https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-766-Sigrid-Makes-a-Grand-Entrance/12585306/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-768-Sigrid-Makes-Peace-with-the-Map/12585311/
Chapter 767: Sigrid the Pathfinder
Chapter 767: Sigrid the Pathfinder
"Sigrid, I have a question for you," Lanchi asked, testing Sigrid. "Have you noticed any changes in Kaliella?"
Determined to spare Sigrid from heartache, Lanchi decided to play along with Talia and pretend to be Kaliella for the next twenty-one days.
Talia possessed an exceptional ability to detect lies and a faint ability to read minds. She would be able to spot any discrepancies and adjust accordingly.
"No," Sigrid replied, looking at Lanchi. She even sniffed the air around the gray-haired demon, her mother. "It's definitely Kaliella. Her scent hasn't changed at all."
"Wow..." Lanchi covered his mouth in surprise, at a loss for words. Sigrid couldn't tell the difference between the 800-year-old vintage and the 1,000-year-old vintage. Could he be the only one who preferred the former?
"Hmph," Talia shot Lanchi a cold glance, ignoring his absurd thoughts. She had found healing with Sigrid and didn't want to argue with him anymore.
Sigrid hugged the gray-haired witch for a long time before reluctantly letting go. She then turned to Lanchi. "Your Holiness...I mean, Cardinal Lanchi, why are you here?" Sigrid stumbled over her words, almost calling him by his true name.
Since he didn't recognize her as Sigrid, the Saint's Daughter, and instead saw her as Sigrid from the Shadow World, she was happy to continue playing along. If only she were a little girl again, she could freely act coquettish with him.
"I need to go to the Demon World again, and I have to pass through the Eternal Night Land in the bitter cold. Can I ask you to guide me there?" Lanchi earnestly requested of Sigrid.
Based on his experience, Lanchi surmised that the main stage of this Shadow World was likely in the Demon World. Aside from himself, Talia, and the Cat Master, the other six challengers would probably also be there.
Their next goal was clear: to reach the Demon World as soon as possible.
"Ah, um, sure," Sigrid agreed, her gaze shifting away as she rubbed the back of her head. Although she had dreamed about how to travel back and forth to the Eternal Night Land, she wasn't confident that she could navigate it flawlessly again.
"Are we pushing Sigrid too hard?" Talia asked, sensing Sigrid's nervousness. It was unreasonable to ask a delicate nun to drive them through the harsh winter storms for several days to reach the Demon World.
"She's an excellent pathfinder," Lanchi assured Talia, pointing at Sigrid. He wasn't exaggerating—he had been amazed the last time when this eleven-year-old child had driven them through the Eternal Night Land without any mishaps.
Now, with Sigrid being in her twenties, surely she hadn't lost that ability.
"Yes, I'm a pathfinder," Sigrid boasted, puffing out her chest with pride and nodding in satisfaction as she placed her hands on her hips. "Just wait for me to change my clothes, and we can set off soon." Sigrid spoke to the two of them, eager to get going. Without further ado, she rushed out of the chapel toward her residence.
"..." Talia, seeing Sigrid's sudden surge of confidence, decided to trust her. If someone as meticulous as Lanchi, who rarely ventured anywhere without a map, could praise her like that, then her navigational skills were undoubtedly top-notch.
"Then, summon me when you're near the northern border of Saint Pektra. I'm going to rest now," Talia waved her hand, bidding Lanchi farewell. She then transformed into orange starlight and disappeared, returning to reside within him.
There might be vicious demons on the snowy fields outside the city-state, but with Talia, a powerful demon herself, in the car, none would dare to approach. Later, they would just need to explain to Sigrid that Kaliella had set off first and that they would meet at the border.
"Master, you've become gentler. You know that Sigrid will worry if Kaliella disappears for too long. You could have just said farewell in the Demon World," Lanchi mused to himself with a light smile.
"Who's asking? I am Kaliella now," Talia replied, stepping into the role of the ancient demon. "And Kaliella's greatest joy is helping others fulfill their dreams. Even if it's just a false sense of tenderness, she wants to help others have a beautiful dream."
Only a few minutes later, Sigrid reappeared. She had just returned to the chapel and was looking around anxiously, her expression tense. She feared that Kaliella would vanish again like in that nightmarish freefall, confirming her ominous premonition.
"Kaliella will wait for us at the border," Lanchi said, removing his mask and tying it around his waist. At the same time, his appearance shifted back to that of the royal craftsman, Lochi, with brown hair and green eyes. It might be too startling for people to see the Cardinal of Pektra wandering around.
