Chapter 160
Woooong!
The portal opened, and Zeke appeared somewhere in the Ice Mountains, not in the ruins.
Zeke stretched, feeling the cold north wind brushing against his cheeks.
"Whew. Portals are really convenient."
It was more like a hidden card due to various restrictions, but it was definitely convenient and useful when he could use it.
Now that he had secured the Elder Dragon's relic, all that was left for Zeke was to return to Atlas.
Just as he was about to descend the Ice Mountains with a light heart, Zeke sensed a presence from the depths of the forest.
'Are those the Hounds?'
It would be better if they were the Empire's Hounds.
If it was the Draker Black ops, he would have to erase his presence and take a long detour.
Then, he saw a flag with a wolf drawn on it beyond the forest.
It was the Himonas Knights.
'They're better than the Black ops, but those guys are crazy too. I should pass by quietly.'
Just as Zeke was about to pass by them unnoticed while focusing his hearing,
He heard a loud voice.
"Damn it! Sven! Hey, wake up!"
Zeke flinched at the voice echoing through the snowy mountains.
'That's definitely Nikolai's voice.'
Nikolai and Sven.
They were both Himonas knights who had a connection with Zeke in his previous life.
Zeke, who was about to pass by, stopped. After a brief hesitation, he took out northern-style clothes from his inventory and changed.
Zeke, now in different clothes, slowly approached where the Himonas knights were.
***
"Damn it! Sven! Hey! Open your eyes! Wake up!"
Nikolai of the Himonas Thistle Knights was desperately trying to stop the bleeding from his comrade Sven's wound, talking to him constantly to keep him from losing consciousness.
But the wound was too deep, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.
Other knights around him held Nikolai back.
"Nikolai, stop it. It's too late."
Even though his comrades held him back, Nikolai didn't stop the treatment.
"Fuck! What do you mean it's too late! This bastard Sven has so much fucking blood because he's a fucking bastard! He's too much of a fucking bastard to die from some blood loss!"
Nikolai continued to hold the wound and treat it, but Sven's bleeding wouldn't stop.
Even in the cold weather, the bleeding didn't stop, so it seemed like he was either poisoned or injured by a weapon with magic cast on it.
It was then.
"Is there an injured person there?"
The knights were startled by the sudden unfamiliar voice and drew their claymores.
Zeke, disguised as a northern mercenary, held out his hand reassuringly towards the knights.
"I'm a mercenary on my way to the Ice Wall for support. I came to help because it seems like there's an injured person."
Despite his words, the knights didn't let their guard down.
Zeke carefully took something out from his pocket.
"It's a potion. It will stop the bleeding if you apply it to the wound."
The north was poorer and lacked resources compared to the central continent.
Therefore, potions were a rare and expensive commodity.
The knights glared at Zeke with even more suspicion when he suddenly appeared and offered them a high-quality item like a potion.
'Those Himonas bastards. Always so suspicious.'
Zeke, knowing the nature of northerners, opened the potion bottle, took a sip, and swallowed.
Only then did the knights slightly lower their guard.
Nikolai got up and approached Zeke.
Then, he snatched the potion from Zeke's hand and poured it on Sven's wound.
Sizzle!
Although the bleeding stopped, the wound bubbled, and the flesh turned black.
Seeing this, Zeke spoke up.
"Judging from the reaction, it seems like he was poisoned. I have an antidote. We need to treat him quickly."
The knights hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Zeke approached the collapsed Sven and took out an antidote he had prepared in his backpack.
He took out a dagger and asked the knights,
"Do you have any black liquor left?"
Black liquor was a strong liquor that northerners drank to withstand the cold.
The knights all took out the flasks they were carrying.
Zeke received the flasks from the knights, disinfected the dagger with black liquor, and sprayed it on Sven's wound.
Then, he stabbed the area around the wound with the dagger.
Pierce!
Black blood gushed out from the spot where the dagger pierced.
Zeke drained some of the black blood and poured the antidote on it.
Sizzle!
It sounded like flesh burning.
The pain must have been as intense as the sound, as Sven, who had been unconscious, woke up.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
It was unimaginable how much pain he must have been in for a Himonas knight, who was known for enduring pain, to scream like that.
Nikolai, who was next to him, shoved his scabbard into Sven's mouth.
"Hey! Shut up and bite on this!"
Sven bit on Nikolai's scabbard and endured the terrible pain.
Zeke first treated the most severe wound on his thigh and then treated other cuts with the antidote and potion.
After treating all the wounds, Zeke disinfected the area with Black liquor and bandaged it.
"The emergency treatment is done. If you take him back to the unit and have a healer treat him immediately, he'll be fine."
At Zeke's words, Nikolai finally seemed relieved and fell back.
"Ha! Fuck! Sven, you bastard! You're a lucky bastard! You fucking bastard!"
Although his words were harsh, Zeke knew that Nikolai was an excellent knight and a loyal comrade.
When the Himonas Knights were pushed back by the Imperial Army and on the verge of annihilation, he fought to the end to protect his comrades.
Nikolai and Sven, who had almost died just now, were the captain and vice-captain of this Thistle Knight Order when Zeke was part of the Northern Alliance.
'It's been a while since I've seen both of them. To see those who died in my previous life again... Should I say it's a strange feeling?'
Just then, Nikolai approached and put his hand on Zeke's shoulder.
"Hey! Mercenary friend, what's your name? I'm so damn indebted to you! Of course, it's that fucking bastard Sven who's really indebted, but still!"
Zeke grinned at Nikolai's words and replied,
"My name is Zeke Murray."
"Zeke Murray! What a cool name. I heard you were going to the Ice Wall for support, did I hear correctly?"
"Yes, I'm applying to be a Ranger."
"A Northern Ranger. A true man's job."
