What a Terminally Ill Villain Needs Is an Arctic Fox Ch 01

Chapter 01

     A rugged mountain range covered in perennial snow. A man was climbing the great northern mountain, which had been called the Mountain of Death because it had been devoid of life for some time.

The man was covered in a cold sweat all over his body, as if he didn’t feel the biting cold.

“Ugh, gasp.”

The man, Kyle, sank into the snow, feeling a pain that felt like his heart was burning.

“Ugh.”

Even though he was clutching his chest in agony, there was only ice and snow on the desolate land, and there was no one he could ask for help. With trembling hands, Kyle took out the medicine from his bag and poured it into his mouth. It was not going to make the pain better because it was caused by the curse, but it was to at least suppress the pain.

“Haa, haa……. Now I feel like I can live a little.”

Kyle lay down on the snow, panting as the pain subsided. The painkillers were very effective, but they were highly addictive, and there was a limit to how much they could take each day. Kyle slowly got up, thinking that he had finished all of today’s medication and should be prepared for the evening.

Then he saw the peak of the mountain he had to climb. It looked far away when viewed from below, but when he actually climbed it, he thought it wouldn’t take too long to get over the mountain.

“Rueldirman…? Was it Ruemderman?”

Kyle frowned as he recalled the new name he had been given by the Emperor when he became the Grand Duke of the North. It had already been three years since he had been possessed by the book he was reading, but the unnecessarily long name, set in a setting that felt like medieval Europe, was still unfamiliar to him no matter how many times he heard it.

The snow that had stopped for a moment began to fall little by little, as if sprinkling from the sky.

“Wow, it’s snowing.”

Kyle, who was blankly looking up at the sky and muttering and giggling, soon began to shiver at the cold wind that blew.

“This is not the time to be happy. I’m going to freeze to death.”

Kyle quickly got up as the bitter cold he had not felt because of the pain began to take effect and enveloped his entire body again.

If you don’t climb the mountain diligently, it’s obvious that you’ll freeze to death in this snowy mountain. Especially in a place like this where few people go, it would be a truly miserable death, and you wouldn’t even be able to find your body.

Although he had already experienced death once and was still living a life with a limited time left, Kyle had a strong attachment to life.

“I’m going to die soon, but that’s no reason to die here.”

Kyle, who was about to start walking again, shaking off the snow on his body, stopped for a moment.

“……?”

Where he had stood there was a black spot that did not match the pure white snow.

Kyle, who was about to pass by without paying attention, stopped walking when air bubbles rose from the black dot.

“What just now…?”

He bent down and examined the dark bulge between his eyes.

A faint breeze was coming out of the two holes, and only that part of the snow had melted and froze again, so it was covered with thin ice and glistened. Kyle touched it absentmindedly and opened his eyes wide in surprise at the soft and moist feeling, separate from the cold. This was definitely a beast’s nose. And it was alive.

“There are wild beasts on the mountain of death?”

Kyle’s eyes widened.

The mountain he was climbing was, as its name suggests, the mountain of death. It was a mountain where no living beings lived. Before crossing the mountain, Kyle had passed through a small village at the bottom of the mountain, and had already heard the locals tell him to avoid the mountain and turn back.

But for Kyle, who was destined to die in less than half a year due to a curse, every day was desperate. There was no reason to take a week to go back when he could have gone in a day.

And contrary to his fears, when he actually climbed the mountain, it wasn’t that dangerous. Kyle’s lips twitched when he discovered a living animal that he had been told was devoid of life.

“These people are scamming me. It’s just an ordinary snow-covered mountain. What’s this mountain of death?”

Kyle pouted his lips as he diligently sifted through the snow with his gloved hands, feeling sorry for the beast barely breathing with its nose exposed.

“Arctic fox?”

Round ears, a blunt nose, and a bushy tail. It was the pure white Arctic fox I had seen in documentaries. Its belly was rising and falling regularly, as if it was breathing.

