Death Can’t Sleep - Chapter 107

The next morning, Amarion woke up feeling sad. She felt refreshed after sleeping on a soft bed, but for some reason she didn’t feel good. It felt like she had a strange dream.

 

A dream in which Victor’s sad voice was heard.

 

She got up and looked left and right. Victor was not there, but a note in his handwriting remained.

 

[I’m going to pick up the items we ordered. I’ve packed your things in advance, so there’s no rush to come down.]

 

Even though it was written with charcoal, it was very elegant handwriting.

 

Amarion felt better right away. She quickly washed her face and changed back into the dress she bought yesterday. Looking at it again, it was not a good outfit for fighting, but it seemed like it would be okay to ride a reindeer and move around. She braided her hair, wrapped it in a white fur hat, and left the room.

 

Victor was drinking hot milk with a cinnamon stick on the first floor. He smiled and said hello.

“You’re awake?”

 

“Yes. Good morning, Victor.”

 

She sat across from him.

 

Was it because of the mood? Victor seemed to shine more today. He even looked lighthearted. The dark shade that had been cast over his face after meeting the mercenary king had been lifted.

 

‘Was it because he was hungry?’

 

She tilted her head for a moment, then ordered breakfast. They discussed their future plans.

 

“We will go out of town and follow the road to the North. It’s not far, but we might have to camp for a day or so. Is that okay?”

 

“Yes. Do as you please.”

 

Victor smiled beautifully again.

 

‘What, really? Why are you so pretty today?’

 

Amarion buried her nose in her plate to hide her cheeks that kept blushing.

 

Then, a man spoke up.

“Hey, are you going all the way North?”

 

Victor and Amarion both turned their heads at the same time.

 

He was a short-haired man in a faded snowsuit with a sword slung around his waist. The man smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to ask if you would accompany our group. We’re going North, too.”

 

The man beckoned to a group of people in old fur cloaks who were sitting at the table.

 

Amarion scratched her cheek.

“It doesn’t matter, but we’ll be going tomorrow morning, is that okay?”

 

“Well, it’s better to have company, even for a day.”

 

The man said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Nowadays, monsters are at their peak, so pretty much everyone travels in a pack. I wanted to go with the Silanders who stayed here yesterday, but for some reason, they left early in the morning…”

 

The man groaned. He was a little grumpy, but he didn’t seem like a bad guy. It bothered him that she was going to a place with a lot of monsters.

 

Amarion answered without hesitation.

“Okay, let’s go together.”

 

“Good! Nice to meet you.”

 

The man grabbed her hand and shook it wildly.

 

Victor opened his eyes wide, but didn’t say anything.

 

The man asked,

“Still, I need your name. What’s your name?”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Amarion thought about giving him her real name for a moment, but kept her mouth shut. It was kind of embarrassing. She was not very proud to have Amari’s ‘successor’s name’. So she lied.

“I am Marie, and my partner is Victor. What about you?”

 

“Ivan.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Ivan.”

 

“You, too.”

 

Ivan said hello to Victor, and went back to his table.

 

Victor and Amarion even exchanged glances with the people behind them. Victor lowered his voice and asked.

“Why didn’t you say your real name? There’s no need to hide it.”

 

Amarion answered, averting her gaze.

“I’m just a little embarrassed. I’ve been a lousy Lord all this time.”

 

“…”

 

“I was afraid that if they heard my name, they would recognize me.”

 

Victor shut his mouth. His eyes stared at her for a while. Then he talked to himself.

“Why are you so…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“No, let’s go now.”

 

Victor spoke kindly and got up. Not knowing why, Amarion followed him out of the inn.

 

Soon, Victor brought the reindeer he had prepared. Ivan and his companions followed suit.

 

Ivan was amazed.

“Hey, you like reindeer?”

 

“I spent a lot of money.”

 

Amarion grinned and stroked the reindeer’s back. The reindeer with big hooves meekly bowed down.

 

They each climbed onto a reindeer and left the village.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The weather was nice today. The sky was overcast but bright, and there was no snow or sleet. The cold was the same, but this was great for a Northern country.

 

They rode their reindeer over the blackened dirt road. It was dangerous to run fast, so they went slowly, looking around.

 

Fortunately, there weren’t many monsters. The cold fur of the frost wolf and the poisonous horned lizard were easy enough for a Northerner.

 

Ivan and his party were quite proficient with swords. They fought to protect the person in the robe, and she quickly recognized that they were Northerners. In the Northern part of the country, where there were many monsters, it was common for a group to have one healer accompanying them, and their formation was designed to protect the healer.

