IRM Chapter 108.1

Ji Chi took a moment to react before shifting his gaze away from the magnificent and magnificent Ice Demon Dragon’s dance. He glanced at the clear sky, finding it hard to imagine that it was brewing a dangerous disaster.

He stood up from the sled, squinting as he gazed toward the northwest. “I think I can see the camp. Is it that cluster of black buildings?”

Sila, who had climbed up Ji Chi’s pant leg all the way to the top of his head, nodded hesitantly. “I hope so… I’ve never actually seen what the camp looks like. It’s all been described to me by returning adventurers. They seemed afraid to describe detailed information about this camp, so it looks like we need to be careful.”

Ji Chi tugged on the reins to adjust Little Deer’s direction. This was his first time experiencing Little Deer running at full speed—the sled was no longer stable, and flying snow chunks struck the wooden boards under his feet with crisp sounds.

Ji Chi swayed, nearly throwing the rabbit off his head. He quickly sat down properly on the sled and bundled the rabbit in his hands. “Aren’t camps all built to shelter travelers? What danger could there be?”

The rabbit looked at him with that look of ‘how can you be so clueless’. “Who would be kind enough to build a camp for free that can shelter people from wind and snow? Of course, each camp is built by different factions.”

The rabbit sighed. “It would be fine if it’s a camp built by the Empire, but I’m afraid it’s Nidhogg’s camp… Sigh, you definitely don’t know about Nidhogg either, do you?”

You really don’t have to look down on me like that. I do know some things… Ji Chi looked at it speechlessly. “A mercenary group. The chief is Tang.”

The rabbit spat at him. “What nonsense! Nidhogg’s chief is Black Panther! You better remember that clearly! Don’t go saying the wrong thing!”

Ji Chi glanced at it sideways, snorted, and shrugged with a smile, noncommittal.

The rabbit had been so focused on talking to Ji Chi that it almost forgot their current situation. When it looked back, its heart nearly stopped from fright!

The Ice Demon Dragon in the distant sky had stopped dancing. It spread its enormous ice bone wings, its long neck stretching out, its sharp, slender jaw raised high. It hovered in the air, embracing the approaching storm in the most relaxed posture!

“Ahhh! It’s coming! The blizzard is coming soon! Little Deer, run faster!” The rabbit was frantic, looking as if it wanted to replace the deer and run itself!

The honest little deer lowered its head and increased its speed again. After all, it wasn’t a speed-burst type of magical beast. Even though the white mist from its nostrils rose and dissipated rapidly, the distance to the camp was only slowly shortening.

The wind came.

In less than a minute, the sunlight was instantly blocked by rolling clouds. The Ice Demon Dragon’s crystal-clear body became murky, and the ice-formed skeleton crackled in the sudden gale.

Sharp, blade-like snowflakes quickly mixed into the wind, cutting everything along the wind’s path.

Sila was about to cry. Its three-petaled lips opened and closed frantically as it muttered something under its breath.

Ji Chi listened carefully for a moment and couldn’t help but laugh—it was already mourning its short twelve months of life.

He estimated the distance to the camp. A red glow emerged from his right palm, and bright red magical array patterns split open across his pale palm. A faint scent of blood immediately drifted into the cold air.

Sila twitched its nose and glanced at Ji Chi’s palm, thinking he had nervously clenched his palm until it bled. Instead, it perked up to comfort him. “Don’t be afraid. You’re a good person, so you’ll definitely go to heaven after you die!”

Your comfort is really damn considerate… Ji Chi curved his lips in a smile and waved his hand toward the back of the sled.

Two sharp screeches rang out from behind. The rabbit’s whole body trembled as it quickly twisted its head to look—

“Ahhhhh—what are these monsters?!” The rabbit screamed!

Two pitch-black, ferocious-looking monsters bent their bodies, their slender, dark claws resting on the side of the sled. They suddenly exerted force, and the sled seemed about to take off on the spot, its bottom boards slightly lifting off the ground.

Ji Chi laughed heartily. “These are Night Stalkers from the south. Not so knowledgeable now, are you?”

The rabbit roared, “Are you sure you want to argue with me right now?”

The Night Stalkers truly lived up to their reputation as troublesome demons of the Dark Night Forest. Their movement speed was extremely fast, and before long, they were pushing Little Deer forward instead.

Little Deer, now positioned at the front of the sled, looked bewildered. It instinctively knew the creatures behind it were terrifying, but its fear of the blizzard diluted its fear of the predators. It stood motionless, staring blankly at the camp drawing ever closer.

The blizzard was about to catch up. A gray-black wall connected the earth and sky, rapidly closing in on them.

The Night Stalkers were considerably faster than the blizzard, but after all, they were creatures that lived in the southwestern forests. The extremely cold weather caused their long health bars to shrink rapidly.

When they were only a few hundred meters from the camp’s black outer wall, the Night Stalkers’ health was depleted. In the last moments of their lives, they used their final bit of strength to push the sled forward, then collapsed into the snow, transforming into two pools of congealed blood, glaringly reflected against the expanse of white.

