With the arrival of Tager, Schwad, about thirty-odd bodyguards, and the guide Old Gison, as well as Old Dad Morbinhan who trained the golden eagles,
Schwad was very excited, hugging his senior apprentice brother and chattering in Reddi's ear about the hardships of the journey to find him and the interesting things he had encountered along the way. El, on the other hand, had taken off his snowshoes and was directing the thirty-odd guards to set up a perimeter close to Lorist, to prevent those Andinack Kingdom soldiers, who were happily pursuing the fleeing enemy from getting too carried away and bumping into Lorist and the
The Second Prince had already dismounted and was curiously examining a pair of snowshoes and two poles that a soldier had brought him—items Lorist had left in the snow. After studying them from every angle, front and back, he tossed the snowshoes onto the snow, stepped into the bindings himself, gripped the poles, and gave a light push—only to immediately perform a spectacular face-plant…
Lorist suppressed his laughter and helped him up. "Your Highness, these are called snowshoes, designed for gliding over snow. Mastering this skill requires practice; no one can do it at first glance. One must learn to control one's balance and coordination. If Your Highness won't think it presumptuous of me, allow me to instruct you in your spare time."
There was no hint of embarrassment or anger on the Second Prince's face. Instead, he seized Lorist's arm and said admiringly, "Brother Locke, your family's novel contraptions are truly endless. These snowshoes are a superb tool for winter surprise attacks. If a whole legion's soldiers could master this skiing skill, then across vast, snow-covered fields, the legion could maneuver over great distances anytime, anywhere, bypass enemy defenses, and launch surprise assaults and seizures on their undefended rear…"
Truly befitting of the Second Prince, who was renowned for his winter surprise attacks—even a simple pair of snowshoes could spark such tactical associations. Lorist shook his head. "Your Highness, this is standard winter equipment for our family's armed scouts. Dozens or even hundreds of them can traverse the snowy plains freely, faster than galloping horses. But forget a whole legion; even a full army group—I've never tried to have them all use snowshoes for a winter assault. The difficulty would be immense."
The Second Prince thought for a moment upon hearing this and quickly grasped Lorist's point. For dozens or even hundreds of scouts, just the cost of their cold-weather gear was already a significant expense. A look at the one-piece leather suits worn by Lorist and his guards revealed they were made from high-grade magical beast fur. Being able to extend the family armed forces' winter patrol and defensive range made the cost something one could grit one's teeth and bear. But for a legion of tens of thousands, equipping every single soldier with such advanced cold-weather magical beast leather gear would be astronomically expensive—likely, the equipment on a single soldier wouldn't be worth more than the suit itself.
Pointing at the leather suits worn by the
Lorist nodded. "Your Highness, skiing is different from trudging through snow. Walking in snow is tiring, but your whole body is moving, so you feel warm. But skiing is fast; the biting wind hits your face directly. Without good cold-weather leather gear, your entire body would freeze stiff. However, that's only one aspect. The most important thing is that you must not lose your direction. In winter, with wind and snow combined, the weather is unpredictable. Once caught in a blizzard, it's all over…"
The Second Prince said unconvinced, "But didn't you find your way here too? The weather hasn't exactly been great these past two days either…"
Lorist sighed and turned to point behind him. "Your Highness, it's because we have this…"
What Lorist was pointing at was Old Man Mobinhan. The old man pulled out a jade-colored bone whistle, put it to his lips, and blew a piercing, shrill call that made the Second Prince jump. Then everyone saw the golden eagle that had been circling high above dive sharply downward, its wings flapping with a swift rustle before it landed steadily on Old Man Mobinhan's right arm.
Old Man Mobinhan gently stroked the feathers on the eagle's back, then pulled strip after strip of fresh beef—warmed by his own body heat—from a pouch inside his coat and fed it to the bird.
"Is— is this the golden eagle you brought with you?" The Second Prince was genuinely stunned this time. "You used this golden eagle to find us here?"
