Evading the Hero’s Party with Full Effort

Chapter 62

Ch.62 It’s Okay. That’s Normal.

I listened to Carlos’s story while staring at the large iceberg.

A few small boats from the lead ship were scouting the area.

“It’s quite difficult to proceed any faster due to the ice floes.”

Ice floes refer to chunks of ice floating in the Arctic Ocean.

The appearance of ice floes means we could encounter an iceberg, so it was good to send a few sailors down to check one by one if there were any icebergs we needed to avoid.

Of course, we could turn the ship’s bow to avoid a large iceberg…

But since it’s hard to estimate the size of the submerged part deep in the sea, we performed these checks whenever ice floes were visible.

It will slow us down tremendously, though.

“Don’t worry, I have a way.”

If this were a game, it would depend on luck, but now it’s reality.

So, we had to overcome this obstacle using a method that works in reality.

“What is it?”

“We have a few merfolk corpses, right?”

I had instructed them not to discard but to keep the merfolk corpses obtained from the last attack.

Carlos blinked his eyes, his expression showing he didn’t understand.

To resolve his doubt, I gave him a small hint.

“Do you know what a Necromancer is?”

Carlos scowled as if he’d heard something unpleasant.

“Aren’t they the cursed ones?”

“Right. So, what if I resurrect the merfolk and have them search for ice floes?”

“Ah?!”

Surprised by the unexpected method, a stunned Carlos nodded his head vigorously.

“That’s a really good method! But we don’t have a Necromancer on our ship?”

I pointed at myself with my fingertip.

“I can use Necromancer magic too.”

“Ooh? Amazing! You look so young, yet you know magic and even Voodoo? Then let’s do that right away!”

Carlos grabbed a sailor and told him to bring three merfolk corpses.

The sailor who received the order agilely brought over the barrel where the merfolk corpses were stored.

-Thud!

The heavy barrel was placed before us with a sound.

Was it just my feeling? It smelled like rotting fish, so foul that it wouldn’t be strange for flies to swarm immediately.

Is it because merfolk are half-fish?

-Creeeak!

When the barrel was opened, an even more unpleasant scent spread in all directions. Sounds of people retching could be heard from here and there.

“Ugh…!”

Overwhelmed by the unpleasant odor stinging my olfactory cells, I plugged my nose with one hand and drew Levi’s Dagger, tapping the merfolk corpses. Then,

-Flicker

The merfolk opened their eyes.

And they strained to get out of the cramped barrel.

-Creeak!

-Grind!

Was it because they had been left in one position for so long?

As they loosened their stiffness and moved, a grotesque cacophony of dislocated bones and joints continued to sound.

The creepy sound startled the sailors nearby, causing panic.

-Wh… what is that?!

-They, they came back to life?

-Was he a Necromancer, Mr. Hans?

Ignoring the sailors trembling in fear, I gave orders to the merfolk.

“If you see an iceberg, tell the sailors where it is.”

Then, I also explained to the sailors who were whispering among themselves due to the sudden situation.

“It’s creepy… but still, it’s fortunate they’re useful.”

I was glad they understood.

If they had objected to the method of resurrecting and controlling corpses without considering its usefulness or utility, it would have been quite a headache.

“Call me if anything happens.”

***

That day at lunch.

After eating a hearty meal, I took a walk on the stern deck with her.

Selena had said that if we stay indoors all the time because it’s cold, we need to exercise, even if it’s just a little like this, so I was dragged out.

“Huh? The sun is setting already?”

Around this time, the sun sets early in the Arctic Circle.

It wasn’t even 4 PM yet, but as the sun gradually set, the whole world began to turn orange.

“It’s pretty…”

The blue sky changed into a vivid purple like silk, showing off its splendor.

That enchanting light brilliantly illuminated her black hair.

It’s hard to describe in words how beautiful this moment is, with the sun lingering on the tips of her hair before leaving.

But it’s really strange. With this level of beauty and being a rare magic swordsman class character, there’s no way I wouldn’t know her.

If the game copied this world, then I should naturally know about her too.

What is her identity?

I also started thinking that maybe the game didn’t copy everything about this world.

It’s true that Destiny is a great masterpiece, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely identical to reality.

Actually, converting magical properties during spellcasting didn’t exist in the game.

But it makes me wonder.

If this place is a world separate from the game, why do the same bugs exist?

For example, if you use an exploit to cast magic with divine power instead of magic, since it’s a technique that doesn’t exist in the game, the information for the Breath technique, which has the last skill number, is loaded.

If this were reality, it should be an impossible technique and thus not castable at all.

It’s weird…

“What are you thinking about?”

Selena’s sulky voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I was thinking how I only got to know such a beautiful woman now.”

It’s an extremely cheesy line… but I’ve never been in a relationship before.

“Wh… what?! What kind of cheesy line is that? Where on earth did you learn such a terrible thing?”

Despite her disapproving tone, was her red face really because of the sunset?

“Rather than learning it, I just said what I felt?”

“Tha… that’s even more like a playboy! Tch… where did you learn such strange things?”

Selena crossed her arms and turned her head away.

I approached the sulking girl and gently hugged her.

“Ah…”

“I just said the honest thought I had while looking at you. Silly.”

Heh… nailed it.

Such a line in this romantic atmosphere with the setting sun. Who would think I’m a virgin?

As I was getting by myself inwardly,

Selena actually showed no reaction.

Huh…? Did I do something wrong?

Since we’re not officially dating yet, this action might have been excessive.

Thinking that might be the case, I stayed still without saying anything.

