By the time the left the eatery, the sky had already started to tint itself with a light orange colour. The gentle sunlight of dusk was enveloping the redbrick-accented buildings of the Freya ward as Lys and Feodor were navigating along the colour-textured granite cobblestone road to the Lisa ward.

Lys’ sickness had already mostly subsided by then. He was feeling thankful for it, for now he could enjoy the street musicians’ tender lute tunes to the fullest without the lurching feeling in his stomach. The ocean breeze softly brushed Lys’ cheeks, as it carried the appetising aroma of homemade cooking from the houses nearby, again rousing the hunger of his satisfied stomach. The bell of a nearby clocktower rang five times, and soon after he could hear the calls of mothers calling their children home.

He was so absorbed in the atmosphere, and thus it was not until after he passed through the reinforced gate to the Lisa ward that he realised that a lot of animals were freely roaming about the town’s streets.

Though that was not the complete point--- Bravell had a lot of animals wandering about it as well. What he noticed was that all of them had some sort of deformities or peculiarities. At first it was rather mundane, like striped horses, two-tailed cats, horned dogs, and so on. But as he continued his observation, even more of these curious-looking animals showed up.

There was a fox that was about as tall as Lys’ waist, its fur was so bright red it looked as if it were in flames, and then there was what looked like a bipedal giant otter with the sharpest fangs he had ever seen.

Lys finally halted his steps when he saw a hissing, levitating snake crossing his path. He pointed at it and opened his mouth.

“Lord Feodor… excuse me, but… what are these, uh… animals?”

There was no surprise in Feodor’s face, as if he had expected that question for some time now.

“Ah, about time you asked,” He said, as his eyes followed after the direction of Lys’ gaze, “I thought that you didn’t find them strange or perhaps you read about them before, so I didn’t mention anything about them… Oh well, it’s true that most of these beasts live in the Lisa ward...”

“No. I know I’ve said it a lot today, but never have my eyes beheld the sight of these strange creatures in my life.”

“Well, hmm, it’s true that this is your first visit… They’re ‘arcane beasts’, Sir Lys. And they are endemic only to Hexagrund.”

According to an apocryphal tradition, he said, they were beasts that were birthed by the abundant stream of mana concentrated in the northeastern part of Iurzemlya. These mana streams might’ve been evidenced by the fact that there were a lot of magi states in the area before the land was united by the regime. Though, after magic was branded as heretic arts, the knowledge to harness the arcane was lost to the oblivions, and thus there was no way to validly confirm the apocryphal account--- for mana could not be seen with the naked eyes of men, and thus it was impossible to draw a conclusion whether it was indeed the origin of these beasts.

Regardless of whether there was an element of truth in the account or whether the account was a mere conjured tale, it was for a fact that most of the arcane beasts could only be found within the current borders of Hexagrund.

As a matter of fact, the existence of the beasts had been central in the lives to the citizens of the Hexagrund communion and its preceding states. The republic had employed the beasts for various duties and jobs, and during the queen’s rule, there was an arena for them to fight each other in the eastern reaches of Freya ward.

The battles were held in a grand scale and they were once the most prominent event in Hexagrund, where the master of the winning beast would be granted lofty ranks and riches. The tradition persisted for a while after the republicans’ insurrection, but after widespread protests from two of Hexagrund’s wards, the ministers at that time banned the event and the battle practice altogether. The ban remained in effect, and according to Feodor, it was likely that the ban would be enshrined in the republic’s constitution in the coming years to turn it into a permanent law.

Despite of the ban, however, individuals were still allowed to possess the beasts, if “possess” was the right word to describe it--- since apparently the beasts choose their own master and even by then the master doesn’t hold absolute control over them. Possessing them would require a “treaty” between the beast and the aspiring maser, and bar a few exceptions, attempts to establish these “treaties” would require a state-issued licence.

There was also a strict law to prevent the beasts from being taken overseas, which was the reason why Hexagrund port authorities would closely inspect every outgoing vessel, sometimes for hours. Apparently one of Hexagrund’s terms when they joined the federation was for them to be able to keep these regulations in place and for High Emperor to personally enforce these laws across the federated states.

