659 Return (1/2)

In a way, the Northlands was probably the single most unsuitable location in all of Eich for humans to live in.

The Northlands only had two seasons, spring and winter. Spring here would be the equivalent of winter in other places, while one-third of the year, the region would be completely sealed under ice and snow. The land here was incredibly poor for raising crops, and very few creatures lived here… Yet, this place was my homeland.

Powerful gusts howled everywhere during the daylight. Since there were no trees, the winds would directly make everyone tremble with their icy coldness. But, while the chilly winds during day were incredibly cold, the night winds were truly cold enough to kill people. There wouldn't even be any need to clean up a corpse if someone stayed outside at night, as they would be frozen completely solid… Yet, this place was my homeland.

Winter wolves, yetis, vicious snow bears, and so on. These demonized magical beasts would easily become apex predators in any other area's forest, yet they were incredibly common beasts in the Northlands. It was quite common to hear bestial roars of hunger in the middle of the night. The worst of all would be to hear dragon roars as that would typically mean a pack of hungry white dragons had gotten too close to human settlements… No newbie adventurers would be able to survive in such a land.

Avalanches, hailstorms, blizzards, frost, drought, severe cold, tornados, snowstorms, and so on. Apart from heat waves and floods, the people who lived here had gotten used to every type of natural disaster there was. As time passed, the people who lived here actually managed to find the advantages of this land through all the bitter experiences.

The poor land and chilly weather meant that greedy nobles were unable to handle the severe lifestyle here. Compared to pampered inland nobles who were able to enjoy their lives, the domain lords who remained here were quite similar to their knight ancestors of old. Not only were they the rulers of their territories, they were truly the guardians of their citizens.

The lack of resources and dangerous environment here made the people here used to allying with each other against the elements. The constant threat of invaders and magical beasts made the Northlanders used to fighting to defend themselves as well. This land produced plenty of warriors and outstanding military talents, and produced even more truly courageous people who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the many. The Northlanders were viewed by the rest of human society as barbarians, but they were also a warrior people even though they lacked a powerful bloodline.

In the Northlands, good morals and the importance of a promise were no empty concepts. The Northlanders were naturally like this—in the snowy Northlands, being isolated or exiled would equal death. In front of the cruel test of nature, liars and cowards would never be able to make it for long. Honor, loyalty, and a good reputation were absolute requirements for survival here. True Northlands heroes would prove themselves by their actions, becoming pillars of support in their communities, while cowards and braggarts would always die filled with regrets.

”…The first snow of the year has truly arrived so early.”

Even though I was still on the slowly flying airship, the chill of the Northlands still made me rather uncomfortable as I was still weak. I rubbed my hands as I exhaled visible breaths, yet that familiar chill mysteriously helped to energize me.

”Your Highness, this is already the fourth snowfall of the year.”

The young Northlands government official's words revealed some new information that surprised me. I was quite familiar with the Northlands, after all. The first snow would represent the arrival of winter. Issuing everyone food for the winter and organizing winter hunting squadrons would all need to be completed before winter arrived. If that wasn't done, the large snowfall would greatly impede all other work. There was no reason for me to misremember the typical time for winter to arrive here. Normally, the first snow wouldn't even arrive for another two weeks.

The silly cat jumped onto my shoulder. All the government officials instinctively backed away upon seeing her. It was well known on the airship that Harloys had been my bodyguard. As the Level 4 assassins perished trying to attack me, Harloys had become well known as the ”Black Cat of Misfortune”, ”Yongye's Pet Cat of Death”, ”Shadow of Misfortune”, and had other similar nicknames.

Right now, the most popular rumor was that the black cat was actually a Divine Sin/Undead Lord/God level undead that was only pretending to be a cat, and that she needed to devour several hundred souls per day or something.

”Great snow mountain.”

Harloys spoke only a few simple words, but I instantly realized what she meant after a momentary confusion.

I then asked the government official, and learned some facts that proved certain things as I expected. Ever since five or six years ago, the Northlands' winters had arrived earlier each year, and left later each year. The winters had also become colder.

”The Ice Elemental Plane…”

The great snow mountain filled with magical ice creatures was completing its transformation into an Ice Elemental Plane. Although this was in the Northlands' mountains where nobody lived, since it was still dimensionally connected to the Northlands, the ice element pouring through would make the already chilly Northlands even colder every year.

From a certain standpoint, this made the Northlands even more inhospitable, but since major battles were soon about to erupt, this might not actually be a bad thing.

The demons' greatest weapons were their powerful physical bodies and plentiful magic power. Without even considering how ice naturally countered the fire element, energy would always be consumed at high rates in any freezing environment. Since the demons instinctively fought with their physical bodies and magic, fighting here would greatly increase their energy consumption.

Of course, energy consumption could be made up for by eating more. But, you should first be able to find prey if you wanted to hunt in the Northlands, and even if you ate every single wild beast in the mountains, that probably wouldn't even be enough for a snack to demons who had tremendous appetites.

”Perhaps I can take advantage of this…”

I also had some more ideas upon seeing this situation. Perhaps the Great Snow Mountain Magical Realm's ice element creatures could be used as part of the entire Northlands' defense line. Perhaps we could also make use of this natural defense line of coldness. However, realizing these ideas would take more planning.

We fully entered the Northlands as I pondered these matters. Three motherships in the new Borealis squadron separated here. The new Borealis continued Northwards, going to Diffindor, the unofficial capital of the Mist Alliance. The Mizar headed for Sleuweir's industrial district for supplies and repairs, while the Alkaid went to the Xiluo Empire for supplies, repairs, and rotating the personnel.

In a way, these mega airships' construction and repair bases were no longer unique in this world. However, the Mist Alliance still lacked industrial foundation. It was already quite difficult for one base to construct a single mega airship, and it would be impossible for any base to handle multiple mega airships at once.