Chapter 145

Northern Region, Snow Sheep Village.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The cold wind howled as usual, stinging people's faces as if they were being cut by knives.

In the open space at the entrance of the village, a young girl with long ice-blue hair ignored the cold, only gripping the Lionheart Sword in her hand and repeating her sword swings countless times.

The girl's sword technique was extremely exquisite, like the wings of a butterfly dancing in a flower field—light and elegant, yet hiding murderous intent.

Rustle.

The sound of snow falling.

A few crystal-clear snowflakes fell toward the girl's shoulders.

Clang, clang, clang!

An emerald-green sword light flashed, and in an instant, those hexagonal ice crystals were precisely split in two by the blade almost simultaneously.

"Hoo." After completing all this, the girl returned the long sword to its scabbard, and her cherry-pink lips gently exhaled a puff of white mist.

Clap, clap, clap.

The middle-aged man watching this scene quietly from not far away clapped with a smile on his face.

"One, two, three... in less than a second, you sliced a total of seven snowflakes from the center line."

"Dorovai, your swordsmanship has improved even further. Even looking at the entire continent, you are definitely among the top geniuses. Even the Duke, who was once hailed as the number one person under the throne, did not have such martial power at your age."

Lansen praised without reservation.

"You overpraise me, Uncle Lansen. Beyond the continent, there are new continents, and beyond geniuses, there will be even more outstanding geniuses. I... am still too weak!"

Recalling Tamerlane, who could easily suppress her, and that unfathomable Lord, a sense of urgency flashed across Dorovai's pretty face, and she spoke with a tone of slight disappointment.

Hearing this, the smile on Lansen's face immediately froze.

He always had a feeling that he was very uncomfortable, because he too was once a genius admired by ten thousand people, but he still paled in comparison to Dorovai, who was as dazzling as a gemstone.

Yet such a dazzling person turned around and said she was too weak...

"Dorovai, you are already the most outstanding knight in all of Sossia, yet you can still maintain such humility. I have never believed as much as I do now that you will definitely be able to slay the Gluttonous King on the throne in the future."

After thinking for a moment, Lansen couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.

"Let's go, it's too cold outside, we should head back."

"Gari today sent someone to tell me that he successfully found the trace of the named magical beast from the Northern Region legend in the depths of the Eternal Frozen Forest—the white lion that freezes everything, 'Winter Claw' Hrimthurs."

While walking back side by side, Lansen hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"You finally found it! It was indeed hiding in the Eternal Frozen Forest!" A flash of excitement immediately crossed the girl's emerald-green eyes.

For a knight's path of advancement, possessing a powerful mount would undoubtedly make the road much smoother, not to mention a lion-type magical beast that was compatible with her; if she could successfully subdue it, there was a high possibility of advancing to the Crescent Rank in one fell swoop.

"Uncle Lansen, there is no time to lose. Let's pack our luggage immediately and set off for the Eternal Frozen Forest early tomorrow morning," Dorovai said impatiently.

"Sorry, I think it's still too early. The combat power of 'Winter Claw' should have already reached the peak of the Crescent Rank. Even with your Mason family's talent for being close to lions, it is simply too dangerous to approach it before reaching the Crescent Rank."

Lansen shook his head and vetoed it.

"Named magical beasts will not easily leave their territory. Rest assured, with your talent, reaching the Crescent Rank is only a matter of these few years."

Seeing the disappointed look on the girl's face as her expectations were dashed, Lansen comforted her.

"By the way, Young Lady, you are already twenty years old this year; it's time to consider leaving a bloodline for the Mason family."

Afterward, as if thinking of something, he frowned and spoke.

Usually, girls in noble families get married at eighteen, and being over twenty is already considered an older unmarried woman.

And Dorovai was the last bloodline of the Mason family. As a loyal knight, in order not to fail the deceased Lord, he had the necessity to advise the other party to put the important matter of marriage on the agenda—that is, to urge marriage.

Whoosh!

The girl, who previously didn't even fear the famous named magical beast "Winter Claw," now acted as if she had encountered a flood or a wild beast, turning into a cyan stream of light and moving dozens of meters away from Lansen in an instant.

"Uncle Lansen, the Gluttonous King is not dead, and the blood feud of the Eastern Region still remains. How can I forget the blood feud because of personal feelings?"

Dorovai hugged her shoulders and asked with vigilance.

Looking at her resistant appearance, Lansen took a deep breath, and azure magic power erupted from his body.

