Chapter 420: The Barbarian Mother
However, Zeke hesitated. Thinking about the vow he had once made—to make the Northland a better place—he still said, “No, perhaps these humans who are polluted by magic could be of greater use to us. For instance, we could see if their magic-infused bloodline can be merged into that of us Northlanders?”
These words rendered Aen silent.
Since Zeke had already spoken, he might as well say everything he had to. He continued, “The emergence of the Giant Dragon Mountain Peak has made the Northland increasingly colder. Even the permafrost that has been excavated cannot sustain food growth. Of course, the problem of food can be solved. If worst comes to worst, we can ask the bishops of the Church for help—at the very least, we can trade for food that will keep people from starving.”
“But can the increasingly cold Northland still support its local people? You once said that the native will that used to influence, even enslave, the Northlanders was taken away by our hero Hogg. That granted our people greater freedom.”
“But it is this very freedom that allows them to choose to leave for other regions—such as the Woodlands, the Greenwood, or the Valleys. And when that time comes, what of us? If no one remains in the Northland, is it still the Northland?”
“But if, after merging with the blood of those barbarians, the local people become stronger and more resistant to the cold, wouldn’t that make them less inclined to leave? Their bodies now contain magic, and if those naturally resistant to the cold travel to the stifling Greenwood or the humid Woodlands, would they even be able to adapt?”
Zeke was powerless to stop the Northland from growing colder, so he thought of another way—to ensure more of their people could survive, and at least leave enough time for the next generation.
Aen sighed and said, “You’re trying to recreate another Will of the Northland, to once again enslave our people. That’s why I don’t agree with your method.”
Zeke was somewhat disappointed in his heart, yet it also felt as if a burden had been lifted.
Aen continued, “But I won’t sell this barbarian to the Greenwood either. I want to make those barbarians from the Exile Lands into subjects of the Kingdom of Ismir as well. They can reside near the Giant Dragon Mountain Peak and guard the kingdom’s eastern lands. As for whether or not their bloodlines merge, I won’t advocate for it, nor will I stop it. Everything shall be left to their own freedom.”
Aen could not help but add, “The Lord granted humanity freedom. And this freedom allows all to decide their own futures. Ideally, this is how things are in the Heavenly Kingdom. But at the very least, I can grant my subjects some freedom in marriage.”
Zeke said no more. The two of them reached a consensus.
Thus, they brought out the woman from the Exile Lands for questioning.
The moment she saw them, she immediately knelt to the ground and, in a broken tongue, said, “You are powerful men. I bear no resentment in becoming your slave, but I beg you to let my child be born. It is for his survival that I left my homeland and came here.”
Her voice was filled with pleading, no different from any Northland mother protecting her child.
Aen gave her his word. And so, the barbarian mother told him about the state of the Exile Lands.
She said, “Recently, newborns in the tribe have not been able to survive like they used to. They’ve become far more fragile. The slightest neglect leads to death. For several years now, no newborn in the tribe has lived past three days.”
“Our shaman secretly told me it was because our homeland had grown too cold—too cold for these newborns to withstand.”
“I asked the shaman why children used to survive. In the past, for every ten born, at least seven would live. But now, not one out of ten lives beyond three days.”
“The shaman told me that we had lost the blessing of the land. He secretly told me this because he wanted to use my love for my unborn child to make me leave of my own will and come here—to this place we call the Land of Sin.”
The Land of Sin?
Aen and Zeke heard from the woman’s words how the people of the Exile Lands referred to the Northland.
Through generations of transmission, their homeland was now only the Exile Lands—not the Northland that had once exiled their ancestors.
Perhaps this name carried the curses and pain of those ancestors, cast out and forced to suffer.
Aen and Zeke realized that this wasn’t an easy matter.
But when thinking about what the woman said—how the newborns had lost the land’s blessing—it made Aen feel that perhaps the problem wasn’t as difficult as it seemed.
While waiting for the woman to give birth, Aen and Zeke also learned more about the customs and situation in the Exile Lands from her words.
They were simply more extreme versions of Northlanders.
So Aen had an idea.
The day after the woman gave birth, she followed Aen and Zeke toward the Exile Lands.
She said, “You are a merciful king. The abundance and strength of your kingdom leave me in awe. And the warmth of this place… If my tribesmen could be under your protection and be granted land, I believe my tribe would become even stronger.”
Aen and Zeke felt that whether or not the woman truly believed what she said, her presence with them would at least help them locate the other barbarians of the Exile Lands more easily.
But her child had only just been born.
Aen didn’t believe it was a good thing to make a mother leave her newborn so soon after childbirth.
Yet the woman said, “Your princess, Adela, is a merciful one. She is willing to accept my child as a slave. And as a slave, Darlon will surely grow under the protection of his master.”
“Besides, it’s normal for a slave to have no mother.”
At first, Aen didn’t understand what the mother meant by these words.
But when she brought them to her tribe, Aen understood.
That night, forbidden from entering the tribal grounds, Aen heard the woman’s screams—far more harrowing than when she had been in labor.
At first, Aen was stunned. Then he hesitated. But in the face of those agonized cries, he could endure it no longer. He activated his Dragon Soul Mode and kicked open the tribal gate.
What he saw was that the mother, stripped of all her clothing, had been tied to a post. A hunched old man, wearing a snow bear’s skull on his head, used a small knife to slice her open while she was still alive, scattering her intestines and innards onto the ground.
So this was the fate of those who had secretly fled to the Land of Sin—to be offered as a sacrifice to this so-called great land.