When Semna hid in the cart, Syle, the Group leader, immediately halted the horses and wagon.

“This is a mess,” he muttered, his brow furrowing deeply.

“If the village chief finds out his precious daughter has run away, that bear of a man won’t stay quiet. I’ll end up caught in the fallout too. Turning back now is a huge loss, but….”

A half-day’s journey back wasn’t something to laugh at, considering the harsh terrain of the snowfields.

The journey through the icy paths was truly exhausting—people and horses alike would tire quickly.

Even thinking about retracing the path we’d come from felt overwhelming.

“Are you really going back?”

“Of course. If I keep dragging this little lady around and the village chief chases us, there’s no excuse for it. That chief has ties with Duke Shade as well… Damn it, there’s no choice.”

Syle sighed deeply, as though he had finally made up his mind.

“We’re going back to Greendal Prepare yourself.”

Hearing that, Semna glanced at me and jerked her chin.

“Sol, you heard that, right? You better prepare too.”

“I’m not going back.”

“Oh? Then I won’t go either.”

Semna pouted stubbornly.

I couldn’t back down either, so I turned away sharply.

Syle, caught in the middle of our dispute, sighed again.

“Looks like the caravan is going to fall apart because of children’s tantrums.”

I felt my temper flare—not at Syle, but at Semna.

Why was she making this difficult for everyone?

“When are you going to stop doing whatever you want? Are you a child?”

Semna shot back with fiery eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

“Who are you calling a child? Why do you get to do whatever you want?”

“I’m just doing what I want.”

“Then I’ll do what I want too. Let’s go. Mr. Group Leader, start moving! I’m going with Sol.”

Syle sighed again, deeper this time.

At this rate, he might just take both of us back to the village, and that would be disastrous.

I quickly moved closer to Semna, trying to reason with her.

“Why are you being like this? If you follow me, there’s nothing. No food, no proper restrooms. It’s cold, dark, and just miserable.”

Semna, however, simply echoed my words back.

That’s why she wanted to go back.

“No... this is so frustrating!”

“You’re frustrated too, right? Me too!”

Syle intervened, his voice tense.

“I’m the one who’s frustrated! You kids are out here causing trouble, and we should’ve informed the village chief about what’s happening. Otherwise, he’ll think I kidnapped you.”

Semna snorted, dismissing him.

“I sent a letter before we left. I told them I’m taking Sol back. If he doesn’t come, I won’t either, so don’t bother looking for us.”

As I heard that, I couldn’t help but picture the village chief’s benevolent smile.

The same smile he had when he strangled a wild boar to death after it crossed the village fence.

I wondered if I was about to end up like that boar.

As I contemplated this, Syle whispered in my ear.

“If you don’t go back, it seems like the young lady won’t either. What will you do then?”

“I’m not going back. Semna... Let’s take this to Gloria .”

Looking at her now, it seemed unlikely she would ever turn back on her own.

But after some hardship on the icy road, I thought her mind might change.

After a rough journey, perhaps we could relax in Gloria, and seeing the city might ease her frustration enough for her to reconsider going back.

Once the Group completed its wool trade in Gloria, Syle would pass through our village again, so he could drop Semna off.

“There’s no other choice. But what if the young lady keeps chasing after you, even beyond Gloria?”

“What can be done? It’s her choice.”

“Are you two betrothed or something? You’re really devoted, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just one of those who wants to cling to me like a little kid.”

“Heh heh. You’re going to be tied down soon. I can see it already, kid.”

What nonsense. Anyway, unless Semna changes her mind, there was nothing to be done.

I couldn’t just tie up the village chief’s daughter and send her back.

That would get me stuck in the village as well.

The conclusion was simple: I’d keep dragging this stubborn girl around until she wore herself out.

“Since we’ve stopped, I might as well warm up my belly with something hot.”

Syle ordered the Group members to start a fire and cook some soup.

We’d already passed half a day’s journey since leaving the village, and though I wasn’t hungry yet, maybe because I’d eaten well before departure,

“Still, you should eat. In the snowfields, you need to eat more often. It’s because it’s cold. You have to keep your body warm by eating more.”

Harwin  suddenly stepped out of the wagon and explained.

He had two woolen cloaks draped over his coat, which looked somewhat amusing.

I half-wondered if Syle might scold him for touching the goods, but he didn’t say anything to Harwin. Instead, he started shouting at the Group members.

“Hurry up and get the fire going, you lot!”

The members scrambled to follow his orders.

It was fascinating how quickly the snow-covered ground transformed into a campsite.

Right, I should eat something too.

I quietly took out some food from my backpack.

I wanted the hot soup, but it felt a bit awkward to ask for some.

I couldn’t be a burden, especially since I had just barged into the Group’s journey without offering any help.

“Semna, you didn’t bring any food, did you?”

“Yep.”

“Just an axe, and now you’re acting all proud?”

“What about you? What did you bring?”

Semna grabbed my backpack and started pulling out items, one by one.

“Dried meat, water bottle, lantern, oil, socks, rope, rope, rope... Why did you bring so much rope?”

“Well, with rope, a shepherd can do most things.”

“What, are you going to stitch up your shoes with rope if the soles tear? You should’ve packed a needle and thread.”

“Yeah, like you’re any good at sewing...”

“What? Who made your poncho?”

Semna continued to rattle off complaints, and I couldn’t help but feel a little down.

It was supposed to be the start of a fun journey, but now I was feeling strangely miserable.

Wait. This doesn’t make sense.

