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Chapter 272

Yeon-woo was hiding in the snow, donned in a white camouflage outfit. No, this wasn’t about him joining the elite squad, Seollang.

He’d come to observe how they utilized purifying potions and what inconveniences they faced—nothing beats seeing it with his own eyes!

Fortunately, the members of Seollang didn’t seem to mind Yeon-woo tagging along much.

Of course, it hadn’t always been that way. After he proved he could keep up, their attitude loosened a bit.

“We’ve spotted a horde of Undead ahead.”

As Yeon-woo took a breath, a member of Seollang who had scouted ahead reported this. Hearing that, Yeon-woo glanced at the squad leader.

“What kind?”

“It’s definitely created by the Cult of Oblivion’s Necromancer.”

“Well then, we should exterminate them.”

Without hesitation, the squad leader nodded. He then glanced back at Yeon-woo, who shrugged in response to his look.

“Let’s go. Honestly, I’m not tired at all.”

“You’ve got some guts, don’t you?”

With a chuckle, the squad leader took the lead. Although he had a cold demeanor, he was a different person when he smiled.

Even before the regression, the squad leader was famous—a hunting dog of the snowy plains, known for his relentless grip once he locked onto prey.

In fact, he had been instrumental in cornering the Demon King on multiple occasions before the regression.

Lucrecia had already died, leaving behind a revenge-driven ghost set on defeating the Demon King.

And by his side, steadfast to the end, was the squad leader and Seol Gi-ryeong—people couldn’t help but be amazed by their unwavering determination!

The agile warriors of the Ice Palace sprang into action, gliding silently over the surface of the snow without leaving a trace.

Watching them made Yeon-woo appreciate just how astounding Baek In-hwa’s genius was.

Despite the presence of skilled warriors in their late twenties to forties, their achievements drastically paled in comparison to Baek In-hwa’s.

Only Seol Gi-ryeong showed comparable prowess.

The raw, wild aura radiating from Seol Gi-ryeong compared to Baek In-hwa’s graceful movements was a spectacle of its own.

“Alright, let’s keep up.”

He stepped onto the sinking snow. While not as flawlessly as they did, he was getting better at navigating through the white expanse.

By distributing his weight evenly with specialized snow shoes, he managed his footing better. Using ice elemental mana with each step made things even smoother.

“No one cares for their underlings like this,” Yeon-woo sighed softly.

Considering it was all for Sullivan’s job satisfaction, he couldn’t shake off a slightly bitter feeling.

But he had no choice. With mana-enhancement potions expected to come out by mid-next year, he couldn’t overlook the creator of the main product, the purifying potion.

Sullivan would be spearheading the creation of the enhancement potions, making it even more crucial not to lose talented personnel.

Welcome to a family-like enterprise~.

*

The three children, having slid down from the rooftop of the Ice Palace, now rested, breathless.

The fur outfits gifted by the Ice Palace had soaked up the snow and were a mess. Still, Shar and Tae-oh’s heads were even more jumbled!

They had enjoyed every moment of the fun, but in between, Baek Yi-rin’s questions lodged in their hearts.

“What food does your father like?” or “What’s his favorite color?” They didn’t know why she asked, but the real problem was that both kids couldn’t answer!

“Dad knows what we like…”

That thought filled their minds.

Shar liked gold. He enjoyed food in general, especially chicken.

Yeon-woo remembered Shar’s favorite chicken brand and would often provide opportunities whenever he showed interest.

Tae-oh liked all warm colors. He favored spicy Chinese food and had delighted in Sichuan cuisine even before coming to the North Sea.

With limited Chinese restaurants around Changhae, it was Yeon-woo who asked for it specifically.

Just days ago, Yeon-woo had managed to remember and prepare their favorites while they couldn’t even recall what he enjoyed!

That spurred their guilt.

Especially after having had so much fun! It’s human nature, really.

When you goof off after slacking on homework, the guilt of abandoned tasks inevitably creeps in—an all-too-common scenario.

Yet the children couldn’t grasp this. At just nine in body and not even one in reality, they had no business worrying about such things.

It was just the nature of being young, after all.

Perhaps it was a matter of mental space; Yeon-woo, on his second go at life, bore a hazy image of the father he envisioned.

“Ah! We need to find a gift for Dad, Tae-oh!!”

“I agree…!!”

“Not a big deal or anything.”

