NOVEL WEB Chapter 13 - The One Called a Legend (2)
✦ Chapter 13 – The One Called a Legend (2) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
The hunter Findman claimed to have encountered a legendary Hel.
「Claw of Silence」
Findman said he had given this name to that legendary being.
“The Claw of Silence, huh?”
When Del asked with interest, Findman began chattering excitedly, like a middle-aged man who couldn’t wait to tell a story.
“I was still a greenhorn then. Obsessed with making a name for myself. So I came to this mountain without any preparation. What a fool I was. I didn’t even have the proper equipment.”
Findman said he had become stranded on this mountain.
Just as he thought he was going to die helplessly, the blizzard miraculously stopped.
“It wasn’t just the blizzard that stopped. Everything on this mountain became silent. An intense stillness. Perhaps it was a dream. Maybe a nightmare I had as I was dying from the cold.”
Swish—! Swish—!
Findman rolled up his sleeve.
On his forearm, there was a vivid scar that looked as if it had been torn by an enormous claw.
“But I don’t think it was a dream. I clearly saw it. A shadow moving so fast it didn’t even leave footprints in the snow! That day, I was attacked and fell off a cliff.”
━Woof! Woof!
“That’s when I was lucky enough to meet Pochita here. Since this fellow rescued me that day, we’ve been the best of friends and family.”
━Woof! Woof!
Lick– Lick—
The dog-squirrel Pochita licked Findman’s face with its tongue, vigorously wagging its bushy tail from side to side. Watching this, I wondered if I could develop such a close relationship with a Hel if I ever caught one. I really want to have my own Hel soon.
“There’s a flat area! We should all rest here!”
We decided to make camp about halfway up the mountain.
Findman rummaged through his bag and took out some canned food that looked edible, and started cooking in a makeshift pot. For a makeshift pot cook, it was quite tasty.
“It’s good we can light a fire. Having a mage makes things easier. Usually, it’s difficult to start a fire on this mountain due to the powerful magic of the extreme cold.”
“Daniel is an excellent mage! He’s so good, he can take down an Ascension Knight with just one spell!”
Del proudly praised me, puffing out his chest. In reality, I had just snapped my fingers to create a spark through friction, not magic. It was more science than magic, wasn’t it?
Time passed peacefully in this manner.
While Findman was checking his hunting tools, Del, who had been dozing by the campfire, suddenly wiped the drool from his mouth.
“I wasn’t sleeping!”
“Nobody said anything. Why don’t you get some rest? You’ve had a long day.”
Del looked exhausted. But for some reason, he insisted on not sleeping.
“It’s strange. I’ve never felt this sleepy before. Daniel, for some reason, I keep feeling drowsy when I’m with you. But I’m not sleepy now!”
If you’re sleepy, why not just sleep instead of being stubborn? Before I knew it, Del’s eyes were closed. He must have fallen asleep. I thought so, but then Del spoke as if he was digging up a long-held secret from his heart.
“Actually, I’ve encountered the 「Claw of Silence」before too.”
“Is that true?!”
Findman reacted strongly.
The dog-squirrel Pochita, who had been curled up sleeping by the fire, slightly opened its eyes at the sound.
Findman, his eyes gleaming almost maniacally, asked Del—
“Young man! Is it true that you met the legendary Hel?”
“I’m not sure myself. That night feels like a dream. It was an unusually quiet night. So quiet and still that the silence made me feel sleepy early on. It wasn’t even snowing.”
Del said he had visited this snow-capped mountain with his family.
Although this mountain was called the 「Demon’s Realm」, its lower slopes were like a tourist spot, crowded with pilgrims and travelers.
The tomb and shrine of Imseti Paimon were also located there.
“That night, I fell asleep unusually early. When I woke up sensing a strange presence, I found myself in the midst of a terrifying situation. My family members were bleeding and injured.”
“It must have been the 「Claw of Silence」! Did you see its form? Did you catch a glimpse of it?”
