Shade had come to the mountain where the Black Night Spirit Temple stood twice, but both times he had only inspected the mountain foot and the inside of the cave, never climbing to the summit. After all, neither the gold mine nor the Old Gods Statue could possibly be located directly on the mountaintop.
After Mr. Elford's reminder, Shade became interested in the summit as well. After seeing off the soul, he returned to where the three horses were tied to the tree. This time, however, he did not enter the cave. Instead, he walked a short distance along the mountain foot and successfully found a way up.
Calling it a road was perhaps generous. It was merely an area where the trees were slightly sparser. But if the scholar who had come here alone could reach the summit, there was no reason Shade could not climb it.
The route up the mountain was difficult. Perhaps Shade had chosen a different path from Mr. Elford two years ago. From time to time, he had to turn the Cat into a toy, transform himself into a swarm of butterflies, or use Laguerre's Leap to cross those obviously impassable places.
By the time Shade finally reached a point only a few dozen meters from the summit, it was already 5:20 in the evening. The sky was dim, and the setting sun had long since appeared on the horizon.
The mountain was steep, but near its summit there was instead a relatively flat, winding path. Carrying the Cat, Shade truly reached the summit, then widened his eyes as he looked at the white sea of forest in the distance and the brilliant sunset even farther away.
"Spring really does seem to be coming soon."
He murmured softly, then looked down. Beneath his feet