Chapter 144: Among the Mountains
The sky gradually darkened.
The girl seemed truly starving, eating even more than Soren. She probably hadn’t eaten anything all day and looked a bit like a hungry wolf. Soren silently roasted meat by the side, and after she was full, he slowly asked, “What is your name? Who are you?”
“Anna.” The girl hesitated for a moment and whispered, “I am a noble from Arendelle.”
Soren turned to glance at her and slowly said, “Ordinary nobles can’t afford clothes like yours. You must be from the royal family of Arendelle, right? Arendelle is a unique kingdom with very few high nobles. There are only two members in the royal family: one is the soon-to-be-crowned princess, and the other is her sister.”
“It is said that the princess of Arendelle is a powerful Fate Sorcerer. You must be her sister, right?”
“The princess wouldn’t be put in such a desperate situation!”
The girl named Anna widened her eyes in surprise, staring at Soren, murmuring, “I knew you must be a powerful adventurer!… They also said you were a fool for getting yourself in such a mess!… Almost dying in the wilderness!…”
“Um… I am the little princess of Arendelle!… But I am not as powerful as my sister; I am just an ordinary person!…”
Soren didn’t follow up on her earlier comments, as he didn’t want to discuss the topic of hardship.
He just studied the girl in front of him and slowly said, “Arendelle is one of the two top kingdoms in the Frozen Kingdom, and the princess is one of the few Legendary Sorcerers here. Any enemy daring to attack you would definitely not be simple. According to the royal standards of this world, your guards should be at least Third Tier. If we consider the royal treasures, the ones who forced you to wander lost in the wilderness must be Legendary Professionists!”
Anna couldn’t help but open her mouth wide. She murmured, “So amazing.”
Soren watched the expression on her face, but his own expression became increasingly grim as he said in a deep voice, “Local Legendary Professionists wouldn’t attack you, as that would lead to catastrophic consequences. I have heard of your sister. When she is angry, she can destroy a city with her bare hands! So the ones who attacked you must be outsiders! And they are likely to have evil intentions!”
He paused for a moment and slowly continued, “What I want to know now is whether any Drow were among those who attacked you?”
The girl’s expression turned a bit incredulous as she mumbled, “How do you know I encountered Drow?”
Indeed, they had been dragged into this affair.
Soren silently fiddled with the campfire, his expression somewhat unpredictable as he said in a serious tone, “Those are the believers of the Goddess of Torment. I encountered traces of their activities when I came here. Only they would dare to attack the Second Princess of Arendelle. Others doing so would simply be seeking d*ath; when the princess is enraged, freezing everything for miles is no joke.”
Anna hesitated for a moment, looking at Soren with wide eyes as she said, “My sister is a very good person, very gentle and kind. She never abuses her abilities and would never do the kinds of things you mentioned; she wouldn’t harm innocent people.”
Soren didn’t respond.
He looked out at the wind and snow and slowly asked, “What do you plan to do now?”
Anna’s expression hesitated for a moment, then she raised her head to look at Soren and softly said, “Can you take me back to Arendelle? I will definitely repay you well! My sister will also give you the reward you deserve, even granting you a title!”
A title?
Soren smiled faintly and shook his head, “No. At least not now.”
“Since those tormenting believers dared to attack you, they would definitely not let me take you back easily. I wouldn’t even get a chance to fight against the divine’s believers; they are far more terrifying than Legendary Wizards! Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, there should be their spies on all the roads leading to Arendelle right now. As soon as you show yourself, you’ll be attacked!”
“Unless your sister comes to fetch you in person.”
Anna’s expression dimmed a little as she mumbled, “I don’t know what happened on my sister’s side. That wicked Drow said that if my sister saves me, she won’t be able to save Arendelle!…”
“My sister trapped her with ice. Then I escaped.”
“I don’t know what’s happening in Arendelle now!… I hope everyone is okay!…”
Such a kind little girl.
Soren looked at her for a moment and slowly said, “It’s not impossible to take you back, but it can’t be now, and we can’t take the normal route.”
Upon hearing this, the girl showed a glimmer of hope and looked into his eyes.
Her eyes were very pure. She looked like a girl who hadn’t experienced much in life. Soren slightly turned his gaze away and said, “It should be the time they are most anxious. Those fallen ones are probably desperately looking for you. So we’d best not leave here for the time being. Once they reveal themselves, your sister should be able to deal with them.”
“At that time, I will find a way to help you cross over this mountainous area and return to Arendelle along the coastal road.”
The girl clearly believed him and gently nodded her head.
Soren stirred the campfire to make it a little brighter and then said, “You should rest well. You must be exhausted. Tomorrow we will head into the mountains and may encounter some trouble.”
