Chapter 362: Chapter 360: Target, Land of the Far North
"Finally, it’s time to leave."
Now it was the second day after their stroll, and after handling a series of things, Hilia boarded the departing train.
Unlike when the Elf Race left, when there were few people around, on the Ista Empire’s side, many came to see them off.
Countless residents of Kost shouted their farewells, hoping Hilia would come back to visit Kost again someday.
Hilia waved goodbye to everyone, assuring them she would return.
The border patrol train, capable of holding dozens, slowly started up and sped out of the city.
On their way back, they didn’t take the teleportation array, choosing instead the much more economical patrol train, planning to enjoy the Northern Alliance’s scenic views along the way.
Hilia sat by the window, gazing at the rapidly receding Kost City.
Doris kept glancing at her, and finally couldn’t help but ask, "What are you looking at?"
"Looking at the most prosperous city of the Northern Alliance."
Doris said, "I think it’s not as good as our Huijin City. At least Huijin City doesn’t have a designated slum district."
At the mention of slums, Hilia couldn’t help recalling the elderly couple from yesterday.
She muttered, "Doris, tell me, if you came across a heretic, but the only reason they became one was because they’d been bullied and forced to fall—what would you do?"
Doris said, "Bring them back to the Divine Hall and give them a chance at redemption."
"And what if they had killed many innocent people in the past, and are currently harming others, and the only way to stop them is to kill them?"
"Then I’d just kill them," Doris didn’t hesitate at all.
"What if, by killing them, their elderly parents lost their source of income, fell into hardship, unable to survive?"
Doris thought for a moment, "Still kill them. If their parents are innocent, then give them some money, report it to the local Divine Hall, have the priests check on them regularly. If they aren’t innocent, then it will give them a chance to repent."
Hilia nodded, smiling, "I thought you couldn’t tell right from wrong. But this really is... Oh, crap!"
Doris: "What is it?"
"I forgot—"
Hilia felt terribly vexed.
She’d been so emotional at the time that after giving them money, she forgot to report their situation to the Northern Alliance authorities.
Rose chuckled, "Don’t worry, that security captain will take care of them."
"Huh?"
"That captain is your loyal fan. He didn’t leave, he was hiding nearby, planning to ask for your autograph once you left. But after seeing you give them money, he didn’t ask. Instead, when you left, he went over to talk with them properly. He took them to the central district to exchange some of the gold coins for silver and copper coins, used the token you gave them as proof, and deposited the remaining gold coins into the guild bank, so they wouldn’t become a target because of their newfound wealth."
"I see." Hilia let out a sigh of relief. "That security captain is a good person."
With her main worry gone, she chatted casually with Doris, and the heaviness in her heart vanished.
It wasn’t just her who would make such a choice.
Any other candidate for Holy Daughter would do the same.
This sort of thing is unavoidable, no matter what.
Unless all Sects were eradicated, maybe then it could end... or not?
Hilia didn’t know.
She chose not to dwell on it.
The train thundered along its planned route, carrying them farther and farther from Kost, crossing the whole Starfall Continent from west to east.
The next day, the train arrived at the nearest city to Ista.
Here, they’d head south by special transport, cross the border, then transfer to the Divine Magic Academy’s train to a nearby city, and finally use the Directional Teleporter to return to Huijin City.
Hilia decided to quietly leave the group after crossing the border, using an unguarded wilderness crossing to re-enter the Northern Alliance.
She disguised herself with a new appearance.
Because of Mier’s tragedy, her current disguise never mimics someone else’s, unless absolutely necessary.
This new look wasn’t based on her own features, but was adjusted with reference to someone else’s appearance.
After crossing the border, she first returned to the city where she had previously disembarked, took a break, bought a map, and then continued north.
The reason she wasted a day going back to Ista and sneaking across, instead of heading straight north from Kost to the Land of the Far North, was that the distance from Kost or from a border city to the Land of the Far North was about the same.
Kost was in the west of the Northern Alliance, bordering Ista to the east, and the territory of the Northern Alliance looked like a giant rectangle occupying the whole north.
Of course, if you looked down from over the Land of the Far North, the Northern Alliance would resemble a fan shape.
"According to what the Alliance people say, the further north you go, the colder it gets. Now it’s August, and near the Land of the Far North the temperature is still cold enough to freeze rivers."
To fit in better, Hilia specifically bought a thick cotton coat to wrap herself up, and used ice magic power inside to keep herself cool.
But when she reached the next city, she dropped the disguise.
Because everyone else was wearing light, summery clothing.
"Better keep it normal. Unnecessary disguise does more harm than good."
The girl draped the mage robe Doris had given her over her shoulders.
She had already sewn defensive runes onto this outfit with thread from the castle labyrinth.
"In the end, I still had to pay for a high-tier tailor to customize it," Hilia sighed.
Rose laughed, "Save where you can, but for materials like these, using only Tier Three runes is a bit of a waste."
Hilia nodded, "You’re right, Lady Rose!"
The girl mounted her flying broom and soared into the distance.
Along the way, she accidentally found two heretic bases and stumbled onto three heretic ritual sites. Hilia took care of them all as she went. After a week, she finally reached the last town before the Land of the Far North.
Standing outside the town, Hilia looked up at the sign overhead and read aloud, "Extreme North Supply Town. Now that’s a blunt name."
She walked into the Extreme North Supply Town, and found the place surprisingly lively.
Around her were many mercenaries coming and going in heavy coats, as well as some, like her, wearing only ’simple’ mage robes or mithril breastplates.
Apart from there being no Divine Hall, this was just like most of Ista’s little adventurer towns.
The biggest building was the Mercenary Guild near the town center, followed by the Mage Guild.
Hilia felt the temperature and said, "It’s definitely colder here, but not quite freezing yet."
Someone nearby spoke, "That’s because this is still outside the Land of the Far North. Only when you enter that region will the temperature drop enough to freeze water and glaciers start to appear."
Hilia turned to look and saw a middle-aged man in a fur coat, rubbing his hands together.
Seeing her turn, he greeted warmly, "Hello, I’m Kaidi. Dear mage lady, may the Ice and Snow Goddess shine upon you. This must be your first time in Extreme North Supply Town, right? Would you like a guide to the Land of the Far North?"
Comments