Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill reflected on the Catalogue of Gods he had recently seen. Singers indeed made their living by gathering information and spreading stories—like the various past and present lives of Cyric, the Prince of Lies.

Otherwise, if someone were clearly a Thief, the first reaction would normally be that it's one of Mask's people.

Only the underlings of Singers would first think of Cyric.

The ever-unpredictable Prince of Lies, Cyric, always bestowed generous rewards on those who created trouble for the Singers on his behalf.

If they could capture the Singer himself, who liked to take on human form to sing and find merriment, Dark Sun would even temporarily abandon his schemes and conspiracies to pick a fight first.

Hill indeed agreed with this catalogue's depiction of the Singer.

He still remembered how the God of Singing had behaved in Gerns.

It was evident that the main goal of the Singer was not to combat Devils but to find out what had happened and, by the way, to gather intelligence about the movements of both Devils and Shaer.

If it weren't for a few friends seeking revenge, the Singer might very well have left without showing his face.

The Goddess of Magic must have asked him to intervene because of his adeptness at gathering information and hiding his presence right under the noses of Devils.

The God of Singing had mingled in Gerns for so many years without the famously paranoid Demon Lord ever discovering him.

If Lynn truly followed the will of his Main God, then there indeed was no need to worry about him rashly confronting a Giant Dragon head-on.

"So, are we safe now?" Hill asked in an even tone.

"Of course, we're about to enter the coldest period in the Northern Continent." Lynn smiled, "At this time, other than the Frost Maiden's rituals, who would want to go outside?

Even those who do not fear such cold would not enjoy such disagreeable weather."

Hill looked at Lynn curiously, it seemed that even the people of the Silvermoon Alliance made use of the Frost Maiden's rituals to send messages!

"Don't be surprised." Lynn said with a smile, "The Frost Maiden's somewhat evil demands are often met by the human females of the Northern Continent with the sacrifice of livestock.

Thus, many of her rituals belong to the Neutral Faction, and no one is going to be too demanding of a lady who kills a chicken each month."

"She's okay with that?" Hill was extremely surprised, "But she is of the Evil Faction!"

"With her worshippers dwindling, she's an Evil God who can only maintain her Divine Power by making the North colder and colder. She can't afford to be too choosy; having believers at all is good enough for her," Lynn revealed with a peculiar smile, "Such rituals will never actually win her favor for ascension anyway, but the girls of the North don't care.

Those who become her priestesses have no other way to survive; delivering messages through the ice and snow is the best way out they can find.

As indifferent as she may seem to those who only worship her to become couriers, she would still fly into a rage if anyone actually laid hands on them.

Her initiation ritual for priesthood, at a time when her faith is growing scarcer, is not something many would brave death to complete.

It's only those girls without any other means of living who would choose the Frost Maiden.

Out of so many girls, there are bound to be a few who stray onto the path of evil; she just needs to choose whom she desires.

In fact, the Frost Maiden has already developed a tacit understanding with many of the factions in the Northern Continent.

She refrains from taking action, and her priestesses can lead normal lives."

Hill fell silent for a moment. Indeed, it had been many years since the Frost Maiden had caused any major massacres, unless someone had courted death by approaching her temple.

Hill had initially thought she feared the Silver Dragon Queen and Elaströ of the North but turned out she was just preserving her Divine Power from being taken by Talos!

"Is life that tough for ordinary people in the Northern Continent?" Hill hesitated before asking, "I remember..."

"The North is good, but only those of the Kind Alignment can settle there," Lynn sighed, "The Silvermoon Alliance is far worse, to say nothing of Sword Bay.

There are fewer troubles here because most people are Professionals, and even the common folks have relatives who are Professionals.

Moreover, most Rangers are devotees of Melikai, and even if they don't perform good deeds, they wouldn't commit evil acts lightly.

Not to mention, there are two other Temples and a Mage-controlled library; think of how few people there are in Quelva!

Even if something is going on in the shadows, it will be buried deep.

The beings that lurk in those shadows also tend to pick other places; this is usually just a spot for them to leave a pair of eyes.

Yet even so, there could be problems just next door, unforeseen, and one never knows when trouble and disaster could arrive.

As for Silvermoon City and Deepwater City, it's never the common folk who live the good life.

In prosperous places, it's even easier for common people to find trouble.

Their lives may be all right, but suffering is always a companion.

There's always someone who doesn't want to live without dignity."

Especially for many women in the North, they hear so many stories of great women, yet they live such humble lives, some as pitiful as sludge in the sewers.

