Chapter 94: Chapter 94

The prisoner removed the veil from their head.

"Can't you hear me!!"

Their hair was wild and frizzy like an unkempt broom. Their long hair, grown to the waist, covered their eyes. All that was visible on the face was a fist-sized nose and a single remaining front tooth.

The skin peeking through was split with deep wrinkles.

"Hur―ry up! Your strange tricks won't work on me, so don't even try to be clever!"

Every time the old person urged them, the rag covering their privates flapped violently. They wore nothing else on their body.

Maya(she) threw the dagger onto the floor.

Ran glanced at the Northmen sprawled on the ground and spoke.

"Were they your comrades?"

"Comrades? That's rich—makes me want to kill this brat."

The old person slunk backwards, then, with their arm around Ragna's neck, untied the bindings of the other three prisoners.

Ragna's eyes widened. He didn't miss the moment when the old person's grip loosened.

He struck the old person's chest with his elbow.

"Owwwooot―! I'm dying here!"

Clutching the place he'd been struck, the old person rolled on the ground. Ragna slipped out of his grasp in the commotion and ran to Maya(she). ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelꞁire.net

Maya(she) immediately bent down and picked up the dagger again, grinding her teeth.

Ran stopped her. He'd been watching the old person's actions closely.

'There was no murderous intent.'

It was intuition. Even so, he was certain the old person was not a threat.

"Who are you? Were you just pretending to be a captured prisoner?"

The prisoners who had been untied helped the old person to their feet.

The old person trembled, then spat onto the ground.

"I am Kuska-zo of the Thunder Anvil tribe! These days, they call me the Black Priest Hunter Kujo!"

"Black Priest Hunter?"

"Who the hell are you! Why are you meddling and causing trouble!"

Kujo pointed at Maya(she).

"Especially you! Are you a Barbarian? Which tribe, whose daughter are you, name yourself now!"

Immediately, kujo reached towards his back, covered by his long hair. In his hand appeared an object cobbled together from wood and metal.

Crude as it was, the structure was no different from an imperial crossbow. In Northland, they used wooden bows.

Kujo nocked a short quarrel, like a dart.

"You bastards, don't move, stay right there?"

The string snapped. Kujo, startled, dropped the crossbow.

The crossbow shattered like a weathered old tree.

Under the moonlight, a campfire flickered.

The Bloodhorn scout team's third night.

There was one more in the party now.

"Hmm, it tastes good."

Kujo took a bite of roasted meat. Though toothless, he chewed away with his gums.

Ragna gave him a sideways glare.

"So, you're saying you came all this way to avenge your tribe?"

"Not grandpa, I'm Black Priest Hunter Kujo. If that's too long, just Hunter Kujo, or even just Kujo. Anyway, you're right, kiddo."

The bloody rampage the Black Priest's gang had started in southern Northland spread like a plague.

Outside Quersa, which Arcangelo claimed as a holy land, was truly a festival of madness. Outcasts, roamers, tribes driven out from the north, all sorts masqueraded as Black Priests, wreaking havoc.

"They indiscriminately stir up even the nomadic tribes. They've broken the unspoken promises of southern Northland. Bastards."

There had been some purity in Arcangelo's goals. He wanted to expand his faith and spread Asriel's warmth throughout Northland.

But that noble intention only ended up provoking the violent instincts of the Northmen.

"The imperial religion was just an excuse. Everyone's using this chance to let loose the urges they've kept suppressed."

Ran stared gloomily at the fire. He even felt guilty.

He opened his mouth with difficulty.

"So those guys earlier too?"

"Yeah. Just idiots who picked up priest robes somewhere and are pretending. The only ones here stronger than themselves are the real Black Priests, so they figure if they just keep their heads down, even if they meet them, it'll be fine. So they run wild."

"Bastards—there are none more low-lived than such cheap bastards."

Kujo chuckled, sucking on a bone he'd stripped clean.

Nearby, maya(she) glared with narrowed eyes.

"Didn't you say earlier we were interfering? You were the one captured, but you sure were loud about it."

"Captured! I was pretending to be captured! Didn't you see I got free to punish you guys right away? Are Sabertooth Tigers always this slow-witted?"

Kujo clicked his tongue. He was a Northmen who longed for the time Mukesh reigned supreme over Northland, reminiscing about it as a golden age of romance.

No wonder he thought highly of the Sabertooth Tigers.

"Anyway, is it really true the Sabertooth Tigers are finished? I can't believe it. Is Mukesh's line really extinguished?"

Ragna hid his troubled expression. Tascar had always said never to reveal he was Mukesh's son unless he could absolutely trust someone.

Maya(she) answered instead.

"The great Mukesh's youngest brother Tascar is alive. He's leading the warriors and marching on Ortega."

Kujo dropped the bone he'd been holding. From the eyes hidden under his shaggy hair, a single tear rolled down.

"Oh, ooh?! Is that true!"

"Yes. If you have the will, you can join the army. I can't say whether you'll be helpful, but we need everyone we can get."