“I didn’t see it, but even now, I’m sometimes haunted by the memories of that night. It’s probably why I started suffering from insomnia. When I close my eyes, I fear my family might get hurt again while I’m unaware…”
It seemed Del’s insomnia stemmed from a trauma he experienced in his childhood, a psychosomatic condition. His obsession with the legendary Hel wasn’t solely due to the Paimon family’s hunting competition.
However, that wasn’t the most pressing matter at hand.
“Everyone, look around.”
The snowstorm that had been blowing through the snow-capped mountains suddenly ceased; an eerie silence enveloped us, so profound that even the sound of the wind was imperceptible. If we were to find a common thread between Del and Findman’s stories, it was that the [Legendary Hel] appeared amidst a silence so complete that not even snow fell.
Findman spoke up, “Yes, it was just like this back then too. The oppressive silence was so thick that it filled the air. It was just a day like that.”
At that moment, Pochita, the dig-squirrel who had been curled up asleep near the campfire, bristled its fur.
—Grrrr…!
It was an overt display of wariness.
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
The night before the hunting competition was set to begin.
Lady Somnia was in her study, so deep in thought that she couldn’t even sleep.
‘The Emperor’s Ascension Knights have been active here in Avalam. And Anistia, the eldest son of the Barbatos family and an elven swordsman, is also staying in this city.’
There were too many external forces beyond Lady Somnia’s control.
She was almost tempted to cancel the competition even now. However, Lady Somnia had compelling reasons to ensure the successful hosting of this event.
‘I refused the Emperor’s marriage proposal. But he’s not the type to give up easily. As long as I remain single, he’ll keep targeting me to stabilize his political foundation.’
In essence, this hunting competition was the first step towards breaking free from the Emperor’s ambitions and establishing northern independence. If Somnia found a “match,” the Emperor would no longer be able to force a political marriage.
‘I never wanted to get married, but… if I have to, my partner should be stronger than me. He should also be kind-hearted. A strong will would be even better. And if possible, his appearance should match my preferences…’
Somnia recalled a man she had noticed during the competition and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. This was unusual for Somnia, who was known for rarely smiling.
“…Del, was it?”
“My lady, perhaps you should reconsider holding the hunting competition?”
A stern-faced maid had approached and bowed to Somnia. Momentarily flustered that her smile and murmur might have been noticed, Somnia quickly composed herself and adjusted her helmet.
“We, the people of Paimon, must not go back on our word. We decided to hold the competition, so we will proceed as planned.”
“At the very least, would you reconsider your decision to participate directly? It could be dangerous.”
“That’s not possible either. I want to participate in this competition to face my own limits. To see if I can handle being the new head of the Paimon family. This is also a trial I’m setting for myself.”
Somnia wanted to capture the [Legendary Hel].
If she could obtain its power, it might not be a mere dream for the Paimon family to rebuild its past glory and stand against that ‘Emperor.’
Seeing Somnia’s firm resolve, the quiet maid simply bowed her head.
“If that is your decision, I won’t try to dissuade you further. However, my lady, there are reports of ominous mana being detected around the snowy mountains. Please be careful—”
“Ominous mana?”
Even after the competition had started and the sun began to set, Somnia couldn’t shake off the maid’s words about the ominous mana.
And finally, when the blizzard subsided in the darkness, the true nature of the ‘ominous mana’ the maid had worried about became clear.
Swish— swish—
They emerged from beneath the knee-deep snow of the mountain. Their bodies had ice-hard skeletons, and their eyes gleamed with an eerie blue light.
— Screeeech!
— Shrieeeek!
It was bigger than a tiger, and its fangs shone like fangs under its pointed snout. As they spread their sharp wings and roared loudly, someone shouted with a confident voice.
“Dragons! Weren’t dragons supposed to be legendary Hels? Ice dragons! Have ice dragons been inhabiting this Frost Reach?”
