Chapter 165 - The Polar Night Wall
The foremost border of Millesdusk.
As befitting a line that marked the territory of a great family, it was jaw-droppingly long.
The line was made of a wall, commonly called the Polar Night Wall.
Like the polar night where the sun doesn't rise and only the night continues, this black wall stretched endlessly.
So might say that the long, dark wall is just like military life, but for the soldiers here, military service is for life.
The Gatekeeper ca from that place and had vowed never to return, even for a fortune.
He certainly had.
“Why are we going to the Femur?”
He was being taken for free, held by the hand of his superior.
The Femur was the slang used by those who worked there.
Polar Night Wall, my foot. Because it was so damn long, they called it by the longest bone in the human body.
The Youngest Son put one hand inside his coat.
A red stone, small enough to be hidden if he made a fist, ca before his eyes.
“I heard it's a place that always suffers from untad monsters, as it's not often reached by human feet.”
“What does that have to do with you, Young Master, for you to be doing this?”
The Gatekeeper briefly stuck his head out and looked down.
The wilderness of the East, where not a single person could be found, spread out below.
There were no more traces of humans like kingdoms or villages.
All that could be seen was a monster eating another monster, and that monster, too, was eaten by another monster shortly after.
The scenery would be the sa until they reached the foremost border.
In the past, he had worked his ass off to avoid becoming one of them.
“Is it related to that stone?”
The Youngest Son put the Bloodstone away and answered the question with a question.
“What color is this stone?”
“It’s red.”
“I have to feed it blood until it turns blood-colored. The better the quality of the blood, the better, which is why we are heading to the foremost border.”
“……”
The Gatekeeper wiped his face.
He had a gut feeling that the Magic Dragon he was currently riding was not heading towards an ordinary path of hardship.
“Haa….”
He resigned himself with a sigh and put on his bone helt.
“Do you know what I was there?”
“Head Maid or Legion Commander. I think it was one of the two.”
“…Legion Commander.”
“Is that so. You were doing sothing unbecoming of you.”
The Gatekeeper, with a sigh that grew longer each day, continued.
“I will not take off my helt there. I will only perform the role of your guard, so please be aware of that.”
“You overestimate yourself. Take off your helt, take off your pants, do as you please.”
The back of his head grew hot with killing intent, but the Youngest Son lightly ignored it and steered the Magic Dragon.
He had never learned how to ride a dragon, but he could communicate his will through the system.
Occasionally, the Magic Dragon’s will would reach him too.
It couldn't be expressed precisely in words like human language, but I could tell it was positive.
His head, which had been hurting like crazy with madness, felt refreshed for the first ti in a long while, so his mood must have been good.
Anyway, the only one with a rotten expression in this sky was the Gatekeeper over there.
“Don’t be so sulky. It’s not like we’re only going to catch monsters as you expect, but I won’t be ordering you to do anything either.”
“…I hope you keep that promise.”
At his piercing gaze, the Youngest Son muttered quietly.
“You've only followed my orders a handful of tis, yet you seem to think only your words are precious.”
“What did you say?”
“The sound of the wind. The sound of the wind.”
He made a rough excuse and spurred the Magic Dragon’s wings.
Then, from behind, he quietly added.
“So… what else are you planning to do besides catching monsters?”
The Gatekeeper wanted to hear. No, he felt like he had to.
The Youngest Son’s words about seven months or so imdiately passed through his mind.
This was the guy who had even obtained a Magic Dragon through all sorts of crazy deeds.
But he didn't know what kind of suicidal act he would pull off at the foremost border, which was full of crazy people.
Since he would naturally get caught up in it while sticking close as a guard, now was the ti to find out.
“……”
However, the Youngest Son was silent. He maintained a silence that further heightened one’s anxiety.
The Gatekeeper was confused. Wasn't this basically a kidnapping?
The kidnapper answered softly.
“This is why I hate sharp-witted guys.”
***
The Magic Dragon landed near the foremost border.
