Chapter 852: A Like-minded Friend
When the sun touched the Impassable Mountain Range, the range’s shadow began to grow — slowly at first, then with the sureness of a tide, spreading across the Barbarian Land’s predominantly brown expanse until sky and earth dissolved together into darkness. The green patches below were swallowed last.
Lorgar had never seen anything like it. Even mounted on a creature as vast as Maggie, the beast’s shadow was a small, irrelevant thing against such immensity. They flew fast, and still the darkness came on. You could not outrun a mountain range’s shadow. You could not outrun the sheer size of this place.
It filled her with something that was not quite fear, but was close to its border.
Lightning pulled alongside her and whistled. “Down. We’re here.”
Maggie banked, and the ground rushed up. For a moment Lorgar’s stomach floated free of her body and she grabbed a fistful of the creature’s skin, holding on until the shock of landing settled back into solid earth.
“This is our Exploration Group’s secret base,” Lightning announced, waving her over toward a massive tree stump. Lorgar followed — and then stopped.
The stump was hollow. A small door faced the steep hillside. Inside, stacked firewood, simple stone chairs, the smell of old wood and cool air.
“It’ll take two days to fly to Taquila,” Lightning said, pushing open the window opposite the door, letting the air move through until the worst of the decay smell cleared. “We’ll spend the night and leave early tomorrow. Now — barbecue time. Wait until you taste my toast.”
“Did you build this?” Lorgar looked around slowly.
“I found it. Nature built it.” Lightning struck a fire, and the inside of the stump warmed orange. “Some worm ate it hollow. The top collapsed in a storm and the branches made a natural roof. Maggie cut the window and door. We have several places like this in the Barbarian Land. An observant explorer always finds shelter.”
Lorgar held that answer against what her eyes were telling her. The door and window both had bolt locks. A section of the roof above the fire pit could be hinged open — venting smoke, but also serving as an emergency hatch, she noted. The firewood was stacked on raised shelves, away from the floor’s moisture. Two drainage ditches ran across the packed earth. The room smelled of decay but was not damp.
These were not the arrangements of a child playing at adventure.
She began to revise her estimate of the Neverwinter Exploration Group.
Maggie retrieved jerky from her pack and held it over the bonfire, humming something melodically shapeless. Lightning produced condiment cans from her belt and sprinkled them with practiced precision across the sizzling surface. The cooperation was automatic, unrehearsed — the smoothness of a habit too established to require discussion.
The smell that filled the stump made Lorgar’s mouth betray her.
“Try it.” Lightning offered a piece.
She took it. Hesitated. Put it in her mouth.
Rich layers broke across her tongue — warm, oily, the salt of spices cutting through fat, the outer char giving way to tender interior. Something in the wilderness had produced a meal that would not have embarrassed the finest feast in Iron Sand City.
Her tail moved. She could not help it.
She breathed out the lingering warmth from her throat. “So — so good.”
“Of course it is — it’s not common meat, coo!” Maggie puffed up with pride. “Giant lake frog from the Icespring of the Great Snow Mountain. I worked hard to catch it. Each leg is as large as Lightning. We could only preserve it and eat it slowly.”
Lorgar stopped chewing. “Lake frog? Is that — edible?”
“Don’t worry.” Lightning’s expression said she had seen this exact face before. “Explorers exist to explore the unknown. Unfamiliar food is part of it.”
Lorgar bit her lip. She looked at the remaining piece in her hand. She closed her eyes and swallowed.
She savored the aftertaste. Then she looked at Lightning. “Are there only two members of this Exploration Group?”
“Three now.”
“Why do you want me to join?” Lorgar chose directness. “I came to the Western Region to challenge strong opponents and improve my fighting. Exploring the unknown doesn’t interest me.”
Lightning went quiet — a rarer thing than silence in most people. “The other witches seldom leave Neverwinter. The ones who want to go out have more important things to stay for — factories, machines. My father said one person alone can’t complete a real adventure, so I have to build my own team. You’re the only witch we’ve met in the Barbarian Land.”
Lorgar heard the thing underneath the words. This was not a passing fancy, not a child’s game — this little girl was serious about it in the way that mattered, in the way that most people never recognized until you showed them what it looked like up close. The loneliness in Lightning’s tone was the particular loneliness of someone whose dream everyone had already decided was not a real dream.
