The Gamer's POV-Chapter 240: Stone-Crag Wastes

"Princess?"

Celeste blurted in surprise as she and Cedric slowed their horses, coming to a stop in front of the beautiful princess.

The princess, who was dressed in a black cloak, also looked surprised to see them. She reached up and pulled back the hood of her cloak while exclaiming, "Celeste?" Her eyes darted to Cedric. "Cedric? What are you guys doing out here?"

At first, the two girls stared at each other with wide eyes in disbelief. But unlike them, Cedric wasn’t really surprised to see the princess. He had seen her leave the city a while ago through the eyes of one of his many ravens. So, rather than being surprised, he was curious.

What could the princess be looking for out here?

Rather than answering her question, he capitalized on their shock and asked instead, "Ah... what are you doing alone all the way out here, Princess?"

He looked around as he spoke to make it seem like he was checking to see if any of her knights were with her for protection.

Princess Aurora snapped out of her initial shock and looked a bit sheepish after he asked the question.

"Uh... that..." She looked like she was contemplating what to say, but after a few seconds, she sighed, and her confident expression returned. She straightened, then said, "I’m close to meeting the condition for my evolution, so I came out to see if I could try and reach it by killing some of those three-faced monsters up north."

"What? Alone?" Celeste looked even more shocked.

Aurora adjusted the hem of her cloak, then she nodded gracefully. "Yes. I didn’t want to endanger any of my people, so I came alone." She then alternated her gaze between the siblings. "What about you guys? What are you doing out here?"

"It looks like we have the same goal, Princess," Cedric replied with a smile. "Actually, we came to see if we could also meet the condition."

"Really?" Aurora’s composed mask seemed to crack for a second and a beaming smile threatened to break through, but she quickly suppressed it.

She then shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She toyed with the clasp of her cloak, glancing up at them from beneath her lashes before quickly looking away.

Seeing the princess fidgeting in this awkward manner, Cedric knowingly invited, "If you want, we can work together, Princess. Three is better than two, after all."

The princess let out a small, relieved breath that she tried to disguise as a casual sigh. She then nodded, "I’d like that."

Cedric gestured toward his sister. "By the way, this horse was for you," he said, pointing to the horse Celeste was on.

Aurora smiled, "Thank you. I’ll take you up on that."

She was about to take a step when she suddenly thought of how he had phrased it. Her widening gaze slowly traveled up towards the sky, and when she saw a raven high above, she exhaled and continued to the horse while muttering under her breath, "So that’s why I felt like I was being watched."

Celeste reached out a hand and helped her up onto the saddle behind her. Then, with Cedric leading, the three of them set off deeper into the damp marshlands. However, the horses were no longer galloping but moving at a slow pace.

For a long moment, there was an awkward silence between them, then Aurora decided to break it.

"Thank you, Cedric."

Cedric turned to her and gave her a questioning look with a raised brow. She didn’t look at him but kept her eyes fixed on the shifting mist ahead. "I just realized that I never really had the chance to thank you properly. You gave a second chance to many of the cadets. I don’t know the cost you paid for that, but I imagine it should be quite high..."

She paused, looking thoughtful. The sound of the horses splashing through the muck was the only thing filling the silence. Then, after just a few seconds, she continued, "Also, I don’t know how you were able to strike a deal with the hollow ones. But..." she finally looked at him, "because of you, we actually have a chance of challenging the lords. So... thank you, Cedric. I owe you a debt of gratitude."

’Ah... a debt of gratitude. Well, I’ll have you know that I do collect all my debts,’ Cedric thought as he stared at her without saying anything. He was already imagining the gold, and the status he could milk from a royal debt of gratitude.

’I can practically taste the gold... lots of beautiful, beautiful... shiny gold.’

Eventually, he looked away and said solemnly, "Don’t mention it. My only wish is that we make it back to the empire safely."

Aurora’s eyes softened, appearing genuinely moved by his seemingly selfless words. She looked at him with even more respect, likely imagining him as a tragic hero who only cared for the well-being of his people.

In reality, Cedric was mentally rubbing his hands together and didn’t really give much of a damn about anything not related to his own well-being.

***

The horses resumed galloping at a frantic pace through the green-tinted misty marshland, and their hooves kicked up sprays of the green muddy water.

Since the horses did not seem to get tired, they kept at the same pace for the entire night, and by the time morning came, the mist thinned and the greenish tint of the atmosphere began to fade into a cold, pale grey. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

As they moved further, rays of sun began to pierce through the heavy overcast sky and the swampy ground gradually gave way to hard rocky ground.

Then, after some time, the three cadets rode out of the misty marshland and into a brown rocky landscape. Almost immediately, Cedric signaled and both he and Celeste pulled their horses to a halt. Cedric was the first to dismount his horse, after which Celeste and Aurora followed suit. They looked at each other briefly, then Cedric spoke. "The Stone-Crag Wastes are a few miles from here. We’ll stop here for a bit to rest and prepare. Then we’ll continue the rest of the journey on foot."

Celeste nodded, followed by Aurora after a few seconds. Aurora removed her heavy, mud-flecked cloak, revealing the simple, durable traveling clothes she wore underneath. Her outfit consisted of a high-collared, long-sleeved tunic made of thick grey linen and sturdy trousers.

She draped her cloak over the saddle and took a long, steady breath of the cold, dry air, feeling the weight of the night’s journey finally settle into her muscles.

Meanwhile, Cedric scanned their surroundings. Small patches of sparse green grass fought for space in the cracks of the sun-bleached stone that littered this vast landscape.

In the very distance, he could see the beginning of a vertical maze of tall rocks. The rocky spires jutted from the ground like crooked teeth, marking the jagged boundary where the open landscape ended and the Stone-Crag Wastes began.