Chương 13: 05-3: North, the Pass, and the Mountain

Once we left Flint Town, the road turned brutal immediately. The northern mountain path looked like someone had carved it into the cliff face on a whim—narrow, steep, strewn with loose gravel. Night wind funneled between the rock walls like knives, seeking every gap in our cloaks. The dry cold of town had been nothing; at the true mountain base, I learned what it meant to have wind freeze straight to your bones. We didn't dare delay. While light remained, we pushed hard toward the pass.

Lucas rode with a face nearly moonlight-pale, still forcing himself to maintain stability wards on the "apple" crate. Erina sat quietly on Bruce, hands steady on the reins—noticeably more composed than when we'd started. As for Jessi— She was probably the only person in our group who could walk this cursed path like a casual stroll. She even had energy left for conversation.

"Hey, little lordling."

"What."

"If we actually die on Slaughter Peak—would you put me in your will as your fiancée?" My foot slipped on loose stone.

"Are you genuinely this bored?"

"Yep." She laced her hands behind her head, stepping over rocks with infuriating ease, tone light as discussing weather.

"It's a long road. I need entertainment or I'll die of boredom first."

"Keep running your mouth and something else will kill you first."

"But you played along so well back there."

"That was to get through the checkpoint."

"I know." She tilted her head with that faint, sly smile.

"That's why I'm asking—next time, if it's not for a checkpoint, would you still play along?" Wind howled between the cliff walls. Maybe it was just the cold, but I found I couldn't answer for a moment. Jessi didn't push. She just laughed softly, walked ahead a few steps, then tossed back one final knife.

"Never mind. Ask me again when you can hear that without turning red. Right now you're too easy to tease—no satisfaction in it." This woman was born specifically to torment me. And I had absolutely no effective countermeasure. The higher we climbed, the narrower the path became. By the time we reached the true pass, the rock walls had closed like two doors about to slam shut—leaving barely enough space for two horses abreast. Dark stone jutted overhead in overhangs that looked ready to collapse.

The ground was covered in wind-scoured white gravel, slick enough to send you sliding with one wrong step. I was about to tell everyone to slow down when sound echoed from ahead. Clack. Clack-clack-clack— My chest tightened. I snapped my head up.

"Get down!" Almost simultaneously, a cascade of fist-sized rocks crashed down from the right cliff face. I seized Bruce's reins and wrenched him hard toward the inner wall. Erina cried out, swaying in the saddle. Lucas's horse screamed and nearly reared.

"Lucas! Hold on!"

"I am holding—AHHH!" A rock caught him square in the hood. He immediately curled forward, clutching his skull.

"That hurt! Does this mountain have a specific grudge against academics?!"

"Is now really the time for complaints?!" I roared back. More gravel began sliding down the slope. If it were just natural rockfall, the sound wouldn't be that dense. I squinted upward, scanning the cliff shadows. Several small dark shapes flickered across the rock face. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Not people. Mountain goats.

Specifically: the northern variety with curved horns and an apparent death wish, whose favorite hobby seemed to be loosening ledges directly above travelers. I wanted to curse out loud. We'd been hassled by brigands, beggars, and corrupt soldiers every step of the way—and now even the goats had decided we were fair game?

"Move! Don't stop underneath!" I shouted. Jessi reacted first. She lunged toward Lucas's panicking horse, seized the reins, and fixed the animal with a murderous glare.

"You lose it here and I'll turn you into soup tonight. Understood?" Whether the horse actually understood her or was simply cowed by her expression, it settled down. Erina gripped Bruce's reins with white knuckles, but she wasn't crying or screaming—just murmuring steady prayer under her breath, forcing herself calm through sheer will. Good. No one was falling apart when it mattered.

"There's an overhang ahead!" Lucas shouted, voice cracking with pain and panic.

"Recessed section—about ten paces! Get under it!" I spotted the concave hollow in the cliff face, just deep enough for shelter.

"Go!" I hauled Bruce forward, boots slipping on treacherous gravel. Jessi half-dragged, half-cursed the second horse along while Lucas bounced in the saddle, looking distinctly green. In the final steps, a larger rock broke free overhead—falling straight toward Erina. I didn't think. I grabbed her and pulled. The stone smashed exactly where she'd been, shattering into fragments. Erina's momentum carried her hard into my chest.