 

Ivan and other swordsmen didn’t seem to be knights, but that was also common among Northerners. Because all Northerners had to have at least some armed force.

 

Victor and Amarion dealt with the monsters appropriately. Nonetheless, their companions were amazed.

 

“Your skills are great! Knights?”

 

“Similar.”

 

“Really? The clothes you are wearing look like nobility. Then, are you serving the Lord of the North?”

 

Amarion just kept her mouth shut. No matter what she said, it would be a lie. After thinking about it, she answered.

“…I live far away now.”

 

Fortunately, Ivan didn’t ask for more.

“Well, we are all from Muel.”

 

He gestured toward his companions.

“We were working as mercenaries, and that healer was working as an apothecary in the South, but the Lord called us to come back.”

 

“If it’s the Lord…?”

 

“Muriel, the Lord of Muel. This convocation order was given by him.”

 

Amarion blinked in surprise.

 

Muriel Muel. He was the only son of the former Lord of Muel and lost his parents before he was even five years old. At that age, it was too much for him to become a Lord right away, so perhaps someone else acted as the Lord.

 

“Has Young Master Muriel become the Lord?”

 

“Isn’t it surprising? We were also surprised because he’s only fifteen. From what I’ve heard, it seems he’s been fighting for the position this year. Then, when the situation got too much, he ordered the Muel people to return.”

 

Ivan clicked his tongue. It was clear that he was sorry for the young Lord’s hardships.

“In fact, it was not even an order, but a request, but what Northerner could turn a blind eye to the Lord’s call? We all packed up and left, and the people of Amari and Siland, who heard the news, came back to the North together.”

 

“I see…”

 

Amarion secretly bit her lip. How hard it must have been for such a young child to fight alone? Wasn’t it painful to death when she first became the Lord’s assistant at the age of fourteen? She couldn’t even help him…

 

“Marie.”

 

Victor called Amarion from the side. When she came to her senses and looked back, he said calmly.

“For now, hurry up and move. I think monsters will come after they smell the blood.”

 

“Oh, yes. Hey! Let’s leave immediately!”

 

Ivan signaled. They grabbed the reins of the reindeer again and started walking.

 

Soon the sun set. They passed a familiar road and entered an old mountain cabin. It was a cabin reserved for Northern travelers.

 

“Let’s rest here today.”

 

Following Ivan’s words, the party finally got off their reindeer.

 

The cabin was a rugged wooden house. In the Empire it would have been full of food and firewood, but there wasn’t much firewood in the poor Northern huts. It was an absurdly cold and uncomfortable space, but everyone seemed okay, even Victor.

 

Victor even lit a fire in the fireplace and mounted a pot. The way he melted the snow and added beef jerky, dried vegetables, and spices seemed surprisingly familiar.

 

Amarion asked with her eyes wide open.

“When did you learn to cook?”

 

“From Mirage.”

 

He let out a short sigh.

 

She laughed quietly. Victor was so sloppy that Mirage had held him back for a while and taught him. The nosy wizard would have done something as ridiculous as teaching the Grand Duke of Death how to cook soup.

 

Anyway, thanks to that, the soup tasted pretty good. Ivan’s party, who said they didn’t bring much food, expressed their thanks. They sat around the fireplace. Naturally, some stories came out.

 

“I don’t know about Victor, but Marie seems to be a Northerner. May I ask where you are from?”

 

She nodded slightly.

“I am from Amari.”

 

“Oh, you’re an Amari woman, so you use a sword?”

 

Ivan laughed heartily. At the same time, Victor’s eyes narrowed. A middle-aged healer woman dipping dry bread into the soup next to him smiled.

“There is a saying that men who use swords in Mule should find women who use swords in Amari.”

 

“That’s right. Muel and Amari are close, so we had a lot of swordsmanship fights, right?”

 

“Yeah, I think I might have seen it then?”

 

Amarion smiled quietly.

 

There wasn’t much to enjoy in the North, so every warm summer the knights held a friendly match and made it a spectacle. In the meantime, she patrolled the surrounding mountains, and caught and killed monsters in place of the departed knights. So maybe they’d never seen her.

 

The excited party chattered.

 

“You got hit in the eye using the game as an excuse, right? We drank together and fell in love.”

 

“Since ancient times, people from Muel and Amari have been married a lot.”

 

“Oh, that’s right. My father is originally from Amari.”

 

For some reason, Victor’s expression became more and more serious.

 

The healer woman playfully asked.

“Does Marie have a lover now?”

 

“…No.”

 

Victor’s eyes widened at Amarion’s answer.

 

She looked at him as if she were a very innocent woman.

***