Chapter 379 - The Mountain Fortress

A day later, on the border of the Nation of Frost.

"Prince Xavier, you don't look so good."

Marshal Amter sat on his warhorse and looked sideways at Xavier, who had a very odd expression on her face, as if she was holding something back. A slight blush appeared on her unblemished white skin.

"I'm fine Marshal Amter."

Xavier looked up as if she had been electrocuted, and then kept waving her hand to tell Marshal Amter that she was fine.

"The old men inside the fortress have been waiting for you for a long time, so cheer up, Prince Xavier," Marshal Amter said.

"Mh."

Xavier nodded again before Marshal Amter took his eyes off her. The marshal looked behind him and give orders to the army.

In the meantime, Xavier rubbed her forehead and used runes to create a chill that slightly eased her overheated cheeks.

Ever since he had spoken to Firebringer yesterday, Xavier had been searching the mage forum for any information on the Heresy Tribunal.

But the book that yielded the most information was 'Diary of an Inquisitor'.

Curious, Xavier spent the rest of her march reading Diary of an Inquisitor, and then began to look for other books in the Motionless Library section.

This was akin to opening Pandora's box. Xavier found several strange books, such as " The Piper Tucker and the Lost Elven Youth" and "The Thorny Flower Blooming in the Corner of the City Wall".

The titles of the books seemed normal, but the content inside challenged Xavier's notion of what literature was.

The young princess swore she had never read anything so bad in her life!

Xavier's rational mind reminded her that she couldn't read any more of this awful content, but she simply … couldn't stop!

It was only when Marshal Amter reminded Xavier that she was about to arrive at the fortress that she snapped out of her world of books.

"Phew ..."

A whole day of forced marching was supposed to be a boring affair.

But with the presence of the magic network, she didn't even feel the passing of time. The heavy emotions she had been feeling because of the presence of inquisitors were relieved by Firebringer's assurances and reading books on the magic network.

"It's not time to relax yet."

Xavier looked up at the distant mountain range. Or perhaps it should not be called a mountain range, but a fortress.

Hundreds of years ago, the Nation of Frost 'expended' countless craftsmen and thousands of mages to transform this entire mountain range into a military fortress.

This fortress became the strongest wall on the Nation of Frost's border, defending the country from countless attacks by orcs and demons from the Cold Winds plains.

Xavier would enter the fortress today as a legionnaire and become one of the generals guarding the Nation of Frost.

But while guarding against foreign enemy invasions, Xavier also had to deal with a hidden internal problem - inquisitors!

The low sound of trumpets rang out across the mountains as the army led by Marshal Amter approached, and the steel gates opened slowly.

A knight, dressed in silver white armour, stepped out to welcome Marshal Amter and Prince Xavier.

"Amter! You old fellow, I heard your men were attacked by an ice dragon. They bet 200 gold sols that you wouldn't make it to this fortress!"

A figure, equally tall as Amter and wearing the fur of a giant bear, emerged from the gates of the city. His thick voice overpowered the sound of the trumpets.

"I'll outlive even your sons!" Marshal Amter, whose leg had mostly recovered from frostbite, stepped down from his horse and embraced the bear-like man.

After the two marshals had greeted each other in this special way, the strong man gave a noble salute to Xavier, who was sitting on a warhorse.

"Your Highness, welcome to the fortress."

"Let's skip the greetings and get on directly with the war meeting."

Xavier's eyes scanned the interior of the fortress and saw the banner of the Holy Church fluttering in the wind.

This was only normal as the Nation of the Holy Church was an ally. With their powerful holy light magic, the Holy Church's clerics would be welcomed in any military fortress.

Xavier's decisiveness seemed to have won the marshal's favour. Without further ado, he led Xavier and Marshal Amter deeper into the fortress.

Around a dozen figures in armour had gathered in the hall for the war meeting. Xavier saw a number of young faces among them. Judging by the emblems engraved on the shoulders of their armour, they came from various great noble families.

It was a tradition in the Nation of Frost that the male sons of each family would be sent to the fortress to serve for a year or two, after which they would return to their families as real men.

Xavier had come here with the same purpose. Only those who achieved glory on the battlefield could be respected in the Nation of Frost.

"Your Royal Highness."

The nobles in the hall all recognised Xavier. After greeting him in turns, the war meeting began, chaired by one of the marshals.

The content of the marshal's speech was that this year was the year where the demons were at their weakest yet. They should seize this opportunity, launch an all-out attack on the demon border, and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

The marshal spoke with passion and most of the generals around him agreed. But Xavier just listened without saying anything, keeping her eyes on the white-robed three clerics in the hall.

The meeting lasted for an hour. The generals left one by one, but Xavier waited until the three clerics from the Nation of the Holy Church had left before speaking up.

"Marshal Amter, Marshal Sid Meier, Lady Lorna ..."

Xavier called out to the eight generals who were about to leave.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Your Royal Highness?" Marshal Sid Meier was the man with the bear fur.

He came from the Frostbear clan that was located in the middle of the Nation of Frost. It was also a clan that served the royal family of the Nation of Frost.

Xavier had had several encounters with this marshal in the capital. She was sure that he was absolutely loyal to the royal family.

The other generals called out by Xavier were also, in Xavier's opinion, absolutely loyal to the Crown.

"I have something very important to tell you."

Xavier could no longer tolerate inquisitors running amok in the Nation of Frost. She had to reveal them to a wider audience.

The national power of the Nation of Frost far exceeded that of the Nation of the Holy Church, and many citizens of the frozen lands even believed that the Nation of the Holy Church was a vassal of theirs.

So now, Xavier must give those missionaries a warning!