The addition of Lin to our group brought a small joy to everyone.

Syle, the caravan leader, cheerfully remarked that he would wrap the wool collected from our village in elven craftsmanship for trade, thrilled about the prospects.

Harwin hyung was moved to tears, saying he could finally fill the encyclopedia’s section on elves.

Even the other caravan members prayed devoutly, convinced that the elf’s presence would bless the caravan’s journey. But judging by their sneaky glances, it seemed they were more smitten by Lin’s face than genuinely reverent.

Ah, perhaps I shouldn’t say everyone.

Semna  alone remained skeptical, questioning how we could trust an elf who had shot arrows at us upon our first meeting. Even so, he refrained from voicing more complaints in Lin’s presence, and her inclusion was thus accepted.

Of course, my impulsive decision to run off on my own earned me scolding from each member in turn. I reflected on my actions, though I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t do something rash again.

After a brief rest and repairs to the wagon in Cherinville , we resumed our journey.

The collapse of Cherinville needed to be reported quickly, so we traveled for three days straight through the darkness.

Not that we galloped the entire time—such a feat was impossible in the harsh cold of the snowy plains. We took turns resting in the wagon every half hour and stopped every two to three hours to light a fire and warm our bodies. But none of it truly felt like rest.

Had there been a pioneer village along our route, we might’ve stopped for longer.

“If pioneer villages were only a day or two apart, there’d be no need for caravans. Villages could simply trade amongst themselves,”

Syle chuckled, though the weariness clung heavily to the wrinkles around his eyes.

His face, ageless yet frozen by the icy roads, seemed like it had been molded by this treacherous path itself.

For me, however, the cold was secondary; the monotony was harder to bear. The journey to the next village was little more than following the endless trail, with nothing to do but guide the horses. With darkness all around, even the scenery offered no distraction.

The only solace was the stories Harwin hyung shared during our brief rests in the wagon.

“Solaire, you’re here. Now, where did we leave off last time?”

“The heroes of the Pentagram had just dragged down the sun,” I replied.

It was a truly majestic epic.

When the Frost Dragon ascended and shrouded the sun in icy clouds, the world was cast into unending cold and darkness.

The Empire and the Alliance of a Hundred, locked in war for over a century, joined forces to confront humanity’s crisis.

Together, the greatest heroes of the continent climbed to the heavens and achieved the unimaginable—pulling the sun back down to Earth.

The tale was so stirring that it left me breathless.

Among those brilliant heroes, the ones who shone brightest were the Heroes of the Pentagram.

One of them was Duke Shade, whom our village chief once served.

Had the story ended there, it would’ve been perfect.

Unfortunately, I knew how the story concluded—with tragedy. The world had grown even colder since then, and this was the very reason why.

Harwin hyung, polishing his glasses with a thin cloth, began recounting the tale in his slow, deliberate voice.

“Thanks to the Heroes of the Pentagram, the sun descended from the heavens. The world became warmer, brighter... but not enough to satisfy everyone.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because while they brought down the sun, they didn’t defeat the Frost Dragon.”

Not even the Heroes of the Pentagram could face the Frost Dragon.

It was only through the cunning of the Archmage Hazel that the dragon was briefly subdued, allowing them to steal the sun. Thankfully, the Frost Dragon didn’t descend to Earth to reclaim it.

“Then isn’t that enough? The world’s still warmer and brighter than before, isn’t it?”

“Splitting the sun wasn’t just a matter of climate—it was a matter of human nature,”

Harwin hyung replied with a bitter tone.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Human greed and selfishness.”

He moved the lantern closer to my face. Its light and warmth radiated toward me, but my knees fell into darkness and cold.

“As the sun came closer to Earth, some regions inevitably lost their light altogether.

The closer the sun, the narrower its reach,” he explained.

Understanding his simple illustration, I nodded.

“Ultimately, it became an issue of distribution—how to share the light and warmth. All the Heroes of the Pentagram likely wanted the sun closest to their own homelands. No one knows who betrayed whom first, but it’s widely accepted that Akin was the quickest to turn his blade.”

“Why him?”

“He was a former thief,” Harwin hyung said.

“Being a thief doesn’t mean he’d automatically betray the others,” I argued.

After all, I used to be a shepherd, but now I traveled with a caravan.

Akin, once a thief but later a hero, might have acted differently from his past.

Just as I was about to voice this thought, the coachman shouted from outside the wagon.

“Solaire! It’s your turn to switch!”

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I layered on another coat and stepped outside.

And so, we pressed on through the darkness once more.

The world remained cold and dark, with little sense of progress. Only the steadily rising snowbanks on either side of the trail gave any indication of change.

When the snow piled so high it reached the wagon’s shoulder, forming what I dubbed a “snow wall,” Syle shouted, “The road’s collapsed!”

To be honest, a small part of me felt relieved—finally, an excuse to stop and warm ourselves.

But that was a naive thought. A collapsed road, in some ways, was more dangerous than a yeti attack.

The trade routes across the snowy plains were painstakingly established by the knight patrols, and no other paths existed beyond these. Only darkness and cold awaited elsewhere.

“This is completely wrecked. This journey just keeps getting harder,” Syle muttered as he crouched to inspect the damage.

The snow had collapsed onto the road, leaving deep craters in places. The holes were so massive that Semna could sit inside and disappear from sight.

Harwin hyung paced around the craters, measuring and assessing them before speaking hesitantly.

“They look like mammoth footprints.”

