"...... winter?" Lucina was a little puzzled, "but it seems to be winter all the time. ”

"That's right. But that 'winter' was no ordinary winter. The bachelor was silent for a moment, and then spoke again: "I wonder if you have ever heard of the Grim Reaper of Dark Winter?"

"The Grim Reaper of the Dark Glacier. Cyberdat suddenly spoke: "The day the dragon god awakens again, it will be the time when the thirteen worlds will be annihilated. ”

"Oh......" Lucina recalled the story Manus had told her, "and I remembered that. ”

"Well, that's easy to say......" The Bachelor's expression was a little worried, "The weather has been very strange lately...... There have been six sunny days without even light snow in the past six months...... Once upon a time in Winterfell, there would not be a single day without snow in five years—the best weather was light snow. ”

"Isn't that nice?" Lucina was a little puzzled, "Occasionally there is a snow-free day." ”

"No......" The slightly silent bachelor looked out the window, it was like a blizzard: "According to the ancient documents I have studied...... After seven snow-free days, the Frozen Land is about to face the breath of winter—just in the evening after the next snow-free day ends. When there is no snow, it is calm before the snowstorm. ”

"Huh?" Lucina was a little stunned, "Is this true?"

"I hope it's not true......," he frowned, "and after yesterday's snowless day, I finally realized that I had to pay attention to the results of this research, even if it wasn't rigorous." I issued a warning to Lord Mace...... He should come and interview me today. ”

"If that's true......" the bachelor said again. But after thinking for a moment, he spoke again: "Whether it's true or not, you'll see it next time on a 'snow-free day'...... That snow-free day would not be as short as the previous six, but only one day - it would last for a week. That's our last chance to take countermeasures......"

"The people don't know about this yet, do they?" said Cyberdart, a little worried.

"Yes, yes......" the bachelor sighed, "my research is progressing too slowly...... Without an assistant, sorting out the literature is a manual task...... If we had come to a conclusion earlier, we would have had more time to prepare. ”

"Will Lord Mace believe all this?" asked Lucina.

"Probably not...... But the Mace family has been guarding Neverwinter for thousands of years, and he will protect his people...... To do this, he will definitely start to prepare the supplies - in the bitter winter that can freeze the mind and the flames, the crops in the snow will not survive. Under the invasion of the dead, no matter how many iron tools there are, they can only resist for a while......" The bachelor picked up the water cup and took a sip of the liquid in the cup: "And...... Ryujin is powerless to help us this time. His power has been depleted, but the Grim Reaper of the Dark Glacier will step on the black ice and revive with a dark force that no one can fight......"

"So......" The bachelor put down his glass of water and stared out the window at the growing fog of snow; I'm afraid Winterfell will be buried under the black ice...... Leave before the snowless arrives, travelers...... You don't have to stay here. ”

"But...... Aren't the people here leaving? If it's an irresistible force......" Lucina asked.

"The Children of Ice will never abandon their homeland......," the Bachelor's words revealed a hint of pride, "Eternal Winter has stood here for thousands of years, and it should stand forever in the future—even if the black ice corrodes the walls and freezes the heart in winter." ”

"But ......," said the Bachelor's proud tone, replaced by a tone of apprehension: "Pride cannot be an unquenchable flame in the snow and ice, and once winter comes, the most basic heating and food are problematic, and they can crush us by doing nothing, let alone how we should deal with a siege." ”

"Do the people here know how to fight the evil that awakens in the Dark Glacier?" said Cyberdart's voice, pulling back Lucina's distracted thoughts: she was nervously contemplating the inhabitants of the Ice City—and the black-purple glowing tower in the center of the Ice City.

"No ......," the maester sighed, "and that's the most terrible thing about that...... People only think of them as legends, and they have indeed disappeared for hundreds of thousands of years......"

"It is said that the army of Eurasia met the dead. Cyberdart remembered the story he had heard.

"Or the Black Ice ......" the Master looked anxious, "It's okay to tell you about it—I've been to the Frozen Wasteland, where there's an entire army of ice sculptures......"

"Corruption...... "The maester said softly; It's hard to see the extent of the corruption inside the ice sculpture, but it's there...... The imprint of black ice, gradually taking away their souls. ”

"After that time when tens of thousands of corrupted armies were frozen, the dragon god's body and its miracles were never seen again, and no one knew where it had gone—although some claimed that he had seen the dragon god, but that was not enough to use as a reference. ”

The atmosphere was tense, and it was at this moment that Lucina remembered the purpose of her trip.

Lucina suddenly remembered something and asked, "Master, have you heard the rumors that you can break the curse of loneliness?"

"Huh? Loneliness curse...... It is usually called that, but its actual name is the Lock of Amrea. The cursed will embark on a journey in order to accomplish some kind of mission. The scholar frowned: "I've seen similar documents, which record that seven cursed people have completed their mission, broken the seven shackles of Amrea, the gate of fate, and ended reincarnation...... But that's just a passing pass, and there's no detail. The Bachelor closed his eyes again and thought for a moment, "In recent decades, there have been no rumors of the Curse of Loneliness in the Permafrost...... Only the occasional news came from the school city. It's all information that has nothing to do with breaking the curse. ”

"That's ......," Lucina was disappointed, "but Lusa and I obviously heard the rumors in Jiuquan Town?"

"...... rumors?" the bachelor was silent for a moment, "Who told you, kid?"

"One...... A man, wrapped in a heavy coat and hooded......" Lucina carefully recalled the memories of more than two months ago, "He looks suspicious, but we haven't heard the slightest rumor about how to come into contact with the curse in five years, so we have to come here anyway to try it......?"

"Your friend is a cursed, right?" said the Bachelor's expression was a little nervous, "I'm afraid the sooner you go, the better, kid." ”

"Hey, Lusa, she won't cause trouble for anyone. Lucina hurriedly explained.

"That's not what I meant......" The bachelor turned back suddenly, the tiny crack in the door closed silently, "It looks like someone has been eavesdropping...... I'm afraid you'll have to leave tonight and leave in the night. ”

Stalker...... Lucina shuddered: Lusa's hunch was right...... Even if she wasn't in the air, she couldn't get rid of it.

What did the man want? I am afraid that he was the one who told them the false rumors, and that is why he wore a hood so that we could not see his face...... Lucina thought wildly: If she simply wanted to get Aya to make a profit, how could she chase so far and deliberately use this way to trick us?

“...... Thank you for telling us so much. Sebodart, who looked complicated, got up and patted Lucina on the head, "Let's go, Lucina." ”

“...... Oh. Lucina got up, and a sense of panic filled her heart: it was probably more due to her inability to understand the meaning of the man's actions.

"Goodbye, Bachelor. Lucina walked out the door and bowed.

"Let's go, kid......" Lucina closed the door, and before it closed, another word came to the master's ears: "Watch out for the things in the snow and mist." They will blind you......"

The heavy wooden door closed, and Lucina leaned over to Cyberdart, looking down.

The person who had just eavesdropped was nowhere to be seen.