Chapter 133: Chapter 133 - Road To West ( Part 1 )
The western route was different from all other lands they’d seen before.
There were no noisy trade routes with colorful merchant caravans and happy people. Lively towns of eastern kingdoms were left behind, giving way to ancient forests covered with tall trees that blocked almost all the sunlight. Centuries-old mossy stone roads, constructed by long-forgotten kingdoms, stretched into the distance to distant mountains.
The air seemed colder now.
Quiet breeze brought the scent of pine trees, moist soil, and melting snow falling from the western mountains.
Jennie led the procession with silver hair swaying from her steps. Excalibur and Leviathan peacefully lay at her waist.
Roxy followed behind her.
Usually...
Silence and Roxy never went together.
Whenever they travelled, she was speaking non-stop.
She complained about the weather.
She asked Jennie impossible questions.
She competed with Snow on completely pointless issues.
She was singing terrible tunes whenever she got bored.
And even when there was nothing interesting going on, she was describing all the actions in dramatic tones.
"Jennie! Look!"
"That cloud resembles a potato!"
"No..."
"Look..."
"It looks like Snow after someone stepped on him!"
Snow had frozen her completely on that day.
Today...
Nothing.
Only silence.
The only noises came from the crunching of the boots and the distant voices of birds hiding in the trees.
Jennie glanced back.
Roxy walked quietly with her head bowed, casually drawing circles in the air with her wooden staff.
"..."
Jennie understood that.
But she didn’t ask.
Some wounds had to open by themselves.
Snow walked next to Roxy in his small form.
Even he kept silent.
Sometimes his blue eyes wandered towards the young mage.
"She’s thinking too much."
Jennie silently agreed.
"Yes."
Neither of them spoke anymore.
Hours passed.
Scenery was changing.
Forests were growing thicker.
Villages were getting rarer.
Many houses along the road had fallen down many years ago.
Old wells were abandoned.
Broken windmills creaked when the wind blew them.
Everything was being taken back by nature.
"This road seems..."
Jennie glanced around.
"...old."
Snow nodded.
"Yes."
"It used to be one of the major roads of humanity in the Great Demon War."
Jennie slowed down her steps.
She remembered.
Thousands of soldiers marched down this road a thousand years ago.
Some of them were laughing.
Others crying.
Many of them died here.
At that time...
Leonis used to travel these mountains innumerable times leading humanity’s armies.
Now...
Only silence was left here.
How many generations passed since then?
How many names were forgotten already?
Jennie smiled sadly.
"Time changes everything."
Snow glanced at her.
"Not everything."
Jennie raised her head.
"What do you mean?"
"You still stop to help every lost child."
"You still feed stray animals."
"You still forget to sleep whenever somebody needs protection."
Jennie blinked.
"...Do I?"
Snow rolled his eyes.
"You’ve been doing it for more than a thousand years."
Roxy suddenly laughed quietly.
"...Pfft."
Jennie smiled.
"There she is."
Roxy immediately looked away.
"I wasn’t laughing."
"You were definitely laughing."
"I sneezed."
Snow looked at her.
"...Your sneeze sounded surprisingly like laughter."
"I have a unique sneeze."
Neither Jennie nor Snow believed her.
For some time...
Heavy atmosphere lifted a little.
Then...
It fell again.
Roxy went back into her silence.
Jennie sighed inside.
Something definitely went wrong with her.
Around noon, they reached a suspension bridge hanging across a wide canyon.
Wooden boards creaked under their feet.
Below roared the noisy river hitting the rocks.
Snow looked below once.
"Nope."
"You can fly."
Jennie smiled.
"So can you."
"I know."
"But I don’t want to."
"Why?"
"I like complaining."
Jennie chuckled.
"At least you’re honest."
Snow proudly puffed out his chest.
"It is one of my finest features."
Roxy managed to laugh again.
Noticing that, Jennie teased Snow on purpose.
"You know..."
"For a legendary Divine Beast..."
"You’re surprisingly lazy."
Snow sighed dramatically.
"I prefer to call it..."
"...energy efficient."
Jennie laughed.
"You sleep eighteen hours a day."
"Nineteen."
"I’m constantly working on myself."
Roxy couldn’t resist this time.
A quiet laugh escaped her lips.
Snow looked triumphantly.
"I did it."
Jennie nodded.
"Yes."
But the smile lasted for a few seconds.
As soon as the bridge finished...
Roxy’s expression turned distant again.
She looked at the western mountains.
Somewhere in the distance...
Visible barely through the floating clouds...
towered huge gray peaks reaching up to the sky.
Seeing them...
Her steps unconsciously slowed down.
Snow noticed.
So did Jennie.
They didn’t say anything.
The afternoon sun slowly hid behind dense clouds.
Cold wind blew through the mountain path.
Jennie pulled her cloak closer to herself.
"The temperature is dropping fast."
Snow sniffed the air.
"Snowstorm tonight."
"Already?"
"We’re getting closer."
"To what?"
Snow glanced at the western horizon.
"To the forgotten lands."
Jennie frowned.
"Forgotten?"
"These mountains were abandoned after the Great Demon War."
"The trade routes changed."
"The kingdoms expanded elsewhere."
"People left."
Only several villages survived till now.
Roxy whispered quietly...
"I remember..."
Jennie turned.
"What did you say?"
Roxy paused and tried to force a smile.
"Nothing."
"I was just talking to myself."
Jennie looked at her face.
She wanted to ask.
She really did.
But she only...
Looked ahead and kept walking.
If Roxy wanted to talk...
She would talk.
Until then...
Jennie will keep waiting.
Because sometimes...
The greatest kindness was not to ask.
It was to patiently walk beside a person until she finds her strength to answer on her own.
Behind them, the western wind echoed in the mountains.
Ahead...
