Prinval walked at the very front, his cloak’s hood pulled low to reveal only the lower half of his face and a pair of eyes. Behind him followed four similarly dressed figures, trekking along the small paths on the outskirts of Valgard.
The snow beneath their feet grew thicker, sinking to their ankles with every step. The chill seeped through his boots, but Prinval had long since grown accustomed to the sensation.
Many years ago, they were a somewhat famous adventurer party. They took on legitimate jobs, earned handsome rewards, and when they walked down the street, people would even politely call him “Captain Prinval.”
But that was a long time ago.
A single damned mission had not only cost Prinval two of his brothers but also got them expelled from the Adventurers Guild, their badges snapped and destroyed in public.
From then on, they became five unlucky bastards. Later, no one even bothered to mention them anymore; they had completely devolved into five stray dogs.
Life was a heartless carving knife that had altered their appearance.
They tried to work as guards… but who would hire them once their reputation was ruined?
They also tried escorting cargo, but the final pay was pitiful, not even enough to repair their equipment or buy consumables.
In the end, the group began accepting any scrap of work they could find. Occasionally, when money was tight, engaging in petty theft under the cover of night became a tacitly accepted choice.
Survival was more important than anything else.
That was what Prinval had said repeatedly during those difficult days. As long as they could get money and food, everything else could wait.
That lasted until they came into contact with the Zayed Brotherhood.
At first, the other party only offered marginal odd jobs, such as delivering messages, scouting, debt collection, and rent gathering.
Most of the Brotherhood’s members were former craftsmen from the Stonemasons Guild who had been driven to desperation because the royal palace’s renovation funds had been pocketed by the noble lords. Their hatred for the nobility was soaked into their very bones.
The Brotherhood was much more generous than those stingy merchants, and the public identities they provided were decent enough.
And so, they managed to make ends meet. Although most of what they did was still shady business, they at least didn’t have to worry about what they would eat tomorrow.
This current mission had been delivered directly by the boss.
Prinval had never met this mysterious employer. All instructions and payments were delivered through encrypted magic letters—sometimes a few gold coins, sometimes a few potions.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t speculated about the boss’s identity—the person might be a high-ranking figure within the Brotherhood with real power, or perhaps some other force that hated nobles but couldn’t show their face.
But Prinval never asked questions. That was the rule, and it was the professional ethics of their trade.
Even though he personally didn’t feel he possessed much in the way of ethics.
The mission details were simple: travel to an ice lake surrounded by forest on the outskirts of Valgard and retrieve an item.
The letter included a detailed map, marking the point where the ice was thinnest and most suitable for digging. The pay was also three times the usual amount.
It was so simple it made Prinval feel a bit uneasy.
What confused him even more was that the letter specifically emphasized that he should bring extra manpower.
That was it? Did retrieving something really require five people?
It was just an ice lake, not some dragon’s den or tiger’s lair. Besides, he considered himself quite skilled. Even if they ran into trouble, he was more than capable of escaping alone.
Bringing so many people actually made it easier to expose their tracks and made them less flexible.
But the boss’s orders were never to be questioned. Prinval suppressed his slight dismissal and called up all his old comrades anyway.
There was Burton, an expert at cracking mechanisms; Mark, a former hunter; Cole, who was tight-lipped but lethal with a dagger; and Joe, the youngest but also the cleverest of the group.
Five people—the exact same destitute team from back then.
“Boss, this place is really out of the way,” Joe complained, rubbing his hands as his white breath instantly dissipated in the cold wind. “What kind of treasure did the boss want us to get? Making us run all the way out here.”
“Stop talking. We’re paid to work, not ask questions,” Prinval replied without looking back. “We’re almost there.”
According to the map’s directions, the ice lake was just ahead.
Suddenly, Prinval noticed a carriage parked quietly on the road at the edge of the forest—a high-end, four-wheeled box carriage.
The lines of the carriage body were smooth, and the paint looked regal; even in the sunless forest clearing, it still shimmered with an expensive luster. The windows were tightly shut, the curtains drawn low. The two horses pulling the carriage had smooth coats and were stomping their hooves restlessly, occasionally snorting white mist.
There was no crest, no family heraldry—only a coachman dozing off.
Prinval guessed that the owner of this carriage was very likely a noble.
His heart skipped a beat, not from fear, but from an irrepressible greed.
He knew the minds of those rich people all too well.
The lords would sneak out of the city for private trysts with mistresses, and the noble ladies would use visiting friends as an excuse to rendezvous with their lovers. To avoid drawing attention, they usually only brought their most trusted personal servants, or even drove the carriage themselves.
Guards? A crowd of guards would only attract unwanted eyes.
Lately, because of the Holy Ceremony in the capital, the authorities were being very strict. The Brotherhood’s business had been stalled for a while, and Prinval himself was short on cash. This magnificent carriage parked all alone in the middle of nowhere was, in the eyes of a hungry wolf, like a fat sheep that didn’t know it was already dead.
He made a gesture to his companions behind him, and four other pairs of eyes followed his lead.
“Boss… this one delivered itself right to our door,” Joe’s voice carried a suppressed excitement.
Prinval’s gaze swept over the carriage once more.
The boss’s mission was clear. Logically, he shouldn’t go looking for extra trouble.
But…
The desire for money and his instinctive hatred for nobles gradually overrode his reason.
To hell with it. He’d snatch the meat in front of him first. Even if it had nothing to do with the mission, it was a windfall.
“You two, circle around to the side. See if there’s anyone else around the carriage. Watch for footprints.”
Prinval’s voice was low and clear. He took a deep breath of the freezing air, forcing himself to calm down as his fingers gripped the hilt of his sword under his cloak.