The Frost Maiden's ritual is the most accessible path they can touch.

As long as you walk in the snow in a single layer of clothing and persist until the sunlight of dawn, ensuring you do not freeze to death on the coldest nights of the North, the Frost Maiden will accept you, although it requires a killing each month, she does not specify what creature must be killed."

Hill turned his head to look at Lynn, speaking without expression, already numb to these things in human society.

As a half-elf, Lynn might lend a hand to the pitiful people he encountered and hold a bit of respect for women who struggled to survive on their own will, but he would never entertain the foolish thought of changing human society.

And humans accustomed to such a life wouldn't either.

To some extent, the people of the entire lower tiers of society were not completely barred from progress, as long as they fought desperately, there were always people who could escape the mire.

Therefore, there was no raging fire burning down the whole world.

Thus, the world of Ferun would continue on this way.

Hill sighed inwardly and suppressed those useless emotions with his reason.

This was a problem not even William with his huge Undead Tribe army could solve.

And besides, Hill did not think William would work so hard for the sake of Ferun.

He treated Teraxil like half his homeland, which was why he worked so hard to build up his own nation, but other worlds were not his responsibility.

Whether it was Gerns or the conflicts in Felunryel, it was becoming clear that William was growing more and more like a god, concerned only with his own world.

"Is your tavern still going to be open, with it being so cold?" Hill asked curiously.

"Of course, it'll be open! During the winter, my tavern is the only place they can communicate," Lynn exclaimed with wide eyes. "So many interesting tidbits get circulated from the little taverns of the North during winter. Normally, most adventurers are wandering outside—who would come to the tavern to chat and boast for long periods of time?

If that weren't the case, why would I have stored up so much booze and meat!"

He couldn't help but glance at Hill, "Thank goodness I managed to replenish most of the meat stores in time, though I'm a bit short on smoked meat and sausages, this year's winter came early, the temperature wasn't sufficient."

"Do you need me to revamp an ice cellar for you?" Hill asked impassively, "It could make fresh meat last longer.

After eating smoked meat for so long, they might prefer fresh food."

Lynn waved his hand dismissively: "Forget it! Everyone here has an ice cellar! As long as you don't come to buy, my tavern will last until spring."

"Is hunting possible in spring?" Hill frowned.

"Of course not, but bred meat will be sent over from Silvermoon City," Lynn said with a smile. "There's a Temple of Melikai here, who would dare to hunt in spring!"

"That said, it's been a long time since I've had fresh vegetables," he hinted with a look at Hill. "It's too miserable to only munch on potatoes and carrots for so long."

Hill laughed: "Of course, I'll offer a feast to entertain my dear friend, how about focusing on fruits?"

"That would be great! I've been sick of meat for a month," Lynn said, ignoring his own previous statement.

"You're not without money, why be so frugal?" Hill asked, not understanding. As Lynn said, there was a large ice cellar below his tavern, stocked with various foods before the official onset of winter.

There were fruits and vegetables too, but Lynn never took them out to eat by himself, always eating the same signature meals as the ranger warriors in the tavern.

Although there was plenty of meat, it was not an easy dietary adjustment for a half-elf.

Lynn paused and then sighed, "You probably don't get many chances to interact with these ordinary adventurers, so you don't need to copy my approach.

But let me tell you a bit, so you'll know what to do when you encounter them.

In the eyes of these rangers, warriors, and even some thieves, I'm just a tavern owner. The sheriff's position is not very prominent, only becoming apparent when trouble arises.

They dare to come to drink, eat, gamble, and boast every day because they see me as one of them.

The fruits and vegetables of winter are so expensive, something only an adventurer who suddenly struck it rich would dare to order a serving!

If I ate it every day, in their eyes, I would no longer be the tavern owner but a sheriff hardly distinguishable from the nobles!

Hill, a bard cannot exist independently of adventurers; I don't want to become a chanter who can only sing the praises of the deities."

Hill could only nod silently, accompanying Lynn to the great dining hall.

These matters were remote to him now, but he was not ignorant of them.

Like in the world before, those colleagues who sought progress, in order to figure out all the ins and outs of relationships, abandoned the pretensions they left school with, capable of slapping backs and sharing drinks and fun with anyone; and in just a few short years, they drank themselves into alcoholic liver disease.

Hill glanced at Lynn's agile figure, knowing the physical constitution of humans in this world was high enough, not to mention Lynn was a half-elf, it was likely he wouldn't suffer problems like hypertensions, right?