The city of Czeston, a city-state perched high in the mountains, is a place surrounded by blizzards all year round.

Cold winds whistling across steep ridges, dancing with the raised snow particles.

The canvas-like snowy plateau, with pure white snowflakes fluttering in the air, each one seems to have life, and they gently hover, and finally land on the endless snowfield.

In this snowy area, there are still some signs of life.

Occasionally, the footprints of the animal could be seen, gradually covered again by the wind and snow, and at the end of the footprints, the elk was quietly perched on the snow, looking in one direction, and soon, as if it had discovered something, it fled suddenly.

The wind and snow continued to howl.

The undulations and textures of the rolling snow gradually became clear, and in the distance where the elk ran away, a small dot against the wind and snow seemed to move slowly.

At first, it was not obvious, but as time passed, the figure's footsteps became noticeably more and more hasty, and from time to time it staggered, and was about to fall into the snow.

With the sound of heavy breathing, the young man in the heavy coat finally dropped his suitcase, scattering his only decent aristocratic costume and his documents from the south.

His skin was as white as the snow around him, his eyes were large and bright, full of panic and anxiety, and his flaxen hair was as soft as that of a young lady in a warm and rich southern city-state, but now it was disorganized by the wind and snow.

Behind him, about four or five athletic men were in hot pursuit.

Dressed in heavy hunting suits and monster fur hats, their smiling expressions were hideous and cruel, and each step was heavily trampled on the snow, leaving a string of deep footprints.

Obviously, they are the strong people who live in this northern city-state all year round, and the distance between them and the teenager is still shrinking.

The boy's feet were on the soft snow, and every step seemed to swallow him.

His breath was short, his cheeks were red from the cold wind, and he ran forward relentlessly.

The silence of the snowfield was broken by the sound of their chase, echoing across the boundless white earth.

The frozen mountains and forests in the distance are the lifesavers of the teenagers.

He knew that if he could reach the snowy forest, there was still a glimmer of hope of escaping.

Even in the slim space, it's better than running away on this flat snowy field!

"The aristocratic lady of the south, come and play with us!"

"Don't worry, we won't kill you right away."

Accompanied by the shrill roar of the thugs, a few arrows flew towards the young man's back from time to time, but none of them seemed to hit the boy by mistake, or seemed to be staggered by an invisible barrier.

“……！”

The boy clenched his teeth, not daring to look back, and could only judge the distance between the bandits and him by his voice.

However, the distance was shortened much faster than he had imagined.

I'm afraid that before I enter the snow forest, and even a long distance, I will be caught up by this group of people!

In the wind and snow, the distance between the teenager and the robber is getting closer, and tension and danger are in the air, but this cold and unforgiving snowfield does not seem to intend to take sides—it watches the life-and-death chase indifferently, waiting for the results to be revealed.

The survival of the fittest is the law of survival on the snow.

Even the southerners of the empire had heard of the situation in the north of the empire.

Of course, the south is not so stable now.

The north is only in chaos because of external threats and new laws and changes in the empire this year.

A few more cities further north of Czeston City would lead to the Northern Front, and the route from Box Mountain Province to Censton City alone would be thorny.

The boy's heart was now numb, and he didn't even know if it was because his legs and feet were gradually numb from freezing in the snow, or because he was weak from fear, he couldn't hold on anymore.

There are several things that have been unlucky.

His name is Char, the eldest son of the family of the Count of Candace in the south of the Protos Empire, and his ancestors have outstanding military exploits in the Protos Empire, but because of the two generations of defeated family owners in a row, he is now in debt and is about to be unable to open the pot.

So now I can only come to the north to join in.

To some extent, there is a family that sells his ingredients, but in essence, it is also a mutually beneficial transaction for each to take what he needs.

The Chiston family he wants to get involved in is not bad.

The lord of Czeston City, Viscount Levine Chindton, was a well-known merchant in the imperial capital in recent years, and with his personal talent, the size of the Chamber of Commerce that his family had accumulated over the years, and his own outstanding military strength that was able to gain a foothold in the north, the northern city-state and their family gradually became unstoppable.

But the only problem with the Chiston family, as a merchant family, is that they have always been ridiculed as a shoddy aristocrat who pays money.

It is also for this reason that Viscount Levine Chenston is not very well treated by some big nobles whenever he goes to the imperial capital, perhaps simply looking down on him, or it may be out of jealousy, and even in the north there are many nobles who are squeezing him.

Char is nothing but an orthodox ancient nobleman with indelible military achievements, who happens to have this noble bloodline, and his family has left a name in the history of the Protos Empire long before the start of the holy war.

That's exactly what the Kingston family likes.

It is said that his fiancée is a very good and arrogant person, who reached the third rank at the age of 17, and will go directly to the imperial capital in the early summer of this year to enroll in the first year of the Protos Royal Academy, becoming a promising aristocratic student.

And his family couldn't even help him pay his tuition.

If you want to be a special student, you need to be quite good if you don't pay any fees to enroll.

With his strength, he even had a hard time taking the exam for a preparatory student, he had already failed once, he didn't want to fight with others, let alone hurt others, and he didn't have the confidence to survive in that harsh school.

The most promising way to enroll is to become a retinue of the young lady of the Kingston family as her fiancé, and be taken by her to enroll in school.

But this kind of behavior is a bit like a little white face.

Her family had every money to hire a powerful retinue for her.

I don't know if she will ruin her marriage and let herself go home.

Everything is unknown, he doesn't even know if his fiancée is beautiful or not, what her personality is, although there are some very dangerous and strange rumors circulating in the north now, but in order to change his life, he still came thousands of miles away.

Theoretically, if he can turn the tables in a desperate situation and recast the glory of the family in his own hands, he will not only have a place in the Imperial House of Lords, but also restore the appearance of their family in the aristocratic circle of the Protos Empire.

But—

First of all, the railroad was broken, and the weather was bad and it was difficult to repair, so it could have been relatively safe to go directly to Chesston City on the magic energy rail train protected by the Imperial Army.

Now, in order to make the appointment on time, I can only brave the wind and snow to cross the wasteland to the city.

As a result, they encountered bandits on the road.

(End of chapter)