“Of course… no system is perfect, if someone desires to smuggle them overseas, then there’s still Raule too. So there might be a few of them out there. But the fact that you don’t know about them might be evidence that the system is in fact working…“

“What’s with Raule?”

“… This issue may be foreign to a centralised society like Serenadia, Sir Lys, but enforcing a policy made by a central authority across the state is actually an intricate business. There’s a significant group of minority with substantial influence in Raule with their own set of policies on these beasts… and because they nominally act as the government of the Hexagrundian state as well, the High Emperor can’t stop them from making policies on them per the terms, so, well, it’s rather complicated. As I said, exceptions do apply though… in the first place we don’t require a licence for a few of them and you might as well find these exempt beasts back in Bravell… like that white bird over there.”

What Feodor pointed was an oversized cuckoo, perching quietly on the low branches of a nearby tree. Despite of what he said, he never saw them too back in Serenadia as well.

“We call that bird ‘vorbota’, quite the convenient little cutesy beast, it is.” He said, as he stroked his chin while carefully observing the bird, “They don’t have physical peculiarities like other arcane beasts… nor do they have their superior ferocity or power, which is among their common trait. If you look past the fact that they’re a bit larger than your average bird, they look completely like any other common birds.”

The vorbota chirped at them and was now observing them back, as if it knew Feodor was talking about it.

“But there is one thing that convinced us that they are indeed among of those beasts. Now, it is a given that all of the arcane beasts understand the human speech to a certain extent. But vorbotas are on an entirely different level.”

Although Feodor didn’t have one because he couldn’t establish a treaty with them, he knew that vorbotas were supposedly intelligent. People who possess them would assign them to deliver their messages by attaching their letters on their legs. Of course, at first glance, this wasn’t anything new. After all, homing pigeons could deliver messages as well. But what made the difference between them and the pigeons was the fact that they could deliver the message even if they had never been in the recipient’s place.

The sender would simply show the vorbota a map, recite the physical description of the recipient and the recipient’s place, and any other specific instructions--- such as whether that the message must be delivered in the mornings or the evenings, or whether that the recipient must not be seen when they receive the message---- and if the vorbota takes flight, it would mean that it had enough information to conduct the delivery. It would never leave without understanding its task first, and thus a person who wasn’t very good with words would never be able to utilise it. Though, in the first place, it would be unlikely for these people to be able to form a treaty with one.

As chances of misdelivery was virtually non-existent, the vorbotas were so reliable that the Hexagrund Post Office had been employing them as their main courier for generations, provided that it wasn’t an overseas delivery and the letter was light enough for them to carry.

“Now, the method to establish a treaty is different for each one of the beasts. The reason why we don’t require a licence for them is because attempting a treaty with them is very simple and it practically doesn’t have any risk attached to it… All you have to do is… let me show you.”

Feodor started to whistle. He whistled three times, to be exact. The first whistle was long and high-pitched. The second was as high-pitched as the first, but shorter. And the third whistle was a low-pitched, short one.

Lys paid a close attention to the vorbota on the branch, expecting some sort of reaction from it.

Some moments passed…

Nothing happened, though.

It didn’t even flinch at all. It was still quietly observing them, unmoving.

“Another failure… Hmm, oh well…” Feodor let out a short sigh and smiled bitterly, “If you’re curious, feel free to try it on your own, sir.”

Feodor was looking at him expectantly.

As for Lys, he wasn’t sure if he should do that.

‘Arcane beast aside, do I really need a pet, though? I don’t even know how to keep one…’

And considering that this wasn’t his final stop in the continent, there was still the matter of transporting it, and then the people in Rosenfeld would probably make a comment on it.

Though there was no denying that they seemed to be convenient to have.

Feodor was still waiting for him to try. Lys thought it was probably because he was embarrassed and didn’t want to fail on his own. Though, it was possible that he was purely curious as well.

‘He has been a good host too, so… no harm in trying, huh.’

So he opened his mouth, and let out three shrill whistles. He tried to emulate what Feodor did, first was the longest, the second was shorter than the first, the third was even shorter than the second. But he forgot that the third whistle was supposed to be lower in pitch. Feodor didn’t correct him though.

As for the vorbota, it was still resting quietly on the branch, gazing...

Though it did let out a chirp.

It was a failure too, apparently.

“Ah, did I fail?”

