If the Broken Mountain Fortress is the northern frontier of the Empire, then the land north of the Broken Mountain is a hell that does not exist at all, "ruled" by blizzards and bitter cold.

The north wind, whistling like a blade, mixed with incomparably hard ice particles, is as vast as the eye can see, with looming snow-capped mountains and thick white mist.

Following the path that generations of fortress legions have walked over the centuries, the procession holding high the banner of the Iron Crown stepped into the "remains" of the ancient dragon kingdom.

No matter how great civilizations have been born in this land, and mighty kingdoms have risen that have reigned over the entire world, it is now a land of ice that is so desolate that only a single snow, so withered that not even a single cedar can survive, and it dies.

Beside the legionnaires, Loren, who was holding on to the reins, rode a steady northern horse under him, and looked around with all his eyes, enjoying the rare sight in front of him.

Of course, the premise is that you can't hear the two "noises" behind you.

"I still don't believe that you actually came here at the age of eleven, and you became the flag leader in only two or three years?"

Isaac Grantham, trembling on his horse, clutched the reins, but he was still dishonest. With an expression of disbelief, he stared at Lu Sien, who was leisurely and complacent beside him, and only used his left hand to hold the reins: "Seriously, with your current head, you didn't have a sword height at the beginning, right?"

"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot you were from Elemont, let's do it all over again - you shouldn't have been as tall as an Elemont dagger in the first place, right?"

Hearing his words, Lu Sien, who reacted immediately, laughed instead of being angry: "Hehahaha... That's right, compared to you monkey-like Lothair mountain people, we city dwellers in Ellemont are indeed small people!"

"Yo roar... Beautiful!" Isaac's eyes lit up, "Great, I'm starting to understand why Loren went to such great lengths to get you out." ”

"Hmm... You're a friend of Lord Loren's and I'm his bodyguard, so I don't want to spoil you. Lu Sien shrugged his shoulders, and the gray-eyed boy had an indifferent expression: "But in fact, you are right, I really didn't have a knight's sword when I first came. ”

"It's nothing, don't care, you're still young after all!" Isaac hurriedly "comforted": "In the average height of your Eleman people, you can be regarded as a precocious and fast-growing person." ”

Loren, who was walking in front, resisted the urge to turn around and complain, and instinctively rolled his eyes.

"But though I didn't have the height of a sword, a year later I was a sergeant of the Legion. The gray-eyed boy continued to quip: "Then he became the flag leader of the Second Banner Regiment!"

"Really?" Isaac's expression was puzzled: "Those big men with big brains and big brains who are five big and three thick, and they are not unconvinced when they see you so small?"

"Of course not, they quickly recognized my commanding talent and innate prestige, and taming them was no more difficult than taming a few mountain monkeys. The corners of Lusen's mouth hooked up a very proud arc:

"Especially after I took down twenty big men with brains with my bare hands, they were even more convinced—may I remind you that each of them could take down at least two dozen like you!"

"A dozen of them, each of them can take down twenty-four Isaac Grantham, can you take down twenty of them, do the conversion...... You... Can you kill four hundred and eighty of my like me at the same time?"

Isaac stared at Lusen with a stupid expression: "Don't be funny, okay? Four hundred and eighty I can fill you with a spittle in a dirt pit!"

"......" Lusen.

"......" Loren.

"Wait, let me understand a little. Isaac frowned slightly, pouting in disdain: "You were trying to threaten me just now—because if that's the case, it's quite intimidating, and you'd better change it." ”

“...... Well, it's what you brought on yourself. The smile on Lusen's face stiffened:

"Let me put it another way, do you know why Lord Loren rescued me from the dungeon?"

"I don't know, because you're so good at fighting?" Isaac deliberately raised his eyebrows: "Can you fight four hundred and eighty like me?"

"No, because the way to Nidhogg is known only to me. The handsome face of the gray-eyed boy showed an innocent smile like a child.

"......" Isaac's expression froze instantly.

For a moment of serenity, Loren, who was walking in front, could even hear the sound of the north wind howling.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I really was wrong, I shouldn't have been sarcastic about your Eleman height in the first place, and I didn't mean to bully you because you were young, because it looked so interesting...... Do you think it's acceptable to apologize to you like that?"

"......" Lusen.

"......" Loren.

I didn't feel it when I was in the Broken Mountain Fortress before, but now Loren found that the two of them really got along.

"In four days, we'll be in the Valley of Blood. Lusen picked up his speed slightly, rode ahead and paralleled the black-haired wizard, pointing to the white patch in the distance:

"Ahead is the last watchtower of the Broken Mountain Fortress, and the last place we can repair, where the team should stop for a day and let the Rangers scout the situation. ”

At the moment when the gray-eyed boy's voice fell, Loren clearly saw a trace of sadness in those eyes.

Wait, he just said the last watchtower, is it possible......

"That's right, you guessed it. Noticing the change in the expression of the black-haired wizard on the side, the heavy-faced Lusen nodded quietly and bit his lip:

"The last search team, it was there that all the invading monsters were wiped out, which is why I was treated as a deserter by the fortress!"

"So that's ......" Loren's face changed, and his eyes glanced at Lusen, who bowed his head beside him: "That... I mean, what happened on the day they were attacked?"

If this unexpected attack was the beginning of everything, then if we can learn more about what happened, we may be able to see the truth behind it.

“...... I arrived after it was all over, a day later than the reinforcements that came later. ”

Faced with the black-haired wizard's question, Lu Sien's expression was complicated: "But I can guarantee that no matter what happened, the siege of the watchtower was definitely not a small stream of ice werewolves, but an army of monsters!"

"An army of monsters?"

"The watchtowers of the Broken Mountain Fortress, especially those as important as the Bloodborne Valley Watchtower, generally have very good protection measures and ample reserves, at least ten Rangers plus half a hundred, and if you count the search party that arrived on the fly, there are at least two veterans of the Centurifies in the tower. ”

"With such a tight garrison, it is impossible to take it easily without three times the number of troops. ”

"But that's it, when they were attacked by surprise, they didn't even know that not even a single Ranger who was delivering the message escaped, and they were wiped out without a word......!"

It's simply impossible... Loren frowned similarly.

"The watchtower was almost destroyed, and everywhere there were traces of a bloody battle, and everywhere there were robes and bones, and the remains of those monsters, as if they had been subjected to a sudden and unforeseen siege. ”

"It's so miserable... We can't even put all the pieces together!"

Sighing lightly, Lusen muttered indifferently, "So the reinforcements who came to reinforce thought that it was our deserters who didn't report to the fortress in time that they killed everyone—the rangers who didn't even have time to send for help." ”

Truly... It's pretty self-explanatory, if it's really the same as they think......

But in fact, Lusen was not in the Valley of Bloodbones at that time, but on the way back from the road where he found Nidhogg, it was impossible to find the sudden appearance of the enemy, so there was no way to reconnoitre.

Other words... There is another hidden reason for the total destruction of the watchtower, and for some reason, they didn't even notice the sudden appearance of the monster army, and they didn't even have time to react?

Loren clenched the reins, squinting at the approaching Bloodbones Valley watchtower in the distance.

He also needs to know more!