The Snowdonia National Park, open year-round, twenty-four hours a day.
A helicopter descended into the airspace above the park.
"Are you sure you really don't need to land?!"
"You know perfectly well I don't!"
Jinhyuk, giving a thumbs-up, rose to his feet.
"Then I'll see you when I get back!"
Without even giving them time to reply, he leapt straight out.
Charles and Olivia looked at each other.
This was their second time witnessing it, and yet it still felt unreal.
"A perfect landing."
Watching beyond the helicopter window, Charles muttered to himself.
He was clearly right in front of them, and yet somehow the distance felt far away. So close and yet unfamiliar—perhaps this was what people meant by that.
"Let's return."
Charles signaled the pilot.
"Are we really just going back like this? Sir Philip warned us again and again. He told us to convince him no matter what."
Before the two boarded the helicopter, Philip—who had long protected Conwy Castle—had spoken with a grave expression.
Yoo Jinhyuk was someone who would become a powerful force for Britain's future. No matter the time or cost, they should make him one of their own.
"It's meaningless."
"…Pardon?"
"He would've refused no matter what conditions we offered."
Charles had witnessed something no one else had.
A being who regenerated instantly from any fatal wound—a true immortal.
He had no idea who the man was.
But one thing was certain: that being fought for Jinhyuk.
"That kid's sharp. Gentle and kind, but definitely not someone who doesn't understand his own worth. Sir Philip said cost doesn't matter… but it wouldn't be enough. Not nearly enough."
Olivia's eyes widened.
To her knowledge, this was a first—a moment when Charles expressed his own will this strongly.
"There's no point asking when the answer's obviously going to be no. No reason to lose face. Let's go."
The helicopter turned back toward Conwy Castle without hesitation.
And below it…
Jinhyuk, having just landed, thumped his tingling legs.
"Chief! Are you okay?! Your landing looked unstable! I give it two hundred points out of a hundred!"
Unstable, yet a score of two hundred—quite generous.
"Guess I tried too hard to look cool."
He watched the helicopter receding.
Thinking someone was watching from above had made him strike a dramatic hero-landing—and he'd smashed down a little too hard.
"It's so dark."
"Momo hates the dark!"
As expected, Kancho and Momo popped out first.
With the two in tow, he lightly surveyed his surroundings.
Just past midnight.
The park might run all day, but no one visited at this hour.
It's huge…
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue.
In Korean common sense, a "park" was somewhere you took your dog for a thirty-minute to one-hour walk.
But here? Come with that mindset and you'd go missing.
"Found food!"
Kancho dove into the bushes.
Moments later he emerged, holding a massive viper in both hands.
"Ugh."
Foreign snakes were supposed to be big, but this one looked like a hundred-year-old serpent.
"Momo hates snakes!!!"
Momo shrieked and hid behind Jinhyuk's legs.
Kancho, meanwhile, began plucking vipers out of bushes left and right as if harvesting radishes.
"Wheeeheehee!!"
A delighted shout rang out.
Ah. She hadn't appeared yet.
Arms spread wide, Ellia ran straight toward the viper.
Snatching it up, she nodded with satisfaction.
"The venom's ripened perfectly!"
Perhaps vipers recognized predators.
The snake didn't even attempt to bite—just trembled pathetically.
"Granny! Need more vipers?! There's tons here!"
"The more the merrier! I can make all kinds of poison!"
"Then I'll dry every one of these snake berries!"
Kancho, thrilled, dove back into the underbrush.
He means he'll wipe out the entire snake population…
Shaking his head, Jinhyuk pulled out the Yodel Compass.
Following its direction for a while, Snowdon—the highest peak in Wales—came into view.
Perhaps it was the darkness, but it felt impossibly tall.
Seira materialized beside him.
"We have to climb this?"
"Compass says about a thousand meters left, so looks like the summit. Kanchooo!"
Kancho sprinted over and puffed out his chest.
"You called, Chief!"
"Stop catching vipers. Too many and the ecosystem here'll collapse."
"Understood!"
Kancho hurled the viper in his hands toward Ellia.
Ellia snagged it effortlessly and stuffed it into her snake net.
Seeing them work somehow… eased Jinhyuk's mind.
Even if they were dropped somewhere with nothing, those two would survive just fine.
First checking for movement, Jinhyuk lifted Kancho.
"No one around?"
"No one at all!"
After cross-checking, he took out lamps filled with glowstones.
He handed one each to Seira, Kancho, and Ellia.
"That lazy Dark—where is he?! At least he could carry a lamp!"
Grab!
Perfect timing—Dark materialized and grabbed Kancho's head.
"How about using Yodel's head instead of a lamp?"
"That's a good idea too. Please carry me on your neck!"