The rabbit stared blankly at those two bloodstains, looking up at Ji Chi with some sadness. “They…”

“Mm, so your common sense isn’t necessarily others’ common sense. Look, they never even had the chance to understand the world you live in.” Ji Chi poked its head.

Sila lowered its head, rarely refraining from talking back.

Ji Chi had only spoken casually, but from that moment on, no matter how outrageous their jokes became, Sila never again said things like “you have no common sense.”

Little Deer looked back in confusion. Without waiting for Ji Chi’s reminder, it took up the remaining mission, pulling the sled and racing through the camp gates just before the snow line arrived.

“BOOM—” The heavy camp gates slammed shut right behind the sled’s tail, blocking the fierce blizzard outside.

“Hey, brother! You’re really lucky! I’ve been guarding this camp for so many years, and I’ve never seen anyone who could outrun a blizzard!” A burly man struggled to bar the gate, wiped some sweat, and turned to grin at Ji Chi.

Ji Chi patted the panting little deer and smiled with pursed lips. “Just lucky. Fortunately, Little Deer runs fast.”

Visibility was poor in the wind and snow, so the man hadn’t witnessed the Night Stalkers pushing the sled. He didn’t have many devious thoughts either, and said cheerfully, “Then it must have been blessed by the Beast God! For the Beast God’s sake, you don’t need to pay any fees. Hurry to the tavern to warm up! Best to get a cup of hot honey wine too!”

Ji Chi thanked him and slowly led the frightened little deer through the camp.

The camp on the snowy plains was surrounded by a kind of pitch-black rock. This rock was extremely sturdy—engineers liked to grind it into thin sheets and embed it in armor at the position close to the heart.

The rock was quite valuable, yet here it was used as walls for construction, enough to glimpse the wealth of the Northern Kingdom.

The buildings inside the camp were at most two stories tall because not far above the roofs, there was a huge windproof magical array. The magical array covered the gaps above the walls like a lid, and no matter how the storm howled, not a single snowflake drifted into the camp.

Ji Chi led Little Deer to a wide shed. Inside the shed were several types of magical beasts, all quietly eating with their heads down.

A hunched old man with a goatee walked out from the depths of the shed. Seeing Ji Chi looking up at the magical array, he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, the magical array will keep protecting this place until the snowstorm passes. By the way, adventurers in this season are quite rare. But then again, rewards always come with danger, don’t they?”

Ji Chi withdrew his gaze and nodded lightly to greet the old man.

The old man smiled warmly. “What a polite child! This is your mount, right? Mm… it’s just a bit frightened. Don’t worry, it’ll recover after eating something.”

The old man observed the reindeer that had obviously been well cared for and stroked his beard with satisfaction. He had seen too many adventurers in a hurry, who didn’t regard their mounts as living beings at all. Sometimes when they encountered wild beasts, they would deliberately cut wounds on them to use as bait to avoid danger.

The old man was a bit pleased—the happiness and goodwill of their beastmen came very directly. “Your sled doesn’t look very sturdy! It won’t support the journey ahead. Let this old man help you repair it. It’s not expensive, just fifty gold coins.”

Sila suddenly poked its head out from Ji Chi’s collar and said with dissatisfaction, “And you don’t call that expensive? You goat aren’t kind at all! Fifty gold coins could buy half a little deer!”

The goat old man wasn’t angry. He bleated with a smile. “Where is fifty gold coins expensive? Even if others offered me five thousand gold coins, I wouldn’t be willing to repair it!”

Ji Chi pressed the rabbit back down, took out a handful of gold coins, and said to the old man, “Then I’ll trouble you.”

After they left the shed, Sila emerged again to complain, “How can you be so easily fooled! Even if you have money, you shouldn’t waste it!”

Ji Chi tapped the mark on the tavern door, calmly reminding it. “This is Nidhogg’s territory. His clothes are neat and refined—he’s definitely not an adventurer or a servant. What’s more…”

Ji Chi could see the old man’s level information: lv.75 engineer, a few levels lower than Bard, but still at the level of a Saint Engineer.

He obviously couldn’t tell the rabbit this information, but he did see the rabbit’s expression turn horrified. “Oh my! Could it be him! Nidhogg’s Fifth Seat mercenary, Black Goat Engineer!”

“Ahhh, am I going to die! What did I just say!” Sila hugged its round head and wailed.

Ji Chi suppressed his laughter to comfort it. “It’s fine. I think they’re all quite nice. Why are you so afraid of them?”

The rabbit’s head drooped outside Ji Chi’s collar, ears hanging low. “You don’t know—Nidhogg used to be a symbol of despair. People they targeted would die in endless despair… Although things are much better in recent years, people who anger them usually don’t have a good ending.”

Ji Chi recalled when Tang had killed enemies—he wasn’t like ordinary rogues who killed with one strike. Instead, he preferred to toy with his prey in the dark domain until they collapsed in despair, only then ending their lives with disinterest.

“Really terrible…” Ji Chi shook his head and pushed open the tavern door.

The blizzard outside the magical array hadn’t stopped. Its shrill howling was piercing and terrifying, but all this had nothing to do with the tavern. There were quite a few people in the tavern, mostly robust mercenaries, and also a team wearing snow-white holy robes—monks who sat in the corner with ashen faces.

