The hands of the clock pointed to midnight.
"Grrrk......!"
At the same time, the cry of an orc burst out from the forest, where darkness lay thick.
Just as Abel had predicted, the second Monster Wave had begun.
The sight of the giant orcs moving in droves even gave the illusion that the earth itself was moving.
.......
Yet it was quiet.
The orcs didn't move noisily.
They hid themselves in the blizzard and moved very stealthily.
As if they had received strict orders from someone.
The orc horde advanced toward the North.
Harboring only the goal of the North's fall.
How far had they advanced?
The faint lights of the North came into view.
"Hshhhk—!"
Only then did the orcs grow excited.
Their whole bodies had been stiff and aching from sneaking along in a way that went against their instincts.
"Hshk, hshhhk!"
At last.
They could ravage the humans however they pleased.
Let us tear them to death, brethren!
"Hshhaaak—!"
The orc at the front charged.
It was a show of valor, partly to raise morale.
"Hshk?"
Huh.
What's this?
Something bright red.......
KABOOOOOOM—!!!
Before the orc's dull skull could even register the situation, the flames had long since devoured it.
And was that all?
"Hsh, hshhhk......!?"
The torrent of fire, spewing out as fiercely as a waterspout, didn't stop, and reduced even the orc troops standing bewildered behind it to ashes.
Bewilderment and astonishment spread among the orcs.
Beings with intelligence would retreat first and assess the situation.
"Hshhhhhk—!!!"
But for orcs, that was unthinkable.
Retreat? A detour?
Such high-level tactics didn't exist in an orc's dictionary.
The orcs charged, trampling the ashes that had been their brethren only moments ago.
KABOOOOOOM—!!!
KABOOOOOOM—!!!
KABOOOOOOM—!!!
The midnight fireworks went on.
The knights standing night watch looked on at the sight, dumbstruck.
"......."
Then, as if they had agreed on it in advance, they all turned their heads toward one spot.
The North, where a frigid blizzard raged. Within it was a space that kept a warmth as cozy as spring.
At its center was a man sleeping on the snowfield with a conifer log for a pillow.
"Ugh, fu....... Why is it so noisy?"
The deposed crown prince, striking with his dark red hair.
Abel rubbed his eyes and sat up.
"Ah, looks like it's working fine. Thanks for your hard work, everyone."
A greeting you might give a neighbor you ran into in the morning.
Having tossed out that one remark, Abel lay back down.
And fell straight back asleep.
It was thanks to the fatigue from expending his magic power.
"......."
As for Freyja, crouched by his pillow, her eyes were still simply trembling.
***
[『Quest - Earn Their Trust』 completed!]
[Many territory residents begin to feel curious about you! 'Hostile'→'Curious']
[Convenience function 'Map' activated!]
The moment I opened my eyes, dazzling golden light flashed one after another.
"That hurts my eyes."
I turned off the windows.
Then the sun, high in the sky, beat down an even more intense light.
Goddammit, I'd meant to lie around a little longer.
I had no choice but to get up.
"You are awake."
This time there was yet another light.
"Freyja."
It was nothing new, but her beauty truly was astonishing no matter how many times I saw it.
A golden glow. A face like white jade that sunlight couldn't even compare to swooped in right under my nose.
"......What's wrong?"
"You seemed quite absorbed in your magic yesterday, so I was concerned you might have fallen into magic power deficiency again."
Hm, I did enjoy myself a bit.
Still, I'd controlled it in my own way.
Even though I'd practically collapsed into a dead sleep, the proof was that magic power deficiency hadn't set in.
"How are you feeling?"
"Totally refreshed."
It wasn't an empty remark.
My whole body felt light, as if all the old toxins inside me had drained out at once.
"How curious. I hear many mages suffer ill effects until the next day if they overuse magic. You must either have a high total mana, my lord husband, or fast mana regeneration."
"Can't it be both?"
I said it playfully.
"I suppose it is not entirely impossible."
Freyja rose from her seat.
"Still, I am truly relieved. You suddenly fell asleep on the snowfield, so I was rather flustered about what to do. I at least meant to carry you to the manor, but Sir Graive warned me never to do that."
"Ah, I asked him to do that ahead of time."
I'd charged the wall full of fire, but I couldn't help feeling uneasy.
So, in case of emergency, I fell asleep at the choicest spot closest to the wall.
Thanks to that, I realized something.
That for a fire mage to get some sweet, sweet sleep, he has to sleep on a snowfield.
To put it in comparison, it was like turning on the air conditioner in summer and snuggling under a blanket.
'Still, if possible, I wanted to know how much of the wall's durability got knocked off when the monsters attacked.'
But I couldn't fight off the fatigue that overwhelmed me.
This was because, after I fired flames into the last of the wall, my eyelids had been about to close.
"Next time, maybe I'll kidnap a monster from somewhere....... Hm?"
I felt a gaze on me.
It was Freyja.
"You look like you've got a lot to say for some reason?"
"Yes. Could you spare me a moment?"
I nodded.