After dropping off the people, the Magic Dragon hid its form in the dark clouds, where the sun seed to have vanished in the chilly weather.
It was because there was no spatial artifact among those he currently had that could fit the Magic Dragon.
With the Magic Dragon gone, the surroundings ca into view more clearly.
Here, instead of the sll of rain from the dark clouds, only the sll of sothing dead brushed against the nose.
“I see the Femur over there.”
“…Your choice of words is natural. As if you’ve been here many tis.”
“How could that be?”
He had been here many tis from outside the monitor.
Of course, this was his first ti coming in person, which was why he had brought a forr local.
“Where are we around here?”
The forr Legion Commander looked around.
“The sky is like cigarette smoke, and the ground has weeds, but it's dry and crumbly. I think we’re near the railway of gate 23, approximately.”
“You’re quite capable.”
“It’s basic.”
The Polar Night Wall basically had 30 gates, and a massive train ran on top of them.
The border guards rode the train, traversing the wall, preventing invasions, and defeating the terrifyingly accumulating swarms of monsters.
“Oh. One’s coming right now.”
Chiiiiiiiiii─
The train, a ans of transport representing the early days of magitech like the airship, ca running, spewing gray smoke.
Until then, the Youngest Son turned his bloodshot eyes and stared at the Gatekeeper.
“What are you doing?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Go and get it.”
“…Excuse ?”
“This kind of thing is originally included in the role of an attendant.”
The Gatekeeper prided himself on having lived quite a long ti, and he was certain from the experience that ca from that life.
Stopping an oncoming train was definitely not among the duties of an attendant. Absolutely not.
And yet, the Youngest Son was firm.
“Go on. If you get on a running train, would you be a clan mber or a robber?”
Shit, shit, shit.
Instead of three counts of patience, he repeated three curses and kicked off the ground.
His body, which leaped up with enough force to kick up rough dirt, landed on the railway.
Chiiiiiiiiiiiiii─
Even then, the train showed no sign of stopping and instead rushed forward as if to push away the obstacle.
“Stop.”
He aid his single-edged greatsword and commanded.
Naturally, it didn’t listen, and the train hijacker didn’t expect it to.
If it would, he wouldn't have even raised his single-edged greatsword.
“It’s the sa as ever, a collection of dogs that don’t listen.”
His mouth cursed, but for so reason, the mouth inside the helt smiled.
The single-edged greatsword looked up at the sky.
His hands, which had risen with it, gripped the sword hilt as if to break it and moved simply.
Claaaaaaaang─!!
From top to bottom. The demon’s brute strength and the train collided.
The Gatekeeper, floating in the air without touching the railway, even managed to control the train so it wouldn't derail from the impact.
Grinddddddddddddddddddd─
At the end of such a feat, the train slowly decelerated and eventually ca to a complete stop.
“Wh-What the fuck!”
A soldier who seed to be the driver took off his helt and stuck his head out.
Then he saw two humans.
One was the giant with the single-edged greatsword who had just stopped the train.
The other was a man with dark purple hair standing in front of that giant.
“I couldn’t get on a running train, so I had to stop it.”
“Wh-Who are you?”
He couldn't curse anymore at the dark purple hair and asked in bewildernt.
That was certainly typical of the foremost border.
Most of the people here were exiled criminals, death row inmates, or illegitimate children of nobles.
Once one set foot on the border, they could only leave by dying, or else they had to deceive the world.
The Gatekeeper next to him was an example of the latter.
In any case.
The border guards were ignorant of world affairs, so they didn't recognize the young direct-line clan mber.
So, he kindly inford them.
“Dante Black Millesdusk. I am the Fifth Son of the family.”
“…!!”
At the words ‘direct-line clan mber,’ astonishnt spread across the driver's grimy face.
The clan mber asked, unconcerned.
“May I board?”
“O-Of course! Hey, you bastards! What are you staring at! Hurry up and make so space for him!”
The soldiers, who had co out with their respective weapons thinking sothing had happened, moved even more hastily than before.
They didn’t know who was coming in, but they could clearly see the dark purple hair.