Watching the two children deep in thought from a distance was Dawn, slightly leaning.

Sure, their dad would appreciate a gift, but she sensed that Yeon-woo didn’t shower them with love just to receive something in return.

“If he was that type, he wouldn’t have picked me as his apostle.”

Despite her somewhat sour demeanor towards Yeon-woo, Dawn respected him greatly.

Not because he was her apostle, but simply because she respected him, leading to her choice.

Given Dawn’s not-so-great memories of parents before she became a god, the lack of comments on a parental figure spoke volumes.

No selfish desires, only pure love for the children. Not even a blood relation to hash out.

Dawn poked Baek Yi-rin, who was jotting down the information the children were excitedly brainstorming about.

“Oh, Dawn! What’s up?”

“Tae-oh and Shar are heading somewhere. We should follow them.”

“Oh? Kids, where are you going?”

“T-to buy a gift…!”

As the two kids looked around, Baek Yi-rin hurriedly chased after them.

There was no way around it. As the deity protecting them, she needed to take care of the children when Yeon-woo wasn’t around.

With that somewhat grown-up thought, Dawn also followed suit. After all, she was just a child, too.

*

“This isn’t it. I think we can erase this.”

“Right.”

Lucrecia and Baek Joo-han conversed while spreading out a large map.

As Lucrecia spoke, Baek Joo-han swiftly crossed off parts of the Northern Sea map.

They were in the process of uncovering where Saturday was hiding through faint connections left behind by Lucrecia.

Having ruled out the west from the last exploration, they scratched that section completely.

It seemed peaceful at first glance, yet the Northern Sea was still at war with Oblivion.

Purposefully diverting attention away from Yeon-woo and Baek In-hwa still continued.

However, thanks to the supply of purifying potions and Lucrecia’s appearance, things were changing.

The former significantly reduced the attrition rates for the Ice Palace fighters, while with Lucrecia, they could even search for the Demon King himself, allowing them to easily track down the Undead created with the Demon King’s power.

Lucrecia could also readily uncover the Undead hidden beneath the Cult of Oblivion’s surface, placing Oblivion at a severe disadvantage.

One could say it was the perfect combination of spear and shield to counter Oblivion.

“So which direction next?”

“I’ve started to get a rough idea… Let’s clear out the east as well. If I endure a bit of hardship, it’ll make things easier for you guys, right?”

“…That’s true.”

Baek Joo-han murmured with a somewhat reluctant expression, and Lucrecia burst into laughter. He was the type to loathe being indebted.

“I’m not doing it for your sake, so don’t worry. You’ll be the ones facing countless deaths when fighting the Demon King; I can’t exactly volunteer to take those hits for you.”

The greatest sacrifices in war are made not by generals but by soldiers. And there weren’t any soldiers on Yeon-woo’s side.

In other words, the greatest casualties in the fight against the Demon King would inevitably fall on the Ice Palace warriors.

Of course, once they pinpointed the Demon King’s location, all types of Hunters would rush in, but even considering that, it would be the same story.

“…I’ll feel guilty about what’s to come.”

“But I know you guys won’t back down.”

Baek Joo-han silently nodded. They had already lost too much at the hands of Saturday.

How many widows resulted from the fight against Saturday? How many single-parent households emerged in this confined Northern Sea?

“If you don’t want to lose any more, sometimes you must step forward and eliminate the cause.”

That was how the people of the Northern Sea lived.

Instead of waiting for the snow to stop, they look for ways to live no matter how much it falls. That’s how they harmonized with nature.

And it was no different when it came to the threat posed by the Demon King. To them, the Demon King was no different from the harsh nature itself.

Except perhaps a tad more vexing.

“Ugh, they could just say they don’t want to do it. The people here are truly hard to understand.”

“We don’t expect outsiders to comprehend us. We just live our lives that way.”

A sharp glare from Lucrecia pierced through Baek Joo-han. He met her gaze steadily, calmly stroking his smooth jawline.

Well, one must be bold to face off against the Demon King, after all.

Having once defeated a Demon King as a hero before his death, Lucrecia chuckled at the thought.

“I was worried there wouldn’t be any hardened folks around before I died, but now I’m just concerned there are too many. I hope we don’t end up fighting each other later.”

“That won’t happen.”

Baek Joo-han replied calmly, and Lucrecia left the room.

(Continued in the next episode)

 

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