"Thank you. And—"
She rose from her seat.
Then she bowed her head politely.
"—I thank you, my lord husband. Thanks to you, not a single person died last night."
Thank you.
I thank you.
They meant the same thing, but they sounded different to my ears.
The latter was probably the one that carried Freyja's sincerity.
"Hm."
I scratched my cheek.
After all, this was a situation where I was receiving thanks from the master of the North while knights watched with their eyes wide open.
But unlike yesterday, no one looked at me with resentment.
Doubts big and small could still be seen, but those were reactions toward an unfamiliar outsider.
They weren't directed toward Abel Draco Whitelion.
"You didn't let anyone die either, Freyja, right?"
Since it was awkward to keep being stared at, I brought up the feat Freyja had accomplished yesterday.
"But my way was a way that would have collapsed someday."
Her sense of economics might be a bit lacking, but Freyja wasn't a foolish woman.
She clearly recognized her own limits.
"Besides, I never anticipated that a second Monster Wave would come crashing in right away at dawn today. I let my guard down, caught up in past records and preconceptions."
"Well, isn't that only natural? It seems like Graive and the others thought the same thing."
"But you did not, my lord husband."
I was struck as dumb as someone with a mouth full of honey.
I had predicted it thanks to the quest.
But in other people's eyes, I might well look like a sage who could read the future.
"And in my condition yesterday, I could not have fully held off the orc army at dawn. Much blood would have been spilled. That the Northerners can see the sunlight this morning is all thanks to your keen foresight, my lord husband. So I thank you once again."
It was the moment Freyja bowed her head once more.
The knights who had been watching us all bent at the waist at a 90-degree angle at once.
Wait.
Northerners bowing their heads or bending at the waist?
'......I see.'
It suddenly dawned on me.
These people were sincerely grateful to me.
That was why they had given me the capital's courtesy instead of their own Northern way.
After all, I was someone from the Imperial Household.
The Northerners, who were on bad terms with the Imperial Household, had swallowed their pride and bowed down to show consideration for me, a mere unwelcome guest.
Every last one of them was upright to the point of being stiff.
"There's no need for such a formal greeting."
I brushed the snow off my clothes and stood up.
"This is the North, after all."
At my words, everyone's attention focused on me.
I chuckled and went on.
"Expressing the highest respect will do. ......Ah, or am I not worth quite that much?"
Drawing on memories of Mother thrusting baby's breath at me while teasing me, I spoke in a deliberately shameless, joking tone.
In that moment.
SNAP—!!
A disciplined sound of friction rang out.
A spine-tingling motion that didn't allow even a single person to be out of step was directed at me.
"Bar— Kasi—!!!"
The thunderous voices of the knights, led by Freyja.
No, it was the shout of the entire North.
Far away, even the ordinary territory residents had become one in heart and mind, shouting a cry that carried the highest respect for me.
I waved my hand.
With a much lighter heart than when I first received the 'Barkasi.'
'I guess I really did inherit the Imperial bloodline.'
Being praised by people felt pretty good.
***
Freyja and I returned to the manor.
Freyja told me that since the previous Grand Duke passed away, she had only set foot in this manor twice.
The first time was when she gave me the 800G.
The second was right now.
"I see. So this place was like a villa for when the Berg Grand Ducal House came to the front."
"Yes. I am told the fourth Duke ordered it built, saying that a noble must maintain at least a minimum of dignity and majesty even when standing on the line between life and death."
Freyja didn't seem to share her extravagant ancestor's way of thinking.
Well, Freyja stayed in a military tent closest to the front line.
It was only natural.
"What happened to the original manor?"
"......I had it all dismantled and sold off as materials. I needed money urgently."
I shouldn't have asked.
The mood turned solemn.
"Still, I am glad this place was left standing. It cannot compare to the Imperial Palace, but I hope you will not be too uncomfortable while you stay here, my lord husband."
To be honest, it was uncomfortable.
The poor state of the building was a problem, but above all, the problem was that this vast manor didn't have a single servant.
Unless I was going to manage this sprawling manor on my own, I absolutely needed people.
Of course, it wasn't a complaint to raise in the North, which was suffering a labor shortage.
Step, step.
We headed to the drawing room while we talked.
At least there were no icicles here.
There weren't any in the bedroom either, but....... that would be a bit much, you know.
"Oh, there are tea leaves too."
"Do you know how to brew tea?"
"A little."
Drawing on my experience working part-time at a café, I brewed the tea leaves.
I set two teacups on the long table.
A fragrant aroma rose.
"Thank you for the tea."
"Sure."
The freshly brewed tea wet my lips.
My thirst was quenched as well.
Now it was time to talk.
"May I ask a question first?"
Sipping my tea, I nodded.
"The golden tools that appeared yesterday rebuilt the wall....... No, built a new one. Was that your magic, my lord husband?"
"It's hard to explain."
It was neither aura nor magic.
A fortuitous encounter that belonged to me alone.
And one soaked through with money, at that.
"If you want me to be honest, I could tell you without hiding anything."
