The air seems to have gotten a little colder. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Frick Sierra took a deep breath and inhaled the icy air into his lungs, letting the cold irritate his somewhat chaotic nerves.

Today is a rare sunny winter day, with endless gentle hills bordering the dim borders under the clear blue sky, and the distant forests surging like the tides. The gray snow reflects the light in the daylight, occasionally revealing the rocks on the surface.

If someone paints this scene on the canvas, an impression of the northern forest will immediately appear that is difficult to find out in anyone's eyes. And in this layered landscape, a black railroad track with a steel giant beast cut through the forest sea and spread forward.

Frick was now sitting in the belly of the "steel beast", aimlessly looking through the glass window at the winter scenery that kept sweeping in front of him.

On the wooden table in front of him lay several open notebooks, most of which were scribbled on them, and the recorder had filled in abstract sketches in the margins, as if to aid illustration.

These were all items taken out of the package, and looking at the familiar handwriting, Frick could also assert that the person who recorded the words was undoubtedly his father. In normal times, Frick might have been tempted to read the contents of the notes, but by this time his mind had been drawn to the letters.

"Dear Eve and Frick, I've been away for a month, and I don't know how you're doing at home......?

The scribbled text and the text that barely scratches the subject make Flick feel a sense of familiarity just by looking at them. In addition to asking Frick and his mother about their living conditions in their hometown, most of the thin letterheads are about daily trivial matters.

As my father stated in his letter, this letter was written more than a month after he had left home, and it seems that his work at the Gate of the North was going well. Those notebooks were the ones he had discovered during his adventurous life during the month, when he told his family about his condition, as he had done in the past.

At the end of the paper, my father wrote in an unexpectedly neat handwriting: "There is one thing I must apologize for here, I thought that the work here would only take a month to solve, but from the current situation it seems that I underestimated them. This month we've explored a number of previously unnoticed Aboriginal sites, many of which threaten to upend previous academic perceptions. If nothing else, we'll be staying at the Gate of the North for a while, and I'll probably send another email about my discovery next month. ”

Although his father said in the letter that he would send another one, it was not until now, more than a decade later, that Flick finally received his first mail. Regardless of why the mail was not delivered to the family, it is doubtful whether the so-called "second copy" was sent or not.

In other words, my father had already started this adventure before he lost his voice somewhere in the end, and until then, he had been trying to be on the front line of the adventure. If you're lucky enough to join Frick, you might even find clues about them at the Gate of the North.

Whether it's letters or relics, even if it's just a few inconsequential memorabilia, Flick hopes he'll find them. These are probably the last records left by the father with his companions, after which he lost a trace along with those who went on adventures with him.

Yes, Frick's father was not the only one who disappeared during the operation, nor did the other companions who had set off with him. This is also a matter of course, after all, if someone comes back safely, then the father will not be heard from at all.

A year after their father's departure, they had visited the adventurers' guild, but they had been told that all of their adventurers had lost contact with each other. The entire adventure party, from the client to the hired adventurers, and even some of the miscellaneous servants did not have any news.

Dealing with all the people in distress - this is the decision of the guild, although it seems a little impersonal, but it is the only possible outcome.

"There's no way around it. ”

Frick still remembers the face of the head of the guild at the time, and he said to his mother and himself as emotionlessly as a routine: "Adventurers are a dangerous business after all, and the guild is only responsible for exchanging information and regulating the system, and there is no way to ensure the safety of the mission. ”

The loss of life was a mere routine for him, after all, the adventurer's job was indeed to dance on the tip of a knife, as he said. Going to an unknown area to explore is ultimately risking one's life, and not seeing a dead person alive or dead, which is all too common for the head of the guild to be.

"Well, speaking of which, you are all adventurers...... Since you are heading in the direction where the 'gate' is, do you mean that you are going to go through the gate to the end of the north?"

But just as Frick was staring blankly at the scenery outside the window, a slightly shrill voice suddenly came from the compartment behind him: "Although the empire has now opened up the free adventure permit of the end of the north, it is still a rather dangerous uncivilized area, right?" Although it is often said that 'the greater the risk, the greater the benefit', but the premise of enjoying this benefit is to live." ”

The woman who spoke did not seem to be an adventurer, but an ordinary traveler to the Gate of the North, accompanied by a male traveling companion of the same year. But coincidentally, the other people in the same compartment were the same team of adventurers, so they talked casually.

Those adventurers seem to enjoy chatting with others, and like most second-rate adventurers who don't have much accomplishment, they like to brag about themselves. In fact, they've talked a lot about what happened during the adventure before, and now it's finally time to talk about the adventurers' goals.

"Hahaha, you're right, of course the kind of wild land in the North is very dangerous, not to mention that there are all kinds of monsters there, and the lack of supplies in the wasteland alone is enough for an immature adventurer to drink a pot!" said one of the adventurers after a few laughs, "You know, even Stella Leone, who is one of the best adventurers in the adventurer industry, is folded there." ”

Out of place, I am afraid there is no better word to describe the adventurer to say this sentence at this time. The moment he heard his father's name coming from behind him, Frick felt the air around him get a little colder, and his bones seemed to tremble.

Frick knew that his father was one of the more famous adventurers of his time, and that he is still often mentioned by many people today. Undoubtedly, when the guild announced that his father had been killed in Junghoku, many people saw it as a challenge to achieve success in Jungbei's adventure.

It may be difficult for the living to surpass the living, but the dead have become a signpost, waiting for their successors to leave their footprints there. Whether Flick wanted to or not, his father was probably already the target of many people before he knew it.

"But we're not half-people who will die at the slightest problem!"

The adventurer said, "I can't say it right now because of the employer's request, but I can tell you that we have a super goal this time...... We've got a lot in store for this adventure, and it won't be long before we're new legends!"

What follows is nothing more than worthless boasting, nothing more than how experienced they are, how well prepared they are, and so on. It's not interesting to listen to it anymore, and thanks to that loud voice that resounded through the sky, it was impossible to be in a daze even now.

So Frick had no choice but to turn his gaze to the things that his father was going to give to him.

Now that I think about it, if it had been delivered to them on time, it might not have changed the course of the next step. But even if nothing changes, at least it will let Frick know where his father ended up, and even have a chance to find the last trace of him here.

"But what's the use of that?"

Thinking of this, Frick couldn't help but smile bitterly, the cold air that filled the carriage eroded his body, enveloping him like cold water in an ice cave. The powerlessness of the cold gradually took away the strength in his body, and he couldn't help but want to laugh at his powerless self.

Even if he knew where his father's "end" was, it was a question of whether he could go there on his own - and before that, he was even subconsciously ignoring them. It seems that after the death of his mother due to illness, Flick was reluctant to touch everything about his father, because he always felt that if he solved the problem, something important that made up the present "self" would be torn apart.

I don't know if it can be said to be "lucky", this seat car that can accommodate ten people is only Flick at this time, and it seems empty. Despite the loud chatter and laughter behind him from time to time, he was still able to reorganize his thoughts and regain his strength.

He really didn't know if the "truth" was what he wanted, but what he was facing now was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance to solve the puzzle. No matter what awaits him in front of him, Flick will not stop here.

So he sat up and took another deep breath, letting the cold air fill his lungs and forcing himself to cheer up. The slight pain ran down the blood and stimulated every corner of his body, making his limbs, which had been slightly out of strength, barely regain some strength.

Looking into the distance through the car window, the destination has appeared on the other side of the horizon.