“We’re going to camp here tonight.”
As soon as the words left the Temple Knight's mouth, Ruth jumped off Riftan's horse.
Sidina laughed, apparently finding the scene funny.
Maxi, on the other hand, didn't feel happy at all.
After staring sullenly at the back of Riftan's head, she got off Rem and surveyed the ravine.
The stone walls on the sides arched inward as they rose, almost completely obscuring the sky.
The narrow corridor leading outside blocked the violent gusts that roared outside.
Although it seemed cramped for a group of nearly two hundred people, the fact that it protected them from the wind and snow was enough to make it a luxurious sanctuary.
“Maximilian, can you check if there are monsters hibernating underground?” Anton shouted as he helped Calto dismount.
She felt Riftan turn to look at her.
Satisfied with his irritated expression, she made sure to ignore him and nodded happily.
"Yes."
“I’ll help,” Armin said, getting off his horse.
While the pair investigated the ravine with tracking magic, the knights and the other mages began to set up camp.
Maxi spread his mana web as wide as possible and didn't rest until he had burrowed deep into the earth.
When he finally sat down to rest by the fire, his hands were frozen.
She was holding them close to the flames to thaw them when Sidina, who was on dinner duty that night, pushed a large bowl of stew in front of her.
“Here, this is for Sir Riftan.”
Maxi instinctively accepted the bowl and was about to take it to him when he stopped.
Why worry about someone who had chosen such a prickly man as his riding partner over her?
Handing back the bowl, Maxi grumbled, “W-Why are you giving me his portion?”
"Why?
Because you always bring him his food."
“Well, not anymore,” Maxi replied, raising his voice enough for Riftan to hear.
She pretended to stir the fire with a branch.
Rolling her eyes, Sidina shrugged and called out to Ulyseon, who was securing a tent to the ground.
She handed the bowl to the young knight, who promptly ran to hand it over.
Maxi watched Riftan sideways.
He accepted the bowl, his face impassive, and settled down near his tent.
The sight calmed his seething anger, and a strange feeling of sadness took its place.
One day, he would have been beside himself trying to appease her.
Maxi's throat tightened as she recalled his tortured face after a few days of her refusing to look at him.
Perhaps a lot would have changed in three years.
She stared forlornly at the fire for a while before picking up her supper and spooning it into her mouth.
From that day on, Maxi stopped trying to shorten the distance between them.
She didn't want to keep pining after someone who made it clear he didn't want her company.
On the occasions when they ended up interacting, she could see him forcing his responses.
It was so painful to watch that she tried hard to stay away from him as much as possible.
Noticing the change in her, Hebaron approached silently and said playfully, “My lady, have you given up chasing the commander like a duckling?”
At Maxi's gaze, Hebaron dramatically shrugged his shoulders and pretended to be intimidated.
“My God, it looks like you’re mad at him this time.”
“Sir Hebaron… you seem to be finding this situation incredibly funny.”
The knight's smile diminished slightly at Maxi's sharp tone.
Scratching his head, he said embarrassedly, "I didn't mean to provoke, my lady.
I truly wish that you two..."
“How long until we get there?”
Riftan's sharp voice interrupted what Hebaron was about to say.
Looking ahead, Maxi spotted the back of its head, which stood out among the group of knights.
Although he was some distance away from the Temple Knights' commander, she could tell that he was angrier than a wild dog stung by a bee.
“We’re almost out of firewood and food,” Riftan said, his icy voice echoing across the ravine.
“We’ll be stuck here if the snow gets worse.”
“We’re almost there,” Kuahel said irritably.
“We should get to Pamela Plateau before the day is over.”Hebaron sighed as he watched them.
"I fear swords will be drawn if this continues.
Our commander has been more irritable than usual lately."
He gave Maxi a meaningful look, as if he blamed Riftan's bad mood on her.
She couldn't help the doubt that crept onto her face as she replied, "He must be nervous...
because the path is becoming more dangerous."
Riftan wasn't the only one with low spirits.
After a full day of walking through the winding ravine, an ice-covered rocky mountain path awaited them on the other side.
Following the example of the Temple Knights, the expedition group climbed the steep slopes while navigating the carts across the uneven terrain.
It was no surprise that the mages were visibly exhausted.
To make matters worse, they were forced to use firewood to melt the snow so they could water the horses, burning through their supply much more quickly.
As food and firewood would be difficult to find on the Pamela Plateau, the mages and knights were increasingly worried about their scarce supplies.
Hence Riftan's discontent was understandable.
"I don't want to bother him further..." she said despondently, "when I'm the reason he joined this grueling expedition in the first place.
And...
I'd prefer not to cause another scene."
Hebaron opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself.
Maxi lowered his hood and urged Rem forward.
The sky was cloudy, and snowflakes mingled in the wind.
Another heavy blizzard was on the way.
After looking up regretfully, Maxi swept his eyes across the steep mountain sides“which seemed to have been carved into formation“the bottomless chasms and snow-capped peaks.
