Chapter 34: The Valkyrie of the Land of Ice and Snow

At dusk, Yuno stayed alone in the study room, holding a glass of Jin Ninglu wine and leaning against the bar, silently thinking about his thoughts.
The assassination storm at the Bingquan Hotel left him still lingering fear. In recent years, my father has lived in a simple way, and this time it was a low-key trip. There was no announcement at all. How did the assassins learn about his whereabouts? If it were not for the accidental encounter with Shun He Jinyuan, it would be unpredictable to rely on his father alone...
I don't know what they are doing now... Although this matter does have a bad impact, there is no need for the prince of Labor Tangtang to make a special investigation... Take a step back and say that even if the situation is urgent, there should always be time for the trustee to send a letter... He couldn't figure it out, so he drank the wine without knowing it, sighed dully, and put the glass back on the table. After a cup of sweet wine, he couldn't get rid of the worries in his heart, and he still frowned.
A clear wind bell disturbed Yuno's thoughts. At this moment, he was in a bad mood and didn't want to take care of people. He was still leaning on the bar and swept the light forward, but was suddenly stunned.
In front of her was a tall girl in a red-lined tight-fitting short skirt. Her appearance had the characteristics of a typical northern girl, with a thin nose and a high forehead, slightly tall cheekbones, and long black hair scattered around her waist. She wore a silver-rimmed white bear headband on her forehead, and she wore a three-piece mercenary suit: a short cloak, gloves, and an armed harness, all of which did not fall. She looked extremely heroic. Her complexion was unusually white, as if she hadn't been exposed to the sun for a long time, but she was shining brightly, and she didn't feel sick or weak. The black pupils under the sword eyebrows seemed to always have sharp brilliance.
"Sister Rhea!? Is the trial over?" Yuno couldn't help but stepped forward and asked when he stood on the porch.
The girl in front of her is the eldest daughter of the Turner family: Rhea Turner, who is also the first in line. Following the tradition of the Turner family, in order to inherit the position of lord, she had been alone in a cave under the Arctic Icefield to challenge the family trial. By all accounts, the two hadn't seen each other for more than a year.
The unexpected reunion at this moment made Yuno both surprised and happy, but he did not bother to ask how it turned out. The trial lasted for a year, and he couldn’t help worrying about his friend’s physical condition. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the other’s face was scary white, but he was in good spirits, not as if he was injured... He nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, but thought of the scene when the two separated last time.
It was also in the bookstore that time, and it was such an afternoon when the sun was dazzling. At that time, he was racking his brains for a new formula, constantly adding ingredients to the shaker in his hands, concentrating on controlling the slight difference in concentration, but suddenly heard her farewell: "I will be leaving for a while."
"Do you have a task? Do you want to help?" He replied casually, but his eyes were always fixed on the shaking shaker.
Although the two of them have known each other since childhood, the relationship has only grown stronger in recent years. The reason is complicated: the Turner family and the Asker family have long been related by marriage. As heirs, the two have been in their own turf since childhood. The king of children, there is also quite a bit of experience not knowing each other. But since that happened eight years ago, Rhea suddenly disappeared without a trace. The two never met again, nor heard any exact news about her, until they met by chance in the bookstore three years ago. , Was able to meet her again.
Yuno clearly remembered her appearance at that time: a shabby brown leather armor, two quick-haired short guns pinned to her belt, and the edges of the shabby gray cloak were all jagged burrs, and there was a lot of dirt. trace. Her skinny face was nothing similar to Yuno's memory, so that he didn't recognize it at all, but was attracted by those sharp eyes shining with blue divine light, and he couldn't help but stare at each other. Until the cold face covered with dust got closer and closer, his eyes turned from fierce to indifferent, then to displeasure and hesitation, and finally turned into surprise for some reason.
"Yuno? You are Yuno, aren't you? Such blond hair...I still remember the mole under your eyes, you must be Yuno." Her voice was very hoarse at the time, but she was full of unquestionable confidence.
