UNDER THE OAK TREE

287 Chapter Maxi felt her blood run cold. With both hands resting on the marble table, Riftan stared at the crystal model for a long time, a heartless gleam in his eyes. His expression hinted at the hundred different strategies of capturing the castle spinning through his head.

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“I suppose… this means another war,” Maxi murmured.

Riftan jerked his head up. The reflected light from the crystalline surface cast his chiseled face in a somber shadow.

“Yes,” he reluctantly concurred.

Maxi took a deep breath followed by an exhale. Though she had been prepared for such a possibility, thinking of the difficulties looming ahead flooded her heart with fear. She was looking at the crystal with trepidation when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

“But we are the invaders this time. The monsters should be trembling in fear, not us.”

He looked at her calmly in silent reassurance before turning back to the model. His eyes glinted coldly, and his long, thick lashes drooped a little as if to conceal them. After maintaining his silence for a while, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked them to the entrance.

“We should leave now. We must meet up with the rest of the party before the blizzard worsens.”

As if drawing strength from his solid form, Maxi leaned against him and allowed herself to be led away. Outside, everything was bathed in bluish darkness. The unicorns had disappeared without a trace. When she glanced around, Riftan began pulling her along.

He looked up at the sky gravely. “If you don’t want to be locked in a damned snow prison again, we must make haste.”

Maxi’s face flushed. Excluding the hunger and uncertainty, she had not minded their isolation inside the cave. Meanwhile, it had clearly been a harrowing experience for Riftan. She stared sullenly at his back as he plowed through the snow and trudged along after him.

Fortunately, they managed to reunite with Elliot, Ruth, and four of the Temple Knights before nightfall. Palpable relief rose on Elliot’s face when he saw them.

“Thank heavens! I’ve never been so worried in my life.”

“Save your prayers,” Riftan said curtly. He glanced around. “We need to find shelter from the snow.”

Ruth stood shivering from the cold, the tip of his nose bright red.

“Is that all you have to say after giving us the fright of our lives?!” he practically shrieked.

Completely ignoring the sorcerer, Riftan wrapped an arm around Maxi and marched them away. _{Please visit 𝐟𝒓𝚎𝘦we𝐛𝐧𝐨vℯ𝚕. c𝘰ｍ}

“We have set up tents over there,” said a Temple Knight.

Recognizing the voice, Maxi startled and looked up. Kuahel Leon’s distinctive green eyes peered out from beneath his lowered hood. Had the commander of the Temple Knights personally come down from the cliff to search for them? She was taken aback.

After regarding Riftan and Maxi with indifference, the Temple Knight turned and motioned with his head to follow him. “Since neither of you seems in need of healing, we’d better get on.”

The group hurried through the snow, following the edge of the rock face. Soon, two tents emerged behind a large boulder. Royald, who had been nervously pacing in front of the makeshift camp, rushed over when he saw them.

“You’re safe! Oh, thank goodness!” The mage ran his hand over his face and sank to the ground. “You can’t even imagine the guilt that was eating at me.”

“Do move aside.”

Anette, who had appeared behind Royald, swatted the man away as though he were a nuisance. She scanned Maxi from head to toe.

“Where on earth have you two been? Miriam showed us your letter, but we feared something had happened when you didn’t show.”

“W-We discovered something on our way here… We are late because we went to investigate it.”

“Investigate?” Anette asked, arching an eyebrow.

Just then, Riftan, who had walked up behind Maxi, cut in rather coldly, “You can resume your conversation later. Both of us would like to rest first.”

Anette furrowed her brow but slowly nodded. “I’m sure you haven’t had a proper meal in days. Go on in and have a bite. I need to get in touch with the rest of the search party.”

Readily accepting the invitation, Maxi hurried into the tent. She immediately felt drained as she approached the sizzling brazier inside. Peeling off her cloak, she sank before the warmth in exhaustion.

Riftan was close behind, and she heard his heavy sigh. He helped her out of her wet coat before settling next to her. With his limbs and bulky frame sprawled across the ground, he gave the impression of a supple tiger. He grabbed a folded blanket lying nearby, draped it over her limp form, and drew her to him. Intense relief seemed to come off him in waves.

Only then did she realize he had been tense this whole time, worried some ill fate might befall her. She gingerly rested her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the warmth spreading through her frigid body, unfreezing her joints. Hugging his arm, she slowly closed her eyes.

***

Sixteen people were in the search party; ten knights and six mages — Ruth, Anette, Royald, Miriam, and the wind mages Nevin and Geoffrey. They had descended the cliff as soon as the blizzard had died down Perhaps it was due to all the worrying, but the mages appeared drained.

When Miriam returned to the tents covered in snow, she snapped at Maxi while shoving the fairies inside a crate. “Look at all the trouble you’ve caused. As if investigating the ruins wasn’t hard enough.”

Maxi had awoken from her nap and was wolfing down a meal by the fire. She angrily glowered at the mage. “I don’t think .. you’ll be of that opinion for long once you hear what I discovered”

Miriam snorted and sat by the fire. She swaddled herself in a blanket and closed her eyes to show that she had nothing more to say. Was she not being too insensitive to a teammate who had almost died?

