The thirteenth world of the World Tree.

Canorea, the Land of Permafrost, Eternal Winter.

Snow Castle, in Mace's study.

Lord Mace closed his eyes slightly, leaned back in his armchair and tried to sleep for a while: there were so many things to do lately that he couldn't calm his nerves and rest: every day he had to stay up late to work on papers and discuss measures to deal with Winter's Breath. However, the result of staying up late is lying in bed and not being able to sleep.

The body of a forty-something is not as good as before. Barvo Mace, with his brown hair, thought wearily: When I was young, it was common to stay up late. There's nothing wrong with sleeping only three hours a day—I'm afraid it's because my youthful energy is overdrawn by my current body......

Dr. Ennis advises Mace to take a potion of dreamless grass and brea flowers to help him sleep before bed, but the lord refuses, believing that the medicine will delay his early morning business with state affairs.

Despite Enis's assurances that it wouldn't make a difference, Mace was skeptical.

In a few moments, Captain Eders will be able to report back to me...... Listening to the sound of the second hand of the mechanical clock, a wave of sleepiness came over Mace: he tried to relax his brain and rest for a while.

In the afternoon, I will have a meeting with Master Nadia...... Mace slowly opened his eyes and checked the time on the huge clock across the room: eleven fifty. There was plenty of time, and Eders had to wait more than half an hour before he was scheduled to arrive.

However, as soon as he closed his eyes, all sorts of unresolved things took over his mind: missing hunters, lost eastern outposts, reinforcements of the city walls, fuel reserves......

and, a way to fend off the Corrupt. According to Maester Nadia, the Corruptor cannot be killed by normal weapons. Against most Corruptors, using fire can be a proven method.

Then more fuel is needed...... The problem of fuel was a major headache for Mace: he was sure that even the fuel he distributed to his families was meagre in the face of Winter's Breath. Not to mention the precious fuel to fight the Corruptors......

Mace, however, cared about the Bachelor's uncertain tone and suspicious adjective: "most" of the Corrupt.

Could it be that for some of the corrupted, the flames don't work?Mays became anxious at the thought of this: Neverwinter had not been fought for years, and many of the warriors had not been baptized in real combat...... Not to mention the Corruptors who never show their faces.

The undead are much more difficult to deal with than the living—he remembers what Maester Nadia had told him: the Corruptors are undead formed by black ice, and their bodies are strengthened by corruption. In hand-to-hand combat on the frontal battlefield, the Children of Ice will not have an advantage.

Mace had to be mindful of these possible threats, so he discussed them with Eders, the captain of the Winterfell garrison. Eventually, in response to the Corruptor's weakness of being afraid of fire, the barracks and city walls were stocked with heavy wooden arrows wrapped in pine resin, which could shoot rockets at high temperatures if ignited by a brazier.

And the food, the food...... Mace was troubled at the thought of this: the wagon sent to the eastern outpost the day before yesterday afternoon to buy prey had not been heard from yet, and none of the hunters there had returned.

The hunters sent out a total of six groups, each with a size of a few dozen people. Due to the sudden change of weather the day before yesterday, they were urgently recalled to Neverwinter by the letter crow's papers, except for the eastern outpost.

Thinking of the Crow, Mace became more and more suspicious: if something really happened, how could the suspicious Captain Brad at the Eastern Outpost not send the Crow? Apparently, both the wagons and the hunters were trapped at the post for some reason and could not return. So unless the crows are all dead, there will be no less than two crows flying in.

Maester Nadia was even more anxious about this, and he suggested that it must be taken seriously. Because the eastern mountains are already very careful about the foothills of the Dark Glacier, the black ice that spreads out of them is likely to attack the outpost.

Concerned about this, Mace asked Captain Eders to send a team to the eastern outpost to investigate. In a moment he will be able to hear the report of this.

Realizing that he was not sleepy, Mace opened his swollen eyes: when he washed up in the morning, he found that his eyeballs were very bloodshot.