I caught a brief impression of clean fragrance from her hair— Then Jessi's shoulder hit me like a battering ram. She shoved us both into the rocky recess and dove in after, still finding breath to snap:"Save the embracing for when we're alive on the other side! I'm not getting buried because you two decided to be romantic!" My back hit stone. I grunted. Erina scrambled away, ears burning red.

"I'm sorry—!"

"Don't be." Then immediately: "Jessi, could you stop choosing the most compromising words every single time?"

"Did I say something wrong?" She raised an eyebrow, still smiling, but her hand had found her blade—every muscle coiled.

"Besides, if I hadn't pushed fast enough, you'd be meeting her gods right now. Together." I genuinely couldn't argue with that. The rockfall ran its course and stopped. When the pass went quiet, wind came through as if nothing had happened—cold enough to ache in the teeth. I checked the path first, then stepped out. Half the road was debris-covered, but passable.

"We can get through," I said. Lucas pressed both hands to his head, looking close to tears.

"I have decided I hate the north."

"Just now?"

"Before it was theoretical. Now it's experiential." Jessi burst out laughing.

"Congratulations, sickly mage. That's called unity of knowledge and action."

"I would prefer to un-learn this experience!" Even Erina ducked her head, shoulders giving one small, unmistakable shake. I looked at her.

"Are you laughing?" She snapped up like someone caught stealing, shaking her head quickly—but the amusement lingered in her eyes.

"... No, milord."

"You're terrible at lying."

"I apologize."

"You don't need to apologize for that." The words came out softer than intended. Jessi immediately drew out the moment with a knowing sound.

"Ohhh—little lordling's voice gets so gentle with pretty girls."

"Could you finish crossing before stirring things up?"

"I call this maintaining team morale."

"You used that exact excuse ten minutes ago."

"Good lines bear repeating." I give up. One more exchange and I'd genuinely fall off this pass. We reformed and picked our way through debris, following the narrowest stretch forward. Wind intensified, snapping cloaks, whispering at the edge of hearing. Cliff walls rose black and sheer, swallowing starlight. The path stretched endlessly, every step demanding full attention. Which made it striking when, ahead, a line of pale, open light finally broke through.

"... We're through," Lucas said quietly. I looked up. Beyond the pass, the world opened. Northern air hit like cold water—but it swept away the weight that had pressed on my chest for miles. Distant peaks layered into night, ridgelines tracing silent shapes between snow and shadow. Beyond this point: the true northern road to the capital. We'd made it. No arrest by corrupt soldiers. No explosion from the apple crate. No unmarked graves under goat-triggered rockfall.

By current standards, this counted as decisive victory. I stood at the pass exit and let out a long, visible breath. Jessi came beside me, looked out at the dark road, then tilted her head toward me.

"So, little lordling." She smiled, eyes narrowing against wind.

"Feels good to come through alive, doesn't it?"

"Not bad," I said.

"Would feel better if you could be quiet for fifteen minutes."

"That's cruel. I'm your fiancée." The vein at my temple pulsed.

"That was a performance."

"Was it?" She leaned in, breath deliberately close to my ear.

"Because Erina's blessing seemed pretty sincere."

"Jessi." She laughed—bright and clean—and stepped back, like a cat pleased with successful mischief. On the other side, Erina quietly stroked Bruce's mane, wind lifting golden hair ends. Lucas still pressed both hands to his head, muttering curses at every mountain-dwelling creature. I looked at all of them—the one whose mouth never stopped, the one too fragile to be reliable, the one too quiet with too many secrets—and felt something unexpected. This scene was absurd. And somehow, deeply steadying.

Northern wind cut through the pass, sharp as ever. But this time, I didn't feel it only as threat. Because I knew—from crossing this pass, we were moving further from Flint Town, from that drafty inn, from the kind of life where keeping your head down was survival. What waited ahead: probably worse trouble. More dangerous enemies. A luxury carriage folded inside an apple crate, and secrets nobody wanted to explain. But right now— We were alive. And alive meant the story could continue.

I tightened my grip on the reins and stepped forward.

"Let's move," I said.

"Before I change my mind and leave you all in Flint Town."

"So mean." Jessi fell into step, hooking a finger through my cloak edge with cheerful ease.

"But you won't."

"What makes you sure?"

"Woman's intuition."

"I'd call that con artist instinct."

"Is there a difference?" Right. We were barely into the northern road and I already had a headache. But even so—I couldn't stop myself from admitting it: With these people beside me— This road to the capital was going to be many things. Boring wasn't one of them. Cedric Rosa Jessi