Chapter 161: Estelle Hadassa El Rath (3)
gNkKeeping oneself warm in a cold environment was a crucial element of survival. As such, many animals have evolved into having thick skin, layers of fat, or long fur.ehLXiH6
pfyASheep and their wool were an example; bears with their thick skin, and sea lions with their dense layers of fat.a8mWaqF
rYqSo what had humanity been doing all that time?L1TzPFN
PifscHumans did not evolve themselves.nK3HX
xF4They did not have thick layers of fat, skin, or fur. However, they did something horrible which only the terrible humans have done in the history of the universe, and that was making clothing.zlR
lU0hIf we didn’t have it, all we needed to do was take the wool from sheep and skin other animals to create clothing, right?KsLQ5i
LeOsRemoving the skin of other animals and after getting rid of the blood and head, they tanned it to form clothes. That was the wicked and rightful deeds that only humans were allowed to do.Pk092
wmaSSAnd here we were, wearing the skin of another animal.6RK
PRT3Mf“Ugh… So wet.”9VqoAC
O7ky“Hold on. It was your idea in the first place.”DTLJBdR
zNPoN3a“But…”FMNbD
DXXBBoth of us were inside the sheepskin that had been ripped out of the dead sheep. Like two people sharing a sleeping bag with holes for the arms and the legs, one of us was carrying the other, who had to stick as close as possible to avoid being a nuisance to the one walking.Nx3
ashVW-Curse you! I won’t forget you even in the afterlife! I curse you, damn humans!Vwvz6Qt
dNH0bLooking at the deskinned head of the sheep that was discarded and buried in the snow made me feel like it was crying out a curse.DUd0bJ6
E0J1Wh“Kyaak! T, the head! The head skin fell down! It’s on my head like a hat!”IogQd
1pGFAs if remorseful even after its death, the skin from the head of the sheep fell and pounced on Estelle’s head.lvspOwJ
00ODGK“Stop throwing your arms around! It’ll keep your ears warm so that’s even better!”6hO
DLyP9kf“Aren’t you being too harsh just because it’s not you who has to go through this?”Ay8Leq
t8HEstelle was leaning on me inside the sheepskin. It was something that had to be done for both of us to escape the cold, but it was undeniable that it wasn’t the most elegant of things.reid
nMM52u“Ugh… Are you okay? Junior?”F0NNlZ
kivgoY“Fortunately, you are extremely light, Saintess, so that helps.”QeZAEXP
7Wgf1“Exactly. I’m as light as a feather, right?”21p
hI80xer“Not that light, no.”1hQqA
rwx43Q“You should always say yes in a time like that, Junior. Otherwise, you won’t be loved by the ladies.”W1yXfo
MIdT3j3“Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Thank you so much for letting me know.”ilf06r
k92hAJwWe shared a few banters without an end. Perhaps it was to keep ourselves sane in this excruciating weather and make sure the other person was still conscious, but it wasn’t difficult because Princess Estelle was, objectively speaking, an easy person to talk to.J3PK5
KvzIG9It was to the point that one would wonder whether she really was the most noble lady of this continent or not.NIO
TE9gj“Aren’t you getting hungry? Do you want some melted snow?”APb5
5wT8E“You can have that, Saintess, and give me some of the leftover blood.”Jp9wjB
EkfBuSD“Ugh… How do you drink that?”DJ7nzIX
KNNSYV“It’s to survive. And apparently, blood is not that bad to drink.”w2p
ZtlCe“Who says that?”iiew5S
bu6BuQ“Someone richer than me.”YoNYg
MsXSFrom time to time, Estelle handed over food from behind. They were mainly squirrel meat and frozen fruits, but with all things considered, they were a decent source of energy.28cKIG
auCtSLike that, we traversed across the Steel Archipelago.CHFiDWy
vP8RvyDuring the day, we dug a hole inside the snow and slept together while using the sheepskin as a blanket, and followed the stars at night to travel further and further north.tSbfa
SHMRSometimes, we almost got caught by the familiars who were searching for us, but we pretended to be a dead sheep that was half-buried in the snow to fool them.pe79
