NOVEL NEXT Chapter 142: I Don't Keep Cowards
In the southern ice fields, at the northwestern border of West Sita Kingdom, on the Bidoji Highland.
This location was only about 300 kilometers from Santanle City in the Principality of Kinoko, but even the fastest horse would need two days to make the journey.
Luo Wei and Troy rode their horses up to the highland, standing at the summit to overlook the stretching glaciers to the west.
"Is that the Ice Plains?"
The endless glacier looked like a white desert, with bitter winds ravaging the snow plains, stirring up storms of white sand.
"No, these are the foothill glaciers at the southwestern edge of the Ice Plains, the territory of the Snow Rabbit and Blue Fox tribes," Troy gazed into the distance. "The Ice Plains are still over 500 kilometers away."
Luo Wei was surprised - if such a desolate and cold place wasn't even the Ice Plains yet, how harsh must the actual Ice Plains be?
Troy: "Should we continue forward?"
"Let's find a place to rest for the night first." Luo Wei's nose was running from the cold, and she really didn't want to keep traveling.
The Ice Plains were still 500 kilometers away, requiring at least four more days of travel. With only eight days left before Siria Magic Academy started, she worried they wouldn't make it back in time if they went to the Ice Plains.
"Screech—"
Suddenly, a piercing eagle's cry came from below the mountain.
"That's a griffin's call - something's wrong down there."
Luo Wei gripped her reins tightly: "Troy, let's hurry back."
"Alright." Troy cracked his whip, and they galloped their horses down the mountain.
At the foot of the highland was a wide glacial outwash plain. An ornate carriage had stopped on the accumulated ice fragments and fine soil. Four young people stood on shaky legs beside the carriage, watching in terror as barbarians wielding stone axes surrounded them.
Over a dozen barbarians let out excited shrieks, their eyes glowing green as they stared at the well-fed horses behind them and the obviously valuable carriage.
"Kill them, drag them back, eat meat!"
"Eat meat! Eat meat!"
Yves swallowed hard, forcing himself to stand straight as he shouted: "Our master is a noble! How dare you rob a noble's carriage - aren't you afraid of death?"
"Noble?" The barbarians licked their lips. "Nobles have tender flesh, tastes even better!"
"Brother, let's take these two women back as wives for our men."
"Fine, kill the men, steal the horses. The nobles won't know it was us."
"That's right, no one will know we killed you this far out."
"Kill them, kill them!"
"Charge, my brothers! Let's take everything - we'll feast on meat and never go hungry again!" The barbarian leader shouted.
"Meat! Let's feast on meat!"
The barbarians rushed forward to seize the carriage. The four young people picked up stones from the ground and backed away in terror: "Stay back! Don't come closer! Our master will be back any moment!"
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Hahaha, it won't help even if they come back. You'll all be dead by then."
The barbarian sneered as he swung down his stone axe.
At this critical moment, a huge strange bird suddenly dove down from the clouds. Its sharp talons grabbed the axe-wielding bandit and flung him away.
"Screech—"
The griffin let out an angry cry, its wings beating powerfully to kick up a sandstorm that blinded everyone's eyes.
Along the journey, the griffin had been following Troy and Luo Wei in the sky, flying so high that people on the ground hadn't noticed it.
Before departing, Luo Wei had fed it three plump lambs and instructed it to help if anyone surrounded their carriage.
Help meant more lambs to eat, so the griffin had taken Luo Wei's orders to heart. Today was finally its chance to shine.
When the barbarians saw the strange giant bird land before them, they were scared witless. They abandoned their axes and fled back the way they came.
"Monster! Monster!"
These people had never seen a griffin before, and with their eyes blinded by sand, they couldn't make out what it looked like. They just ran away as fast as they could with wet pants.
By the time Luo Wei and Troy rode down, they found the griffin squatting to the side preening its feathers, while the four slaves were kneeling weakly by the carriage, clutching the wheels tightly, too afraid to move.
Fortunately, the griffin had appeared in time and they weren't injured.
The two dismounted, and Troy walked a few steps before stepping on a stone axe abandoned by the bandits.
"This is a Seko axe."
Luo Wei: "Seko?"
Troy explained: "The Seko are a fishing and hunting tribe from the North. They've produced many pirates. When the sea freezes in winter, they come inland to rob."
Pirates?
Luo Wei's heart suddenly jumped.
She slowly spoke: "When I first arrived in the Western Continent, I saw pirates massacre a village on the northeastern coast, near Sisda Town. Could those pirates have been the Seko?"
"I've never heard of the Seko going to the northeastern coast," Troy shook his head. "The Seko only operate in the northwestern waters of the Western Continent. In summer they sail south along the coastline in pirate ships, but they don't go east."
The eastern coastline of the Western Continent was occupied by the Magic Beast Mountains. The seas there had rough waves and frequent underwater volcanic eruptions, so the Seko wouldn't go there to plunder.
Luo Wei was somewhat disappointed: "Then it probably wasn't them."
"Would you like me to catch someone to question?" Troy suggested.
"No need to pursue desperate men."
Luo Wei walked toward the carriage. The griffin lowered its head and chirped twice, seeking praise for its good work.
"Good griffin, you'll get two plump lambs as a reward later."
Luo Wei stood on tiptoe to pat its head. The griffin made a purring sound like a cat, seeming quite happy.
The four slaves watched her pet the griffin with bare hands and squeezed their eyes shut in fear.
They didn't know what this monster was, but if it opened its mouth, it could surely bite off someone's head in one bite.
After petting the griffin, Luo Wei noticed the four slaves had nearly crawled under the carriage.
"Come out," she walked over and said, "The griffin is Troy's mount. It won't hurt people."
The slaves crawled out trembling, hunching their backs as they fearfully said: "M-master."
"How can my servants be so weak," Luo Wei frowned at them. "If you can't straighten your backs, there's no need to follow me anymore. I don't keep cowards."
"No, Master!" Chris raised her head in panic, seeing Luo Wei's cold face.
"Master, please don't send me away. I'll change."
As she spoke, Chris forced herself to straighten her back despite her fear.
The other three slaves quickly stood straight as well, looking pleadingly at Luo Wei.
"You only get one chance. Don't let me see you cower again." Luo Wei said without mercy.
She wanted to cultivate chief stewards and court ladies - they could be sycophantic and scheming, but they couldn't lack insight and courage.
Clever servants should have realized the griffin was their master's mount when she approached it, not squeeze their eyes shut in fear.
Loyal servants should have rushed forward when they saw their master in danger, not crawl under the carriage.
They possessed none of these qualities.
Children born in the North, yet without any of the North's boldness and heroic spirit - had their courage truly been ground away by their life in captivity?
Luo Wei sat in the carriage and commanded coldly: "Mount up, we continue on."
Night was falling - they needed to quickly find shelter from the wind and cold for tonight's rest.
The further west they went, the more desolate their surroundings became.
Troy flew out on the griffin to scout and returned to report to Luo Wei: "There's a village to the southwest, but it's still 70 kilometers away."
"70 kilometers is too far. We can't make it before dark. Are there any other villages?" Luo Wei asked.
Troy shook his head: "No, that's the closest one."
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