“Um, hello. My name is Jayce. I hope Stout had a chance to mention me. I’m here to work as a porter.”

Since his arrival had already caused a minor commotion, Jayce had no choice but to introduce himself under everyone’s scrutinizing gazes. The expedition leader was an aged man with wolf features and an excessive amount of fur that covered his arms, legs, and chest like a second set of clothes. Instead of whitening, his hair had degenerated into a murky shade of blue. Wrinkles had long since become a natural part of his face, but his posture was excellent, and his expression was that of a hardened warrior. His eyes showed a certain amount of distrust, as Jayce was an outsider, but his overall attitude was dismissive. As someone at the third gate, the elder wouldn’t raise his guard against such a weak youth.

“I’m Soest. Stout did tell me that a stranger would come here looking for work. Since one of our own requested it, I won’t give you any trouble. Go to the back with the others and we’ll leave shortly.”

“Leave?” The jotun leader scoffed. “I hope you mean you’ll be scurrying back to your homes.”

Soest grimaced and turned to continue arguing with the jotun woman.

Jayce walked to the back of the crowd to get as far away from those four-armed giants as possible. Most of his fellow porters were still staring at him with a mix of curiosity and caution. Jayce’s black hair and strange clothes stood out almost as much as that giant bug. These people were only slightly older than Lucas, and they didn’t bother to hide their emotions or their whispers.

“Jayce? Who is that guy?”

“Wow, is that an astral?”

“Idiot, astrals have five eyes. He looks like a mutant.”

“He’s one of us? Without any blue, his hair looks so strange.”

When Jayce took his place in the back of the crowd, only one person took the initiative to approach him. Jayce looked at them and his already stiff expression grew even more strained.

The bug that Jayce identified earlier had the basic shape of a mantis. Four legs supported a rear half that stayed close to the ground while his upper body had two very different pairs of arms. The top pair were bulky and ended in wide shield-like sickles. Meanwhile, the bottom pair were small and agile with two fingers and a thumb. His heavy body didn’t have a clear separation between head and torso, and both were protected by sturdy dark green chitin. There was also a pair of thin antennae hanging in front of his face. He wasn’t much taller than the blue-furred people to begin with and when he slouched, his two beady eyes were level with Jayce’s.

“Whoa, I haven’t read about anyone who looks like you.” Aside from being a little high-pitched, the insect’s voice was surprisingly normal. He shuffled from side to side, looking Jayce over with childlike curiosity. “Can I take some pictures of you? Or do you have a data package that you’re willing to sell?”

“Um, maybe later.”

“Alright, no hurry. I’m Vilar by the way. I work at the public section of the library.”

‘The library?’ Jayce’s eyes flashed with interest. At the same time, he felt a bit strange. If even non-humanoids were willing to pay for his pictures, then Marin’s claim that he was ‘exotic’ weren’t just empty words.

Just as Jayce was considering asking about the village’s library, the argument between the elder and jotun woman suddenly reached its climax.

“Don’t forget that you’re in our territory.” Soest growled. “One third gate, three second gates and two first gates. What do you think will happen if you start a fight here?”

By following Soest’s eyes, Jayce was able to see the levels of each jotun. Their leader was naturally the one above level 60, but Jayce was curious why the females were all level 40+ while the males were only above level 20. It was a surprisingly unbalanced team.

“What do you think will happen?” The jotun leader was fearless. “All of us have families who know we’re traveling in this area. If any of us die, do you think this village can survive when the kingdom turns its eyes towards you?”

Soest kept up his combative glare, but he leaned back slightly.

“Hold on, no one’s talking about killing.”

“Do you think you can subdue us warriors without killing someone?”

The other members of the blue-furred race, especially the young porters, became increasingly agitated. They didn’t expect that they might experience a fight to the death before they’d even entered the dungeon. Glancing back at them, Soest felt he was running out of options. Of the three elders in the village who were over level 60, he was the only one here. If a fight really broke out, he couldn’t guarantee everyone’s safety. Jotun were known for being belligerent and hard-headed, but this woman was completely unreasonable.

“I can pretty much guess, but what are their demands?” Jayce quietly asked Vilar.

“Those brutes want to clear out the dungeon themselves. They won’t even leave anything for us. On top of that, they want elder Soest to pay them for their ‘work’.”

