Frozen Hell (Part 8)

The carriage, which was originally supposed to be back at the manor around this time, was now resting far away near the heart of the Frozen Plains. When Leo finished his explanation, and waited for the butler's reaction, Walter had made the drastic decision to change course and brought the adventurers close to the periphery of the Frozen Hell.

"This is seriously crazy," Judy said while staring at the scene spread out in front of her eyes.

The Frozen Hell was recorded to be a massive expanse of land that was constantly covered in an eternal blizzard. Facing the team stood an enormous gust of blurry white snow that seemed to stretch endlessly across the sides and into the sky. To this day, no one really knows if there are any open areas inside this blizzard that wasn't being hailed by ice and snow. Not even the rare few individuals who have survived after entering were able to give any confirmation to what lies beyond.

Judy and the rest were currently standing several meters away, staring half-admiring and half-apprehensive at one of the most dangerous locations in the world.

"Just what is even the plan here?" Judy made a complaint. "Hey Leo, are you seriously going to consider entering this monstrosity?"

At the time before Walter had driven them to the edge of the Frozen Hell, Leo's teammates had a fierce discussion where they attempted to gouge his reasoning for revealing the secret of the feather. In the end, Leo only gave out half-baked reasons that indicated he merely wanted to try making a last-ditch effort on his last day of the quest. Naturally his friends did not find his answers too acceptable, but Leo did not elaborate any further and instead made his way towards Walter, who was already preparing another trip on the carriage, which helplessly forced everyone else to follow along.

Of course, during the trip to the Frozen Hell, his friends made sure to take every opportunity to probe and understand the thoughts that led to his decision.

"I don't even understand what's going on anymore," Alex sighed heavily. "Just seems like one thing after another is happening too quickly for us to follow."

"I know right!" Judy fumed in frustration at Alex's words. "Hey!" she prompted Leo again. "Can you please give a proper response this time? Why did you want to come here?"

Before they arrived here, they had all made several attempts to discuss this topic already, but none of their conversations were able to reach a firm conclusion.

Right now, Leo was looking a bit listless.

"I'm still not sure," was all that he provided as a response.

Now that he was finally here, his confidence and certainty wavered.

Leo gazed into the swirling wind that seemed contained within an invisible boundary, appearing like a living creature that desires to swallow everything that touches it. The sight was almost hypnotic, and his eyes were looking as if they were losing focus.

"That again?!" Judy stomped her feet on the snow. "I'm seriously begging you right now! Just why did you want to come here if you weren't sure?"

"Please calm down." Alex tried to soothe his comrade's frustration. Turning to Leo as well, his voice became increasingly serious as he spoke imploringly, "It isn't really my place to judge what a man thinks is right or wrong. To an extent, I can roughly understand why you may have wanted to continue this quest. But please remember that we are supposed to be working together. You can't withhold too much from us or it'll cause some unnecessary conflicts in the team."

Leo only reacted with a slight twitch of his eyebrows. However, Alex's words seemed to have sparked something within him.

"..." Leo opened his mouth in an effort to speak truthfully. Regaining more light in his pupils, he started talking as if trying to expel air, "The-there is some part of me that doesn't want to leave here just yet. Honestly, I don't know if it's because of a selfish reason or not. But still, I don't think I could ever live it down if I were to abandon an important opportunity which I can qualify for."

"Are you referring to that feather?" Judy finally stopped being mad and attempted to persuade her friend away from his seeming delusions. "We don't know if that can even work! And maybe it might perhaps have the ability to help, but who is going to risk their lives to test it?"

"I understand that none of this has been thought out too well," Leo carried on with his face slightly scrunched up as if he was only half-listening. "I- I guess another part of me was hoping that you guys would be responsible for coming up with the rest of the plan."

Shock slowly began to spread on both his friend's faces as they eventually fell into deep silence. Only Sarah, who remained observant for most of this discussion, had the courage to speak up.

"So you were expecting us to simply go along and help you solve this problem?" she asked calmly.

