"Looks like even in the isolated lands of the north, your reputation precedes you, Shadow Empress,

" I teased as we exited from the castle.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment,

" Ling Xin said with a wink.

"Though… you didn't complain when I called you my future husband, fufu~

"

"I mean, if I complained there, that wouldn't exactly help our case,

" I replied, then looked at the icy crowns on her head. Axilia had one too.

"Those crowns look nice on you two, by the way.

"

"Really?

" Axilia blinked several times, then tilted her head slightly, as if experimenting with how much she could do so before the crown fell.

"It feels heavy… unnatural. I want to take it off, darling…

"

"Don't,

" I interjected coldly.

"According to the Queen, those crowns are proof we aren't enemies. Villagers who see it will be nice to us, which is never a bad thing.

"

"Then… why aren't you wearing yours, darling~?

"

I stopped.

"Uh… that's, well…

"

"Don't mind him, Axilia. He's just like that, fufu~

" Ling Xin giggled softly, wrapping one of my arms between her generous bosom.

"He likes to hide his face all the time, and in order to do that, his weird-looking hat has to be on at all times in public. That crown would never be able to fit stably on top of that tricorn, so there's no sense in wearing it.

"

"Sorry,

" I mumbled quietly.

"It's a habit. Besides, as long as you two are wearing it, it's fine. It's not like we'll be staying here for long, and anywhere I go, you two will follow anyway.

"

"Fufu~ that part's true,

" the two said at the same time as Axilia joined in and took my other arm.

"Now then… since we have some time to waste, why don't we explore this village a bit?

" I suggested, a wry smile forming on my lips.

"Neither of you have been in an ice elf village before, right? Well, neither have I. Let's make the most out of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, shall we?

"

The two girls nodded and smiled happily. None of us had any idea just what kinds of terrors were coming our way, the moment we set foot outside the walls of this village.

*****

The first place we visited, just as the Queen had suggested, was an armor shop. Two elven blacksmiths in the back were working tirelessly as we passed by, and upon spotting us, one of them quickly stopped what they were doing and walked over to us.

"Welcome, welcome! A traveller, yes? Well, as long as you've got the Queen's insignia, you're one of us!

" He boldly laughed in a manner that didn't suit his age... on the surface, anyway. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties at most, but I knew better. Most likely, he was 2,000 years old or something along the lines of that.

"We are looking for the best armor you have,

" I said, cutting the formalities and getting straight to the point.

"I've heard the Dwarves have quite excellent craftsmanship, but what about elves...?

"

I smiled wryly as the man's attitude immediately changed with a snort.

"Hmph. The Dwarves think they are better at everything except height!

" He declared, clearly dissatisfied.

"Young man, I'll prove to you right now that the Elves are the ones with superior craftsmanship! Behold!

"

He snapped his fingers, and immediately, a thick fur cloak flew to his hands, attached to pants of a similar design underneath. Telekinesis, huh? Elves are naturally more talented than humans are in magic, and nearly everyone can cast spells without chanting. Neat.

"Take a look, young friend! This is the Balchek Winter Hunter Set, named directly after my bloodline. It is the best set we have here, guaranteed to be better than anything those Dwarves can cook up!

"

I reached out to touch it, but the elf moved it away from my hand.

"Uh-uh, hold it right there. This is not for sale, unfortunately.

"

"Oh? But if I can't try it out, how am I supposed to know if it's better than the Dwarf-forged set I have on right now?

" I challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Hm... still...

"

"Ah, could it be... you're scared your armor set won't be as good as the Dwarves'? That's why you don't want to let me have it?

"

"H-Huh? Of course not! Fine, take it! Just bring it back here by tomorrow. If you don't, you have to pay... uh, I don't know just yet... my brother and I spent 5 years working on that thing!

"

"Yes, yes. But you know... durability is a big factor in armor as well. This may protect me better than the Dwarves', but if it only lasts one day, that's hardly of any use. Do you get what I'm saying...?

