Chapter 696

Epilogue - Beyond Civilization

The northernmost part of the continent.

A place that leans west even there.

A vast mountainous area without a name, where no one lived before the Gate incident.

A polar region where the only season is winter.

"Hey...! Over here!"

At the sound of a voice shouting from somewhere on the plateau in the midst of a snowstorm, the group heads towards the location.

The expedition of about six people soon discovers a fallen animal and a person guarding it in the midst of the snowstorm.

"Wow, this is amazing. I haven't seen a creature this big in three years."

A giant reindeer had fallen with an arrow precisely hitting its muzzle.

"Let's tie it up quickly. If the snow piles up more, we might have to stay in the shelter for a few days."

Everyone starts tying ropes to the body of the dead reindeer. If the snowstorm gets worse, they might not be able to go back and have to stay in the cabin for a few days.

"We may not know, but Betten here has to go back even if the snow is taller than him."

"Of course. Even if it's an avalanche today, we'll go back."

At someone's words, the others start laughing.

"If you don't want to see Betten frozen without knowing what's wrong with his own child, let's move quickly!"

The man called Betten laughs at the joke and starts tying the rope to the reindeer's body so that everyone can pull it.

Everyone was wearing thick clothes and had a bow each.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the group pats the blonde man who is tying the rope with him on the back.

He was the man who discovered the animal and shot an arrow at the reindeer.

"By the way, this guy, Radias, doesn't have a separate palace."

"Haha... You're too kind."

"More than a palace, you're the one who shoots an invisible reindeer because of the snow with one arrow. To be honest, I used to think you just shot anywhere and made strange noises."

No one in the group had seen the reindeer.

But the man named Radias aimed his bow somewhere in the snowstorm and walked there after shooting one arrow.

And there was a fallen reindeer on the scene.

He was good at finding prey to an eerie extent, and his arrows always hit the vital points.

"You're a nobleman, a nobleman."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with the words of the leader hunter, and Betten, whose wife's delivery had begun, thanked Radias several times.

They tie up the reindeer's body and start leading it back.

"By the way, Radias. Hasn't it been a while since you had a time?"

"What time is it...?"

"It's a child."

"Ah..."

"Betten, who is about to become a father from today, but you still don't have one, right?"

As one person starts, comments come from all over.

There is a time for everything, and it might be getting late.

Your wife will be fine, but won't it be difficult for you as you get older?

You have to prepare for anything before your energy runs out.

The young man called Radias just smiled coolly. "By the way, did Violet say she was going to help with the delivery today?"

"I don't know much, but I'll help if I can...."

"Hehe...."

Radias' wife volunteered to help Betten's wife with the delivery today.

But the young men looked uneasy at her words.

"....Is there a problem?"

"It's not something that fragile people like your wife usually do...."

-Tuk tuk

Another man patted Radias on the shoulder.

"You probably lost your mind."

"....?"

"But it's a good thing you're a tough nobleman. How did you even think of coming to a place like this with such a frail wife?"

At those words, Radias put on a cool smile with a bitter feeling.

"Ahaha.... I pushed them a bit too hard."

Every time he heard those words, Radias felt like a stone was stuck in his throat.

A place where people didn't live even in the days of civilization.

A certain extreme place where there is no warp gate because it is far from civilization, and even the monsters of the gate cannot come in easily.

Beyond the civilization of Berthus and Savion Tana, they were living under a new name.

That's why Berthus felt a strange feeling that he couldn't describe whenever he heard that Savion Tana, who was living as his wife, was a fragile woman.

* * *

The village in the snowy field was not that small.

The size of this community, which exceeded three hundred households, is quite large considering the extreme environment of this place.

There is an uninhabited area of about a thousand square kilometers in all directions, and beyond the huge mountain range to the north is a sea that is frozen and cannot be traced to where it extends.

Berthus and Tana came here on purpose.

They didn't intend to find this kind of environment.

It is impossible to hide anywhere in a place where civilization exists. So they were just chased wherever they went.

Sometimes, an amateurish deep wilderness is discovered by adventurers.

They ran away to survive, but they didn't want to kill anyone.

So they tried to go to a place where even the foundation of civilization could not exist.

A deep wilderness in the middle of nowhere where even monsters are not found.

A place where humans, let alone beasts and monsters, cannot survive.

If they could live forever hidden there.

Berthus and Tana crossed to the distant side of civilization.

And they arrived at a place where someone was living even in an environment where humans should not live.

To the outsiders who appeared in an environment where outsiders could not find them, the people of the village were kind and warm to them.

They took care of them, providing them with a place to sleep, food, and clothing.

No one asked why they came.

To them, the world was just a snowy field.

There was no country, no history, no nation.

They only knew that strange beasts appeared from time to time in front of them.