Setting aside whether Freyja would believe it.
But before that, there was something I needed to confirm.
"Can I trust you?"
The [Shop], the power of 'pay-to-win.'
This power was my greatest weapon for survival.
A power that could cause absurd phenomena as long as I had money.
At the same time, its limitations were great.
It absolutely required 'Gold (G).'
But I was in no position to go out and earn money myself.
'If I want to keep paying to win, I need to find a way to keep earning gold.'
For that, I desperately needed Freyja's help.
To put it more bluntly, I wanted the profits gained from selling monster carcasses.
Monster carcasses were a specialty unique to the North.
Back when the demons commanded the monsters directly, they had reportedly launched invasions even into the Holy Kingdom on the other side, but at present they were attacking only the North.
Naturally, a monopoly market had formed.
If I could use even part of those profits, bold investments would become possible.
'As long as the contract is firmly established, I intend to return gold to the North without holding back, too.'
Of course, underneath it all was, first and foremost, the aim of ensuring my own safety.
Right now, the North and I were in a symbiotic relationship.
The more stable the North became, the more secure my own safety would be.
Once the North was on track to some extent, I could probably spend gold solely on myself.
'But until then, I'll help the North stabilize and grow.'
That was why I had sounded Freyja out.
She was an upright and righteous person.
I'd only known her a short time, but I could tell.
But just because someone was good didn't mean you could automatically build a relationship of trust with them.
That was simply how relationships between people worked.
"......."
Freyja seemed to be deep in thought.
I didn't rush her and gladly gave her time.
Sip.
Freyja slowly savored a sip of tea, then set her teacup down with a clink.
It seemed she had made up her mind.
"The truth is, I have no intention of marrying you, my lord husband."
She opened up the conversation in a different way than I had expected.
"Well, I figured as much."
I replied calmly.
I grew curious about how Freyja would prove her trust.
"......You are not surprised."
"Because it's only natural. Who would welcome a political marriage forced on them one-sidedly? Let alone a state wedding between the Imperial Household and the North, who snarl at each other at every turn."
"I-I do not think we are on bad terms."
"Cassandra seems to think so."
When I casually dropped the Empress's name, Freyja's eyes went wide.
"......It seems you are on bad terms with her too, my lord husband."
"Oh, you admitted it. That you're on bad terms with Cassandra."
Freyja blinked, then slyly raised the corners of her lips.
Hm, a peerless beauty's unguarded smile is pretty vicious.
A man whose lower half ruled his brain would probably have laid everything bare, trust or whatever be damned, down to his very last card.
Yes, I mean a bastard like the Crown Prince.
"I intend to divorce you as soon as a proper justification arises, my lord husband."
Freyja's voice had become much more relaxed and natural.
"But I have no intention of casting you out."
Freyja looked straight at me.
"My lord....... No, Sir Abel, if you wish it, I will make a firm place for you alone here in the North. A position even higher than mine, the Grand Duke's."
"......Do you think your vassals and the territory residents will meekly accept such an arbitrary measure?"
"If they cannot accept it, the North is a place where they are made to accept it by force."
It was a tough statement.
Was this not truly the master of the North, who lightly chewed up and swallowed the Empire's rules and laws?
"And you know that, when you get down to it, what you said is practically the same as rebelling against the Imperial Household, right? After all, bestowing and recognizing positions is the Emperor's exclusive authority. Let alone a position higher than the Grand Duke's."
"Because His Majesty, who ought to stop it, has currently left the throne empty."
The top secret that the Emperor was absent was a fact most citizens of the Empire didn't know.
Would anyone know besides Cassandra and her closest aides?
And yet Freyja knew.
'She must have an intelligence network of her own.'
And one that reached all the way into the heart of the Imperial Household, at that.
I contentedly lifted the corners of my lips.
"Was that an answer to your liking?"
"Yeah. Though I didn't expect you to bare your heart outright instead of trying to persuade me."
Just as even a broken clock is right twice a day, there were times when Cassandra's far-fetched claims hit the mark.
The North harbors 'irreverent' intentions, huh.
It wasn't entirely wrong.
Of course, it wasn't to the point of starting a rebellion, but strictly at the 'irreverent' level of enjoying a little deviance.
I especially liked that irreverence.
'Instead of a half-baked attempt at persuasion, she revealed a weakness that couldn't be anything but fatal, huh.'
It was a stretch to call it trust, but as a relationship sharing secrets, it passed.
"Good. I'll tell you."
I explained 'pay-to-win' to her.
"I see....... So that is why you wanted gold, my lord husband......."
Freyja wore a somewhat puzzled expression but accepted it readily.
Thank goodness. It seemed there'd be no need to drag things out pointlessly.
Truth be told, the main point starts now.
"So I'd like to talk about how the North can earn gold. Is that all right?"
Freyja nodded and drank her tea.
Her teacup was already neatly showing its bottom.
"You really drink it down."
"......It is delicious."
I brewed another batch of tea leaves.
It seemed the conversation would run a little longer.