Jayce nodded thoughtfully. From a certain perspective, cleaning up the monsters in the dungeon was good for the village. Hiring help made sense if the blue-furred race couldn’t handle the dungeon themselves. The problem was that Soest had already gathered a group and was even using the opportunity to train the village’s youths. There was also the issue of pride. They couldn’t allow anyone to steal from them in their own territory.

“Still, it would be a shame if my friends or I were killed by mutts. Let’s settle this with a more controlled fight.” The jotun leader glanced at one of her male followers and nodded. He grinned and stepped forward while his leader’s voice echoed through the cave. “I swear on the name Weiss Welka, if any of you can defeat Froker here in a fair duel, I’ll leave without another word.”

Jayce wasn’t quite sure how he was expecting the blue-furred people to react, but he hadn’t thought that the mood to turn so serious. Soest looked like he wanted to tear these jotun apart while the other adults’ faces were deathly pale. The younger generation reacted even worse. They seemed absolutely terrified of the jotun male. When he realized Soest wasn’t going to accept the challenge himself, Jayce quickly understood that a ‘fair duel’ meant that only someone at the first gate could challenge Froker. The only people on their side under level 40 were the young porters, which somewhat explained their fearful reactions. Jayce had no idea how high the jotun’s life order was, but it was clearly above the blue-furred race’s B-Rank.

“Your people are fools who try to solve everything with violence. Why can’t you understand that Snowdrift owns this gate? We decide if you enter, and that can’t be changed with a petty duel.”

Soest didn’t even bother asking for volunteers. Instead, he directly avoided the challenge. It sounded like he was giving up on negotiations, but his real goal was to force Weiss to offer a different duel. Male jotun were S-Rank lifeforms while the females were only A-Rank. If Weiss or one of the other women stepped up, he would happily send someone to challenge them. Weiss’s teammates were all young men and women, so he was confident that the older villagers wouldn’t lose.

Weiss ignored him and waited several minutes, but no one stood up to challenge Froker. Her blueish lips curled into a sneer as she watched the young blue-furred people.

“Since you’re all cowards, I’ll tie one of his arms behind his back.”

Froker glared at Weiss, but he didn’t say anything. It looked like her offer was in vain, though. None of the youths wanted to take up the challenge. Jayce could even feel some tremors from Vilar who was quivering by his side.

Weiss sighed in disappointment and Soest grinned, only to grimace again a moment later.

“If you won’t pay with money, then what about service? Those kids are porters, right? Hand a few of them over and I’ll return them after we’ve cleared out this area.”

Her offer only escalated the situation as the adults raised their weapons and moved in front of the younger generation. Soest’s eyes had become particularly dark. It wasn’t clear what he was thinking.

“I’m not being unreasonable.” Weiss continued, seemingly unaware of the dangerous atmosphere. Meanwhile, her teammates readied their weapons. “You can even choose. How about the bug and that black-haired kid?”

To Jayce’s surprise, the adults’ expressions grew even more furious when Weiss picked out two targets. He didn’t know what kind of status Vilar had, but this insect was clearly an accepted member of the village.

“We’re leaving.” Soest’s voice cut through the tension like a descending guillotine. He swiftly took all the attention upon himself while brooking no argument. “Everyone out. As for you…” Soest glared at Weiss. “Enter the dungeon. Once you’re inside, you’re out of our jurisdiction. Do whatever you want.”

Some of the blue-furred people looked disappointed while others sighed in relief. No one knew why but, Soest had resolutely chosen to surrender. Even so, the dark look in his eyes hadn’t vanished since it appeared.

For others, Weiss’s behavior was in line with the stereotypical image of an arrogant and unreasonable jotun. However, Soest felt unnerved when he saw how hard she was pushing for conflict. His years of experience told him that this person had a hidden agenda, and he didn’t want to continue interacting with her until he knew what it was. Realistically, there were only three possibilities. First, maybe Weiss didn’t have a scheme and she was just a hot-headed fool. Second, maybe she had made some deal with a group of exiles and was trying to weaken the village. Third, and most terrifying, maybe someone in the jotun kingdom wanted to start a conflict and needed a reasonable excuse.

For now, Soest couldn’t guess which was the truth.

“What about our compensation?”

The retreating blue-furred people stiffened when they heard Weiss’s cold voice. The threat beneath that question was as blatant as an unsheathed dagger.

Soest thought for a moment before his eyes landed on Jayce. Feeling ill intent, Jayce took a step back, only to be grabbed by his collar in the next instant. He hadn’t even been able to activate Keen Eyes before Soest circled behind him and lifted him up like a kitten. A few seconds later, Jayce flew through the air and landed on the hard stone ground beside Weiss.

