Because of the size of their entourage, the soldiers garrisoned at the borders of Vale stopped them for an inspection.
Alaric didn’t want to cause trouble so he told his subordinates to go along with the inspection.
Luckily for them, one of the inspectors happened to be Anthony, the current commander of Vale’s armed forces.
“Lord Alaric!?” Anthony was surprised to see him.
“How have you been, Sir Anthony?” Alaric cupped his fists while smiling lightly at him.
Hiding his surprise, Anthony peered at the equipment strapped on their horses and replied. “I have been well, my lord. Thank you for asking.”
He then cleared his throat and asked with a serious tone. “Can you tell me where you are headed to, my lord?”
“We are headed to Ryvaad. You don’t need to be alarmed, Sir Anthony.” Alaric chuckled when he saw how cautious they were, but he also understood their situation.
Anthony felt relieved to hear those words, but he didn’t relax his guard. “I see. Then we will escort you until we leave the borders of Vale. I hope you understand.”
Hearing this, the warriors behind Alaric furrowed their eyebrows which made Anthony’s subordinates unconsciously hold the handle of their weapons.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Alaric immediately raised his hand, signaling his people not to cause any trouble.
Anthony also warned his men not to be impulsive.
If a battle was to break out, none of them would survive. He was sure of it.
“Alright, but please don’t ask us any questions on the way.” Alaric didn’t reject his request. He was aware that Anthony was only doing this to keep an eye on them.
Anthony nodded. “You can rest assured, my lord. I will make sure that my men won’t speak a word about this.”
“Then we will be in your care.” Alaric smiled lightly.
Anthony couldn’t believe that he was actually intimidated by a Knight who was a few decades younger than him.
Although Alaric defeated him before, it was only an unofficial match where using mana wasn’t allowed. He was confident that he could win against Alaric if they were to use mana. At least that was what he believed.
Under the watchful eyes of Vale’s garrison guards, Alaric’s group traveled along the snow-covered road leading to Ryvaad.
No one spoke along the way, making the atmosphere quite nerve-racking.
When Alaric’s group was about to leave Vale’s borders, Anthony raised his hand and signaled his men to stop following them.
He then bowed to Alaric and said. “Thank you for your cooperation, my lord. Please forgive me if this may have offended you.”
Hearing this, Alaric waved his hand nonchalantly. “Til we meet again, Sir Anthony.”
Anthony watched as they disappeared into the distance.
“It looks like something big is going to happen in Ryvaad.”
“Sir, should we report this to the officials?” One of his subordinates asked.
Anthony shook his head. “There’s no need. Interfering with House Silversword’s matters won’t do us any good. Let’s just keep this under wraps. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!”
…
Later that afternoon…
The snow is getting thicker.
The horses might get sick if we continue.
Alaric noticed that the horses had slowed down because of the thick pile of snow that filled the road.
“Let’s take a short break here.” He commanded the group to stop.
“Build a big fire that is enough to warm our bodies and our horses.” He instructed.
Everyone jumped down from their horses and divided themselves into small groups to efficiently do more tasks.
One group volunteered to gather firewood, another one volunteered to scout the location, etc.
No one remained idle, including Alaric.
He joined the group that was responsible for gathering firewood.
It’s so cold out here.
He thought about the vagrants who had to live on the outskirts of Vale.
There were people who refused to live in the city and chose to live in the secluded parts of the forest outside of Vale. Most of them couldn’t afford the living expenses in the city so they could only build their homes outside its influence.
Many of them will die from the cold…
Alaric sighed while thinking about those people.
It took him more than ten minutes to gather some usable firewood. Most had already been covered in snow and were too wet to be used.
Alaric returned to the campsite to deliver the firewood he had gathered.
However…
Just as he was about to turn around, he sensed a slight fluctuation of mana in a certain direction.
“Hm?”
Did I sense it wrong?
He narrowed his eyes as he peered into the depths of the forest, but the heavy snowfall obscured his vision.
Should I take a look?
Driven by his curiosity, Alaric put down the firewood he had gathered and followed the direction where he last sensed the weird fluctuations of mana.
He remained cautious as he headed deeper into the forest.
His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword. If he sensed a sign of danger, he was prepared to draw his sword.
In the next moment, he saw something moving underneath the snow.
“Hm? Is it an animal?”
Alaric cautiously approached, but upon getting closer, he discovered that the thing buried in the snow wasn’t an animal.
An elf!
His eyes froze in shock.
Alaric’s first thought was to leave immediately, but a weak voice drifted into his ears.
“H-Help me…”
The voice was barely audible, but it was definitely the elf who had spoken.
Alaric hesitated for a moment.
Dammit!
He carefully walked towards the elf, eyeing the surroundings for any potential traps.
After making sure that there were no hidden traps, he immediately got down and dug the elf who was buried in the snow.
As soon as he dug out the elf, Alaric was momentarily stunned.
How beautiful!
It was a face that surpassed the realms of humanity, one with an ethereal beauty that almost seemed like she was a goddess who had gone down to the mortal world.
She’s injured.
Alaric noticed a patch of red on her abdomen.