Yuno had only recently become the store manager of the bookstore, and he was surprised to see that the stranger knew him. He frowned and thought for a long time. He had no impression of her, so he nodded in a reserved voice and asked softly: "I'm really sorry, are you?"
"Rhea...Rhea Turner." She stared at Yuno's eyes and said her name word by word, with pride in her bones, as if the name itself was integrated into all her beliefs.
Since then, the two have reconnected. Yuno knew that she was in Rock City, busy all day with mercenary missions, fighting against the monsters that emerged from the dark swamp. There are still few opportunities for the two to meet in the bookstore, but they get along very well, and both cherish this lost and restored friendship very much.
Even after she gradually became famous and had a fixed team, Yuno also half-pleaded and half-forced to join her team, and did several extermination operations together, which was rewarded. There is only one weirdness. They didn't say a word about their respective living conditions in the past few years after the news broke, as if they were deliberately avoiding it, but they were tacitly tacit.
With the disappearance of the slight turbo noise, the shaker finally stopped slowly. Yuno returned to his senses in an instant, and skillfully took the wine glass and skimmed all the excess foam, leaving only a glass of translucent and crystal blue wine.
"Come and try, Sister Rhea." Seeing that it was done, he couldn't help but want to find someone to try it out to see if there was anything wrong with the formula. But when he looked up with a smile, he only saw the opposite party staring at the bar expressionlessly, turning the porcelain plate on the table with both hands unconsciously, as if he hadn't heard his invitation at all.
"Sister Rhea?" Yuno whispered again in surprise. This mercenary eldest sister has always been resolute and resolute, and she has never seen such a dazed look.
Rhea finally came back to her senses due to these repeated calls. She seemed to think that the other party hadn't heard clearly, and repeated: "I'm going to leave for a while..."
"Where are you going?"
"The Trial of the Family..."
"Trial?" Yuno had heard of the traditions of the Turner family, but he didn't expect that the other party would challenge it so quickly, and his heart was tense, "Go now? Will you be too anxious..."
"My strength has reached a bottleneck, and there is no way to improve it in a short time... I want to try it. Even if I can't succeed, maybe I will make a breakthrough." Rhea calmly explained it and looked at the table. The glass of blue wine was taken over naturally, with a flash of light in his hand, and a thin layer of ice was just right on the surface of the wine.
"But..." Yuno stopped talking. Although he didn't know the specific content of this trial, he hadn't heard of anyone successfully completing it in recent years. There was unavoidable worry in his heart, but he couldn't think of a reason to dissuade him.
"Don't worry, I will be fully prepared." Rhea comforted him in a soft voice, and took a sip after shaking the glass, her eyebrows were slightly raised, a little surprised.
This newly tuned wine has a sweet taste and a slight fruity aroma. She has always liked spirits and disdain for sweet and greasy ladies' wines, but this glass of wine is a bit special: after the fragrance, it will be hot like a fire. , It burns into the abdomen to arouse the heat of the whole body, and it is not less than the best spirits.
"Good wine." She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath in comfort, and drank the wine in two or three sips.
"It's fine if you like it." Yuno looked at the look of her cow drinking, feeling a little helpless. Although the blue wine needs to be drunk slowly to taste the taste, he can only drink like this. Smiled bitterly.
"Then... I'll leave first." Rhea paused after drinking, couldn't think of anything else to say, and got up to leave.
"Leave in such a hurry?"
"I have to go to the guild... to make some arrangements."
"Do you need my help?"
"No, you can stay here at ease..." Rhea patted his shoulder lightly, and declined the other party's proposal. "Gloria will take care of me." There was a mixed bag in the guild, she didn't dare. Leave Yuno alone to deal with the rude mercenaries.
"Okay..." The little store manager knows the huge influence of Carlo Workshop in Rock City, and it seems that he can't help. He could only sighed slightly and waved goodbye to her: "Then you should be careful on the road. I wish you a smooth completion of the trial."
