The World of Mercenaries

Chapter 3: Iron Horse and Frozen River

"Who’s there?" the young boy asked instinctively before the realization hit him—how could someone possibly be with the snow wolves? Terrified, he clung to his grandfather, almost screaming.

In Haike Village, no Hamir people ever visited. Even tax collection was handled by non-Hamir human agents. This led to a local saying: where there are wolves, there are no people; where there are people, there are no wolves. Wolves and humans were not meant to coexist here.

"Ah, is this the Harper residence? I’m a friend of Lake Harper." A pleasant male voice drifted down.

“Father… Father, he’s a friend of Father’s!” Hearing his father’s name, Amy forgot everything else and reached for the latch on the iron door, but his grandfather pulled him back.

“Judging by your accent, you’re not Hamir. You must be from the Amy Empire, aren’t you?” the old man asked in a low voice.

"Yes, that’s right. You must be Uncle Harper. Lake and I both serve in the Amy Empire's border guard."

"How are you with the snow wolves? They attack anyone who isn’t Hamir. You…" the old man’s voice held suspicion.

"Oh, it’s fine. I’ll have them leave," the man replied lightly. "Uncle Harper, I happen to be one of the few people in the empire who won’t get eaten by snow wolves due to a… particular stroke of luck.” He then called out to the wolves, “Hey, brothers, move along now. Whitey, get your brothers to leave the village.”

"Awooo…”

After a low howl, the sounds of the wolves faded from inside and outside the house.

The old man hesitated before opening the iron door a c***k. Once he was sure no wolves remained, he opened it fully.

A young man in a simple military uniform of the Amy Empire sat by the bed. When he saw the old man, he rose respectfully and nodded.

“Hello, Uncle Harper. I’m Lake Harper’s friend from the military; my name is Han Feng Chi, or just Chi Hanfeng if that’s easier for you.” His surname revealed that he was of ancient Eastern descent.

“Uncle, where’s my father?” Amy leapt out of the hideaway, quickly turning to the young man with worry. A similar question flickered in the old man’s eyes.

“Well, I’m not sure you’ll believe this…” the young man began seriously, “I don’t know myself. That’s why I came here.”

"Here's what happened…" With the old man’s encouragement, the young man sat by the bed and began recounting his reason for coming to Haike Village.

The story began when Amy's father left the village. Like most residents of the Warmwater River area, Haike Village’s people had migrated from the Amy Empire or the Holy Church. This region was embraced to the north by a thousand-kilometer-long, two-hundred-kilometer-wide ice forest, bordered to the east by the Warmwater River Forest—the only non-coniferous forest on the Frozen Continent, with an area of about 300 kilometers in each direction. To the south and west lay the sea.

The Amy Empire had no authority to build a port here, and the climate prevented the Hamir Kingdom from doing so. Thus, most residents, once settled, rarely left, especially first-generation immigrants like Grandpa Harper.

Lake Harper was different. Born in the northern federations of the Empire, Lake grew up in Haike Village but longed to explore beyond its borders. The old man believed that a young man should venture out and experience the world, and so, ten years ago, during a recent imperial invasion, twenty-year-old Lake Harper joined the empire’s forces as a guide.

In Red Moon Year 187, five years ago, Lake Harper, who had earned numerous accolades and risen to captain in the Empire’s border guard, returned to Haike Village on leave with his two-year-old son, Amy.

Amy’s mother had passed away shortly after giving birth, unable to withstand the icy climate of the Frozen Continent. Busy with his duties, Lake couldn’t care for his son and left the energetic child with his father.

These details were already known to Amy, who understood them even better than Chi Hanfeng. But the rest was why Chi Hanfeng had come here.

Also in Red Moon Year 187, Chi Hanfeng had been transferred from the capital to the northern federations as the new captain of the Snowmoon Cavalry. When Lake Harper returned to the military, he found that his former commander had been reassigned, replaced by Chi Hanfeng, whom he soon befriended.