How much time passed like that?

“Let… let me go. How long are you going to… to keep hugging me?”

Hearing Selena’s voice mumbling shyly, I felt relieved.

Thank goodness. It’s not that she dislikes it.

At her complaint, I loosened my arms and let her go slightly.

“I… I’m cold, so I’ll go in first.”

-Pat pat pat pat…!

Selena hurriedly broke away with noisy footsteps.

Her cute actions made me smile spontaneously.

***

Then, one day while passing through the iceberg and ice floe area.

-Knock knock.

A knocking sound came while Selena and I were engrossed in a card game.

“Yes, coming.”

-Creeak.

As I opened the door with the sound of rusty hinges, an extremely excited Carlos spoke urgently.

“Th… the Arctic is in sight.”

“Ah? We’ve arrived? It was faster than I thought.”

I thought we had about ten more days to go. It seems the merfolk made things easier.

As soon as Carlos finished his report, I hastily found my hanging coat and put it on.

“Selena? I’ll go out for a bit.”

She must have heard the conversation, as Selena also hurriedly got up.

“I’ll go with you! I want to see the Arctic too.”

I waited for her to get ready, and we went up to the deck together.

Beyond the thin mist in the distance, a large horizon was visible.

-It’s the Arctic, we’ve reached the Arctic!

-Woohoo! We’ll conquer the Arctic and leave our names in history! Long live the Freya! Long live Captain Carlos!

The people of this world knew the Arctic existed, but very few had actually reached it.

Because they had to risk their lives. So, just the fact of arriving was worth such cheers.

A song from the game, a legend of the Northmen living on the Frozen Island in the northern part of the Old Continent, appeared, so it must be true that some people had set foot on Arctic land.

“It’s too early to celebrate yet.”

This journey was dangerous from the start, but the dangers experienced during the journey are nothing compared to the real dangers faced after arrival.

Namely, the harsh climate of the Arctic!

First, docking itself isn’t easy.

“Ugh…”

A fierce cold that freezes the breath from your mouth and your cheeks.

It will probably be even colder after we get off the ship.

I pointed to a place that looked familiar and said.

“You see the ice sheet over there? Please dock the ship next to it.”

A terrain I had seen countless times on the monitor.

That was probably where I usually docked my ship.

There’s only the ice sheet to dock near here.

But most ice sheets aren’t thick enough, so if you drop anchor, the ice often breaks, so you need to find a specific safe area well. Like the place I pointed to.

There should be no problem there.

While the ship was docking, Selena and I went into the cabin and started packing our belongings.

“By the way, Hans, where are we going in the Arctic?”

“Tha… that is.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say we were going to find the Trident of the Sea God.

So…,

“Ahem… My grandfather’s grandfather’s wish was to explore the Arctic. To tell you why, when he was young, he met a mermaid princess by the seaside……”

“Stop, if you don’t want to say, don’t say it.”

Selena cut me off with a pouty expression and packed her belongings.

Seeing that she wasn’t persistently nagging, I felt relieved inwardly.

While organizing our luggage, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten and headed to the very bottom of the ship.

“Hans? Where are you going?”

“To get the sled, the dog sled.”

The Arctic is enormous. Moving on foot across that vast area would be too painful, so I prepared a sled and dogs in advance.

“What? When did you prepare that?”

Selena, who was following behind with short steps, asked in a surprised voice.

“Before coming to the Arctic? I asked Carlos to get them for me.”

Carlos was surprised by my idea but immediately prepared sled dogs for exploration.

As we went down into the dim lower area, dozens of large dogs and a dog sled greeted us.

“Good boy, good boy?”

As I tried to unlock the iron cage, Selena urgently stopped me.

“Ha… Hans? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Always worrying. I chuckled at her exaggeration.

“It’s okay. They said they’re all gentle.”

If they’re not gentle, I’ll just use Equality, so I’m not scared.

I slipped my hand through the gap in the iron bars and petted the dogs’ heads.

“Come on, good boy? Let’s go.”

“Ugh… Are you sure it’s really okay?”

I gestured for them to come, and six dogs followed me out obediently.

“Now, let’s take the sled and…”

I paused for a moment at the sled, which seemed quite heavy.

It would be difficult without holy magic.

I firmly applied holy magic and moved the sled.

“Ugh… what? It’s so cold? It’s colder than the sea.”

To Selena, who was complaining about the cold, I took out a mask, goggles, and gloves from the spatial bag.

“Here, wear this.”

Selena, who received the large mask that covered almost her entire face, spoke as if it was absurd.

“Are we going to rob someone?”

“No, but if you don’t wear this in the Arctic, you’re in big trouble.”

The cold is one thing, but the mask is essential because of the icy wind and dry air.

“Why not just put the sled in the spatial bag to move it?”

“Things larger than the spatial bag’s opening won’t go in.”

The bag I got from Ice.

Unfortunately, things larger than the bag’s opening don’t go in.

“Really? That’s a pity… but how do you wear this?”

Since this type of mask is only used in extremely cold regions, it’s natural she wouldn’t know how to wear it. I helped her, wrapping the mask around her small face.

“Here, wrap it around your face like this. Can you see well?”

“Yeah, I can see, but it’s stuffy?”

“It’s okay. That’s normal.”

I also put the goggles on her.

I feel like I forgot something…

“Wait! I forgot this.”

Soon remembering what I had forgotten, I took a thick hat from the spatial bag and put it on her head.

Likewise, I put everything on too and finished preparing to go get the Trident of the Sea God.

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