"I will." Rhea nodded at him with a slight curl of her mouth. Without saying anything, she flung her cloak and strode to the door.
Yuno originally thought that the longest trial would be only one or two months, but he didn't expect it to be more than a year without seeing the slightest news, so that Yuno later thought that he had remembered it wrong, so he went to Rock City and asked about it. Lori.
"Don't worry, I've secretly investigated it a long time ago." The female craftswoman listened to him and laughed from ear to ear. She stood on tiptoe and patted him on the shoulder like Rhea, "Terner's Trial It’s not as terrible as you think, even the guys who failed the challenge have returned intact. Isn’t she inferior to that bunch of waste wood with Sister Ria’s power? So, she probably made a breakthrough. Retreat and practice."
Even after hearing her say this, Yuno still feels uneasy, and often misses him, until he finally met today, his heart seems to be sinking and he doesn't need to worry anymore.
These many thoughts flowed through his mind in the blink of an eye, converging into an unexpected joy. He froze for a moment and quickly turned back, only to realize that he had left the opponent in the hallway, and hurriedly smiled and compared his hands inwardly: "Come and sit first."
"No, I'll come to see you, and I have to go right away." Rhea was still mad, disdainful of wordy, she looked at the friend she hadn't seen in front of her for a long time, she couldn't help showing a relaxed smile, and stretched out her hand to untie a kettle , Handed it forward and said, "This is a cold spring that was accidentally found in the crypt. You can try the effect. If it works, you can take it again."
Underground cold spring? This is really good material for bartending... Yuno was surprised to accept the gift and thanked him, then whispered: "Why is it so urgent? Is there no time to sit down for a drink?"
"There have been too many things recently...I'll be with you next time." Rhea apologized a little, and patted his shoulder for comfort.
Yuno knew that she hadn't returned for a year, and there must be a backlog of countless things to do, and there was no alternative. He walked to the bar and carefully put the pot of cold spring into the collection cabinet. When he turned around, he seemed to hesitate. He rolled his eyes and asked suspiciously: "What happened? If you want me to help, just say it."
"I have to tell you something..." She hugged her chest, bowed her head and pondered her words. After a few seconds of meditation, she gave up. She raised her head straight and said, "I asked someone to go to the fortress."
"Fortress? Which fortress?" Yuno suddenly had a bad feeling, frowning and asking.
"Acadina."
Arcadina... His expression stagnated, and his heart suddenly began to beat wildly, as if he was shocked by the name. He held the bar counter for a while, swallowed hard, and asked in a astringent voice: "You...what are you going there for?"
"The guild seems to have made a big move recently. As an advance mission, you need to go there to investigate it. Of course..." She paused here, and her tone turned low, "I also have my own reason. , I am going to figure it out after all."
That incident... Yuno thought of the experience that he did not want to mention eight years ago, thought of the sadness that tears his heart apart, and lost his soul for a moment, and heard her say: "Someone asked me to invite you to go with me. , But I think... this action is too dangerous. When the incident was so big, no one can predict what it will become... you better stay."
"You want me to go together, go together..." He was unsure at the moment, just murmured these words vaguely.
Rhea didn't hear clearly for a while, thinking he insisted on going, so she walked slowly to him, supported his shoulders, fixedly looking at his golden eyes, and persuaded him with extraordinary calmness: "Yunuo, we are all Victims of that incident, I understand your feelings very well... but I’m sorry, there is no way to take you to participate in this mission... If you have anything you want to find, or if you have any details you want to know, write down and submit give me."
She believed that Yuno would understand her own mind. Although the two had never talked about it in these years, she knew that the other party had only hidden that thought in the deepest place, and would not show it. However, he is not a formal mercenary after all. This kind of difficult task is quite dangerous. In case something goes wrong, how should he explain it to his father?
But Yuno didn't want to go at all. He never told anyone about his role in that disaster, never said what he saw, heard, and what bad luck he experienced. He didn't even want to think about it, because every time he thought about it, it was a torture of soul colic.