It was that dark purple hair that even a blind person in this East had to recognize.
The soldiers sealed even the smallest gap between their lips, lest they have bad breath.
The Youngest Son, who got to use an entire car that they had vacated, asked the driver who was following him.
“Where was this train headed?”
“Ye-Yes. We were just passing gate 23 and heading towards gate 22.”
“At which gate is the Legion Commander?”
“That is…. His location varies from mont to mont, so I can’t specify. However, he is always present when the train arrives at gate 1.”
“Good.”
“Excuse …?”
For a mont, the driver couldn’t understand what this clan mber ant by ‘good.’
He was so uncomfortable he wished he would just leave quickly.
However, his wish was nullified by the clan mber’s declaration.
“I understand your job is to repair the wall and deal with monsters. Since we are going the sa way, I will assist you with the latter. Feel free to do what you were doing.”
“You, a clan mber, will fight alongside us?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“N-No, there isn’t.”
His heart pounded uncomfortably. That was a lie.
All the soldiers nearby who heard this felt the sa way.
He knew their inner thoughts.
“Yes. You must be thinking, ‘what whim brought a young master who knows nothing here.’ And you’ll be thinking, ‘who the hell is the Fifth Son.’”
“N-No! Of course not! Who would think such a disrespectful thing! If there is, I will personally behead them!”
“The thought of soone who looks less than half your age talking back to you and loitering around must be severely annoying.”
“P-Please! Absolutely not! H-Hey, guys! Am I wrong!”
No, sir─!!
The soldiers’ resounding answer was heard.
In their voices were a mixture of fear and a lant cursing today's fierce fortune.
“Is that so? If that’s what you all wish. I shall accompany you for today only.”
Yes─!! Understood─!!
The Youngest Son leaned back against the backrest with a satisfied smile.
The Gatekeeper, who watched this to the end, shook his head as if he was fed up.
“It will take about 30 minutes to reach Gate 22! Please rest comfortably!”
The driver bowed respectfully and ran off in a hurry.
The murmuring soldiers also beca quiet as if they were dead mice.
The inside of the train was usually louder than a train’s whistle with dirty jokes and curses.
The Gatekeeper asked quietly.
“If you can’t see a way to live, being commissioned here would be a good option for you. It seems to suit your aptitude.”
The Youngest Son chuckled.
“The military doesn’t suit .”
“You speak as if you’ve been.”
“I’ve been to a place you don’t know.”
“?”
The man honorably discharged at the end of his service turned his head at those words.
At the sign that he didn’t want any more conversation, the Gatekeeper also sat down.
Even in his youth, he had sat sowhere on this train, nervously gripping the spear he had received as a supply.
Now he was much bigger, stronger, and much older, but the anxiety was the sa.
The foremost border was a place where you never knew when or where a monster would pop out or an unexpected situation would occur.
All the soldiers here knew that today could be their last day.
To quell or forget that fear, the border guards talked more and smoked cigarettes restlessly.
Though today, it was quiet as a mouse due to the Youngest Son’s untily participation.
Squeak, squeak─
There were actual mice running around too.
.
.
.
After the 30 minutes the driver had ntioned passed, the train began to slowly decelerate.
Next to the railway, there were small buildings lined up, and there were guards.
“It’s a supply depot. The battle will take place after loading the necessary materials from here.”
“Is there anything I should know?”
“It is the ti of year when a large monster tends to appear once in a while. I don’t know what will co out, though.”
“Are there no statistics?”
“Practically none. But there are things that appear when you’re unlucky.”
The Gatekeeper, with his arms crossed, looked up at the sky outside the window.
“When the weather is cloudy like this, on unlucky days, winged beasts flock like a swarm of locusts. That’s the mont when the most soldiers die.”
“Oh. You an like that?”
“……”
The Youngest Son’s bloodshot eyes were looking at a pitch-black cloud in the far-off sky.
Others might not know, but the Gatekeeper could see it just like his superior.
That was no cloud, no matter how he looked at it.
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