Although the estate of Frostbegmont was glistening with frost all year round, in comparison, the weather was relatively cool unlike its name. In contrast to what he imagined, there wasn't snow on the mountains or plains that were covered in a white blanket.
But what was more surprising was the people in the Frostbegmont family. Unlike other noblemen, they weren't cocky or arrogant as those who ruled over the people, but were rather kind and gentle.
"What do you mean, 'nobles in this small estate.' Our family is just nobility by name, and he's just an Ahjussi."
When Sunhyuk truthfully exclaimed, Hansen replied quickly without hesitation. No matter how close he was with his father, thinking that it was wrong to say that in front of his father, he quietly laid low.
"That's right. To say it shortly, I'm just the village chief. Even if the Royal Family were to recognize our family by descendant, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say we're just the chief of this group.
However, as leader of the Frostbegmont family, Hansen's father introduced himself as a regular chief of the villagers. Not only that, he continuously confirmed his satisfaction of the current position, as water and food would spurt out of his mouth every time he repeated this. That kind of appearance did not seem to befit behaviour similar to a noble whatsoever.
"What are you doing in front of a guest, so thoughtless."
Baron Bolfmeier's wife, while frowning, covered her dish from her husband as if it was natural as she blocked out the spattering food. All of this was too natural and accepted as per normal.
"But, is the food not to your liking, lad? I put some effort into it, but it seems you don't really like it."
If there was indeed a problem, it was how burdened he was by looking at the mountain of food in front of him. However, thankfully, Hansen stepped forth and made an excuse, saying that Sunhyuk had a small stomach. To be honest, it wasn't that he had a small stomach, but that the appetites of the people here were to bountiful, but he did not bother to retort as such.
"Tch. A man should eat well. No wonder your body is so frail and weak."
It was somewhat unthinkable, seeing Baron Bolfmeier consider him as if he was his own family.
"Rather, you're more aristocratic than I am. Your table and meal manners are quite graceful and with a lot of elegance. I personally don't know what that grace is? So I'm just like this I guess."
Funnily enough, Baron Bolfmeier was staring at him with a hint of interest. Well, it wasn't strange for a Korean man to grow up with an obsession for having good dining manners, especially ever since he was young. Though the food here may be from the nobles, it didn't reach the high quality of food from his own world, so it wasn't a surprise that his calm and collected dining matters caught the interest of the Baron.
"Are you from a noble family?"
"Well, I had a few predecessors who did manage the state of affairs."
If you think about it, there were no households where they did not have a leading figure in the family.
"As expected! I recognized your noble character in an instant!"
"Ahem. He will soon receive a title of nobility, so it'd be perfect if we could pair him up with our Anne."
Sunhyuk who was slowly dining became rigid on the spot.
'Hansen has a Noona?'
'He does. A sister that's very different from him.'
'Hansen, if you were to take the youngest and your Noona sees it, your future will be at risk!'
'Youngest, you go and return carefully. Be wary of Hansen's Noona!'
He began to remember the sentences that his comrades spoke, as Hansen suddenly interjected in.
"Where did she go anyways? Though her younger brother had come, I don't even see her anywhere."
"You're asking quite early. She left at dawn, and she should be slowly returning by no…"
At this time, Hansen saw his Noona belatedly enter the door.
"Huh?"
However, the figure of her was completely different from what he had imagined. He had thought that she would be an ugly woman who would resemble Hansen, but confirming once more, she had a slender body with flowing brown hair that matched her beautiful face.
"I heard Hansen has arrived!"
"Noona!"
Suddenly rising from his seat, Hansen hugged her with both arms, as it was a touching family reunion, but Sunhyuk had gotten goosebumps. Now he understood why his comrades had cautioned him so much.
Hansen's Noona, Anne, was definitely a beautiful young woman, but she was surprisingly similar to Hansen. Unknowingly, Sunhyuk felt extremely uncomfortable, as he groaned.