Gauging distances within the mist that covered the mountainside proved incredibly challenging.
Some summits, seemingly far away at first, turned out to be much closer, while others were further away than they seemed.
It was as if they were lost in a vast maze of snow, ice and rock.
After riding for some time, Kuahel stopped at the edge of a steep valley.
“We need to get down here.”
Maxi's eyes widened as she looked down.
Although the dense fog obscured the base of the valley, she could tell it was a long way down.
How were they supposed to descend such a steep slope?
She was turning to the Temple Knights' commander with apprehension when she heard Riftan's indignant voice.
“Are you crazy?”
"We could go around the mountain, but that would take an extra fifteen days.
This is the quickest way," Kuahel replied irritably, then turned to the mages.
“Can you lower the carts with magic?”
“This won’t be too difficult, but if we were attacked by monsters while descending…”
"You can investigate the area with magic and descend calmly.
The Temple Knights will make sure the path ahead is clear first."
Calto scanned the other mages' faces with a hesitant expression before nodding.
"Very well.
Let's lower you and your men now."
"No, we can go down on our own.
We'll wait for them down there, then lower the wagons to where the lights are."
Maxi bit back a scream as Kuahel Leon launched himself down the slope that wasn't unlike a cliff.
The Temple Knights galloped into the shrouded valley after him.
His jaw dropped of its own accord at his unfathomable riding skills.
“It’s nothing the White Dragons can’t do, my lady,” grumbled Ulyseon.
When the young knight approached the edge to prove his point, Riftan promptly stopped him.
"The wizards go first.
We'll go down after everyone else gets down there." He then turned to Ruth, who was riding with Garrow, and barked, "You're going down with the wizards."
“Why would they need anyone else when there are already nineteen?”
Riftan's menacing gaze interrupted Ruth's complaint.
Sighing, the wizard slid off Garrow's horse.
The wizards began to lower the carts as the Temple Knights' bonfires lit at the bottom of the valley.
Levitation was a simple spell, but they were forced to use more mana than usual because of the scarcity in the area.
The mages took turns trying to conserve their energy.When all the horses and carts were safely at the bottom, the wizards descended the valley in groups of four.
Maxi ended up in the group of Lucain, Kiel and Ruth.
Just as she was about to leave, someone grabbed her shoulder.
She looked up and found Riftan leaning over Talon.
“You will go down with me,” he said stiffly, as if giving an order.
Maxi blinked.
Why would he ask her to walk with him after barely acknowledging his presence for days?
A slight nervousness appeared on her face as she just stared at him in silence.
"What are you waiting for?
Go upstairs."
He squeezed her shoulder tighter.
She frowned, too upset with him to readily accept his offer.
Following his example, she gently moved his hand away and maintained a somewhat cordial tone.
"T-Thank you, but I'll have to decline.
I can...
manage on my own."
Riftan stiffened slightly.
For a brief moment, she regretted rejecting him.
She put on a mask of indifference and walked away.
Soon after, she went down the valley with the other mages.
Even though Lucain summoned a fireball to light their path, it was still not enough to penetrate the fog.
Maxi began to feel a growing fear as the fog thickened to the point where they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces.
Again, the regret of not accepting the ride with Riftan hit her, but she quickly pushed him out of her mind.
She went down slowly, trying her best not to slip.
Finally, his foot touched the bottom.
Her entire body was tense from the harrowing descent, and she sank to the floor in exhaustion.
When he finally looked up after catching his breath, he saw Kuahel Leon riding his chestnut horse, a blue flame burning in his hand.
He watched her briefly before turning his gaze back to the valley.
After confirming that all mages had reached the bottom, the White Dragons began their descent.
Despite being a safe distance from the landing site, the mages still retreated in fear.
The sight of dozens of horsemen galloping down the slope at speed that made the earth tremble was terrifying to behold.
They descended in five to six successions of twenty men, and Riftan was the last to pass through the mist.
He looked around to make sure everyone was in one piece, and then asked, “Where to now?”
Kuahel pointed ahead.
“We’re here.”
Maxi squinted his eyes, but could only vaguely make out gray rocks and steep walls through the fog.
Where were the ruins?
Suspicion began to creep in.
The Temple Knights stepped forward one by one and began lighting fires around the valley floor.
Eventually, the flames revealed the hazy outline of a disintegrated stone structure.
A column carved from stone lay on the ground, bricks scattered around it.
Calto walked over to the wreckage to study it more closely.
“These are… the ruins left behind by the dark wizards?”
“Part of them,” Kuahel replied calmly before spurring his horse forward.
For a moment, Maxi was speechless.
The flickering lights of the Temple Knights revealed dozens of white stone buildings surrounding a large reservoir that shone like jade.
She was taking in the unexpected magnitude of the ruins when Riftan dismounted.
He knelt before the reservoir.
Removing his glove, he dipped his hand into the water.
“It’s a hot spring.”