Chapter 14 : Village on the Snowy Mountain
The vast Bone Dragon Mountains stretched endlessly.
Especially with snowflakes falling from the afternoon sky, plus the obstruction of dark clouds, looking around in all directions, one could only see a vast expanse of white.
If Lonis were alone, she would have long been lost in this mountain range. But Elucia seemed to always be able to distinguish directions, her advancing steps showing no hesitation whatsoever.
"After all these years, has this place still not changed at all..."
"All these years?"
"Hmph hmph, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, little maid Lonis."
"Ugh..."
Looking at Elucia's back, Lonis felt complicated emotions.
Was it resentment?
Logically speaking, when a normal person is fitted with a collar and led around like a pet, their heart would definitely be filled with indignation and anger.
But Lonis always felt...
Elucia's body was full of many stories she didn't understand.
She wasn't a "companion doll" generated by the system for herself, but more like a real person: she should have experienced many things, having lived in this world at least.
In that case...
Was Elucia the system itself?
Lonis had such suspicions, but didn't have any opportunity to verify them...
But if she thought about it this way, perhaps everything could make sense:
She had died by accident in the past (or perhaps hadn't died completely), and her body or consciousness had somehow been placed in a freezing chamber.
A long time had passed like this, and during this time, she had been living in a virtual world, experiencing the beautiful dream of being a hero.
But reality had undergone earth-shaking changes: not only had many monsters appeared in the world, but human technology had also regressed considerably, causing the underground shelter she was in to be abandoned.
However, Elucia as the system was still there, and because she was the last human, she had saved her.
And traveled with her, hoping to find the lost human civilization.
But if this was the case, then Elucia being a robot contradicted her initial speculation again, didn't it?
......
......
Having doubts but not daring to ask, Lonis felt like insects were crawling in her heart, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
......
Time also passed quietly, and before long, it was already 4 PM... The entire sky had become gloomy, looking like it was about to be shrouded in night.
But at the edge of her vision, Lonis discovered something different.
It was a small village, situated on a cliff: although the snowflakes falling from the sky were heavy, they still couldn't hide the village's high eaves. Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the chimneys, indicating that this village was still inhabited.
"Elucia, it's a village!"
"Of course it's a village, I noticed long ago... Are you an idiot?"
"Huh?"
"Making such a fuss over such a small thing, and... when we get to the village, you pretend to be mute and don't ask any questions, or you'll be in for it!"
"Ugh..."
Lonis knew Elucia was serious, so she could only close her mouth and follow the black-haired little loli toward the village.
......
......
Near the village was a dirt road, and one could see that someone regularly shoveled snow to allow people to come and go.
And Elucia unceremoniously pulled the rope and shouted toward the village:
"Anyone there? Adventurers have come to do business."
Before long, an elderly voice came from the village: "Adventurers, what do you want?"
"Ice crystals, you should have quite a few here, right?"
"So you're here to trade ice crystals. Please come in."
......
......
After identifying themselves, the two girls were welcomed into the village by the village chief.
From the windows of those wooden houses, Lonis could sense that many villagers were curiously peeking at her. They were old and young, men and women, and seemed very puzzled: why was this beautiful silver-haired young lady being led around like a pet by a black-haired little loli?
Realizing this, Lonis's cheeks flushed even redder. She didn't even dare to observe the village openly, let alone make eye contact with those villagers.
(But these villagers dress so simply, all in monotone hemp clothes... So my previous guess was correct?)
Walking through the village, Lonis didn't discover any modern tools like "electric lights" or "electric vehicles." Apart from the wood visible everywhere, there was only a thick metal pipe running along the eaves.
And the conversation between Elucia and the white-haired village chief was also very noteworthy.
......
"Oh? You say that because it's been haunted nearby, no travelers have come here for a long time?"
"That's right... So it's been about half a year since we've traded with outsiders."
"What about the magic furnace? There are probably some problems, right?"
"Yes, yes... To be honest, some parts have aged."
"I have replacement parts. As compensation, give me some magic crystals."
"Good, please come into the house."
......
What was a magic furnace?
What was this about being haunted?
Although she didn't understand, Lonis still remembered Elucia's command to keep her mouth shut—of course, this wasn't because she was obedient and had accepted her identity as a slave maid.
It was just because Lonis didn't want to be mocked for her ignorance. If she asked inappropriate questions, she would definitely be bullied by Elucia later.
......
......
At the center of the village was a very tall-looking house.
It was hexagonal, about 8 meters high, but the house had only one floor... As soon as she pushed the door open, Lonis felt a warm sensation hit her face.
The cold was blocked outside the door, and in the center of the room stood something that looked like a globe: a huge sphere seemed to float in mid-air as if it had lost gravity.
Beside the sphere were ring-shaped floating objects that looked like small belts.
......
And looking at this thing, Elucia frowned slightly:
"Such an old version..."
"Ah, this magic furnace seems to be a product of the Snow Kingdom, having been put to work long ago."
The village chief shook his head, his face full of sighs.
"Snow Kingdom... hmph hmph!"
Elucia snorted coldly and took out a nail-like component from her storage ring:
"This kind of antique—you can't find many people who know how to repair it now."
"Huh?"
"But you're lucky to have met me."
Elucia smiled, seemingly wanting to show off her skills.
However... the black-haired little loli, even wearing high-soled shoes, was only about 1.4 meters tall.
And the sphere floating in the room was about 2.5 meters from the ground. No matter how much Elucia stood on her tiptoes, she just couldn't reach it... Such actions were undoubtedly quite comical, and even Lonis couldn't help but secretly smile when she saw it.
However, when Elucia couldn't reach the sphere, Lonis's good days came to an end.
"You fool, why are you still standing there watching?"
"Huh?"
"Don't you have any sense? Hurry up and be my human ladder!"
The black-haired little loli looked at Lonis seriously, hands on her hips.