Chapter 015: The Journey North 2
After several more days of slow progress, Du Fan and his group finally left the borders of the Kot Province and entered the northern regions of the Gavin Empire.
Their destination— the Divine Palace—was located on the icy plains in the northern part of the Gavin Empire.
Although it was early spring, the northern regions of the empire showed no signs of spring at all. After leaving the Kot Province, everything was covered in vast snowfields, and even in areas where there was no snow, the roads were covered with ice.
Under such conditions, the group’s progress naturally slowed down even further.
Du Fan’s combat energy was only at level three, not yet strong enough to protect him from the extreme cold, so he had already replaced his plain white robe with a thick cotton coat.
As for the knights of the Temple Knights Order, due to their strength, most of them still wore shiny silver armor, as if the cold had no effect on them at all.
Next to Du Fan, Alfred let out a long sigh; the breath he exhaled almost froze into ice crystals in the air. Looking at Du Fan’s layered clothing, he couldn’t help but say, “Lord Du Fan, if you can’t handle it, go hide inside the carriage. This damned weather is truly freezing.”
Du Fan smiled and replied, “I appreciate Lord Alfred’s kindness, but the closer we get to the Frozen Forest, the more careful we must be. If we accidentally miss something, we won’t have a chance to enter the Divine Palace.”
Alfred nodded and said, “Speaking of the Divine Palace, Lord Anthony seemed to say that it was you who first learned of it. To find out where it is, young Master Du Fan, you surely have better methods than a rough man like me. So, it seems we really have to rely on you this time.”
Du Fan gave a bitter smile and said, “Lord Alfred, you don’t know the whole story. I also got this information from someone else. Although it’s relatively detailed, it’s still secondhand. Even if it’s all true, it will be hard for us to find that place. From what I heard, the sacred palace is located in a valley on a small hill. Though it’s on an ice field, the valley remains spring-like all year round. Normally, such a place should be easy to find, but after traveling in the north for so long, we haven’t seen even a large rock, let alone a valley. At first, there were several small towns and villages not far away, but now, even after walking for half a day, we haven’t seen a single village. It seems that this time, apart from praying for the guidance of the Great Light God, we have no other options.”
Alfred frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “How about we consult Saint Nicholas? Maybe he has some idea.”
Du Fan thought about it and nodded, saying, “That’s good too!”
Alfred made a few gestures to signal the other temple knights to keep watch around, then he and Du Fan went over to the carriage. He knocked on the door and said in a low voice, “Lord Nicholas, I hope I’m not disturbing you, but could we ask for your help for a moment?”
After a while, a soft voice replied, “Are it Alfred and Du Fan? Come in.”
With that, the door was slowly pushed open a little.
Alfred and Du Fan exchanged a glance, opened the door, and climbed in one after another.
On the outside, the carriage didn’t seem very large, but once inside, they realized that although it wasn’t big, every inch of space was well utilized. So even after Du Fan and Alfred climbed in, it didn’t feel overly crowded.
Tasia had her eyes slightly narrowed. She was wearing a thick cotton coat and leaning against the inside of the carriage. Perhaps due to the fatigue from the journey, there was an unmistakable sign of tiredness on her cold face.
Meanwhile, Nicholas still wore a thin robe, but he was huddled near the stove in the carriage, rubbing his clean, slender hands as if that would keep him warm.
Seeing their conditions, Du Fan and Alfred both felt bitter smiles. These two, who could be considered the main forces of this journey, were in such a state, which really didn’t inspire much confidence.
Especially Du Fan, who was determined to use those guys from the Holy Church as pawns to help himself gain benefits from the Divine Palace, felt even more frustrated.
Worried, he said, “Lady Tasia, Lord Nicholas, if you two feel tired, let’s order the knights to set up camp here and rest for a while. Otherwise…”
Tasia opened her eyes, glanced at Du Fan, and shook her head slowly. “I’m fine, just a little tired. There’s no need to delay our journey because of me. It’s been so many days already, and we still haven’t found the location of the Divine Palace. We can’t waste any more time.”
Du Fan sighed and said nothing.
Instead, Alfred nodded and said, “It’s true that we’ve wasted a lot of time so far, but there’s nothing we can do about it. After all, the information Lord Du Fan has is only very rough. If it were more detailed, we wouldn’t have to work so hard. In this situation, do you two have any ideas?”
Tasia closed her eyes and pondered for a moment before saying, “I have no idea. As you know, although I’m a magician, I’m good only at combat. For other matters, it’s better to consult Lord Nicholas.”
Du Fan and Alfred exchanged a glance and turned their attention to Nicholas.
Nicholas’s fingers twitched slightly a few times before he said, “I can sense a powerful divine presence in the vicinity. Though it’s just a faint feeling, it seems likely that there is indeed a Divine Palace on the ice plains. You two don’t need to worry too much. I believe that if we persevere for a few more days, we’ll reach our destination.”
Du Fan’s face lit up. “Then, Lord Nicholas, can you sense the direction of that divine presence? Even if it’s just a direction, it would be much better than wandering around aimlessly.”
Nicholas frowned. “The divine presence is hard to fathom. It’s not something mere mortals can easily sense. You two should be less anxious and just keep searching slowly. These things are already predetermined by fate. We’re simply following the guidance of the gods. Forcing things won’t work.”
Du Fan inwardly despised Nicholas a few times. If he couldn’t sense it, then he couldn’t. Yet he still acted as if the divine will was unfathomable, not knowing who he was trying to scare.
Some charlatan had selectively forgotten that often, he himself was the one deceiving others.
At that moment, there was a knocking at the door of the carriage. A knight said, “My lords, the few who were sent out earlier have returned. All we know now is that about ten miles ahead lies a small valley, and within that valley is a rather prosperous town. Apart from that, we haven’t seen any place where we can rest in other directions.”
The people inside the carriage exchanged glances. Nicholas thought for a moment before saying, “How about we rest in that town ahead today? The knights have been traveling for so many days; their strength is at its limit. Besides, we might be able to gather some information in the town.”
Alfred smiled and said, “Your lordship is wise. I’ll go arrange it right away. Since we still can’t find the divine palace, let’s take a good rest in the town for a day.”
Nicholas nodded and slowly closed his eyes, seemingly determined not to speak anymore after making this decision.
Du Fan and Alfred also didn’t dare say much. They simply apologized and stepped out of the carriage.
Outside the carriage, Du Fan was hit by the north wind and immediately felt what it meant to experience extremes of warmth and cold. After forcing his entire body’s Light Combat Qi to circulate for a while, his numb hands and feet gradually regained sensation.
The group set off again slowly. Due to the difficult terrain, it wasn’t until evening that they finally reached the edge of the town.
It was a town nestled in a valley. By “valley,” it actually referred to a gap between two mounds in the snowfield. However, since those two large mounds blocked most of the cold wind, the place was quite suitable for human habitation.
When they arrived at the town entrance, Du Fan and the others looked at the small wooden houses in sight and really didn’t know where to settle down. In the end, they sent a few Temple Knights inside to investigate the situation.
Soon, those Temple Knights returned with their reports.
The town had a rather simple name—Wooden Town. It was said that this name came from the fact that the first people to settle here made a living by logging. Although it was snowy in the north most of the year, there were a few months when the weather was warmer. During those times, the townspeople would deliver the wood cut during winter to the southern part of the empire for sale. This wood was of good quality and was highly valued in the southern empire, allowing the townspeople to live a comfortable life.
However, for various reasons, there are no churches of the Holy See in this place, and not even the Gavin Empire has troops stationed here. In such a small town, even if there were inns, they would likely be unable to accommodate a group of dozens of people.