Chapter 804: An Accident at the Snow Mountain
As soon as Lightning returned to her tent, she pulled off her goggles, peeled off her gloves, and held her frozen hands over the brazier.
Her fingers began to tingle almost immediately.
Although winter had officially ended nearly a fortnight ago, the snow showed no sign of lessening. If anything, it was coming down heavier. Every time she returned from an investigation run, her hair was soaked with meltwater, and it always took a while before sensation crept back into her skin.
When her hands had warmed enough, she dragged a stool next to the brazier, worked off her soggy leather boots, and cocked her feet toward the flames. A thin wisp of white steam curled from the toes of her socks. The warmth moved through her cold feet in slow degrees. She was a little embarrassed by the smell — after wearing the same boots for this long, it was only natural.
She understood now why her father had always said that a great explorer depended on a great team behind him. If the First Army had not already set up the brazier and had hot water waiting before she returned — soaked and spent — she would have had to light a fire and boil water herself after every run. That alone would have eaten through whatever enthusiasm she’d brought to the work.
Her father had once told her, in one of his adventure stories, how difficult it was to draw a hot bath in midwinter. Damp wood, rotted leaves buried under snow, the labor of gathering it all — under those conditions, most crews only washed properly after completing their mission. But the machines His Majesty had invented solved those problems without ceremony. The campsite was not far from the riverbank, and the boilers on the three concrete boats had been running since the first day of their arrival, supplying hot water around the clock. If she needed some, she only had to take a bucket.
The same went for food. A peculiar concrete boat served as the mobile kitchen for the entire team. Its upper deck was given over to large pots of oatmeal, cooked daily with steam from the boiler, and served with dried meat and salted fish — far better than the tasteless hardtack she’d eaten on expeditions with her father’s crew.
By her father’s standard, this was the finest logistics operation in the world.
When her hands and feet had recovered, Lightning took out her notebook and began to write.
Spring, 16th. Still digging. The mountain greatly impedes Sylvie’s and Margie’s abilities — especially Margie’s. They consume large amounts of magic power to penetrate thick rock. Out of safety concerns, they must reserve enough power to return to camp before each operation. Progress is slow.
Sylvie can only pick a rough direction for Miss Fran to dig from any useful distance. By the way, Miss Fran is a very kind woman despite her unsettling appearance. She is even more frightening to watch eat than Maggie. I hope I can one day see what she originally looked like.
It had been thirteen days since they’d arrived at the foot of the snow mountain. The only thing they were certain of was the existence of a large hollow space inside — one that appeared to be connected by multiple caves. Finding the main cave where the ruin was located, let alone cutting a tunnel wide enough for the First Army, remained beyond reach.
She and Maggie could not contribute much to the tunneling itself. Their role was sentry duty at the mountain’s perimeter, and exploring the cracks and crevices the Magic Ark could not reach. The most time-consuming part of any expedition, she had learned, was never the destination itself — it was finding the correct path to get there.
Just as Father always said: an explorer is always on her way.
Lightning cupped her mouth and exhaled. The breath turned to a small white cloud in the cold air. She continued:
Latest finding of Lightning, greatest explorer in Graycastle.
We spotted a long, dark shape beneath the ice near the peak of the Great Snow Mountain. It looked like a huge fish. I cannot tell how long it took to grow so large, but I imagine it would taste excellent. It is a pity that Anna did not come with us — we could not break the ice to reach it. Maggie could only leave scratch marks on the surface with her claws; explosives are forbidden near the peak. We will probably have to wait until summer, when the snow melts.
Lightning licked her lips. She had not had barbecued fish in a long time. Perhaps she and Maggie could fly to Misty Forest before nightfall. She would need to bring something back for Wendy as well, or she’d hear about her recklessness all evening.
She wrote the last entry:
One further finding. We have observed a grouping of demonic beasts to the east of Misty Forest. They seem to be moving in a direction that could threaten the city wall, but His Majesty’s fortifications should be sufficient to hold them.
She folded the sheepskin notebook back into its waterproof bag and returned it to her pack. As an explorer, she recorded everything she saw, every day. Like a captain’s log, a journal was both a badge of honor and a guide for those who came after — especially if the author did not survive the expedition to explain it herself.
