It’s Not Night - Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Goosebumps crawled up Andra’s spine. It was because of a single fact that flashed through her mind. Morgennis. It was a place name that was continuously discussed from the Aslan ruins. Starting with the Morgenze script and down to Professor Velott’s dissertation. In a way, she could just brush it off and think nothing of it, but the way it kept nagging at her made it impossible for her to dismiss it as mere coincidence.
‘It seems that the words on the inscription also refer to the present border of Morgennis…’
Suddenly, her thoughts became more complicated. An unfamiliar feeling of ignorance surged out of her. Not seeing Andra’s darkening face, Ansel waved his hand to his sister.
“I’ll get going. Take care.”
“…Yes, Ansel you do your best, too. Take care of yourself.”
“Okay, see you next time.”
The carriage door closed and left immediately outside the academy. Andra headed for her dormitory with steps that were hastier than the moving carriage.
In the Morgennis border area in the southwestern part of the Empire, in Count Norrant’s estate, it felt as if everyone was walking on thin ice. It must be because the Master of the estate, Count Norrant, was so angry that he was practically fuming.
“That crazy senile hag!”
Count Norrant, greatly enraged at the news the soldier had brought, clenched his fist and slammed the desk loudly. Because of this, the shoulders of the vassals sitting next to him flinched. They tried to gauge the Count’s thoughts restlessly. Suddenly, Count Norrant drew the sword from his waist.
“I can’t stand it any longer! I’m going to cut that crazy old woman right now! Prepare for a territorial war!”
The dark purple blade shone precariously. Count Norrant’s anger made it seem as if it wouldn’t be strange even if were to he cut off someone’s head immediately, so the vassals began to stop him.
“No, Count! Calm down!”
“Calm down, Milord!”
But Count Norrant could not easily quench his anger. He shouted loudly, shoving away the vassals who tried to hold him back.
“How can I endure when they insult me and further ignore this red valley! Even putting the name of Norrant on the line, I will not hesitate to be in the battlefield myself!”
Count Norrant stared at the patterns of black wolf and thorns drawn on the map spread out on the table, just a short distance from Count Norrant’s estate. Lately, it was Count Durs, the old hag who grated on his nerves without rest. Count Norrant gritted his teeth, remembering what had happened.
‘Wretched old hag! You grow old every year, so at least age gracefully!’
Since the estates of Norrant and Durs, which belong to the Morgennis border region, were connected by a single river, there was frequent contact between the two families. Above all, they were maintaining a friendly relationship with the same peerage, but this relationship started to deteriorate two months ago.
It started as a small accident.
A hunter who was a resident of the Norrant County accidentally crossed over to the Durs County while chasing his prey. Of course, this often ended with the guards closing their eyes due to the uncommon events occurring in the two territories that had been frequented for a long time. The problem, however, was that the arrow shot by the hunter must have hit a cub of a black wolf, the symbol of the Durs County.
Naturally, the black wolf lost its young and ran wild. The ferocious beast stormed a small town in the Norrant County, causing many injuries and casualties. Reluctantly, Count Norrant dispatched an army and ordered the capture of the black wolf. And while waiting for the wolf’s disposal by sending a letter to the Durs County, the black wolf suddenly died.
When the family’s symbol, the black wolf, as well as its cub, were killed, Count Durs became angry, and in any case, since it started with a civilian of his territory, Count Norrant apologized and promised to compensate for it.
Count Durs then demanded unreasonable compensation. Of course, Count Norrant, who could not comply with the unreasonable request, refused and tried to settle with a different compensation, but Count Durs was obstinate.
Meanwhile, another incident occurred. The merchant’s union, which was procuring goods to the Morgennis border area, suddenly drastically reduced the transaction volume with the Norrant County.
He found out the reason—it was because the Durs County had bought items meant for the Norrant County at a higher price. Naturally, Count Norrant, thinking that this was retaliation for the black wolf Incident, couldn’t contain his anger and canceled the compensation he promised to Count Durs.
But the problem did not end there. With the help of a branch family, Count Norrant, who managed to find a new merchant’s guild and procure scarce supplies, was spared a moment of relief and had to meet the sudden return of his second son.
His second son, who was married to the Count Durs’ granddaughter, was cast out of the Durs household after being suspected of being a spy. His son fell at his feet and wept bitterly, saying he had been kicked out without even saying goodbye properly to his wife and children.
Count Norrant’s anger boiled from the depths of his heart at a disrespect he had never experienced before, but he suppressed his anger at the sight of his second son, who was sadly separated from his family. Then he wrote a letter to Count Durs to find an agreement.
However, all that returned was Count Durs’ provocation and the absurd remarks that made him out to be a traitor.
