Regardless of Douglas, Feidric, or Aria's reactions, Dio was naturally most concerned about Cipher's. He stared intently at her, hoping she would show a hint of regret, her cheeks flushing slightly as she asked him to stay. If she did, he might actually abandon his mission.
Alliance Diplomatic Ambassador? He'd resign on the spot! He didn't want the job anymore!
But after Dio had been staring at her for quite some time, Cipher finally noticed him. She looked up from the System Page, momentarily puzzled by his intense gaze, before realizing it must be about his departure.
Her tail swayed gently behind her as she calmly said, "Oh... Right. Safe travels."
At that moment, Aria thought she heard something shatter.
That evening, Dio left as planned, leaving Cipher and her three companions alone again. Of course, there was also their "taxi driver"—the Earth Dragon Master, a merchant.
During their rest stop in the small town, the merchant warned them, "As you continue north, the temperature will drop drastically. I recommend purchasing some cold-weather gear here."
The merchant turned to Cipher. "Especially you, young lady, dressed so lightly."
Cipher simply smiled. "Don't worry, Uncle. I don't mind the cold."
Douglas, Feidric, and Aria, however, heeded the merchant's advice and purchased warm clothing.
Over the next two days, Cipher frequently checked her Fame on her System Page, noticing its rapid increase. It had already surpassed 70,000, likely because Dio had finished reporting.
The group continued their journey smoothly for five more days. On the seventh day, they finally arrived near Chaos City, well ahead of Castorice's initial ten-day estimate.
The first thing that caught their eye was the Alliance's defensive line, built to prevent exiles from escaping. Small fortresses, each ten meters tall, were connected by five-meter-high walls, resembling the Great Wall of Cipher's former homeland. Countless soldiers garrisoned and even lived within this Alliance "Great Wall."
"Impressive, isn't it?" The merchant marveled at the sight. "These walls aren't just here; they stretch across the entire northern border of the Alliance, completely isolating the Northern Territory and drastically reducing barbarian raids!"
According to the merchant, the Alliance also called this massive wall the "Great Wall." It had been built a century ago during the tumultuous period in the Northern Territory, following the sudden death of the formidable leader who had unified the region. This event plunged the more than three hundred tribes under his command into a brutal civil war.
The Alliance's Great Wall stretched for eighteen thousand kilometers, only slightly shorter than the twenty-one thousand kilometers of the Great Wall from Cipher's previous life. However, the crucial difference was that magic existed in this world!
This eighteen-thousand-kilometer wall had been constructed by the Alliance at great expense, hiring over a hundred Transmutation Wizards from the Arcane Federation. The project took nearly two years to complete and bore no comparison to the Great Wall of Cipher's past, which had been built entirely by human hands.
The Great Wall, constructed by countless laborers, was a marvel of the world! But for wizards to create such a structure was like using a cheat code—a mere flick of the finger, nothing truly remarkable.
Suddenly, Cipher had a thought. "Wizards are supposed to be wealthy, right?" she asked Feidric. "Why would they accept a mundane construction quest like this?"
Feidric explained, "Generally, wizards are indeed well-off. But Transmutation Wizards are a bit of an exception. It's quite common for them to take on such quests."
Building city walls was something even Evocation Wizards could easily accomplish, manipulating earth elements to mold and solidify them into the desired structure. However, these wizards were wealthy and considered such dirty, laborious work beneath them.
Transmutation Wizards, on the other hand, were perpetually short on funds. These were the alchemists of popular imagination, constantly tinkering with expensive potions and concoctions—an expensive habit. Since the Alliance offered generous compensation, they eagerly took on the task.
They used the Fourth-Level Transmutation School spell Divine Craftsmanship, which allowed them to transform a "raw material" into a "finished product," such as turning a tree into a wooden bridge or a bundle of hemp into rope. This magic allowed them to convert the stone delivered by the Alliance into the Great Wall.
Cipher then turned to the proud merchant and asked, "You're saying this Great Wall completely isolates the Alliance from the Northern Territory. But isn't the Demon King's City technically Alliance territory? You've just walled it off like that? What does this mean? Are you deliberately ceding this land to the Northern Territory?"
Everyone knew that every inch of territory was worth fighting for. How could they intentionally give away land like this?
Cipher's question caught the merchant off guard. He paused, as if he'd never considered it before. "Uh... probably? After all, the Demon King's City isn't exactly a desirable place. I guess it's understandable if they wanted to get rid of it."
Moments later, the group reached the edge of the Great Wall. Several Alliance soldiers quickly approached, inquiring about their intentions.
Aria stated bluntly, "We're going to Chaos City to find a god... mmmph!"
Fortunately, Cipher reacted swiftly, covering Aria's mouth before she could finish her sentence. Even the first part of her statement was enough to elicit looks of disbelief from the soldiers. "Are you serious?!"
"I strongly advise you to abandon this idea!" one of the soldiers warned. "Seriously, don't go to Chaos City. That place is terrifying right now! Everything was fine a while ago, but lately, strange things have been happening. First, the clear sky suddenly turned pitch-black, with thunder and lightning. Then, two pillars of fire shot into the sky, tearing a hole in the clouds and splitting that massive darkness in two!"
"Then another blue pillar shot skyward, and Chaos City was engulfed in a relentless blizzard that hasn't stopped since!"
The dark clouds, the pillars of fire, the blue mist column—all defied the soldier's understanding. He couldn't begin to imagine what had transpired in the city during that time, nor did he dare investigate. His only recourse was to dispatch soldiers to report the situation to the Alliance.
Cipher surmised that much of the Fame displayed on their System Page likely came from these soldiers. The man continued, "This is the former Demon King's City! With so many bizarre phenomena, something truly terrifying might be about to happen—perhaps even the Demon Lord's resurrection! I strongly advise you to turn back now!"
