NOVEL NEXT Chapter 155
A few days after the meeting with Kahlan, in the mansion of Weinstein County.
“Do you really have to go?”
Amidst the various members of the Count’s House lined up, Maria asked as she looked at Rudell.
Her eyes were filled with a mix of emotions like longing, worry, and sadness.
If you think about it, it was only natural.
It hadn’t been long since he returned to his hometown, and the thought that her only son had to jump into danger once again was something she found hard to accept.
“Yes, because I’m a hero.”
After a brief pause at her question, Rudell smiled brightly and replied.
Once chosen as a hero, and with a crusade announced,
Rudell didn’t have many options.
If a hero wanted to sever the connection with the holy sword, there was only one way.
Death.
In other words, Rudell could only choose between dying or fulfilling his duty as a hero.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s just a meeting; what could possibly happen?”
Though he said that, Rudell genuinely wanted to throw in the towel on being a hero.
How many people wouldn’t want to live a life free of worries, relaxed and carefree?
However, as long as the Church of the Eaters of Death existed, that was impossible.
For the sake of Rudell himself, and for Leje and everyone he cherished,
He truly couldn’t stop now.
“Are you sure you don’t need a guard?”
“Even if all the forces of the Count were gathered, they wouldn’t be able to handle just Leje.”
In response to Carlos’s following question, Rudell looked at Leje and said so.
“Don’t worry, Count, Countess. No matter what happens, I’ll protect Rudell.”
Simultaneously, Leje took a confident stance as if to say not to worry.
Seeing that, Rudell bowed his head towards the still worried Carlos and Maria with a faint smile.
“Then I’m off.”
With a brief farewell, Rudell and his party boarded the carriage, and many members of the Count’s House sent him off with regretful faces.
As the carriage carrying Rudell and his companions began to move, it quickly distanced itself from the Count’s mansion.
“Are you okay?”
“What’s there to be not okay about?”
Looking at Rudell, who was silently watching the scene, Leje asked, and Rudell replied to her.
He should have been fine.
Yet, in Rudell’s eyes, the images of Maria and Carlos still lingered.
“Though you say that, your expression doesn’t seem good at all.”
“Forget it; let’s worry about other things for now.”
Even though the road to the Eternal Winter Plains had become faster and safer, it was still a dangerous place.
Moreover, it was said that monstrous beasts were steadily emerging from the territory of the Winter Great Tribe located at the outskirts of the plains, so the road ahead wouldn’t be smooth.
With those thoughts, Rudell gazed at the increasingly distant mansion of Weinstein County.
And as if to see them off, white snow began to fall from the sky.
*
A few hours later, in the vast corridor connecting to the Eternal Winter Plains.
“Wow… I really walked through here a few years ago?”
Sharp, jagged rocks and the relentless snowstorm.
Looking towards the soaring Bladehook Mountain Range, Leje exclaimed in disbelief.
After all, Bladehook Mountain Range was considered one of the most rugged mountain ranges on the continent.
The fact that Rudell, not even twenty, had walked over it was hard for not just Leje but for others to believe easily.
“I really thought I was going to die back then… When I almost got swept away by an avalanche, I seriously thought I was going to die.”
In response to Leje’s reaction, Rudell shrugged and replied.
“That time, I couldn’t believe Rudellheit had crossed Bladehook Mountain Range either.”
“Incredible… Even the Holy Knight Order would find it difficult to cross this mountain range…”
“Wow, that’s amazing…!!”
“Suddenly, it feels like it’s time to boast…”
Eleor and Silphier couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, and the sudden atmosphere of praise made Rudell feel a bit awkward.
Meanwhile, the carriage that exited the corridor entered the Eternal Winter Plains.
“Here it is… the Eternal Winter Plains…”
“What a savage landscape.”
“S-something feels a bit scary…”
With ice growing like blades and the constantly raging snowstorm,
Even though they were inside the carriage, the biting cold wind tried to sneak in, along with the distant sight of many towering monstrous beasts.
It was truly an extreme land within the continent, the Eternal Winter Plains.
“…”
The first-time female companions all had tense looks on their faces, overwhelmed by the bleak and heavy atmosphere.
Which is why it was somewhat natural.
The Eternal Winter Plains was a place where the struggle for survival was continuously ongoing.
As such, that atmosphere naturally permeated the surroundings.
So, the carriage carrying Rudell and his party traversed the Eternal Winter Plains, and the sun set below the long horizon, painting the sky black.
“Master, it’s getting dark. What should we do? Should we just keep going?”
“What do you think?”
In response to the coachman’s question while sitting on the driver’s seat, Rudell asked his companions.
The distance remaining to the Winter Great Tribe fortress would be roughly four hours more if they continued straight.
It was a long time, but it was also short.
“Hmm… It might be better to let someone with experience on this side make the judgment.”
“I feel the same way…!!”
“I think so too. I’ll leave the judgment here entirely to you two.”
At Rudell’s question, Leje, Silphier, and Eleor voiced their concerns.
It was understandable; the three had never been to the Eternal Winter Plains.
As such, they couldn’t make proper judgments about this place, which was akin to a jungle of survival of the fittest and the law of the wild.
“Is that the consensus? What do you think?”
“Lighting a fire could attract the attention of the beasts, so I think we should just keep going.”
“I feel the same way. Camping is too dangerous.”
During a night when the moon doesn’t rise, even a small flicker of fire could be observed from kilometers away.
Let alone a campfire for camping.
Even if Rudell and his party could handle a couple of monstrous beasts with ease, they weren’t keen on unnecessary fights.
“Don’t stop; just keep going.”
“Understood…!!”
Just as the coachman was about to reply to Rudell’s shout,
RUMBLE…!!
“Thunder?!”
Suddenly, a sound of thunder began to echo from above.
In surprise, Leje voiced her confusion at the sudden thunder.
And while she looked back, Rudell and Kurt exchanged tense expressions.
The Eternal Winter Plains was a place where snowstorms raged year-round.
It was almost unheard of to encounter thunderstorms along with regular storms.
And that fact meant only one thing…
“Everyone hold on tight! Stop the carriage!!”
As Rudell shouted at his companions and to the coachman,
[AOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!!]
CRASHHH!!
“GWAARRGH?!”
With a roar of a beast they had heard once before, an enormous purple lightning bolt struck mere feet in front of the carriage.
Startled, the horses began to neigh and kick, and barely escaping the lightning, the coachman pulled the reins in a panic.
As a result, the horses suddenly stopped moving, and the carriage’s interior turned into chaos.
“Ouch, ouch…!! What the hell!? What’s happening?!”
“I-it hurts…”
“O, oh goddess… What on earth is happening…”
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, the women groaned, while Rudell and Kurt ran out of the carriage, weapons in hand.
And what they saw was in the distance.
Flashes of thunder and the spreading purple electric sparks under the dark night sky.
“Could it be… I’m going to see that thing again here…”
“This time, let’s settle it.”
Having spotted that, Rudell and Kurt readied themselves for battle, and as if reacting to them, a pair of purple glowing eyes gleamed from the darkness.
[AOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!!]
Again, a monster’s roar erupted from the darkness, and purple lightning began to shower down around them.