According to Chi Hanfeng, during their many joint missions, Lake had saved his life several times. In Red Moon Year 188, shortly after his arrival, Chi led his troops into an ambush in Ice Valley while pursuing snow trolls through the Ice Forest, an area he didn’t know well. The trolls had used the slippery ice steps on both sides of the valley to escape, and the cavalry found themselves trapped at the bottom of a thirty-degree slope, facing a two-hundred-kilometer climb.

Learning of Chi’s predicament, Lake quickly deduced the worst-case scenario. He led his ice infantry by sled to Ice Valley overnight, laying down blankets to create a stable surface that allowed the Snowmoon Cavalry to escape disaster.

Such rescues happened a few more times, mostly personal interventions, as Chi explained.

Then, in late Red Moon Year 191, both Chi Hanfeng and Lake Harper received orders to escort a grand mage to the Tower of Ice Trials, located in North Hamir Kingdom.

One unit was to escort the mage out of the empire’s borders to the Ice Forest, while the other would continue all the way to the tower.

Only 342 grand mages existed in the empire’s history, and of those, 134 had volunteered to enter the Tower of Ice. Records show that only fifteen attempted the trial, and only three emerged successfully. According to the magic journals of these three archmages, they had been transported to a freezing, magical realm within the tower, where they honed their magical skills in illusions.

The escort required submitting formal documents to the Hamir and North Hamir kingdoms. The route included three high-risk areas: the Trial Cavern, Dragontooth Mountain, and the Ice Forest, the continent’s most perilous locations.

The Ice Forest was known for its wolves and snow beasts, treacherous paths, and scarce supplies.

Dragontooth Mountain was rumored to host green ice dragons that sometimes attacked travelers and military units.

As for the Trial Cavern, it was a long, monster-filled passage leading to the Tower of Ice, and traversing it took around ten days. Of the 750 soldiers who entered the cavern fifty-six years earlier, only 40% survived.

Chi and Lake had completed many missions together, but this was the first time they argued.

Both men acknowledged the danger of this mission and wanted to be the one to proceed.

Lake tried persuading Chi with two reasons:

1.He had no heirs.

2.Marching on snow would slow the cavalry down, making them a liability.

Chi saw these as precisely why Lake shouldn’t go:

1.If Lake died, his son would be orphaned.

2.Cavalry horses, if they survived, could serve as food.

In the end, they decided to fight—let the stronger man go, as he’d have a better chance of survival.

Chi had always excelled in combat, having trained at the empire’s military academy since age five, becoming an elite knight at nineteen.

Chi’s voice grew faint as he recounted the duel, and neither Amy nor his grandfather noticed the details.

The duel was informal, but Chi had never expected the outcome—Lake bested him easily.

In past missions, Chi hadn’t often seen Lake fight, assuming him to be unskilled. Yet, when Chi charged with his lance, Lake met him head-on with a two-handed sword, knocking the lance out of position and winning the duel.

“Enough, my friend,” Lake said, clapping Chi on the shoulder. “Fate has chosen our paths. My son is seven now; I’d planned to bring him to the Ice Fortress someday to train. That duty now falls to you. If I don’t return…”

“That was eleven months ago.” Chi’s voice wavered, his eyes glistening.

“Is my father… dead?” Amy stammered, barely able to speak.

“I don’t know. A month ago, a soldier from the Tower of Wishes reported that, during the grand mage’s entrance, a magical storm erupted. Your father rushed to close the door, using his sword to secure it, but was pulled inside,” Chi replied, regaining his composure.

“Will he come back? What’s a magical storm?” Amy asked anxiously.

“He should, though it may take years. You’ll understand when you’re older.” Chi, who would come to be known as Amy’s uncle, simply added, “Perhaps, you’ll even have to rescue him yourself.”

In Red Moon Year 192, Chi Hanfeng joined Haike Village under the guise of Amy’s distant uncle. Strangely, from the day he arrived, the snow wolves never came to collect taxes again.

In hindsight, Amy, the Mercenary King, seemed blessed with countless opportunities, fueling his future success.

But, among his many famous sayings, Amy often repeated one that history almost chose to forget: “To gain a hundredfold, you must give a thousandfold. One effort may yield no reward, but continued effort will bring success.”

Few knew how deeply young Amy had despised those words.

—The Chronicles of Grand Elder Rayne