Ch.204Revelation (18)

That’s right. The white armor spoke of only one thing. It was natural to feel repulsed. An eerie, ominous feeling crept up my spine. It felt like watching a beast slithering silently.

The owner of the armor happened to be looking this way. Golden hair, long locks, and clear blue eyes. But her face was as stern and resolute as a mountain covered in eternal snow.

“What is it, servant?”

Maria swallowed hard at the knight’s question. Only after other servants gave her sharp glances did Maria regain her composure.

“A-a urgent message has arrived. It’s a document you need to see personally.”

The servants withdrew. The knight rose. An apprentice knight who had not yet reached adulthood fastened the imperial sword to her waist. Another apprentice knight respectfully offered her helmet—shaped like an eagle with spread wings diving toward its prey.

“Very well.”

Valkyrja, Liliana Brynhildr, put on her helmet. Though she didn’t lower the beak-shaped visor, her already tall stature combined with the ominously gleaming armor made it feel as though she filled the entire room.

Someone shouted, “Attention!” Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing. Even the knights in the corridor lined up against the wall. The sharp sound of armor hitting stone walls echoed throughout the corridor.

“Valkyrja!” The knights stomped their right feet in unison. The sound of metal and thuds reverberated throughout the fortress.

“Valkyrja!” The knights stomped again. The heavy shockwave seemed to wake even the drowsy fortress. The White Blood Valkyrja was marching out.

“Valkyrja! Valkyrja! Valkyrja!”

The knights raised their voices. Servants with bowed heads stole glances at the Valkyrja with eyes full of admiration. The apprentice knights likewise wore expressions full of ambition.

But the knights were different. They looked at the Valkyrja with solemn, heavy gazes. Unlike the servants or apprentices, they knew what they could and could not do.

To them, the figure before them inspired awe. She represented a level they aspired to reach, but the more they trained and disciplined themselves daily, the more they felt only their own limitations. It was as absurd as trying to catch the horizon.

Maria now fully understood why Lily had said she “couldn’t leave secretly.”

A life lived wearing that terrifying, ominously gleaming black armor, surrounded by people lined up on both sides with countless gazes full of admiration, jealousy, respect, and awe, amid the noise of steel and stone walls. A life spent constantly fighting to prove oneself, fighting and fighting, uselessly defeating and crushing those who dared to challenge her.

No one dared to speak to her casually. No one speaks to an idol. They may send respect, love, and awe, but they don’t try to close the distance. That’s what an idol should be.

A world of nothing but iron, stone, gazes, and silence. This was Lily’s world.

– That was our world.

Maria gasped in surprise, breathing in sharply. She thought she heard something strange. It was as if someone had whispered in her ear, or perhaps it came from between the stone walls. But it didn’t sound like a human voice. If anything, it was more like an echo.

‘My goodness. No one should live in a place like this. I need to get out of here right away.’

Eventually, Lily and Maria reached the central hall. It was filled with knights and the emperor’s delegation. Boehm, wearing a fake beard, stood before them.

“I’ve heard the scenery of the White Blood is quite beautiful. I’d like to hear about this fortress from someone who knows it well. Liliana Brynhildr, I heard you were born and raised in this fortress, is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then would you mind giving us a tour?”

The knights who were listening frowned. While it was a request the delegation could make, they didn’t like the idea of summoning the Valkyrja, of all people, for such a request. But Liliana bowed deeply.

“It would be my honor, Your Excellency.”

“Then please lead the way.”

Lily led the two to a watchtower. The sentries standing in the cold wind clicked their heels together and saluted.

“I’ll call if I need escorts. Return to your posts and await orders.”

“Understood!”

The sentries hurried down. As soon as the outsiders disappeared, all three let out a deep sigh simultaneously. It was heavy enough to bring down a mountain.

“How can anyone live in a place like this? I can hardly breathe!”

Maria stamped her feet in distress.

“Now you see why I want to leave?”

Lily moved quickly too. She flung open all the boxes at the back of the spacious watchtower. Inside gleamed well-maintained shields.

This was why they had chosen this particular watchtower among many others. It was a tower that stored reserve supplies in case of enemy invasion.

The spare shields were made of iron and tin. They were polished and well-maintained, reflecting sunlight perfectly.

“There. We need to reach that spot.”

Boehm handed the two of them the collapsible telescopes he had prepared in advance and took out his own. He was the first to move his shield to reflect sunlight toward the spot he had identified yesterday.

Of course, the reflected heat from a single shield wouldn’t be enough to melt the ice, so the group mobilized all the shields they could. A total of twenty shields reflected light simultaneously. But whether this would be enough to melt that stubborn snow remained uncertain.

