Chapter 77.2
“Cordelia!”
“I leave Kaplan to you!”
They didn’t realize it because of the snow, but the place where they were standing was actually a gap between the cliffs of the canyon.
Cordelia hurriedly grabbed Kaplan and used magic to reduce their falling speed, while Jude kicked the debris as he created a whirlwind.
“Jude!”
“Don’t worry!”
Golden whirlwinds spun around Jude, and he used the whirlwinds to reduce his falling speed, as well as kicking the vertical sides of the canyon several times to prevent himself from falling vertically.
It was obviously not easy.
Twenty-Four Gale Steps was a footwork technique that could also be used as a fighting skill, but it wasn’t a flying skill that could be used to travel through the sky.
Jude focused and concentrated again.
At the same time that he created new whirlwinds, he read the direction of the wind between the cliffs.
While riding on the wind, he estimated in his mind the trajectory of his fall.
He kicked the sides again.
He corrected his trajectory and looked around him. He couldn’t see anything, but he felt everything through his senses.
It got darker and darker.
Then came a sound.
The sound of the rubble that had fallen first.
It wasn’t a splashing sound.
It wasn’t a booming or breaking sound either.
Thud.
There was a snowfield below.
Though it was quite deep.
But it was clear from the sound that the snow was not completely soft. The snow piled up below would have been frozen.
“Jude!”
He heard Cordelia’s voice once again.
Since she was using magic, Cordelia was falling at a much more stable pace than Jude, but Kaplan was a problem.
Though Cordelia’s physical ability had been strengthened because she was above level 40, her arms that were holding Kaplan, who had the weight of three adult men, were already sore and exhausted.
But she was more worried about Jude rather than her arms or fingers.
“Jude!”
Because Cordelia had already landed down, she was able to confirm Jude’s location when she looked up.
But not for Jude. As he struggled to ride the wind while in the middle of several whirlwinds, he found it hard to check what was below him.
“Cordelia!”
Jude shouted again. After he clearly remembered the direction from where he heard Cordelia’s voice, he used the wind to guide him to that place.
Shwwwaaaaaaaaa-!
The strong wind pierced its way in between the canyon’s cliffs.
Jude finally landed on the ground, and he saw a small and shining light.
“Jude! Are you okay?”
It was Cordelia. Her small magical flame illuminated the pale-faced Kaplan who was sprawled out beside her. Kaplan seemed to have fainted.
“What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
Cordelia breathed out a sigh of relief before she flopped down on the ground.
Jude approached Cordelia and looked around.
Since they were inside the very deep canyon, the surroundings were dark, and it was abnormally cold.
Despite having the fairies’ Winter Protection, the two felt that it was still cold.
“What about Kaplan?”
“I think he fainted.”
Jude looked up at the sky again. At his estimate, the height of the cliff seemed to be more than a hundred meters.
“I just made a crack.”
“It was surely Kaplan.”
The black dragon had certainly destroyed the ground in the end, but Jude and Cordelia considered Kaplan as the cause of this incident.
Because in Legend of Heroes 2, Kaplan was frequently linked to such incidents.
“What do we do now?”
“Is it…impossible to go up?”
“Probably.”
If Cordelia was alone, it would have been possible with magic, but it was impossible for her to take both Jude and Kaplan.
“The wooden board’s not here.”
“Wouldn’t it be impossible even if it’s still here?”
“Hmm…you’re right.”
Kaplan was too heavy.
The wooden board had risen unsteadily even when there were two people on top of it.
“Rock climbing…that won’t work with Kaplan too.”
“Yeah, it’s a little high for me too.”
Even if Jude had Cheonmujiche, climbing up a 100 meters canyon without a rope or any other safety device was something he would refrain from doing.
“So we have no choice but to get out of this canyon?”
“Yes, I think so. Though…this could probably be good too.”
Cordelia tilted her head at Jude’s words, but soon smiled and said.
“Is it because of Kaplan?”
“It is because of Kaplan.”
Kaplan wasn’t simply unlucky.
He was a man with a strong bad luck.
He was a man who always caused accidents, but he also benefited from those accidents.
‘I fell off the cliff and got it by chance! It’s the same situation.’
T/N: Jude was actually quoting a trope that is common in martial arts novels. The character gets chased by villains and falls off the cliff. Somewhere under/below the cliff, they find a superb martial arts skill book, elixir, etc., and once they learn/consume it, they/their martial arts become stronger.
And at this moment, their group really fell off the cliff.
“Even if this is the wild lands, a canyon like this is uncommon. The direction is also right…so it’s highly likely to be connected with Raptor Canyon.”
Moreover, the Raptor Canyon was home to the ruins of the magic kingdom that was built by the ancient elves.
“Why is Kaplan from the Argon Empire here?”
“Is it because of the ruins of the magic kingdom?”
The two arrived at that conclusion.
When it came to ruins exploration, Kaplan was the best in Legend of Heroes 2.
Though he had an adventurous side such as always being chased by someone or escaping from traps, he was a real archeologist.
“It’s amazing. His bad luck was real.”
They couldn’t believe that they fell down from a cliff that was hidden under the snow.
As Cordelia blinked her eyes and looked down on Kaplan, Jude also shrugged.
“Well…this is a magical world.”
There was at least one magical person like this.
“Eh…by the way, we lost our luggage again.”
Cordelia said with a tearful face.
There were new items that they brought when they left the village of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, but they lost it this time again.
“But with Kaplan’s luggage, it’ll work out somehow.”
Jude said in consolation, and he looked around again before waking up Kaplan.
Because it was Kaplan, so he had to look around just in case.
“Wow, it’s real.”