rGE“…”NNR3vp6
tb39s“…A bit, too close, aren’t we?”SAjj
f4CSMWx“Nothing new.”MrAgQV
fzXx2PA“R, right?”sUG
yXRRfvIt was when we started to get used to touching each other’s skin 24 hours a day.eBF2
nGLdh“Saintess. Look…”lN5
Xx7jrhZ“I saw it.”G84
hRswEstelle also widened her eyes after finding something down the snowy valley.pp1
4CKBek“Mages. They… don’t look like they’re looking for us.”2lOH
15H6She muttered in a soft voice.aLj06S
DaD34At the bottom of the hill, a few mages were doing something alongside their familiars.P83xgs
vQ6DNQHGiant ice golems were carrying around rocks, and manifested spirits were digging the ground. There was even a chimera, but it seemed to be serving as a scout rather than as a part of the digging crew.VSNuqR
gaSw“Considering how heavy their bums are, it must be something pretty important for them to be here as a group.”dpIFV85
2yfrvwL“Are you going to attack them?”6Jdvbe
3LjE06“…”J6VJPC
YQLr1G8I held myself back for a bit.ByODN
cuRvuI knew what they were doing there.KIyf
BtHZnRThey were the ones trying to excavate the remains of the Titans. Their goal was to combine as many actual bones as possible and cover the rest with artificial flesh and metal, and for that to happen, they needed to acquire as many remains as possible.rQL
4eJVThe only issue was that I was in the company of the powerless Estelle. It would have been a different story if I was alone, but defeating the excavators with Estelle hanging on my back wouldn’t be easy.L2Wb
MQ1Bp9M“No. Let’s move on. There’s no need to cause a commotion. Right now, keeping you safe is my priority.”uIP
KQu“Hmm…”Vpv1S
yZ1XXkLEstelle let out a moody grunt. I was carrying her on my back so I couldn’t see her face, but it wasn’t hard to imagine the look on her face just by hearing her voice.aI78h
dVW“The sun is starting to rise. We might draw their eyes if we go any further than this. Let’s dig a hole around here.”fPnXv
vBefDigging holes was solely up to me. I wrapped her body with sheepskin and quickly dug a hole.qVozU6
64lAabv“Anything I can help you with?”Jwiqc3
h77Bd“Just watch. What if you get frostbites?”d6Aje
E5O“…”EPPQr3E
RCo4QFEstelle, without her sacred powers, was no different from a civilian. In other words, she had zero resistance to the cold unlike me, a knight.srEPS
ZPXlPBesides, it wasn’t like I was digging the hole with nothing but my bare hands.teCK
d95After covering my hands with some of the heat from Claiomh Solais, I continued increasing the size of the hole. Meanwhile, Estelle put the snow that melted during the process into a water bottle.cBqbzuX
EbebCGThe resulting snow cave was barely big enough for Estelle and I to lie down in. I could make it bigger, but making it bigger than this would just increase the risk of us being discovered by the pursuers.Xt6Zfi
NLQ“Let’s go in.”KaE5C
Lp2First off, I shoved the sheepskin inside the hole and went in first to create enough space inside. Estelle followed through afterward. She poked her face up through the hole towards my chest with an awkward smile on her face.9DWkaBI
c2mThese past few days, we were sleeping together in the sheepskin sleeping bag, but it seemed that she still wasn’t fully used to it yet.axAhM
ziDWell, no matter what we did when we were awake, we would still probably give each other a tight hug in our sleep while desperately craving warmth. There was no room for embarrassment when we were close to losing our lives from the cold.rSno
ArGx“It’s all frozen and tough, but you should still have some of this.”lXH0jLU
iJd7Z“Okay. Do you want some too, Junior?”tWKT8
kt3F“Give me a small piece.”gO71
sNWD0tsInside the snow cave where the only source of light was the faint ray of light seeping in from the entrance, we each held onto a piece of frozen meat with less than 10 centimeters between us.zDYmfL
9AX“Ugh… It’s frozen and tough.”YX1TTwe
Gbsl“Give it to me. I can warm it back up.”IKs12
KijI engraved a Rune of the Sun onto the meat that was handed over by Estelle. Kenaz was better when cooking meat, but that would likely create a fire.0EleXN6