How did we go from her not bringing her own supplies to suddenly inspecting my pack?

“Sol, are you spacing out again?”

“Uh... yeah.”

“Ugh. If you folded your clothes and socks neatly, you’d have space left in your backpack. Look, see? Neat, right?”

“Yeah...”

“What would you have done if I hadn’t come?”

“Sorry. I’m really sorry.”

From experience, it was easiest to just admit it and move on.

Harwin, who had been listening, chuckled.

“You’re being tied down.”

“I didn’t expect to be tied down in the snowfields.”

Semna was about to say something else, but the smell of soup wafting from the fire made her clutch her stomach.

Ah, hunger was making her cranky.

I quickly took out some dried meat and hard oil from my pack and handed them to her.

I was about to offer some to Harwin too, but he shook his head, smiling.

“Syle’s probably going to invite us to have some hot soup together. You should join in.”

Before I could reply, Syle came over to our side.

He glanced at the dried meat and oil in my hands, then suddenly posed a riddle.

“Kid, if you had to pick the three most important things for traveling through the snowfields, what would they be?”

“Well, food, then... courage and hope, maybe?”

Syle burst out laughing.

“I’ve asked many people, but that’s the first time I’ve heard an answer like that. Not bad, but here’s my answer: First, food. Second, fuel. Third, winter clothing. Without any of these three, you can’t even survive half a day in the snowfields.”

It made sense.

I’d packed food, fuel, and winter clothing, but I hadn’t thought about them in quite this way.

I made a mental note to remember that for the future.

“Among those three, winter clothing is understandable, but for food and fuel, it’s more efficient to prepare together as a group and consume them collectively.”

“Yes, sir.”

I had a feeling Syle was hinting at something with that remark, and he seemed to realize I understood, so he spoke more casually.

“And honestly, it doesn’t look great when kids sneak off and eat cold food behind the adults’ backs.”

That was probably his real point.

As Harwin had said, Syle was a good-hearted person, though his words could be rough.

“Now, don’t be shy. Come over here, get warm by the fire, and have some soup. That’s how you grow strong.”

Semna and I quietly tucked the dried meat back into our backpacks and moved toward the fire.

A thick wool blanket was spread out on the ground, making it surprisingly comfortable.

Still, the cold was unavoidable, so I fidgeted as I waited for the soup to heat up… but the firewood beneath the flames caught my attention.

It looked like black lumps of clay, oddly shaped.

“This is called peat. It’s fuel made from moss that’s been decaying for a long time. We can’t afford to burn precious wooden logs, so we use this instead.”

It was black and unlike any firewood I’d ever seen before.

In the village, we always used embers for fire, so I’d never had to think much about fuel.

“By the way, Sir, couldn’t we just carry embers with us? That would be much more convenient.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice? The problem is, embers are hard to come by.”

Embers could only be harvested once a year, from the flames themselves.

And every ember’s usage had to be approved by His Majesty, the King of Gloria.

“Nowadays, embers are so scarce that even the frontier settlements are running low. There’s no way a Group like mine could carry them around.”

Despite this, Syle grumbled that the wealthier of the two major Group still managed to carry embers with them.

A Group member, overhearing the conversation from the other side of the fire, chimed in with a cheeky remark.

“What’s there to envy? If the boss orders it, we’ll just steal embers from those guys’ Group.”

“Brat! Do you know what happens to ember thieves? Well, I guess you wouldn’t mind being castrated, would you?”

Syle responded with a sly smile, and everyone laughed.

In the warm atmosphere, someone subtly asked,

“You can’t steal embers, but could we at least gather some firewood from the forest?”

At that, Syle suddenly snapped, his mood shifting.

“You idiot! Didn’t I tell you not to even look at the forest? Are my words not clear enough for you?”

“It’s not that... I was just wondering if we could pick up fallen twigs, to make the fire burn a little warmer...”

“Shut up! You’re on fire watch twice tonight. No, make it three times!”

Syle’s anger shut everyone up.

Semna, feeling the tension, started pinching my arm awkwardly.

If she was going to pinch me, she could’ve done it over my clothes, but instead, she poked my bare skin through the sleeve, making me flinch awake.

It seemed like it was going to take a while for the soup to cook.

I wasn’t tired, and the atmosphere was just a bit uncomfortable.

So, I subtly shifted over to Harwin.

He smiled knowingly as if he understood.

“Curious about why Syle got so angry?”

“Yes, but could you lower your voice so Syle doesn’t hear?”

“Got it. Well, let’s see… Do you know about the Brown Spruce Forest?”

I nodded.

I didn’t actually know much, but I had gathered that it was somewhere nearby, given how Syle had reacted earlier.

Though I’d never seen it myself, I had heard old stories about it from the village elders.

I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the conversation, so I quietly listened.

Harwin cleared his throat, pleased by our attention, and continued.

“In the Brown Spruce Forest, there’s still one elf left. She’s beautiful but a cold-hearted archer. Anyone who dares step into the forest is shot without mercy. The first arrow hits the hat as a warning, the second hits the ear, and the third hits the eye.”

“Why would she do such a cruel thing? Aren’t elves supposed to be peaceful?”

That’s what the village elders always told me, anyway.

Harwin seemed to sense my confusion and readied himself to tell a long story.

“This is a story I pieced together from the people who live near the Brown Spruce Forest and the records left behind in Gloria. It may not be entirely accurate, but one thing is certain: the last elf lives in that forest. Her name, however, remains unknown.”

Thus, the story began.