When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist
Chapter 91 - 89: The Difficulties and Arrangements of the Arduous Journey

Chapter 91: Chapter 89: The Difficulties and Arrangements of the Arduous Journey

Massaging his temples, Horn sat up in the gloomy daylight.

Yesterday had been too reckless. By the time he fired the third arrow from Ferdinand’s Great Bow, his vision was already darkening.

But Horn was still not satisfied; he felt he still had plenty of strength left.

With the thought "let me see your limits," he forced himself past the dizziness and shot the fourth arrow.

Perhaps he was too cocky and lost his bearing; as soon as Horn released that arrow, he regretted it.

In that instant, he felt as though his skull had been pried open, and a ladle of scalding hot and spicy oil vinegar sauce was poured inside, a pain indescribably piercing.

Horn even wished he could take up Cloud Snow and chop off his own head.

It was excruciating.

He even somewhat understood why those witches might go mad.

Sisters, I’m telling you, I empathize deeply.

This incident also served as a reminder for Horn: his limit was only three arrows. After the fourth, he would have no means of self-defense, even risking losing control.

He really needed to practice with the bow and arrow, or he’d continue to miss the tree and hit the mountain wall instead.

Fortunately, after an afternoon and a night of rest, Horn was finally able to get out of bed.

Rising from bed, Horn immediately saw Jeanne and Jia Li sitting at the table.

They sat at the same table, Jeanne diligently recognizing each word in "Knight Sifal," while Jia Li was explaining the basics of Falan grammar and syntax to her.

In this matter, Jia Li wasn’t being mischievous and was genuinely teaching Jeanne patiently.

Previously, when Jia Li said she knew Falan, Horn thought she was joking, but it turned out she not only knew Falan but was also quite proficient in Elvish and Norn.

He used to think Jia Li, with her formidable bearing, was a physical-type witch.

But Qianqian told him that the nature of a physical-type witch is casting on oneself, inevitably carrying a magical aura.

But she didn’t have one. Judging from her use of the bronze rod, she was most likely a mind-type witch.

A mind-type witch, shouldn’t she bewilder all beings like Ruo’an?

This boisterous child surely doesn’t have that charisma?

Horn was more inclined to believe Qianqian as a mind-type.

According to Qianqian, after Jia Li was infused with Holy Water, she reverted to a child’s mentality instead of going insane directly. It’s highly likely that it’s her powerful mental spells that safeguarded her.

As for Jia Li’s sweeping combat prowess, it might truly just be her Innate Divine Power.

Without disturbing the two who were earnestly studying, Horn endured the headache and tiptoed out of the small room.

In the dawn’s slight glow, the people of the Pope Country had begun their work and were packing their luggage, being driven by the elders to march uniformly towards the food tents.

Worried about exacerbating his headache, Horn could only slowly stretch a bit.

Greeting the people bidding him from down the slope, he turned and headed to the hall of the abandoned castle.

"Your Holiness, are you well?"

"It wasn’t sunny just now, but as soon as His Holiness arrived, the sun came out."

"His Holiness Saint’s Grandson, come sit here; this chair has all four legs intact."

The Cardinals stood to greet him immediately, but Horn was casual and sat down comfortably.

"Haha, seems everyone has talked quite a bit. What are you all discussing?"

Qianqian pointed at the map on the table, "Your Holiness, just in time for your arrival, we’re discussing how to traverse the most challenging part of the Path of Blood and Sweat."

The Path of Blood and Sweat was actually an official road established by the El Empire in the Thousand River Valley a thousand years ago.

During that era, the El Empire truly spanned across two continents, a colossal entity.

The central region like the Thousand River Valley was essentially a colonial territory; they’d send a governor to build a city and collect tributes and trade taxes from the vicinity every year, and that’s that.

Yet, the El people still constructed at least a military road within the Thousand River Valley to suppress any potential rebellions.

The Path of Blood and Sweat was part of that military road.

The former Path of Blood and Sweat was both a troop transport route and a crucial trade passage in this region.

