Chapter 604: Anna’s Determination
Lightning dropped the final bird’s-eye map on Roland’s desk and closed her eyes while his hand rested on her forehead.
“You’ve worked hard.” He examined the map — sketch-form, less precise than Soraya’s captured images, but complete enough to hold a full view of the snow mountain. “Any new discoveries?”
“Snow,” Lightning said. “More snow. I didn’t even see large animals, let alone demons or beasts.”
“Is that so.” He spread it beside the earlier maps.
The mountain’s body was enormous — four thousand meters, he estimated, roughly matching the high peaks he had known from another world. The summit was not the sharp spire he had expected. It was flat and broad, the center slightly concave, like a volcanic caldera. But where a volcano would hold ash or rock, this held a frozen lake, its surface an unbroken mirror. Lightning said she could see flowing water beneath the ice — dark and swift under the thick white shell.
“What did you imagine there would be?” she asked.
“Ruins. Blackstone pagodas. Remains of a settlement.” He laughed. “Frankly, the bare ice surprises me more than ruins would have.” He pointed to the newly drawn edge. “Is this the source of the Redwater River?”
“Within the clouds — I almost missed it. There are cracks in the mountain’s body, some two or three hundred meters wide, and the sound of falling water was like thunder up close.” She turned her head to check the map. “I tried to enter one of the cracks.”
“Be honest.”
She already had been. “The mist from the rapids was too dense. Strong wind pushed me back out before I could see anything.”
“Don’t try something like that again without my permission.” He held her gaze until she dropped it.
“I promised to ask first. I know.”
“I’ll skip the homework punishment this time. Go play with Maggie.”
“What about the snow mountain?”
“We wait until Sylvie returns. I need to focus on the war with the church.” He stacked the maps and put them in a drawer.
Lightning nodded and flew out the window.
“What do you think?” Roland said, to the empty room.
“I’m here, Your Majesty.” Nightingale materialized on the desk, cross-legged, without shoes — just white socks, which he noticed because they were incongruous with everything about her. “The mountain is freezing cold. Who would set up a base there?”
“You think the Megamouth Beasts are sheltering inside the mountain’s body.”
“It’s only a guess. If they burrow as well as we think, building dens inside the rock wouldn’t be difficult. And—” She hesitated.
“Say it.”
“Could there be a connection between their tunnels and the passages through the Impassable Mountain Range?”
The thought stayed with him through the afternoon and into the night. He turned it over, examined it from every angle, kept coming back to the same place: if these creatures aren’t bound by natural barriers, how does any of this end?
Something else troubled him. If the Megamouth Beasts ranged as far as the edge of the Land of Dawn, there should be traces of their activity in the fertile plains. The Union would have recorded it. Nothing in Agatha’s knowledge of the old records mentioned them.
No answer to that. And no time to pursue one — the church existed, the war existed, and a future for Neverwinter depended on resolving it before anything else. Over the past month, he had shipped nearly four thousand soldiers to the Northern Region, along with corresponding supplies and rations. The defensive lines at the foot of the Impassable Mountain Range were being established on schedule. The routes from Coldwind Ridge into the interior of Graycastle had been cut off by the First Army. Soon the final batch would depart. Roland himself would be leaving with them.
The knock came when he had stopped expecting visitors for the night.
He opened the door. Anna stood in the corridor.
“I’ve seen Wendy’s expedition roster,” she said. “My name isn’t on it.” She walked in without waiting for an invitation, and her face was the thing that made his chest tighten — not angry, not demanding. Resolved. The way she had looked once before, in a cold jail cell, the morning he had come to take her out of it. “I can’t accept that.”
He pulled her to sit at the bedside. He took his time finding words.
“The military production in the Border Area needs you. The components for the heavy machine gun, the fuzes for the howitzers — your precision is built into them. That’s not a small thing. That’s what our victory is made of.”
“Not because the frontline is dangerous?”
He looked at her. There was the surging undercurrent beneath the cerulean surface — anxiety, fear, and beneath both of those, resolve so complete it had become stillness. Her expression was always steady, but he had learned, slowly, what steady could conceal.
“There’s danger, yes. But we’ll win. That’s the more appropriate reason for you to—”
“I can work at Deepvalley Town as well,” Anna said. “The Northern Region has iron and copper production. Lucia has agreed to come with me — refining won’t be a problem. Parts can be shipped instead of assembled weapons; the assembly happens in the north, and efficiency improves.” She looked at him steadily. “I came prepared.”
He was at a loss.
She reached up and took his face in her hands.
“I can’t accept being separated from you at a time like this.” Her thumbs brushed his jaw. “This is different from every other separation. You know better than anyone what this war means. Either Hermes is destroyed, or the First Army is. I won’t look away from that. If you lose—” She stopped. Started again. “If I wait in Neverwinter, any news would reach me two or three months after the fact. I won’t spend those months in torment only to receive a farewell at the end.”
The candlelight held them both.
Roland found that he had nothing left to argue with.
Chapter 604: Anna’s Determination
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
…
Lightning flew into the castle’s office and passed the last bird’s eye view map of the snow mountain to Roland.
“You’ve worked hard.” Roland caressed the young girl’s forehead. “Do you have any new discoveries?”
“There was only snow and more snow.” She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. “Don’t talk about demons and beasts, I didn’t even see any large animals.”
“Is that so? Looks like I imagined too much.” Roland took out the previous maps and examined them together thoroughly—although they were only drawn in sketch form, and were not as detailed and accurate as Soraya’s “photographs”, he could at least make out a full view of the snow mountain.