The two of them stared at each other silently, and the air in the hall was a bit frozen for a while. Yuno only felt that his breathing became heavier and heavier in this depressed atmosphere, as if a shackle caught his throat, making him unable to breathe. I don't want to go, I don't want to write... He trembled his lips and wanted to shout out this sentence, but he was interrupted when he said the word "I".
"Don't worry, there is still a lot of time before departure." Rhea noticed his pain, stretched out her hand and gently trimmed his forehead bangs, her eyes were very gentle, like a big sister next door, without any help. The soldier looks like, "Think about it carefully and make a list. I will come again in a few days."
Yuno opened his mouth and didn't say anything. He stared blankly at the other person walking back to the porch, patted his cloak habitually, looked back at himself, and burst into a faint smile.
"Don't worry, I'll even get your share...all back." The smile on the corner of her mouth disappeared for a moment, nodding her head as usual as farewell, and disappearing in front of the gate with a cold wind.
Yuno stared at the porch blankly, his heart fluctuating. He held the tabletop with both hands, motionless and silent, turning into a melancholy statue. He just stood quietly like this, unaware of the passage of time, until the sunlight in the study room instantly disappeared and the dim yellow chandelier turned on, he was shocked.
Is it night time... Time is passing so fast and silently. It's been eight years... During these eight years, he was like an empty doll, desperately stuffing all kinds of messy things in order to forget the original appearance. He is tired of this kind of life, but there is no way to escape... He can only submerge himself in the ocean of academic research, and even in his free time, he is obsessed with bartending, trying to temporarily forget about it... God knows, he is a man. The great therapist, but still unable to heal the scars on his heart.
But now, this deeply buried wound appeared again, making him unable to escape. He didn't want to go, didn't want to return to that terrible nightmare land, didn't even want to write a list. But deep in his heart, there was a voice constantly questioning: Are you willing? Just escape like this, are you willing? Just give up, are you willing?
The voice from weak to strong, from slow to urgent, gradually filled his whole mind, like Hong Zhong, shaking his nerves: Are you willing! Are you willing!
Willing to... His head is buzzing, his headache is splitting, he can only stagger to get up and take out the coat and suitcase from the closet, take mechanical steps, and leave the hall.
The night darkened. In the dormitory of the Royal Academy, Jie Hai, who had nothing to do because of the suspension of classes, got into the bed early and yawned lazily, thinking about what he had encountered during the day, and sorted out one by one.
I was woken up early in the morning because of the magic light flower garden. I don't know what went wrong. It must be serious. According to the old guard, there is even a possibility of school closure. However, he had never seen a real phantom flower with his own eyes, and could not guess the reason for it, so he could only pray secretly, hoping that everything would settle down as soon as possible.
Compared with this, the reunion with the small shop manager was a pleasant surprise. It's just that he didn't expect the shop manager to be the son of Lord Saron. This surprised him. He couldn't help but feel a little strange. Why would such a heir of the Lord go to the bookstore to be the shop manager? Although this bookstore looks mysterious and mysterious, it seems quite unusual...
By the way, there is also that strange book. Thinking of the hot potato delivered, he has a complex emotion that he cannot tell. In any case, he has finally settled his mind, but for some reason he is still a little worried: the book... won't be passed on by himself...
When he thought of this, Yu Guang glanced at him secretly, then turned his head and stared at the pillow, for fear that the strange book would automatically appear in front of him in the blink of an eye. He looked and watched like this, his eyelids gradually became too heavy to support, and finally he muttered vaguely and fell asleep.
However, shortly after he fell asleep, golden light flashed in the dim room, and the strange book ran back to him again, as if he had spotted the boy and refused to stop. Hanging in the air, it opens automatically, the pages of the book flip quickly, and images emerge from the void and disappear quickly.
The strange book turned over by himself for a while, closed the copper clasp without warning, and floated back to its usual position on the pillow side. Suddenly, a golden light flew out of the book, wrapped around the top of Jiehai's head and continuously circling and dancing, bringing him an incredible dream journey.