Arriving at the World's Highest City! Belobog!

Only then did the man come to his senses, shakily climbing up from the ground.

"Come on, man, wasn't hiding in the snow harmless enough? Did you really have to electrocute me?!"

But when he saw Lin Nai and the others staring at him expressionlessly, surrounding him from four directions, his tone involuntarily weakened.

"Ahem... but this isn't the fault of you heroes!"

He awkwardly scratched his head, though his gaze remained fixed on Lin Nai.

"Haha, I showed up too abruptly. That little hit was deserved—appropriate, necessary! How else would I have gotten to know all of you? Haha."

Lin Nai said, "I preferred how unruly you were at first."

"Uh... then... should I go back to being like that?" The man forced a smile. "Has Officer Gepard arrived? I know him pretty well."

"Who?"

Stelle tilted her head, looking curious.

The man froze, then returned to that unruly demeanor.

"Oh, you aren't Silvermane Guards? You should've said so earlier! Why were we fighting our own people? What a pointless mess!"

Then he introduced himself as Sampo Koski.

Though Lin Nai had already known that.

Elation...

Just thinking about Aha gave Lin Nai a headache.

He truly did not want to see that guy, at least not until he possessed enough strength.

Hopefully, Aha would not use Sampo to pull some little stunt on him when the time came.

"Hey, everyone, how about we team up? I've got reliable information—the main Silvermane Guard forces have all been deployed to the front lines! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?"

"Of course! There's an enormous treasure outside Belobog!!"

"Treasure!"

Stelle's eyes lit up. "What treasure?!"

"A figure of speech! Just a figure of speech!" Sampo's mouth twitched. "There are ancient ruins out here."

"Ancient ruins?"

"Right... well, what comes next is exclusive business intelligence. Ask something else."

"Mm, how do we get to Belobog again? We accidentally got lost."

Lin Nai said it deliberately.

Honestly, there was nothing they could do out in the snowfields.

They still needed to get into town.

But then again...

Lin Nai did not want to meet Cocolia. She had long since been bewitched by the Stellaron and was trouble.

He did not want to end up attending a banquet with hidden knives.

Besides, if they pushed him too far, he could not exactly pull a Supreme Guardian assassination on the spot and lock down the scene, could he?

That would be way too ridiculous.

No, perhaps by then it would be Cocolia's funeral in progress.

He did not want to clear the level so quickly. There would be no fun in it, and Stelle would have no chance to grow.

Not worth it.

"Belobog, huh."

Sampo raised an eyebrow and continued.

"The City of Preservation, the Everwinter City, humanity's only barrier against the cold wave... It sounds intimidating, but every word is true. Humans can only survive within those iron walls."

"Ha... but you really are rookies among rookies." Sampo looked helpless. "How could someone head out without remembering the way back?"

"It's our first time~"

Smiling, Lin Nai took out the Winter City Shield he had found in the box. "Please?"

Sampo accepted the bag. The moment he saw how many coins were inside, the corners of his mouth shot up higher than an AK's muzzle.

"Well, what can I do? Let your dear old Sampo sneak you back in, then."

These were major customers.

He had to serve them well!

The three watched Lin Nai negotiate with Sampo, astonishment on their faces.

March Seven asked, "Has Lin Nai always been this good at socializing?"

Stelle said, "I dunno."

Dan Heng said, "Neither do I."

Stelle asked, "But how did Lin Nai know the city's name?"

Lin Nai said, "There was a diary in that box earlier."

Lin Nai moved closer to the three and lowered his voice as he made up nonsense.

What normal person even kept a diary?

But he had no other excuse, so he would just use that to brush it off.

In the end.

After Lin Nai and Sampo's friendly discussion.

Sampo would safely lead them to Belobog, and that bag of Winter City Coins would be handed over to him.

"Oh, right. This is for you." Lin Nai pulled a small ball from his pocket and tossed it to Sampo.

Sampo caught it, but before he could ask what it was, the little ball exploded.

A little trinket made by someone named Joy—Aha. Wasn't it perfect to use on one of Their people?

Sampo looked down and found that his hands had been bound.

"No way, friend. What are you trying to do?"

"To prevent you from taking the money and running, or deliberately leading us into the Silvermane Guards to get rid of us."

Lin Nai folded his arms, expressionless. "We need to take certain precautions."

"If we run into the Silvermane Guards, we'll hand you over and say you're a bounty hunter."

"..."

Hearing that, Sampo sighed helplessly.

Looking at it this way, no matter what happened, Lin Nai would not lose out.

"Fine, fine, I agree. Shall we go?"

Sampo raised his hands.

"Good. The contract is sealed. Those who break their word shall suffer the punishment of rock-eating."

Welt on the train: "Achoo!"

After that.

Whether because he had accepted the money or because Sampo did not want to spend time in prison alone.

Under Sampo's lead, the four quickly crossed the snowfield.

And they did not encounter a single Silvermane Guard.

After crossing the snowfield, the four immediately saw Belobog in its entirety.

One of the few places on this frigid Jarilo-VI that could still be called warm.

Nearly a thousand years ago, when the cold wave descended, humanity's civilization on this planet had been frozen in that era as well.

Howling winds and blizzards had painted the land pure white, while only a certain protector had sheltered the city of Belobog with her power.

Though battered by wind and snow, humanity had endured here.

"Wow... that's incredible." March Seven looked at Belobog and could not help but sigh.

Her first impression of the city was... weight.

"Belobog is a place that believes in The Preservation, so it's normal for it to be like this."

Lin Nai took out a pink... magenta camera and snapped a photo of the city before them.

How should he put it?

The instant he saw this city.

Lin Nai thought of a game he had played before, Frostpunk. They did seem rather similar.

March Seven noticed what Lin Nai was doing and remembered that she had a camera too.

So she started taking pictures as well.

"Ahem, welcome to Belobog... but unfortunately, we aren't Silvermane Guards, so we can't use the front gate."

"Then we'll use the back door." Stelle toyed with a snowball in her hand.

"Haha, of course. Next, allow old Sampo to lead the way~ Everyone, this way."

Grinning, Sampo led the four around the city walls.

Two hours later.

Sampo finally stopped and brought the four to a tiny gap.

"Look! This is old Sampo's secret passage!" Sampo introduced it.

Stelle squatted down with her arms around her knees and rubbed the wall. "It's so small. How are we supposed to get through?"

"Crawl through."

"Huh?"

"It can't be helped." Sampo sighed. "We can't use the front gate, so we can only take a shortcut."

The four looked at one another.

Lin Nai asked, "What do you think?"

Stelle said, "Or... we listen to him?"

March Seven said, "Ugh... I really don't want to crawl..."

Dan Heng said, "There isn't any other way now, is there..."

Lin Nai said, "Actually, it's not like there's absolutely no other way."

The three asked, "What way?"

Lin Nai said, "We can just blow the hole open."

The three said, "Huh?"

Lin Nai shouted, "Nebast Light Ray!!"

Rumble!!!!!

Arriving at the Highest City in the World! Belobog!

Boom!!!!!