Chapter 227: [227] A Hot Drink

Harold had not been lying about the state of his village.

From the very moment Ark entered, he could see suffering everywhere, death lingering at the corners of the street, and depression hanging over the people like a thick cloud.

Some individuals were so thin that only bones were left, while some lay by the corners of their houses, waiting for death to claim them.

Worst of all, there was no sign of a fire, not even one in the countless houses they had gone past.

Olivia found it hard to look at the people for long. She occasionally found herself twitching and averting her gaze, especially when she saw the children.

"It is terrible, right? Our village..." Yrsa let out a steamy breath.

Olivia did not answer. She simply nodded.

"It was not always like this, you know?" Yrsa shook her head. "Sure, hunger was not a new concept to us. There were times we would have to make do with what we had..."

"But it was never on this scale."

"What happened?" Thalia asked from behind them.

Yrsa was quiet for a few seconds as she recalled her memories. "War."

’War?’ Ark could not believe what he was hearing. These people had been cursed with a never-ending eclipse, starved as the world died, and yet someone still had the brilliant idea to start a war?

Ark glanced at her. "You can’t be serious..."

"It is true," Harold said. "A war did happen. The darn thing cut down the population of Sunborns by 90 percent..."

"That is why hunting is now difficult," Yrsa added. "And it was all because of that man, Haakon, son of Kristain..."

’Hmm?’ Ark paused as he mused over her words. The name sounded familiar. Had he come across it somewhere?

"Haakon won the war, but the end result is that most of our Sunborns are now dead. He commands the majority of the remaining Sunborns, and he goes by the ideology that the winter is meant to weed out the weak."

"He will not share his supplies, not even with the starving children..."

They walked past a large mechanism with multiple strange parts. It was made out of reinforced steel, had a long vent that opened up into the sky, and multiple veins that connected to several houses.

Ark had no idea what the machine was, but he knew it was long dead. The moving parts seemed to have been frozen in place. It had likely been ages since it was last used.

"Oh...!" It finally clicked in Ark’s mind. "I fought a guy who called himself Kristiansen recently. Are they related?"

Yrsa stopped walking. "Was his name Isak, by any chance?"

"Yes."

Yrsa’s face paled. "And... what... what did you do to him?"

"I killed him, of course. You should have met the guy, a whole lot of talk, little action."

"You killed... Isak?" Yrsa could not believe her ears. She had heard tales about Isak, the second commander of Haakon’s forces. He alone had massacred Sunborns in droves during the war.

She had no doubt in her mind that Ark was strong, but how was it possible that he was able to defeat him?

Yrsa swallowed, regaining her composure.

"If you truly killed Isak, then we have to hurry so that you can leave the village as soon as possible." She increased her pace.

"And why is that?" Ark asked in an uncaring tone.

"Because he will come for you." Yrsa’s tone grew serious. "Haakon will come for you, and he will bring everything—"

"Pfft." Ark almost felt like laughing. "And what exactly is everything?"

Yrsa gave him a dumbfounded stare, completely speechless. And then they continued the rest of their walk in silence.

Ark would have loved to see just how capable this Haakon person was. He was apparently the leader of a group of elite Sunborns, the self-proclaimed king in the region...

’It would have been great if I could fight him.’ But despite all his accolades, Ark doubted he was the dungeon boss.

And although it would have been nice to encounter him, Ark no longer had any time to waste on a mere sub-boss.

’I’ll get the information that I need and leave...’

If he stayed here, there was a chance he would even put the village in danger.

<•••>

The village chief’s house was just as humble as the rest of the buildings they had passed, and just as cold.

Normally, the inside of a house would be much warmer, but since they had no heat source, the room was freezing.

Yrsa must have sent a messenger to inform the chief of their arrival, because when they got in, he was already sitting on the couch, with a few cups of water sitting on the table.

Considering that they were likely low on heating materials, it must have taken much effort to melt the ice. And yet, it was still icy cold, with veins of frost spiralling inside it.

"Welcome, travelers. Please make yourselves comfortable." The old man motioned to his chair.

"I am Galdener, son of Nils, the chief of this village. First of all, I want to thank you for saving my reckless brother."

Then he shot his brother a glare, and Harold glared back at him, sticking out his tongue like a spoiled brat.

"He has always been the troublesome sort. I feared that this adventure would be his last. Thank you for saving him."

Ark nodded.

"There is no need to thank me. I just did what any normal person would have done."

The old man smiled. "You’re not from around here, are you?"

"Why do you ask?"

Galdener stared at the cups of water on his table. "Because that method of thinking has long departed Alask and the regions surrounding it."

"You see, kindness is no longer a free gift of goodwill." He paused briefly. "Kindness must now be bought with relevant exchange. Just like any other commodity."

"I don’t blame the people." Ark shrugged. "They don’t look like they have a lot of kindness to give out."

Galdener nodded. "I guess you are right."

He picked up a glass of water and brought it to his lips, but Ark watched as his expression tightened as the freezing cold water touched his teeth.

"Bring it here..." To Galdener’s surprise, Ark stretched over the table and wrapped his hands around the glass.

Yrsa stared at him with a confused expression. "What are you..."

Tzzzz—!

Her mouth opened slightly as she watched the water go from cold to steaming hot. Harold’s eyes widened in shock, his fingers trembling as he held the glass cup.

He brought the hot water first to his cheeks, and then to his lips as he gulped it down with his eyes closed, feeling as though life had been ignited inside of him.

Ark warmed up the next glass and pushed it to Yrsa. The woman picked it up as though it was gold and drank as well. When she dropped the glass, her eyes sparkled with renewed joy.

’This much reaction over a glass of hot water?’ Ark felt disturbed.

’When was the last time these people had something hot to eat? When was the last time they had a fire to sit beside?’

Ark raised his hand, and a ball of orange fire appeared, swirling over their heads and bathing them with a pleasantly warm glow, causing the two of them to gasp.

"A firemancer?" the chief mumbled. "There has not been one in ages..."

"Let’s skip all the unnecessary dialogue, chief," Ark said. "I need to find something, and Harold here tells me you might just know where to go looking."

"Help me out, and I’ll see what I can do about your current situation."