100 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
Alisha's Warrior of Hell, Bride of the Grand Duke 100
Ingrid quickly grew tired and lay down.
Alisha fell asleep beside the bed.
Late at night, Reikart came into the room and gazed at the two sleeping figures for a long time.
Reikart placed a chair next to Alisha and, like her, leaned against the bedside and fell asleep.
In the dark night, Ingrid, who had vaguely woken up, smiled as she looked at Alisha and Reikart sleeping side by side.
"My babies."
Her wrinkled hand carefully stroked Alisha's cheek, ruffled Reikart's hair, and then she fell back asleep.
From the next day, Ingrid began to leave her room again.
She took walks with Reikart and showered Alisha with paintings, books, sheet music, and all sorts of precious things.
The three often ate together.
Ingrid dismissed Reikart and Alisha and spent time separately with those who had stayed by her side for a long time.
She summoned the novice priests of the Great Temple, personally handing them gold coins, saying that the day to give them farewell money was near.
Despite the sorrowful content, Ingrid's attitude was so cheerful that the girls receiving the gold coins couldn't help but be both crying and laughing.
Daily life flowed by peacefully.
On the 17th day since arriving in Orier.
Reikart and Alisha were coordinating the date of their return.
They had left Tessen empty for too long.
Alisha casually suggested to Ingrid twice that she go to Tessen with them.
Ingrid pretended not to understand and refused.
She planned to suggest it one more time during afternoon tea.
Ingrid returned from her walk and took a nap.
It was almost time for someone to come and announce tea time.
She was thinking that her nap was longer than usual when.
"Ingrid...!"
Camille's cry echoed through the house.
Alisha and Reikart immediately headed to Ingrid's room.
They could tell even without speaking.
Ingrid had passed away in Camille's arms as if she were asleep.
Camille held the frail body and cried out loud.
The priests of the Great Temple also trembled and burst into tears.
The mansion was filled with weeping.
Alisha silently shed tears.
Reikart pulled Alisha into his arms to comfort her while quickly issuing instructions.
A separate funeral was not held for the Countess of Lua.
With Ingrid's consent during her lifetime, the Great Temple had agreed to take her body when she passed away.
The Great Temple's command was swift and solemn.
As soon as Ingrid passed away, the journey to the Great Temple was arranged.
Camille and the priests of the Great Temple guarded Ingrid until the very end as she went to the Great Temple.
Reikart and Alisha saw Ingrid's party off to the Great Temple instead of holding a funeral.
Alisha was bewildered by the Great Temple's movements to take Ingrid away, without even having time to feel sadness.
She tried to go to the Great Temple with them but was stopped.
Reikart held Alisha, who would suddenly cry for no reason or couldn't stop crying for hours, in his arms and comforted her.
Alisha burrowed into Reikart, who was comforting her, and burst into even louder sobs.
Sometimes, she would pummel Reikart with her fists for helping the Great Temple to carry out their command so quickly.
Reikart comforted Alisha even more diligently when she cried even louder.
When Alisha pummeled him, he would let her hit him and then comfort her again.
Alisha felt that Ingrid was like another destiny for her.
Reikart understood Alisha's feelings.
However, it was dangerous for her to just cry for hours, so he coaxed the crying Alisha to drink water.
He persuaded Alisha, who was trying to refuse food, to eat at least a cookie.
"It's time to return to Tessen."
Reikart announced the moment of leaving Orier with an unwavering attitude.
"Ray. Why, aren't you even crying..."
Alisha said, suppressing the sadness that was about to flow out.
Reikart was the only one who wasn't crying there.
He must be the one who wants to cry the most.
"I promised Ingrid. Not to cry because of her. Shall we go?"
Reikart said with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
"Yes."
Alisha replied, wiping the tears flowing down her cheeks.
A letter arrived in Tessen.
It was a letter containing the news that Lord Brenel's family's mansion had burned down, following their Anchor Tree garden.
Viscount Brenel's mansion was completely burned down, leaving only the foundation.
Lord Brenel and his wife, their three daughters and son, who were in the mansion, could not escape the fire and lost their lives.
Several workers who were staying at the mansion were also injured or lost their lives.
Most of those who lost their lives were close servants of Lord and Lady Brenel.
The only member of the Brenel family who survived was Anne Brenel.
Fortunately, Anne had left the mansion for a while to retrieve Anchor Tree saplings.
Originally, Alisha had to leave Tessen and go to Baden.
But she replaced it with sending a letter.
[Dear Anne.
I express my condolences for the sorrow of the Brenel family.
I know you must be flustered to suddenly become Lord Brenel, but I hope you will lead the family well.
Sincerely, Alisha.]
Outside the Tessen border.
The far west.
Summer rain fell on Mount Kaif.
The rain continued for six days without stopping.
The cheerful name of summer rain did not suit it.
Evening after a day of rain.
The Western Command, which guards the Tessen border, recorded that the rainy season had begun.
When it rained so hard that nothing could be seen for three days.
The mountain villagers who were seeking resources from Mount Kaif acknowledged that it was the monsoon season.
When the rain did not stop for five days.
The mountain villagers were worried but only hoped that the monsoon season would end.
The rain, which had continued for several days, became slightly thinner on the sixth day.
It seemed like the monsoon season was about to end.
The slope where Mount Kaif began became faintly visible.
There was a middle-aged man and a girl on a mountain goat in front of the mountain path.
"Okay, let's go."
The man urged the mountain goat to enter Mount Kaif.
The girl also stroked the back of the mountain goat's head.