"Phew, that's a relief," Sigrid said, placing a hand over her chest as her heartbeat finally steadied. Indeed, this was the Shadow World, not some absurd, dreamlike world.
"So, do I look like the me you remember from our journey to the Eternal Night Land?"
Sigrid's face lit up with a smile as she spun around, giving Lanchi a full view of her new look.
It was a stark contrast to her nun's attire, a style more suited for adventure and with a boyish charm. She wore a beret, her hair tucked neatly underneath with a few light-colored strands falling naturally by her temples.
"Now you look like a young lady," Lanchi remarked with a smile.
The first time he met Sigrid, she gave off a wild and androgynous vibe. Back then, he had told his secretary, Elm, that he needed an experienced bodyguard and public relations expert who could discreetly and smoothly guide him through the Eternal Night Land, handling any potential troubles along the way. Sigrid, however, had looked too young for the job.
His comment had upset Sigrid, who had proudly brushed off his opinion and stormed off, unwilling to be undervalued, even in times of war.
"So you didn't realize it last time?" Sigrid asked, not offended by Lanchi's previous assessment. She was confident that even if she were a boy, Saint's Son would still like her, as their bond transcended gender.
"Back then, twelve years ago, I didn't like wasting my time, and of course, I disliked your condescending attitude even more," Sigrid continued, revealing her thoughts from that time. "If it weren't for the high price, I wouldn't have bothered coming to see a client like you, Lord Lochi, after several introductions."
Sigrid candidly shared her thoughts from that time, intentionally drawing out her words.
"If you had known I was the prime minister back then, would you have been so impolite to me?" Lanchi asked, reminiscing and engaging in further conversation with Sigrid.
After these twenty-one days, they might never meet again. In the decade since their first encounter, Sigrid had changed a little, but she was still fascinating.
"Of course, why would I live like a beggar? I won't grovel to anyone, unless..." Sigrid trailed off, striking a pose of strength and pride.
She left the sentence unfinished, as if such a circumstance didn't exist.
"It's clear that you have no reverence for me, even though I'm the Pope," Lanchi sighed, shaking his head.
In the past, when he was the prime minister of the Pektra Empire, Sigrid had treated him without any regard for his position. Now that he was the Pope of the Holy Pektra Church, it was much the same.
"Do you know what I like most about you?" Sigrid asked out of the blue.
"What?" Lanchi inquired.
"Even when you held a high position, you didn't act superior like those other big shots. Instead, you got along with me, and no matter when we met, you treated me as an equal, like another version of yourself," Sigrid answered.
"So, you and I, do we need to abide by those formalities?" She grinned, bumping Lanchi's shoulder with her own before quickly stepping away, signaling for him to follow as they set off.
Lanchi rubbed his shoulder, tilting his head before following after her.
...
That night.
The journey of several hours passed in the blink of an eye.
On the snowy fields of the northern border of the Pektra Empire, under the blanket of darkness, a girl in a beret skillfully drove a sled, her calm and adept figure blending seamlessly with the beauty of this cold world.
In front of the sled, three Snowfield Dark Deer ran swiftly through the snow, their hooves kicking up clouds of snow as they drew a natural roadmap across the snowy fields.
In the afternoon, Sigrid had set off with Lanchi, and through the Holy Pektra Church's air route, they quickly arrived at the northernmost part of the Holy Pektra nation.
Everything was familiar.
The northern border had changed significantly since twelve years ago.
Yet, as they embarked on this journey once more, it felt like second nature, as if it were more than just their second time traveling together.
Sigrid had rented a magical beast that could travel swiftly through the Eternal Night Land, and now she led Lanchi and the awaited Kaliella away from the borders of the Holy Pektra nation.
Sigrid's face remained unfazed by the cold wind, her hand gently wielding a reindeer whip that made intermittent sounds.
Behind her, Lanchi and Talia sat quietly.
Talia had fallen asleep, leaning against the back of her seat, after finishing the hamburger Lanchi had bought for her.
Lanchi, bathed in moonlight, focused on the new pocket-sized map booklet in his hand.
The wind ruffled the pages of the map, but the fluttering corners didn't distract Lanchi from contemplating the route ahead.
With the adult Sigrid and the long-lived Talia, he had no worries about the safety of their night journey through the Eternal Night Land.
"We must get to the Demon World as soon as possible. Since we're starting so late, I'm afraid we won't reach our first stop, Stone City, until tomorrow morning. Once we arrive, let's stay at the usual place," Lanchi said, his brown hair rustling in the cold wind, his eyes filled with anticipation for the Infernal City of Pasquale.
He had dreamed countless times of returning to that place.
"Not only that, but every attraction in the Phantaland Empire that leads to the Demon Realm is filled with memories."