Although both the Himonas Knights and the Northern Rangers were extremely rough, they respected each other.
Nikolai put his arm around Zeke's shoulder and said,
"Since you're going to the Ice Wall anyway, stay at our camp for a night. I'll ask the captain to write you a letter of recommendation to take to the Rangers."
Although he wanted to leave right away, Zeke accepted Nikolai's offer, as refusing might raise suspicion.
The Thistle Knights, deciding to travel with Zeke, skillfully made a stretcher, placed Sven on it, and climbed the snowy mountain.
Zeke also followed the knights to their camp.
Nikolai was surprised to see Zeke following them without any signs of fatigue.
"You're good at climbing snowy mountains. Are you originally from the north?"
"Yes, I was born in Gorka in the north, but I left my hometown to make a living with a sword and wandered around as a mercenary. Then, I heard that the Ice Wall was recruiting Rangers and was on my way there."
Zeke smoothly spun lies.
Nikolai, hearing Zeke's perfect northern dialect, didn't doubt him and just nodded.
"Where did you learn your healing skills? You seemed quite skilled in first aid earlier."
"Although I'm a mercenary, I had many opportunities to enter dungeons. I naturally became familiar with it while going through hardships with those adventurers."
Nikolai nodded at those words. It made sense that he had potions and antidotes since he was a former adventurer.
This was because many monsters had bizarre poisons, so adventurers always carried potions and antidotes.
The Thistle Knights, climbing the snowy mountain while making conversation, brought Sven to the nearest camp.
Although it was called a camp, it was practically a fortress.
The Ice Mountains had such harsh terrain that every place was like a natural fortress. The Northern Rangers built sturdy fortresses in various places using earth and ice to prepare for monster and monster attacks.
Creak!
The fortress gate opened, and Zeke entered with the Thistle Knights.
***
"Hahaha! Zeke Murray! Drink up! Drink!"
Nikolai filled Zeke's cup with Black liquor. Zeke didn't refuse and drank the whole cup.
The knights and rangers whistled and clapped upon seeing this.
As Zeke drank the Black liquor one after another without changing his expression, Nikolai shouted excitedly,
"Zeke Murray! The savior of Sven and the one who will rule the world with alcohol!"
Zeke was treated as a benefactor for saving Sven.
Although Zeke was familiar with northern culture, it was a bit difficult to naturally accept such rough treatment after a long time.
Still, without showing it, Zeke drank the Black liquor offered by others and asked Nikolai,
"But how did you get such a serious injury? Did a dangerous monster appear in the mountains?"
Nikolai, after drinking a lot of Black liquor, gritted his teeth and said,
"It would have been better if it were a monster. Those damn Imperial rats have been defiling our territory for years."
As expected, it seemed to be the Empire's Hounds' doing.
The poison didn't affect Zeke at all because of his All Poisons Immunity, but it was different for ordinary people.
In fact, poison often claimed more lives on the battlefield than aura blades.
Zeke recalled the traces of poison remaining in Sven's body.
'If I hadn't used Healing secretly, Sven would have died. It wasn't ordinary poison.'
He wondered if it was a type of synthetic poison that the Empire was secretly researching in their secret laboratories.
Nikolai put down his glass and shouted with gritted teeth,
"Those damn Imperial bastards and those arrogant Draker bastards! I, Nikolai Eriksson the Redhead, will catch them all and hang them!"
At Nikolai's shout, the others excitedly slammed their glasses on the table.
Zeke inwardly shook his head as he saw the northerners causing a commotion after a long time.
Nikolai, full of excitement, approached Zeke again and plopped down next to him.
"Let's drink! Zeke Murray! Himonas knights never forget a favor!"
Zeke drank the Black liquor as if responding to Nikolai's words and slowly opened his mouth.
"The Himonas Knights. You're under the Northern Duke's command."
Nikolai nodded.
"Yes, the Northern Duke. It's a difficult position. Even more so these days."
Zeke knew what Nikolai meant.
Around this time, the previous Northern Duke would die, and the duchess would succeed him.
As always, where there was power, there were those who caused trouble.
The north was no exception.
Zeke thought of her, who ascended to the position of duke among the rough, beast-like northern lords.
He slowly opened his mouth to Nikolai.
"How is the Duke these days...?"
It was then.
*Bang!
Someone roughly opened the door and entered.
Everyone, who had been making a fuss and drinking, grabbed their weapons and became alert.
The one who barged in shouted,
"We've captured suspicious central continent bastards!"
Then, Nikolai and the other Thistle Knights and Rangers all rushed outside.
Zeke, wondering what was going on, also went outside.
They were gathered on one side of the training ground, where a deep pit was dug, and a sharpened wooden fence was built around it to create a prison entrance.
Nikolai shouted towards the wooden entrance,
"You damned central continent bastards! What are you trying to get by sneaking in here! Huh!"
It was then.
Crash!
Suddenly, a fireball flew in and burned the wooden entrance.
Nikolai, surprised, stepped back.
Someone crawled up from the pit.
He grabbed the claymore that Nikolai had dropped and shouted something at them.
"■■■■! ■■■!"
Since he shouted in the central continent language, Nikolai and the other northerners couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Fuck, what the hell is that bastard babbling about?"
"I don't know. Whatever, let's just kill him."
It was then.
"He's asking why they were suddenly attacked and to reveal their identities."
Zeke, who was behind them, translated the central continent language into the northern language.
Nikolai, surprised, turned to Zeke and said,
"Huh, Zeke Murray! What an amazing friend! You can speak the central continent language?"
"I learned it while rolling around with adventurers as a mercenary."
Just then, the man holding the sword suddenly shouted with urgency,
"Zeke Murray? Could it be Sir Zeke? I-it's me! Rick! Rick! The adventurer Rick you helped in the Giant Mountains!"