Other than a few isolated islands in the depths of the ocean and a small piece of land that no one had ever set foot on, the mother continent was the only known continent on this planet that was full of life. It was an irregular ellipse that stretched across the northern and southern hemispheres. It extended even further to the northern hemisphere. Its northern part extended all the way into the icy ocean while its southern part barely crossed the equator and did not even reach the temperate regions of the southern hemisphere. Therefore, for a long period of time in history, the scholars of the mother continent believed that they lived in a one-way world of heat and cold. The further north one went, the colder it became until the sky froze. The further south one went, the hotter it became until the earth melted. Therefore, in the old myths of the mother continent, there were legends of the King of Ice in the Extreme North and the Lava Tyrant in the Southern Abyss.
This was what Liliana told us when she was bored.
The place we were going to was located in the northern part of the mother continent and was almost close to the frozen wastelands. If ordinary people did not use the portal, they would have to cross the Northern Dukedom and the countless scattered settlements of the barbarians in the Northern Wilderness Plains to reach this cold country. They would have to reach the last frontier that the intelligent beings of this world could occupy for a long time. There was a loose country called "Gould". This was a country with almost no clear political power. Big and small city-states and even towns had their own kings. However, the strange thing was that this was not the result of a long period of war. Instead, after a long period of civilization and mutual compromise, the local area formed a delicate state of balance. Countless city-states, big and small, followed their own laws and had their own lords. At the same time, they were ruled by the Northern Royal "Gould". This Northern Royal Family seemed to have no intention of strengthening their centralization of power. They were even happy to see their vassals form such a loose state. They only needed their nominal people to do two things: worship and worship their gods. Other than that, they had to fulfill the most basic duty of protecting the kingdom when enemies attacked. After that, they were completely left to their own devices. Outsiders would find it difficult to imagine such a ruling style and country's structure. At any rate, I couldn't imagine how the Gould royal family hadn't been replaced for such a long time without any accidents occurring. However, the truth was that for a very long time, the entire Northlands Kingdom of "Gould" had been abnormally stable, with almost no internal conflicts.
After looking through the information that Liliana had gathered, I realized that this was all because of the "Storm Giant".
In the extreme north of the continent, although there was no King of Ice, there truly existed a powerful Ancient Soul, and that was the Storm Giant. This powerful creature was revered as the God of the North and was considered to be one of the most powerful Ancient Souls. According to research, he appeared in front of the mortals when they first arrived at the northern ice plains and built a town on the border. Naturally, his actual existence was much longer than that. The Storm Giant was described as a cold creature without a physical body. Legend had it that he lived in the deepest part of the northern ice plains. That was a place that even the most advanced alchemy airships on the mother continent could not reach. The Storm Giant was a male Ancient Soul that never stopped moving. Only when mortals arrived in front of him and coincidentally, this Ancient Soul was interested in them would this Storm Giant take on a human form. When he stood up, he could cross the widest ice abyss and the highest mountain in the northern ice plains with a single step. When he was angry, he could freeze all the mortal towns on the border with a single breath. And the only way to communicate with this Storm Giant was in the hands of the Gould Royal Family.
This was the cornerstone for the stability of this loose country in the extreme north of the continent until now: The Gould Royal Family's backing was the Storm Giant. In fact, the word "Gould" meant "servant" in the local language, meaning the servant of the Storm Giant.
However, why would the Gould Royal Family, who possessed such great power, voluntarily maintain their own kingdom in such an unseemly state, to the point where it seemed as if they didn't care much about their own royal authority? This was difficult to explain. They were a group of extremely mysterious fellows who lived in their own frozen castles. It was almost as if they didn't eat the food of mortals. The information about them on the continent, other than legends, was nonsense …
Yep, it was basically nonsense.
