Edgar glared at Blanco. The underling was roughly three times bigger than him, but he didnt look afraid at all.

May we take the carriage?

Blanco glanced at the carriage.

Its not that far, so leave it here.

It might be a short distance to you, but it could be far for humans. Our duchess is an ordinary woman, so she must go with the carriage.

Then well let you take our sleigh.

But!

Carl.

Edgar calmed down the butler by calling his name. They had prepared the carriage for a battle, so he was right to be nervous about leaving it. However, objecting further could arouse suspicion.

Just wait here.

Your Grace.

Carls eyes shook, but his master was telling him to wait and he couldnt disobey him. He took the order, although extremely reluctantly. Then, Edgar turned to Minos.

Minos.

Yes, Your Grace.

Thank you for taking us here. You dont have to follow us further. Just go to find a lizard.

Minos immediately knew he was talking about Ios.

Things were going quite suspiciously, so Minos thought it would be better to bring Ios, even if it would end the negotiation.

Minos, you like lizards? Then Ill get some dried lizards for your next visit.

Shasha chimed in, entirely ignorant of the true meaning implied by the word. What Minos really wanted to say to that was, Dried lizards? We goblins might live underground, but we dont live on such hideous things. We may look ugly, but what we like are cherries rinsed in clear spring water! However, he just tried to reply with a wide smile.

Thank you, Shasha. Well then, as Ive done my work here by arranging this meeting, I must go back now.

Minos left after that, leaving Rubica and Edgar with no one to rely on in the cold land.

This way.

Rubica held his hand tightly as they followed Ibers underlings. They had invited them into their mistresss territory as guests, so they were not going to break rules and kill them. But did that really mean they were safe? There were many other things the underlings could do to them, like locking them up or making them get lost and freeze to death.

Its alright.

Edgar noticed her anxiety and whispered to her, which made her feel a little strange. In what was her past but was actually a distant future, she had often guided the blind Edgar by holding his hand.

-Its alright.

That was what she would say when they had to go in unfamiliar paths or had to run away from the bombing.

Then, his steps would immediately lose their fear. He walked and ran as she led, without even a bit of hesitation. However, what they were doing now was the opposite. It made her feel happy and sad at the same time, for only she remembered it.

He had said he wanted to be loved by her for who he was, not because he was Arman, but it didnt blow away all of her memories. It had been a hard time full of suffering, but there also had been moments that shined like gems. And the man who had given her power to live on through any pain now couldnt remember any of it.

It would be even stranger if he remembered it, those are the things of the future he hasnt been through.

They said there was no end to human greed

Rubica decided to get rid of her disappointment and focus on the fact that they might be able to break his curse soon. However, that not far away turned out to be in the underlings standard, just like Carl had said. Rubicas hands started to turn cold and Edgar had to try hard not to swear.

I should have brought the carriage.

A carriage cannot move in so much snow. Snow, wheres the sleigh?

Here it is.

Edgar openly made a remark for them to hear, but it looked like they couldnt even guess what he was unhappy about. Snow dug up three giant sleighs out of the snow, and Blanco let them get on her sleigh.

I hope Minos will quickly find a lizard

They couldnt see any light from the villages. The quiet land of snow felt even wider and scarier than the starry sky. The sleighs started to run through the land without any road signs. It seemed like the underlings had a way only they could see.

This is not far?

They went across a wide field and went over a few mountains to reach a valley of ice. At that point, Edgar couldnt take it anymore and protested to Blanco.

His wristwatch said it was already one in the morning. They were exposed to the cold nights wind in the sleigh. Rubica snuffled, despite the fact that she was wrapped in fur like a polar bear.

Its not far away.

Youve been saying that for hours.

Its really not far away now.

However, they could get off the sleigh only after another hour of going by a small road around a mountain, with a dangerous cliff at their right side.

Oh my, look at that!

When Rubica finally got off from the sleigh, she exclaimed. Lights of brilliant colors, that flowed out from the lands bottom, harmonized with the beautiful northern lights that were seen beyond a giant canyon of ice.

It was dangerous but so unrealistically beautiful. Snow came up to her knees, but she couldnt feel any cold. Edgar looked around and frowned. It seemed like they were surrounded by cliffs.

Those lights seem to be coming from mana quartz.

You can notice it instantly? Well, of course, you do, after so many years of stealing what belongs to us.

If you Claymores hadnt obstructed us, we would have filled this until the end of that cliff years ago.

Edgar didnt reply to that and checked the shape of the land. The ice canyon somehow resembled a dragon. There was an empty round space that probably had been made artificially, and it was filled with mana quartz, which looked quite ominous.

Are we at the heart of their territory?

Did they trust them so easily? Should they run? Or, would it be better to threaten them, now that he knew where they stored all their mana quartz?

Hey, this way.

While Edgar was wondering what to do, Snow found something under a pile of snow. It was some kind of pillar. She wiped the snow from it and put Edgars ring in the hole it had. Then, a huge roar came from under the cliff.

The entire land started to shake, and Rubica managed not to fall only because Blanco quickly stood in front of her to protect her from the snowstorm. Of course, no underling did that for Edgar.

Edgar, are you alright?

As soon as the land went still again, Rubica went to Edgar and offered a hand to him, as he was on the ground after rolling in the snow.

Im fine.

Edgar had hit a jagged stone while he was rolling in the snow and frowned, but he stood up, trying to look fine, but it just saddened Rubica even more.

Just hold my hand.

If something happened to them, the underlings were going to save her, but they were probably going to ignore Edgar. She held his hand tightly and looked around.

A huge tube of glass had soared up at the end of the land. Did it come up from under the cliff? That had to be why the land had shaken.

Inside it was a huge diamond in the size of Blanco gleaming beautifully in the moonlight.

The light was beautiful, even beyond comparison with the mana quartz light, and Rubica stared at it, totally amazed.

The grand scenery of the ice canyon, northern light, giant land of snow and moonlight almost made her cry. It made her feel so small.

Nature could make such beautiful scenery with nothing but water, but humans built constructions which were nothing compared to natures work and bragged about how much gold and silver they had used on them.

Is there a supporting beam in it? It seems too heavy to depend on strings

While Rubica was amazed by the beauty created by the giant diamond and moonlight, Edgar was curious about completely different things.

A supporting beam? There isnt such a thing.

Then its just floating in there? Hmm, it doesnt seem to be in a vacuum, have you filled the tube with some kind of liquid?

Blanco blinked at the series of questions.

Its just frozen

Frozen?

Had it been frozen full of water? Judging from the weather, it didnt seem impossible. However, Edgar wondered how it had been frozen so cleanly without even a single air bubble in it.

Then

Enough! Thats not what matters now.

Edgar wanted to ask more questions, but Snow stopped him. Blanco, who meant to answer his questions, quickly shut her mouth and looked away.

He had been told Blanco was their chief, so why was Snow in control?

For now, Edgar decided to watch how each of them behaved.