* * * * *

Last night, Boehm and Bom had explained to everyone how to cause an avalanche. It was like a thin ice bowl holding a massive amount of snow—if they could just slightly crack that bowl, all the snow above would flow down.

“The conditions make sense. Good weather means the snow melted and refroze into ice, and then more snow fell on top of it—it’s like snow piled on thin ice. Since the snow is now accumulated on a slope, applying just a little heat will sweep it all down. You say there hasn’t been an avalanche for ten years?”

“That’s right.”

“Then there must be an enormous accumulation. It won’t just be a small amount of snow sliding down from the top. Since they’re precariously piled along the slope, if we give them a little shake from above…”

“They’ll all come rushing down at once. All that unstable snow piled on that steep mountainside.”

“Exactly. And melting snow might be easier than causing a landslide. If we had mirrors…”

But Lily shook her head. “We have mirrors in the White Blood, but it would be difficult to carry them that far. But we do have plenty of shields.”

“Shields might not be enough. Though I’m not sure what would happen if we mobilized as many as possible.”

Kain and Maria, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, made eye contact. Maria, who had already drunk quite a bit, raised her hand.

“If it’s not enough, I can add something.”

“You, sister?”

Instead of answering, Maria snapped her fingers. A small, cute flame danced in the air.

“This has light but no heat. But if needed, I can make fire too. At least in theory, I can deliver light and fire ‘anywhere within an inquisitor’s line of sight.’ But I can’t throw it like a fire arrow.”

She meant that with her power of holy fire, she could add heat. It was encouraging news, but Kain was uneasy. Maria was on probation. She shouldn’t be using holy fire.

“It’s not like I’m setting people on fire. I’m just melting some snow. Come on, we need to make fires when it’s cold to survive! Don’t be so strict.”

“I’m worried because you push yourself too hard.”

“I push myself too hard? What about you? Just prepare something delicious for me.”

“Sister!”

That was when Lily embraced Maria deeply to her chest.

* * * * *

“Alright, Maria. Time to get serious.”

On top of the watchtower, looking through the telescope at the point where the light was converging, Maria snapped her fingers. She had never tried it from such a distance before. Well, she had never even thought of the idea of snapping holy fire while looking through a telescope.

‘Theoretically, it’s possible. If it weren’t, the high-and-mighty Inquisition would have told me. So I can do it too. Come on, light!’

Maria snapped her fingers again. But no fire appeared. To make matters worse, the sky was gradually darkening.

“There was no forecast for snow, was there?”

As Boehm spoke, clouds gathered. At the same time, a noisy commotion could be heard from below. It was the sound of armor hitting stone.

“Um… that doesn’t sound good. It seems to be getting closer. This isn’t working. Little one, let’s buy some time.”

At the bottom of the circular stone staircase, wide enough for three people to climb shoulder to shoulder, knights were marching up in unison. Fortunately, the watchtower had many useful weapons besides shields. There was even a halberd, which Lily was confident in handling and skilled with. It was well-balanced.

Boehm and Lily went toward the stairs. Since the center of the circular staircase was open, those below could see above, and those above could see below.

And from below, a man with golden hair poked his head out. Like Lily, he had dancing golden hair and was very handsome, but his mouth was twisted in a sneer.

“Our little sister. I wondered where you were, and here you are? Was today’s training at the watchtower? As far as I know, it wasn’t.”

It was Atli, the White Blood Knight Commander.

“I was fulfilling the delegate’s request, Commander. He wanted to see the good view.”

Lily bowed. Boehm nodded beside her. The commander opened his mouth with an “Ah” and stroked his cheek.

“Oh? Is that so? Good attitude, Liliana. Good attitude. Well, you do know this fortress well. There’s not a hiding place you haven’t run to after getting beaten every day.”

“Look at how this bastard talks,” Boehm muttered with a smile, quietly enough for only Lily to hear.

“But even so, you have duties to fulfill, don’t you? You’re the great Valkyrja. You should be leading the detachment members who are waiting for your orders. Come down. I believe the delegate also needs to prepare to leave?”

“Knight Commander Atli,” Boehm scolded sternly. “I wonder if that is the proper attitude toward the emperor’s delegate. Is this the etiquette of the White Blood?”

“Of course not. How much has our White Blood sacrificed for the Empire throughout generations? We are the Empire’s blade, its roaring lion, and the guard dog that keeps watch through the night.

The reason those evil heretics dare not covet the Empire is right here. So my desire to take my sister back to the training ground is solely to protect the Empire. If the Valkyrja doesn’t participate in training, who will?

Come down, Liliana. This is the Knight Commander’s order. You should be at the training ground. Not in this cold, windy watchtower.”

Lily was taken aback by this unexpected variable.