There were many small mountains and hills at the border of the Northern Lands. This indicated that there was a very intense but relatively short period of geologic activity. The towns where humans lived were basically built along the mountains. Hiding in the mountains could effectively resist the cold winds from the northern ice plains, and it was easier to obtain additional food from the forests. Our destination was a medium-sized town hidden in a valley at the foot of a mountain. This town had a rather straightforward and strange name: Ice Blade. The reason for this name was probably because it was long and narrow, and it was located on the border of the ice plains. It just happened to look like an ice blade piercing into the border of the ice plains. In such a cold place where resources were scarce, it was very rare for a slightly larger town to expand or change its location. It was quite understandable that it would be named after the shape of a town.
This town named Ice Blade was one of the larger "cities" in this area. It was also quite close to the Gould Royal Family's territory. However, the main reason we chose this town as our destination was because of Sona and Sona's request: they wanted to come here to look for someone.
"Whew, this place is much 'cooler' than the Kingdom of Dragons." I exhaled white air as I looked at the entrance to the town in front of me. The warm air that I had brought from another dimension disappeared along with the teleportation portal, and was instantly dispelled by the cold winds here. One second ago, we were still in the City of Angels' teleportation portal. In the next second, we were in a sub-frigid area. The difference in temperature was tremendous, but this difference in temperature was nothing to me. However, the two cold-blooded creatures following me …
"Sona, are you two alright?" I turned to look at Sona and Sona, who were tightly wrapped in thick clothes. These two had claimed to be cold-blooded creatures more than once, and I had indeed touched Sona's tail. It was as cold as a snake's. I really didn't know if they could withstand the low temperature here. Speaking of which, how did they make friends in such a place?
"Don't worry." Sona smiled faintly. "Although we are cold-blooded creatures, dracons aren't that extreme to the point where they can't survive in low temperatures. It's just that if the weather is too cold, they will be less energetic. Besides, Sona and I … the two of us have lived here for a very long time. We grew up at the border of the Northlands. This … can be considered as our hometown. "
"Ah?" I was momentarily stunned. "Two dracons who are afraid of the cold, why would they live in a place that is sealed by heavy snow for seven to eight months of the year?"
"It's not something that we can control," Sona yawned, appearing listless. She rubbed her eyes and muttered, "We were sold here by slave merchants. Dracons will be less energetic in low temperatures, making it easier to control them. That's why some mages who conduct potion experiments prefer to place draconic slaves in low temperatures. Anyway, they don't need draconic slaves to do much physical work. Draconic slaves are often sold to two places, the extreme north and the extreme south. The draconic slaves in the extreme north are used as servants or experimental subjects like us because they are easier to control. Furthermore, even in low temperatures, draconic slaves have stronger stamina than ordinary races. The draconic slaves in the extreme south are used as laborers because they have more strength and can work longer hours in a day when the weather is warm. "
Sona talked about the unfairness of the situation with a complicated gaze filled with sorrow and depression. It was rare for her to take the initiative to bring up such topics. However, it might be because we were already familiar with each other and the humiliation of the draconic race had finally come to an end, so she would occasionally bring up such matters in front of me. Listening to her bringing up the bitter past, I didn't feel comfortable in my heart. I asked hesitantly, "Then … Are you here to look for the mage from back then? To look for him for revenge? "
"Hah, who has the time to do that?" Sona smiled in disdain and took the lead. "Back then, he was already so old that he was on the verge of death. Furthermore, the draconic lifespan is longer than humans. That fellow's bones are probably rotten by now. The other mage lived in another city back then, far away from here … "As Sona said that, she looked towards a certain direction in the wilderness." It was really far away. Now, I can't even imagine that we were able to escape from that place and escape so far. We are still alive in such a cold place … "
"Then, you came back here …" I looked at Sona in confusion. To her and Sona, this place definitely wasn't a homeland that was filled with beautiful memories. Was there anyone or anything that was worth remembering? I recalled the experiences of these two draconic girls. Their lives as slaves, experimental subjects, thievery, imprisonment, and wandering. There was almost no light at all in the first half of their lives.
