RGDNF 05

Chapter 5

Ch. 2 Northern Vertus Territory

Fwoosh— plop!

“Wow.”

‘It’s shaped like a footprint!’

I excitedly stared at the sticker that had landed in my hand.

The sparkling sticker soon went poof and disappeared into my sticker book.

‘They gave me a footprint sticker when I arrived in the north!’

Until now, I’d only gotten thumbs-up stickers!

‘Is it because the requester is the God of Travel…?’

Apparently, the shape of the stickers changed depending on which god sent me on the errand. The divine power contained inside them was the same, though.

‘Hmm, when I studied the scriptures, I learned that the Absolute Goddess, the Goddess of Fate, has several gods under her command.’

It was apparently too difficult for the goddess to manage the complicated human world all by herself, so she split her power into twelve parts and created subordinate gods to govern the laws of the world.

Of course, the main god worshipped by the temples was the goddess I had met in heaven.

‘Whichever one of you it is, please keep giving Hani lots and lots of divine power from now on! Thank you in advance!’

Prayer complete!

‘Then, at this point…’

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a sheet of paper.

How about learning a little about my new home, the north?

~The Frontier of Today, the Center of Tomorrow! Your New Life Begins in NEW Vertus!~

Sitting inside the public carriage, I buried my nose in a promotional brochure about immigrating to the north.

□ A Gift from Nature! A nature-friendly healing spot untouched by human hands for 500 years.

(Monsters have touched it, though.)

□ Unprecedented Development Opportunities! Fishing, mining, and quarrying available!

(Environmental purification required.)

□ A Super-Special Transportation Hub! One minute to the capital, thirty seconds to the Northern Crystal Warp Portal!

(For 9th-circle mages.)

□ A Family-Like Territory! Community facilities fully equipped, with a ♡Welcome Kit♡ provided upon moving in.

(This part is actually true.)

‘Hmm… I feel like the tiny print is a little hard to read.’

Well, it probably wasn’t anything important!

The Grand Duchy of Vertus.

It had been the land of demons for a long time, but people had begun immigrating there about two years ago.

Why?

‘Because two years ago, Grand Duke Vasily defeated the 500-year-old Mining Dragon in the northern Cartus region!’

The Emperor was overjoyed.

He even held a grand victory banquet, declaring that the “Lost North” had finally been reclaimed after 500 years.

Cartus was reborn under the new name “Vertus,” and Vasily was appointed as its lord.

Along with the title of Grand Duke.

“The hero Vasily shall receive the name Vertus and take responsibility for the North. The rise and fall of the northern territory shall rest in your hands.”

Vasily’s reaction upon hearing this was apparently:

“F**…”*

‘Hmm, what did he say?’

Dad told me about it, but I don’t know the exact dialogue either.

“You’re giving me the land I personally turned into a wasteland after spending two years ripping apart that dragon’s head? Land that’s still crawling with monsters and hasn’t even been fully purified?”

“Ha, haha… It seems His Grace the Grand Duke has been possessed by the spirit of the Mining Dragon! Exorcise it!”

“Grand Duke or not, give me the gold and treasures you promised! Give me some decent land instead—ARGH!”

In the end, Vasily was imprisoned for a month for insulting the imperial family.

He was shown some leniency thanks to a medical certificate stating that some of the Mining Dragon’s demonic energy still remained in his body, making him highly aggressive and mentally unstable.

‘But because of that, he was classified as a Level Zero Dangerous Person. They said he had a high risk of going berserk…’

Actually, the person in this empire with the highest risk of going berserk is my dad…

Anyway, that was how Vasily became the lord of the North.

‘And they even tried recruiting residents.’

As you can see, it was a complete disaster.

‘Because…’

I stared intently at one line in the brochure.

Beside me, Uncle Paul was mumbling in his sleep.

□ Unprecedented Development Opportunities! Fishing, mining, and quarrying available!

No matter how I looked at it…

“There’s no mention of farming…”

The empire’s foundation was agriculture.

Yet, perhaps this suspicious brochure still had a tiny shred of conscience, because farming had been completely left out.

Naturally.

Why?

Because it was the north.

‘Because it’s cold!!’

Actually, the pollution and all that came second.

‘You can’t grow crops if it’s cold!’

Or only very limited types of crops could grow.

I had lived as a noble lady in my previous life, and even then, I had never heard of crops produced in Vertus.

There was a reason this territory had a 0% occupancy rate and a 100% vacancy rate after all…

‘Hmph. I don’t want to starve anymore.’

At the very least, I hoped I could be self-sufficient enough to have three loaves of bread a day.

“To make that happen…”

I neatly folded the brochure.

‘Well, there are ways to deal with it!’

They said that even if the sky fell, there would always be a hole to escape through.

And the North had one too.

I knew where it was.

‘But first, I shouldn’t make myself stand out. I need to get a feel for the atmosphere!’