Running footsteps crunched outside the tent.
Wendy pushed the flap open, slightly breathless, something taut in her voice. “Agatha and the others are back. There’s been an accident. Fran is missing.”
“What?” Lightning was already on her feet. “Missing?”
By the time the witches at the campsite reached the end of the tunnel Fran had bored through the mountain, the First Army soldiers had already lit fires and posted guards. Agatha and the Taquila witches stood at one end, clearly arguing about something.
Lightning peered through the entrance and drew a sharp breath.
A fathomless hole opened in the stone before them, its ceiling invisible, its bottom lost in darkness. The sound of running water came from somewhere far above. Part of the tunnel’s edge had given way. The broken ground was ringed with a slick, glistening liquid.
“Did Miss Fran fall from here?”
Edith answered. “It appears so. Sylvie had located the right direction, but Fran found an opening into the large cave — and didn’t see the drop ahead. She fell before she could stop herself.”
“Appears so?” Lightning caught the particular phrasing.
Edith shrugged. “Sylvie and Margie were searching on the opposite side at the time, in a position where they could directly observe what Fran was doing. According to Sylvie, Fran’s magic signature simply disappeared. I don’t fully understand how your abilities work, but the Eye of Magic can see considerable distances — yet when they reached this spot, they could not detect anything at the bottom.”
“Couldn’t see?”
“Neither the bottom nor the worm carrier. There are two explanations.” Edith spread her hands. “Either the hole is too deep for the Eye of Magic to reach, or something has blocked her vision. Neither option is encouraging.” She glanced toward Agatha and the others, still locked in argument. “What they are debating is whether to go down immediately to look for Fran.”
Chapter 804: An Accident at the Snow Mountain
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
As soon as Lightning returned to her tent at the campsite, she took off her goggles, peeled off her gloves, and put her frozen, numb hands above the brazier.
Her fingers soon started to tingle.
Although it had been almost half a month since winter had ended, flurries of snow persisted without any sign of turning lighter. On the contrary, it grew increasingly heavy. Every time Lightning returned from an investigation, her hair was drenched with melted snow, and it always took a while before sensations came back into her skins.
After her hands were a bit warmer, Lightning placed a stool next to the brazier, took off her soggy leather boots, and cocked her feet above the blazes. She could clearly see a wisp of white steam stream out of the tip of her socks. A tinge of warmth went through her cold toes. She was a little abashed by the smell of her feet. Having worn the same boots for such a long time, it was natural that the feet gave off some odor.
Now she understood why her father always stressed that a great explorer should be supported by a great team. Had the First Army not set up the brazier or made hot water aforetime, she would not have been able to fully dedicate herself to the exploration. Her burning enthusiasm for exploration would definitely be quenched by the frustrating thought that she had to lit a fire and boil water herself after returning to the campground, all soaked and exhausted.
Lightning thought perhaps, only King Roland’s team had the capability to supply hot water 24 hours a day. Her father had once told her in one of his
adventure stories that it was indeed very difficult to have a hot water bath in midwinter. The obstacles lay in dampened wood, rotted leaves covered by snows, and the time and effort to collect those materials. As such, most of the time his crew members would thoroughly cleanse their bodies only after they fulfilled their undertaking.
But the machines invented by His Majesty completely solved these problems. As the campsite was not far away from the riverbank, the boilers on the three concrete boats, which had been in operation since the first day of their arrival, were able to continuously provide the camp with hot water. If she required hot water, she just needed to take a bucket to fetch some.
The same applied to food.
A peculiar concrete boat was responsible for food supplies for the whole team. The upper floor of the boat constituted a mobile kitchen, where a large amount of oatmeal was cooked every day with the steam produced by the boiler. They ate the oatmeal with some dried meat and salted fish, so much better than tasteless solid food.
It was probably the best logistics team in the world by her father’s standard.
After her hands and feet became warm again, Lightning took out her notebook and began to write journal entries.
“Spring, 16th, we were still digging. The mountain greatly impeded Sylvie’s and Margie’s abilities, especially Margie’s. They had to consume a lot of magic power in order to penetrate thick rocks. Out of safety concerns, we must reserve sufficient magic power to head back to the camp for each operation. As a result, we didn’t gain much progress.”
