FYN Chapter 165 : Chapter 165
Chapter 165 : Chapter 165
Chapter 165. The Spring-Winter Festival
Leonard tipped the last mouthful of strong liquor from his cup into his throat and even let out a contented belch.
He had no intention of signing any sort of magical contract.
At his level, his word itself was law.
“To show my sincerity, I promise that my Heavenblade Legion will not cross blades with the Northern Territory.” The old lion rose to his feet, and the terrifying pressure that had made it hard to breathe vanished cleanly in an instant. At that moment, he looked no different from any ordinary old man next door.
“Of course, now and then we’ll still have to shout a few times over there and set off a few loud blasts. After all, if we’re putting on a show, we have to see it through to the end.”
Leonard waved a hand. He did not bother with any sentimental farewell scene with Alectos. He simply turned and strode out of the command tent.
After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped and tossed out a sentence without looking back.
“Boy, don’t die. If I finish preparing that throne and the one meant to sit on it is gone by then, I’ll lose my temper.”
Alectos looked at that broad back and let out a heavy breath before nodding.
“All right, stop staring. That old lion’s already gone far enough.”
Logaris snapped his fingers, and blue ripples spread through the air once more.
“We should be heading back too.”
...
Sylvia had been bent over a pile of documents when she heard the disturbance, and the feather pen in her hand paused.
When she looked up and saw Logaris’s sudden arrival, her brows instantly knit tight.
“You were attacked?”
“Something even more exciting than that.” Logaris walked over to the sofa and flung himself into the cushions without a trace of decorum. “We ran into someone very strong. Seventh tier.”
“What?!”
Sylvia shot to her feet. For the first time, genuine alarm appeared on that face that was usually calm beyond disturbance.
What did seventh tier mean?
In an age where the sixth tier was enough to serve as nuclear deterrence, the seventh tier was a walking natural disaster, the true bedrock of a nation. If a monster at that level had killing intent, then Winter City would not merely be facing grave danger—it would be hanging by a thread.
Logaris gave her a brief account of everything that had happened.
From encountering Leonard, to confirming Alectos’s identity, to that audacious deal at the end.
When he finished, he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“That’s everything.”
The office fell into deathly silence.
Only the firewood in the hearth crackled now and then.
Sylvia stepped around the desk and walked over to the sofa.
She looked down at the calm man before her, her gaze complicated.
If it had been any ordinary ruler, this was the moment for fury.
A subordinate had privately concluded a secret pact with an enemy commander, and one involving arms smuggling and political alignment at that. Under the laws of any nation, that was enough to qualify as treason. The gallows would have reserved him a place in the front row.
But Sylvia only sighed.
“That old lion... he didn’t make things difficult for you, did he?”
Logaris froze for a moment and looked up at Sylvia.
“You’re not angry?”
“Angry about what? Angry that you helped me pull a superpower into the orbit of being a potential ally? Or angry that you secured a second road leading toward the throne for me?” Sylvia turned to the drinks cabinet, poured two glasses of water, and handed one to Logaris.
“Logaris, if one day you really did sell off the Northern Territory, I would only assume you’d managed to negotiate a price so good that even I couldn’t refuse it.”
That nearly blind trust finally loosened the taut string in Logaris’s heart.
He took the glass and drank a sip.
“That old man may be greedy, but for Ale’s sake, you should be able to deal with the other two princes without worry in the future.”
“Mhm.” Sylvia nodded and looked out the window.
Outside, the snow had just cleared.
All of Winter City had already been decorated into an entirely new sight.
...
Time turned as quickly as a wound-up magitech gear.
The situation in Rimewind Valley became as strange and stable as Leonard had promised.
The demi-human army still had not withdrawn, but apart from roaring a few times from their positions each day or launching a few great fireballs into the sky, they never carried out any real attacks again.
And as heavy snow blanketed the entire Northern Territory, the annual Spring-Winter Festival—the universally recognized New Year—arrived.
On that day, Winter City was transformed beyond recognition.
Those iron pipes that ordinarily did nothing but spit black smoke and steam had all been hung with colorful ribbons today. At Logaris’s instruction, the magitech streetlamps lining both sides of the roads had been fitted with special colored filter lenses, casting warm yellow halos that forcibly softened the cold industrial harshness into festive warmth.
Even in the poorest parts of the lower district, every household had pine branches hanging by the door as a symbol of good fortune. Sylvia had specially approved a batch of low-cost meat and flour, so that even refugees who had only just entered the city could eat a full meal that night.
Outside the Grand Library.
Alectos looked at the girl beside him with some concern.
Alice was acting very strangely today.
Ordinarily, the moment she went out onto the street, she was the sort who would sweep through every snack stall on the whole avenue. But today, she was holding a candied hawthorn skewer in her hand, and even though the sugar coating was nearly melting, she had not taken a single bite.
Every now and then, she would look up at the sky, or unconsciously reach toward the thing hidden in her sleeve.
“Alice?” Alectos called out.
“Ah? What is it?!” Alice jerked all over like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, nearly shoving the candied hawthorn skewer into Alectos’s face.
“What are you thinking about? There’s a stall up ahead selling roasted turkey legs. Don’t you usually love those most?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Have a little anyway. It’s a festival, after all.” Alectos scratched his head. “If something’s bothering you, you can tell me. I might not understand it, but I can keep my mouth shut, and I can help you beat someone up too.”
Alice let out a small laugh, though the smile on her face was somewhat forced.
“Golden-Scales, there are some things fists can’t solve,” she muttered vaguely. “Still... thanks.”
...
North of the city, at the temporary grounds of the Magitech Academy of Sciences.
Aaron finally put down the drawing pen he had nearly crushed in his grip.
Looking at the empty laboratory, he found it hard to adjust. For the past few days, that group of graduates had rushed progress like mad. Now that they had finally been given half a day off, those overachieving maniacs seemed almost unable to get used to it.
“So this is the New Year...”
Aaron stretched lazily, and his bones cracked sharply one after another.
He walked to the window and looked at the bustling crowds outside. For the first time, he suddenly felt that this sensation—struggling with all one’s might toward a certain goal, then being able to rest in peace afterward—was not so bad.
At the experimental fields outside the city.
The elf Iowen was squatting on a ridge between the fields, holding a bowl of hot soup in his hands while tears streamed down his face.
“Wuwuwu... I can finally rest a little...”
As one of the busiest people over the past several months, he had been specially granted half a day off by Logaris, who had even allowed him to enter the city for a proper meal under Lilith’s supervision.
Lilith, who had been assigned to keep an eye on him, bit into a chicken leg while looking at her disappointing fellow countryman with disgust.
“Is that really necessary? The boss never starved you.”
“You don’t understand!” Iowen wiped away his tears. “This is the taste of freedom! Even if it’s only for half a day!”