Kurwitzk was a fortress city with a strong military atmosphere, the city was embedded in a trench between two mountains, and out of the mountain pass to the north was the territory of the barbarians, and since the barbarians from the plains of Slavia often raided the villages and towns on the northern border, the ruler of the Kingdom of Loma built this majestic border city and stationed it heavily guarded

For centuries, Kurwick has played a key role in protecting the lives and property of tens of thousands of people in the northern part of the kingdom, especially in winter

Although the barbarians are also humans, they are very different from the other Olopa, they are a group of nomads called a people on horseback, barbarians, no towns, There are no villages, they chase the deer herd from one place to another according to the change of seasons, and in the winter the deer herd will migrate, and the southern barbarians with more food will also drag their families and mouths to follow, so the winter of each year is the time when the barbarians raid the border most frequently, and the defenders in the north of the Loma Kingdom are also the most tense during this period, but this year is very different from previous years

Although it is now the middle of winter, even the city of Kurwitzk, which is hidden between the two mountains, is covered in silver, but at this time of the year, the small force of the barbarians who attacked and plundered everywhere could not even see half a figure, and the companions learned from the soldiers stationed in Kurwitzk that the barbarians had stopped raiding the border two months ago, but the intelligence showed that the barbarian army was constantly gathering in the depths of the Slavian plain, and its scale far exceeded the need to raid the border, which was extremely unusual, and there were only two reasons for this to happen: either the barbarians were preparing for a large-scale invasion of the kingdom of Loma, or there was civil strife within the barbarians

For the Loma soldiers guarding the border, the second situation is of course a good thing, but it is not ruled out that the possibility of the first scenario occurs: the war between the south and the Fayale Empire has become tight, and the country is brewing riots due to the food problem, if there is a war on the northern border at this time, it may be a devastating blow to the whole country, so although not a single barbarian soldier has not yet entered their sight, these soldiers dare not relax day and night

Despite your resolute attitude, I hope that you will not enter the plain, and before leaving, one of the officers of the defending army gave kind advice to his companions

The officers were very grateful for their kindness, but could not waver in their advance, and the horses' hooves and wheels trampled or crushed the snow in the valley and slowly moved towards the mountain pass to the north

Her Royal Highness the Princess's voice came from outside the carriage

Sophia laid down her cross, and these days she had been praying for the people of the kingdom of Loma in the midst of famine, and although it was not known how much of a prayer they could do, it was the only thing Sophia could do

Arrived, Sophia asked

Yes, we are about to enter the plains of Srancia, the knight outside replied

Let's go, Dani Ischennova Sophia said to the other two ladies in the carriage

Well

Good

When the three maidens came outside, they saw an endless white plain in front of them, and the sky seemed to be higher than the others, making people feel the urge to shout loudly

Is this the Plain of Slancia, where our barbarian neighbors live...... Due to the difference in temperature inside and outside the carriage, coupled with the strong winds on the plains, Ischennova caught a cold

Cassius silently put his cotton coat over Ishnova

It's so cute, Dani saw a young deer eating the snow on the ground more than 20 meters away, she ran over, but the young deer seemed to be very sensitive, as soon as she noticed someone approaching, she immediately jumped back dozens of meters away, staring at Dani with a vigilant and curious gaze

What...... People are not bad people, Dani said with a sad face

Everyone laughed......

Amid the laughter along the way, the companions either rode horses or carriages and walked more than 20 kilometers north, until nightfall, and they stopped and set up camp in place

In winter, the plains of Slavia are more appropriate to say that they are ice fields, and nothing can be seen except the occasional fir or two, but this is only a appearance, because in the snow-covered land there is a kind of jagged grass that grows tenaciously, this grass is the favorite grass of the deer, and they can grow even in the bitter cold covered by heavy snow, in fact, the young deer that Dani saw just now is not eating the snow at all, but the fresh grass roots under the snow

In Jane's camp, a few horses were resting in the middle of a carriage, and everyone turned over the snow and collected a large amount of grass from under the snow, which was fresh and tender to feed the horses, and withered and turned into fuel for the fire, and everyone gathered around the fire and wrapped themselves in blankets and chatted

If we hadn't gone in the wrong direction, we'd probably be able to walk another 5 or 6 hours at this speed to reach the silverwind taiga bordering the Federation, Cassius said, pointing to the map

I'm afraid it won't go so smoothly for Sophia to raise her concerns, will the barbarians let us pass through their territory?