“Due to a limitation in the distance, Sylvie could just roughly pick a few directions for Miss Fran to dig. By the way, Miss Fran is a very nice lady despite her misshapen figure. She looks even scarier than Maggie when eating. I really hope that I can, one day, see what she originally looked like.”
It had been 13 days since they had arrived at the foot of the snow mountain. The only thing they were positive for now was the existence of a big hollow
space, which appeared to be connected by multiple caves, in the mountain. It was hard to successfully find the main cave where the ruin was located, let alone to open a tunnel wide enough for the First Army.
Both she and Maggie could not help much in this respect. They could only put sentries outside the mountain or sneak into those strange caves to investigate the ruptures and crevices that the Magic Ark failed to reach.
Compared with the exploration of the ruin itself, finding a correct path leading to the destination was always the most time-consuming part that often required the most efforts and work.
Just as what her father frequently said, an explorer was always on his way.
Lightning cupped her mouth and exhaled a breath which soon turned into a cluster of white steam in the cold air. She continued to write the followings:
“Last came the latest finding of Lightning, the greatest explorer in Graycastle.”
“We spied a long, dark figure underneath the ice at the peak of the Great Snow Mountain. It looked like a huge fish. I had no idea how long it took the creature to grow so big, but it must taste good. It was a pity that Anna didn’t come with us. We couldn’t break the ice to catch it. Maggie could only leave some scratching marks on the ice with her claws, for it was forbidden to employ explosives at the top of the mountain. We probably have to wait until summer when the snow melts.”
At these words, Lightning licked her lips. Because of the exploration, she had not tasted barbequed fish for a long time. Perchance she could fly to Misty Forest with Maggie to get some food before nightfall. She probably also needed to get food for Wendy so that she would not blame her for her roguishness.
Lightning continued to write, “Further, there was another significant finding. We had noticed some demonic beasts group up to the east of Misty Forest, but His Majesty’s city wall should be able to block them.”
After writing all these down, Lightning put the sheepskin notebook into a watertight bag and slipped it back into her knapsack. As an explorer, she must record everything she saw on a daily basis. Like a captain’s logbook, the journal was not only an explorer’s badge of honor but also important references for future explorers. When the owner of the logbook was unfortunately killed in an accident, other explorers would be able to analyze his journal and avoid trodding the same path.
Just at that moment, Lightning heard running footsteps outside the door.
It was Wendy outside her tent.
“Agatha and the others are back.” Wendy sounded a little anxious. “We’ve had an accident. Fran’s missing!”
“What?” Lightning rose in surprise. “Missing?”
…
By the time the witches stationed at the campground arrived at the end of the tunnel created by the devouring worm, the soldiers from the First Army had lit a fire and put sentries. They found Agatha and the Taquila witches arguing over something.
Lightning poked her head and gasped. She saw a fathomless hole in front of her, its ceiling and bottom indiscernible. She could only hear the sound of running water coming from above.
A part of the tunnel’s edge had collapsed. Lightning took out the Stone of Lighting and bent over. The crack was covered with slimy liquid.
“Did Miss Fran fall from here?”
Edith answered, “Looks like so for now… Sylvie picked the right direction, but Fran was just unlucky. She opened the path leading to the big cave but did not notice the precipice at the front. Then she fell to the bottom.”
“Looks like?” Lightning noticed her particular wording.
Edith shrugged. “At that time Sylvie and Margie were searching on the other side, a location where they could exactly see what Fran was doing. According to Sylvie, Fran’s magic reaction suddenly disappeared from her sight. I don’t really know how your magic power works, but Miss Sylvie’s Eye of Magic should be able to see very distant objects, right? Yet when they got here, they couldn’t see anything at the bottom.”
“Couldn’t… see?” The little girl was stunned.
Edith spread out her hands. “They couldn’t see the bottom or the devouring worm. There’re two possible explanations: one is that the hole is so deep that it goes beyond the visual field of the Eye of Magic. The other is that something has blocked her vision. Either of them omens ill.” Edith paused for a moment and looked at the arguing Ice Witch and the others. “What they’re arguing about is whether they should dive into the hole to rescue Fran immediately.”