"See. She resembles me, right? Our Noona."
"Ah. A pleasure to meet you. So you must be the comrade that has traveled with our Hansen. I am Ariane Pon Frostbegmont."
Belatedly realizing that she was being rude in front a guest, she recollected herself and made an introduction to Sunhyuk, as he exclaimed.
Ariane Pon Frostbegmont, it was unmistakable that Anne had inherited a different branch of the bloodline of the family. If Baron Bolfmeier and Hansen had broad shoulders and tall heights as their key traits, then she she had inherited more of a feminine side. Compared to the women of this world, she had an overwhelming volume to her body, as it was hard for men not to take their eyes off of her.
However, despite that, Sunhyuk could not admire that beauty, since every time he saw her face, it overlapped with that of Hansen's face.
Anne was exactly the pretty girl version of Hansen.
"So I've heard you came to see the Frost Peaks?"
After Anne had sat and time had passed for quite some time, Baron Bolfmeier unexpectedly asked.
"The season is not good, but do you still have to go?"
Then, the Baron expressed concerns of the recent monsters that could be seen coming down from above Frost Peaks, and the chaos that was ensuing. However, since it was a necessary matter, Sunhyuk had to take risks and tried to persuade the Baron many times, before finally nodding reluctantly with a promise to accept his help.
"However, you must be careful. From what I've heard from the hunters lately, the elite hunters have been laying low due to an upper ranked predator settling here. Although there were no dangerous ones up until now, who knows what might be there at the peaks."
Sunhyuk was rather happy hearing this. He had a strong prediction that the upper ranked predator might be the Drake.
"I'll assign you with several hunters and soldiers to take part in guiding you. Since they are experienced in hunting, they will be of great help."
"I thank you for your kindness."
"Hansen said that, if not for you, he would have been killed by those damn Sastanes. Just from that alone, we are indebted to you for our son's life. This is nothing."
From mentioning of a life-saving debt, Sunhyuk bowed his head in fear. Though he had saved Hansen's life, he could not save the lives that would be born in the future. Thus, he could not raise his head out of guilt.
"So do not be burdened!"
The Baron continued to praise him, not having heard of the accident between Hansen's leg. (PR: No idea when this was mentioned, the author may have mixed up Hansen's front teeth with Hansen's little friend. Do mention if this was actually mentioned in the past chapters.)
In the evening, he heard the voice of the Dragon once more. The Dragon had praised him for not taking the wrong way, and stated that the subspecies would be at the highest point.
"There's no time."
Sunhyuk hurriedly finished his preparations for the search. He was given one month of vacation time, and he had already spent 10 days coming here, so there was not much time for him left in the exploration. Fortunately, the workers which the Baron had promised were quickly prepared for.
He saw an old hunter and two young hunters that were in charge of guiding him, and there were 6 experienced soldiers waiting for him at the entrance of the castle.
"Is Miss Ariane coming as well?"
But, there was an uninvited person there as well. As if she was a hunter, she had a sheepskin top along with a bow on her back.
"Our Noona shoots the bow well. There's probably no one in our domain that shoots as well as our Noona."
"Miss Anne is the most skilled in our fief. Other than Miss Anne, there is probably no one that can shoot a bow as good in this vicinity."
The size of the bow that Anne had was not unusual. It looked like a large longbow about 1.5 metres in length, which alone was much longer than a man's arm.
"Well, it does not matter."
Sunhyuk nodded openly, determining that she should be enough to protect herself, as he did not attempt to stop her.
Seeing him easily accept this, the people were rather surprised. It seemed that they had prepared a few logical reasonings in case, causing them to just stare at him agape.
When they had climbed the mountains for one day, the men knew why Sunhyuk did not object.
"Stop. There's something ahead. Is there another road?"
"If we turn back a bit, there is one."
"Then we will go there."