“Move quietly,” he added, his eyes scanning his companions’ faces, which were similarly lit by greed and tension. “We’ll strike once we’ve scouted the situation.”
***
Prinval stepped out from the shadows of the forest. He saw a clearing by the lake where the embers of a campfire still emitted thin wisps of smoke. A few figures stood in the distance.
The black-haired youth at the very front had a thin build and a clean, handsome face, but no matter how one looked at him, he seemed like someone who had never weathered any storms.
Prinval sneered inwardly.
A typical pretty boy. Just a decorative piece brought along for show, probably some fallen noble.
The woman standing half a step behind him, dressed in a maid’s uniform with a straight posture, looked somewhat well-trained, but what use was a single woman?
As for the lazy-looking woman in the mage robes nearby, Prinval automatically categorized her as some stupid woman who dressed up like that for some specific fetish… Where would a truly powerful mage ever look so slovenly?
Then there were the two young girls.
The blonde girl looked up, and the look in her eyes as she stared over wasn’t the panic he expected. Instead, it gave Prinval a rather uncomfortable feeling.
Finally, his gaze locked onto the silver-haired girl at the very back.
Five people.
One male, four females.
Prinval’s heart rate quickened again, but this time it was purely the exhilaration of a hunter finding his prey.
That aura, that appearance… these two were definitely not the daughters of some ordinary wealthy merchant. These were true nobles, and from a quite distinguished bloodline at that.
He could even smell the mixture of money and power in the air.
“Boss… which duke’s daughter is this, coming out to play with her lover and servants?”
Prinval didn’t say a word, his brain working at high speed.
Refined young ladies, a maid, a mage… and that pretty boy.
The combination was too classic—so classic that he could almost instantly construct the entire story in his head.
—Two ignorant noble daughters had snuck away from home, taking their most trusted maid to this wilderness to seek excitement and romance.
Most importantly, they seemed completely off-guard.
A campfire, a picnic, a chessboard… it was entirely the picture of people preparing to head home after an outing.
Fat sheep.
And they were top-tier fat sheep who had no power to resist and might even be too afraid to speak up because they were out without permission.
A surge of mixed pleasure and greed rushed to Prinval’s heart. He remembered the arrogant faces of those noble lords, the clients in the guild who looked down on them just because of their birth, and the life that had been easily crushed because of one mistake.
Why?
Why did these people get to eat fine food and wear silk, coming to a place like this to play such boring games, while his brothers had to struggle in the mud?
The boss’s mission could wait. This windfall was enough for them to live in luxury for a long time, maybe even enough to retire for good. With the status of those two girls, the ransom they could extort would definitely be an astronomical figure.
The sound of boots stepping on snow wasn’t heavy, but in the silence of the lakeshore, it sounded exceptionally clear.
“Good afternoon, noble ladies and this gentleman… You certainly have fine spirits to come out for a stroll in this weather.” Prinval’s greedy gaze swept over the group. “My brothers and I just happened to be passing through this wilderness. It turns out we’ve been a bit short on cash lately, sleeping in the rough and unable to fill our stomachs. Since you all look like kind and decent people, I wonder if you could be generous and spare a little change so we can improve our meals?”
He expected to see fear, panic, or even tearful pleas for mercy on their faces. The feeling of treading high-and-mighty nobles under his feet and controlling their fate made his blood boil just thinking about it.
He was very satisfied to see that the expressions of the five people seemed to freeze for a moment.
“Pfft—”
A light laugh broke the pressure Prinval had carefully built.
It was the woman in the mage robes. She covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking slightly as she looked at Prinval with eyes full of pity.
Prinval’s brow furrowed sharply.
Something was wrong. This reaction was far too strange. Even if an ordinary noble lady tried to stay calm in this situation, her eyes should show some change.
But these people acted as if nothing was happening.
His gaze was involuntarily drawn back to the silver-haired girl and the ice lake behind her…
Wait.
Where was the ice? Where was the thick layer of ice that was supposed to cover the entire lake?!
The mirror-like ice he expected was gone. In its place was shimmering lake water, and the water level at the shore was abnormally low, revealing a damp, exposed shoreline.
Suddenly, Prinval felt something reflect light into the corner of his eye. He squinted subconsciously and raised his gaze—
Above the misty surface of the lake behind the silver-haired girl, dozens of terrifying ice spikes were suspended quietly in mid-air. Every single one of them was pointed precisely at the five of them.
The sunlight passed through the translucent ice, falling onto the snow and into Prinval’s suddenly constricted pupils.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
“Aelia.”
The silver-haired girl’s crisp voice drifted over, carrying a hint of impatience. She didn’t spare Prinval a single glance, merely nodding slightly to the maid.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The maid, who had been standing quietly to the side, moved in response. She first bowed to the girl and then began to walk, unhurriedly, toward Prinval.
Her steps were light, making almost no sound on the snow. No emotion could be seen on her gentle and beautiful face, but in that instant, every hair on Prinval’s body stood on end!
That was not the gaze of a fat sheep. That was the gaze of someone walking toward… trash that needed to be swept away.
“Shit.”
A curse from one of his companions came from behind him.
Prinval wanted to move, he wanted to draw his sword, he wanted to retreat—but his body stood frozen on the spot like an idiot.
He watched helplessly as the maid named Aelia drew closer and closer. He saw her soft, harmless hands folded in front of her, and he saw the fleeting glimmer of cold light deep within her calm, rippleless eyes.
They had kicked a steel plate this time.
No, they had kicked a goddamn iceberg.
These weren’t some noble girls and their lover-servants who had snuck out to play… these were a bunch of goddamn monsters wearing human skin!