The body of the mountain was extremely large, and its height was approximately 4,000 meters. Standing on the mountaintop, one could clearly see the sea of clouds. The mountain peak was not as steep and sharp as Roland expected. Instead, it was a vast and flat area, and the middle portion was slightly concave, like a huge volcanic crater. The only difference was that the concave portion was filled with a frozen lake, whose entire surface resembled a spotless mirror. According to Lightning, she could see flowing water beneath the thick layers of ice.
“What did you imagine there would be at the peak?”
“Ruins, blackstone pagodas, remains of a town… these won’t be surprising.” Roland laughed. “I find it more surprising that it’s completely bare.” He
pointed at the newly-drawn map. “Is this the source of Redwater River?”
“Yes.” Lightning turned her head and took one look at the map. “It’s within the clouds. If it wasn’t for the sound of rushing water, I wouldn’t have noticed it. There are many cracks on the mountain’s body, some of which are amazingly large. Their widths could be two to three hundred meters long. When near, the sound of falling water is comparable to that of thunder.”
“Did you attempt to enter these cracks?”
“Uh…”
“Be honest.”
“I did try, but I couldn’t.” The young girl pouted her mouth. “The cracks were surely big enough, and their heights were sufficient to accommodate half a castle. The problem was that the mist created by the rapids was too dense and thus I couldn’t see anything. It was also accompanied by strong winds which pushed me back very quickly.”
“Don’t try something so dangerous in the future.” Roland glowered at her. “Do you remember what you promised me?”
“I promised to ask for your permission before doing any kind of exploration.” Lightning drooped her head low.
“That’s right. I’ll forgo the homework punishment this time. Go play with Maggie.”
“Aye… how about the snow mountain?”
“We’ll halt the work for now.” He stacked the maps neatly and kept them in a drawer. “We shall wait until Sylvie returns before we talk about deeper explorations. I have to place my focus on the war with the church.”
“Alright.” Lightning nodded and flew out of the window.
“What do you think?” Roland looked behind him.
“I’m here, Your Majesty.” Nightingale appeared on top of the desk, where she sat cross-legged. “The snow mountain is freezing cold. Who would choose to set up a camp in that kind of place?”
As she was not wearing shoes, Roland could not help taking a few more looks at her feet, which were cutely wrapped in white socks. “Eh… do you also think that the Megamouth Beasts are hiding within the snow mountain?”
“It’s only a guess. If they are as skillful at burrowing as we believe, it won’t be difficult for them to build dens in the mountain’s body, and furthermore…” Nightingale seemed a little hesitant.
“What?”
“I was wondering, could there be a connection between them and the holes in the Impassable Mountain Range?”
…
Roland continued to ponder over Nightingale’s words until it was night time. No matter how he looked at it, it was a truly terrifying conjecture.
If these bunches of scary monsters are everywhere and aren’t restricted by natural barriers, how am I going to destroy them?
Something else puzzled him greatly. “If the Megamouth Beasts could reach the edge of Land of Dawn, then there should be signs of their activity in the fertile plains. Why didn’t the Union leave any records of them?”
Unfortunately, the present situation prevented him from pursuing further exploration. The church had to be completely defeated for City of Neverwinter to have a future to speak of.
After more than a month of shipping, he had already transported close to 4,000 soldiers to the Northern Region, together with a corresponding amount of military supplies and rations. According to intelligence from the frontline, the field defense lines were being established according to plan, while the routes from Coldwind Ridge to the interior of the kingdom had all been cut
off by the First Army. Soon, the final batch of soldiers would be setting off. Roland would be following them to the Northern Region to command this war, in which failure was not an option.
Right at this moment, he heard someone knock on the bedroom door.
Roland opened the door and discovered that it was Anna who was standing outside.
“I’ve seen Wendy’s expedition roster, and my name isn’t on it.” She walked into the room with no trace of emotion on her face. “Pardon me, but I can’t accept that, Your Majesty.”
Had Anna stormed angrily into the room and started an argument with him, Roland would have known what to do. Instead, Anna’s expression made him feel a little afraid. It was as though she had already made up her mind on something, and life and death did not matter to her anymore. Ever since he rescued her from jail, he had not seen her look this way in front of him.
Roland pulled her to take a seat at the bedside. After a long period of silence, he finally spoke, “I understand how you feel. However, the military production in the Border Area needs you. Whether it be the components of the heavy machine gun or the fuzes of the howitzer, your processing skills are required… and these are crucial to our victory.”
“Not because the frontline is dangerous?”
“Although there’s a definite amount of danger while fighting against the church, we’ll definitely emerge victorious. So, you don’t have to worry too much… It’s a more appropriate choice for you to remain here.”
He did not attempt to persuade Anna based on the perspective of war safety, as her expression had already made clear her attitude. The only way to convince someone as conscientious as her was to draw upon higher-level reasons, such as explaining to her how the military production played a key part in the outcome of the war.
“If that’s the case, I can do the processing in Deepvalley Town as well.” Anna remained unmoved nevertheless. “There’s iron and copper production in the Northern Region too. I’m sure Miss Edith won’t be stingy with their ores. Lucia has also agreed to follow me, and thus the refining won’t be a problem. As for the issue of transportation, while the ships had to transport complete weapons initially, they only have to transport parts now, and the assembly can be done in the Northern Region. This will only increase our efficiency.” Anna’s reply was clear and irrefutable. It was obvious that she came prepared for this.
Roland was at a loss for words.
“Your Majesty, I can’t accept being separated from you at a time like this.” She reached out her hands and clasped his cheeks. “This is different from our separations in the past. You know clearer than anyone that the war with the church is the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced. Either Hermes gets completely destroyed, or the First Army perishes. I’ll never avoid what I need to do or deceive myself. If you lose, there’s a chance I’ll never see you again. Furthermore, if I wait in City of Neverwinter, I’ll only hear the news two or three months after anything happens. I don’t want to wait in torment for such a long time only to bid farewell in the end.”