Unaware of the travelers...
Their way was leading not only to the forgotten home of Roxy...
But also to the first move of the Black Warlord, who already started observing the Markless Maiden from the shadows.
The sun was long gone behind the mountains by this time.
Dark clouds swallowed up the golden hues of sunset, painting the sky in the colors of grey and violet. A chill wind brushed through the tall cedars’ forest, bringing the smell of wet pine needles and snow.
Jennie looked around and pointed to an enormous cedar tree with branches reaching out of the treetop like the roof.
"We will make camp right here tonight."
Snow stretched lazily.
"Finally."
"My legs were about to start complaining."
Jennie looked at him.
"You have ridden the cart for half of our way today."
Snow was hurt.
"And that is physically demanding."
"... How?"
"I needed to maintain my majestic pose."
Jennie sighed.
"I walked all day."
Snow nodded gravely.
"And watched you."
"Sometimes support is hard work."
Roxy let out a little chuckle.
"... You are impossible."
Snow proudly puffed out his chest.
"I know."
This little laugh quickly faded away.
Jennie saw it.
Even when Roxy smiled...
It vanished in an instant.
Like the sunlight being hidden behind the storm clouds.
Jennie and Snow made their camp easily.
Jennie gathered dry branches from under the huge cedar tree.
Flicking two stones together, she started a small fire.
Warm orange flames flickered among the branches of the cedar.
Snow immediately circled the fire twice and sat down next to it.
"I am not moving anymore."
Jennie smiled.
"You haven’t done anything."
"I was supervising."
"You have been sleeping."
"I was supervising with my eyes closed."
"That is called sleeping."
"It is called experience."
Jennie gave up on the argument.
Unpacking some ingredients from her bag, she started preparing dinner.
Fresh vegetables.
Fresh herbs picked up early today.
Some slices of smoked meat.
Pouring spring water in a black iron pot and putting all the stuff in it.
In a while...
A nice smell started to fill the forest.
Even Snow’s ears twitched.
"... Soup."
Jennie stirred her pot.
"You said you were not moving."
"I changed my mind."
"Because?"
"My nose decided to disagree with my legs."
Roxy chuckled softly.
For a moment...
She almost looked like herself again.
Jennie smiled but didn’t say anything.
Maybe dinner would cheer her up.
Slowly the night fell over the forest.
Stars appeared between the cedar trees.
Somewhere far...
An owl was calling to the night.
The soup was ready.
Jennie carefully put three bowls down.
Snow didn’t wait.
Burying his face in the bowl, he suddenly jumped backward.
"Hot!"
Jennie blinked.
"I told you to wait."
"I thought I would be stronger than soup."
"You lost."
"I lost."
Roxy couldn’t help laughing.
The sound echoed softly in the silence of the forest.
Snow pointed dramatically.
"See?"
"I sacrificed myself for a joke."
Jennie nodded.
"A noble death."
"I survived."
"Unfortunately."
Snow put one paw on his heart.
"I expected more sympathy."
Three of them ate the dinner together by the fire.
For some time...
Everything was good.
Looking at Roxy from across the fire, Jennie saw something odd.
Roxy didn’t eat almost anything.
Usually, she asked for seconds.
Today...
She simply stirred the soup in the bowl with the spoon.
Jennie finally said.
"Roxy."
The young mage looked at her.
"Hm?"
"Are you ill?"
Roxy blinked.
"No."
"You barely ate anything."
"I am just..."
After a brief hesitation she forced a smile on her face.
"I am fine."
The smile looked convincing at first.
But Jennie knew her well enough to understand the difference.
It reached Roxy’s lips...
But not her eyes.
Brightness was missing in them.
Snow slowly opened his eye.
Staring straight at Roxy.
"No."
Roxy froze.
"No?"
"You are lying."
Silence fell on the camp.
Suddenly the sounds of crackling fire seemed too loud.
Roxy scratched her head.
"You two worry too much."
"I am fine."
Snow kept staring.
"You have been silent all day."
"You keep looking at the western mountains."
"You have stopped arguing with me."
"Then I know something is wrong."
Roxy quickly looked away.
"The view is just..."
"...beautiful."
Snow raised an eyebrow.
"You hate the mountains."
"I have changed."
"You hate the cold weather."
"I have changed twice."
"You hate walking."
"I..."
After a brief pause.
"... I am growing as a person."
Snow deadpanned.
"Impossible."
Jennie hid her laugh behind her hand.
Roxy crossed her arms.
"You two are bullying me."
"We are concerned about you."
"They are pretty much the same things."
Snow nodded.
"I guess."
For a little while...
The mood became a little lighter.
Then...
Roxy looked toward the west again.
Toward those mountains hidden somewhere in the darkness.
Her smile quietly disappeared.
Jennie noticed this slight change.
Roxy’s eyes had desire in them.
Fear.
Sadness.
And something more...
Regret.
Jennie had seen this expression before.
Long ago.
Soldiers returning from their destroyed hometowns wore the same look.
People who had lost everything used to look into the past exactly like this.
Jennie understood all this without any words.
The west was not just another place.
It had something to do with Roxy.
Something deeply personal.
Painful.
Jennie looked at the flames.
She wanted to ask.
Where was Roxy from?
What had she lost?
Why did her cheerful personality disappear when they turned to the west?
But she stayed silent.
Some memories couldn’t be forced out.
If Roxy wanted to share them...
She would.
Until then...
Jennie would just stay with her.
As a friend.
As a family.
Across the fire, Snow quietly closed his eye again.
He understood Jennie’s choice.
Neither of them said anything more.
Above the old cedar tree, the wind blew through the branches.
Beyond the mountains...
That forgotten village waited.
And with every step to the west...
Roxy was getting closer to her forgotten home, unaware of the painful truth waiting there for her.