K6y6Y-Tchiiii!YzZzxrz
p6zTHThe lamb slowly started to grizzle once the rune was carved into it. The ice around the meat melted into water as oil began to drip from it. I blew on it a few times before feeding her.zhgpS8
AIYp“It’s hot so don’t touch it. Just open your mouth.”RDDp
CyLeFQ“Ahh…”xAOMqD
x7MWaShe seemed surprised even though she had already seen it quite a few times.v3S
VlPepEstelle appeared slightly embarrassed but before long, she opened her mouth like a baby bird getting fed by its mother.BhG
qsjs-Nom.xPGC
V4ukfENom nom. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she chewed on the warm piece of meat. She was evidently in a slightly better mood after having some protein.kFa6
Xp3QThis cold weather must have put a high toll on her stamina, and yet she was doing her best not to show it which was incredible.gy7fDo
2vF6“It’s delicious. You should have some too, Junior.”Mlp
mRYxvIK“Yeah yeah.”pkinR
NtgsAxWe enjoyed a small yet satisfying meal.kFCMdg
DzQGggr“Tonight, we will go all the way around the mages. Soon, we should be able to see a frozen path connecting to the Dingle Peninsula, and we will be set after crossing it.”XATyIXr
9wswAjIt wasn’t me who had come up with this escape path.vx9
WUUIn the game, near the end of the Tower of Mages episode, all that was shared was that the mages ran away after discarding the Tower, but we managed to find the route they used in the last iteration.Gfaqcm
o4aThe mages of the Tower had gotten on a sled at the northern peak of Steel Archipelago and traveled to Dingle Peninsula down the frozen path.Uz5O
Eo2WvThey were probably making the same preparations again in this iteration.ZCKo
HJu8Dz“…”CFj
9CAmDzTRight as I was considering the details of tonight’s plan, I found Estelle looking into my eyes. Even though it was dark all around us, I could still see that her usual smile was no longer on her face and that there was a rather indifferent look on it instead.0C1O8iz
koj4Jlp“What’s wrong?”lrq
8Lje“Nothing. I was just thinking how I’m more of a nuisance than I thought.”rxxL0
Afa“Now is not the time to feel guilty or down.”QRHXWD
AdK“Do you not regret it, Junior? You came all the way here and you’re going through so much trouble just to save me.”qMU
8uC“Nope.”NQ3
EBn58EOf course not. Do you have any idea how important of a person you are?vqJsCM
kwEdc“Why?”Cv80
B1CM1“Do you need a reason to save people?” I replied.JaKBl5u
mfudqTA“Umm… Are you the type of person that feels satisfaction from that?”4e9ACAV
L5Lin“Who wouldn’t?”Gtp1
JLIGWhy would I feel bad after doing something good?yQcXGB
QgHy“Like, most people wouldn’t put their lives on the line to do something good. If that was the majority, this world would have been a utopia.”G2Z
VhVqTtT“That’s true too.”xCDJh0
av07Something I realized recently was that I seemed to be on the fairly good side. Everyone, including Master, was so busy trying to praise me as a hero after all.gtL
CbcR“But I have no regrets. Because I made the right decision.”d3H
SdPw0Q2I slowly continued my sentence.aTNH5
8uK“I was aware of someone else’s misfortune and had the power to resolve it. That’s why I did it.”NcjGwSM
DO1uYThere were probably a lot of reasons not to. It was dangerous and difficult, and I could get hurt. If one thought about it, there were more reasons against doing something good than reasons for it.BCpEmbk
bm1“As long as there’s one reason why you have to do something good, isn’t that more than enough already?”euoSo9
gZu3hy8“Wow…”bxed7A5
9DbBmoMHer eyes blinked in the darkness, like an ornithologist who found an extinct bird.WbWoT
RSChk“I… can tell if someone is telling the truth.”UchOn
HMaYUBN“Umm… isn’t it usually the other way around?”LED
oBYd“I’m not sure about lying, but a lot of people usually tell the truth and make authentic expressions in front of me.”ng9HnDX
tpNxAS‘It must be because they’re afraid of the gods to tell a lie in front of the Saintess,’ she added with a bitter smile on her face.hZlywOa
