A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

Chapter 278

Chapter 278

The intense cold was one thing, but the aftereffects of teleportation magic tormented his stomach again.

He covered his mouth and hurriedly looked around. But there was no way a lucky empty container would be placed in such a place.

Was he going to commit another diplomatic discourtesy by coming to a foreign country again?

Just when his vision was spinning,

Strong hands grabbed the back of his cloak and held something against his nose and mouth.

The damp handkerchief had a strong, bitter grassy smell.

He didn't know what the smell was, but after staying like that for a moment, his churning stomach began to gradually calm down.

Was it an herb with effects similar to motion sickness medicine?

As if he had met a god, he buried his face in the handkerchief and finally managed to speak."Thank you. Who did you hear this from?"

"......"

"Ah. You said Yurik sent you."

Then he must have known well that he would vomit when using teleportation magic.

He felt newly grateful to Yurik, who would be in Aquilonia.

Probably Yurik had taken care of all these things one by one. As he thought this and lifted his face, the knight panicked and pushed the herb-scented handkerchief closer.

"I'm fine now. It's okay."

By the way, where was this place?

Everything was covered in snow and the day was overcast, so he couldn't see far.

Moreover, this place where the teleportation magic formula was installed didn't seem to belong to Asgard's royal castle no matter how he looked at it.

The structure built by stacking stones only had a low ceiling, with no doors, windows, or anything else attached.

Thanks to this, wind came directly through the open sides.

Could it be... had Asgard deceived them?!

Was he going to wander through the snowfields like this, unable to find his way and freeze to death?

Then if angry Yurik let Aquilonia perish and overturned even Asgard?

He stopped his imagination from heading toward the worst and took a deep breath to somehow maintain his precarious mental state.

-Jingle, jingle.

Faint bell sounds were heard from somewhere.

Following the direction of the sound, he turned his head and heard the sound ringing through the wind from ahead.

And two yellow lights coming through the gray-white snowfall.

-Jingle, jingle...

The lights gradually became clearer. Eventually, the identity of what was approaching was revealed.

Three giant gray wolves and a huge sled being pulled behind them.

The sled looked like a carriage with sled runners attached instead of wheels. It had windows, but they were quite small, and snow flowed down from the rounded ceiling without corners rather than accumulating.

As the unique sled rushed toward them with frightening momentum, the escort knight that Yurik had provided seemed to sense danger and stepped forward.

"Stop! You bastards, stop!"

Someone shouted a command.

The wolves howled long, and the sled that had been sliding several meters due to inertia finally stopped.

The driver's seat, no. Should it be called the wolf-driver's seat? Someone jumped down from the seat attached to the outside of the sled.

"Greetings, guests from a distant land. Are you the 'solvers' from Aquilonia?"

"That's right. Did you come to meet us from Asgard's royal castle?"

"Yes. My name is Volb. The master of Asgard wishes to see you quickly. Though it's terrible weather, I will safely and swiftly escort you to Gladheim."

He didn't know where Gladheim was, but roughly guessing, it seemed to refer to where the king resided.

Volb quickly trudged through the snow, approached, and lifted the luggage with ease to load it into the cargo compartment.

He and the nameless escort knight boarded the sled.

Unlike its exterior appearance, the interior was quite comfortably decorated.

Multiple layers of fur were attached to the walls to block the cold, and the chairs were particularly soft.

Even a small lamp hung from the ceiling, so they could light it if they wanted.

While he was briefly looking around the interior, he heard "Let's go, you bastards!" from outside, and the sled began to move slowly.

Honestly, there was nothing to see outside the window during the entire ride.

Watching the pouring snow and the wind changing directions became boring after a while.

He thought about having a conversation with the escort knight,

But seeing him sitting quietly without removing his hood even inside the sled, he decided to save his words.

After about an hour of writhing in boredom by his perception, the running speed gradually slowed.

Had they arrived?

When they stopped completely, the escort knight looked outside and stood up.

He opened the door and got out first, then extended his hand. He looked at the offered hand, grasped it, and slowly descended.

Unlike the place where they had arrived by teleportation magic, which was all snowfields, now he was stepping on solid stone.

Looking up, he could see a castle as huge and magnificent as the mountains he had seen earlier.

Though there were no people outside, only the lights illuminating the stone walls shone brilliantly,

Boasting steadfastness in this blizzard.

The cheerful voice of their guide rang out.

"Welcome to Gladheim, where His Majesty King Oderus, the great ruler of Asgard, resides!"

* * *

His impression upon first meeting King Oderus was,

He thought the king somehow looked like a seasoned general who had experienced all sorts of hardships.

He estimated the king was about 50 years old. His face, full of wrinkles, looked strong, and one eye was covered by a black eyepatch.

His sparse hair was wavy, and he probably looked like a lion when he was young.

The fur of some animal, whether a black bear or something else, covered his shoulders, making him look even more imposing.

Silence and a faintly chilly coldness circulated in the audience chamber.

This wasn't a formal audience. Rather, because Aquilonia had proposed with secrecy in mind, his coming here was also a kind of top secret.

Therefore, he could guess that he wouldn't receive grand hospitality.

Still, wasn't it a bit much to call someone and then make them keep kneeling in an empty audience chamber with just the two of them?

He didn't mind kneeling, but his feet were a bit cold on the bare floor.

What was King Oderus waiting for?

After he had been bowing his head like that for a while, the king spoke as if lamenting.

"Young."

"...?"

"Too young. Since they said you could solve this problem, I called you to see what kind of sage had emerged from a frontier small country. But you're excessively young. At this rate, I'll have to hope you don't make the problem worse, let alone solve it."

