After hiring a carriage in the mountain town, the princess and her group continued to advance eastward toward the north, crossed several unknown hills, and finally arrived at a military fortress on the border of "Kiwadland" in the evening - Dyrent City.

"Okay, so cold! Why did you cross a mountain and the temperature is so low..."

Tiya hugged her arms tightly and shivered. Her off-shoulder dress, which was originally very small in fabric, looked even thinner in the white snow scene.

"Snow..."

The pure snow in front of me seemed to be dyed bright red in an instant, bringing back the teeth of past memories, and looking dark and sad, but it immediately returned to its usual appearance, just a little quieter.

Just as the team approached the city gate, they were blocked by several guards.

"What's wrong with Didvia coming to Dyrent City."

The fully armed guards set up spears and faced the tall and mighty Matadra, who was wearing heavy armor of red lions, without fear at all.

Matadra drove forward and took out the letter of certificate from her arms and handed it to the guards.

"Confirm that it is the second level of emergency letter, let them go."

The guards lowered their weapons and retreated to both sides to allow the carriage to pass through.

"Captain, the guards here are so tight. Is there anything happening nearby?"

Shortly after entering the city, Yak asked Matadra.

"You don't know this? You'd better ask Zier..."

Matadra shook her head helplessly, feeling foolish about the questions raised by Yak.

Zi Er in front received the order and explained as usual.

"Kiwadland, who is in an alliance with us, has a border in the northeast of Didvia. On the east side of its territory to the Otinger Mountains, it is full of many joint clans. They do not communicate with any country, but only communicate internally. No people from the outside are allowed to enter, and have been in a closed area for a long time."

Zir took out the booklet he was reading along the way, which were books about Kiwadland.

"Kiwadland, who has expanded its territory in recent years, has been violently counterattacked by the United Clans here. Although he has been investing troops, Kiwadland, who is not familiar with the battle in the forest, fell into a tough battle and the battle situation is stalemate."

"It sounds complicated, but in short, isn't it right?"

"That may not be true. Why do you think we should send confidential documents to the military important military location when the war is in a stalemate? The content inside may be enough to reverse the current war situation."

"Since it's too dangerous to take Natsuki to take shelter in such a place? Who knows if the enemy will cross the hill to attack here?"

"Of course there are other factors, but..."

"But what?"

"You'd better not know."

Zir showed an incredible smile and turned his head away from talking to Ake.

Located next to the mountain, the city of Dyrent is not very wide. Except for a few shops and houses, the rest are all iron shops and barracks. It is a standard military base. You can see soldiers who are hard-working in every open space, waving spears in the ice and snow.

“We’re here.”

We came to a classical and solemn castle, with old walls covered with withered vines and snow. If there weren't flashing fire inside, we almost thought it was an abandoned empty city.

Matadra reached out and instructed the team to stop, dismounted and informed the attendant who came to pick him up.

The other three people also dismounted one after another and handed the horse to the servants who came.

I was the only one who was still on the horse's back, but I couldn't do it. Although I insisted on riding my own horse, the rugged mountain road really hurt my legs.

For the sake of face, I refused to enter the carriage and squeezed with Natsuki and the others.

"It's true, I love climbing high but can't get down, I'm like a cat."

Tiya covered the smile at the corner of her mouth and walked to the horse and reached out to help me down.

"Sorry, please trouble you..."

It's so ugly that I still need someone to help me when I get off the horse. Speaking of which, Zi Er and Teeth went? I didn't come to help me, this poor wounded person.

As soon as I thought so, I saw Zier talking to Ya in front of the stable next to me. Ya seemed to be asking something and listened very attentively.

"Step it well - one, two!"

The moment Tiya exerted force, I didn't pay attention and my face fell directly into the cold snow.

Well, the ground was unexpectedly hard and very icy.

"Are you okay? Fortunately, there is a lot of snow on the ground."

Amy, who came out of the carriage, immediately scolded me as soon as she saw me:

"Mr. Yake, now is not the time to play with snow. You have to take a good rest for your injury."

"If possible, I would like to do this too..."

Leading a female servant wearing a dagger, we walked into the old castle. There were various weapons on the dim walkway. Compared with the gorgeous and bright decorations of Drake, the solemn and murderous city of Dyrent, there were only a few torches illuminating the passage. There was a guard standing at the door of each room, staring at us with strange eyes.

However, among us, the Lord of the Mountain is here, and anyone who is stared back by a stinking bear will immediately stand attentively.

Amy walked in front of Matadra with a powerful force, stalking with smugness, but Natsuki, who was walking in the crowd, looked nervous, his fingers staggered around his waist, his lips tightly pursed without saying a word.

By the way, I was injured and was now carried on by Matadra, and I always felt that this was the main reason why the guards looked at it strangely.

The cold wind whistled past, passing through the narrow and dark aisle, making a snoring sound.

"It's here."

Matadra stopped with the waitress, then threw Ak to the ground.

"Captain, you did it on purpose, right?"

Yak held his injured leg and trembled in pain, and supervised Matadra with dissatisfaction.

The group stood in front of the room at the end of the walkway, and there were no guards on this side, but instead they were two tall warrior stone sculptures. The sound of firewood burning in the wooden door came from the fireplace.

"Announcing, Marquis of Taroux."

The female servant knocked on the door and pushed open the door, leading Natsuki and others into the room.

Inside the earthy carpet and warm stove, there was only a sword on the wall, a mahogany coffee table and leather chair with red wine.

A man with messy gray and dirt-colored short hair, wearing silver-white armor, and barely handsome appearance, sat on a chair with his back to everyone, slowly poured the red wine in his glass on the carpet covering his shadow.

He then put the empty wine glass on the coffee table, turned to face the guests, and chuckled and replied:

"Long time no see--my princess."

"Sarai! Are you doing well recently? Have you been injured somewhere? Or are you sick from cold??"

Natsuki, who was happy, stepped forward quickly, but could not hide her worries. The two emotions were mixed with each other, leaving her confused for a moment.

Saray showed a gentle smile, trying to reassure her.

"Worrying is unnecessary. Do you think I'm not doing well now?"

Seeing that Sare was safe and sound, Natsuki felt relieved. Since Sare was sent to the front line, she had insomnia every night until midnight.

Even though I fell asleep, I still slept very peacefully.

"I'm fine, don't worry, my Natsuki~"

Saray took Natsuki's hand and skillfully kissed the back of her hand.

A feeling of disgust rushed to Yak's head, his eyes unconsciously staring at Saray fiercely, and he didn't understand where this inexplicable hostility came from.

"By the way, who are those people behind?"

Saray looked at Yak and his group behind Natsuki with contempt.

"They are my guards, let me introduce them-"

Before Natsuki introduced, Saray stood up and walked towards Matadra, who was the most conspicuous person present, and his face remained unchanged even if his eyes met.

"You are the Lord of the Mountain? Kiwadland is also rumored to your deeds. It is indeed worthy of praise to solve the lord-level monsters alone, but the brave warriors need as much as we have."

Matadra nodded slightly, without any other response.

"Next--that sword is 'Yaoan', right, are you a noble?"

Zier with respectful answer:

"I am Zir Torrede. The current Torede family has lost its title of nobles. This sword is just a relic of my father."
Chapter completed!