After a grueling and arduous journey, they had finally arrived at a rockwall with empty space. Finally, they could see the peaks, which was deeply frosted over.
"We can only guide you up to here. Above there, there is no one who has gone up before."
The hunters were full of curiosity and regret, as they wondered what kind of entity could be up there for them to have suffered this much along the way. However, they did not inquire about such reasons, as they'd already completed their jobs.
Since the day was becoming dark, they had decided to spend another night at camp.
"I don't think I can go there with you either. Why are you going up there exactly?"
After the soldiers finished helping set up camp, Hansen examined the high frosted peak as he shook his head.
"I have something I need to investigate, and it's over there apparently." "What is? No- who told you that?"
Sunhyuk mentioned that he would explain everything once it was all cleared up. As always, Hansen nodded from that one statement and did not ask further.
"Can you go up there?"
Seeing the pathless, rocky cliff, Hansen worriedly asked.
"Well, I have to somehow."
Though he answered, Sunhyuk felt the same as well. Even though the hunters had skillfully guided him along the way, from here onwards he had to go it alone. Noticing the smooth, snowy cliff leading to the peak, he assumed that it would involve rock-climbing without any safety equipment.
"Well, it'll work somehow."
*****
They had just finished setting up camp, though the most they could do was to prevent the fire from blowing out due to the heavy winds. In this world, there were no tents which was light enough to carry on such harsh hiking environments. As a result, the only thing they could rather rely on were their poor-quality sleeping bags.
The sleeping bags were made out of fur from local beasts, enough to fit two people in it. Expecting that his bag should be minimized as much as possible, it was also inefficient to prepare individual sleeping bags separately. The intention was to make up for the lack of warmth by relying on each other's body heat. Sunhyuk had also spent nights sleeping with one of the other hunters.
But today, a strange person had infiltrated to his sleeping bag.
"Excuse me." "Wh-what are you doing?!"
He was frightened by Anne's actions as she moved towards his sleeping bag.
"Hansen's bed’s over there!" "I can't use it with Hansen any longer. He's a bit too big. I'm about to die from the discomfort."
By naturally making a whimsical excuse, she sat down and settled into his sleeping bag.
"I mean, but still, with me…" "I'm a precious daughter of the Baron here, so do you want me to use the same sleeping bag as those hunters and soldiers? There will be strange rumors then." "Am I not a living man as well?!"
While saying this, he looked over to Hansen's sleeping bag and saw him snoring, already having been paired up with another hunter.
"Hiya!"
While he had averted his gaze for a moment, a cold hand suddenly gripped his chest as her firm thighs closed around his waist. Sunhyuk subconsciously let out a moan as he tried to separate his body from her, but soon he heard a quiet whisper.
"Ah. I should have done this earlier. Now I finally feel alive."
It was a voice that felt as if a weary traveler had finally found its resting place. Sunhyuk subconsciously released his apprehension as he listened to that soft, soothing voice. But, why…
"Why do you keep breathing in my ear?"
She was whispering those words right by his ear.
"I did? When did I?"
Realizing that she'd brazenly spoken like this, she tightly placed her mouth into his ear and whispered.
"Just go to sleep. I'm about to sleep as well."
Like she had mentioned, she did not move after fidgeting a little, and soon enough, she fell asleep. Unable to move his stiffened body, time passed by, as he looked above the rocky ceiling wide awake. Though his exhausted body should have fallen asleep by now, his mind was astonishingly vivid and clear. The more his mind was awake, the clearer the feeling was.
'Ah, I'm going crazy.'
If he had not heard what she had said during the day, he would have accepted her visit purely, but after listening to her declaration of taking him, he became rather conscious of her.
'I'll have to take him. I'll have to take him. I'll have to take him. I'll have to take him…'
Her voice echoed in his head repeatedly, causing him to wonder if she had said this deliberately for him to hear.
'Wake up! This woman is the girlie Hansen version!'
Though he tried to calm his mind, the torment did not fade. However, he could not endure the accumulated fatigue from his body due to the three-day hiking trip.
If she had not twisted her body, then he probably would have succeeded in falling asleep.
"Uhk!"
With a sudden moan escaping his mouth, he closed his mouth in shock. Then he heard Anne's voice, whom he had thought had already fallen asleep.
"Can't sleep?"
That hot breath warmed his earlobe, as Sunhyuk froze on the spot.
"I know a way to sleep well."
Then, she began to move her hand, as Sunhyuk grabbed her wrist in total bewilderment.
"No-noona, you must not do this. Hansen and I are like brothers."
Subconsciously, the word Noona spurted from his mouth.
"You're like brothers, but you guys aren't real brothers." "Noona, there are other people, so you shouldn't…" "Why are you calling me Noona? Just call me Anne. And also talk quietly. What are you going to do if the others wake up?"
"So you should stop…"
From her words, he looked over to Hansen's sleeping bag. Fortunately, it seemed that he had not heard their conversation in the sharp winds blowing outside of this campsite. All he could hear from the snarling, rampant wind were their snores.
