"Brrr... so cold, I think my systems are failing..."

Suiren muttered. Although she used her body to warm up Yuri before, the current temperature was freezing all of her hardware, making her outer layer extremely cold on touch which would make Yuri anything but warm.

Suiren stopped and looked back. The land that formerly belonged to the Weglana Republic spread before her as far as she could see. She then looked ahead and sighed.

"Haah..."

What she saw before her was what seemed like a never-ending snow-covered mountain peak. Then she looked at her master who was energetically skipping through the snow while licking a frozen, red in color object in her hand.

"Haah..."

Suiren sighed once again while wondering about Yuri's sudden cold resistance.

{Yuriko, stop eating so many goose blood popsicles are you will turn all three of us into geese.}

(What'chu saying, your quackass can't evolve any further~)

{Oy! ... What's that supposed to mean?}

(Nothing~)

"Hmm? What are those sounds?"

Suiren suddenly stopped in her tracks and perked up her ears.

"Those are the noises of..."

"(Fighting~)"

"Master, should we..."

"(Let's go~)"

Suiren and Yuriko raised their pace and moved towards what seemed to be a battle.

"Grrr!"

"Don't falter! Kill those stupid beasts!"

The sight that entered the girls' sight was a fight between soldiers and what seemed to be wolves. There were heavy casualties on both sides as both the corpses of humans and beasts were laying around.

"That is..."

Suiren exclaimed when she recognized the man in a golden armor among the soldiers.

"(Your boyfriend~?)"

Yuriko teased.

"Eh, no way! Absolutely not! That is the third son of the Alastian King, his name is Thomas Alfred Schlusser. I heard that he was dispatched to the west borders though."

Suiren frantically denied and explained.

"(West, huh~ Ain't this like Northwest of Alasta or something? I wonder what kind of shit are they doing here~)"

"Those are Snow Wolves, Master. They are known as one of the most vicious breeds of wolves. A pack of twenty would be usually able to take out a hundred soldiers. The Alastian soldiers are trained to withdraw and reconsider options when facing a threat that could destroy the whole unit, rather than face the threat directly."

"(That means the Fatman must have sent them here to obtain something and that something is in the den of the wolves? No wonder, no wonder~)"

"What should we do, Master?"

"(Well, now that I know they came to obtain something special, I can't help but want it all for myself, so let's just wait for the outcome and snatch the prize right from under their noses~)

"Master..."

Like this, Yuriko and Suiren stayed hidden in the shadows of the trees and waited for the battle between humans and beasts to end.

"Keep pushing! Our triumph is in sight!"

"Howl!"

One of the wolves pounced on a soldier, pushing him to the ground and ultimately chomping out his throat. Although the other soldiers showed fear on their faces as they witnessed the blood spurting out of their comrade's throat, they still rushed towards the wolf that was separated from the members of the pack after pouncing.

"Kill it!"

Thomas Alfred shouted as a few spears pierced the wolf's body.

"Two more! Don't fail me now, soldiers! I will definitely reward all of you who survive with more gold then your pockets can carry and personally take care of the families of those who fall today! Those who deal the final blows on the last two wolves will get a promotion!"

After hearing Thomas Alfred's speech, the soldiers charged at the remaining wolves furiously, becoming beasts themselves.

Promotion?

Promotion is everything for soldiers of a low rank like time, something they would die trying to obtain!

Family? What’s that? Can you eat it? A promotion will get you food! Money! Fame! Women!

Status is everything in this world!

The thoughts of promotions were driving the soldiers mad!

Archers in the back released their arrows, not caring about the soldiers in the front.

If an arrow accidentally hit another soldier, bad luck! The less competition the better!

Thomas Alfred smiled coldly. His speech worked better than he expected.

Promoting a useless pawn to a higher status? As long as he can obtain the thing in the wolf's den, then who cares! He must obtain it by all means possible.

His father has selected him for this important task, not the eldest prince or the crown prince, but him!

If he successfully obtains the thing in the den and brings it back, his father would reward him heavily and maybe even install him as the crown prince in a few years when the thing could be usable!

It's unknown when the neighboring countries are going to attack. As long as that thing can aid the heroes, then he doesn't mind losing a hundred soldiers or making a general out of a beggar!

"Haha... I killed it! I killed it!"

A cheerful voice brought him back from his thoughts.

Thomas Alfred looking at the last struggling wolf. A smirk grew on his face as he reached for the sword on his waist.

The wolf was heavily injured and its death almost certain. Besides, with his skill, a lone wolf wouldn't be able to compare.

"Why don't... I crush some dreams of promotion as well?"

Thomas Alfred sped up towards the wolf, prepared to stab its heart.

However, when he blinked during his charge, he found that everything was upside down.