Kujo jumped to his feet and reached behind his back.

This time, he took out an object wrapped in black cloth. Its length matched his own height so exactly that it was perfectly concealed.

"At last, it's time to reveal this."

Kujo knelt, holding the object with both hands, and set it down reverently in front of him.

Ragna, watching, spoke indifferently.

"Silence! This is the Thunder Anvil's heirloom, one of Northland's Three Sacred Treasures."

Maya(she) tilted her head. She'd never heard of Northland's Three Sacred Treasures. Ran also focused in curiosity.

A hush fell over the scene.

Kujo carefully peeled back the cloth layer by layer with his fingertips. He even looked almost reverent.

"Huhu, let me introduce you. My treasured Asthra."

The revealed object emerged. The three, holding their breath, only blinked in confusion.

It was just a long, carved stone. Aside from some detailed patterns along its body, plus the odd metal joint at one slightly bent end, it was nothing more than a stone rod.

"What is this? I really don't get it."

Ragna scratched his head. Neither Ran nor Maya(she) voiced their thoughts, but they too felt similarly confused.

"Hyukhyuk, do you know what this Asthra is?"

Kujo grabbed the slanted part. The metal fitting rounded on the lower end easily accommodated his entire hand.

Kujo's hand trembled violently. The three only stared at him in bemusement. His fist-sized nose was flushed red.

The Asthra rose slightly, then fell back down. Kujo wiped away sweat and shook his head.

"? Hmmm, seems Asthra says it's not time yet. I'll show you next time."

Kujo rewrapped Asthra in the black cloth and slung it over his back. This motion went smoothly enough. He moved his lips.

"? Well, anyway. With Asthra and me, kujo, the last warrior, taking Ortega back is only a matter of time."

Maya(she) narrowed her eyes. She felt she understood what kind of person Kujo was. He was a man who chased only the shadows of the past, with nothing to offer but blustering bravado.

'Just a stubborn old man, through and through.'

To shift the mood, Ran asked a question.

"So, what was the point of pretending to be a prisoner?"

"Ah, right. I never finished explaining that. It was to get into the enemy's stronghold."

"Those guys earlier were Poison Talon Eagle tribe. Ever heard of them?"

Kujo bit his lower lip with his lone front tooth.

"The Poison Talon Eagle tribe began as a band of exiles banding together in camaraderie. Haaa, at first, they started with the ambition to live a new life together. But, well, exiles are all the same."

Even though his eyes were covered, kujo stared at the fire.

"As you'd expect, they became a vicious gang of thugs. Raiding neighboring nomads to grow stronger, and lately they focus mostly on kidnapping women."

"Are they Black Priest followers too?"

"It wouldn't be so bad if it were only that. But those bastards are desperate to win the Pontiff's favor. Rumor is, they're already preparing to be the advance guard for the Snow Leopards when they head south."

Ran looked at Maya(she). She seemed unfamiliar with the Poison Talon Eagle tribe as well.

"Hrmph. If I were only a few years younger, I'd kill the Pontiff myself, but that's not so easy now. Anyway, rumor has it the Poison Talon Eagle tribe's base is near the snowy mountain, but I haven't been able to find it at all. That's why I made up my mind to try infiltrating, but your lot ruined my plans."

The Gigantes snowy mountain had fixed paths like Astana Mountain; for safety, you had to use trails where people walked.

"There's talk they're holding Sabertooth Tigers people captive, too."

Ragna's eyes went wide.

"I never lie! I may not know if it's not true, but I never embellish what I see or hear! But how about you guys? Why are you separated from Tascar? What are you even doing here?"

Though Kujo asked, turning toward Maya(she), maya(she) was clear she had no interest in speaking with him. She was the type to wear her likes and dislikes plainly, even rudely.

Seeing this, Ran answered in her stead.

"We're looking for something in the Frost Cave of the snowy mountain."

"That makes no sense. Aren't you pressed for time to prepare for war as it is? What could you need from the Frost Cave?"

"Bloodhorn. Have you ever heard of it?"

He hadn't expected a real answer. After all, it was just a mystical object from Sabertooth Tigers folklore.

He poked at the fire with a stick, but felt Kujo's gaze on him.

When he looked without meaning to, kujo was gazing absently at him, mouth open, displaying his one front tooth.

"D-did you just say Bloodhorn?"

"Of course I know! Bloodhorn is the legendary heirloom made by us, the Thunder Anvil tribe!"

The Thunder Anvil tribe were famous not only for warriors but also for being a tribe of master craftsmen. According to records, their ancestors had first settled in a place rich in iron.

The greater the warrior, the more they hid their skills rather than boast. The same went for Thunder Anvil craftsmen. They never sold or even showed their weapons openly to the world.

They passed their creations on only to gods or those who rivaled them.

Bloodhorn was one of those works.

Records state, "To the Conqueror of the North, we entrust the mission and bulwark of the age."

Kujo spoke in a trembling voice.

"Bloodhorn is one of Northland's Three Sacred Treasures?!"

**New Names, locations, skills, techniques List:**