Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 143: Chapter 142: Reinforcements Have Arrived, But From the Sky

"My lord, you must hold on... So many days have passed. The outside world must know about the strange situation in Meis Town by now. Reinforcements are surely on their way."

"We’ll be able to leave this godforsaken place in the end!"

"I will, Notary..."

Trapped for days, Paris Manola—once renowned throughout the fiefs of Heta County for his handsome looks—now had a haggard face, but his spirit still seemed stable.

He knelt by the bed, not looking at his retainers, but instead gazing down at the young girl who lay as if asleep, wrapped in a thick fur cloak. His voice was soft and low.

"Even if only for Emily... I will keep going..."

Hearing this, the Knights beside him all wore looks of sorrow.

After all, it had been more than five days since they arrived in this town to find the young lady, only to be met with disaster and trapped. During that time, they had endured countless perilous, bitter battles, and several loyal Warriors had already died at the hands of those madmen who worship the Ice Dragon and the monsters they controlled.

If they hadn’t used the sturdy mayor’s residence as a defensive stronghold, their losses would have been even greater.

Of course, to die fighting for one’s lord was an honor, so there was nothing to complain about in that regard.

However, the danger wasn’t limited to the constant threat of attacks from those madmen.

Because they had set out simply "to find someone," they hadn’t prepared sufficiently. The provisions they brought were only enough for three days and had long since run out.

They had only managed to last this long because when the Eternal Frost Cultists took the people of Meis Town to some unknown location, they hadn’t completely cleared out the town’s supplies. This allowed the search parties to find some leftover food in the residences.

But it was a different story for Miss Emily, who had been "slumbering" ever since she was found. In all these days, she hadn’t taken a single drop of water or a bite of food.

Even a Knight with a strong Constitution couldn’t survive for days without food or water, let alone an Ordinary young girl with no training.

Anyone could see that their young lady, in her current slumbering state, could hardly be considered "alive."

But no one dared to voice this.

After all, no one knew if their Lord would be able to carry on after realizing that his daughter was dead.

To distract Paris, Knight Notary, who had encouraged him earlier, stood up and surveyed the room.

"Is the search party back? Who’s keeping time?"

"I am, my lord!"

A young, armored Warrior stood and answered earnestly.

"How long has it been?"

"Half an hour, my lord!"

"Half an hour... Regardless of whether the search party found anything, it’s time to prepare to receive them."

Notary looked at the others and gave orders according to their temporarily adjusted formation.

"Locke, assemble your squad!"

Immediately, another short-haired Warrior with a helmet tucked under his arm stepped forward from the group.

"Yes, my lord!"

The two men then readied their armor and weapons, preparing to leave the inner room for the main hall where the other guards were waiting.

Just as they were about to leave, Paris, who had been standing watch over his daughter, also stood up and picked up his longsword and helmet.

"Wait, I’m going with you."

Startled, Notary and the other retainers in the room immediately tried to dissuade him.

"My lord, you should stay here—"

"Notary, don’t try to persuade me."

Paris slid his scabbard into the buckle on his belt, his sorrowful eyes sweeping over everyone.

"I may be your liege, but I am also a Knight. There’s no reason for me to remain holed up here while you go into danger."

"If receiving the search party carries risk, then my Power must be part of the equation."

Notary and the others were instantly moved, and one after another, they dropped to one knee.

"As you will, my Lord!"

Although it was natural for a retainer to be loyal to their lord in the Harvia Empire, how many lords in this world were so considerate of their subordinates, so willing to face danger alongside them?

With a lord like that, how could they not be willing to fight to the death for him?

This was the fundamental reason the group had not succumbed to infighting, despite their desperate situation.

Carrying his helmet in one hand, Paris clapped Notary on the shoulder with the other and said softly,

"Rise. Let’s go welcome the Warriors who braved the snowstorm to gather supplies for us all."

He then looked at the other retainers waiting in the room and nodded.

"I’m entrusting my daughter’s safety to you."

"We will protect Miss Emily with our lives!"

...

For Paris and his men, sending out small parties to search for supplies was an act of desperation.

Due to the bizarrely cold snowstorm outside, even Knight Notary, the strongest member of their group, couldn’t last long outdoors, to say nothing of the Soldier-level guards.

Their Mage Consultant, Lady Michelle, was the only one with the means to counter the bizarre cold. However, she lacked enough Mana to cast the spell known as the "Negative Energy Resistance Barrier" on everyone, which would have allowed them to march out and fight the Eternal Frost Cultists to the death.

While reserving enough Mana to fend off an enemy attack, she could cast it three times at most, allowing a party of three to go out and search for supplies.

A team of one Knight and two skilled Soldiers could manage to handle an encounter with a small group of Eternal Frost Cultists or the monsters roaming the town.

The rest of the group would then have to venture out into the storm at a prearranged time to meet the returning party—a bloody lesson learned after the sacrifice of the very first search team.

The Eternal Frost Cultists didn’t play by any rules of honor. Although they couldn’t breach the mayor’s residence, defended as it was by several Knights, they knew the group inside was short on supplies and couldn’t leave. They would undoubtedly concentrate their forces to ambush the returning search parties, cutting off their supply line and leaving them to die trapped inside.

Thus, every retrieval mission erupted into a battle, whether large or small, and demanded the utmost vigilance.

This time, however, things seemed a little different.

Notary and Locke flanked Paris, using their powerful Knight-Level Constitutions to endure the bizarre cold while also trying to shield their lord from some of the wind and snow.

The other Warriors, who were below Knight Level, could only wrap themselves in several layers of thick cloaks to conserve as much body heat as possible.

The group of more than ten men left the mayor’s residence and reached the designated rendezvous point, but the Eternal Frost Cultists never launched an attack.

Notary scanned the hazy silhouettes of the surrounding buildings and warned in a low voice,

"Lord Paris, something isn’t right... Could they have gone to ambush Barnaby’s party directly?"

Paris’s brow furrowed, and he tightened his grip on his longsword.

"It’s very likely... If that’s the case, we’re in trouble—"

Before he could finish, a sharp shriek suddenly tore through the sky, like the sound of a siege boulder ripping through the air!

The entire group tensed, their heads snapping up to look at the sky!