“……It’s a bit big for its size.”

It was a bit bigger than Kyle expected, but not so big that he couldn’t lift it.

Kyle hurried his steps after hoisting the faintly breathing Arctic fox over his shoulder. The snow was piling up at an unusual rate.

********

In the mansion of the Northern Grand Duke Batman, the so-called Northern Grand Duke, people were busy from early in the morning preparing for their new master who they had not seen in 20 years. The Northern Grand Duke, who had power comparable to that of the Emperor, once had hundreds of servants and knights, but the situation completely changed after that day of the war with the Dragon. Northern Grand Duke Batman died on the battlefield.

The emperor, who desired absolute power, did not miss the moment the position of the Grand Duke became vacant and made sure that the territory and all authority belonged to him. The Grand Duke’s family, which had become the symbiosis of the emperor’s absolute power, collapsed in an instant, and only five knights who believed that they would one day regain their former glory remained to guard the empty mansion.

Those who had finished cleaning up to welcome the new Grand Duke gathered in the hall and looked outside. Normally, they would have gone outside to personally greet the Grand Duke as he passed through the main gate, but when they tried to go out, a blizzard was already raging outside, making it difficult to even open their eyes.

They had no choice but to gather in the hall and form a line, and Gray, who had been given the role of butler because he was the oldest, stroked his chin without taking his eyes off the window.

“Do you think it’s possible for a normal person to get to the mansion in this weather?”

“It’s impossible.”

Jack, who was given the role of chef because of his excellent knife skills, shook his head and answered.

“It might be possible if only Archduke Rueldirman, the Sword Master, could do it.”

Mod, dressed in servant’s attire, twirled the duster around his fingertips in retort. Mod’s twin brother, Weed, snatched the duster away from him, saying it was dusting him.

“No, the Archduke won’t come alone.”

In response to Gray’s answer, Maud raised her head, pretending to grasp the air with her empty hands.

“Why?”

“The Emperor has bestowed upon you the title of Grand Duke after 20 years, so how can you let him go all alone like that?”

The answer came from Weed’s mouth, not Gray’s, but Gray nodded slightly in agreement. Jack scratched the back of his neck and yawned.

“Rumor has it that the Archduke saved the Emperor’s life, so I doubt he would send him away alone.”

I don’t know where he heard that information, but Chef Jack gave Weed some credence.

“It’s snowing heavily. Today doesn’t seem to be the day.”

Gray listened quietly to everyone’s conversation, then looked away from the window and turned away.

But at that moment, something hazy emerged from between the densely packed coniferous trees.

“Gray-nim, something is coming……!”

The others noticed the movement, and Gray’s eyes grew sharp.

Something was approaching the mansion at an incredible speed. It looked like a person, but half of it was covered in animal fur, making it look extremely suspicious. The fluttering snow obscured the view, making it difficult to see the other person’s face. Gray raised his hand.

“Assume an intruder and prepare for battle.”

Jack, the cook who had been yawning behind Gray, took a knife out of his bosom and put it between his fingers. The twin servants, Maud and Weed, also each held their weapons in their hands. No matter where you looked, they were not ordinary cooks and servants. They erased their presence and looked at the door of the mansion.

Gray approached the door with his knife in his hand hidden behind his back. He held his breath as he faced the intruder across the door.

As the door opened and an outsider appeared, Gray’s sword flew straight towards the vital spot.

“……!”

However, Gray soon lost the sword he was holding in his hand due to an invisible force.

“What is this?”

The moment the sword fell to the floor and made a sharp clang, everyone’s bodies stopped. Gray came to his senses and looked ahead. He had clearly been rushing to stab the vital point, but his body was still in a standby state. The servants who had been preparing to attack also dropped their weapons and knelt on the floor, looking at the man.

A sacred, pure white light, like something out of a myth, gently enveloped the man. Gray’s wrinkled eyes trembled slightly.

“Why…….”