Chapter 851: An Invitation from the Neverwinter Exploration Group
The monster hit the ground where she had been standing and sent up a spray of snowmelt, its wings broader than any Four-winged Eagle’s. Lorgar had already sidestepped it — and now, in the ringing silence that followed, she studied the creature.
Hairless wings. Terrifying bulk. Eyes the pale, slightly-too-bright color of something that had once been a bird.
The name surfaced before she could stop it.
“Maggie?”
“The wolf can actually speak — coo!” The monster scrambled backward several steps, eyes blown wide, and for a moment Lorgar could not decide whether to spring at it. The creature’s panic was all wrong: it looked like the ambushed one, not the ambusher.
“It’s a witch, idiot.” A clear, young voice fell from above. “Who are you? How do you know us?”
Lorgar looked up, narrowing her eyes against the sun. A small figure hung in the glare — short blond hair tossing in the wind, a weapon catching silver light. The girl had placed herself perfectly: the sun directly behind her, the brightness a weapon in itself.
Lorgar noted it. That kind of tactical instinct was not common in someone so young.
She let her shoulders drop and spat the pack from her mouth, shifting back into her human form. “I’m Lorgar Burnflame of the Desert. I came with Ashes and Andrea. Ashes mentioned you on the way — Maggie.”
“Ah, I remember.” The vast creature shrank, folded, became: a small girl barely reaching Lorgar’s waist, with white hair almost brushing the ground. “I met her when I went to fetch Ashes. Coo!”
“Did Ashes say anything about me?” The blond girl dropped from the sky and landed in a crouch, then straightened, visibly annoyed.
“You’re —”
“Lightning. The greatest explorer in the Western Region — no, in all of Graycastle. In all four kingdoms, in fact.” She planted her feet. “Remember it.”
“Coo — why did you take your clothes off?” Maggie stared at Lorgar’s chest with open curiosity, then glanced down at her own. “Is that something you can conjure? Coo!”
Lightning rapped her on the head. “Stop staring. That’s just individual differences.”
Lorgar shrugged on her coat. “Why did you attack me?”
Some of Lightning’s confidence flickered. “I thought you were a mutated snowwolf. We’re posted to the northeast — eliminate wandering demonic beasts in the Barbarian Land, bring back fresh game.”
“And steal eggs from nests, collect honeycombs, and roast food over open fires in the wilderness!”
“That is not our work!” Lightning cut Maggie off instantly. “The point is — there’s almost no one in this area. The Months of Demons just ended. A large Desert Wolf is a reasonable thing to investigate.”
It was a reasonable explanation. Lorgar had heard from enough traveling traders what the northern border became during those months, and after her fight with the Four-winged Eagle, Ashes had explained at length what hybrid demonic beasts could do. She let it pass.
“What about you?” Lightning’s gaze sharpened. “This is the Barbarian Land. Demonic beasts wander here, and some things worse than demonic beasts. What do you want out here alone?”
“Something worse.” Lorgar kept her voice level. “Do you mean demons?”
“Coo — you know about demons?”
“I’m looking for an abandoned city. I heard that demons appeared there.” She paused. “I want to hunt them.”
Lightning stared at her for a long moment, the kind of silence that meant she was suppressing something. “Who told you that?”
“Is something wrong?”
“Demons did appear in Taquila.” Lightning broke into a grin. “Four hundred years ago. They may return at any time — that’s why we patrol — but if you want to go there now, you’re looking at seven or eight days on foot. And the Barbarian Land is too vast to navigate without a guide. This territory is called the Fertile Plains, and it’s larger than all four kingdoms combined.”
The Wolf Girl frowned. The distance was nothing; she had once spent two consecutive months in the wilderness honing her edge. She had the patience of a hunter. She did not worry about time or solitude. But losing herself in a featureless expanse and never finding the city at all — that was a different problem.
“I admire the spirit, though.” Lightning crossed her arms. “Starting an expedition on limited information, alone — that’s genuine explorer’s instinct. I don’t know why you refused the Witch Union, but there’s another option: the Neverwinter Exploration Group. What do you say? Come map the unknown with us.”
“And come to our barbecues!” Maggie raised both hands with delight.
Lorgar suppressed a sigh. She had pictured Maggie as a warrior worth challenging — the creature Ashes had spoken of with a warning in her voice. Instead: an eager child who wanted to roast meat in the wilderness. This was not the kind of trial the Three Gods arranged.
She turned to leave.
“Wait.” Lightning’s voice stopped her. “I’ll take you to the Taquila ruins — if you join the Neverwinter Exploration Group.”
Lorgar’s ears came up on their own.
“We’re the only people to have touched that city wall in four hundred years,” Lightning said, and the pride in her voice was real. “I know things about demons. I’ve fought a Senior Demon — a powerful one. That’s information you can’t find anywhere else.”
Lorgar did not move for a moment.
“Think about it,” Lightning said.
Chapter 851: An Invitation from the Neverwinter Exploration Group
Translator: TransN Editor: Meh
Lorgar found that this wild, ugly flying monster who had hairless wings and terrifying strength sounded somewhat familiar.
“Wait, doesn’t it sound like the white pigeon who’s very close to Ashes?” The Wolf Girl thought. A fierce image of the bird she had imagined flashed across her mind again.
“Maggie?” The name slipped out of her mouth before she realized.
“The wolf can actually speak, coo!” The monster gave out a strange cry and hurriedly retreated many steps with its eyes widely open. Seeing this, the Wolf Girl froze in the place, unable to decide whether she should spring at it. She did not know why Maggie launched this sneak attack at her but still thought this incident was a good opportunity to challenge Maggie. However, the panicked monster’s actions made her think that Maggie was the one being ambushed.
