling the North’s long-cherished wish.
It’ll take quite a bit of work to make the road usable from here.
Even so, a small smile never left my lips.
Now we could accelerate the distribution of mana ore and Northmedi even further.
I nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Ah, however, we discovered something unusual while clearing the remaining nests.”
“Something unusual?”
“Yes. It was hidden deep inside another food storage chamber.... Bring it here!”
Von gestured.
The knights behind him approached, carrying armfuls of something wrapped in white cloth.
More importantly, the cloth in their arms kept wriggling.
I pulled it away.
“......Hatchlings?”
There were baby wyverns beneath it, whimpering and squirming about.
I furrowed my brow.
I wondered whether they were the leader’s offspring, but the leader had been—
“It was male, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. It was unmistakably male.”
Von and I recalled the impressive ‘thing’ between the leader’s legs when we disposed of its carcass.
That bastard was fucking male.
Anyway, considering its age, there was no way it was already old enough to have offspring.
Even getting someone pregnant before marriage had its limits.
For that bastard to have offspring, we would have to believe in spontaneous generation rather than a shotgun pregnancy.
I stroked my chin and sank into thought.
Before long—
I looked between Von and the hatchlings.
“Wyvern breeding season is around now, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is somewhat early, but it is not entirely impossible.”
“Then they must be the queen’s.”
The queen—the former leader who had now been driven out.
Considering the wyverns’ habit of raising their offspring in separate nests, there was no reason she would have hidden all the hatchlings in one place, much less deep within a food storage chamber.
That left only one hypothesis.
When the new leader seized the group and drove out the former leader, the queen had been unable to take the hatchlings with her.
That would also explain why members of the old group remained instead of leaving for somewhere else.
Wyverns were unusually intelligent even among monsters.
They were also known for their strong pack instincts and maternal affection.
Whatever else might happen, voluntarily abandoning their offspring would have been an extremely difficult decision for them.
“More importantly, you said that immediately after the explosion, part of the group moved to a ravine some distance from the southern cliff region, correct?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Then the picture was clear.
And going there to confirm it myself would be fastest.
I grinned and tilted my head.
“Lead the way. Let’s go see for ourselves.”
“Yes, understood!”
Von bowed his head in response.
He immediately began preparing to move out with the remaining knights.
I looked at the squirming wyvern hatchlings and muttered.
“But if this works out...this might not be bad at all.”
After reclaiming the North Road, perhaps I could move ahead with another plan as well.
Lenin, who had approached my side without me noticing, asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Something. You’ll see.”
But then—
She noticed the wyvern hatchlings and furrowed her brow.
“These are...wyvern hatchlings, are they not?”
Whine, whine.
She looked at the squirming hatchlings.
“......What will you do with them?”
They would all die if we left them like this.
“I can dispose of them if necessary,” Lenin spoke with an impassive expression.
“No. We’ll leave them as they are for now.”
But at that moment—
I answered firmly.
Lenin tilted her head as though she did not understand.
“Pardon? Are you planning to raise them?”
Lenin asked as though tossing out a light joke.
But I gave no answer.
Sensing that something was amiss, Lenin stared at me with a look of suspicion.
“......You aren’t, are you?”
“Lenin, listen without misunderstanding.”
“Yes.”
I asked with an exceedingly serious expression.
“Have you ever given birth?”
“Do you want to die?”
Lenin placed a hand on her scabbard with a sharp clank.
Lord Walter.
Even if you are the Grand Duke, there are things you may say and things you may not.
“......Would you like me to cut you down instead of the wyverns?”
I hurriedly stopped her hand as she tried to draw her sword.
“It was a joke. A joke.”
“If you make a joke like that again, know that you’ll be the one signing my marriage registration papers.”
“Understood. I’ll remember that.”
A faint smile crossed Lenin’s lips, as though everything had gone according to plan.
Huh?
What was that just now?
Was I imagining things?
Anyway, back to the point.
“So, are you truly planning to raise them?”
Lenin looked meaningfully between me and the wyvern hatchlings.
I grinned.
“I’m not sure. But if this goes well, we might hit the jackpot.”
I recalled a certain knight order that belonged to the royal capital’s regular army before my regression.
Its name was none other than the Flying Dragon Knight Order.
It was the knight order that boasted the greatest mobility in the royal capital’s army by using wyverns as mounts.