The Eternal Winter - Book 1 - Chapter 33 - Royals (Patreon)

                                                                                            Alexander North

I glance down the two sides of the hallway for frozen ones while they’re shocked silent before turning to the veteran as he asks, “Do you know where the executive stairwell is for this floor, second lieutenant North?”

My eyes widen slightly at his direct use of my last name, only to relax again as I remember that my crest is a rather well known one. Or at least part of it is. The part that marks me as a member of the North Archduchy Household.

“Yes, I do,” I answer him while glancing at the sergeant and private, who are once again with us. The civilians not so much though. “The executive staircase is in the symbiont storage unit.”

Although where exactly that is in this maze of a floor is a bit of a mystery to me. All I know is that it’s somewhere on the opposite side of the floor from the staircase, near the rightmost edge.

And that it’s not close to here, considering that we’re on the leftmost edge of the floor.

“Excuse me, your nobleness sir,” the private suddenly says, making my eyes raise as far as they possibly can with his horribly jumbled greeting. “How did we get that emergency announcement when we can’t use our terminals to make calls right now?”

Huh? I don’t know what to comment on first. The way he botched the noble greeting, the fact that he used it in the first place when it’s not a regular thing in the military, or the fact that he’s asking me stuff he should’ve learned in basic training.

“This should’ve been covered in basic training,” I scold him before answering his question anyways since this is still a crisis situation, “but it’s because the emergency announcement uses a one-sided direct port to the mother terminal implanted in the royal emperor, whereas our usual connections use indirect connections, which connect us through the use of terminal towers.”

“Direct… port?” the private asks, sounding nervous and making me question who did their basic training and whether they should be fired or not.

I let out a sigh while glancing at the sergeant, just to see him shrug as I continue, “A direct port is where there is no intermediary between the two terminals. One terminal sends the signals directly to the other. But a direct port has to be connected manually through surgery, with the exception of the direct port to the mother terminal which comes with every terminal.”

The private nods his head and mutters a thank you.

At least he seems like an okay kid. Although I doubt he’s all that much younger than me.

Then again, it’s hard to tell with a helmet on.

Anyways, I wish we could get more frequent updates from the higher ups. But the only one who can send out an emergency announcement is the emperor, and even he is only able to do it once every month or so for some reason.

The exact reason was never told to the public, or even the noble families. In fact, I don’t even know if the emperor himself knows. After all, no one even knows where the mother terminal came from. Just that the founder of the Empire had it and it’s been passed down the royal family ever since, with each ruling emperor or empress having it implanted in their head.

“Alright, all of you make sure that you either find a place to hide, or you trail far beh-” I begin only to be cut off abruptly by the several howls and the sound of approaching wolves’ paws hitting the metal floor at a gallop. “Shit.”

I turn around to face the side of the hall I came from, just to find five large wolves running down it towards us while howling their little frozen hearts out.

“Run!” I shout back at the others before rushing forward to meet the wolves. “The symbiont storage unit is somewhere at the back right side of the floor from the entrance stairwell!”

The sound of escaping footsteps echoes from behind me as I rush towards the wolves.

So much for having them trail behind me at a safe distance as I deal with the frozen ones. But I can’t exactly let them stay close enough to watch me fight, and it really is safer not following me. Seeing as I’ll be fighting the frozen ones head on. And not in small numbers either.

Once I reach the wolves, I jump into a roll to go directly beneath one before bringing my sword up and slicing straight through its underbelly.

It’s a pity that I have to kill these things though. I really love wolves.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After dealing with the wolves with a minor sacrifice of my right vambrace, which was mauled by the creature, I absorb their energy, getting a bit of strength, agility, and energy in the process before I begin heading in the direction opposite to the entry stairwell.

But on the way, I end up running into something unexpected.

“Are you okay?” I ask while leaning down and shaking the soldier lying on the floor in the middle of one of the rooms whose door was left wide open. Their armor is pretty badly damaged, but most of the damage is kept around the arms and legs. That said, they do have some damage on their left shoulder as well, making their insignia and crest too damaged to identify.

I hear a groan from the soldier – who judging by the voice of the groan and the armor’s form is a woman – before they shift a little.

Just to make sure they don’t have a head injury or something, I take their helmet off. But the face that it reveals is all too familiar to me.

“Cynthia?” I mutter in confusion.

Since when was she at this base?

Actually, scratch that. How the hell did the princess even manage to get stationed here without the entire base knowing?

Cynthia Inverno is the only daughter of the current emperor and is also my cousin, seeing as my mother was actually the current emperor’s sister. But since my mother married into the North family, she relinquished her status of princess and became an archduchess instead. Which her family was not happy about, and the media didn’t react too well to either.

“Al… Alex?” Cynthia mutters, her eyes fluttering open in confusion while looking at my crest.

Well, shit. This complicates things.