SAI5“So I can tell when someone is being genuine with their words. Thanks to that, I can also somewhat tell if someone is lying or not.”oU0
ndml2L“Really? That kind of sounds like, ‘Which comes first; the chicken or the egg’.”wn5
yuq4k“I was just shocked… that there could be such a genuine person in this world.”UO5dZX
GjvUAs if she was sincerely impressed, Estelle muttered to herself in a whisper.YvA
q8EQl“That’s incredible. Seriously.”lviT5OF
BMibZ“It’s not as great as you are making it out to be.”la1ew
3FDHWlC“No, it is. It’s my first time seeing someone as incredible as you.”u2Dn3
Xv8“You are embarrassing me now.”mRd5P
5ujetD“Haa… Every good man usually has a partner already though.”NvgqD
TYz“Well… There are two candidates.”QGMde
7BxNP“So you do have a goalkeeper, huh?”DMB
KnO“Ehh?”gzLC
XRO“But having a goalkeeper doesn’t mean I can’t score, right?”fVok0
UVCEstelle said with an adorable smile on her face.NpJt
M19“How can you say something like that as the saintess?”x967t
2Jz“Hmm? What did I say?”NHOS
wWjxq0“Like, a goalkeeper and whatnot…”wkGJlk
Jepy“And what do you think that means?”CegK6
UjjPk“Kuhum…”3sZLdY
9LMuShe pushed her face even closer and said that with a bewitching smile on her face. As expected of sisters… They were similar.ykI3
rtcI“Junior Korin. You are quite cute aren’t you~?”o00sB
bbuB7T“Please! No more of that coquettish voice! It’s not good for my heart!”Bpz
Xflr1Y“Don’t wanna~. I don’t wanna~. Your reactions are so cute~.”RGhV
MEi7nShe was more like a witch than a saintess at this point! Estelle continued teasing me a bit more before heaving a deep sigh.nWir
SUsr“It would have been a lot different if I had recovered my sacred energy at the very least.”3B3gu
Cnnf“You’re right.”40AoL
8azDBack in the game, although Estelle herself was incredibly powerful, she was not someone who could be invited to the party.yghO
yrLPyyThe only assistance you could get from her was through her temporary buff. Having that buff alone would have changed a lot of things already – that was how overpowered she was.h8nNoW8
mOPAC“By the way, you said your sacred energy was sealed, right? It’s already been 4 days since we ran away from the Tower though. Can you still not use it?”zMyt
TY1WYyx“…Yeah. I can faintly feel it being recovered, but even that is being sucked out.”GGecQ4a
iI4JBThat indeed was strange. From what I knew, Estelle’s sacred energy was the energy left behind by the gods, which she could gather and use at will as the one and only half-Danann left behind in this world.O3HqeFm
74FVEven though it was a long time ago, she was still a descendant of Balor and Dagda, and the only one who had gone through the rare atavism to have a thicker concentration of the blood of the Titans and the King of Gods.7QpX67
yCxQZI had no idea what the principle behind her loss of power was because both in the game and in the last iteration, her role was just that of a damsel in distress.nQNCr
ckp18“They must have done something to me with the Holy Grail.”Y0nTT
S4l7“But then, it wouldn’t make sense that you got captured by the Tower Lord, right? They wouldn’t have had the Holy Grail back then.”ttYpm
jGrTT55“Hnn? I had a proper fight against the Tower Lord. I lost because I ended up using all my sacred energy.”bg080Re
3FQYCd9“Huh?”sFvb
pQOvNY“Nn?”qN2lgCv
LB14That was strange. Was the Saintess’ power not sealed during the escort?sbCjy
z7G“Let me ask something. When was it, that you couldn’t use your sacred energy?”t8Tz
1QLHnKX“I was at the Tower when I woke up, and that was when I couldn’t use it.”tVltaY
QYTVl“…”kAkfSm
8GNIn other words, they must have done something to Estelle after she arrived at the Tower of Mages.F7uClVh
0ZlkgFrFormation Expert, Kang Ryun. He had forced Hua Ran to eat a piece of wood from a peach tree, which was detrimental to Jiangshis, to weaken her.DlWx
ynS8pSomething similar could have been done to Estelle.7HF7C