"We are going to return something," Sona said softly. Sona said in a low voice. She put her hand into her pocket and took out a thick handwritten notebook that had been read countless times. "It's been 30 years … It's time to return it …"
I looked at the wrinkled notebook blankly. Time had left traces of vicissitudes on it. The surface of the notebook was covered with a layer of dirty oil stains. Almost all the pages were uneven. The spine of the book had obvious signs of being repaired many times, which meant that it had fallen apart more than once. Sona's hand that was holding the notebook trembled slightly. Her expression seemed as though she wanted to laugh but couldn't. "We almost forgot the name of this town. However, Sona coincidentally overheard your conversation before you left. Only then did we remember this place that we had escaped from thirty years ago … This place hasn't changed at all. It's still … as cold as when we first left."
I blinked as I recalled the origin of the notebook. It was the notebook that had started Sona and Sayana's adventuring career, but it was a stolen item.
The two former draconic girls didn't have any skills after escaping from the terrifying poison laboratory. They had to wander aimlessly for a living. In order to fill their stomachs and avoid the cold winter, they even intentionally got caught and thrown into prison. It could even be said that the only people they knew in the first half of their lives were the vagrants and prison guards who had also been hiding from the snow in prison. This notebook had come from a young prison guard. Perhaps it was out of sympathy, or perhaps it was because he hadn't been contaminated by the real world, the young prison guard had shown much compassion to Sona and Sona. He had even taken the initiative to talk about his father's experience as an adventurer. He had even taken out this precious family heirloom to show to the two draconic girls.
Sona and Sona had taken this notebook when they were released from prison for the last time. Then, they had left their hometown and embarked on the path of adventurers.
This time, they had left for … thirty years? I really didn't expect that the story that Sona and Sona had told me that day had already happened thirty years ago. Thirty years might not be considered a long time for draconic people, but for humans, it was almost half a lifetime.
"I wonder if he is still a prison guard." Sona suddenly revealed a smile as though she was looking forward to being relieved of a heavy burden. "When we left, he was still a young boy. By now, he should have a family and a career. He might even be a grandfather … Phew, I hope he doesn't kill us with a knife. Sona, what do you think?"
Sona carefully kept the notebook and smiled. "He won't."
For the scattered cities at the border of the North, outsiders were rare. The most eye-catching ones were Alleria and Alleria who had entered stealth mode and followed behind us. But even so, the appearance of me, Shallow Shallow, Lin Xue, and the draconic duo had attracted the attention of many passersby. But soon, I realized that most of the passersby's attention were on the two draconic girls. The passersby's eyes were filled with surprise and fear. I suddenly thought that this might be the result of the recent large-scale activities of the draconic believers. We had been busy researching the ruins and had never paid attention to the movements of the ordinary people in the mother continent. But just thinking about it, it was obvious that the draconic race had suddenly become dragon descendants. The impact on this world would be huge. Anyway, the most direct impact would be that all draconic slaves in this world would definitely be freed. Now that most of the draconic people in the world had migrated to the South, there was no external force that could stop them. But now, there were two draconic girls who looked so young appearing in a remote city in the North. I guess people would be very curious.
But Sona and Sona ignored the gazes of the people around them. They just looked at the streets and houses that they passed by with a nostalgic look on their faces. They introduced to us with a smile on their faces. The low temperature seemed to be unable to freeze the burning passion of the two. Sona's memory was really good. She could even blurt out the name of a tavern that was about to appear at the corner in front of us. Although she remembered the name wrongly, at least there was a tavern there.
"The owner of this tavern is a henpecked man. He is a good person," Sona said as she pointed at the old but lively tavern by the roadside. "He often prepared leftovers for the homeless people nearby. He also has a daughter. She is a beautiful girl … Of course, she is probably the mother of the child now. "
As Sona introduced the place to us along the way (she made a few mistakes. After all, this place was different from what Sona remembered), we gradually walked to a high ground at the northern end of the town. There was a sturdy stone building. It was the prison facility of this border city called Ice Blade. It was closer to the bustling area of the city than I had imagined. It was just a simple two-story facility. The guards at the entrance were very energetic. But obviously, in such a remote and poor place, even if it was a prison, there wouldn't be many murderers. Most of the people locked up in this place were small thugs. The warden's office in this place might have the same function as the radiator in our police station.
