Two years ago.
Rumors began to circulate in the Rivan Count territory about three days after Edom Rivan disappeared.
The story was that the youngest young master, who had been disgracing the family honor, had finally been completely abandoned.
The rumor, which started in a peripheral inn, quickly gained flesh.
A coat and accessories left in an inn room, and a dagger stamped with the noble family's crest.
The innkeeper bundled them up and took them to the Rivan Count family, and since that day, Edom Rivan had not shown his face anywhere.
People thought the Count would be furious.
They thought he would send out a search party, or at least take some action for the sake of face.
However, Count Rivan was strangely silent. The mansion's doors were closed, and the servants kept their mouths shut. The attitude of doing nothing was soon accepted as a conclusion.
He was truly abandoned.
Rather, they were happy that he left on his own feet.
The rumor spread throughout the Count's territory like that.
Vivienne, the original female lead attending the Academy, heard the story at the point when Edom continued to be absent.
Originally, he was a person who would make up a reason to appear even if he missed a single day.
It was unwanted attention and creepy obsession, but precisely because of that, his sudden absence felt strangely unfamiliar.
After all, for months after admission, he had followed her around, making courtships and threats.
At first, she felt a sense of liberation.
The fact that gazes didn't follow her when she walked down the hallway, the point that she didn't have to be pointlessly caught after class—these things certainly gave her a sense of liberation large enough to be considered happiness after hardship.
But as a few days passed, that emotion gradually changed into something else.
It felt uncomfortable without reason.
Like someone suddenly stopped speaking, it felt like the next sentence of the conversation wasn't coming.
Furthermore, occasionally while walking down the hallway, there were instances where she checked behind her or looked at Edom's seat, from where he used to look at her with gloomy gazes.
Vivienne thought her own emotions and actions were strange.
He's someone I don't need to care about, so why.
Eventually, she asked the professor.
If he knew the whereabouts of Edom Rivan.
But the professor made a troubled expression for a moment, then drew a line saying it was a family matter.
That answer made Vivienne's mind more complicated.
If it were simple discipline or a leave of absence, there would have been no reason to spare words like that.
The same rumor reached the ears of Kyle, the main male lead of the original work.
At first, he thought it was no big deal.
He thought if it were Edom Rivan, he would show his face again anytime and continue his gloomy antics.
However, the fact that the Count family was excessively quiet weighed on his mind.
He even had the ridiculous thought that perhaps Count Rivan, swayed by his son's tricks, had become the backing for the guy's schemes.
Kyle went directly to the outskirts of the Count territory and even checked the inn where Edom's items were found.
In that process, Kyle often missed classes, and a gap formed in the gaze looking at Vivienne.
Naturally, the trivial time spent with Vivienne also decreased.
It wasn't that the relationship went sour.
Just, it felt like somewhere a dissonance was occurring.
And the vacancy of that catalyst made even a day that would normally remain clearly in their memories pass without incident.
It was the day of the Alchemy Experiment class.
If it were the flow of the original work, in today's class, an event would occur where Edom, as part of his twisted courtship, would try to hurt Vivienne feigning a mistake, and Kyle, noticing it, would sacrifice his hand to save Vivienne.
Naturally, this event was a significant event that switched their emotions from friendship to love, and was an event responsible for the backbone of all episodes to unfold hereafter, but because the catalyst called Edom disappeared, the switch of emotions did not occur.
The experiment proceeded smoothly, and the professor praised the students' proficiency.
There were no dangerous moments, nor accidents.
Vivienne finished the class safely, and Kyle wasn't hurt either.
Everything was peaceful, and peace repeated itself.
The dissonance felt from Edom's empty spot began to dull gradually, and ironically, even the current surrounding the protagonists in the original work began to settle.
It felt like returning to daily life.
Like a play that dangerously crossed between friendship and love amidst vicious obstruction had ended.
After all, even the start of Kyle and Vivienne was thanks to Edom's barbarities.
The graph that should have surged gradually reduced its drop, and rather, what caused a drop was the question, 'Then where on earth did Edom Rivan go?'
"Where on earth did he disappear to? Did he perhaps fall ill and die, and the Count family is hushing it up?"
"But it's strange that Edom's items were found in an inn room for that to be true."
"True..."
Even if shackles were on his ankles, he was a person who would have marched out, but Edom Rivan, who disappeared as if evaporating, did not appear even after 2 years when they were to graduate from the Academy.
Let alone the Academy, he didn't show his nose even once in the Rivan Count territory, and it reached a point of indifference where his name wasn't even mentioned in the gossip of village women.
Now, there was no one waiting for or looking for him.
Since 2 years was enough time to make everything dull.
That was the same for Vivienne.
"Hup-cha."
Vivienne, who finished graduation with excellent grades, boarded the carriage.
"My Lady, wouldn't it be better to move when the weather warms up a bit..."
"If we delay, I might not be able to apply for the Alchemy Competition. It's better to depart even a day earlier. Let's go quickly. Oric."
"Yes, My Lady."
The coachman cracked the whip, and soon the carriage began to move.
Towards Snom City, the venue for the Alchemy Competition in the Helvid Northern Territory.
Vivienne left the Rivan Count territory without lingering regret.
On the day of leaving the Blue Wolf Corps base, the morning in the North was unusually quiet.
The members stood in line without a word, and short encouragements were exchanged between hands checking equipment.
Celina tied Iden's coat strings tightly, and Brock bumped fists without a word.
The comrades lined up on the road looked at them with resolute faces.
"Take care of your bodies."
"Smash them for my share too."
"I'll have a killer meat stew and rum ready, so finish quickly and come back, everyone."
Members pouring out the regret of not being able to join.