MzNnkBut if they put it in her food, it didn’t make sense that Estelle didn’t notice it, and how was it that her powers were still weakened and sealed even though it had already been several days since we left the Tower?h97Y
E5c0Ra“Oh right, Junior. I don’t know why, but it feels like I’m getting some warm sacred energy back after meeting you. Is this because of your ‘Sun’?”bsvFkB
Rl8rJ“…”bzU
L8CtRAThe clues she was sharing were extremely hard for me to understand.mAJSG
ivDHow was the Tower of Mages sealing Estelle’s sacred energy? In fact, did the Tower even have the means to seal sacred energy? Wasn’t that something that only the New Faith used when dealing with priests who committed heavy crimes… Ah.yoaiqoO
bv8EGxv“…What is it?”8dYF
p3T8“No. It’s nothing.”F8AgJ
FlzEJPdI came up with a hypothesis, but there was still the question of ‘How’.dzk05
ZQOmSl1Besides, it was questionable whether saying it now in this situation would be correct or not. This would inevitably lead to a quarrel which could potentially create a crack between the two of us.eFYUI
UhgvZOOIn a situation where our life depended on every passing second, there was no time to quarrel with or persuade her.Gvb0Y
F9Y0Ao‘It would be better to tell her once everything is over.’PeG
1Y6The fourth morning came to an end as the night slowly started to approach. We woke up from our sleep before it was time due to a sudden commotion outside.FbHM
X7zxE-Wararararaara…!5Yq
VyM7-S, stop them! Don’t…!9RItfeQ
btfj2Roars were followed by the sound of clashing metal and screams.rTZ
V4GDnc“J, junior? What’s going on?”zUI
P9Km“…It’s a fight. Who are they fighting though?”vEc
scrmiIt was clear who one of them was – they were the mages from the Tower that we witnessed at the bottom of the hill. The question, however, was the ones attacking those mages.le2j
hNCgK“Ugh…”dAcE3s
Q8v2xbEstelle anxiously shrunk her shoulders as the two of us instinctively killed the sound of our breath.QVfg4um
pmkUUk—!!DyB7a
XOFkB8It was a long, loud, and bloody battle.ODRdAo
zGdWho is it? An ally? No, but how and why would one of our allies make their way here?bZr
vMwQAiThere were a series of questions but it was soon time to settle that line of thought. The battle seemed to be over, as something started to approach us from a distance.Y9rD
zHxw-Woof! Woof! Aoouuuh!H30
ETM8rA dog… no, it was bigger than that; more like a wolf if anything. Did one of the mages have a wolf or a dog familiar?XBK
VEgIG14-Clomp! Clomp!I7rA
XeJWLBig.6Oxu
vJiQThe sound of the footsteps wasn’t that loud due to the snow, but I could tell from the sound of each of their steps that it wasn’t a normal human. Besides…RIsWq
GhWW-Clomp! Clomp!S68
cHqF91z-Clomp! Clomp!aitIZ3
J6aDAIt wasn’t just one—nvOQHP
kiyDAA-Kung!YEUGn
luOp9Y‘What was that?! What was that sound?!’ovG
p5A8M3cI blocked her mouth but I was also flustered by that bizarre thud. How could such a sound be made in this field of snow? How big were they…? Did they finish reviving the Titans? If not, how could…ku3W
9FSLy5YWith all my senses, I focused on what was going on outside the cave. Every sensor in my body was warning me of the incoming danger.FNSkZ
sm1sDid they find us? Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to climb this way after just fighting the mages…gzARyx
5heTc-Woof!n9N
E0DBRFTThat same bark echoed once again.xsWCpp0
kyYh2eT“Junior. Look…”30W9
zUTaVa“…”NfV03lW
E14Without her having to say it, I was already looking at the entrance of the cave where her eyes were facing.lIqparH
2mHpQd-…9qi0WFM
SBbk“…”2qr
h7iMy eyes met with the beast that was poking its head into the cave.Y48k
2ZgxibKClear blue eyes and a tall nose. Its huge and horrifying teeth were revealed with a smirk.lklAkGv
dRRGBEYThat there was no dog. It was a wolf… a Dire Wolf that resided in the Northern Kingdom at that.YWjbn
a7dMbWE“Fuu…”vhYWE
FVGTztu“It saw us, didn’t it?”wnNOYlX
WLw“…Yeah.”NwD2
RYxkZh-Kwaang!xTR3Q
PHRyigFThe snow cave’s ceiling crumbled as something snatched us from above.k1Nj7
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