The first virtue of independent living.

When you move somewhere new, be friendly with the neighbors!

Don’t attract unnecessary attention and become the target of hostility from the locals. The best strategy was to quietly blend in, as though you were there but not really there!

(…At least, that’s what Uncle Paul said.)

Let’s go!

‘Are we almost there?’

I peeked out the carriage window.

And then—

“Huh? Huhhhhh?”

The horse suddenly let out a loud neigh, and the carriage jerked to a stop!

People began murmuring.

“W-what? Are we there already?”

The man rubbed his eyes and immediately checked on me first.

At that moment, my eyes widened as I looked outside the window.

“Huh? What’s that…?”

Then Uncle Paul’s horrified voice came from behind me.

“Hani! Sweetie—!!!”

My body floated—

……

Huh?

Why am I flying through the air?

Northern Vertus Grand Duchy.

Inside a dark room.

The man looked perfectly at home sitting there with an imposing posture.

Even the way he toyed with a well-sharpened dagger like it was nothing more than a child’s toy suited him.

Jet-black hair.

Red eyes, as though stained with blood.

His body, honed through years of battle, radiated an overwhelming sense of intimidation all by itself.

Whirrr— clap!

The man tossed the gleaming dagger into the air and caught it before speaking ominously.

“Again.”

“Excuse me?”

“Read it again.”

Vasily Vertus, the master of this land.

His deep, low voice disturbed the silence of the snowy day.

“…For the aforementioned reasons, we are currently searching for an escaped fugitive and request permission to conduct a search of the northern territory.

Commander of the Second Holy Knights Order, Dantellion Klein.”

“Goddamn…”

“What shall I reply?”

“Give it to me. I’ll write it.”

The man abruptly stood up.

Then he picked up a pen and elegantly scribbled across the paper.

Fuck off.

“Oh dear.”

The butler pressed a hand to his forehead.

“That is certainly a very direct and straightforward response. However, you are no longer a mercenary, so perhaps you could write something a little longer and more dignified. Something befitting a noble.”

Vasily raised one dark eyebrow.

“Easy.”

Please fuck off.

“……”

“Should I make it longer?”

Dantellion, unless you intend to purify the pollution in my land, kindly get the hell out of here.

The butler shrugged.

“That should add one more person to the number of people who believe the Grand Duke of the North has gone insane. I recommend simply ignoring the letter.”

“Whatever.”

Vasily answered indifferently.

It was practically a closed-off territory anyway.

It had already been two years since the Grand Duke had withdrawn from society.

There shouldn’t be any problem if he simply didn’t answer a letter.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to twist a chicken’s head off.”

Vasily casually answered as he picked up a large coat and his sword.

The butler’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“There are still chickens?”

“There are plenty in the Foglands.”

“Oh. Then just say you’re going to hunt monsters. You got my hopes up for nothing…”

He casually waved to his former mercenary companion, Camilla, before heading outside.

Cold.

The blizzard had calmed down somewhat, but the air was still bitterly chilly.

As he strode forward, he looked toward the snow-covered mountains in the distance.

One dark-red peak towered particularly high.

It rose strangely from the landscape, almost like a giant lump or growth.

“Always getting in my way.”

Vasily muttered viciously before riding toward the Foglands in the southern part of the territory.

The Foglands were the starting point of the Northern Vertus Territory.

The demonic energy had not yet completely dissipated, so except for a few roads that had been purified by priests, monsters still appeared throughout the area.

‘There’s only so much money we can make by sending mercenary groups out for bounty rewards or selling monster materials…’

It was a cold, polluted place where ordinary living creatures couldn’t survive properly.

It had already been two years since he had settled here.

There had been no residents from the beginning.

The only humans were his former mercenary companions who had settled here with him, along with the outcasts of society—vagrants, the sick, fugitives, and other people who had been cast aside by the world.

During the early days of settlement, a few people had actually immigrated here.

But as poverty became more severe, they had all eventually left.

‘At this rate, our only options are to all die together or abandon this land.’

Of course, the Emperor probably knew that too.

That was why he had thrown Vasily into this garbage dump.

To slowly, quietly, and thoroughly rot away.

After all, it had probably happened in an instant—the moment the weapon the Emperor had used however he pleased began to look like a blade pointed at his own throat.

Then—

“…?”

The smooth tip of Vasily’s chin tilted slightly.

What was that?

Had some kind of mutant appeared?

“I’ve never seen a monster that looks like this before.”

A round, silver-colored head.

Short, stubby limbs sprawled out in a starfish-like position on the ground.

“Hooong…”

Was this some kind of new baby monster?

It was only about one bite-sized, though.

Vasily casually picked up the unconscious child dangling from his hand and narrowed his eyes.

A sticker that had been attached to the child’s forehead fluttered weakly before falling away.