The Sudden Demon (8)

The moment she entered Snow City, Quintina's eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.

She had thought this would be a miraculous city carved entirely from ice and snow, with crystal-clear ice houses, ice towers, and ice bridges everywhere, like something out of a fairy tale.

Yet when they truly stepped onto its streets, the scene before them was completely different from what she had imagined.

"Huh? It's actually built from wood and stone?" She frowned slightly and looked around with a hint of disappointment.

The streets were clean. Most buildings on either side stood on heavy stone foundations, their roofs covered in thick snow, some reinforced with timber. They looked more like the cold-region architecture commonly found in the Empire's north.

The roadside was paved with non-slip bluestone slabs, while pedestrians hurried by wrapped tightly in thick fur cloaks and beast-hide garments.

"I thought it really would be an ice castle..." Quintina muttered.

Ang smiled and brushed the snow from her shoulder. "Ordinary humans still need warm hearths and insulated roofs to survive. If the whole city were made of ice, it would only be good for looking at, not living in."

So as not to stand out too much, Ang brought Quintina into a shop and picked out two thick cloaks made from northern snow bear fur.

The cloaks had cold-resistant properties. Not only were they warm, but they also looked rugged and heavy, no different from what the locals wore.

After changing into the cloaks, the two blended into Snow City's crowds, and as expected, they drew far fewer looks.

Over the next three days, they visited nearly every corner of Snow City.

Markets, altars, taverns, and even the Temple of Ice at the city center, carved from Frost Crystal, all bore their footprints.

At a stall specializing