Count Norrant couldn’t take it any longer. He was determined to make Count Durs repay the same. Thus, he isolated Count Durs by monopolizing the market on the condition that the merchants trade with them by lowering the unit price of specialties available in the Mezei Mountains. He also blocked the use of the mutual arms exchange with Count Durs.
But Count Durs wasn’t taking this without a fight either. Count Durs, who also received a breath of fresh air from the capital as a collateral family of the previous empress, pressured the aid and supplies to the Norrant County to reduce it in half.
It wasn’t just that. Count Durs denounced the use of the tomb sites, which were ancillary income from the Norrant County, by accusing him of being a member of an abnormal religious group. Thus, preventing scholars from paying rent and research funds.
Moreover, this time, she raised an appeal to the Emperor, informing him that Count Norrant had an impure heart and was illegally increasing the number of private soldiers.
Because of this, Count Norrant was angry all the way to the end of his head.
“Private soldiers! How can the quarterly reserve army training turn into private soldiers training and brand me a traitor! I can’t explain this other than wanting to provoke a territorial war!”
He has been patient enough for this. Count Norrant, who had been rolling his head day and night over the course of two months, pushing and pulling with Count Durs, thought it might be better to use his body and fight with his sword.
“I have to cut off the head of that senile old hag!”
“No, Count! Please be patient! If you move first now, you will fall for the provocations as they wish!”
“That’s right! A territorial battle! It’s not an easy decision to make! You must think carefully!”
The vassals once again clung to Count Norrant. Milord, please reconsider! In the end, Count Norrant slowly began to control his anger after the vassals’ agonized pleas. But, once pulled, the sword didn’t seem to want to go back in.
“Then what good can we do! That old hag is provoking me like this, I can’t just sit still!”
Count Norrant shouted as he threw his sword on the table. Then the vassals shut their mouths. They couldn’t come up with a good plan in this situation.
At that moment, someone stepped forward and picked up the sword that Count Norrant had thrown away. The well-forged, sharp sword gleamed gracefully.
“If you can’t go first, why not make the other person come first?”
Count Norrant’s gaze turned to the man with a sword. A man with a figure as elegant as a sword. He’s the man Count Norrant relies on most these days, and every move they ever made against Count Durs comes from his head.
“Sir Yuriel, do you have any good plans?”
Count Norrant’s voice calling out to the man became slightly warmer. He hoped the man would come up with a good move. The man raised his lips and smiled with a subtle gaze. He said, putting his fingertips lightly on the blade of his sword.
“He who sees blood first loses.”
The blade slightly digs into the fingertips. The man saw it and took his hand off the blade. Then he held out the handle of his sword to Count Norrant, and even opened his mouth.
“I will lead the Count to victory. Will you trust me?”
The man’s white hair shines with the same luster as the silver blade of the sword. Count Norrant, with a slightly captivated expression, took the sword he held out, and felt as if he had received a banner of victory.
Count Norrant nodded his head. If it’s this man. He really feels like the man is going to lead him to victory.
“Isn’t it obvious? Let’s trust Sir Yuriel!”
Seeing Count Norrant looking at him with trustful eyes, the man also smiled.
No red blood could be found under the man’s sleeve or on the fingertips cut by the sword.
“Nonsense…”
Andra chewed her thumb and glanced at the hastily pulled out scroll and some interpretations that she had wrung over her head for days. What she thought was right. In the last paragraph of the scroll, the inscription indicating the Morgennis region was clearly written.
Then, at the place where the sun sets, there lay the Dragon Mountains that cross the two worlds, where the gods sleep at the end of the world.
Speaking of where the sun sets is probably the southwest—the Dragon Mountains that cross the two worlds would be the Mezei Mountains that cross the Shehera continent.
Exactly where the end of the world was, she hadn’t figured out yet, but when she put it all together, it was clear that the text was referring to the Morgennis region.
‘Do I really have to go to Morgennis?’
Before entering the dungeon, after Professor Jakalic said that the Morgenze script had been found in the Morgennis area, Andra had subtly thought that she might have to go there. But it feels weird to get confirmation like this.
‘But if something happens now in the Morgennis border area… Can we go?’
Going to Morgennis without graduating from the academy yet was also a problem, but it was unclear whether an outsider like Andra could go to the place where the incident occurred in the first place. Professor Velott’s research grant also fell through, so there is no particular excuse for Andra to go to Morgennis. So she swallowed a sigh and looked at the words.
‘Why now…’
Andra barely stopped her thoughts from tangling further. Let’s not think further here. First of all, the first priority was to interpret all the words of the scroll. That way she will be more certain whether she should go to Morgennis or not. Besides, there was one more thing to be done.
“Oh right. Thesis…”
Andra looked at her thesis that had been put away. This time a sigh slipped out of her mouth.
“Why are you sighing?”
At that moment, she heard a familiar voice from the direction of her window.
—
