Snow continued to fall silently on the road.
The bandit Leader's body lay motionless in the snow, his blood slowly staining the white ground.
In the middle of the snowfield, Law collapsed without moving.
"Brother Law!"
Lily rushed toward him, dropping to her knees beside his body. Her hands trembled as she tried to shake him awake.
"Brother Law… wake up!"
But Law did not respond. His breathing was shallow, his face pale from exhausting all his strength.
The coachman hurried over as well, his expression tight with tension. He was just an ordinary man, strong enough just to drive the carriage. His hands shook slightly as he looked at Law's prone form.
"Is he alive?" he asked, voice low and uncertain.
Lily shot him a sharp glare.
"He is alive! Or you think..?!" she snapped, her voice trembling with fear and frustration.
The fear of losing Law and the frustration from her powerlessness.
The coachman flinched, raising his hands defensively. "I—I didn't mean—"
Lily ignored him and focused entirely on Law.
The coachman glanced nervously at the forest, aware that more bandits could appear at any moment.
"Miss," he said again, trying to stay calm, "we must leave immediately. Bandits rarely travel alone."
Lily took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Then she nodded and lifted Law into a princess carry.
"What about the bodies?" she asked, glancing at the scattered bandits. Most of the lackeys weren't dead, just unconscious.
"I… I… think… we don't have time. Let's just leave them here," the coachman said quietly, still feeling the lingering fear from Lily's glare.
Soon enough, the journey continued. Inside the carriage, Law lay with his head resting on Lily's lap.
Seeing his pale face, Lily felt tears well up, but she forced herself to stay composed.
Then she remembered something, she had once stumbled upon a book when come to bother Law when he was stuck reading.
The book said that by channeling lightning through the chest and heart, it could stimulate a person to wake up.
Of course, that was only for someone whose heart had already stopped… but she didn't know that.
As she carefully moved to try it, Law's eyelids trembled.
Law's eyes fluttered open.
Lily stared at him, wide-eyed, and he stared back. His gaze drifted downward and saw her hands resting on his chest.
Still a little dizzy, he asked slowly, "What… what are you trying to do?"
Lily ignored him completely and hugged him tightly. "You… you're awake! I thought… I thought—"
Law froze for a moment. Then the memories came rushing back: the fighting, the bandits, the killing.
He had done it. He had killed someone—the first time in his two life.
Strangely, he felt nothing.
He knew he had been fortunate this time. If not for the bandit leader's carelessness, he might have been the one who would never wake up again. After all, the leader never once used his Aura.
"Brother Law? Are you alright?" Lily shook him gently, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm…" he nodded, still processing.
She then quickly filled him in on everything that had happened after he was knocked out, her voice a mixture of relief and worry.
The atmosphere inside the carriage was quiet with Lily stared at him closely, her eyes full of worry, as if afraid he might vanish at any moment.
"Brother Law… next time… please don't act recklessly, okay?" she said softly. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Law was a little speechless, but he understood. He was the closest person to her, and if he were gone…
He didn't argue. Instead, he asked quietly,
"Then… what should I do?"
Lily didn't hesitate for a second. "We can just run away… leave the coachman behind."
Law blinked, completely stunned. What the…? Who did she followed after to think like this?!
Meanwhile, the coachman who listened broke into cold swear" this girl is a devil..'
Soon enough, they reached at the gate of Frostholm City. The distance from the orphanage to here is about 100 km.
Law still didn't understand why the orphanage was built so far out, completely isolated.
Frostholm City was effectively the capital of the northern region—an enormous metropolis spanning over 531,000 km².
As for the the Academy, it is located midway between the House of Borealis and Frostholm City.
From an outsider's perspective, the city had two lines of protection guarding it against the Wasteland¹, making it appear almost impenetrable.
Before carriages or merchants could pass through the gate, they needed to undergo inspection.
But since the carriage bore the crest of the Borealis family, they were exempt.
The carriage came to a stop and the door was opened. Both Lily and Law stepped out.
"Miss, young man, this is as far as I can take you. For the rest of the way, you'll need to head to a building with the House of Borealis' crest. Then hand your admission letter to the recipient," the coachman said and get to the horse.
"Wait!" Lily said to the coachman but as if fall into deaf ears, the coachman didn't stop.
'There is now way I'm going to get entangle with you anymore!' the coachman thought inwardly.
The coachman drove off toward the city's exit as fast as he could, leaving a trail of dust behind.
"What was that?" he asked, glancing at Lily.
"I… don't know," she replied, her voice was down slightly.
Neither of them paid much attention to it anymore. Their eyes were drawn to the city itself.
Buildings stretched endlessly before them—towering spires, bustling streets, and crowds moving like rivers through the wide avenues. Lanterns swayed in the cold wind, casting a warm glow over the snow-dusted rooftops.
"This place… it's huge," Law murmured, awe in his voice.
But there was no remark from Lily, she is till shocked and worrie from what just happened previously.
This lily first time stepping into outside world and yet she didn't felt any excitement.
"Lily, I told you I'm fine now, whats there tto worry about?
Seeing there is no response from her, he shook his head take her hand, dragging her around the City.
Lily, who had been gloomy just moments ago, was now smiling brightly, running around the city with excitement.
"Brother Law, shouldn't we hurry and go sign up at the Academy?" she asked suddenly.
Law shook his head. "The appraiser said they would pick us up today, but the admission letter states that the opening ceremony is tomorrow."