"Are we still buying ingredients and having Little Black Cat cook?"
Sigrid turned her head and asked.
Practice makes perfect.
This was probably her third or fourth time venturing into the snowfield with the Saint's Son.
"Yes, but now Little Black Cat might have been... optimized."
Lanchi replied, glancing down at his shadow.
"Who's been optimized, meow?! I, the Divine Beast, have merely attained the appropriate level of fame. Have you ever seen an eighth-rank Divine Beast cook personally?!"
Unhappy, the Cat Boss jumped out of Lanchi's shadow and climbed onto his knees, arguing with him.
"Ah? It's eighth-rank now?"
Before Lanchi could reply, Sigrid had already turned around in surprise.
She had noticed that Little Black Cat had become slightly stronger, but she hadn't expected it to be eighth-rank.
"Meow..."
The Cat Boss hung its head dejectedly and jumped back into Lanchi's shadow.
Perhaps only when it became the Cat Emperor would others recognize it as eighth-rank.
Otherwise, its advancement from seventh to eighth-rank seemed negligible to Sigrid.
The sled left a clear trail in the snowy night, accompanied by the sound of the reindeer's hooves and the soft sliding of the sled. Only the lights of the Holy Phantaland Church illuminated the way forward.
"Hmm."
Sigrid turned her head and looked at Lanchi, resting her hand on the backrest.
She seemed to have made Little Black Cat feel dejected.
It wasn't her intention.
"It's alright, it'll cheer up in a bit."
Lanchi replied.
The Cat Boss only had the ability to store simple memories.
"But could you please hold the reins with both hands and pay attention to the road ahead? It's night time."
He lifted his hand and pointed forward.
"Oh, alright then."
Sigrid turned back, her eyes on Lanchi.
As a top warrior, she could sense her surroundings better with her mind's eye than with her physical eyes, so not looking at the road wasn't an issue.
"You really need to change your driving habits; this doesn't comply with traffic rules."
Lanchi sighed in exasperation. After all these years, she still hadn't changed her bad habit of chatting with passengers while driving and not paying attention to the road.
The only consolation was that Sigrid no longer swore.
"And look, I think this road..."
He kept looking up, repeatedly comparing the map to the height of the mountain ridges, feeling that something was amiss.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm here, so there won't be any accidents."
Sigrid still didn't focus on the road ahead and replied to Lanchi.
She was teaching him how to quickly pass through the Eternal Night Land.
"Hmm..."
Lanchi pondered for a moment, feeling that Sigrid's way of addressing him was a little strange.
"Wait, Sigrid, don't you want to take a look at the map?"
He leaned forward and showed the map to Sigrid, who was sitting in the front, pointing out what he thought was wrong with the map.
"Look, the latitude line here is clearly different from our current position. We should be heading northwest instead of continuing straight ahead; otherwise, we'll fall off a cliff..."
Lanchi's voice trailed off as he felt that Sigrid wasn't listening to him.
When he looked up again, he met Sigrid's eyes, which shone like night pearls in the dark. He realized that she had been observing his face instead of paying attention to the map.
"Is there something on my face?"
Lanchi stroked his cheeks, feeling no snow seeds, and asked Sigrid.
"As I thought, the moment our eyes met..."
Sigrid slowly turned her gaze to the map and murmured to herself.
She needed to restrain herself.
"..."
Lanchi watched as Sigrid's attention wavered from the map, and he didn't understand what she meant by that sentence.
He looked into the distance again.
A foreboding feeling arose in Lanchi's heart.
First, the terrain of the Eternal Night Land had changed significantly over the past twelve years.
Secondly, after Sigrid had been taken to the Demon Realm to study abroad for a few years and then returned to work for the church for a few years, it had been a long time since she had guided anyone through the Eternal Night Land.
"I've always wanted to try driving a snowfield reindeer carriage. Why don't you sit in the back and rest, and I'll drive for a while?"
Lanchi suggested to Sigrid in a very polite tone.
"Alright then, if you want to work for me, I won't stop you."
Sigrid didn't argue.
If the Cat Boss wanted to be the driver, she was happy to let it be.
She had heard that morning, upon arriving in South Ventina, that there was a Wilford Chamber of Commerce with a young master who kept making losing deals, and his family's chamber of commerce was almost bankrupt because of him.
"Are you thinking something impolite?"
Lanchi looked at Sigrid's smile and asked.
"How could I?"
Sigrid tightened the reins and replied absentmindedly.
A spendthrift Saint's Son was fine too.
When his family business went bankrupt, he would probably have to marry into another family.
(End of Chapter)
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