From now on, their roles would be more defined. Though "follower" was a vague term, Rhett decided to appoint Tadel and Kurs as the castle's guard captains, along with other duties such as being the new instructors at the knight training grounds and the captains of Chuiying Town's security team.
In the past, on the lands of Chuiying Town, regardless of the matter—be it big or small—Riley and Tucker had to personally handle everything, including the responsibilities now assigned to Tadel and Kurs.
At the beginning, even minor issues like dealing with wild wolves, bears, or boars required Tucker or Riley to step in. If word got out that a noble's son was handling such trivial matters, it would certainly draw ridicule.
Only after the formation and development of the town's guard did the situation slightly improve. With the continuous training of knight apprentices, some of the pressure on Tucker and Riley was alleviated.
Now, with two first-tier knights—both experienced ex-mercenaries—joining the territory, not only would they help shoulder the burden for Tucker and Riley, but they would also enhance the territory's defense. However, Chuiying Town still had too few official knights, so Tadel and Kurs would have to take on multiple roles for the time being.
To compensate, Rhett planned to favor them in the distribution of energy potions, which are a significant motivator for knights.
As they approached the entrance to Chuiying Town, about a hundred meters away, Tadel’s sharp eyes spotted the simple yet neatly arranged layout of the town’s gates and the interior beyond.
The rustic charm of the place, with rows of wooden houses and neatly hung farm tools and dried meat, gave Tadel the impression of a newly established noble’s territory.
However, what caught his attention the most was the potential to achieve great feats by following a newly rising noble with a strong foundation.
As a cold wind swept through, everyone’s attention was drawn back to the present.
Kurs commented absentmindedly, "It feels unnaturally cold here. It wasn’t this chilly where we came from."
"True. Even where the Ice-Spiked Bear was, it wasn’t this cold," Tadel frowned, realizing the change in temperature.
As they neared Chuiying Town, the temperature seemed to drop further with each step.
Riley, listening to their conversation, also noticed the phenomenon. However, this was beyond his understanding, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
"Oh?" Rhett raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "Is there any particular reason for this? Have you encountered something like this before?"
Kurs and Tadel shrugged. Tadel explained, "Sorry, my lord, but we haven’t. As mercenaries, we’ve often ventured into dangerous places, so we’ve become accustomed to paying attention to our surroundings. We’re sensitive to environmental changes, but we don’t know the cause. We’re just ordinary folk on the fringes of this world—there are many things we don’t understand."
"Haha, exactly! There’s so much we don’t know, so why overthink it?" Tucker chimed in, clearly resonating with the sentiment. He beamed as he threw an arm around Tadel’s shoulder, letting out a hearty laugh.
Tadel winced in pain, quickly pulling away to the side. "Ah, my arm!"
Rhett gave Tucker a stern look. Embarrassed, Tucker scratched his head and moved to soothe Tadel. "Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to. I forgot your arm was still injured."
"It’s just a minor injury, nothing to worry about," Tadel responded with a helpless smile and began chatting with Tucker. Despite the brief interaction, Tadel found that Tucker, the eldest son of Chuiying Town’s lord, had a straightforward personality—making him easy to get along with. His lack of pretension created a relaxing atmosphere around him.
Suddenly, another icy wind swept through, sending chills down their spines. This time, even the knights couldn’t ignore it.
Apart from Rhett and Riley, who had magical protection, Tucker, Tadel, and Kurs found themselves shivering despite their first-tier knight physiques.
"So cold... It feels like the ice is piercing my bones. I haven’t felt cold like this since becoming a knight," Tucker stammered as he shivered.
Tadel and Kurs weren’t faring any better. Their teeth chattered as they pulled their clothes tighter, baffled by the strange cold.
"There might be something unusual here. Stay alert!" Rhett narrowed his eyes, his voice low.
The icy wind had dissipated the earth-shielding spell around him. Rhett knew that, even though he hadn’t infused much magic into it, it wasn’t something that should break so easily. Ordinary weather couldn’t have caused this.
He glanced at Riley, noticing that his son was standing calmly, unaffected by the cold. His water shield remained intact.
"Riley, aren’t you cold?" Rhett asked.
"Strangely, no. It suddenly stopped being cold," Riley replied, frowning as he tried to figure out why he wasn’t affected.
The others, now fully on guard, didn’t have time to focus on the mystery.
The three knights instinctively formed a triangle formation, with the two magicians in the center—a basic tactic for protecting the strongest ranged fighters.
Once in battle mode, Tucker’s usual carefree demeanor disappeared. His sharp eyes scanned every corner, ready to strike at any potential threat.
Suddenly, Rhett sensed a disturbance and quickly looked up, instinctively alerting the others. "Look up!"
Everyone immediately turned their gaze to the sky.
And then... it started snowing.
Delicate ice crystal petals began to fall, beautiful and dreamlike.
But these snowflakes weren’t the usual white—they were as clear as ice.
"This snow is strange," Tadel muttered, his mind racing as he tried to recall any similar anomalies he had encountered during his years of wandering.
As a magician, and a second-tier one at that, Rhett could sense much more. He was puzzled by the sudden, bizarre elemental fluctuations in the sky. These fluctuations were unlike any magic or natural elemental flow he had encountered before.
If he had to describe it, it felt more like... the presence of a highly condensed elemental being?
Because of this, he had noticed the anomaly above before the snowflakes even began to fall.
But as he scanned the sky, he saw nothing but the falling snow.
"My lord, could this strange occurrence be related to your territory?" Tadel asked quietly, thinking that Rhett, as the lord, might have more insight into any unusual phenomena nearby.
Rhett shook his head. "I sense something hidden up there, but I can’t see anything."
He turned to Riley, noticing that his son was also staring up at the sky. Remembering how Riley hadn’t been affected by the cold earlier, Rhett felt a sudden realization.
He opened the system.
【Do you want to start a text simulation? Each year of simulation will consume 5 points of Destiny.】