“It doesn’t react… so yes. I suppose you did. Well it’s only your first try and sometimes it’s difficult to---“

It was subtle. But Lys could feel something was landing on his left shoulder.

Then, soft feathers smoothly grazed his cheek.

One,

Two,

Three times.

He turned his head leftwards, and there was a wood-coloured cuckoo-like bird perching on his shoulder.

Lys was a little bit taken aback, but if he were to make a sudden move here, he might scare the bird. So he tried to stay put.

“… Oh, you did it after all. That was a success. Uh, you’ve gotten yourself a……. brown, vorbota?”

Feodor’s eyes initially went round, but after observing it a bit closer, he squinted at it. Lys realised that a few onlookers seemed to be staring at the bird with quizzical eyes as well.

“What… is there something wrong with it?”

“No… it’s just… that, ah, never mind. It really is a vorbota.” He shook his head, apparently looking a bit bewildered, “Anyway, now you seal a treaty with it. Tap its wings lightly, and repeat it for another two times. After that, the vorbota is yours.”

Perhaps he was surprised because he could pull it on his first try.

Or perhaps he didn’t know he was doing it wrong all this time.

But Lys knew it couldn’t explain the onlooker’s eyes. They didn’t make any fuss about it though. They stared it for only a few seconds, whispered something to the next person if they were walking with a companion, then moved on.

Lys gazed at the bird again.

Its dim red eyes had his own reflection staring back at him.

It was nothing short of strange. Lys felt that as if it were trying to peer into his thoughts. The bird stayed like that for a moment until it tilted its head, almost as if it were asking a silent question towards him.

“Eh. Is this okay though…? I mean, there’s your law too…”

And there was also the matter of what the archduchess and her men might say, he thought.

Still, it was only a bird. Feodor said it could understand human speech very well too. If they were to voice a complaint against it, he could simple ask it to go back to Hexagrund.

Or perhaps he could send it to Betta, though he wasn’t sure if it could fly that far away. It’d be really convenient for him if it could though, since he could stop her from being a worrywart by sending her regular messages.

“As I said, sir. You don’t require a licence to establish a treaty with a vorbota. It’s fine. Just, try to take good care of it. Consider it a gift from our state.”

The man who made the laws here said so himself.

Thus Lys raised his hand, and cautiously patted its wings.

The bird closed both of its eyes as he finished his third pat.

“Now, a treaty has been established between you and the beast.” Feodor nodded, still somewhat wary, as if he was searching for something in his memories, “All’s that left is to give it a name…“

‘That’s it?’

He thought something dramatic was going to happen.

As he was establishing a “treaty” with a bird dubbed as an “arcane beast”, he expected some sort of magic would trigger, at least a light would appear from somewhere or something like that, but the whole process was actually rather anticlimactic.

‘A name, huh.’

He never owned a pet before. He knew what he was getting now wasn’t exactly a pet. But if he were to call it that, perhaps Feodor would protest, so… perhaps some sort of a partner?

He remembered that his sister used to have a pet bird once. It was a gift from their father. He couldn’t remember when Yernes bought it for her, but it was for her birthday. Needless to say, Betta cherished it. It stayed with her for years and she would set it free from its cage to “let it spread its wings and play somewhere else”. She’d open its cage in the afternoons, pet it a few times on its head, let it fly away, and then it’d return to its cage on its own before the sea completely swallows the sun. She’d pat it again before she goes to sleep, occasionally talking with it. And that was her daily routine for almost three years.

Approximately two years before Yernes passed. One day she repeated that same routine again. Except, that time the bird didn’t make it back. He remembered that initially, she didn’t cry. She’d leave the house whenever she had free time from all of that tutelage their father had prescribed for her without a word. And although she didn’t tell Lys about it, he knew she was looking for the bird. But then the thirtieth day came, and the bird still wasn’t back at its cage. Then and only then did she break down and cry.

Come to think of it, she never picked up another pet after that.

If he recalled correctly, its name was…

“… Alright. Your name’s Brunn. Little one.”

Back then, it was Lys who gave the lost bird its name too.

Of course he’d remember.

When her sister asked for a name, it was the only thing he could think of as a child. Because the bird was, well, brown.

“Brunn… isn’t that…?”

A light of recognition lit up in Feodor’s eyes.