Since they knew the Captain selected a small number of members because he judged that an all-out war had no chance of victory, no member complained.
Anyway, the final goal is the live capture of the Chieftain, and for that, avoiding an all-out war is the right strategy.
Iden looked around at them and nodded.
And the moment the warmth of the send-off pushed his back, he recalled the purpose once again.
This mission wasn't a simple request.
The first opportunity. A turning point that cannot be missed.
The mountain path immediately became rugged.
As they crossed the rocky ridge, a blizzard raged, and every time they inhaled, it felt like their lungs were freezing.
Even the Captain, who knew the path well, had to change course several times.
Low visibility, frozen footing, ceaseless wind.
After almost slipping several times, they finally arrived at the high ground overlooking the Barbarian garrison.
There were few lights, but security was tight. The interval of patrols was short, and shadows overlapped at every watchtower.
"Won't be easy. First, we wait until night."
The Captain spoke low.
As night fell, they held their breath.
Iden had already realized that this place wasn't easy.
A presence felt beyond the darkness. An ambiguous sensation, neither human nor beast, was scattered throughout the garrison.
It wasn't just the Barbarian guards.
'There are summoned beasts.'
Iden turned his gaze to the Captain. Even without explaining, the Captain also seemed to feel something was strange.
However, since they had already come this far, they couldn't retreat.
"Iden, I'm counting on you."
"Yes."
When night completely settled, Iden moved first.
Before his comrades entered, he quietly drew a summoning circle. As if the darkness responded, a thick shadow rose from the summoning circle and split apart.
His summoned beasts flowed out soundlessly, swallowing the presences lingering on the outskirts of the garrison one by one.
Leaving neither trace nor scream.
The surveillance summons released by the Barbarians began to disappear quietly like that.
When Iden nodded, only then did the Blue Wolf Corps move.
Celina's arrow erased the top of the watchtower, and Brock opened the path with his shield in front. Dantel dug in like a shadow and quickly cut off breaths.
The assassination was precise, and the speed was fast.
The garrison emptied one by one while asleep.
'It ends like this.'
Iden thought so.
However, just as it was almost finishing, a sharp sound tore through the night air.
It was a horn.
As the long and rough tone echoed through the mountainous terrain, the remnants who woke from their sleep gathered all at once. The sleeping garrison instantly took the shape of a battlefield.
Of course, the number wasn't large.
Because the Blue Wolf Corps' plan and skill were effective.
But then.
In the middle of the garrison, a massive silhouette that seemed to have been watching the battle from the start moved.
It was the Northern Barbarian Chief.
At a glance, he was an existence different from those defeated so far.
The primitive clothing padded with beast leather was worn in places and stained with blood, but the body revealed underneath was molded with solid muscle.
Horns, fangs, and metal pieces closer to trophies than decorations hung heavily on his neck and arms, and as if even that weight was familiar, his massive shoulders didn't move an inch.
His eyes were like a beast's.
A gaze that pierces the opponent sharply and persistently.
Standing in front of him, one felt not like a fighter, but like prey.
And his eyes were aimed exactly at Iden.
A somewhat interested look.
Then Iden could realize what that meant.
'He's a Summoner.'
I wondered why there were no summon handlers among the garrison troops.
To think the Chieftain was a Summoner.
Slow interest rose on the Barbarian Chief's lips.
Something squirmed around him too.
A presence of summoning similar to Iden's, but of a different texture.
The moment he saw it, Iden intuited.
That the nature of this fight had changed.
The Barbarian Chief raised an eerie black light in one hand, and at that moment, the eyes of the Barbarians surrounding them burned with black flames.
It was a black flame that seemed like exploding madness.
"Kill."
At the Chieftain's command, the Barbarians swarmed in, and a small-scale all-out war began.
Celina, Brock, and Dantel defended their respective positions well, but the madness of the Barbarians burning with black flames didn't break easily.
"Kuh!"
Eventually, the Captain was cut deeply and knelt on one knee.
At that moment, the Barbarian Chief raised his fist and stepped forward.
"Interesting."
His gaze was fixed on Iden from beginning to end, not the kneeling Captain.
"For a human, your Summoning Arts are excellent. Duel me."
The surroundings became quiet.
Even the sound of the blizzard seemed to subside.
"If you win, I will release all humans here."
Comrades shouted. Tried to stop him.
The Captain shook his head.
But Iden already knew.
That this choice couldn't be avoided.
He took one step forward.
The eyes of one prepared for death were quietly settled.
When he headed to the Northern Territory recklessly with a frail body, he had already prepared himself.
Even while getting frostbite and seeing hallucinations, he finally arrived at this land of opportunity alone, and vowed to endure bone-carving pain, vowed never to give up even if driven to death's door.
He didn't know what caused such reckless determination, but he put the determination into practice and finally stood here.
There was no reason to retreat.
"Fine."
A black summoning circle slowly rose from the darkness and encroached on the surroundings.
Iden inhaled.
Knowing that this fight could be his first opportunity, or perhaps an irreversible end.
He began to pour all remaining mana into the summoning circle.
Soon.
Two powerful energies collided.
When she arrived in Snom City, Vivienne felt the atmosphere was strange first of all.
It wasn't the time for the Alchemy Competition to be held.
Nevertheless, flags were hung on the streets, and every shop had its doors flung open wide, welcoming people.
Laughter flowed from pubs since daytime, and even music could be heard from the square.
When the carriage stopped, Vivienne got off and looked around, but it wasn't the heavy air unique to the North she knew.
"What is going on?"
She spoke to a passing resident.
The resident's eyes shone as if he had been waiting.
"You must not have heard!"
And after catching his breath once, he shouted boastfully.
"The Blue Wolf Corps finally captured the Northern Barbarian Chief alive!"
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