“It’s a witch, idiot.” A crisp, immature voice suddenly came from the monster’s head. “Who’re you? How do you know us?
Lorgar looked up. She had to slightly narrow her eyes to look hard and found another witch floating in the air with the sun behind her. In the glaring sunshine, the Wolf Girl could only vaguely see her short blond hair flying in the wind and a weapon reflecting silver light in her hand.
Lorgar was surprised that this little girl seemed to have a lot of fighting experience. This technique of using dazzling sunlight to hurt an opponent’s eyes was not very easy to master.
Knowing that these witches did not come to challenge her, Lorgar let herself relax. She liked challenges, but she did not want to pester her opponents. Besides, she still remembered what Ashes had said about Maggie, “All the people who challenged her could not get rid of bad luck”. With this in mind, she decided to avoid this trouble when she was strengthening her fighting capacity alone.
She dropped the pack that was in her mouth and transformed back into her human form. “I’m Lorgar Burnflame from the Desert. I came here with Ashes and Andrea. Ashes mentioned you on the way, Maggie.”
“Ah, I remember.” The big monster shrank in the blink of an eye and turned into a little girl whose height was only up to her waist but had long white hair almost touching the ground. “I’ve met her when I went to pick up Ashes. Coo!”
“Didn’t Ashes tell you anything about me?” The blond little girl grumbled.
“You’re…”
“Lightning, the greatest explorer in the Western Region, no, in the entire Kingdom of Graycastle!” With these words, she plunged down and landed in front of the Wolf Girl. “You’ve got to remember it!”
“Coo… why did you take off your clothes?” Maggie curiously looked at the Wolf Girl’s chest and then touched her own. “Is that something you can conjure up? Coo!”
Lightning gave Maggie a knock on the head. “Stop staring at her. That’s just individual differences.”
Lorgar put on her coat. “So why did you attack me?”
Lightning stopped being so confident and seemed even a little embarrassed. “I thought you were a mutated snowwolf. It’s our job to keep watch on the northeast, eliminate wandering demonic beasts in the Barbarian Land, and bring fresh preys back to the castle.”
“And stealing birds’ eggs from their nests, picking honeycombs, and roasting food in the wilderness!”
“Those aren’t our work!” Lightning instantly interrupted Maggie. “In short, there’s almost no one in this area, plus the Months of Demons just ended, so…”
“I see.” Lorgar nodded. She accepted this explanation since she had repeatedly heard that the border regions of northern kingdoms would become very dangerous during Months of Demons every year. After the fight against the Four-winged Eagle, Ashes had also told her many things about hybrid demonic beasts. It was sensible that these witches up in the sky had mistaken the big Desert Wolf she had transformed into as a wolf demonic hybrid.
“What about you?” the little girl asked. “This is the Barbarian Land. Many demonic beasts wander this place and something even more terrible may also hide here. What do you want to do out here alone?”
“Something more terrible… Do you mean demons?” Lorgar calmly said. “If so, I think I’ve come to the right place.”
“You know about the demons? Coo.”
“I’m looking for an abandoned city. I heard the demons have appeared there.” She paused for a moment. “I want to hunt them.”
Lightning was stunned for a moment and then looked at Lorgar with a strange facial expression as if she was trying hard to stop herself from laughing out. “Who told you that?”
“Is there anything wrong?” Lorgar asked.
“Demons did appear in Tacqilla, but it was over 400 years ago.” Lightning grinned. “Of course, they may return at any time. That’s why we patrol this area. But if you really want to go to the abandoned city, you’ll have to run for seven or eight days. More importantly, the Barbarian Land is too large. Once you head in a wrong direction, you’ll never see the city. You have to know that this place is originally called the Fertile Plains and it’s larger than the
entire Kingdom of Graycastle… no, even larger than the Four Kingdoms combined.”
“Really?” The Wolf Girl could not help but frown. She did not worry about the long distance since she had once traveled in the wilderness for two consecutive months to practice her fighting skills. She did not worry about the time either due to being a seasoned hunter. She had enough patience to wait for the demons. In fact, she really hoped to live in the wild for some time as she would never spend her gold royals unconsciously here. However, failing to find the abandoned city was totally unacceptable for her.
“Yes, but I admire your courage and adventurous spirit!” Lightning stood with her arms bent. “You’re brave enough to begin an exploration based on limited information. That means you’ve got the potential to become a good explorer. I don’t know why you refused to join the Witch Union, but you can join the Neverwinter Exploration Group. What do you think? Do you want to explore this continent wrapped in mist together with us?”
“And to join our barbecue!” Maggie cheerfully raised her hands.
“No, thanks.” Lorgar could not help but sigh in her heart, feeling that things had deviated from her expectations. For example, Maggie who looked as fierce as the Four-winged Eagle, turned out to be an immature little girl instead of a qualified warrior. Lorgar came here to challenge her own limits and climb the peak of fighting skills, not to play with some child. She decided to search for the city on her own and considered this as another challenge arranged by the Three Gods.
When she was about to leave, Lightning stopped her. “Wait. I’ll take you to the Taquila ruins…if you join the Neverwinter Exploration Group.”
“Have you been there?” Lorgar’s ears erected at once.
“Of course, we’re the only ones who’ve touched its city wall in over 400 years,” Lightning proudly announced, “and I know much about demons and have even fought a very powerful Senior Demon. This will be unique information for you. Think about it.”