“Well. I don’t fancy complicated, unpronounceable names. And the bird kind of reminded me of an old story in the family. So, yes… it’s ‘brown’ in my home tongue.”

Feodor let out a forceful breath, as if he was trying to contain a sudden burst of laughter. He was shaking for a while, until he turned the other way and by then it was most obvious that he was still trying to subside his unwanted reaction.

“Are you alright, Lord Feodor?”

Feodor gasped and coughed before he replied back,

“… No… my apologies. I was being rude, I’m truly sorry.”

He said so while tapping his chest, then he started to walk without glancing back and gestured Lys to follow him.

“Come. Let us tarry not.” He pointed at the clock tower, still waving for Lys to follow him, “Lest Lady Haluna will get upset with us.”

------v------

When Lys finally saw Himskarr, she was waiting with both of her hands on her hips. Discontent and annoyance were clearly shown in her face.

“You’re late!” Himskarr cried, her hands were on her hips, “What’s keeping yo---- Ah, a vorbota.”

However, perhaps she was just pretending to be upset, since her attention immediately shifted to the bird perching on Lys’ left shoulder even before he could finish her own question that was supposed to be admonishing him there.

Indeed, her lips broke out a smile. That was, until she took a closer look at it.

“Brown feathers…?”

That was the second time Lys heard that.

Was it really that uncommon or something?

“Is there, uh, something wrong with it?”

He ended up asking the same question, but now it was directed to Himskarr instead.

“My husband actually has one of them… so I know about it to an extent.” She said while stroking Brunn on the head, “Such docile creatures, they are… Once they got into a treaty with a master, they won’t fly away when others approach to stroke them---- well, unless the bird really doesn’t favour them or the master told them to stay away from strangers. Anyway… as far as I know, they were supposed to come only in white.”

Ah. So that was why Feodor was acting a little bit strange a while back.

But he wasn’t really making a big deal of it. So perhaps it was just because it was brown and he never saw one like Brunn before and that was why Feodor was a tad surprised then.

Both Lys and Himskarr shifted their gazes to Feodor.

Feodor shrugged in response.

“Well… truthfully, it’s the first time I see one myself too. But I’ve tried to inspect it and no matter how you look at it. It’s a vorbota… so.”

Himskarr didn’t look so convinced.

“You sure? Could be something entirely new altogether… If you’re letting an undocumented species out of the borders, you might not hear the end of it from the prime minister, Charon.”

“I’ll make sure to file a report later… but, it’s not like a case like this never happened.” Feodor scratched his chins, then he looked upwards to the evening sky as he spoke, “Recently it has come into our attention that few beasts were deviating from their usual colour. As they don’t exist in our registry, some of our citizens came forward to report them...”

He later pointed at an emerald-coloured badger-like beast that was passing by.

“We examined those unusual specimens but didn’t anything definitive, and while there were calls to examine them closer, the Prime Minister has already dismissed the issue. No plans to add them to the registry as well, since there’s practically no difference between them and the usual ones.”

So apparently it was a recent thing, Lys surmised.

The change of colour was indeed uncommon, and at some point, it was a concern for Hexagrund. But after they investigated into it, apparently they had dismissed the events as being one of nature’s wonders.

Their colour’s different. They weren’t in the records. It was indeed uncanny so we looked into it. We found nothing. It wasn’t that serious of an issue after all. Their colour’s bloody different and that was it. Nothing to see here, move along now.

It was like that.

Feodor then continued to assert his point, this time from another point of view.

“Besides, he already made a treaty with it. There is no legal avenue to separate a master from their beast unless in extremely specific conditions, like continuous abuse. And then there’s the fact that the more powerful the beast is…”

“… The more dangerous it would be to establish a treaty with it.”

Himskarr finished his sentence for him.

So there was no chance that Brunn was a powerful or a dangerous beast.

“…. Maybe it’s the odd one out.”

If that was how Feodor was going to play it, then there was no reason for Lys to complicate the matter any further.

The question for him now was how to take Brunn with him, now that he was going depart from the town. It might be impossible to take it inside the carriage, as it was Himskarr’s carriage, not his.

But just in case, he tried to ask her.

“Lady Himskarr. Is it fine to keep Brunn inside the carriage?”