"No. You're warm."
"So lazy, as expected."
Being refused a piggyback had nothing to do with laziness, but never mind.
With lamps in hand, they began the ascent.
"Good."
Ellia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
A refreshing forest scent filled with phytoncides.
For an elf who loved forests and lakes, Snowdonia was truly sublime.
"Momo's legs hurt!"
Dark reached out and perched Momo on his shoulders.
"Didn't you just say you were hot?!"
Dark smirked and picked Kancho up as well—
—but refused to carry him on his shoulders.
He held him by the arms instead, letting Kancho dangle.
"Wheeee! It's like a swing!"
Thankfully, Kancho was pleased.
After climbing for quite some time, they reached Snowdon's summit.
Standing before the lake, Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
Terrifying.
He'd expected something mystical and beautiful.
But now, in the pitch-black night, the only thing in front of them was a bottomless pool of blackness.
"The compass points here, but… says there's still some distance left?"
Narrowing his eyes, he held the compass toward the water.
"Looks like we have to go inside."
"Momo sees something."
"What do you see?"
Momo stepped forward with an unusually serious expression.
"There's a monster inside!!"
"Don't try to scare me when you're not even going in."
"What's there to be scared of? Whatever comes out, we can just beat it."
"Hey, Dark. You may not know this about mortals, but—"
Jinhyuk pressed a hand to his chest.
"If my heart stops, I die."
In this ink-black void, if something burst out?
Instant heart attack.
He dipped his hand in the lake.
"Holy—"
It was insanely cold.
Then he remembered what he'd read earlier.
The lake was called the Glacial—formed by melting glaciers, with absurdly low water temperature.
Another kind of heart-attack risk.
Jinhyuk quickly stripped and warmed up.
"I can't go in, sir! I'll freeze into a Yodel popsicle!"
Kancho touched the water and immediately gave up.
Momo had never intended to enter, and Dark quietly stepped back as well.
"Seira has to go."
"I know. I need a moment to prepare myself."
While waiting for her, an unexpected person began suiting up.
Ellia pulled various items from her Star Workshop—among them a pair of goggles and a wetsuit you'd find in a supermarket.
Kancho frowned.
"Granny, have you lost it?! You're barely holding on as it is—if you go in that cold water you'll freeze and die!"
"Then you can thaw me by the fire, hmm? Before I start visiting your dreams every night."
Since everyone—even Kancho—was staring at her in surprise, Ellia shrugged.
"The water feels good."
She sounded exactly like an old woman.
As their confusion deepened, Ellia smiled.
"There's a spirit."
"Huh? Suddenly?"
"Maybe you saw a monster and mistook it for a spirit? Because you're senile?"
"Ahem. Elves and spirits are naturally close, you know."
Ellia dipped her hand in the water.
"Spirits don't dwell in places just because they're clear and clean. There's something here the other lakes don't have."
"Oh."
Jinhyuk sped up his warm-up, intrigued.
Ellia was a walking encyclopedia. If she spoke like this, something had to be there.
"I'm ready. And no, Jinhyuk, you two don't get any of this gear. You'll survive if you freeze, but I won't. My bones ache."
Wearing her fins, Ellia slipped into the lake.
"You and Seira are sturdy—enjoy the lake with your bare skin."
Clutching a bundle of glowstones, she dove.
Seira and Jinhyuk followed.
I'm not freezing, but I am freezing.
His resistance kept his body from stiffening or cooling, but the cold biting against bare skin was intense.
Bubbling noises echoed as they kicked downward, following the glow ahead.
With his other hand, Jinhyuk clung tightly to Seira's collar.
As long as he didn't lose that grip, they wouldn't die.
Will we even find anything?
Their vision extended only as far as the glowstones reached. Everything else was pure darkness.
A sword could be floating right beside them and they'd never know.
He had doubts.
Was there really a Sword's Grave here?
From what he'd seen so far, odds were higher that they'd find nothing but a lonely Lapis crystal.
After descending for a long time, Ellia suddenly stopped.
What is she doing?
She hovered in one spot, moving up and down as if feeling around.
It didn't seem to work, so she swam over and began gesturing intensely.
It's divided?
Ellia nodded and folded her arms.
There was a boundary—and they couldn't enter.
Hmm…
Was there another entry requirement?
At that moment—
Ssshhhk.
A pure white light rose from the depths.
It twisted with living motion, trailing a long tail as it approached.
It passed straight by Jinhyuk and Ellia…
…and stopped in front of Seira.
Ellia smiled.
The qualified one.
Seira had been acknowledged by the spirit—so they wouldn't be leaving empty-handed.
Exchanging nods, the three followed.
They followed the ribbon of light, which had long, long awaited someone worthy.
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T/N:
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