Seeing Maxi’s hurt expression, Royald quietly tried to console her. “Don’t let her upset you too much. You wouldn’t know it now, but she worked the hardest to find you. Of course, she claimed it was because she didn’t want casualties to affect morale and that it would be rather unsavory if someone she knew died.” Frowning, Maxi glared at Miriam before changing the subject. “W-Was anyone ‘The level beneath the secret chamber caved in after the golems activated, but there were no serious injuries. We also destroyed the rest of the rampaging statues.”

Looking relieved, Maxi finished eating and stepped out of the tent soon after.

Though it was still snowing, the vx?nd had calmed significantly. Up on a ladder, Garrow spotted her glancing around for Riftan. He had been removing snow from the tent to prevent it from giving way under the weight. He hopped down and came running over.

“My lady, you’re awake already. How are you feeling?”

“F-Fine, thank you. I wasn’t hurt to begin with.”

Maxi bent her arm to prove her point. Someone must have healed her while she slept, as the bruises were all gone.

“I am perfectly all right,” she continued. ‘Say... do you know where Riftan is? I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”

“Sir Riftan is talking uith Sir Kuahel.” Dusting snow from his gloves, Garrow suddenly grew concerned. heard about your discovery. Since we no longer have a reason to keep scouring the ruins, the rest of the knights join us here as soon as the snow stops.”

“A-Are we going to launch an attack on the monster city immediately?”

Seeing her surprise, a small smile formed on his lips. “Rest assured, my lady, we would never rush an attack without a plan. First, we must gather enough information and obtain the approval of the Council of the Seven Kingdoms before we can officially prepare for war.”

Mixed emotions rose on Maxi’s face. Though she was relieved to hear that war would not break out now, GarroWs statement implied that another coalition army would be assembled. She furrowed her brow as she recalled the previous conflict. Above all, the memories of the violent and vulgar knights from Balto filled her uith misgivings.

She was silently questioning whether the coalition would be able to cooperate this time when GarroWs worried voice cut through her thoughts.

“You look pale, my lady. I think it would be best if you rest.”

Amused at the young knight’s older brotherly care, Maxi laughed softly. “1 am truly fine. I feel terrible for all the worry I caused... but I was in safe hands ?ith Riftan next to me.”

After carefully studying her face as if gauging the authenticity of her words, GarroWs face broke into a smile. “Please tell Uly that as well when you see him.

He was beside himself udlen he heard you and the commander fell off the cliff. Sir Hebaron had a hard time dissuading him from launching a search through the blizzard.”

Rubbing his nape , Garrow sighed.

“He wanted to join the search party, but Sir Hebaron denied his request citing a lack of experience. He’ s currently fuming. He can be terribly snappy when he’s upset, that fellow.”

Maxi blinked. She had always had the impression that Ulyseon might be more aggressive than he appeared , but not to the extent that Garrow was painting him. How on earth had the lad behaved? When she gave Garrow a questioning look, the young knight smiled wryly and changed the subject.

“In any case, I am glad that both of you are unharmed. I knew you would be all right if the commander himself had gone to rescue you... but it didn’t spare me the worry.”

Maxi felt a prick against her conscience. While everyone had been concerned about their well-being, she had been relishing her time alone vx?th Riftan. The others would no doubt be exasperated if they knew the truth. The thought made her feel guilty. She laughed awl?vardly as she parted ways with Garrow, then slinked back to her tent.

The snow abruptly stopped a few hours later. Miriam promptly sent the fairies up the cliff, and they soon sped back with a reply. A portion of the remaining mages and knights would join them.

Practically speaking, it would be difficult to lower nearly a hundred and eighty people, two hundred horses, and all their provisions and firewood dovvll the cliff. Moreover, since mana concentration in the area was low, it would require the mages to use two or three-fold more mana than usual. After much deliberation, they decided that only a third of the expeditionary party would investigate the newly uncovered temple. The rest would wait for them in the

Royald was waiting for the mages’ signal, seated by the fire. His face brightened. “We certainly won’t need everyone here. If what you’ve discovered really is a map to the monster base, that means we’ve accomplished our task. We’re free to return home.”

Miriam glared at him as though he were a pathetic insect. “Do you honestly not grasp the seriousness of the situation? We’ve just learned that the dark mages have built a veritable nation of monsters! And here you are gleefully dusting your hands, claiming we’ve accomplished our mission!”

Royald looked unruffled by her rebuke. ?Were you not listening to the commander of the Temple Knights? Seasoned mages will be dispatched once the coalition army is formed. And besides, we were only ever tasked with investigating the ruins to help the Temple Knights locate the monster base.”

When he noticed the knights lighting a fire nearby, he flinched and lowered his voice. am not like you. I have no wish to endanger myself for nothing. If we have accomplished what we came for, that’s the end of it.”

“Well, not exactly.”

Returning with an armful of firewood, Anette plopped down next to them. “Strictly speaking, we haven’t found the monster base yet. We can’t know for sure whether the model Max found points to this city of monsters until we get there..”