“Take this one as compensation. If you don’t return him, we’ll have trouble.”

“As long as he’s careful, he’ll be fine.” Weiss said, grinning.

Soest seemingly missed her evil grin as he silently turned around and left with the rest of the villagers. His expression was grim, but Soest’s mood had improved slightly. He had been wondering how to investigate these jotun and this was a perfect opportunity. If Jayce had an ‘accident’ in the dungeon and Weiss used it to stir up trouble, she would be surprised to find that no one cared. Later, he could gather the strongest members of the village and ambush her party, beating them within an inch of their lives and forcing out the truth. Of course, if Jayce was fine, then that proved Weiss was only belligerent and not malicious.

At the same time, this was a test for Jayce, who Soest felt was even more suspicious than the jotun. An elderly villager like him didn’t know what it took to travel between worlds, but Jayce had definitely relied on someone else to help him. If Jayce invoked the name of a powerful clan or a god, then as long as he had proof, Soest would have to turn around and save him. If Jayce didn’t, then he was just an easily disposable pawn.

As they left, Jayce didn’t say anything. Soest saw the Jayce’s shellshocked expression and quickly put the kid out of his mind. Jayce didn’t understand the undercurrents within this conflict, and he had no clue why the situation had changed so suddenly. All he knew was that this old man who ‘wouldn’t give him trouble’ had suddenly decided to throw him to the wolves.

Jayce had received a lot of kindness since coming to Snowdrift, so he was truly shocked. However, that shock soon melted away within a pool of cynicism that had been growing in the back of his mind ever since he entered the Upper Bound.

Ultimately, even though the people of Snowdrift looked and acted similar to humans, they were another species. Jayce was an outsider whose treatment completely depended on their whims. Marin’s family were kind and had helped him, but even if they were here, they likely wouldn’t argue with elder Soest. What were human rights in a world of aliens?

‘I didn’t realize that I’d started to let my guard down. That’s no good. I’m too weak to prevent things like this from happening, but I should at least learn to expect them.’

The time for arguments had already passed, and now Jayce was alone with the six jotun. Recollecting himself, Jayce switched gears and focused on how he could survive his current predicament. Thinking things through, Jayce realized he had two options. He could either stick close to these people and hope they would protect him or escape into the dungeon and return to Snowdrift on his own. Neither choice was appealing. Jayce couldn’t trust these people, but the Frozen Expanse couldn’t be underestimated. Even at its base level, Jayce was too weak to handle the monsters here. If anything over level 40 showed up, he might die without even knowing what happened. Plus, it wouldn’t be easy to escape when the jotun’s leader was so powerful.

Just like when he was a slave, Jayce could only passively wait for an opportunity. Still, he could be proactive to affect his situation in the short term.

“Um, Weiss…”

“Call me leader.” Weiss glared at him and since he was standing beside her, Jayce fully felt their staggering height difference.

“Leader, I was supposed to get a container to carry things in from the adults. Right now, I only have my bare hands.”

Clicking her tongue, Weiss turned to one of the other female jotun. “Give him your backpack.”

The young woman nodded and half-tossed half-threw an enormous backpack at Jayce. He nearly fell over when he caught it. This backpack had several pockets and was even taller than Jayce was. If he didn’t tug on the strap with one arm, it would slip off his shoulders and drag on the ground. Apparently, that wasn’t enough weight because Weiss pulled a folded string-drawn bag out of thin air and also tossed it to Jayce. This was a simple brown bag with a red cord at its lip.

Seeing this, Jayce realized that Weiss definitely had a storage device, but it wasn’t large and could only carry essentials. Artifacts like his Star Girdle were probably unheard of outside of large clans, which made Jayce thankful that he had the sense to hide it.

‘Well, I was planning on working out once I settled into a routine in Snowdrift. Some weight training will do me good.’

While he thought about nonsense to distract himself from his unpleasant reality, Weiss approached the steel door that lead to the Frozen Expanse and established a connection with her mental energy. The mechanism connected to the door creaked and Jayce found it quaint to see something operated mostly by gears and other machine parts in the mana-dominated Upper Bound.

The door opened slowly, and a blast of cold air rushed out to meet the party. Jayce didn’t avert his eyes, despite the chill. He resolved to not miss a single thing. Last time, Jayce had been saved by luck. This time, he would only rely on himself.