The girl looked at him in confusion and softly said, “Into the mountains? Aren’t we waiting here?”
“No.” Soren shook his head and replied, “I have things to take care of.”
The girl, clearly filled with curiosity, blinked her eyes and asked, “What are you going in for? No one is living in there anymore!”
Soren looked at her and said lightly, “To slay dragons.”
The light in the girl’s eyes flickered momentarily, quite surprised, “Slay dragons? The Frozen Kingdom doesn’t seem to have dragons anymore, right? They are all afraid of my sister! It is said that they all fled to the overseas ice islands.”
Soren was taken aback.
It seemed that the legendary princess was even stronger than he had imagined. No wonder there were no giant dragons in the Frozen Kingdom; could it really be because they were frightened away by the princess?
Then, just how powerful is this legendary Fate Sorcerer?
“Ice Frost Wyvern.”
Soren added firewood and spoke, “I want to take some down to increase my power and, in return, earn some money.”
Money?
The girl hurriedly searched her body and then, with a sorrowful expression, said, “My pouch is lost!… It had a lot of valuable things in it!…”
She looked at her own outfit and regretfully took off her ring and earrings, carefully saying, “You can have these for now.”
“They were left to me by my mother… Can I buy them back with money when I return?…”
Her voice grew a bit anxious, and her little face appeared somewhat comical.
Soren turned to look at her and couldn’t help but chuckle. However, he didn’t reach out to take those items but slowly said, “You should keep them. Since you saved me, I should repay you. Maybe it’s really not your fate to meet such an end!”
He had heard of the princess of Arendelle, but he hadn’t heard of the Second Princess. He didn’t know what her ultimate fate would have been had she not met him.
The chaos of the Frozen Realm erupted.
The rampaging princess froze everything for miles, turning the land into a hell of ice. It couldn’t have been just because of her, could it?
It seemed like it might be possible.
There were only two princesses in the Arendelle royal family. She might just be the only relative of the Eldest Princess.
“Th-thank you!…” The girl quietly retrieved her ring and earrings, looked up at Soren with a trace of grateful smile, and slowly said, “You are a good person.”
Soren’s fingers trembled slightly.
Then, he helplessly turned to look at her and said seriously, “I am not a good person. I have killed more people than you know!”
“I’m helping you just because you saved me.”
“In the future, please don’t say that to me. That phrase isn’t very auspicious in my hometown.”
“Alright.”
“Get some rest quickly. We still have quite a way to go tomorrow.”
The girl seemed not to understand why a word of gratitude would provoke such a strong reaction from Soren. But she obediently settled down, mumbling, “Show off!… Trying to scare me!… You don’t look like that kind of bad guy who has killed many people!…”
Soren’s appearance was somewhat refined, resembling a Half-Elf.
The girl clearly did not believe that Soren had bl**d on his hands; she just thought he didn’t like hearing that phrase. He was somewhat like a person living in darkness yet upholding justice; otherwise, he wouldn’t have saved her, right?
Had he really killed many people?
The girl seemed very tired and quickly began to feel sleepy, leaning her head against a rock and falling asleep.
Time passed little by little.
Soren took out a spell scroll and began to decipher it. The cold wind howled outside, and he would occasionally stop to listen, then continue his studies.
In the middle of the night.
The expression on the sleeping girl’s face was somewhat terrified. She mumbled incoherently in her sleep and suddenly woke up with wide eyes, shouting, “No!… Don’t!… Don’t k*ll her!…”
Soren put down the scroll, frowned, and glanced at her, “Did you have a nightmare?”
The girl paused for a moment as if she came to her senses and gently nodded. Then she carefully said, “Can I sit beside you?”
Soren nodded.
She slowly approached and carefully sat beside Soren. Her expression seemed a bit scared.
Soren reached out and patted her head, then patted her back.
Seemingly feeling a bit reassured, the girl looked at the scroll in his hand, then leaned her head on Soren’s shoulder. Time quickly passed, and before she knew it, she had grabbed the hem of Soren’s clothes with her fingers, and her little head had tilted onto his lap, her breathing becoming even, clearly having fallen into a deep sleep.
Maybe she really was exhausted.
It must have been hard for a pampered princess to experience so much in a single day; it might indeed be very difficult to adapt.
Soren reopened the spell scroll, occasionally glancing down at her.
After coming to this world, aside from little Vivian, this was the first time someone else had fallen asleep on his lap.
Outside, the cold wind continued to howl.
He felt the coming storm brewing in the Frozen Kingdom!
…………… (To be continued ~^~)
