Chapter 45

Episode 14/Chapter 2: Garmr’s soul fragment (2)

TL: Tsubak

ED:

When he got a hold of himself he was already in Valhalla, and on top of that in the residence of Idun’s legion. It was because they had prioritized some warriors including Tae Ho even though the clearing of the battlefield still hadn’t ended.

“Siri also returned to rest. Was it Rolph? That friend stayed behind. The damages the dark fairies suffered were large, and it’s also important to investigate the trace of the Great War that was discovered.”

Maybe it was because she has been next to him until now or it was a coincidence that Heda, that was next to Tae Ho’s headrest, said.

Tae Ho blinked a few times as if chasing away the sleepiness and asked again.

“What about the Valkyries?”

“The investigation is proceeding with Rasgrid commanding them. Reginleif took Garmr’s soul fragment that you discovered to the Gods and there has been no notice since then, and Gandur returned first to lead the warriors of Ullr’s legion.”

The eyes of Heda became a bit sharp. Because what he was asking was related to the Valkyries.

Tae Ho lightly ignored her eyes and then rose up.

“Heda, the things the Giants are aiming for are certainly Garmr’s soul fragment, right? When I fought against it, the monster was a really big dog.”

After he told her what happened in the trace of the Great War briefly Heda nodded.

“That’s right. Garmr is a big dog that guards the entrance to hell. I was told that it died in the Great War….. It seems like those fragments are scattered everywhere. Tae Ho, what you faced against should probably be a fragment of its soul.”

“The original thing should have been incredible.”

“It’s the keeper of hell, the place that everything and everyone go to. It’s a really strong and scary monster.”

Heda’s eyes looked at a distant place. It seemed like she was thinking about Garmr that was in one piece.

However, she seemed to have shaken off those thoughts that she turned to look at Tae Ho and said.

“It will soon be revealed what the Giants tried to do with the fragments. Although it’s a bit irresponsible to say this, let’s leave it to the higher-ups. I will tell you when the results are up.”

“Yes, that will be good.”

He was merely curious as to why the giants aimed for this item and what they wanted to do. He would be satisfied just by listening to the results.

Heda stood up with a nice mood as Tae Ho agreed and then pointed at a basin with warm water that was on the table.

“Wash yourself and get out. After you regain your strengths by eating you have to go meet Idun-nim.”

They would meet Idun as they had returned to the residence.

A smile appeared on Tae Ho’s face as if it was obvious.

“It seems like you like it that you are meeting Idun-nim?”

“Of course.”

It wasn’t simply because he was going to meet a Goddess. Because every time he met her she gave him something. And he especially knew what she was going to give him this time.

“I have to get the flying horse wing coat which she promised last time. It would suit well, right?”

Of course, the one wearing it and the one suiting it wasn’t Tae Ho.

“I wonder.”

Heda smiled as if Tae Ho’s gaze wouldn’t work on her and left the room first.

&

“My warrior Tae Ho, you returned safely.”

“It’s thanks to Idun-nim’s blessing.”

Tae Ho kneeled and expressed his manners. Idun, that was standing below an apple tree, looked down at Tae Ho with warm eyes.

“You have raised big merits this time too. I have certainly heard that the warriors of Valhalla and you called my name.”

It seemed like it was true as her voice was a bit excited. Thanks to that, the divine feeling he felt when he first saw her was cut by it but he didn’t dislike it. He rather liked it because she felt closer.

“Now, my warrior Tae Ho. I will now reward you as promised.”

“Thank you.”

Idun didn’t delay anymore. Tae Ho thanked once again that he belonged to Idun’s legion and raised his head to receive the flying horse wing coat. However, Idun just smiled instead of giving it to him.

“Now, choose one.”

“Yes?”

“I prepared options this time too.”

Maybe it was his feeling, but he felt a bit of playfulness in her voice. It seemed like she was enjoying that she made Tae Ho surprised.

“Okay, one is the wing coat you know well. And the other….”

Idun paused for a moment and then took out something that was a bit big. It was an item even Tae Ho could recognize.

“It’s a Saddle of the beast.”

The thing Idun raised her arms with difficulty really was a saddle. Although it was the first time Tae Ho had seen it with his own two eyes he had seen it so much in places like games and movies that it was really familiar to him.

Idun raised the saddle up with a groaning sound and then patted on it and said.

“It’s a saddle you can put on any kind of beast, monster or bird. It’s because it has transformation magic cast on it. This is also a gift that came from Olympus a long time ago.”

It was a saddle made of heavy and thick leather and added a red and glossy leather on top of that. And the part you rested your feet also seemed to be sturdy.

“I will show you some examples, so wait a bit.”

