Deep within the Land of Evernight, in Little Night City.
Lanqi had helped Xigelei finish writing her letter.
Now, having just left the hotel, they were heading to send it off in Little Night City before resuming their journey.
As the two stepped out of the lobby, the brief daylight had already slipped away, leaving an endless expanse of night to engulf the city-state once more.
Streetlamps cast a soft yellow glow across the damp sidewalks, throwing an interplay of light patches and snowy shadows.
The chilly wind carried a crisp nip in the air, stirring the slightly unruly strands of hair beneath Xigelei's beret. In her hands, she clutched the letter she had just completed.
It was the most satisfying letter she had ever written.
"Learning how to write isn't half bad after all."
She looked up at Lanqi, having that thought for the very first time.
"Right?" Lanqi glanced at her with a smile and replied.
"By the way, having someone like you teach me things would usually cost a fortune, wouldn't it?" Xigelei added.
She now fully believed what the secretary had told her before they set out.
This employer's true identity within the Polant Empire had to be extraordinarily noble.
If not for this commission bringing them together, it would have been impossible for someone of his stature to condescend to teach a wild child like her.
"It has always been free. Kids your age are in compulsory education. It's my duty to answer your questions, resolve your doubts, and help you establish a proper outlook on life, core values, and so on," Lanqi said, looking straight into Xigelei's eyes with absolute conviction. "If only there were no war, I wouldn't have to run around wearing myself out. Going to a church to teach children how to read, write, and paint—that wouldn't be a bad way to spend a lifetime."
"..."
Hearing his words, Xigelei looked away and fell silent for a long while.
The two walked through the streets of Little Night City, passing brightly lit shops and benches resting under pale yellow lamplight, with the low, muted music of taverns drifting out from time to time.
"If only the Polant Empire had more people like you," she said, gazing down the road ahead.
"Meow."
Curled up in Lanqi's embrace, Boss Cat raised its head to look at him.
It had realized that in a peaceful, prosperous era like the Southern Continent's, Lanqi had no need to unleash his talents. But with turmoil sweeping the Northern Continent, his gifts were finally being put to work.
If it were an apocalyptic, broken world like this Shadow World... could it be that someone like Lanqi was what it truly needed most...?
"Don't worry. I'll make sure there are more and more people like me in the Polant Empire," Lanqi replied with a natural smile.
"Let's hope so," Xigelei murmured.
Boss Cat: "...?"
It looked back and forth between Lanqi and Xigelei.
If an idealist had said those words, it would just be standard coaxing of a child.
Yet when the Evil God's vessel said them, Boss Cat didn't even know how to begin interpreting the meaning.
Chatting along the way, it wasn't long before they reached the city-state's postal dispatch office, a weathered stone building bearing traces of history.
Lanqi waited a moment while Xigelei darted over to the counter and filled out the mailing slip.
Afterward, the two made their way toward Little Night City's post station.
Once they retrieved the Snowfield Nether Deer and the sleigh, they could embark on the final leg of their journey through the Land of Evernight.
***
Midnight upon the snowfields of the Land of Evernight had long been known as the Burial Ground of Wind and Snow.
In ancient legends, anyone who wished to become king had to cross a road strewn with thorns of wind and snow.
It was a crucible, as well as a trial.
"The throne is clad in thorns, wind, and snow; he who would tame it shall be tangled in briars and buried in snow."
Lanqi recited to Xigelei a chivalric poem he had heard somewhere back in the real world.
"How come I've never heard that before?" Xigelei always felt she knew too little.
"Uh, maybe you'll hear it a long time from now." Lanqi pondered for a moment. In truth, this was an epic from the real world's era about a certain ancient hero; in this Shadow World's timeline, that hero probably hadn't even had time to become famous yet.
Since their departure from Little Night City, perhaps a dozen or so hours had elapsed.
In short, a very long time.
It was long enough that neither Lanqi nor Xigelei could tell how much further it was until the Demon Realm's border came into view.
In the dead silence of the night, even the moonlight seemed to have quietly slipped away, making every second tick by slow and long.
Hundreds of kilometers outside Little Night City, the snowfields were swallowed by the night. Heavy snow whirled through the air like ice crystals scattered by an invisible, giant hand, each flake bone-chillingly cold, dancing with the wind before finally settling into the drifts to shape a dim, gray world.
The Nether Deer were robust and agile, their antlers shimmering with a faint, ghostly glow beneath the moonlight, resembling stars fallen from the night sky.
"Should be soon," Xigelei said, staring into the distance while gripping the reins tightly.
According to the plan, they would be able to see the Demon Realm around dawn.
Under the pitch-black canopy of night, the sleigh drawn by the Snowfield Nether Deer left a faint trail across the snow.
In the front seat of the sleigh, the petite Xigelei was intently studying the terrain as she steered.
Her cheeks were flushed bright red in the biting wind as she drove the sleigh forward, continually cleaving through the barrier of wind and snow, kicking up white waves across the drifts in rhythm with the Nether Deer.
"Feels like it'll be at least two or three more hours before we see the break of dawn," Lanqi observed, studying the map in his hands by the faint moonlight.
His gaze drifted between the distant snowfield and the young girl steering in the seat ahead, chatting with her.
Despite the long hours, he had not fallen asleep.
This was an area Xigelei had never visited before. Even if she could find the right way, they were too far from the orc city-states to receive any protection from the orc grand lords. Moreover, being close to the Demon Realm's border, danger could strike at any moment, demanding utmost vigilance.
"When the time comes, head straight back to Little Night City. I asked the grand lords along the way to look after you. You can still stay in the lodgings we used before, so there's no need to pinch pennies," Lanqi added.
From Little Night City to the Demon Realm's border was over ten hours of traveling through the dark.
Making the return trip would mean Xigelei driving for more than twenty consecutive hours. Tough as her body and willpower were, she still needed proper rest.
"..."
Xigelei offered no immediate reply to his remark, nor did she nod.
Her breathing mingled with the night wind, and accompanied by the cadence of the galloping Nether Deer, it formed a distinct rhythm.
"Luoqi, you're really amazing," Xigelei spoke up suddenly.
"What makes you say that?" Lanqi asked, curious.
"I'm not marveling at your talent," Xigelei said to the person in the seat behind her, keeping her eyes fixed on the path ahead.
Over these past few days, she had begun to understand.
Instead of staying in the comfort and prosperity of Hersalem, Luoqi McCarthy had journeyed through all this wind and snow to restore temples for the beastfolk, offering his own strength to the Polant Empire at this critical juncture.
Xigelei had seen with her own eyes how this master craftsman had, step by step, rebuilt the goodwill of the beastman lords toward humankind.
Even long after he left, the orc grand lords would surely treat humans passing through their city-states with far greater kindness, perhaps even genuine sincerity.
Perhaps for the Polant Empire's overall situation, or for the war against the Blood Clan, it was only a negligible change, but if nobody did anything, nothing would ever change.
A downpour required millions of raindrops to gather together.
Or rather, talent alone was useless; changing people's hearts also required courage.
Isolated from the world on the nighttime snowfield, the two felt remarkably close across the front and back of the sleigh.
The sleigh pushed onward through this silent, silver world, driving toward the distant Demon Realm accompanied by dancing snowflakes and the low hum of the night wind.
Chapter 553