Chapter 7. The Peak
by Foreigner Β· 2026-08-21
Kenzelt said it would take three days.
But it took twenty-five.
'.......'
Gihun did the math halfway up the ridge.
'Was it three days by dwarf stride?'
Aron's memory offered something. A dwarf's stride is about two-thirds that of a human, so a dwarf's daily travel distance is...
'.......'
So it should have taken longer.
Gihun dismissed that memory.
The ridge was long.
It felt less like climbing up and more like moving sideways. After walking for a long time, when he looked back, it seemed like the same spot as before.
But the back had lowered.
The forest was below.
What he had been in for seventy days was now just a green mass.
'.......'
Gihun watched it for a moment.
The last thirty meters to the summit were the worst.
It was rock.
He had to grab on with his hands to climb, but his left ribs hadn't fully healed yet. Every time he stretched his arm up, he felt something shift in his side.
Gihun rested three times.
The second time he rested, Aron's memory spoke.
'A ducal scion does not put himself in danger.'
'.......'
Gihun pressed his forehead against the rock.
'You're telling me that now?'
He climbed.
Gihun placed his hands on the rock and pulled himself up.
And stood.
The wind came.
In the forest, the wind didn't come like this. It came broken up between the trees. Here, it came whole.
Gihun closed his eyes, then opened them.
And looked ahead.
It was flat land.
Gihun watched it for a long time.
It had been 70 days.
For 70 days, everything he had seen was vertical. The trees were vertical, the rocks were vertical, the cliffs were vertical. Even the sky was fragmented, visible through the branches.
But down there, it was horizontal.
Completely horizontal.
'.......'
Gihun stood and watched it, not sitting.
A field came into view.
More precisely, he wasn't sure if it was a field or something else, but it was square. Many squares were joined together. Their colors varied slightly.
And there was a line between them.
It was a straight line.
'.......'
There was nothing straight in the forest.
Straight things are made by humans.
Gihun followed the line with his eyes.
Then he touched his face.
It was wet.
'.......'
Gihun wiped it with the back of his hand.
'It's because of the wind.'
The wind was indeed strong.
Gihun rationalized it that way and looked forward again.
A vast plain viewed from a rugged mountain peak. Beyond the dense forest below, fields of various colors and a straight road are visible. The atmosphere suggests a strong wind is blowing.
Following the line, there was something at the end.
It was small.
The size of a thumbnail.
Gihun narrowed his eyes.
There was a square shape, and a few pointed things rose within it.
'It's a castle.'
Gihun thought so.
And he smiled a little.
It was a castle.
It was a place where people lived.
Gihun looked at the castle again.
The area around the castle was black.
'.......'
At first, he thought it was a field.
A plowed field is black. That wasn't Aron's memory, but just something he knew. He had seen it on a picnic when he was a child.
But the blackness surrounded the castle.
It wasn't strange for a field to surround a castle.
Gihun tried to think that way.
The black thing moved.
Gihun held his breath.
It was too far to see individual details. It was just a black surface. But the edges of that surface changed little by little. It pushed towards the castle as if water was seeping in.
Gihun watched it.
He watched for about ten minutes.
The edges were closer to the castle than before.
'.......'
Gihun sat down on the spot.
He sat, rested his arms on his knees, and propped his chin.
And he calculated again.
It was 7 days.
He would arrive there in 7 days.
Would that castle still be there in 7 days?
Gihun looked at the black thing again.
He didn't think it would be.
'It's not my business.'
Gihun said.
He said it out loud. He had been speaking out loud a lot lately.
Aron: It's not my business.
The wind didn't answer.
Aron: I just need to go where people live, and if that place disappears, I'll just go somewhere else.
Aron: ......
Aron: It's not like that's the only castle in Heness.
After saying that, Gihun counted how many words he had spoken.
It was three words.
He had said three words for something that could have been finished in one.
'.......'
Gihun pulled the sack forward.
He untied the string.
Inside was a single shoe.
Gihun didn't take it out.
He just looked at it.
'Toban.'
'Daughter's name is Mina. Twelve years old.'
'Village name is Gern. Twelve houses.'
'A well in the middle.'
'A tree next to it.'
Gihun tied the sack again.
There would be people inside that castle too.
He didn't know how many.