She had known that loneliness herself. Before she had won enough challenges to be recognized as a real warrior, female fighters in Iron Sand City were considered aberrations at best, follies at worst. No one had understood her dedication. Few had tried.
Lorgar looked at the fire for a moment. Then she pretended to be casual about it. “Since I’m a member of the Exploration Group — what do I do next?”
Lightning’s eyes lit. She pulled a parchment map from her pocket and handed it over. “The unexplored areas are marked. If you pass through them, draw what you find — bird nests, honeycombs, wolf caves, anything. It all counts.”
“But you can’t have any of it alone,” Maggie interrupted, very serious. “That’s the most important rule. You have to wait until we come back and we eat everything together!”
Lorgar unfolded the map. She studied it. In the spot labeled eagle nest, someone had drawn two chicken drumsticks and four eggs with careful precision.
She did not know whether to laugh or despair.
She folded the map away. “When you say ‘come back’ — you’re leaving for Neverwinter?”
“His Majesty Roland is sending troops to the Eastern Region and Hermes. We’ll likely go with the First Army — scouting, cannon-fire corrections. A few months at minimum.” Lightning patted her own chest with authority. “His Majesty depends on us when he needs intelligence on the enemy. While we’re gone, you’re in charge of exploration in the Barbarian Land.”
Chapter 852: A Like-minded Friend
Translator: TransN Editor: Meh
…
When the sun was setting, the shadow of the Impassable Mountain Range started to grow gradually and it seemed as if the mountain range itself was growing constantly. In the end, the shadow together with the sky mixed in darkness which engulfed the predominantly brown land that was dotted with some green areas.
This was the first time that Lorgar saw such a scene. When flying in the sky, a huge monster like Maggie could only cast a small shadow on the ground. The darkness seemed to approach slowly, but they just could not get rid of it no matter how fast they flew.
The pure vastness of the Barbarian Land filled her with awe.
Lightning moved closer and whistled. “Let’s go down. We’re here.”
“Ow!”
When the beast was going down, the Wolf Girl on its back felt as if she was about to float up in mid-air. This feeling frightened her. She could not help but firmly grasp the beast’s skin.
Before long, the three witches successfully landed on a hillside.
“This is…”
“Our Exploration Group’s secret base.” Lightning waved at Lorgar. “Come with me.”
The little girl suddenly disappeared behind a big tree stump. The Wolf Girl came up and found that the stump turned out to be hollow. It had a small door facing the steep slope and behind the door, she was surprised to see that there was a pile of firewood and some simple stone chairs inside.
“It’ll take two days to fly to Taquila. We’ll spend the night here and continue our journey early tomorrow morning.” Lightning opened the window opposite to the door to let the air flow. Most of the decaying smell inside the stump instantly disappeared. “Now it’s our barbecue time. Wait to try my yummy toast.”
“Did you… build this place?” Lorgar curiously looked around. She had accepted Lightning’s invitation and joined the so-called Neverwinter Exploration Group because the little girl had promised to bring her to the abandoned city and to provide her further information about demons, which precisely peeked her curiosity. After all, the Wolf Girl believed that the more she knew about her opponents, the easier it would be to defeat them. She had to force herself to leave the city knowing little about demons and the wilderness, but now as she finally met a reliable source of intelligence, she decided to make some “sacrifices” to keep it.
She felt it was not a big deal to spend some time playing with these two little girls.
“I didn’t build it. I just found a place created by nature.” Lightning quickly made a fire, lighting up the room inside the stump. “It was eaten hollow by some worms and the upper part of it collapsed during a storm. Its branches and leaves happened to form a natural roof. As for the window and door, they were cut out by Maggie. We’ve many bases like this in the Barbarian Land. An observant explorer is always able to spot a shelter in the wild.”
Upon hearing her reply, Lorgor felt this little girl was quite trustworthy.
In the flickering firelight, she noticed that there were bolts behind the shabby door and window that could be locked to ensure safety. She also saw that a part of the roof above the open fireplace could be opened for venting smoke and this outlet could obviously act as a double for an escape hatch in the event of an emergency. All the firewood was shelved in higher places to
avoid being soaked in water and two ditches were dug out in the ground to ensure good drainage. Although there was a decaying smell in the room, it was not humid.