The rabbit twitched its nose, looked carefully at the Church people, and whispered to Ji Chi, “They’re the ones who passed by the cave entrance on the first night.”

Ji Chi was surprised. “Hm? It’s them? What a coincidence.”

The rabbit nodded. “Their scent is strong. They should have stayed at the camp for a night already.”

Ji Chi casually observed them. “That’s not right though. How long in advance does the Ice Demon Dragon start warning… dancing?”

Sila: “Not certain, but definitely not a day in advance.”

One person and one rabbit exchanged glances, feeling something was off. The Church people were in such a hurry they traveled through the night—how could they stay at a camp for a whole day? Moreover, looking at them fully armed and ready to depart at any moment, this definitely wasn’t their destination.

“Let’s be careful,” the rabbit reminded again.

However, reminders aside, Ji Chi’s outfit was really too conspicuous—a bright red bundle that clearly marked him as a pampered outsider.

The mercenaries in the tavern all laughed, though it was all good-natured laughter. Someone even raised their cup to them. “You’ve got guts! Here’s to you!”

“Bah! If you want to con me for drink money, just say it directly! Don’t use others as an excuse!”

“Haha! Then I’ll say it directly! Buy me a honey wine, good brother~”

“Get lost! Don’t you know how expensive honey wine is!”

Ji Chi quite liked this atmosphere. Back at the Magic Academy, the few junior mages used to banter with each other like this too.

He also smiled at the mercenaries and sat down at a square table, saying to the man behind the counter, “Please bring a cup of honey wine… Oh wait, bring a cup of honey wine for everyone. Put it on my tab.”

Ji Chi gestured toward the mercenaries gathered together.

The man took the gold coins and sighed with amusement. “Well, the tavern’s going to be turned upside down by them.” Though he said this, his hands moved skillfully, pouring the liquid into fir wood cups and placing them by the fire to heat.

Soon, the sweet scent of honey mixed with the aroma of alcohol, permeating the bright, warm tavern. The mercenaries were mostly Northern beastmen, and their natural sweet tooth was triggered. They couldn’t stop sniffing the air.

“Hahaha, can you have some dignity! Your nostrils are about to flip inside out!”

“You shut up! Haven’t you noticed the drool already dripping down?”

The man placed the cups in a tray and walked toward them, saying, “Lucky you. The young guest is treating you all. Don’t cause trouble after drinking, or Fourth Sister will beat you up.”

The mercenaries were stunned for a moment, then cheered. A group of people conspired loudly, bringing out a huge pile of steaming meat dishes from the kitchen. Then, holding their cups, they all rushed over to Ji Chi’s side with a whoosh, filling the tables in front of and around Ji Chi, making it as lively as a festival.

“Hurry up and eat meat in big bites! Look how thin you are! How will you resist the severe cold of the snowy plains!” A beastman patted Ji Chi’s shoulder with his huge palm, speaking unclearly, then moved a large pot of stew in front of him, staring at him intently with burning eyes.

Another beastman quickly pushed him away. “You don’t understand shit! Humans don’t eat meat! I’ve met many humans—they all eat something that looks like rocks!”

“Shut up, idiot! That’s called bread!”

Ji Chi was somewhat unable to handle the beastmen’s enthusiasm. He shook his head with slight regret and picked up his wine cup for a sip.

High-calorie sweets were always the most popular food in the Northern Kingdom. The honey wine was slightly hot on the tongue, but the sweetness was also amplified, overshadowing the stimulation brought by the alcohol and leaving behind an endless lingering fragrance.

Ji Chi raised his eyebrows, looking curiously at the clear liquid in the cup. He had drunk quite a bit of alcohol on the Demon Sword Continent, but the brewing methods of this era were crude and primitive—the taste and flavor were worlds apart from his previous world.

He usually just took a sip or two to accompany everyone before putting down his cup, and even that earned him a lot of mockery from the young master.

It tastes pretty good. I could bring some back.

Ji Chi hadn’t realized he had learned to cherish and share the beauty of this world. If it were Ji Chi when he first arrived on the Demon Sword Continent, moving his finger to take a screenshot would have been his greatest respect.

Suddenly, a commotion came from the side. Ji Chi came back to his senses and looked over, his face immediately covered with black lines.

The rabbit in his collar had somehow snuck out and was now lying between the stew pots, gulping down meat with gasping sounds, nearly tumbling into the pot at any moment.

“I bet he can finish this whole pot!”

“How is that possible! He’s so small, not even as big as my roast!”

Sila had also gone crazy with hunger. It had been eating dried meat for five or six consecutive days. To defend the dignity of a meat-eating rabbit, it refused to touch Ji Chi’s sandwiches and pies at all.

Now suddenly arriving at an ocean of meat, the rabbit’s eyes turned green. Half its face was buried in the sauce, ruining its snow-white fur completely.

The mercenaries finally let Ji Chi off, transferring their excessive enthusiasm to the rabbit. They formed a circle, leaning in to stare at the stew pot, shouting loudly to cheer the rabbit on!