The small but strong civilization of the snowy field was firm even in front of the monsters that occasionally appeared. To them, monsters were treated as "inedible things" or "things that would cause big trouble if eaten." Thus, Tana and Bertus encountered a very small community that should not exist in a place without civilization and settled there. It was a harsh but warm place, cold but not lonely. It was a place so far away from the world that no one knew about it. Bertus learned a lot about how to survive in the snow, how to survive in isolation, how to hunt in extreme environments, and where to hide temporary shelters for hunters. Hunting, which was once a hobby in the distant past, became a real hunting skill for their livelihood. The group arrived at a village on the snowy plateau, leading the deer that Bertus had hunted. The men in the village offered to help with the delivery, but Radias' wife volunteered instead. However, the leader of the hunters tried to get Bertus to do the butchering, but he was not good at it. He was good at everything else, but always fell short in crucial areas. Instead, the villagers looked at Bertus as if he were a strange person and laughed. Since he had vomited, rumors had spread throughout the village that the new outsider had a unique constitution that made him vomit at the sight of blood. Of course, there was no longer such a misunderstanding, but Bertus still couldn't handle some things. He now knew that in this kind of life, there was no need to have a great strength in any particular area. It wasn't just about being good at hunting or tracking, but knowing how to do everything. You had to know how to hunt, butcher, cook, make fires, and even gather firewood in this extreme environment. There was no limit to what you had to know. So, at the beginning of their settlement, Bertus was treated as someone who didn't know anything. Now, Bertus knows that he has a lot to learn from everyone in the village, especially the elderly. He manages to do his part with the help of others who cover his weaknesses. I was trembling, trying to explain something but couldn't. Nothing happened, but I saw something very shocking. Only then did Bertus understand why the other hunters were more worried about Violet than Beten's wife, who was the one giving birth. He knew that the process of giving birth could make one pass out. Just as Bertus had no resistance to parasites, Tanah had no resistance to something. The hunters were convinced that Violet, who had an image of a young and inexperienced woman, would definitely be like that here. "I'm...useless again..." Tanah said, bowing her head and trembling. Bertus laughed bitterly. "Let's go back first." Supporting the trembling Sabiolin Tanah, Bertus headed to their house. * * * Bertus gave Tanah a cup of warm water and watched her drink it with a smile, even though it wasn't very hot. Shortly after Tanah and Bertus arrived, the villagers built a house for them without permission. Even though it was a place where materials were scarce, people were busy gathering materials and building houses. And then they pushed the two of them in and said they would settle here. They didn't even say why they came here. They just built a house without asking anything. So Tanah and Bertus had no choice but to sit down and settle in. Bertus tried to help with everything in the village and realized how much he lacked. But Tanah was worse. She didn't even know how to cook, let alone prepare meat. She couldn't even sew or prepare leather. She didn't know how to make a fire, let alone how to make preserved food, which was the most important thing in this environment. She couldn't even play with the children. She just smiled awkwardly and didn't know what to do in front of them. She was a person who cried and didn't know what to do even if she was given a small task. She was a beautiful and gentle woman, but she was completely useless. However, people found her cute and amusing to watch, and even the village girls were envious of her smooth and clean hands. They didn't want her to do anything that required physical effort because they were afraid she would get hurt. So even if she wanted to do something she was good at, she was never given the opportunity. If she said she wanted to be a hunter, people would laugh and make fun of her. Everyone claps their hands, telling her not to take it seriously. It's only natural. She has lived her whole life holding a sword and everything else has been supported by the imperial palace. Everything except the sword is a good thing, and it has always worked out somehow. She has never had to worry about anything else. That's why Tanah doesn't even know anything other than the sword, and she doesn't have any leadership skills. She has only done what she is good at her whole life and is a complete person because of it. If someone suddenly tells her to do something completely unrelated, it's fortunate that she doesn't cry in confusion. Even if she is taught something once, she still can't do it well. Tanah is even more incompetent than Sabiolin, who was the strongest knight in the empire and the best swordsman on the continent. "Are you feeling better now?" "Yes..." She had gone out to do errands even before the village's major event of childbirth, but after hearing about resting from Sanpa, she came outside and sat down. She has seen countless deaths and killings, and has seen countless dirty sights that she cannot bear to see. But there is no way she could have endured the shock of witnessing the birth of life and the sight that it brings. How? How could this happen? It's fortunate that her mind is filled with question marks and exclamation points and she hasn't fainted. Bertus looks at Tanah, who is touching the water cup and breathing evenly, and says nothing. She knows better than anyone how useless she is, and she is suffering from it. Bertus smiles faintly as he looks at Tanah. "It's not easy." "...Yes." The village owners who see the couple respecting each other always smile and say they are cute. No one asks why the couple is acting strange to each other. No one asks if they are a couple. Bertus is now doing his part and his hunting skills are a great help to the village. But Sabiolin Tanah still knows nothing and is just a weak and naive woman in the eyes of others. However, no one ever ridicules Tanah's incompetence too much. There is no one in the village who seriously scolds her, even if they tease her. This is because everyone saw the state she was in when they arrived in this village. She arrived here carrying the unconscious Bertus, who had been on the verge of collapsing in a fierce snowstorm, with a venomous expression on her face. She had heard what sounded like a village here and the sound of people living. But it took her more than ten days to walk here after hearing that sound. She heard an inaudible sound and found her way through the blizzard to reach this village. That's why everyone says it. Translation: She is scatterbrained and doesn't know how to do anything, but because she is a great person who can wield a sword, no one can ignore Tanah.