Himskarr shook her head, then she pointed at the carriage’s roof.

“Why don’t you tell it to stay there instead?”

“How, though?”

“As I told you, Sir Lys. They understand human speech.” Feodor interjected to answer his question, “Tell it to find a comfortable spot on the carriage’s roof. It’ll do just that.”

“”

Brunn cooed and took flight from Lys’ shoulder. There was a slit on the carriage’s roof that’d normally difficult to see unless someone was really trying to find it, but it just went there right away and made it a temporary nest for itself.

“Wow. It really does understand what we’re saying…”

He spoke that line earlier in his local tongue too.

Lys was actually somewhat skeptical about Brunn. But now he was starting to believe that vorbotas were indeed something remarkable. Brunn seemed to have grasped the whole concept of human language, its only problem was it couldn’t reply back.

What was more riddling for him was the possibility that Brunn might understand more than one tongue as well.

“Now’s the bird on board… have you got any other luggage you want to take with you?”

Himskarr asked. Now that she brought it up, his luggage was still in the enterprise’s vessel. He didn’t have the chance to ask the captain to unload it, as Himskarr and Feodor practically ambushed him the moment he got off the ship.

“Ah, I left it in the ship…”

“What’s inside your luggage?”

“My travel wardrobe…”

He already brought his purse with him. What he left there was mainly that. He didn’t bring any other personal article with him, too. He couldn’t figure out what to bring in the first place.

“Is that it?” Himskarr waved her hand dismissively. She tittered for a second as if she had just heard a joke before she approached Feodor and reached for his hand, “Leave it then, you won't get to use it---- Charon, thank you for your time.”

“Do you have to leave now? It’s getting dark and I’m not sure if now would be a good time to depart…”

So asked Feodor, genuine concern was reflected on his face.

“It’s fine. We won’t reach the woods until tomorrow morning… You know better than anyone that the country’s highway is safe anyway. Also, they may be a few days away, but the rainy season isn’t here yet.”

She kissed his cheek and released his hand, then she went to board her carriage without glancing back. But she did say a bit more before she got in.

“That silk you told me about was wonderful too. Shame that Sherl never told me about it before… His coffers just got a bit emptier now. He wouldn’t mind, would he?”

Feodor sighed and lamented silently but he was still grinning, probably because Himskarr was talking about a mutual friend between them. Then he shifted his attention to Lys and said,

“Farewell, Sir Lys.” Feodor grabbed his hand and shook it firmly, “It was only for a short time, but thank you for your visit. Pay us another visit once in a while… your new companion might miss its hometown after all.”

“Not at all. I had a pleasant afternoon. To the point I almost wish I was stationed here in Hexagrund instead. Thank you, Lord Feodor. The Judge be with you.”

They proceeded to shake their hands a few moments more until it got awkward, at least for Lys.

After he was done with his parting message, Lys followed after Himskarr and boarded the carriage. As soon as he settled in, Himskarr’s chaperone closed the carriage’s door. Later, there was a voice from the front to ask Himskarr whether they were ready to depart, to which Himskarr replied yes.

The carriage then started to move. Outside, Feodor waved at them for some moments before his figure was gone from the window.

It wasn’t until the sun set and Hexagrund was no longer in sight that Lys asked Himskarr about Feodor.

“Lord Feodor was addressing me with my first name. You’ve been here for a while, Lady Himskarr… Is that the common practice by Hexagrundian standards…?”

She narrowed her eyes, then she looked the other way to gaze the view outside the window.

“We’re not exactly in the north, are we? And while we’re on this topic, you’ve been calling me with my maiden name for the whole day now. By Serenadian standards, you’re being rude, you know?”

She was smiling when she said so, and her tone was a jolly one. But it wasn’t exactly a pleasant smile, nor it was a friendly tone.

“Call me by my husband’s surname or Haluna. I prefer the latter, so Haluna’s fine.”

“Ah.”

Now that she mentioned it, yes, there was that kind of thing too.

Because she seemed to be a little pouting, he wished that it wasn’t going to be an awkward ride all the way to Rosenfeld.

