Nori looked up. The sky was always gray, and even if it didn't snow, it never cleared, and even the eyes of the elves could not penetrate the clouds, but he always felt as if something was flying through the clouds.

"What are you looking at?" asked Nutka.

"There seems to be a ...... A large bird flew over. ”

"That's Snow Eagle. "The big white eagle, the guardian of our tribe, can fly very high, see everything, not afraid of the cold, even in a blizzard." ”

Norway smiled and said nothing, the thing felt much more like an eagle - more like a dragon.

But that may just be his hope.

The situation is a bit delicate. He hoped to find Isis as quickly as possible, but he also hoped that it wouldn't really suddenly fly down from the sky and land in front of them—Nutka would definitely not hesitate to draw her broadblade and slash at it.

He had to hide their true purpose, and Nalya was always upset about it. She doesn't believe that Isis killed Nutka's father, and insists on telling Nutka the "truth", but Ed hesitates to make up his mind, and Norway resolutely stops her.

"Even if she believed there were once two ice dragons on the ice field," he told the stubborn brunette girl, "she wouldn't feel any different." Maybe one ice dragon killed her father and the other didn't, but they were all the same 'white demons', just as evil...... Your story will only be taken by her as a lie, or some kind of offense. We'll lose our guides, or worse. I know you don't like to lie, but sometimes lies are necessary. Wouldn't it be better if we followed her so that we could find Isis as quickly as possible, and if it had any conflict with her or the other barbarians?"

What he didn't say was that it was indeed possible that Isis had killed Nutka's father...... If attacked for no reason, a dragon's counterattack in anger is absolutely deadly.

But such a reason is absolutely impossible to convince Nutka. Attacking a dragon is an act of absolute justice and courage for her, she will only be proud of her father, and her hatred will not be diminished by it.

Nalya could only nod silently, but she still didn't like it at all.

Along the way, they finally get the unspoken-talk female warrior to find out why she insisted that it was the ice dragon who killed her father.

The tribe where Nutka belongs, the territory of the Snow Eagle Tribe, is closest to the east of the ice field, and further north is the impassable Giant's Spine, and to the east is a vertical cliff like the Giant's Axe, and below the cliff is the impassable sea of ice. They weren't the most powerful tribe among the barbarians, nor were they the richest, as the Winter Wolf tribe near the Kastan Forest had a neighbor and kept peace for a long time, but the presence of the ice dragon changed everything.

The barbarian camps were far apart, and even the same tribe would gather together only during the year for major festivals and ancestor sacrifices. There are usually only a few families per camp, and sometimes larger families live alone, often with the migration of prey, without much contact with each other.

One family found an empty camp on the way to the migration, and the people seemed to have disappeared suddenly, and there was nothing left, but everything was still in its place. Confused and uneasy, they informed the chieftain of the Snow Eagle tribe about this, and the shaman turned to the spirits of his ancestors and pointed them in the direction, and Nutka, who was studying with the shaman, led the people to search, but found nothing, only to find more empty camps.

When the people began to panic, some of them fled and brought back the head of Put's father, Put, saying that they had been bewitched by the magic of an ice dragon, and when they came to their senses, they saw the ice dragon tearing Put's body apart.

“...... Did anyone say that the dragon only had one front paw?" Ed asked cautiously, plucking up his courage.

Nutka shook his head: "No one said that. Why do you ask?"

"I know it's not easy to believe, but in fact, there are two ice dragons. Norway replied, "One of them lost a forepaw and was ...... not long ago Killed by another Ice Dragon in the Silver Tooth Mountains. Its corpse should still be there by now, as all the silvertooth dwarves can attest, they have seen it all. ”

Nutka was silent for a moment and nodded solemnly: "Demons always kill each other. ”

She didn't raise any questions about the claim that there were two ice dragons, which surprised Norway a little. He thought it would be difficult for someone he hadn't seen it to accept this.

"You know, maybe it was the dead ice dragon that killed your father. He cautioned.

Nutka frowned and thought for a moment.

"Perhaps. "But that's no difference, if a living dragon doesn't die, one day he'll kill another man's father, and I'm not going to let that happen." ”

Norway only smiled wryly. He couldn't help but glance back worriedly at Naria, who was walking last. The black-haired girl's face was full of anger, but she finally managed to restrain herself and bowed her head and remained silent.