Even Sona, who was usually a little nervous, couldn't help but show a nervous expression at this time. Then, she pressed her hair that was blown up by the cold wind and walked forward to negotiate with the guards. I casually asked Sona, "Do you have a deep impression of the jailer?"
"Sort of," Sona squeezed out a smile, "It's not easy to meet a good person in this place, not to mention that the good person was a jailer. He was a young man who didn't fit in with the surrounding environment. When we first met him, he had just become a jailer a few days ago. He was completely different from his rude and irritable colleagues. At that time, he was even a little naive." Sona shrugged as she said, "He even said that his future dream was to become a judge and maintain the order of Ice Blade City. At that time, he loved to laugh, and he often chatted with me and Sona. He would even secretly bring his lunch to us. If it wasn't for what happened later, he might have become our first real friend. "
Lin Xue dragged her tone, "Oh … A chuunibyou in his puberty."
At this time, Sona had finished her negotiation and walked over. It seemed that she had obtained permission to enter. However, her expression was a little strange. Sona couldn't help but ask with concern, "What's wrong? Did the guards make things difficult for you? "
"No," Sona shook her head and led us across the suspension bridge in front of the prison. "These guards thought that we were going to bribe the prison warden's family. Will is already the prison warden here."
Will. It seemed that this was the name of the chuunibyou boy.
"Prison warden?" Sona's tone was a little higher, "He is really not simple. This is also one step closer to his dream."
Sona shook her head noncommittally, "Who knows? I always feel uncomfortable … Maybe it's because it's too cold here."
After walking across the suspension bridge in front of the prison and the narrow stone passage, we arrived at the inner courtyard surrounded by a high stone wall. This was where the light criminals usually went to relax. Under the lead of a sloppy veteran, our group of 'visitors', who were specially labeled, entered the detention area next to the inner courtyard. The interior of the stone building was a little dim. Cold white light shone through the tall and narrow windows. The brightness wasn't even as bright as the torches on both sides of the corridor. The air was filled with a slight musty smell. A warm brazier was quietly burning at the corner of the corridor. The veteran led us to a thick wooden door and left without saying a word. Sona and Sakina stared at each other in front of the door for a while. Then, Sona cautiously knocked on the door.
"Bang! Bang!" The iron ring hit the thick wooden door, and the muffled sound echoed in the long, dark corridor. The sound was much louder than we had expected. Sona stuck out her tongue. A moment later, a rough and hoarse man's voice came from behind the wooden door, "Come in. Did that b * stard speak?" Sona was stunned.
She pushed the door open, and a strong smell of low-quality tobacco wafted out from the room. We filed into the room and saw the scene inside. It was a small room of around ten square meters. The walls were made of roughly carved stones, and a bunch of keys and old locks hung on the wall. There were also two lanterns used for night patrols. In the middle of the room, there was a heavy table filled with random items and files that no one had read. A bald middle-aged man sat behind the table. He looked to be in his fifties, and he was wearing a wrinkled prison uniform. He didn't have a beard on his face, but it made him look ferocious.
The middle-aged warden was surprised to see a group of people walk in. They weren't the prison guards that he had expected. He shook his shiny head and said in a rough voice, "Who are you? Prison visit? Why didn't anyone report to me? "
He didn't recognize the two dracon girls in front of him at all. Although I felt that Sangina and Sona's current appearance should have not changed much compared to thirty years ago due to the relatively long lifespan of dracons, he still didn't recognize them.
"We … are here to look for you." Sona didn't know what to say. Her expression was stiff. In the end, she could only stutter. Obviously, even if she had prepared herself mentally, the bald middle-aged man in front of her was far from the shy and naive young jailer in her impression. So much so that all the lines she had prepared beforehand were useless at this time.
"Looking for me?" The fat middle-aged warden walked out from behind the table. "Ha, which prisoner are you pleading for? I've seen this many times. It depends on your sincerity and the amount of help you can offer. Hmm, dracons? " He seemed to have finally noticed the restless tail behind Sona and Sona. He raised his eyebrows. "You guys have been making a lot of noise recently … Wait!"