Whoosh!

The next moment, before Dorovai could react, he teleported to the girl's side.

"Young Lady, leaving a bloodline does not affect our revenge. On the contrary, more than ten years later, when we have accumulated enough power to resist the Gluttonous King, your child will have grown up and be able to stand on their own."

Lansen said with an expressionless face.

"Ahhh, but Uncle Lansen, I really don't want to have a baby with a man I don't like at all just to leave a family bloodline!"

Hearing this, the girl hugged her head and squatted on the ground in pain.

Making her, who had never experienced love, have a baby with a man she didn't like—she would rather fight a dragon with her bare hands; at least she wouldn't have to give herself to someone!

Seeing the girl he had watched grow up with his own eyes in this state, a flash of intolerance also crossed Lansen's eyes.

"How about Garid? He is twenty-three years old this year and has also reached the Morning Star Rank. You grew up together since childhood, so you have some feelings, and his father died protecting the Eastern Region."

Lansen softened his tone.

"... Are you sure he dares to marry me?" After a moment of silence, Dorovai's eyes looked strange.

When she was a little girl, because their age difference wasn't large, Garid was appointed as her sparring partner. And because she was determined to become stronger as soon as possible at the time, the frequency of their sparring was very high, and she didn't know how to hold back...

It could only be said that the reason the other party hadn't even tasted love, let alone married, by the age of twenty-three was largely due to the shadow from childhood.

Recalling the young man's appearance of fearing women like snakes and scorpions, Lansen's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"Then what about Blewin? Vali? Gowen?"

"No, no, no."

After several carefully selected candidates were vetoed one after another, Lansen sighed helplessly.

He knew that in this region of the Northern Region, he couldn't find a candidate who would satisfy Dorovai.

But that was normal. In this land with a harsh climate, widespread famine, lords who were greedier than the next, and even the regional lord who believed that the strong should dominate everything and the weak only deserved to die, where could he find a man worthy of the Young Lady?

Wait, the Northern Region wouldn't work, but what if it were outside the Northern Region? Lansen's eyes lit up; he suddenly thought of a rumor he had recently heard.

"Dorovai, I recently heard from knights returning from the Southern Region that a Sage has recently appeared in the Southern Region. It is rumored that he is benevolent, kind, and treats everyone equally, whether they are nobles or commoners, and he can even embrace a crazy peasant woman who lost her child."

"He used his wisdom to persuade all the viscount lords of the Southern Region, making them pursue justice regardless of the cost, thoroughly cleaning up the brothels and gangs in their territories, and even judging evil nobles, bringing unprecedented peace and prosperity to the entire Southern Region."

"If we want to grow and develop, the help of a wise man is crucial." Lansen coaxed her, at this moment looking just like those old fathers who were worried that their daughters wouldn't get married and were doing their best to persuade them.

"And most importantly, this Sage is about your age, and I heard he is also a handsome man, and even his hair and eye color are the extremely rare black."

Hearing this, Dorovai, who had been covering her ears and pretending not to hear, suddenly froze.

Recalling the appearance of the Lord in the Spark Hall, she had a faint guess in her heart.

"Uncle Lansen, what is the name of that Sage?" she asked anxiously.

Lansen, thinking that the girl had finally seen the light, was overjoyed and hurriedly said the name.

"That Sage's name is Mingyu Xia, which means 'shining on the world.' What a name full of deep meaning and ideals!" Lansen praised without sparing any effort.

Dorovai, who accidentally learned the Lord's real-world identity, couldn't help but look happy, which made Lansen, who was observing her expression carefully, feel even more ecstatic.

Great!

The Young Lady was finally interested in a man; he wouldn't have to blame himself and toss and turn, unable to sleep, because of worrying about the Mason family bloodline being cut off from time to time!

"Dorovai, if you are interested in this Sage, why don't we set off for the Southern Region early tomorrow morning?" Lansen said impatiently.

"Forget it, Uncle. Although I am indeed interested, I am not worthy of that Lord," Dorovai said with a bitter smile.

Ah, is there a man in this world who is not worthy of the daughter of a Grand Duke and a twenty-year-old Crescent Knight?

Lansen was stunned, but looking at the bitterness on the girl's beautiful, poetic face, he, who had taken care of her since she was a child, could naturally tell that the girl's words just now were indeed from the bottom of her heart.

Hiss!

Lansen gasped.