====v====

The roads throughout the journey were quite well-maintained. That, combined with his fatigue and perhaps the well-built carriage made Lys able to spend most of his time sleeping. Himskarr—no, Haluna had also been sleeping just fine, and there were two drivers on the front bench so there was no need for them to pull over to sleep. Hence, during the last five days, they had been travelling almost non-stop.

Occasionally, however, they would stop at villages or settlements for food. There were also a few occasions where they’d have to sit on the surface and use their hands to eat, which was a completely foreign concept to Lys. He had to observe Haluna, who didn’t seem to be even a bit bothered by it, until he could figure out how to separate the cooked flesh from the bone by his hands. But most of the dishes were spiced really well, and as his palate was satisfied with them, he didn’t raise a complaint.

As for the security of the roads itself, Haluna told Lys that during the dry season, the roads of Hexagrund would be as safe as a road could ever be.

The wooden poles posted at a certain interval on the roadside acted as some sort of a nest for luminescent little blue butterfly-like beasts that served as a source of light for the driver during the night, making it safe for them to push on without worrying about the dark.

In addition to that, the roads were also patrolled by large greyish beasts with a distinctive pair of tusks that would approximately pass them by every half an hour or so. These beasts maintain the road by removing obstacles, such as fallen trees, from the path. The beasts, according to her, were also as sentient as most other beasts. They could tell if there was a crime, like robbery, happening and stop the perpetrators by attacking them. Their hard skin would protect them from arrows and swords and their sharp tusks would be a serious threat to those they deem as a threat. One could tell when they pass by from their low-pitched cry and the minor vibration they make as they move about.

The problem with them however, was that both of these beasts were averse to the rain. This was the reason why Haluna couldn’t risk traveling during the wet season.

There was also an added risk for those who travel through the woods that lie before Rosenfeld during the rainy season. For during that period, a kind of rare beast would show up in the woods. Haluna didn’t mention the name of the beast, and apparently the beast itself wasn’t the problem. The problem was that some treacherous group of people would be there and hunt them for their hearts, a potent cure for syphilis.

Hunting these beasts had been made illegal in Hexagrund and offenders would be subject to capital punishment, and that was why these hunters couldn’t risk a witness and murder any potential witness on sight. There were some investigations held by the state, but so far they didn’t manage to make any breaks yet. Although, she said that Feodor’s friend in the Justice Department might have ‘some idea’ about the person behind these groups of people, it was just that he didn’t have a damning evidence to take the person to court.

“There’s a town called Renellfeld ahead. Due to the terrain ahead, we’re going to switch to horses there.” Haluna mused, while staring outside the window, “I don’t fancy horse-riding, but we don’t have any other alternative to cross to the Archduchess’ territory…”

She frowned a bit, perhaps due to her self-imposed image that she’d be doing so in the near hours. Later, she sighed, and moved her gaze away from the window.

“Once you get back to Bravell, tell that Taknash she owes me one.”

Lys couldn’t be sure if he’d ever go back to the Grand Palace, but for now he figured that it was better to say ‘sure’.

“I’ll be sure to.”

Then back to the window her gaze went.

“Renellfield, milady.”

The man on the front bench announced so. If the map was truthful, then it’d be the last stop before they cross into Rosenfeld. It had been a long journey for Lys, and what he said made him a tiny bit happier since he was getting very close now.

“Take us to the attire workshop I used to frequent.”

She said faintly, but loud enough for the man outside to hear.

“As milady wishes.”

Well, her attire was indeed not suitable for horse-riding.

Perhaps she would want a trousers or something.

“We’ll make a brief stop there to buy you a fur coat… I personally recommend one made from wolf pelt. Oh, and get some fleece-wear to layer up as well. I’ll be getting some for myself, too. I can’t go cross the borders looking like this.”

Fur, she said.

Lys cringed. He never liked that particular material. Leather is one thing, but there was something about wearing fur. It was like being hugged by a dead animal and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling.

“Can I pass on that?”

Cotton and hemp should be warm enough for him, he thought to himself.

When she heard Lys’ response, Haluna seemed to be a bit more tired than she was a second ago.

“… Be my guest then. Oh and by the way, see those mountains there?”

She directed his sight to the right side of the window.

There was a line of mountains spanning mightily before his eyes, it didn’t seem that close, but one would able to reach their foot with a few hours riding. As most of Serenadia consisted of flatlands, it was a strangely imposing sight for Lys. It might be possible that their peaks reach the heavens itself. Even stranger that he didn’t realise that they were there before Haluna pointed them out, though.

