Two Familiar Faces

After crossing the Laos River, Lili didn't continue with us; she planned to venture into remote places to seek out legends about the gods. 👣🔥 🐍♡

To defeat the monster, one must possess sufficient power, and relying on Divine Strength is undoubtedly the most reliable method.

Others might not be able to see the gods, but Lili is different. She has the Blood of Ice passed down from Anivia flowing through her veins, which the gods will not find unfamiliar.

Riven and I naturally had to get Gnar to Noxus first. The little guy had a terrible time on the way; if we hadn't been watching him, the oxcart would probably have been torn apart long ago.

Noxus is located southeast of Freljord, so we will inevitably have to pass through Sejuani's territory.

I wanted to minimize contact with the people here to avoid conflict, but I didn't see many people along the way. Although there were signs of human activity, they had all broken camp and left.

"It looks like Darius has already attacked." Riven was very familiar with the atmosphere of war.

"We've been gone for a while now, about two months, I think? It was still deep winter then, but now we can already see new grass sprouting."

"He didn't choose the peaceful Avarosa territory, but instead opted for eastern Freljord, seemingly intending to occupy it before the Winter's Claw unify the region."

"That's just like him."

"What are you two talking about? Are we almost there?" Gnar always seemed impatient.

"Soon."

Traveling south along the trade route in eastern Freljord, we soon left the icy world behind, and the tundra region was no longer so cold.

After traveling south for a few more days, the population gradually increased, and towns began to appear in the more bustling areas.

I love it there!

Riven and I had originally planned to go to this town to rest, but Gnar's words changed our minds.

It's wartime already; if we cause further destruction, people will definitely not forgive us!

But Gnar completely ignored our advice, jumped off the oxcart and rushed over. By the time Riven and I caught up, we had already entered town.

Like other towns in Freljord, this town is filled with low-lying stone buildings, which helps to reduce the effects of Wind Force erosion.

In such a small place, there were already few people doing business, and because of the war, there were even fewer.

Gnar disappeared as soon as he entered the town. Although the town was small, he was also very small, and he was not easy to find because he kept hiding.

We gave up after searching for a while; he was bound to cause trouble anyway, so we'd deal with it later.

We strolled around the streets and found that there were no proper restaurants in the town; they were all places that sold alcohol and also served some food.

As I walked, I found a small, fairly clean restaurant, so I went in and found a seat.

This small restaurant only had four tables, and there was another person eating inside. He was wearing the same thin clothes as us, and he didn't look like an ordinary person.

There were no waiters here, only the owner. He was very unhappy to hear that we were only eating and not buying alcohol.

"This is the first time I've heard of traveling in the cold Freljord without drinking. No drinking is fine too, but the meal cost will be double, okay?"

"Hey boss, you can't take advantage of us! We're just ordinary explorers, we don't have much money on us." Riven finished speaking and patted herself down, pulling out a shrunken purse.

"I'm not joking. If you don't believe me, go ask around. Double is the minimum!"

"Then give us two drinks." I didn't know any of these strange customs here, and I couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

"Cups? We drink from buckets, hahaha..."

→

"Give us two barrels then! But they must be the best wine!"

Riven generously ordered two buckets, but I was very worried; I wouldn't be able to handle her when she was drunk. "I think we should just pay double the bill," I said.

"What's there to be afraid of? I don't drink anyway. I'll just buy two barrels of good wine as a gift when I see Darius."

When Riven mentioned Darius's name, I quickly covered her mouth, but the boss still heard it.

Who are you talking about?

"Um, one of our good friends, named Drais, can really drink!"

"You startled me! I thought you were talking about the head of the Noxus army!"

Seeing that the boss wasn't going to say anything more, I felt relieved, but the people at the next table didn't seem to intend to let us off the hook:

"If you're such good friends, why are you covering her mouth? Besides, I clearly heard Darius."

You misheard me.

"Should we have someone arrest you and take you to the front lines to get to know each other?"

"You seem to really enjoy causing trouble."

"I not only enjoy causing trouble, I also enjoy seeing you all dislike me but can't do anything about it."

Seeing our tense standoff, the boss quickly intervened to mediate. "Stop it, what does it matter if you know Darius or not? Just don't tell anyone."

The man laughed after hearing this, "Hey Gragas, you're doing business on Sejuani's turf, and you're actually protecting Noxus spy? That's not right, is it?"

"Don't push your luck. As a wanted criminal, how many times have I protected you?"

"Haha, you're angry again. You still have such a fiery temper. I have to go now. You talk to these two young people."

You haven't paid the bill yet!

Let's talk about it next time!

"It'll happen again, you..."

Before the shop owner could finish speaking, the man vanished, leaving behind a playing card on the table—the Ace of Hearts.

So this pot-bellied boss is Gragas the Gragas? Could the man who just left be Twisted Fate Twisted Fate?

"Boss, you said the person who just left was a wanted criminal. What's his name?"

"Twisted Fate, he claims to be a man who controls destiny, but he's just a freeloader and a scoundrel."

"Oh, I see. From your conversation just now, it seems you don't dislike Noxus?"

"These guys are all the same; neither Sejuani nor Darius will let us live in peace."

After saying that, Gragas brought over two barrels of wine, the aroma of which could be smelled even through the lids.

"I won't sell you this fine wine for less than ten Silver Coin."

"We don't have Silver Coin, but I can give you a gold coin, and you don't need to give change."

"I don't want it, unless you buy a few more buckets."

"Two barrels are enough. We can't fit any more in the truck. The reason I'm giving you so much money is that I want to hear about the recent fighting."

"Listen to me about the war? You really weren't sent by Darius?"

"We do know him, and we're quite familiar with him, but we have nothing to do with this war."

"Haha... I like people who have nothing to do with war. Why do we have to fight when we can just live a good life? I'll go get some food, and we can eat and chat."