“Footprints? Those enormous craters?”

It was unimaginable. The depressions seemed more like part of the terrain itself.

“Mammoths are truly massive creatures,” Harwin said.

“What kind of beast leaves footprints the size of a person?” I muttered, still in disbelief.

“It’s one of nature’s mysteries worthy of the encyclopedia,” Harwin said.

Syle grumbled, “Mystery, my foot! If that beast shows up in front of me, I’ll tear it apart with my own hands!”

While Syle lamented, a few caravan members returned after scouting the road ahead with lanterns.

“Syle, it looks like the mammoth walked along the path. The road’s ruined up ahead too,” one reported.

“Damn it. Is there no way through?”

“People and horses might make it, but the wagon definitely won’t,” the scout replied.

Syle groaned, knowing full well we couldn’t abandon the wagon. It carried not only our supplies but also the remains of our fallen comrades—those we had to return to their families.

After much thought, Syle stood and said, “We’ll have to find another route.”

“Is there even another way?”

“Of course. Paths aren’t born—they’re made. We’ll find a way.”

Harwin hyung smiled and added, “That’s what Zhouru of the Pentagram said before ascending to the heavens. Ironically, no one had ever climbed the heavens before him.”

“Scholar, all I care about is that Zhouru  found a path. Let the Pentagram’s blessings guide us to one as well.”

Harwin hyung seemed at a loss for how to respond, so I decided to step in.

“Syle hyung, don’t worry too much. Surely, in all this vast land, there must be a path for us to take?”

“Heh heh heh. Kid, it’s precisely in vast lands like this that people lose their way. But I’ll give you credit for your confidence. If you manage to find us a path, I’ll give you this.”

Syle held up a shiny gold coin, pinched between his fingers.

I patted Zero’s mane and leaped down from the wagon.

“Hold on to that coin for me. I’ll be back with a path in no time.”

“Alright. I’ll keep a fire lit here. Make sure to stay within sight of it. Losing your way while searching for a path would defeat the purpose.”

After a moment’s thought, I climbed up the snowbank beside the road. Around me, I could see other caravan members forming small groups to search ahead or behind for a viable route.

“Solaire! Wait for me!”

Semna  scrambled out of the wagon, hurrying over and awkwardly trying to tiptoe up the snowbank. Too short to climb over on his own, he struggled, grunting in frustration.

I reached out to help pull him up.

“Ow, ow, ow! You’re pulling my arm off!” he wailed, flailing dramatically.

Sighing, I climbed back down and hoisted him onto my back before ascending again. Better to deal with this than endure his whining the whole way.

“But where’s Lin ?” Semna asked, craning his neck.

“Right here,” came her calm reply.

Somehow, Lin had already climbed up without a sound. A tiny fire rat rune darted out from her sleeve, scurrying along the fabric before disappearing back inside. She still didn’t talk much, but she seemed perfectly willing to tag along whenever someone suggested going somewhere.

Not that I could judge—Lin had a surprising amount of curiosity for someone so reserved.

“Solaire! Don’t wander too far!” Harwin hyung shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.

I waved back at him and turned to step further onto the snowfield. My boots left imprints in the snow but didn’t sink too deeply.

“Are you sure it’s safe? Won’t the ground give way?” Semna clung to my arm, trembling slightly.

“It’s fine.”

Beneath us, the snow likely stretched deep, compacted into something as solid as ice over decades, perhaps even centuries. Lin wandered ahead, her steps light and curious, while Semna hovered nervously near me.

Neither of them seemed to know where to start looking.

“Let’s find some clues first,” I said.

Looking for clues and deducing from the evidence—that’s what I’d learned from Harwin hyung.

I crouched and shone my lantern over the snowfield. Snow, snow, and more snow.

Endless, cold, white snow stretching as far as the eye could see.

The only break in the monotony was the tracks in the snow: my footprints, Lin’s, Semna’s… and even the little marks left by the fire rat rune.

But then I noticed something.

This one was too small to be mine, yet too large to belong to Lin, Semna, or the rune.

“Then whose footprint is this?”

“Aaah! It’s a ghost!” Semna shrieked, leaping onto my back. I nearly lost my balance but managed to steady myself.

“Semna, seriously…”

“I’m telling you, it was a ghost! I saw something glowing, like ghostly eyes!” he insisted, clutching his chest indignantly.

I sighed, deciding to humor him. Turning my lantern toward where he pointed, I scanned the area. There didn’t seem to be anything there.

The unfamiliar footprint stood alone, with faint impressions nearby, but they didn’t form a discernible path. If I wanted to find whoever left this, I’d have to venture further into the darkness.

Glancing back, I could still faintly see the campfire in the distance. It seemed wise to leave someone behind to maintain contact with the others.

“Lin, can you wait here for a bit?” I asked.

“I’m curious too. I want to know who made this footprint.”

“Then Semna can—”

“No way! I’m not staying here alone!”

Left with no other choice, the four of us—counting the fire rat rune—moved together, careful not to step on or obscure the mysterious tracks.

“Footprints!” Semna called out excitedly. “I told you, I saw a ghost around here!”

“We still don’t know if it’s a ghost,” I replied. “It could be a person.”

“There’s no way it’s a person! Who would wander into the snowy plains, off the path, in this darkness?”

Semna pointed toward the footprints leading into the shadows. None of them matched any of ours. The trail extended further ahead, disappearing into the distance.

Syle had said paths are made by people walking them.

Perhaps this was a path waiting to be discovered.