The Crimson Duke of War: Historian In Another World

Donovan slammed the table hard, his face filled with irritation, but he wasn't the type to maintain that anger.

He may be naive and fairly simplistic, but he wasn't a brute.

"I apologize..."

Donovan covered his face with his hands, barely able to cover his furious and completely dejected face.

He had just lost his most priceless possession, but... he was surprisingly not that mad about it, because after all, he was still doing fine even without the ring activating even once, maybe it was time to give it to a more fitting ruler.

"Here..."

He removed the ring, tossing it onto the table and quickly leaving the room, pushing past the crowd that had formed.

While he may have felt that way about the ring, the fact that he embarrassed himself so clearly in front of Maria was a completely different matter entirely.

He didn't want to see anyone who watched the match in the face.

"Show's over... Hope you all liked it."

Justinian clapped his hands, and the crowd began to disperse, each one murmuring about the impressive match they had. It wasn't really an entertaining spectator sport for most, but the way Justinian had played it definitely made it incredible to watch.

"Finally got what I needed."

Justinian chuckled, grabbed the ring, and put it himself. Now, he just needed to activate it to gain its abilities.

And that's when he could finally feel more at peace.

'I'm currently in a time of relative peace... if there was any other time to solve a divine artifact's puzzles, it would be now.'

***

Justinian prepared his carriage, planning to bring as few people as possible; the tribes of Frostruin were very hostile to a group of armed soldiers.

But if Justinian came alone, it would be fine; they would only see him as a hiker who came to visit the sacred ruins of Mithral's worship.

But what he didn't expect was that he had someone to join him.

Maria, who just couldn't help but keep pestering him about coming.

"W-Why did you want to come again?"

Justinian asked, the two now inside the carriage as it began to ride off.

Being pulled by Kalos, Justinian's trusted horse, and Maria's own horses, deemed to be the best by her paladins.

Maria herself had nothing to do; while she planned to build a faction, it wasn't as important as Justinian's plan for a strange ring, and if she had learned anything from the ball.

Everywhere he went was surely going to be interesting.

Cassia herself couldn't come; however, still busy with other preparations, something Justinian fully knew what it meant.

Their marriage... something that even Justinian was nervous about.

"Well... two reasons, first, I imagine it's going to be interesting, and second, I feel safer going with you than staying at your palace."

Her reasons were solid enough, and it wasn't like he could deny her. While she may be considered the weakest in the royal family, she was still a royal. Even if she didn't abuse her power like her family, Justinian preferred to keep her in amicable relations.

'This might be good actually...'

Because if anyone else were to make natives of Frostruin friendly, no better person than the literal ray of sunshine was the lady in front of him.

***

The carriage stopped just by the foot of the mountain, with her paladins and Justinian's personal guards staying behind while they trekked.

It was also a time when Justinian tried his best to give Maria one last chance, but despite the literal death trap that looked like the assent, she still insisted on coming.

But she was quite literally blessed by the gods; even if she did come, it was unlikely she was going to die.

"How long are you going to be up there, Princess?"

"Don't worry about me; the duke would ensure my safety."

Maria had a hard time convincing her paladins.

"Don't leave here for any reason. If things get problematic, you're the only ones capable of providing backup."

Justinian briefed the general in command of guarding the carriage and the overall mini encampment around it.

Javier.

"Of course! Even if a dragon came, we wouldn't leave."

"Still as energetic as ever..."

Justinian laughed, grabbed the huge bags he had packed inside the carriage, and began taking out clothes meant for the hike itself.

Very baggy winter clothes and a bunch of food, he wasn't sure himself how long the entire trek would be.

The novel really described in detail, so he needed to be sure, this was going to be his first time hiking a mountain as well... and Frostruin isn't really a good beginner one to start with.

"Here."

Justinian tossed Maria her clothes, a stuffy winter jacket made from the most insulating fur Snowkeep had to offer.

"What's this for?"

"Your clothing, obviously, you don't expect me to believe you planned to cross that mountain wearing a dress...?"

"Ah ha..." Maria scratched the back of her head. In the midst of her excitement, she didn't really consider something that basic.

But Justinian had already guessed she would be airheaded enough to forget to prepare, so he had his servants pack for three people, the extra rations just in case of an emergency.

"I'm starting to get less and less confident, you know?"

Justinian said to her, and was only met with a simple chuckle.

'If things really do get rough... I have enough prestige to help us.'

***

After changing, they immediately headed off, with Justinian bringing most of the supplies, with Maria only carrying the basics like a lantern when night arrived.

They needed to depart as quickly as possible while the sun was still up, but considering the chess match and everything else.

It was likely they would need to camp in a nearby cave for tonight.

"Starting to regret coming?"

Justinian teasingly remarked, leading the way, the path to Frostruin was already laid out, marked by former pilgrims and worshippers of Mithral.

It was less deadly than expected, but they were still climbing a mountain literally called Frostruin, and a simply laid-out path wasn't really enough to keep their nerves steady.

GROWL!

And just as Justinian expected, even here, he still needed to fight.

"Petrify!"

It was a wolf... but since Justinian became an arcanist before arriving, he didn't even need to raise his sword to fight.

"Warrior."

And now he could even have stone warriors scout the way ahead.

"Smart thinking, Lord Justinian!"

Maria nudged his shoulder, smiling without a care in the world.

She really was treating this like a vacation...