It ran straight from Shangruifo County, all the way to Duke Kush’s Joan of Arc Castle in Langsande County, the land transshipment center, and from there continued southwards to the Ibe River.

This long road connected the two major rivers crossing the Thousand River Valley.

Due to centuries of earthquakes, floods, and changes in topography, along with wars and erosion, the once-flourishing lands transformed into a forest of monstrosities and swamps.

By the time Leia Kingdom attempted to salvage the region, it was too late.

"Why, why was it too late?" Horn asked, furrowing his brows.

Qianqian sighed, "Firstly, the changes in topography are irreversible. Half of the original military road is submerged in marsh sludge.

Secondly, the forest there has been occupied by Beastmen, monsters, and giant spiders. During the Hundred Years’ War, Beastmen even invaded the highlands, occasionally descending to raid."

"And there’s another thing," Jeska added, "this region is complex in topography, and it isn’t even for Leia people. The Kingdom already has vast, fertile plains and farmlands, so why would they stubbornly struggle in an unprofitable manner here?"

"And the difficulties the Kingdom faces in clearing this area are the same reasons we can’t pass through here."

Qianqian picked up a charcoal pen, drawing and explaining on the map.

Divided into three sections, this area totals 300 li in length.

The walkable plains portion is approximately 150 li, where a lot of Beastmen and savages reside.

Beastmen are semi-native residents, whereas the savages are descendants of bandits driven into the forest in the past.

They have formed tribes and are quite hostile to outsiders.

"But from the records of Homer Mercenary Corps back in the day, it doesn’t seem too problematic." Qianqian smiled, "If they were strong fighters, they wouldn’t be hiding in this barren land.

However, according to the records, these people fight fiercely and fear no death, causing the mercenary corps to lose 68 professional mercenaries. It’s still a matter not to be taken lightly."

Horn took out a notebook, starting to jot things down silently.

The second discussed was about 50 li of damaged road submerged in marshes.

"This area is the toughest part of the journey, where a slight misstep means falling into the swamp and suffocating to death," Qianqian said seriously, "We’ve prepared sheepskin rafts to use on this route, though that’s not the scariest part."

Starting from here, all sorts of ferocious monsters were expected to emerge, the most terrifying ones were large, hairy monsters.

These monsters are extremely bloodthirsty; they’d madly attack humans and try dragging them into their lairs.

With marshes below easy to fall into, and monsters attacking day and night, Homer Mercenaries lost over half their injured here.

But for Horn’s group, it was slightly better off, since monsters don’t wear armor. Unarmored and light armored foes are like sitting ducks to Jeanne.

Additionally, witches can somewhat resist and suppress monsters. According to some wizards, monsters are just a kind of witch’s familiars anyway.

The third part is the wild spider forest area, which likely rose in prominence within the past 200 years.

"The wild spider forest is a relatively simple part of the journey.

Dense fog surrounds this area all year, making the road invisible, with giant spiders and a swarm of cave spiders.

Fortunately, giant spiders usually stay in their territories and rarely venture out; only poisonous spiders attack.

We have witches, specially prepared herbs, plus routes proven by the Homer Mercenary Corps to bypass giant spider territories. Unless we’re incredibly unlucky, passing through shouldn’t be too problematic.

While listening to the lively discussions among the Cardinals, Horn made silent calculations in his mind.

According to Qianqian’s explanations, the greatest threat to Horn and his party wasn’t the monsters, but nature itself.

As long as they could evade the kingdom’s chasing infantry and mercenaries, the Path of Blood and Sweat wouldn’t be too difficult to traverse.

The fact that those kingdom infantry haven’t shown up unnerved Horn.

"How far are we from the Black Bone Marsh?" Horn interrupted Qianqian’s talk.

"Approximately 55 li left."

"That means there’s 405 li left to Joan of Arc Castle." Horn stood up, "Time’s ticking, we should get moving.

For the specific arrangements on the Path of Blood and Sweat, you all have a day to think over.

We’ll hold another council meeting and elders’ assembly tonight.

Today is October 9th; we still have a long journey ahead of us."