This king bastard. The guy who was young as grass was now nitpicking about him being young.

He had probably lived longer than this guy's great-great-great-great-grandfather, but his too-young-looking face was the problem.

"Wisdom cannot be obtained through age alone... Your Majesty."

"Then speak. Young man of a small country. What learning have you mastered so deeply, and based on what experience do you dare come to solve the difficulties Asgard faces?"

"I have no particular scholarly interest, but I've heard a little about magic as a side interest... no, seen it, Your Majesty."

"Then are you saying you're a mage from Aquilonia?"

"I don't have skills worthy of being called a mage, but I know a little about magical studies... Your Majesty."

"Are you affiliated with a Mage Tower?"

"No."

"You came here without even being a mage certified by a Mage Tower?"

Then what was he supposed to do about it?

He heard the sound of the king sighing deeply from above.

"Asgard is not a place for foreign youngsters to look down upon."

"I didn't come with a light heart either."

"I don't know what scheme the Aquilonian royal family is plotting, but the moment you harbor foolish thoughts, you will be punished for mocking Asgard by having your limbs cut off and thrown as food to the mountain wolves, and Aquilonia will burn."

Even with such threats, he wasn't particularly scared.

He just thought that Asgard had really tried all sorts of methods but couldn't find an answer.

That was because, even while threatening him verbally like that, King Oderus ultimately wasn't saying he would drive him away.

To borrow his words, he wanted to place even vain hope on this 'foreign young brat.'

He nodded at King Oderus's words.

"What kind of person would come alone all this way, even telling lies to mock Asgard?"

"Hmm."

"However, what I happened to hear was only that Asgard is getting colder day by day. To solve the problem, I would like to hear the story in more detail."

"A story. A story..."

The king's complexion became somewhat gloomy.

Fingers wearing glittering rings slowly tapped the armrest of the throne.

The king, lost in worry, opened his mouth.

"Though Asgard's climate was cold, it was never this harsh. But at some point, it became like this."

"What do you mean by 'like this,' Your Majesty?"

"Horses have become useless livestock, and we tame fierce wolves with fire and whips to use as substitutes. Wild beasts come down to villages to escape the cold. Since snow accumulation prevents smooth movement of supplies, those who starve to death pile up like mountains. If this isn't a disaster, what should it be called?"

"Are you saying the climate suddenly changed?"

"I called all of Asgard's famous scholars and mages to devise ways to resolve this situation. But there are only hypotheses; no one has properly identified the cause."

He thought this was a story he had heard somewhere before.

The weather getting cold, species going extinct, we're all going to die - that kind of repertoire.

It felt strangely familiar. Was this déjà vu?

Even while he was wracking his brain about where he had seen this story, King Oderus continued speaking.

"Asgard is taking all measures to protect the kingdom's people, but we cannot live in ice forever. Moreover, that evil Brythunia waits in their barbaric den, hoping only for Asgard's destruction."

Oh? Come to think of it, he had heard that Brythunia and Asgard were currently competing for hegemony over the Thurian continent.

What would happen if Asgard was defeated by Brythunia?

"If the situation tilts due to cold and hunger."

"That won't happen."

King Oderus declared decisively.

Ah, perhaps like the saying that even a rich family can survive for three generations after going bankrupt,

Even great powers could endure for some time no matter how much their power declined?

"Before that happens, we will conquer warmer lands for our Asgard kingdom's people. Of course, I'm not saying that would be Aquilonia."

"...Haha. I see."

They would be one hundred percent invaded. Seeing King Oderus's eyes flash,

He seemed to be thinking that if things went wrong, he could conquer small countries like Aquilonia anytime.

No more war. No more!

He steeled himself before the possibility that Aquilonia might become a vassal state of Asgard.

"You mentioned earlier that there were various hypotheses about this matter. What were they generally about?"

"It's been so long that I don't remember well. Something about it being a natural phenomenon. Or the influence of mountain ranges."

"Those are merely hypotheses indeed."

"That's right. The mages told more superstitious stories. That the country's fortune had run out, or it was an ominous sign. Or that we had incurred the wrath of some great being."

"Wait, what wrath did you say?"

"The wrath of a 'great being.'"

What kind of being was that? Was it another way of referring to a god?

"Do Asgard's mages believe in gods?"

"It's the opposite. Asgard is the true successor of ancient Acheron. Therefore, we understand the essence of magic passed down from ancient Acheron better than any country in western Thurian."

"By essence, you mean."

"The way of performing miracles based on the caster's complete magical power, as left by Great Mage Eibon. Asgard's mages are brave warriors who don't shy away from hard training to increase their magical power."

The mages didn't believe in gods like Eibon, and Asgard had no state religion.

Then what did 'great being' mean?

As he tilted his head with a puzzled expression, King Oderus stood up with a sneer.

"You seem unable to grasp it at all. I had no expectations anyway. Do you have the courage to solve it?"

"I will do my best."

"I'll give you three days. If you can solve it, I'll guarantee all rights, but if it's judged impossible, it would be better to leave Asgard early."

Leaving those words, King Oderus left the audience chamber.

Only three days. Time that would disappear quickly if he wanted to investigate properly. If he let his guard down for even a moment, the game would be over immediately.

Still, it was fortunate that he could hear the story directly from the king.

It was quite generous treatment for a mere foreigner.

But even so, many unresolved questions remained.

He left the audience chamber and spoke to the nameless escort knight waiting by the door.

"I need to tour Asgard's Mage Tower. Find out where the Mage Tower with the most mages is located."