"Yes, Your Highness. This golden eagle is Old Man Mobinhan's precious companion. They've depended on each other for over a decade, and only the old man can understand and direct the eagle's actions. The intelligence I received said that many duchy soldiers were hunting
The Second Prince was a clever man. The moment he heard Lorist's explanation, he knew he couldn't have designs on the golden eagle. He could only look at the bird with a few lingering glances of regret. "No wonder you were able to pinpoint us so precisely—you had this golden eagle to help. I never once imagined that hawks and falcons could be used this way. I always thought those hunting birds were nothing more than pets for nobles to play with on hunts… If a few hawks could be trained for reconnaissance purposes, I believe a single hawk could replace at least a hundred-man scout squad."
"That way, the family's armed forces wouldn't walk into traps, and we could guard against enemy surprise attacks to the greatest extent."
Just then, Lipirede returned, bringing an apothecary with him. They administered the qi-dispersing elixir and the bone-softening powder to Great Swordmaster Cindy, who was disheveled and despondent, having only just regained consciousness. The Great Swordmaster submitted to it all in silence, but those eyes of his were fixed on Lorist with an unmistakable venom that everyone could read…
Watching Great Swordmaster Cindy being led away under Lipirede's guard, the Second Prince turned to Lorist. "Locke, let's head to the camp first. When do you plan to head back?"
Lorist glanced at the sky. The bright morning sun had been swallowed once again by rolling banks of dark clouds. After a moment's thought, he answered, "This wretched weather — looks like another blizzard is coming. We'll have to impose on Your Majesty's camp for four or five days. My guards need the rest too — they've been running all over the White Heron Lake marshlands with me, and they're completely exhausted. In the meantime, I can teach Your Majesty how to ski. With some practice, you'll pick it up quickly."
When he reached the hilltop and looked down at the sea of tents dotting the camp, Lorist was dumbfounded. "Your Majesty, is this really how you keep your soldiers through winter?"
"Mm..." the Second Prince replied with a trace of pride. "Don't let these tents fool you — they're actually double-layered linen, with linseed oil applied between the layers. They block wind and rain well enough, and when the snow melts, it doesn't seep through."
"Your Majesty, we're about to hit blizzard weather. The temperature will plummet. With tents like these, I'd expect a great many cases of frostbite among the soldiers." Lorist didn't mince his words.
"Well... there were quite a few in past years, but we've made improvements. Every soldier has been issued a leather vest, leather gloves, and leather socks. I believe frostbite cases will drop significantly this year. Besides, we've also prepared large quantities of frostbite treatment elixirs," the Second Prince explained defensively.
"Your Majesty, this is exactly what 'shutting oneself away to build a cart' means. Why not ask around more? El, I'm giving you one hour — build an igloo right now and show Your Majesty the proper way to camp in winter." Lorist gave El his orders.
Poor El had just set down the heavy pack on his back and hadn't even caught his breath before being conscripted as a builder. But even he had been grimacing at the tents in the camp — who could stand sleeping inside one of those at night? Forget getting a decent night's sleep; just not freezing solid would count as good luck.
At Lorist's call, about twenty guards became El's assistants. In less than an hour, a neat, box-shaped igloo stood before the Second Prince and his entourage. The construction was remarkably simple: first, a few wooden boards were used as a mold for snow bricks — pack in snow, pour on water, compress, and a brick was ready. No foundation was needed either; dozens of snow bricks were stacked to form walls, bonded together with nothing more than a splash of water. The only tricky part was the roof — a pointed frame was assembled from a few planks, lighter snow bricks were placed on top and frozen solid with water, and then the planks could be removed. Finally, the entire igloo was doused with water, fusing it to the ground. After that, no blizzard, no matter how fierce, could topple or crush it.
El and the others were now setting up a tent inside the igloo. Lorist explained, "This is to prevent the igloo's own moisture and cold from seeping into the body. Once the tent is up, you can use brazier pans and stoves inside it. Outside, the wind cuts to the bone, but inside the igloo, it's warm as spring. El and his team also need to set up intake and ventilation channels. The igloo has no door — typically, animal furs are used as a curtain. But they'll also erect a windbreak wall directly in front of the entrance to keep cold drafts from blowing inside."
The Second Prince was full of admiration. "Locke, my brother, where do all these brilliant ideas of yours come from?"