Chaos erupted everywhere.
At that moment, Anistia, the elven swordsman who had been camping on the mountainside, calmly drew his sword and swiftly cut down one of the skeletal dragons.
“Don’t be foolish. These aren’t just dragons; they’re skeletal dragons. Ancient corpses, really. They’re more like puppets controlled by a necromancer than Hels. They can be easily defeated using mana.”
Anistia’s words were as cool as his breath in the frigid air. All the while, his eyes were fixed on the mysterious Lady Somnia.
“I understand that the Paimon family usually maintains a barrier around this mountain, centered on the tomb at the base. It seems that relaxing this barrier for the hunting competition allowed the necromancer to intrude. Was this level of interference anticipated?”
“More or less.”
“If you truly aspire to lead the Paimon family, you should know that necromancy doesn’t mix well with ‘that thing’ sleeping in this mountain. In the worst-case scenario, the entire city of Avalam could vanish tonight. Did you foresee that as well?”
The competition’s organizer narrowed her eyes beneath her helmet in response to the elven swordsman’s question. It seemed Barbatos knew more than she had expected.
‘I never imagined Barbatos would even know about ‘that thing’ sleeping in the mountain… Is the Barbatos family, supporting him, truly the de facto ruler of the continent rather than the Emperor?’
The woman hesitated for a moment as she drew the greatsword from her back.
She considered whether it might be beneficial for her family to defeat this elven swordsman here and now. Just then, as Anistia dodged a skeletal dragon’s attack with elven agility, he made an unexpected proposal.
“If these skeletal dragons reach ‘that being’ in the mountain, disaster will strike. Wouldn’t it be better to cooperate and prevent that, rather than focus on the competition? Let’s form an alliance.”
“What are you plotting, Barbatos?”
“I have no ulterior motives.”
Nobody on this continent took Barbatos’s words at face value. However, the woman also felt that working with this elven swordsman to resolve the immediate crisis was the best course of action.
Concerned about someone in particular, she moved with lightning speed.
‘Del!’
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
“Argh! These bastards! These are the Hels called skeleton dragons! These are special Hels, but they are both Hels and corpses, so they only obey the orders of necromancers!”
Findman briefly explained the situation while cleverly dodging the attacks of the ice-covered skeleton dragons. I thought the current situation was what Dimensia had called the ‘Agareth conspiracy’.
— Screeeeech!
It was fascinating, really. Skeleton dragons. I wondered if I could capture them with a “Hel Ball” if I had one. However, unlike me, who was enjoying myself, Del was shouting with a very tense expression.
“Necromancy? It’s dangerous! There are those things in this mountain! If necromancers possess them, something really unstoppable will happen! We have to go! We have to get down the mountain!”
Are we going to go down the mountain that we climbed all this trouble to get up? I wondered what was going on that made him so urgent, and I grabbed Del’s shoulder. Then, Del shouted like a spike breaking the quiet silence.
“There is a tomb in this mountain! They say that the real body of Imseti Paimon is asleep there! If a necromancer with evil intentions comes into contact with that body─”
“Good heavens! If Imseti, known as the strongest ice mage in history, is resurrected through necromancy, it would be catastrophic! The entire city of Avalam could be encased in ice!”
The resurrection of the famous Imseti Paimon could lead to the city’s destruction overnight.
Allowing Paimon to fall would make completing my tutorial quest much more troublesome. Reluctantly, I decided to descend the mountain with Del, heading towards the base.
Truth be told, I was intrigued by the potential resurrection of Imseti Paimon.
A man once hailed as the strongest.
How powerful would he be? Stronger than me, Daniel, as I am now? If he’s stronger than me, how would he compare to the Emperor, who’s currently known as the world’s strongest man and has subjugated all kingdoms into a single empire?
‘Agareth, you’re certainly making my once-boring life quite interesting. I almost want to reward you.’
— End of Chapter —
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Translator’s Notes :-
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