Waiting

This year's northerly winds are unusually cold, especially for the people living in the Northern Territory Pass. What? No one has ever lived here before!

The Blood Wolf Knights hid behind the mountain wall, but the cold still spread from the canyon towards them. Although they were spared from the cold north wind, they couldn't escape the chill.

Even with proper precautions, an ordinary person probably wouldn't be able to withstand the cold wind for half a month, but the members of the Blood Wolf Knights are no ordinary people.

They were all First Order Profession. Although the cold was still taking its toll on them, their strong physiques were more than capable of withstanding it. They could endure it for half a year, let alone half a month.

only...

"How much longer are we going to have to stay in this godforsaken place?" A knight rubbed his hands together by the makeshift fireplace, feeling extremely cold despite being very close to it.

"Just wait for that bastard who hasn't shown up yet!" a knight cursed angrily from the side.

"It's been twenty days! I could walk most of Antir's distance, and that dog mage is still riding a horse? What on earth is she riding?!"

The knights present complained that they had been doing this for ten days, and after their shifts ended, they would immediately gather around the fireplace and hurl insults at the culprits who had caused them to be stuck in this godforsaken place.

"It's colder here than the coldest winter I've ever experienced!"

His words were met with unanimous agreement from the surrounding knights.

Antir Region also has winters, which have made them shiver with cold, but they are nothing compared to the biting winds of the Northern Territory.

Although they weren't afraid of the cold wind, the cold still bothered them greatly, not to mention that there wasn't a single animal in this godforsaken place, and the wild grass on the ground was withered and yellow.

In the past, they could hunt some wild game to change their diet, but now they can only gnaw on black bread that is frozen like a rock, which is almost their only food.

Meanwhile, Connor, the leader of the Blood Wolf Knights, gazed into the distance at the flat horizon.

He crushed the enhancement drug as if it were a routine task, and then poured it into a wide-mouthed bottle.

The Tracking Bug was also badly frozen. Smelling the scent of the enhancement drug that was deliberately designed to attract it, it took it a long time to move over and get to the side before it started nibbling at the food.

After the enhancement drug takes effect, the two instincts of the Tracking Bug fiercely battle within its body.

The cold was reminding it to hibernate where it was, while its body sensed the presence of something and was desperately telling it to fly there according to its instincts.

In the end, it still bumped into the bottle, but without the strength it used to have.

Connor, on the other hand, carefully calculated the angle of the Tracking Bug's impact and received news that made him somewhat uneasy.

The Tracking Bug still pointed south, not even deviating much from the direction of Gede Town Gede Town, as if the mage was still there.

Seeing this, the knight in silver armor beside him began to offer advice.

"Captain, shouldn't we hurry up and grab this Tracking Bug to keep track? This place is really..."

A puff of white steam rose from his mouth, and he closed it before the cold wind made his teeth ache.

"Keep waiting!"

Connor remained stubbornly focused on the distant horizon, unmoved.

He had been stubborn since he was a child. When he first met a knight, he secretly made up his mind that he would become a real knight in the future.

This is also why he left his Mage Family. From the moment he was sent to the Magic Academy in the Floating City, he was thinking about how to escape.

After leaving on his own and arriving in the region north of the Alliance, it was only through his Talent that he became the youngest second-tier Profession in his family at the age of twenty-five, and was he then reinstated by his family.

Before that, it was his own perseverance that led to his current achievements, so he will never waver in sticking to this.

"Let's wait another month. If she still hasn't come, then we'll go look for her."

Connor gave a specific deadline, thus reassuring his knights.

In fact, if it weren't for various reasons, he would have preferred to wait another three months before making any plans.

Firstly, the Tracking Bug itself is also nearing its end. This Tracking Bug now has a maximum lifespan of only two months, and feeding it too many supplements may further shorten its lifespan.

Secondly, Connor also had a strange premonition, even though he knew nothing about the information from afar.

In the entire northern part of the Alliance, the only one who would dare to kill a First Order mage is himself. Even Duke Theodore, who is eager to seize the throne, does not dare to attack a First Order Mage himself.

Therefore, he believed that the Territory Token was still in Fran's hands, but he couldn't understand why it hadn't reached the Northern Territory Pass after so long.

Connor gave up on thinking and decided to stick to his strategy and continue to block Fran there.

Fran had been out of Gede Town for several days, and the Black Horse was walking at a moderate pace on the rough dirt road.

The road was riddled with these small obstacles: roadside bushes swept up by the wind, fallen trees, droppings left by some unknown animal, and traces left by the Magic Creature during their fierce battle.

Walking on such a poorly maintained road surface would have been extremely cautious for someone like Black Horse, constantly worried about tripping over something – that wouldn't have been pleasant.

The Black Horse, on the other hand, doesn't even glance at the ground, leisurely strolling along the road relying solely on its senses.

Fran sat reclining on her Black Horse, holding in her hands the Territory Token that had brought her so much trouble.

Fran found out the specific purpose of this thing from Caleb's interrogation records, but she was also disappointed after hearing the detailed explanation.

This item is difficult to use. If you are a nobleman of a territory and have your own knighthood, then this item will be very useful.

Because he can help you acquire a territory. As long as you can defeat the local lord without any bonuses for either side, you can obtain that land and become a lord yourself.

A lord who owns a territory can rival multiple Profession of the same rank within that territory, which is why half of the continent's inhabited areas are occupied by these lords.

Even mages wanted to steal this ability to gain land blessings and use it in their own Floating City so they could have a mobile territory.

The problem was that Fran hadn't heard of any successful results; when she looked through the records, she only saw mages constantly trying.

So this thing doesn't seem to be of any use to her either; it has been proven useless by countless experienced mages.

There were no related prompts on Fran's Panel, leaving Fran completely unsure of what to do with this token.