Maybe I should ask Elena to get me some chillgrass to make tea...... Mace rubbed her sore eyes and shouted at the bedroom, "Elena, are you there?"

"What's wrong, Balvo?" his wife asked.

"My eyes are so sore......," Mace thought for a moment, and continued, "make me some chillweeds, they must be strong enough - so I can still rub them on my eyelids." ”

"Honey, wait a minute. The sound of his wife's footsteps came from the bedroom and faded away.

However, a moment later there was a knock at the door:

Not Elena's knock...... Mace looked at the time: it wasn't time for Edus's appointment yet.

"Mistress Mace, I have something to do. The person outside the door said eagerly.

Male voices that I haven't heard before...... The guards did not appear to stop him or give him a briefing. Then there must be something that really matters. Thinking like this, Mace straightened his shirt: "Please come in." ”

The door opened, and a man dressed in a sentry suit walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Are you ......?" Mace was surprised, "What's the name of the Sentinel Unit?"

"Yes, sir. The man was a little flustered: "Karan Dorou of the Eastern Outpost." ”

Eastern Outpost...... Hearing this, Mace immediately stood up: "Your Captain Brad sent you?"

"Yes, sir. "The day before yesterday at noon, I was sent to escort the two hunters back to Eternal Winter City, and then—"

"Wait, slow down. Mace didn't understand: "Don't be nervous, soldier. Why did your captain send you to escort them back?"

"Ah, because, because the two hunters claimed to have seen black ice. The captain felt it was important to let Neverwinter know, so he asked me to escort him for safety. ”

"Black ice?" Mace chuckled in his heart, "Can the two of them be sure that what they see is black ice?"

"They're pretty sure, sir. ”

"Where are the two hunters now?" Mace wanted to ask for details in person.

"I let them go home last night because it was too late, my lord. The names of the two men have been registered by the gate guards. ”

"Well done...... When did you return to Winterfell, and did you come back with a wagon to buy prey?"

"We returned to Eternal Winter at midnight yesterday, as for the carriage sent the day before yesterday...... We took the path through the forest and didn't come across. After a moment's hesitation, Michiro added, "Those two hunters look ...... Eccentric. It could be that the black ice frightened them too much. Because of this, I sometimes have to stop and wait for it to recover. Sometimes, they will even suddenly sit on the ground, hug their heads and shout. ”

"Understandable. But the reaction seems to be too intense," Mace sympathized withinwardly: Black Ice is an extremely terrifying existence for every child of ice, and he does not want to see each other.

The lord was a little surprised: the eastern outpost was indeed far away, and the wagons sent out in the afternoon would not return until the early hours of the next morning. However, the three sentinels were too slow to move.

"Did your captain make any other decisions after sending you back?"

"Ah, he seems to be planning to lead a team to the mountains to explore the black ice. There was something strange about Michiro's tone.

"It's like his style. Mace pondered for a moment: "However, he didn't send a letter crow to deliver the letter, which is not his style." ”

"What? you didn't receive the letter?" Michiro's voice became more and more strange, "This shouldn't be, the captain did send a letter crow...... I'm afraid he's lost. ”

"He sent a letter crow?" Mace was a little surprised: "Unbelievable...... How could the crow get lost?"

Michiro looked a little weird, he shivered and covered his head.

"Are you alright, soldier?" Mace noticed Michiro's abnormality and leaned forward and patted him on the shoulder with concern, "You look uncomfortable...... Why don't you come back tomorrow?It's hard work for you to be stationed at the outpost...... It's hard to get back to Neverwinter, so if you don't dislike it, you'll stay at Snowcastle tonight. ”

Dao Lang just nodded stiffly, and Mace turned around and walked back to the table: "Go and tell the guard outside the door that you are a guest here today, and the butler will arrange it for you...... I'll have a meeting in a moment, so let's stop our conversation for now - thank you for the valuable information you bring. ”

However, the sharp pain in his chest and the tip of the sword in his chest caused Mace to stop in shock. Slowly turning around, a pair of eyes glowing with a cold blue light rested on the corrupted face.