Lorist laughed: "Your Highness, this isn't my credit. This is the masterwork of Kamen Pruit, the greatest adventurer of a century ago. When I was studying at
The Second Prince sighed with admiration: "Even though it wasn't your invention, you're the one who put these snow houses to large-scale use and achieved such remarkable results. Otherwise, why has this snow house remained obscure and unknown for a hundred years? The ability to put one's learning into practice — that is your greatest merit, my Grand Duke of the Northland."
"Your Highness, you flatter me. It's still only afternoon — we have enough time to redo the entire military camp using these snow houses. Have your soldiers come over to help, and I'll have El and the others provide instruction."
"Very well, Lipired." The Second Prince once again summoned the honest, loyal, and incredibly hardworking Lipired.
And so the ever-capable Lipired once again took on the title of Director of the Military Camp Snow House Office, responsible for overseeing El and the others' efforts to convert the entire camp into snow house mode.
The evening welcome banquet was held in the largest snow house at the center of the camp. The Second Prince was in high spirits — Lorist's arrival had not only resolved the crisis in which he had nearly been captured, but had turned the tables and captured all of the enemies. As for the few stragglers who might have escaped, it hardly mattered; in this blizzard-ravaged weather, fleeing the camp into the open wilderness was simply courting death.
His New Year's celebration was still waiting for his arrival, and that was not something he could afford to miss. The good news was that they no longer had to wind through the Heron Lake marshlands — they could cross Heron Lake directly and take the main road. He estimated that traveling by ski would take roughly ten days to make it back.
Outside, howling winds raged and snow fell like drifting cotton. Yet inside the snow houses, firelight and candlelight blazed bright and the air was thick with warmth. Everyone present drank to their hearts' content.
Great Swordmaster Mansteth respectfully raised a cup of wine to Lorist and asked: "Your Grace the Grand Duke, do you believe that Great Swordmaster Cindy has truly advanced to the rank of third-rank Great Swordmaster?"
Lorist understood why Great Swordmaster Mansteth had come to consult him, and nodded: "It's true. Several years ago, I crossed blades with her when she was still a second-rank Great Swordmaster. Although I won that fight, the moment I left I collapsed into a deep sleep for two or three days — my mind and body were completely spent. This time, when I fought her, I found that her aura and strength had far surpassed what they were back then. That was how I knew she had advanced to third-rank Great Swordmaster."
"I understand what you're really asking. You're thinking Cindy's third-rank level is somewhat unearned, aren't you? You should be close to advancing to second-rank yourself, so you figure that if Great Swordmaster Cindy were truly third-rank, killing you should be as easy as slaughtering a chicken — right? She wouldn't have been blocked several times during last night's raid on the camp."
"There are actually a couple of misconceptions here. First, during last night's assault, Cindy was employing a hit-and-run strategy. You had to keep your full attention on defense to protect His Majesty, and Cindy couldn't afford to get bogged down fighting you and risk being surrounded — when a single strike failed, she had to disengage immediately. Second, the fact that you were able to parry her attacks wasn't a matter of her power being lacking, but rather that your attributes happened to counter hers. Your fighting qi has an earth attribute, doesn't it?"
Great Swordmaster Mansteth nodded.
Lorist continued to set him straight: "Cindy's fighting qi has a wind attribute, and her swordsmanship follows a path that emphasizes lightness, agility, and speed. You're the opposite — your swordsmanship pursues weight, stability, and precision. Although Cindy outranks you, if you dedicate yourself entirely to defense, she can't do much to you in the short term. If it were just the two of you fighting, though, you'd still fall within about a hundred exchanges. What do you think of Redi's swordsmanship?"
Great Swordmaster Mansteth thought for a moment and replied: "At his age, I didn't possess anything close to his level of swordsmanship. His offense is razor-sharp and his defense is flawless…"
Lorist chuckled: "And yet he still took wounds from Cindy twice, because his fighting qi has a metal attribute — he favors attacking as defense, meeting force with force. That plays right into Cindy's hands, making it very difficult for him to withstand her wind-like assaults."
Great Swordmaster Mansteth looked thoughtful: "So that's how it is. Thank you for your guidance, Your Grace the Grand Duke."
Lorist raised his golden cup in return: "You're welcome. Cheers."
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lorist thought to himself: I just spouted a bunch of nonsense and you believed every word of it. You didn't even stop to think that neither Redi nor I use fighting qi at all — where would elemental attributes come from?
…(To be continued.)