Chapter 70 - Few More Days

My eyes could not help but blink a few times.

"Could you tell me about this person?"

The old man shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, he was the first person to ever escape this place. At the time, I was fascinated, so I watched over him."

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"How did he end up escaping?"

The old man smiled shakily.

"All by himself. He learned the secrets of this realm and learned how to tear himself away from this realm."

My hand rubbed against my chin.

"Sounds like he was a strong person."

The old man laughed.

"Yes, he was, but fell into the same trap that brought him down here in the first place."

My eyebrow raised.

"What happened?"

The old man shook his head.

"Once he left this realm, he did everything by himself. Unfortunately, while he did not let failure stick with him, he let his success blind him."

The old man shrugged his shoulders.

"He now has a high standing but he has nobody he can trust or talk to. People may know him, but he is no different from the people down here."

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"That sounds... sad."

The old man sighed.

"Such is life."

We stood still in silence for a few moments.

The old man looked at me.

"Anyways, we should go. We don't belong here after all."

The old man pointed his cane forward and our surroundings began distorting. For a moment everything became dark.

With a burst of light, we were back in the forest. The sun was just beginning to rise.

The old man had a shaky smile.

"Thanks for talking with me."

A small smile emerged on my face.

"Haha, thanks for talking and showing all those things to me."

The old man waved his hand dismissively.

"It's nothing special. Most people wouldn't want to see those kinds of things."

While my hand was waving, the old man's figure began to distort, then disappeared altogether.

My head turned to the necklace.

"See? He's a nice guy."

The necklace trembled.

"...he captures people and uses their fear to empower himself."

A sigh escaped me.

"Frankly, I prefer him over normal people."

My eyes narrowed after thinking about the slave traders in the village.

"At least he doesn't destroy other's lives."

The necklace paused for a moment.

"Taking them away and sealing them in a dull grey place isn't destroying their life?"

My shoulders shrugged.

"Not in any capacity that I have seen."

The necklace sighed.

"Well, alright then."

The pale blue light let out excited cries.

The necklace was startled.

"Hm? What is it, my child?"

The necklace listened to the cries of the child for a few moments.

"Hmm... hey, Jay! Walk up ahead, there seems to be something there!"

My head tilted to the side.

"Ah, ok."

After taking a few steps forward, my eyes squinted from the sudden light.

As my eyes adjusted, a huge city laid before me.

At the outskirts were farms covered in snow, and further in were stone walls that stood taller than the ones from Leon's village.

It was hard to tell how large of an area it covered, but the area would definitely not be small.

Even from far away, the carvings on the walls were visible. The carvings consisted of things such as wolf, bear, and eagle heads staring at anybody outside the village.

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"That is a big place."

The necklace trembled.

"That does seem to be the case. You may want to take off your crown as it would attract attention. People there might think you're being overly pretentious and find trouble."

My face twitched.

"...I can't take it off."

The necklace was confused.

"What? Is it not just a piece of clothing? Or does it have some sentimental value?"

My shoulders shrugged.

"I don't know, this thing decided to attach itself to me. When I try to take it off, it feels like I'm going to die."

The necklace was still.

"That... sounds like a curse."

A sigh escaped me.

"Curse or not, it's stuck with me."

The necklace was silent for a moment.

"Well, if you are going to attract attention anyways, we won't have to hide ourselves."

My hand waved dismissively.

"I wasn't planning on having you two hide anyways."

The necklace trembled but did not respond.

My steps leisurely took me forward. The city was surrounded by a large clearing, so it took quite a while to even reach the land they used to farm.

The lands were filled with snow, but there was little snow over the tilled fields. For each patch of farmland, a house would be nearby.

As for the fields themselves, there were a few people here and there pushing the snow off of their farmland.

Why were they doing that?

My eyes landed on the soil that was dried and cracked. Clearing snow off the farmland wouldn't mean that it becomes suitable to farm...

The curiosity was bothering me too much, so I walked up to some random guy clearing off the snow.

The man had black hair covered in snow. It looked stiff like it had been frozen as well. His body was trembling, but his hands resolutely held onto a small shovel, picking up and throwing away the snow.

His teeth were grit in what appeared to be pain and determination.

While he was shoveling I waved my hand in front of him.

"Hey, why are you shoveling the snow?"

The man narrowed his eyes.

"Why do you care?"

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"Just curious."

The man continued shoveling with a frown on his face.

"What are you here to poke fun at me? Some lowly commoner has to shovel snow while you get to sit in a well heated palace with all the food you could ever need?"

My head tilted to the side.

"Huh? I've slept by burying myself into the ground. The food I've eaten were things I've picked up and hunted myself."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Is this some joke?"

An awkward chuckle came out of me.

"No, not really."

The man sighed.

"You... aren't from here?"

My head shook.

"Just got here after walking around in the forest."

The man's face twitched.

"Wow... you can survive in those forests?"

A laugh escaped me.

"Yeah. But anyway, could you tell me why you are shoveling the snow?"

The man stopped shoveling and looked at the floor.

"It's a stupid reason you wouldn't want to hear."

...Why couldn't this guy just tell me?

"How about this, I shovel the snow off your entire field, then you tell me."

Both of the man's eyebrows raised.

"Well... alright."

The man handed over the shovel and my hand grabbed onto it. It was surprising even to me how easily I shoveled away the snow.

Though the field was quite big, the entire shoveling process was completed in a few minutes.

Once the field was mostly cleared, the man sighed.

"Thanks."

I handed the shovel back to him.

"Hey, got anything to burn?"

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah let me get it."

He went into his house and got a fairly large stick.

"Is this ok?"

I nodded.

"It's good enough."

My mind casted the first spell and lit the top of the stick.

"Just so you aren't too cold."

The man sighed.

"Thanks. Anyways, you were trying to hear about the reason right?"

I nodded.

The man was silent for a moment.

"Haha, sorry. Just thinking about it makes me feel like an idiot."

The man looked towards the towering walls.

"There has been a new decree a few days after the snow started to fall. Us farmers were to prevent snow from covering our fields and prepare to plant once the snow goes away."

My hand reached out to take out a piece of soil. It was hard. When my finger pressed down, it crumbled as though it were a piece of stone.

"...The snow probably won't go away. Not fast enough for you to grow anything."

The man sighed.

"...Yeah. The rule is still enforced, however. If we don't, some people will evict us from our house."

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Do you even have enough food for the winter?"

The man's face twitched.

"We barely have enough food for tomorrow. The people from the inside ransacked us. I've pretended to have everything in control for the sake of my wife and daughter."

My head turned to look at the towering walls.

"That is cruel... Why do you stay here with that treatment?"

The man laughed bitterly.

"Because there never was a choice in the matter. I could take my chance and run to the forests, but my chances of surviving would be terribly low. Not to mention the family I have to take care of."

My head turned to the man.

"So... you won't fight against your death?"

The man shrugged.

"It's hopeless anyway."

The corner of the man's lip turned up. There was a gloomy air about him but also pride in the way he stood.

"I guess that's why I shovel the snow. So I can spend a few more days with the people I care about."

The fire had burned most of the stick, so the man tossed it away.