Clang, clang.
The bell tied to the mountain goat rang whenever it moved.
The mountain goat took a few steps as if it were going to enter the mountain, but soon turned its head.
"Why is it doing this? Is it because of the rain?"
It was still raining, but the raindrops were thin.
This amount of rain was not a problem for the mountain goat.
"It must be scared because it can't see ahead."
The girl said to her father, understanding the mountain goat's feelings.
Her small hands kept wiping the mountain goat's head, which was wet from the rain.
"Is it because of the fog? We have to go into the mountain and get something today. Let's go in a little bit. Huh?"
Mount Kaif was the only place that provided resources in the area where barren land began to spread.
The mountain village's life had become drastically difficult due to the rain that had continued for several days.
The mountain villagers often traded with armed Tessen people.
Tessen was not just buying supplies.
They also bought information related to Mount Kaif.
The Empire and Tessen had ambitions to occupy the land near Mount Kaif.
Their desires did not stop at simple expectations.
Tessen soldiers treated the mountain villagers as if they were already people of the Empire, managing them and providing some protection.
The eight villages living on Mount Kaif, facing the vast Empire, were still managing their lives well.
The village's own market, the Tessen Western Command, merchants traveling to and from the free cities of the desert, clans, and nomadic tribes wandering the grasslands.
Ironically, the mountain village was able to live relatively wealthy thanks to the trade with the many people coming and going to Tessen.
The residents of the Kaif Mountain villages took turns going to inspect the mountain.
If they couldn't find food in the mountain, they had to at least grasp the situation and use it when trading with Tessen.
With the man's repeated urging, the mountain goat plunged into Mount Kaif.
But it couldn't run even a few steps and stopped.
Thud.
A cliff had formed where the path should have been.
The ground the mountain goat was standing on crumbled a little.
The remains of stones and trees were scattered haphazardly where the path had been.
"Ah, Father...!"
The rocky path of Mount Kaif had completely collapsed.
All the paths that people had made were cut off.
"What, what is that...!"
A black castle stood tall on the summit of Mount Kaif.
The black castle exuded an ominous aura just by looking at it.
Only that place looked particularly dark and gloomy.
An unpleasant shadow seemed to be floating around the black castle.
"Father, over there..."
The girl sitting in front pointed to the other side of the cliff.
"Krrr."
A black beast was crouching on the other side of the cliff.
The threatening sound seemed to be echoing from underground.
The black beast had an appearance that had never been seen or heard of before.
The size of a house.
The beast had a surface of black rock-like texture, not fur.
The black teeth that were vaguely visible inside the beast's open mouth added to the bizarreness.
The distance between the cliffs was considerable because the path was cut off.
"Good heavens."
The man turned the mountain goat around without hesitation.
The mountain goat, from the moment it felt the threat, ran and jumped continuously.
The man handed the reins to the girl, grabbed the prepared wooden spear, and looked back.
"Krrr."
The huge beast unbelievably leaped across the cliffs in one jump.
The man quickly threw the spear he had and grabbed the reins again.
He didn't expect the spear to hit, so he prioritized escaping.
"Oh my god, no way...!"
The mountain goat raced down the mountain path, cutting through the wind.
As he descended Mount Kaif, the man directed the mountain goat towards the Tessen border.
Because if he took that monster to the mountain village, everyone would be massacred.
"Woof!"
A black shadow approached the rapidly running mountain goat from moment to moment.
The black beast was unbelievable even after seeing it.
The appearance of the monster alone seemed like the end of the world.
#14. Dispatch
Tessen, the far west.
The border checkpoint never has a peaceful day.
"Rain, it's coming again."
Paul, who came out to stand guard, frowned and said.
His face, glancing up at the sky, was filled with weariness.
"When will the rainy season end?"
Paul's colleague, Edric, grumbled as he looked up at the sky together.
A thin rain was endlessly falling from the gloomy sky.
Life in Tessen is harsh.
Especially for the border checkpoint guards, there is no good season.
In spring, terrible sandstorms blew in every other day.
Last spring, sandstorms blew for 15 consecutive days.
It felt like hell.
Tessen is at the western end of the Empire and also at the northern end, so the weather is cool and nice in summer.
But Tessen rarely has the clear weather of summer.
There is no heat, but summer storms rage like anywhere else in the Empire.
When rain starts in the desert, a rainy season that lasts for days and days follows.
Once you experience the dampness and stuffiness of the rainy season, you start to wait for the sandstorms instead.
The abundant autumn was also difficult.
The climate was good for crossing the border, so the lines of people trying to pass through the checkpoint continued like swarms of ants.
Being harassed by the disgusting masses made them frown all day long.
And in some years, if you were unlucky, it was like winter from September.
The first snow fell at the end of September, and news of snow continued until April of the following year.
Tessen's winter is harsh.
No other words can replace it.
"It's better than snow, isn't it?"
Sam, who had been inspecting the walls built with sandbags, smiled sourly.
Paul and Edric's faces instantly crumpled.
"Don't say unlucky things."
The two people shuddered and wiped their ears with their hands as if wiping away the sound.
Last winter, it didn't snow.
The weather was strangely good.
There were rumors rampant in the Western Command that the weather was good because the Grand Duchess was in Tessen.
Does that make sense? Anyway, the old men's superstitions.
Then, when spring came, it snowed like crazy, as if pouring out all the snow that hadn't fallen in winter.
Coincidentally, it was when the Grand Duchess, who had been staying at Tessen Estate, had left for the Imperial Palace.