As Idun flicked her finger, rocks with the shape of animals started to surge up. They were a horse, a pig and a something unknown but was big.

“See well.”

Idun placed the saddle on top of the rocks one by one. And then, just like Idun had said the saddle transformed to become suitable to get on. Lastly, as it was impossible to wear it, it turned to the shape of a chair and got stuck in the rock.

“As it’s a saddle, it doesn’t give you a stable riding but it also has controlling magic so it will be easier to control your mount.”

It was an understandable thing. Because when he rode on the monster on the cave of the dwarves he was troubled because he didn’t have where to seat.

“Now, pick one.”

Idun spread her two hands. Although he couldn’t see her well because of the light, he was sure that she was smiling.

‘Oh, Idun.’

Tae Ho started to think deeply when he was faced with choices. He was leaning more towards the saddle rather than the wing coat.

‘I need something to ride on with the saddle.’

The saddles were solely a supportive item. If he didn’t have anything to ride on, then this thing became useless.

However, Tae Ho thought differently.

‘A saddle you can wear it with anything.’

Then it became useful. Because Tae Ho already had one wing coat.

The hawk’s wing coat.

As it was a coat that let you transform into a hawk, he had used it to transform himself to fly because there was no way someone could ride on it.

But if he had the Beast’s saddle then that became possible. Through this expedition, he realized that you were able to transform into a big animal if you had enough runes.

‘If it’s captain Siri, she should be able to transform into the size of a human.’

Because the number of runes she had was already close to being at the intermediate rank.

Tae Ho thought of Siri transforming into a hawk reflexively. He thought of the warriors riding on big eagles just like in the movies.

‘It will be quite useful.’

It was indeed useful. In addition, if he stored it in Unnir then he would be able to use it on a wild monster, or take the beast of the enemy and use it for himself.

‘There’s nothing else to think about.’

Tae Ho made a fast decision and spoke to Idun.

“I will choose the Beast’s saddle.”

“Right. The wing coat should be regretful, but it’s unavoidable. Another chance will come someday.”

Idun agreed freshly and then kissed Tae Ho on his forehead after giving him the saddle.

“My warrior Tae Ho. My strength shall accompany you.”

The now familiar power of Idun covered Tae Ho’s body. Tae Ho closed his eyes with a satisfied face.

&

“Did you have a nice meeting?”

“Yes.”

“You received something.”

As he got out of the shrine he saw Heda and Ragnar waiting for him. As Ragnar glanced at the saddle that was in Tae Ho’s arms, he smirked and explained.

“It’s a Beast saddle. You can use it on any beast and it’s said to also help you in controlling it.”

As he raised it as if it was worth it, Ragnar nodded slowly.

“It seems like she’s in deep thought regarding what you need. You are really being treated well.”

It was an adequate reward for Tae Ho that faced several things. You could only think that she prepared it especially for him.

Tae Ho thanked Idun and nodded. Thinking about it, all of this was thanks to Idun’s legion being small in number.

“First of all…..”

Ragnar looked Tae Ho up and down and let out a small exclamation.

“You became really strong. The number of runes you have increased by a lot. I should move up with the pace of the training of the strength of a God by quite a lot.”

Even Ragnar hadn’t expected for a warrior that had just become inferior ranked to become close to being an intermediate warrior at once. Just like he had said, he should hurry with teaching him about the strength of a God.

However, Heda stepped up at that moment.

“That’s good, but let’s rest for today. Resume the training tomorrow. Looking at it, it hasn’t even been a day since the battle ended.”

When Tae Ho fell asleep it was the afternoon, but it was morning right now. As he was quite sturdy, also had Idun’s blessing and in addition, rested in the residence of Idun’s legion that had a higher recovery rate, so there was a high chance that Siri may still be lying on the bed.

Ragnar stepped back simply to the point that it was unexpected.

“Right, resting is also important. It would be good to let him rest today.”

“Then, will the two of you help me organize the items?”

When Tae Ho spoke, the two of them tilted their heads as if asking him what he meant. Tae Ho just opened up Unnir instead of replying.

Several weapons of different kinds were lined up in the floor of the classroom. Ragnar looked at the dozens of weapons and laughed as it didn’t make sense.

“Do you have a warehouse we don’t know of?”

Actually, it was easy to distinguish that these weapons were items picked up from the trace of the Great War. However Tae Ho didn’t only take the weapons that were in a good state, he had also taken the broken weapons differently to a normal warrior.

Heda, that was checking the weapons while sitting on the ground, opened her eyes sharply as if she was appraising and said.

“They are all magic weapons. You brought them from the trace of the Great War?”

“Yes, I only picked the ones that had magic engraved on them.”