He didn't know their names either.
Gihun didn't like that much.
If he didn't know their names, he couldn't memorize them.
Gihun stood up.
Aron: No, I mean.
Gihun said.
Aron: If the orcs take that castle, where would they go next?
Aron: ......
Aron: They'd come this way.
Aron: ......
Aron: It'd be annoying if I were there.
Gihun nodded.
It was logical.
The problem was 7 days.
There was no way to reduce 7 days to 5. A mountain is a mountain and a bridge is a bridge. Gihun was already walking as much as he could in a day.
Gihun sat down, stood up, and sat down again.
Then he searched Aron's memories.
Ways to go faster.
Horses.
'No horses.'
Boats.
'The river doesn't flow that way.'
Teleportation magic.
'.......'
Gihun paused at that item for a moment.
Teleportation magic did exist. There were five mages on the continent who could use it, three of whom were in the divine kingdom, and it cost the equivalent of a castle to use it once.
'.......'
Gihun dismissed that item.
The next item was strange.
Aron's memory suddenly brought up an old story.
Dragon Knights.
Before the continent split, there were knights who flew through the sky.
They rode dragons.
They sat on the dragons' backs, traveled above the clouds, crossed the continent from end to end in a single day, and it was said that the most exceptional among them could even communicate with dragons.
Now, they are no more.
Gihun recalled the story to the end, then looked at the annotation attached to it.
Aron's memory was diligent.
'Legend. No textual basis. Children's narrative.'
'.......'
It was a fairy tale.
Gihun sighed.
Aron.: It's come to fairy tales now.
Gihun said.
Aron.: At this point, there's really no other way.
Gihun looked at the sky.
There was something in the sky.
At first, he thought it was a bird.
It was high up and circling slowly.
Eagles circle like that.
But it was a bit big.
Gihun saw it.
He watched it for a long time.
It wasn't a bird.
It had two wings.
But it had no front legs. Its wings were its front legs. A long tail extended behind it, its tip pointed.
Gihun's mouth opened slightly.
'.......'
Aron's memory came quickly this time.
Wyvern.
A subspecies of dragon. Low intelligence. Does not live in groups.
The mother raises its young for two years. Poison is at the tip of its tail.
'If it's a subspecies of dragon.'
Gihun thought.
'It's a dragon.'
Aron's memory corrected him.
'It's not a dragon.'
'Why?'
'It doesn't have four legs.'
'.......'
Gihun continued to watch the wyvern.
The wyvern made a wide circle.
Then it descended towards the northern cliff.
The angle of descent was gentle.
Gihun followed the angle with his eyes.
'Is there something there?'
Gihun searched Aron's memories once more.
'Records of riding a wyvern.'
'None.'
'Why?'
'Cannot be tamed.'
'Why?'
'.......'
Aron's memories contained nothing more than that.
Gihun stood there.
The wind continued to blow.
Below, black figures continued to push towards the castle, and above, the wyvern disappeared behind the cliff. Gihun stood between them, looking back and forth.
Aron: ...There are no records of it being tamed, that's all.
Gihun said.
Aron: That doesn't mean it's impossible.
Then, Gihun realized what he had said a beat too late.
'.......'
Aron: No.
Gihun shook his head.
Aron: No.
Aron: ......
Aron: That's really not it.
Gihun looked at the path leading down.
It was south.
It was the path to the castle.
Gihun took a step in that direction.
And stopped.
Gihun looked back.
There was the northern cliff.
It was the direction the wyvern had disappeared.
'.......'
Gihun stared at it for a long time.
Aron: Seven days, huh.
Gihun said.
Aron: In seven days, there'll be no castle.
Aron: ......
Aron: But over there.
Gihun measured the distance to the cliff with his eyes.
It was about a day and a half.
Gihun tightened the strap of his bag.
He re-gripped his club.
And walked.
North.
As he walked, Gihun kept muttering to himself.
Aron: I just calculated it;
Aron: I'm not saying I'll do it.
Aron: ......
Aron: If I go and it doesn't seem right, I can just come back down.
Aron: ......
Aron: Even if we take that path down, it's only a day and a half difference anyway.
Gihun quickened his pace slightly.
There was no one on the peak.
Only the wind continued to blow.
Below, the black mass was drawing a little closer to the castle.