She noticed many other similar details in this room and it did not seem like these arrangements were made by a little child.
She started to doubt whether she had underestimated this exploration group.
Maggie took out some jerky from her backpack and cooked it over the bonfire while humming a tuneless melody. Lightning picked out many condiment cans which had been wrapped around her waist and evenly sprinkled them on the surface of the jerky. The smooth cooperation between them suggested that this was not their first time to do such a thing together.
Soon, a tempting scent spread throughout the stump.
“Try it.” Lightning handed some roast meat to Lorgar.
Lorgar grabbed it and, after a little hesitation, slowly put it into her mouth.
Extremely rich layers of flavor immediately filled her mouth. It was warm and oily, and fresh and salty because of the spices being used. The meat was tender inside and it had a crispy crust. It was hard for the Wolf Girl to believe that something cooked in the wild could be as delicious as the food in the finest feast of the Iron Sand City.
She could not help but happily wag her tail and then breathed out the aroma lingering in her throat. “So…So yummy…”
“Of course, it’s not common meat, coo!” said Maggie proudly. “It’s the meat of a giant lake frog in the Icespring of the Great Snow Mountain. I made a huge effort to catch it! Each of its legs is the size of Lightning. It’s so big that we can only preserve it and eat it slowly.”
The Wolf Girl was stunned. “Lake frog? What’s that? Is it really edible?”
“Don’t worry. We explorers exist to explore unknown secrets and different food is one of them,” said the little girl, as if she had seen through Lorgar’s
mind.
The Wolf Girl bit her lips but failed to close her mouth in the end. She closed her eyes and swallowed the remaining meat.
After enjoying the aftertaste in her mouth, she looked at Lightning and asked, “Are there only two members of this Neverwinter Exploration Group?”
“Currently, there are three,” the little girl corrected.
“What about the other witches in the Witch Union? Why do you want me to join this group?” After thinking, Princess Lorgar still chose to be blunt. “I came to the Western Region to challenge strong opponents and improve my skills. Exploring the unknown doesn’t intrigue me…”
Lightning fell silent for a while, which was rare for her. “That’s because the other witches seldom leave Neverwinter. Even if some of them want to do so, few of them would like to wander in the wild. As compared to exploration, they’ve more important things to do… such as staying in factories to produce machines. My father said that one person alone could hardly complete a real adventure so I’ve got to build my own team to become a great explorer. You’re the only witch we’ve met in the Barbarian Land.”
Lorgar suddenly realized that this little girl was serious about the exploration group. This was not just a passing fancy for her but a dream she cherished. Judging from her lonely tone, the Wolf Girl could tell that most people just considered Lightning’s plan as a childish game instead of something serious. This was similar to what she had thought in the first place.
For a moment, Lorgar saw herself in this little girl. Before she had won all those challenges and become a real warrior, few people had been able to understand her passion and dedication toward fighting since, even in the Iron Sand City, female warriors were rare.
With this thought in mind, the Wolf Girl slightly sighed and pretended to be casual. “Since I’m a member of the exploration group now, what should I do next?”
Hearing this, Lightning’s eyes lit up. She fished out a parchment map in her pocket and gave it to Lorgar. “The areas that we’ve not yet explored are all marked on this map. If you happen to step into these areas, please draw the things you discover on this map, such as bird’s nests, honeycombs, wolf caves, etc. Anything will do.”
“But you can’t enjoy them alone, which is the most important rule of our exploration group. You’ve got to wait until we come back and we’ll eat them together!” interrupted Maggie.
Lorgar opened the map and saw many bizarre drawings on it, with quite a few notes. For example, two chicken drumsticks and four eggs were drawn in a spot named eagle nest. Seeing this, the Wolf Girl did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Why do I feel that I’ve been deceived?
She put the map away. “Ahem… well, I got it, but what do you mean by ‘come back’… Are you leaving for Neverwinter?”
“His Majesty Roland is about to send troops to the Eastern Region and Hermes. At that time, we’ll probably leave with the First Army. It’ll take at least a few months before we come back. After all, His Majesty has to depend on us if he wants to investigate the enemy’s situation or carry out shooting corrections for the cannons.” Lightning patted her chest. “When we’re away, you’ll be in charge of the exploration job in the Barbarian Land.”