"If you've seen our fief, there are not a lot of people."
In the meantime, Anne started to explain the situation of their fief. Since they were located at a fief where not a lot of people lived in, she spoke of how they did not care about meeting people from foreign families or bloodlines. Thus, in their situation, they looked for spouses from the outside the majority of the time, and explained that her situation was likewise.
"Though the nobles of the Center are focused on making their bloodline purer, it's not like that for our family at least."
It was quite a pitiful suggestion to say the least. Since she was a noble, she could not leave the fief to find a man she liked, nor could she adventure the world. From the atmosphere of Hansen's family, it wasn't unreasonable to think that there would be arranged marriages.
So he was almost convinced by her words. Even before he came to this world, he had an abstinent life, and it had not changed after coming here. Of course, his desire was accumulated to the peak, and she was an irresistible woman. However,
"So…"
But the face of the woman who had grabbed both of his cheeks with her hands and brought him near her was very similar to someone he knew.
Seeing her face, his trembling heart was restored back to clarity, as if it were a lie.
"Stay still." "Please don't do this, Noona."
So he desperately endured, and endured once more.
The night went by.
*****
The active bustling of the camp started even before the sun rose. Hansen, who was groaning, stretched around and greeted Sunhyuk after stretching his body.
"How are you? You've slept…not well."
There were dark circles under his eyes, and his cheeks were wholly sucked in. It was lifeless, as if those faint black pupils of his had met a typhoon.
"Man Hansen. Woman Hansen." "What are you talking about?"
Seeing the completely weary Sunhyuk, he frowned and saw Anne from behind Sunhyuk calling for him.
"What's wrong with this child?" "Child? Even if he's just a comrade, aren't you being harsh?"
From Anne's voice, Sunhyuk surprisingly jumped up and began to pack up.
"What is it. Could it be…"
Even the oblivious Hansen was able to notice the odd atmosphere.
"Is there something wrong with his body?" "Probably not." "Then why isn't he falling for me?"
Unable to understand it, she tilted her head, slightly baffled, as Hansen did the same, as the two siblings remarkably resembled each other. Even those two siblings will never know why Sunhyuk had refused her.
"Anyhow, I did make my mark, and there's the journey back as well."
Hansen cheered as he looked at Anne. If Sunhyuk had heard of this, he would have been frightened out of his wits.
*****
Though there was a major event that happened during the night, his schedule did not change. Sunhyuk took the rope and other various climbing equipment before saying goodbye to the party for a while.
"If you think it's too much, come back. Since there might be something up there, there's nothing more important than your life." "That's what I think as well."
After Hansen finished his farewell speech, Anne approached him next.
"Take care of your body." "Yes, yes."
Replying without hesitation, she suddenly went up and hugged him.
"You still have not seen the end yet."
Before she could hear a reply, Sunhyuk quickly escaped towards Frost Peaks.
*****
It was not easy climbing the Frost Peaks, as it was an extremely hard climb for someone who had never done mountain climbing before. However, with the help of Atiya, he was able to climb up the rope with his high strength stats.
After almost a full day had passed with him climbing up while sweating and groaning, he was finally able to climb about halfway up to the peak.
"Whew."
Finding an adequate stepping stone, he hung his rope on a stone above and sat down, as he breathed out. Seeing the taut muscles on his legs and feet, it seems that it would be too much to climb any further for today. Though he could not see what was on the top yet, there was an odd sense that was constantly urging him. By this point, he could feel the existence that the Dragon had spoken of on the top of the peak.
"Mmm?"
When he was staring up there for quite some time, he tilted his head a bit.
"I mean. The Drake can't even fly, but how did he even get up there anyways?"
But his question was just a query as he began to climb the peaks once again. His palms began to tear, as blisters soon started to form, but he did not give up and continued ahead.
"Whoa!" 'Be careful.'
Maybe due to the lack of concentration, he lost his footing. Thankfully, Atiya had timely supported him or else he would have fallen down this bottomless cliff.
This backbreaking experience caused him to bite his lips in exhaustion.
There was still a long way to go, and he was confused why he was doing such a crazy thing. Even if he did not find the Drake, his ability as a Dragon Rider wouldn't yield much anywhere else he travelled to, so there was no reason for him to become greedy.
He kept wanting to give up, but it was already too late to descend back down the path he climbed. It was horrible enough seeing the black, bottomless, and abyss-like cliff which existed below him.
It was better to climb up than it was looking at this.
Enduring through sheer will and determination, he was able to finally arrive at his destination.
"Ah…"
Then suddenly, there was the Drake which he was looking for…
TL Afterword:
Calvis: Drake time! Woot, and dang. Blisters and ripped palms sounds horrible. I forgot that there must be no gloves for him to wear as well. What an ironman.
TL Notice:
PR Afterword:
t0ngan: Until next time… cue music & dreams of Anne climbing into my sleeping bag.. Borderline Masochist: : He is gonna have a body of an ox, or well, a body of a Dragon basically… The Dragon Rider with a body that has the strength of a Dragon. That would be a sight to see.