Heda and also Ragnar knew about Tae Ho’s ‘sword of the warrior’. Thanks to that they didn’t ask him why he had brought these broken weapons.

Ragnar looked at the daggers that were closest to him and said.

“This is only my thought but I think that it will be better to return them to their respective legions. There should be many historical weapons among them.”

They were lost articles before it became looting for Tae Ho. The dagger he just grabbed had the symbol of Hermod’s legion engraved on it.

In addition, it was a question whether he needed another weapon when he already had the Unknown sword piece.

“Well, that should be for the best.”

As Tae Ho nodded obediently Heda put on a slightly surprised and a happy face.

However, Heda’s thoughts weren’t as pure as Ragna or Tae Ho. She exchanged glances once and then Ragna smirked once and said.

“The rewards will be quite good. As they also have a face to care for.”

“Yeah, right?”

They weren’t normal artifacts, but artifacts from the warriors that participated in the Great War. And all of them were magical weapons and were also historical just like Ragnar had said.

He would give them the broken, unusable and useless weapons and receive new items.

And as Idun’s legion wasn’t in need of many weapons it was also a great benefit for him.

Heda looked at Tae Ho and Ragnar looking at themselves and smiling satisfactorily and then let out a sigh comparable to her expectation.

Tae Ho called at that Heda.

“Um, Heda. There’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Can I get something to ride on? I think that it will be good to have a fixed mount. Even if it’s not a flying thing, something like the horses the dark fairies rode on….or the White silences of Ullr’s legion.”

He did think of Siri reflexively when he picked the saddle, but Siri wasn’t Tae Ho’s mount. She was also a prestigious warrior of Valhalla.

Depending on each situation, riding on her would be the best and perhaps he may be able to ask her a few more times but that would be all. Rather than relying on Siri, getting a mount for himself was also proper for Siri.

Heda smacked her lips at Tae Ho’s question and then frowned.

“Sorry, Idun’s legion doesn’t have a particular summon like Ullr’s legion.”

Ullr was the God of hunting, and Idun was the Goddess of life and youth.

Ragnar put down the dagger he was touching and said.

“If it’s a simple thing like a horse you can just buy it in Anaheim, or you can request for one and get it but its lacking. You aren’t going to use it as a transportation means.”

Actually, that was true. He did speak of a horse but if it was a normal one like the one the dark fairies used, then he didn’t feel the use of it. Of course, it would be better than not having anything, but thinking about how painful it would be to take care of it, it wasn’t that great.

‘Is that unavoidable?’

Tae Ho decided to give up. Because if he just dragged it, Heda would just feel more sorry.

But it was then.

“So I was saying, shall we go catch one?”

Ragnar said. He saved his words as if enjoying the looks given by Tae Ho and Heda and then shrugged his shoulders.

“We will catch a wild gryphon. I know a place in the boundary between Asgard and Olympus where gryphons live. We can just catch one.”

“Oh.”

If it was a gryphon then the story changed. It could fly in the sky and it wasn’t only stronger than a horse, its battle power was also quite great.

“But only, the trip takes some time. Heda will know if it will be possible.”

Basically, the warriors of Valhalla were always in a standby state. Ragnar was asking her if she could regulate the tasks so he wasn’t called and then Heda nodded.

“I will do what I can.”

It seemed like she had become quite determined that even her eyes had become sharp.

“Then it’s been decided. Let’s depart as soon as Heda solves things. I think that it will be good to train the strength of a God on the trip.”

Looking at how he spoke, it seemed like that place wasn’t reachable through a space door. It seemed like they had to travel an additional distance just like what happened in Svartalfheim.

‘I’m getting excited.’

He would go catch a gryphon he would ride from now on. He felt happy just by talking about it.

He felt that it was an adventure more than a simple expedition.

Ragnar kept talking about gryphons and separated the weapons by their legions at the same time. And as Heda also helped him, they could finish sorting the items in a few minutes.

Odin, Thor, Tir, Ullr, Hermod, Heimdal, Vidarr. Seven legions in total.

There was only one item left among the dozens of lined weapons.

The Unknown piece of equipment.

“Is this the same kind as the Sword piece?”

“Sorry, I don’t know whose God this belongs to.”

Ragnar and Heda spoke after checking the fragment once.

Tae Ho looked at the Unknown sword piece that was in his waist but there was no reaction this time.

‘Perhaps, it may be from another world.’

What Siri had said.

Tae Ho took in a deep breath when he received the Piece of equipment from Heda. He gripped it tightly and said.

“I will check.”

What he could do with this.

[Saga: Sword of the warrior]

Tae Ho activated his saga. And at that moment, something no one had expected happened.

< Episode 14 – Garmr’s soul fragment (2) > End