Cipher silently marveled at the soldier's overactive imagination. However, having come this far, neither she nor her companions had any intention of turning back.
Feidric stepped forward and declared, "I apologize, but we cannot stop here under any circumstances. Spare us the pointless chatter and let us pass."
"Alright... alright," the soldier relented, seeing Feidric's unwavering resolve. Their duty was only to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering Alliance territory; they had no authority to stop anyone from leaving.
Besides, whether these travelers were headed to Chaos City or the Northern Territory, their fate was their own affair. If they perished, it would have nothing to do with the soldiers, right?
However, the soldiers' words seemed to have frightened the Earth Dragon Master. The merchant took two steps back and stammered, "Perhaps... you should continue the rest of the journey on your own. It's not much further. If necessary, I can refund part of your fare. How about that?"
Feidric couldn't help but wear an exasperated expression. He turned to his three companions. "What do you think?"
Aria naturally agreed. She was always adept at seeing things from others' perspectives. "If he doesn't want to continue, let's just proceed on our own."
Douglas had no objections either. Cipher paused, recalling that aside from being a little greedy, the merchant had been decent enough. She had no intention of holding a grudge.
In the end, the Earth Dragon Master refunded two Gold Dragons. After all, he had carried the group for ninety percent of their journey, leaving only the final tenth to cover. A ten percent refund seemed reasonable.
Now, Cipher and her three companions were truly on their own, forced to trek the remaining distance to Chaos City on foot.
After passing through the Great Wall, they could visibly see the temperature plummeting with each step. Before they even caught sight of Chaos City's silhouette, Cipher noticed a thin layer of snow dusting the ground.
I didn't expect the snow to reach this far south, she thought.
Aria, however, reacted with childlike wonder and excitement. "Is this snow? I've only read about it in books! It's white, cold, and so magical!"
She bounced around in the snow like a child, leaving crisp footprints in her wake. Suddenly, an idea struck her. Aria crouched down, scooped up a handful of snow, packed it into a snowball, and turned to hurl it at Cipher.
"Sister Cipher, watch out!"
As expected, Cipher easily dodged the slow-moving snowball with a slight sidestep.
The snowball then struck Feidric squarely in the face, who was standing behind her.
Feidric: "..."
With an impassive expression, he slowly wiped the snow off his face. Aria couldn't help but shrink back at the sight, while Douglas burst into laughter. "Ha! You couldn't even dodge that pathetic snowball? Feidric, you're pathetic!"
Douglas crouched down, began packing his own snowball, aimed at Feidric, but then suddenly switched targets mid-throw and hurled it at Aria instead.
Neither Douglas's former home, the Dragon Ember Empire, nor Aria's homeland, the Grand Duchy of Kandela, were located far enough north to experience frequent snowfall. Thus, the two of them ended up playing around right there.
Aria's childish behavior was understandable, given her young age. But Douglas, already thirty years old, was joining in like a kid himself?
Still, Cipher couldn't help but smile as she watched Douglas and Aria gleefully pelt each other with snowballs. Even if their behavior was childish, as long as they were having fun, nothing else mattered, right?
Standing beside Feidric, Cipher couldn't resist asking, "Aren't you going to join in and throw a few snowballs yourself?"
Although Douglas and Aria were the main participants in the snowball fight, the occasional stray snowball would fly towards Cipher and Feidric. Cipher effortlessly dodged them all, leaving Feidric to take every hit.
Now Feidric was covered in crushed snow from head to toe, his hair and clothes coated in icy flakes. He hadn't even bothered to brush himself off.
"A snowball fight?" Feidric pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, I'm not really into it."
Unlike Douglas and Aria, Feidric had grown up in the Arcane Federation, a northern land where snow was commonplace. He vaguely remembered his younger sister constantly begging him to play snowball fights as a child, but he had almost always refused.
His reasons were always the same: "Too childish," "boring," or "I'd rather study magic."
Yet, despite his repeated refusals, his younger sister would pester him to play every time it snowed. Reluctantly, Feidric had given in a few times. Looking back, all they'd done was throw snowballs at each other. He still couldn't understand what was so fun about it.
As Feidric reminisced, Cipher suddenly grabbed a handful of snow, yanked open his collar, and shoved it all down his back.
Feidric instantly jumped up, shivering violently. He turned to Cipher with a stunned and bewildered expression. Her eyes crinkled into adorable crescent moons as she giggled. "What do you mean you don't like it? You were smiling the whole time! If you want to play, just admit it!"
"Stop with the 'childish' and 'boring' excuses," she continued. "The game itself doesn't matter. What matters is the person you're playing with, right?"
Feidric fell silent, pondering her words. Just then, another snowball whizzed past and splattered against the back of his head, showering him in snowflakes.
The next moment, Feidric crouched down, began packing snowballs, and hurled one at Cipher. This time, Cipher didn't dodge, letting the snowball hit her before crouching down to make her own for a counterattack.
The group played like this for a while. Douglas, who kept taunting everyone for being weak, ended up with a handful of snow stuffed down his armor, sending him sliding to his knees on the spot.
Feidric, caught cheating by using shield magic, was ganged up on by Cipher and Aria and eliminated from the game.
In the end, only Cipher and Aria remained for a one-on-one showdown. After a prolonged battle without a clear victor, they called it a draw.
Once the exhilarating snowball fight ended, the four brushed off the snow clinging to their clothes and resumed their journey.
As they approached Chaos City, the snow on the ground grew increasingly deep, first barely covering their boots, then reaching their calves, and finally their thighs, making their progress increasingly arduous.