The middle-aged man finally stopped, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. His eyes stared at Sayana's face, and then quickly turned to Sona. As if he had finally broken through the barrier of memory, a strange sound came from his throat: it was the subconscious strange sound when many words were stuck together and couldn't be uttered.
"You remember?" Sona smiled and waved her hand. She pulled Sona's arm. "Weir, it's us …"
"You … you!" The middle-aged warden named Weir trembled violently. He slowly raised his arm and pointed at them. His voice was intermittent. "It's you?!"
"We want to …" Sona only said three words, but she was interrupted by the man loudly. "Why are you here?!"
Weir's voice was very loud, and when he opened his mouth, a strong smell of inferior tobacco came out. He was obviously very emotional. The muscles on his face were trembling, and his eyes were bulging with intense emotion. However, this expression didn't last long. He suddenly walked back to his seat and sat down. "Speak!"
"We … are here to return your things …" Sona seemed to have gathered her courage for a long time. Then she took out the thick notebook that had been left by its owner for 30 years and placed it on the warden's table. Weir's eyes suddenly widened. He stared at the black notebook in front of him as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He slowly picked up the book and carefully opened it.
There was a yellowish and brittle note in it.
"Look, the bookmarks are all here," Sona said quickly. "We have been protecting them well. Not a single page was lost. And the leaf that you picked, we made it into a specimen with cloud wax and palm oil. It's on the last page …"
Weir quickly flipped through the notebook. On the last page, he found the leaf that had lost its original color and had been made into a specimen. His movement froze at that moment. He lowered his head and looked at us for a long time, as if he had turned into a stone statue. Sona looked at us anxiously and took two steps forward. "That … is it …"
"You can leave," a low, hoarse voice came from the other side.
"Ah?" Sona didn't hear it clearly, so she asked.
"Let's go!" Weir suddenly lifted his head and said loudly, "Since you have brought the things, let's go!"
"We haven't …" Sona had always been a little careless. She stubbornly took half a step forward, but Sona pulled her back. Sona looked deeply at Weir, who was already middle-aged and had turned into a crude, smoking old warden. She said softly, "Weir, goodbye." Then, she pulled Sona out of the room.
I was the last to leave. Just as I was about to step out of the door, I heard a hoarse voice behind me, "Wait."
I looked at Weir in confusion. He opened his mouth and squeezed out a strange smile. It seemed that he wasn't used to such an expression. "Help me close the door. Also, send a message to them. Actually, I have been living a good life for the past few years."
The heavy wooden door squeaked and slowly closed. I purposely paused at the door for a while before I caught up with the others. Lin Xue also purposely lagged behind. When I caught up with her, she said without turning her head, "He's crying in there, right?"
"You're right."
"What happened to him?" Shallow shallow was probably the most clueless person in the room when it came to such matters. Of course, the questions she asked were also clueless. To be honest, I sometimes envied her simple mind.
"He's paying tribute to his youth." Lin Xue turned around and glanced at the warden's door that had disappeared into the darkness. Then, she looked at the two dracon girls walking in front of her. "He might also be paying tribute to his first love from thirty years ago. I'm guessing that he must have had a crush on either Sona or Sona. It's a woman's intuition."
Sakina and Sona couldn't help but take a deep breath as they exited the dark prison corridor to the bright outdoors. No matter what, perhaps they had truly let go of the burden that had been weighing on them for thirty years. I told them what Will wanted me to tell them. Sona finally smiled as the wind blew from afar. "It seems … the wind is getting warmer."
Sona looked at her best friend in confusion. After a gust of wind, she shrunk her neck and said, "No, it's still cold. I might really hibernate if this continues."
"Your Majesty," Alleria, who had been stealthily following them all the way, suddenly interrupted everyone's thoughts. She pointed in the direction of the ice field in the distance. "I can sense Odemsius calling. His condition … is very strange."
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