Night had fully fallen over Flocia.
After yesterday’s chaos, the calm that settled over the city felt almost unreal. Perhaps even the slave traders’ faction had been forced to lie low. The dungeon had been sealed off, and the city guards were out on the lake, keeping watch for river bandits.
I lay on my back in bed, staring up at the moonlight streaming through the window, replaying the day’s events in my mind.
—Oniichan!
Maybe it was because I’d been able to talk with Lu, but my heart felt lighter tonight. Her voice echoed in my head, and before I knew it, a quiet smile tugged at my lips.
“Hehe.”
Through the power of the Frost Orb, Lu and Pauline-san had projected their images to Flocia. They’d only appeared as small, doll-sized figures shaped from magic—but still, I hadn’t expected to see my sister here of all places. The surprise alone had made me ridiculously happy.
—Are you hurt!?
—And what about the gods!? Tell me everything!
She was as worry-prone as ever, bombarding me with questions right there in front of everyone. I hadn’t known where to look at the time—but even so, hearing her voice had eased something in my chest.
Maybe Nils-san felt the same when he spoke about his own sister.
His frustration, his anger… I think I understand them now.
—Did you find Freyr-sama?
Lu and I had talked about that too. Each time a god awakened, it meant one more power that could help protect her.
I shifted restlessly on the bed, something faint tugging at the edge of my thoughts.
“Rion.”
Solana’s voice drifted out. The goddess jumped out, light spilling from the gold coin as her tiny form hovered by the side of my bed.
“Can’t sleep?”
“…Yeah.”
I must have been staring off for a long while.
Flocia is a city of water. When I closed my eyes and focused, I could clearly hear the sounds of canals and passing boats. Somewhere out there, people were still working by the glow of mana lamps.
But that wasn’t the only reason I couldn’t sleep.
Ever since talking with Lu, something had been tugging at the back of my mind. I tried to sort through it, bit by bit. Perhaps sensing that I wanted to talk, the goddess floated a little closer, her faint light rippling like water across the sheets.
“Solana, before we went to the land of the dwarves—no, way before that—we studied this kingdom’s mythology together, didn’t we?”
“Mm. I remember.”
Solana answered with a soft nod.
“When the kingdom was founded, the entire world was still shrouded in the ice of sealing. The magic Odin released had covered everything far more completely than it does now.”
I closed my eyes, letting old lessons rise from memory. When the war between gods and monsters had turned toward defeat, Odin made a choice—to unleash his final magic and freeze everything: gods, monsters, and humankind alike.
The seal of ice was said to react most strongly to those with great magical power. Humans, who could survive even with little or no magic, were the first to slip free from that frozen prison.
Yet even then, the world had not been freed from the ice.
There was an ancient tale—one passed down only through the royal bloodline, from the kingdom’s earliest days. In that story, a certain goddess had shielded the people from the biting cold that blanketed the earth. I’d come across the record once, long ago, when Lu and I were studying the temple archives before setting out for the Dwarven Kingdom.
My mind wandered back over everything we’d seen since then—the abundance of water flowing through the dungeons, the lush greenery surrounding Flocia.
“Both Freyr and Freyja are gods of fertility and harvest…”
Looking at Flocia, it’s clear. The rivers, the crops, the very life that pulsed through the city—this was the work of deities who guarded all that sustained the world. The maze at its heart was proof of that blessing.
“I see. Rion, what you mean to say—”
Solana murmured, her golden eyes glinting softly.
“When the world was sealed in ice, when all life was frozen still, the goddess who sustained humanity… might have been none other than Freyja herself.”
“Yeah…”
I nodded.
To keep people alive—to preserve the fields, the water, the harvests—surely it had to be a goddess of fertility, of life itself.
Solana alighted gracefully at my bedside, her small form settling against the pillow.
“The gaps between the myths I know and the ones guarded by the Warrior Corps… Perhaps what lies between them is a missing myth—a story long forgotten by both gods and men.”
From the golden coin, I could sense the presence of the other gods listening in. Part of me wanted to ask Odin himself… but I knew he would never descend to answer. Not yet.
“It just— it bothers me….”
I muttered. Rolling over onto my stomach, I met Solana’s gentle gaze. Her tiny form glimmered faintly in the moonlight.
“Because I think… the battles ahead of us will have even deeper ties to those old myths.”
“…You’re right. Let us think this through.”
I pictured the ancient scenes—the visions Solana and the others had once shown me. And now, with the thought that the mysterious goddess might have been Freyja, those distant, mist-shrouded moments began to take shape.
“Solana, in your story, when the world was sealed in ice… there were still monsters roaming the surface, right?”
The goddess nodded slightly.
“But there aren’t any now. The roads are peaceful—proof enough of that.”
I turned my eyes to the window, to the moonlit streets of Flocia.
“So maybe that means… someone fought them. Someone wiped out the monsters that were left on the surface.”
Solana raised a hand to her chin, thinking.
“Hmm… it’s possible. The strongest creatures—those who might have challenged the gods themselves—were drawn into the dungeons, trapped there when the seals fell. Others, lured by battle, like Flamebone Surtr, entered willingly, . The monsters that remained above ground would have been weaker and manageable.”
Her golden eyes flickered.
“If humans had joined forces, they could have defeated them one by one… slowly reclaiming the surface of the world.”
It was all just a theory—only imagination. And yet, maybe that was how it all began. A gathering of survivors, warriors, and magicians who banded together to reclaim the frozen world… and in time, that gathering became the Asgard Kingdom.
The nobles of today often possessed exceptional combat skills. If their ancestors had been heroes from that age—those who fought to drive out the monsters—then it all made sense. After all, this kingdom was born for that very purpose: to hunt the remnants of the monsters and protect the world that remained.
“But, Rion—”
“Mm, I know.”
I exchanged a look with Solana.
“Why haven’t such stories been passed down to the present day though? A legend like that should have been passed down—perhaps not just among the royal family, but through the people as well.”
“Exactly…”
I murmured.
It didn’t add up. A tale that grand, that vital to the founding of the kingdom, should’ve survived somehow—through song, through scripture, through the faintest rumor. And yet, the silence of history itself felt like it’s been sealed.
Maybe someone had hidden it, they erased the story from history itself.
But could that even be done?
To tamper with so many memories, to seal away a legend shared by an entire kingdom… what kind of magic could possibly reach that far?
I turned the thought over and over, debating with Solana about every possibility, until the soft toll of the temple bell echoed from above. It was already late. We’d been talking far longer than I’d realized. We had to get up early tomorrow too.
“Let’s sleep, Solana.”
“Mm. Good night, Rion.”
The goddess shimmered, dissolving into a golden light before returning to the gold coin.
I rolled onto my side, burying my face in the large pillow. Back home, we all used to sleep in the same room. Now, lying alone in this quiet chamber, I couldn’t tell if the feeling in my chest was loneliness… or a kind of strange, peaceful luxury.
—Rion Heimdall.
A voice came without warning.
I shot upright in bed.
“…W-who is it?”
Silence.
No reply followed.
I listened hard, but all I could hear was the faint sound of water flowing through the canals outside, and the sigh of wind through the shutters. It hadn’t come from the gods resting in my coin—that much I was certain of.
It was a woman’s voice… soft, distant, and unfamiliar.
Then—
I dreamed.
Light like a sky full of stars surrounded me, glittering in a boundless darkness.
There, in the center, stood a woman encased in crystal ice. Her long, golden hair spilled down over her bowed face, hiding her features from sight.
I tried to call out to her—again and again—but the sound dissolved, swallowed by the stillness, as though I am speaking underwater.
By the time I found my breath, morning had already come.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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