I think those soldiers are too nervous, where do I see half a figure after walking for a long time, who will run out in such cold weather, those barbarians are like beasts, they must have slept in caves, hahaha...... Lyle plays with his dry humor

Lyle, don't be deceived by the word 'barbarism', the people who have historically forced the Central Church to assemble the crusaders against it are by no means simple, Cassius said

Celaire disagreed

That's right, paralysis is the natural enemy of adventurers, and we can't take it seriously just because we haven't seen a barbarian appear, Joyka said Ray, you're the only one among us who has ever been here, tell us about the damn Great Plains and the barbarians

I don't know how different this plain is from my impression

Why Sophia asked

Yes, when Uncle Regunor took me out of the Federation, I went south through the plains of Syria, but it was summer, and the plains were covered with waist-high grass, but now it was all snow, and it was long since I knew it, and Dere replied that as for the barbarians, I only knew that they liked to ride horses and live in tents, and I didn't know anything else

You say this, everyone knows Sophia said

But I know so much, because we have only had contact with the barbarians once, when Uncle Reguno gave a bag of gold to the leader of the barbarians, as the expense of me and Uncle Reguno's safe passage through their territory, and I have not seen a barbarian since, because Uncle Regunor picked a place where there was no one and went around the road to reach the kingdom of Loma

Ray: Actually, the information you provided is very useful, at least we know that those barbarians also like gold, and Joyka said that there is money to make ghosts grind, as long as we give enough money for the journey, the barbarians should not embarrass us

Others also agreed with Joyka's opinion, no one wanted to be out of the box before entering the Snowy Federation, and the problems that could be solved with money were not a problem, and that day in Hansar City, Sophia and Empress Catherine exterminated a group of agents of the Central Church, and found a large amount of gold in the spies' stronghold, and at the time of parting, the queen gave Sophia a very small part of it to be used as a passage fee, although a very small part was actually a huge amount of money, and it should be no problem to pay for the passage of the barbarians

In this way, everyone chatted and gradually fell asleep

The carriage was the boudoir of the three ladies, and the five men had to put up a tent outside to sleep, and in this strange wilderness, everyone had to keep watch in turn for the night

The first post is headed by Joyka and Lyle

The tired young master mage had already forgotten his duties, and after only being on duty for less than half an hour, Lyle lay on the ground and fell asleep, while his partner Joyka became more and more nervous about the silence around him, in fact, Joyka already had a subtle feeling just now, but everyone was chatting at that time, so the feeling was not very clear, but now that the surroundings were quiet, he felt very clearly: he was being watched by countless eyes

Joika listened carefully to the movement around him, and after thinking about Lyle's snoring in a small way, he heard an unusual sound, as if countless dark shadows were quietly approaching their camp, and Joyka immediately kicked Lyle awake

Why...... Lyle rubbed his eyes, quite dissatisfied with being awakened from a sweet dream, but forgot that he was still on duty

If there is a special situation, wake everyone up

You're nervous, and the magic sentry didn't even sound the alarm

By the time the magic sentry sounded the alarm, it might be too late, and we needed more time to deal with it, saying that Joyka had already drawn her bow and arrows and made a fighting stance

Seeing Joika's expression, Lyle did not dare to slack off, and immediately woke up everyone in the tent and carriage one by one

What happened to Joika, Sophia asked

I don't know yet, but something must have happened, and Joika turned to Cassius and said, Fatty, do you have big lighting magic

Well, Cassius nodded in understanding, his hands held high, and without chanting the spell, the magic flowed with his thoughts, quickly condensing the magical elements around him

Although Cassius is good at using water-based magic, it doesn't mean that the other three systems are bad, and his fat hands pushed up, and a red ball of fire elemental rose into the air, quickly exploding into a bright fire

By the light, everyone could clearly see that hundreds of white figures had occupied all areas of the plain they could see, and the sharp fangs, bloodthirsty eyes, and straight saliva all indicated the danger encountered by their companions

It's not just the barbarians who rule the plains of Slancia, but also a ferocious creature: the snow wolf.