"

"Uh... fine! Then, a month or two...? But don't think I'll forget about you!

"

"That's better,

" I said with a smile.

"I have faith in your craftsmanship, friend. Let's test this out against the Winter Storm.

"

"Haha! Yes, it can withstand even the Winter Storm! A good metaphor, my friend, a good metaphor!

"

Sigh... what he doesn't know... is that it's not a metaphor.

After acquiring two more sets of the same model for Axilia and Ling Xin respectively, I bid the man farewell and left. Soulfoxes like Lorelei and Yami weren't affected by the cold, so they didn't need anything like this.

"Fufu~ tricky as always, I see,

" Ling Xin remarked as we walked, just as I stored the armor into my Space Locket.

"Purposely using the fiery rivalry between the Dwarves and the Elves to force them to bring out their absolute best set... then promptly erasing their memories.

"

"Hm? What are you talking about?

" I asked, playing innocent.

"Don't think I didn't notice it,

" Ling Xin said, wagging her finger.

"I am a Holy Emperor, y'know. I can sense when you pull off little gimmicks like this. You erased their memory of the past 5 minutes, then replaced the actual armor set with an illusion conjured using Shadow Magic, thinking that since they wouldn't usually take out a prize as great as that, they would never notice, and even if they did, they had no way of knowing it was you who did it.

"

"Fufu~ darling is quite evil,

" Axilia giggled, not seeming to mind it at all despite 'evil' being a 'bad' word.

I sighed.

"Whatever. It's not like I didn't leave him any compensation. When he finally discovers that the armor is an illusion, he'll find that it's actually made of a few hundred mordai of pure gold.

"

"Oh? You're actually that generous?

" Ling Xin stuck out her tongue a little playfully, arching an eyebrow.

"Generous? Nah. If he really spent 5 years on this—which he did, according to Lorelei's advanced anti-lie technology—then a couple hundred mordai is me being a cheapskate. I scammed him, basically. But am I remorseful about it...? Nah. Not one bit.

"

"As I thought, darling is evil~!

" Axilia cheered, extremely happy about this for whatever reason. I shuddered.

After that, we went around the town exploring. The two seemed to be having fun interacting with the little elven kids, which was something I never would've expected. Especially not from Axilia, anyway... I was more concerned she would murder them, but she seemed to be genuinely playing with them. It was a nice sight to see.

With an afternoon well-spent touring the different shops and buying souvenirs, it was time to eat dinner. Elven food tasted even better than expected, but it was still nowhere near Axilia and Ling Xin's cooking. My standards have been set high, after eating homemade food from them and Qing Yue.

And now... since it was still too early to go to rest, I proposed we check out some Elven-forged weapons. I was curious to see what they had in store, and...

... was not at all surprised when I was told they only had bows.

When I asked,

"What if they get close to you?

"

The shopkeeper replied with,

"Use your arrows, dumbo.

"

So, yeah. To them, they could wield their arrows like swords—for good reason, considering these arrows were top-notch quality, made of strong boreal wood and enchanted by Elven experts.

Not really my fighting style, but I did purchase a bow and a quiver that was apparently connected to an automated arrow-making factory here, meaning it would always have arrows ready for use. For whom? Lan Xiao Su, of course.

She never was comfortable with using a gun, even after maturing quite a bit. Hopefully, this bow and arrow would suit her better. She could also dip the arrows in some kind of viscous paralyzing poison if she didn't want to kill anyone but only disable them.

Once that was finished, we headed for the best and only inn in the village. It wasn't much, but it was nice and cozy and that's all I really cared about.

According to the Queen, the Winter Storm could be arriving between anywhere from tomorrow until the end of this month of June. Yes, June was supposed to be summer, but not up here it seems. With any luck, I could make it out of this place before the Storm even hit, but at the same time... knowing my luck....