He realized that perhaps it was the knight training, which had far exceeded the intensity of most men since childhood, that had caused Dorovai's worldview as a woman to have a big problem.

Before being a heroic knight, she was a peerless beauty!

Regardless of whether she developed feelings for any man in this world, she shouldn't feel the slightest inferiority, but rather feel that it was the man's honor!

"It's rare for the Young Lady to be interested in a man. Perhaps I can write a few letters to that Sage in the Young Lady's name to get to know him first, and then I have to buy the Young Lady a few beautiful dresses and ornaments, and let her try to learn to dress up and dance..."

Lansen thought secretly in his heart.

Tap, tap, tap.

At this time, a young man who looked somewhat weak ran over. After seeing Dorovai, he first hugged his elbows and shivered, and then walked over cautiously and said:

"Young Lady, Lord Lansen, the village chief of Ice Deer Village is here again; it should still be to borrow grain."

"We don't have much grain left either, and the knights' training requires more food. Find a reason to make him leave..."

"Wait a moment, Uncle Lansen."

Just as Lansen was frowning and wanting to order Garid to refuse, he was interrupted by Dorovai.

"If we pause the knight training, we should be able to save some grain. Let's gift it to Ice Deer Village," Dorovai said.

"But if we stop the training, the strength of our knights will stagnate. When will we be able to accumulate enough power for revenge..."

"I think if it were Father, he would definitely do the same."

Lansen still wanted to advise her, but Dorovai made him close his mouth silently with just one sentence.

Yes, if it were Grand Duke Mason, he would definitely do the same.

Because he was a man like the sun who couldn't bear to see others cry.

It was precisely because he couldn't bear to see others cry that he, despite being in the position of the number one person under the royal family, despite knowing the heavy price to be paid for resistance, and despite knowing he was in a desperate situation, still defiantly raised the first banner of resistance.

In a room where the stove was burning brightly.

"Two people in our village starved to death today, one the day before yesterday, and three were sold to the City of Slaves the day before that..."

The old man was wrapped in an old, patched leather robe, stating this in a desolate tone.

The old leather robe was very thick, but it couldn't hide his emaciated body under his clothes.

His neck stretched out from the collar of the robe like a withered tree root, and the protruding cartilage under the thin skin was clearly visible.

"Lord Lansen, please lend us some more grain; we will definitely repay you next year!"

The old man knelt on the ground and begged.

"Take it, this is all we have left."

Dorovai carried a bag of rye and placed it in front of the old man, saying softly.

"God above, kind young lady, thank you, thank you!"

After bidding farewell to the old man who was moved to tears, and watching his thin figure gradually disappear into the wind and snow, Dorovai only felt that her mood was much heavier, as if someone were poking her heart.

"Uncle Lansen, can I go kill Lucas and distribute the grain in his castle to the people of the Ice Plain territory?"

After a long silence, Dorovai suddenly spoke.

The location of Snow Sheep Village, where they were currently living, was in the Ice Plain territory of the Northern Region, and the lord, Lucas Ice Plain, was a tyrannical lord who ranked at the top even in the Northern Region, where the atmosphere was bad and the lords were greedier than the next.

Lucas was immersed in cultivation, for which he frantically exploited everyone in the territory to exchange for various resources needed for advancement.

Staying in the Ice Plain territory, there were only two paths in the end: either the whole family would be starved to death, or they would be sold to the City of Slaves to become slaves to obtain enough grain for the remaining family members to survive temporarily.

And then it was another cycle.

"I am sorry, Dorovai. Killing Lucas is easy, but if it attracts the attention of the Lord of the Northern Region, Mo Wen Dean, everything we have worked so hard to build will collapse. We must endure," Lansen said calmly.

"But I really don't want to endure anymore!"

Surging emerald-green magic power erupted from the girl's body, and for a moment, the air waves splashed, causing the roaring fire in the stove to sway unsteadily.

"No matter the reason, I can no longer watch innocent people fall into hell before my eyes."

"I swear in the name of Mason: within three days, I will take his head."

"I want to see if, after eating the blood of so many people, he is a match for a woman who grew up eating black bread and mushroom soup!"

Dorovai said coldly, her beautiful face now wreathed in murderous intent as biting as the cold wind.

Late at night, after tossing and turning on the bed for a long time, the girl finally entered dreamland.

In her dream, she once again arrived at that magnificent hall that made her feel at ease and warm.

(End of chapter)