When Leo lowered his head and nodded whilst looking ashamed, Sarah smiled sadly.

"That is quite selfish. But I suppose it's not insincere either. We each wanted to save the chieftain's daughter ever since we discovered the truth. And I'm pretty certain that everyone here has at least once considered using the feather in their minds."

"Yes, but those were only our thoughts," Judy argued, regaining her voice. "I mean...- alright - I won't deny that I had the same idea as Leo. But let's remember that attempting this could potentially cause a person to lose their life! I'm almost positive that the reason none of us suggested this earlier was because we all knew that it'll only be demanding something dangerous."

"I have to agree." Alex supported Judy's side. "No offence Leo, but what's impossible is impossible. Even if you want to talk things out and expect that perhaps another person will have the answers, it won't necessarily accomplish anything."

When Leo raised his head, Alex looked at him deeply in the eyes.

"I don't want you to risk your life. Know that as the team leader, I can't possibly let you continue on with this plan. I'm sorry, I really am, but just like Judy said, this is also a reason why I didn't mention this idea either."

His tone was laced with a sternness that surprisingly seemed to suit him at this moment. It carried a trace of finality that reminded Leo of Alex's own position amongst their team.

'Alex is someone who always looks out for his comrades first and foremost.'

"Ahem. Dear adventurers, if I may interject," suddenly, pulling everyone out of their debates, Walter's voice cut through the air towards the team. During their arguing, the group had almost forgotten that there was a bystander nearby. When they shifted their attention over, Walter continued speaking, "I don't think there is a need to ask one of you four to risk your lives to recover my lord's daughter."

"Huh? Why is that?" Judy, along with the rest of the team, made a curious expression.

Walter patted his palm to his chest.

"Although we have hired your group, please understand that none of you are obligated to carry out such a dangerous mission. It may seem unfortunate, but it is still my duty as the butler who assigned your quest to accept the responsibility for initially having deceived you all."

"Wait a minute." Judy frowned. "Did you take us here because you already planned on volunteering to enter yourself?"

The butler nodded solemnly as he replied, "I was the one who was tasked with watching over the chieftain's only child. But I failed and let her disappear. Consider this as penance."

"You can't really go deciding that on your own," Sarah chided as if speaking to a child. "Do you really think your chieftain will accept your potential sacrifice without permission? Based on what we've seen of your character, I can assume that the loss of your presence will only further anguish your lord."

"You have a point," Walter actually agreed and even nodded approvingly towards Sarah's words. "In that case, I should simply gain permission."

Under everyone's confused stares, the butler casually pulled out a hand-held magic device before proceeding to imbue mana into it. A few seconds later, the device started glowing and Walter began communicating with a person's voice that was being transmitted through the object.

The team watched dumbfounded as they listened to what appeared to be the chieftain's depressed voice on the other end. But none of them were actually able to comprehend their conversation, as the butler was conversing in a different language than what they've usually heard.

After some time passed, Walter put back the device and opened his palms towards the adventurers.

"My chieftain has given me permission," Walter spoke in a tone that suggested no concern over his own life. "Now give me the phoenix feather."

"Ar-are you certain you can risk this?" Leo unsteadily voiced out his objections. "Don't you know the amount of people who have died in the Frozen Hell? Even if you were to jump in for a single second and step out, I've heard that the chance of survival is considerably low."

Walter paid no heed to this warning and simply raised a question of his own, "Where did you learn this statistic?"

"Uh, at Halo Academy," Leo said offhandedly. "It was a study related to geography."

"Well, I am certain that your school is highly informed. And I myself have even heard of its reputable educational abilities. But your lessons may very well have been extremely human-centered."

"Human-centered?" Leo repeated before comprehending Walter's words. "Do beastmen have a higher survival rate?"

"Hmm." Walter held a hand to his chin. "I suppose it would be inaccurate to refer to all beastmen. But the ones who have adapted and allowed themselves to withstand the commonly harsh environment of this location have indeed developed a much more superior resistance to the cold than most other living creatures."