A strange world

The vast plains covered with snow washed away the sadness of Annan leaving the family territory.

After entering December, the already severe cold weather continued to get colder every day than the previous day, even forcing the knights, who were all professionals, to go into the forest and build snow houses to take shelter from the wind when a snowstorm hit.

Annan saw that knights who went to the roadside for personal hygiene would carry a wooden stick. He didn't know what it was for, and he didn't want to know.

Frostbite and hypothermia were normal in this bad weather, but they were escorting a generous lord. Even in the ice and snow, the expensive inner-armor cotton-padded jackets and hot soup allowed them to maintain an extremely fast speed, leaving behind the convoys that wanted to seek shelter along the way.

But later, these methods could not resist the severe cold after the sun disappeared. Breathing without covering your nose would even cause you to choke on the cold air and cough. The team had to switch to traveling during the day and resting at night.

From this, Annan gained a new understanding of the harshness of the northern border, and then extended a piece of good news and a piece of bad news: the water in Xingyue Bay is icy, and it is not an ice-free port, so when winter comes, shipping routes are cut off.

The good news is that this is a magical world, where cities can float and a port can never freeze.

Blom said that's why the North is a remote place that even rat people don't want to come to: half of the year it freezes to death.

Annan echoed that even though rats were raging in the south, no one wanted to come to the north, which meant that the rat people were not as scary as winter, which made Blom laugh.

A new day arrives, Annan activates the magic ring as usual, and a large wind element emerges.

Annan released the wind element, and the summons was lifted after ten minutes anyway.

Annan has only summoned one earth elemental these days, and the rest are either wind or fire elementals. When encountering a fire elemental, be careful not to move too far away, lest it be blown out by the cold wind before the summons comes into contact.

The next day, the second water element finally appeared at the call.

Annan picked up two stones and stuffed them into the water element's body to distinguish them, and used the portal to send the water element back to Breeze City.

Xingyue Bay was temporarily unable to contact us due to heavy snow and road closures. The hardness and strength of the cement produced by Michael's alchemy was close to the requirements. Annan asked Michael by the way, why can the magic ring activate a spell once a day?

"Because the magic ring will automatically replenish the magic power."

"Why can a magic item absorb as much magic power as the caster?"

"Because magic props are made from the soul of the caster. Every time a magic prop is made, an innocent caster dies." Michael joked, "Have you ever seen a golem? A piece of wood without mechanisms and soul. Why? Can you move and understand instructions? This is the principle of alchemy. Are you interested in getting in touch?"

"I am a warlock." Annan refused Michael's invitation, "Then is there any way to speed up the replenishment of the magic ring?"

"Just create an environment full of magic."

Meditation is to use magic materials to make the surrounding magic abundant. Annan estimated the cost of replenishing it: shortening from one day to 12 hours requires more than a dozen gold coins, which means 30 gold coins are consumed per day - at this price, inviting the blue dragon, let alone moving When arriving at Xingyue Bay, Annan can even live in the blue dragon's lair.

No matter how much money you make in "The Fall of the Mage Tower", you can't waste it like this, so Annan has no choice but to let Michael continue to buy magic rings in the Mage Tower.

On the eleventh day after leaving Osulund Territory, the knights who were exploring the road ahead returned to the convoy and told Annan and Blom that the snowstorm in the previous days had blocked the road ahead.

Either clear the snow and pass through, or take a detour to Zorn City, which is 50 miles away.

"It's actually going to be faster, and the roads around town are better," Blom said.

"Then let's take a detour."

It just so happens that there are not many magic materials left, and the town can spread magical images. The team turned around and returned to the forked road a few miles ahead, heading for Zorn City.

Zorn City is not a city like Breeze City or Plenty City. It only has a population of tens of thousands - because it is a lord's city.

The elite knights surrounding Annan and the emblem of the King of the North on the vehicle made the city guards on the city wall dare not neglect or stop them, and rushed to the castle to report the arrival of the King of the North.

Not long after, the city guard and the housekeeper rushed to the motorcade and invited Annan to be a guest on behalf of Viscount Hein.

"It's just a Viscount. You have the right to choose whether to see him or not."

Blom said to the hesitant Annan.

Annan nodded and declined the expectant butler: "I'm sorry, but I have to rush back to Breeze City and cannot visit Viscount Hein."

Taking advantage of the situation, he brought up the matter of magic images. He didn't have much hope, but he didn't expect the housekeeper to come back and say that Viscount Hein agreed with his chest.

Zorn City is not as rich as Breeze City, and it does not have as many people and nobles. The expected profit from "The Fall of the Mage Tower" will not exceed one or two thousand jinnar... but there is no additional cost anyway.

Annan opened the portal and asked the ogre to seize the time: "I am in Zorn City. Let Olmedo send some people to bring the eternal magic stone."

The butler left in awe with the people from the City Lord's Mansion who passed through the portal. The team continued to move forward, but when they were about to leave Zorn City, they encountered poor people huddled under a shack without walls.

Annan asked Blom to distribute the grain to them:

"If you want to survive, go to Xingyue Bay to the west of Breeze City after spring. That is my territory."

But the numb poor people did not want to give up hope of survival and prayed to Annan to take them away.

Annan glanced at these people. They included children, old men and women.

"How far is Zorn City from Star-Moon Bay and Osurond Territory?"

"Fifteen hundred miles and fifteen hundred miles," Blom replied.

"Tell Viscount Hein that I agreed."

…

Viscount Hein has the characteristics of a Northerner, with a rough and strong appearance, almost similar to Aunt Susan. But this viscount has a delicate heart——

After watching the end of "The Fall of the Mage Tower", he wiped the wet corners of his eyes:

"I thought the King of the North would be as cold as the cold wind, but I didn't expect it to be like us..."

……who are you?

While Viscount Hein was immersed in sentimentality, Annan said: "I saw many homeless people in the city."

"Those refugees appear every year, bringing chaos and death. By the next spring, not many people will survive... Dear King of the North, do you have any idea?"

"Uh...I can take them away."

"Thank you so much. You are indeed as kind as the rumors say."

Of course Annan could tell that this rough yet delicate lord was doing this deliberately: "I should be the one thanking you. I hope to invite you as a guest when Xingyue Bay is built."

"I will come personally."

Anyway, it's a win-win. Annan got hundreds of new subjects and new businesses, and Viscount Heine got the friendship of the King in the North and reduced his burden.

Send the dreamlike refugees back to Breeze City through the portal, bid farewell to Viscount Hein, and continue on their way.

Zorn City became the only interruption on the way back. The bandits who dared to go out to plunder at this time would only become ice sculptures, and the rat men only dared to hide underground and tremble. There were still nine days before the apocalypse forecast, and Annan finally returned to Pinglin Town, which was second only to Xingyue Bay and Breeze City.