Frilian: This Demon Isn't So Cold

The next morning.

"Don't scatter! Maintain formation! Focus on taking down one monster at a time!"

"clang--"

The sounds of human shouts and clashing weapons could be heard frequently from not far away.

Carlos and his party, who had set off early in the morning, stealthily approached the source of the sound, only to discover that it was a merchant caravan, and their guards were fighting monsters.

Seeing this, Vlame and the others did not hesitate and immediately chose to help. With the enemy in the open and themselves in the dark, plus the cooperation of the guards, the group of monsters blocking the way were quickly wiped out.

"Even walking on the main road, you'll encounter so many monsters." After defeating the monsters, Vlame went over and started chatting with them.

"Yes, recently, the monsters along the way have become increasingly active."

After the battle ended, the leading guard, while giving his report, glanced out of the corner of his eye at the group that had just come to their aid—

其中可以得到的信息是，2个精灵、3个人类、4女1男，而刚刚有出手的那3个无一例外全部都是魔法使。

"This is the first time I've ever seen a real elf, and I never expected to run into three mages, whom I rarely see on ordinary days."

The guard leader sheathed his sword and stepped aside to make way for his employer to speak with Vlamé.

"My name is Herdo. Thank you so much for your help just now. If there's anything we can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask."

Herdor's caravan was currently cleaning up the mess left by the monster attack, a good time for both sides to negotiate.

"May I ask where your destination is?" Vlame inquired. "We intend to travel to the city fortress of Val in the central region of the Empire."

"Val... that's quite a long journey." Heldor thought for a moment. "Our caravan's destination is [Frich], so if we keep taking the main road, it can be considered a convenient route."

"Then we'll leave it to you." Vlame knew that Frisch was a fortified city serving as a transit point. "We're worried about how to deal with unexpected situations during our journey. If we could help your caravan, the trip would surely be much smoother."

"Haha, not at all. It is we who need the help of you mages." Heldor laughed. "As you just saw, warriors alone are not efficient enough to eliminate monsters. I have always wanted to hire some mages as guards, but the number of mages is still too tight. Until now, I have not had the opportunity to add even one mage to the caravan's guards."

Is this an attempt to recruit them?

Vlame maintained his smile, "We'll help you along the way."

"I am very grateful," Herdo said, clasping his hands.

At that moment, someone came up behind him and whispered something in his ear.

"Because of the monsters just now, we have an empty carriage here. If you don't mind..."

"We're lucky to have a place to rest; we're not that picky about the environment." Vlame smiled and shook his head. "We'll be bothering you from now on."

"It is we who have troubled you all with your help."

After some polite exchanges, Vlamé and Carlos temporarily joined the caravan.

"Judging from what he just said, it seems that the number of mages is still quite small," Sylvia said in a low voice inside the carriage. "I thought it was only like that in Tiua."

"How could you have such an idea? You should think that there are more mages in the further north you go, right? After all, the demand for combat power is greater the further north you go," Carlos said irritably.

"Hehe, it seems that's true." Sylvia scratched her head, then quickly changed the subject. "But my master is a little different from me. If she hadn't gone to negotiate, we probably would have had to keep walking."

"Actually, even without me, they would most likely want us to come along anyway," Vlame explained with a smile. "The people in the north are generally quite kind, and since we just helped out, they probably won't think we're bad people. Plus, being a mage gives us a huge advantage here."

Things are valued for their rarity, and the same applies to people.

The rarity of mages brings them extremely high value. Even someone with average talent like Sylvia would probably be worth a high price from Herdor as a bodyguard.

"Oh, I see..." Sylvia curled up in the carriage. "But I didn't feel it when we were walking, but now that we're still, it feels so cold."

"Winter is almost here, after all," Carlos said, looking at Celia. "Does Master have any magic to keep warm here?"

"You only think of me at times like this." Celia, who had been silent all along, gave a strange, cold laugh.

"Is she angry?" Carlos leaned down and whispered in Sylvia's ear.

"It seems so." Sylvia suddenly felt warm again. "You...you're making me so ticklish..."

"..."

"Her physical condition is too poor." Celia was disappointed in Sylvia, but she still moved her fingers, and the carriage immediately became warm and cozy.

Carlos openly and honestly memorized the spell that Celia had just used.

At this moment, Sylvia, who was standing next to her, was no longer feeling cold; in fact, she was starting to feel hot, and a drop of sweat even appeared on her forehead.

So Carlos quietly distanced himself from her.

Seeing their current state, Celia let out a satisfied "humph".

After that, they followed the caravan southward.

The caravan mostly ate hard bread while eating. Occasionally, when they ran out of water, they would go to rivers and lakes to replenish it. These were often the most dangerous times, because monsters also needed to replenish their water. So, apart from the group responsible for fetching water, everyone else remained vigilant. During this time, they also repelled one monster harassment after another.

Over time, Herdo finally figured out the relationships between these people.

So they're from the same sect, no wonder they're all mages...

Heldor looked at the elf who had never made a move, because this unassuming one was actually the master leader among the group of mages.

"Where are we now?" Vlame asked as he walked over, holding a map in his hand.

After all, she only had a rough understanding of this world through maps, so if she hadn't asked the locals when passing through cities, Vlame would have had no way of knowing her exact location.

Herdo took the map and pointed to a point on it. "The [Offin Mountains] are not far ahead. It's winter now, so it's not suitable to travel through them. We plan to replenish our supplies in a nearby city and set off again after the cold wave passes."

Is winter dangerous?

"The snow was falling heavily, everything was white in all directions, and it was impossible to tell which way to go. Coupled with the extremely low temperature, almost no one who tried to brave the cold wave had a good ending."

Herdo patiently explained to Vlame, after all, he could probably guess that this group of people didn't have much basic common sense about the roads along the way.