So he nodded. Awed by their sight. Speechless.

“Right. Rosenfeld’s just beyond those. There’s a narrow pass on the lowest mountain among them, and that’s the only way to get there. Now, see that white colour on the upper part of the mountains there? Hmm, you have any idea what that is?”

Indeed, as she said, most of the mountains were capped by something white. He had heard from his tutors that there were some weather phenomena unique to certain lands. What he saw there could be one of those, and he might have an idea of what it could be. He might be wrong though, and he might look stupid if he did. So he waited for Haluna to answer her own question.

“That’s called snow, child of the shore. And there’s a reason why the word for it doesn’t exist in our tongue… us Serenadian, we aren’t built for that. Alone, they might be harmless, but if the icy wind were to blow them our way… well.”

Shivers.

There might be a reason why Haluna didn’t complete her sentence.

What is icy wind, anyway?

“But Rosenfeld’s got plenty of those, so you might want to get used to it. I won’t stop you if you want to go there with that attire of yours. Hold onto my words though, you’ll be having the worse time of your life then.”

Her face when she said so kept an impression on Lys. So much so when they arrived at the workshop, he grabbed the heaviest fur and the thickest fleece he could get. He also bought himself a hat with flaps that seemed to be made from a dead sable or some sorts. Haluna bought a dense-looking trousers, a white pelt coat, two fleece wears, a pair of gloves and a furred boots.

The ride to the lowest mountain she referred to was painful for Lys, especially because of the unfamiliar feeling on his head and ears and his whole skin in general.

But the most painful moments were hours later into the ride.

To his dismay, even after he followed Haluna’s directions, he was still having the worst moment of his life.

They had been riding from early morning and they reached the foot of the mountain before noon. He finally got to see that white substance up close and felt them by his head. It didn’t feel that bad. But as they get higher and higher, the story changed.

The once calm winds were now violent, as it was literally slapping the cold thing called snow to his face. The path they was traversing was remarkably narrow, only a horse could fit in once at a time. The white wall of the mountain was on his right and a dangerous-looking slippery cliff was on his left. Not rarely that they had to dismount in order to confirm the path, which was mostly covered in white, and every time they do so was truly a thing straight out of the nightmares for Lys.

Brunn was flailing about as it tightly held on to the horse’s neck in front of him. It was faithfully flying nearby until a moment ago. Probably it found the wind to be too strong for him to fly about. As for Lys, he was barely hanging on as well.

“Just…. hah…. just, how high does this mountain get?!”

He said so, shouting, gasping for air. He could feel a certain pain on his chest every time he breathes and he knew that his breath was getting short. Considering that even something so banal like breathing was painful for him now, he felt he finally got a glimpse of the possible reason as to why Kashvag seemed to be pleased when he sent him here.

“Quit whining.” She briefly replied. Her voice was barely audible due to the loud noise of the wind, “Be thankful that we didn’t run into an avalanche. We’ll be there very soon.”

Lys couldn’t see her face from the back. But he could tell that she was trembling herself as well.

“What’s an avalanche?!”

“A very bad thing.”

She surely wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Lys figured that she truly meant it when she said they weren’t built for snow. It was amazing that she could manage as the previous envoy to the Archduchess under a condition like what he was feeling now.

They continued to push until the light of the day was fading away. By then they finally got into a safe-looking, fairly wide, flat field. He caught up to Haluna, and when he saw her face, a satisfied smile was plastered there.

She pointed at a desolate slate-coloured structure on a distance. Giant banners of a white or silver crescent on blood-red backdrop were hanging on its outer fortifications.

‘That’s the Rosenfeld banner… did we cross the border already?'

Lys asked himself. It was strange, though. There was no activity there, and he couldn’t see even a single patrolling soldier typically posted in borders ahead of him.

“The vampire’s keep. Schneienkreuz. We’re here.”

“Vampire, what?”

Lys was sure he heard her wrong.

What vampire?

Haluna, again, acted like she didn’t hear his question.

As if she was trying to keep Lys in suspense, she went ahead before him, saying nothing but a single word before she paced her horse forward.

“Come.”