“What?”
“I mean, there’s a place where we could take a rest.”
They saw a small cave that had a low entrance, but it looked to be good enough for a place where they could rest.
“How miraculous.”
“Well then, let’s go.”
Jude and Cordelia grabbed each of Kaplan’s legs and arms and trudged towards the cave. Once they arrived, they let out voices of admiration again.
“Wow, for real.”
“How is this even possible?”
Because when they saw it up close, it was not a natural cave but an artificial one.
Although it was worn out by the long pa.s.sage of time, they were able to ascertain that the words inscribed in the cave was the ancient elf language.
“I think we must be really near the Raptor Canyon.”
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why inscriptions of the ancient elves suddenly appeared in the canyon.
Cordelia stared at the fainted Kaplan’s face as if he was really amazing, while Jude frowned as he tried to interpret the ancient elf language.
It wasn’t because he didn’t know how to read the ancient elf language, but rather, the erosion was so severe that it was difficult to recognize the letters.
A few seconds pa.s.sed by like that.
This time, it was Jude who let out an astounded voice.
“What on earth…”
“Why? Is it a treasure trove?”
“No, it was just so out of the blue. No, is there anything more unexpected than this?”
“What the h.e.l.l is it?”
“Hot spring.”
“Eh?”
“Hot spring.”
Cordelia blinked her eyes as Jude repeated what he said. And soon, she let go of Kaplan’s hands that she was holding and then shouted.
“Hot spring?!”
“Yes, hot spring. By the way, Kaplan’s head fell off first.”
Fortunately, Kaplan was not hurt because of the piled-up snow.
Cordelia slightly stooped and carried Kaplan by the arms again before she asked Jude.
“Really? It’s really, really a hot spring? Does it say hot spring?”
“Yes, perhaps there’s something like an underground water vein here.”
“Is it still there? It should still work. It still works, right?!”
“I don’t know. Suppose that it doesn’t work, isn’t having a bathtub more important?”
“You’re right. If it’s a hot spring, there’ll be a place where you can put water.”
“You can pour water and then boil it.”
“Wooww, hot spring. Bath. I’ll be bathing after an incredibly long time!”
Cordelia had not been able to take a proper bath since coming to the wild lands.
She had sweat a lot these days, so rather than a treasure trove, a hot spring was more welcome to her right now.
“He’s really lucky, so lucky.”
Cordelia giggled as she looked at Kaplan with affection. If Jude left her alone, it seemed like she would even kiss Kaplan’s head.
Because of that, Jude hastily opened his mouth.
“Anyway, let’s quickly go in.”
“Yes!”
Cordelia brightly answered as she hummed and entered the cave, and soon, the two marveled at the place again.
“It’s real.”
“It’s a real bathhouse.”
There were a lot of places that were worn down or broken after a long time, but the inside of the cave, which was much wider than expected, was a bathhouse itself.
There were large bathtubs made of stone that were in between several pillars.
What was more surprising was the fact that the hot spring water was still surging.
“Huhuhu. Hehehe.”
“Co-Cordelia?”
“I love it. I’m so happy.”
Cordelia said as she shed emotional tears before she laid down Kaplan on a flat floor and then looked at Jude.
“I’ll wash first.”
“O-okay.”
Because taking a bath was important.
Jude searched around and found some things to burn so he set it on fire, while Cordelia took a seat in front of the stone bath that was deep inside the bathhouse.
“Thank you. Just, thank you.”
After Cordelia finished praying to someone unknown, she checked the water quality and the temperature first.
She wasn’t that sure, but it seemed to her that the water was quite clear, and the temperature was just right.
No, this was enough for her to believe that someone was responsible for this.
“Kaplan is the best. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Cordelia held her hands together in prayer, and afterwards, she immediately began to take off her clothes.
As he was standing guard, Jude flinched when he heard the sound of her taking off her clothes, but Cordelia only had the bath in her mind. She didn’t hear Jude suddenly chanting Buddhist scriptures and sutras.
“Thank you.”
She expressed her grat.i.tude again and then got in.
“Ahhh…”
She had only dipped the tip of her foot, but she felt like a shiver ran up her spine.
Cordelia slowly entered into the water, and soon dipped her whole body into the bath.
The depth was just right, so when she crouched, only her neck and head were out of the water.
“Haaaaa…”
How long has it been since I’ve taken a bath?
It’s not that she didn’t wash herself properly with a wet towel or put up with it when she sweated or not, but it really had been a long time since she had a proper bath.
Along with the hot steam, happiness spread all over Cordelia’s face, and her lips naturally opened wide. She began to sing a heartfelt song like a whisper.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~”
She couldn’t stop smiling. Her whole body seemed to melt.
And at that very moment.
“Wow, look at her. She’s very pretty.”
“Really pretty.”
“What, what, who came to our bathhouse? Wow! So pretty! Respect!”
T/N: Respect here is p.r.o.nounced as ‘respect’ in Korean too. It’s meaning though, has nothing to do with the English definition of respect. In Korean, its meaning is more of ‘good job’ or ‘you did great’. So the person saying ‘respect’ here is more like saying that Cordelia did a good job looking pretty or something.
It was a story pattern that she heard somewhere before.
When she thought about it, she was familiar with the situation itself.
Baths.
Song.
The most beautiful girl.
“Hey, hey, won’t you play with us?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Play with us.”
“If it’s her, she can play in the night banquet.”
At the sound of their chattering, Cordelia opened her eyes and saw them.
There were tiny and pretty fairies with animal ears on their heads, as well as tails on their backs, like that of dogs and cats.
They were the wild fairies, one of the 8 great fairies.