The guides were perplexed while blinking their eyes as Hansen just nodded. Having that kind of event repeat several times, the Hunters couldn't contain their curiosity and asked.
"Isn't it strange? At this time, we should have met at least one or two monsters."
"It should be…"
"That's all thanks to my friend over there."
Though the men were dubious, but after two more days had passed with them not encountering a monster, they were awed shock instead.
Though they did not encounter any monsters, it didn't mean that the journey up the mountain was smooth. As they climbed up towards the top of the mountain, the mountainous roads were rougher and rockier, and soon, there were even dangerous cliffs which they had to pass.
And, in that span of time, a monster had soon appeared.
"There are no other roads. If not for this one, then we would all have to climb up the cliff."
Once Sunhyuk explained the presence he felt beyond this road, the Hunters expressed their reluctance, remarking that the surrounding terrain was not ideal for them to fight the monster.
"Then let's just go."
However, Sunhyuk did not hesitate. The people were full of worry, but wondering what kind of new ability their mysterious guest will show, they followed behind in anticipation.
And then soon they met a monster.
"Shit. It's a bunch of Baba Yetis!"
A Hunter, who saw the monsters with their sturdy hairy coats all over their bodies, screamed.
"Are they dangerous?"
The ignorant Kim Sunhyuk asked about this world's monsters, and the hunters replied with pale complexions.
"They are extraordinarily strong, and they are especially dangerous in this terrain. Rather than fighting us, they will first try and push us to make us fall, eating our fallen corpses afterwards."
Seeing them move freely along the cliffs with their long arms, he could confirm that they had a severe disadvantage terrain-wise.
"We must descend immediately. If it's below here, then there is a chance for victory!"
"No. We will not descend."
"Ahk! We're all going to die! Though it's okay if we were to die, we need to at least save the Young Master and the Young Lady!"
"No one will die."
Sunyuk calmed the hunters who were screaming at him. Seeing that cool, collected expression infuriated them, making them try to turn the group around, but he took the first step.
"Atiya."
'Did you call, my Master?!'
With a slight change in the breeze, Atiya appeared.
"Push all of them and make them fall."
Though Atiya was a Basic Wind Elemental, she still had the strength to sweep away the Baba Yetis over the cliffs.
This was not an advantageous hunting spot for just the Baba Yetis.
'Roll down! Roll-roll-roll down!'
Unfit for the situation, she cried out in a cheerful voice and shouted, and soon the Baba Yetis fell down the cliffs with a loud scream. Moreover, the Baba Yeti that was running in front was caught by the nape of its neck by Atiya before rolling down the cliff.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The screams were clear and sharp, but silence soon replaced those screams shortly.
"This is…"
The hunters and the soldiers who had turned and were descending stopped in their tracks.
The Baba Yeti bunch that the hunters were fearful of was easily taken care of by Sunhyuk. Before they could take a breath, one by one, the Baba Yetis were thrown off the road as they rolled down the cliff, causing not a single one to be left remaining.
"Let's go."
The looks of the people were completely different after seeing Sunhyuk's expression, as if what he had done was a trivial thing.
"Isn't he much greater than what Father had told me?"
"Well, our Sunhyuk is indeed a bit great."
"Yes. That's right. Impressive. So I've changed my mind."
Anne and Hansen were quietly exchanging a small conversation with each other. They were talking in a low voice so that their voices could not be heard, but the wind was the eyes and ears of Sunhyuk.
"I'll have to take him."
From Anne's sudden declaration, Sunhyuk stumbled in his path.
TL Afterword:
Calvis: LOL.
TL Notice:
PR Afterword:
Sai101: LMAO!
Borderline Masochist: : My comments are back! Finally caught up… Never taking a trip again, lol. Also, I would root for Anne, but I agree with him… It is terrible having a female friend who is the exact same as one of your friends… can't wait for the drama to come from it though, lol.
Translator: Calvis
Editor: Sai101/Borderline Masochist