Nutka once crossed the ice sea alone, and even found the lair of the ice dragon, the treasure frozen in the thick ice unattended. She waited there for a while, but the ice dragon never returned. She had to return to the tribe, and her people were completely gone.

She didn't know if they had escaped or had been eaten by the dragon, so she had to make her way west to the Giant's Axe, and as she reached the Giant's Axe, she remembered the rumors she had heard that there was a town under the Giant's Axe, inhabited by some unworthy but well-informed fellows.

Like Ed and them, she entered the town and was not attacked. The town seemed to have just been attacked, and everyone was hiding in the darkness like frightened birds. She spoke out loud in the center of the town when a barbarian appeared and took her to Jamun, the old man who claimed to be the mayor of the town.

Jaymoon told her to wait under the Giant's Axe, saying that he would give her news, and maybe someone would be willing to help her. Norvi: They weren't the first people to go to her. Another group had approached him before then, telling her that the Ice Dragon had recently appeared in the territory of the Winter Wolf Tribe, and had disrupted their ritual of summoning their ancestors. But they fought so badly that they didn't deserve to be her companions at all.

"Let me guess, those people, they attacked you first, right?" asked Tess.

Nutka nodded, as if realizing something, "Maybe they're not here to help me." ”

"And the news that was given to you after you were defeated, it is difficult to say that a few words are true. The corners of Tess's mouth curled.

"If we find someone from the Winter Wolf Tribe, we'll know. Nutka said.

The elves were bothered by a different question.

"How did you find the island where the ice dragon lives?" he asked, "I've heard that there are many isolated islands in the ice sea......

Without exact information, it is almost impossible to accurately locate an island in the vast expanse of the ocean.

But this time, Nutka closed his mouth tightly and did not answer.

-- She also has something to hide.

Norway didn't know if he should be relieved by this.

They had been trekking through the ice field for three days, and even Tess was a little listless. Occasionally, there will be a small patch of jungle or low shrub on the ice sheet, but most of the time it is just a white expanse like a desert - only white and cold. It may be a little exciting at first, but after a long time, it is easy to get tired, and even give birth to a sense of despair, as if the whole world has disappeared, and only they are left, walking on this empty land, never finding an end.

But Nutka said that they were lucky, there was no great wind, and there was no great snow, and if they were unfortunate enough to encounter a blizzard, they would not be able to move an inch. If the weather is clear and you can see a line of snow-capped mountains to the north, that is their target, the Giant's Spine. Nutka believed that the mountain range was the only place where the ice dragon could live. If they can find a manned camp nearby, they may be able to find out more and narrow it down.

But Novi worries that bad weather isn't the only danger on the ice sheet.

They asked Nutka if he had ever heard of necromancers, or seen the undead roaming the night, but Nutka simply shook his head in confusion. That had never happened in her tribe, where people had just disappeared and never returned. The people who brought back her father's head and witnessed him being killed by the ice dragon couldn't even tell how they had left the camp and walked near the rock pile near the Giant's Spine, which they could only think was the magic of the ice dragon.

"Ice dragons don't have this kind of magic. Norway patiently explained to her, hoping to change her opinion of the ice dragon little by little.

"All dragons have an innate intimidation when they are angry, which can make other creatures feel extremely fearful, and is known as 'dragon power', but other than that, dragons don't bother to use other mind-controlling magic, and necromancers are quite good at it. ”

But Nutka refuses to admit that her people will be controlled by human mages. At this point, she is incredibly proud and stubborn.

"We are the descendants of giants, our souls are strong and free, even your gods cannot control them, how can those created by the gods do it?"

Nori couldn't answer. He thought of the awakened skeletons of Miaz Wisley, just as powerful as they were, far beyond what one had previously known about the undead.

Deepening uneasiness cast a shadow over his green eyes. Cursed, Ankeland, Undead...... He had a vague sense that there must be a connection, but he knew very little about magic, and history was long gone.

Behind him, Ed suddenly let out a scream, tripped over something, and threw himself into the snow, and when he got up, his face covered in snow, looked very funny. Tess laughed, and even Naria couldn't help but hook the corners of her mouth.

Norway looked back at them and couldn't help but smile slightly.

After this trip, he should probably go to Ankeland again...... But now, his most important task is to protect these people and get them home safely.