Lily blinked. "So… we don't need to go now?"
Law nodded.
A moment later, both of them froze.
A shocking realization hit them at the same time.
They came from an orphanage.
They had no money.
Just having foods and place to live is already enough.
And now… they needed to stay in the city for the night!
Without money, how were they supposed to book a room?
Did that mean they had to spend the night in an alley?
Just as they were thinking about it, a scream suddenly rang out.
"Help! Someone help! A thief stole my handbag!" a chubby lady shouted.
Law quickly looked over and spotted a man in black clothes running through the street, bumping into people as he fled.
A thief… in a city like this?
He didn't think too much about it as his chivalrous heart kicked in. And there might be a reward.
"Lily, stay here. Don't move."
"But—"
Before she could finish, Law had already rushed forward.
The wind brushed past his face as he ran. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but after the fight with the bandits, he felt his body became faster and lighter.
Soon enough, Law caught up from behind and tackled the thief to the ground.
"Argh—!" the thief groaned as he hit the ground hard.
Law pinned him down, grabbing his arm.
"Heh, you've got two choices," Law said. "Give up the handbag… or get beaten up."
The thief froze for a second, then quickly let go of the bag.
"Alright! Alright! Take it!" It was his unlucky day meeting this lad today.
Law snorted and took the handbag from him before standing up.
…
Not far away, the chubby lady was pacing back and forth anxiously, her hands clenched together.
"Miss!"
Law ran up to her and held out the handbag. "Here, your purse."
The lady's eyes lit up in relief.
"My bag! Thank goodness!" She quickly took it, checking inside before letting out a long breath.
Then she looked up at Law, her expression full of gratitude.
"Thank you, young man! Thank you so much!"
She said as she moved her towards her purse
'Here comes the best part…' Law was grinning inside, but of course, he kept a perfectly straight face on the outside.
"Here, take it, young man. It's the least I can do," the lady said, holding out a thick stack of bills.
"This… I can't take this," Law said, trying to sound all serious. "I just did what anyone would do. It's nothing special."
Righteous. Upright. Heroic. That was him. Totally… totally not motivated by money.
Yeah, sure.
Because the moment her hand was out, Law's own hand had a mind of its own.
His fingers shot forward and grabbed the money like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He glanced at the stack, then back at the lady. "Uh… thank you! Really, thank you so much!"
Law walked over to Lily, who was standing still a short distance away, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Kids these days…" the chubby lady muttered, shaking her head with a mix of amusement and disbelief.
"Brother Law!" Lily ran up, checking him over like he might fall apart at any second. "Are you hurt?!"
"I'm fine, really," Law said, holding up a hand. "No need to worry."
Then he pulled out the stack of bills he'd received from the lady and grinned. "Look what I got!"
Lily's eyes went wide. "Wow… where did you get that? You didn't… steal it from the purse, did you?"
Her thoughts, however, were distracted by Law's grin.
It had been a long time since she'd seen him smile like that happy, carefree… even a little mischievous.
'Is it money… that makes him this happy?' she wondered.
Little did Law know, this small, casual act of kindness had bring him endless money in the future.
"How could you say that to your righteous brother!?" Law was speechless.
Law grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her toward a small restaurant nearby. It wasn't fancy, he didn't want to risk spending too much, just in case the money wasn't enough.
He was starving after the whole day, and that fight had drained him completely.
Soon, both of them had finished their meals, stomachs full and spirits lifted.
Looking at the money he received earlier, Law realized it totaled about 500 Valors².
After paying for their food, they had spent roughly 50 Valors, leaving them with 450 Valors.
"Brother Law, it's so good you got the money! If not, we'd probably be starving to death tonight!" Lily said happily, her face lighting up.
"You can count on this big brother! Let's go to the book a room, it's going to be night soon." Law grinned, dragging her once again.
It was almost dawn yet the city was still bright with lights, glowing warmly against the early sky.
Law and Lily made their way to a nearby hotel, Nightel. It looked decent enough.
As soon as they stepped inside, a wave of warmth hit them, along with the fresh scent of lemons.
"Welcome!" the receptionist called cheerfully. "How may I help you?"
"We want to book two rooms," Law said carefully. "One for me, one for her. Can I know the price per night?"
Lily's ears twitched. "What are you saying?! Make it one room!" she protested. How could she part from Law?
Law froze, scratching the back of his head. 'One room… with Lily? She's a girl… already at that age…'
Although he treated Lily as his younger sister, one could never share the same bedroom with their grown-up sister, right?
Lily leaned close to Law's ear with a glint in her eyes.
"Brother Law… just take one room," she whispered, sounding like a little devil. "We can save our money today~"
"Forget it… I'll take one room," Law finally relented, turning to the receptionist.
"Yes, sir! That will be 225 Valors for the night."
Lucky for Law he'd listened to Lily, if not, his big-brother image would have been completely ruined!
They entered the room together and put away their luggage.
"Woah… this room is huge! Way bigger than the ones at the orphanage!" Lily exclaimed, eyes sparkling.
But Law was already sprawled on the bed, too exhausted even to think about showering.
He didn't move a muscle before sinking into sleep.
Lily stomped her foot in exasperation. "This guy…!" she muttered.
1. Wasteland - A place beyond the border, infested with monsters and possibly demons.
2. Valors - Currency used in Eriria