Mash’s soul magic discussion ended up dragging into the clean-up. Which had mostly fallen upon Mash and Red. Mash dealt with the bodies, using a few wooden creations to devour them. he could’ve used reconstruction, but after a long discussion, he decided against it. There was no problem with using the skill on dead monsters, even Luke couldn’t object to it. However, Luke was obviously shaken by the skill, so Mash decided against using it at the moment.

Red had a different kind of clean-up task. She pulled out an oddly metallic book. Well, the covers were made of metal, but the inside seemed like some normal paper. Metal rings joined the two covers. They were designed in such a way that someone could pull them apart to replace the pages inside. The rings just bound everything together. Red had explained that the general had given it to her. As it turned out the general wanted to keep abreast of their actions. Especially, when it came to finding or discovering something that could prove problematic to the kingdom. Red’s specific instructions were to update the general whenever they fought something.

So, Red had taken the job of letting the kingdom know about the changes to the monsters in the area. It was an important job. Monsters like those insects could jeopardize a city. Their sheer numbers could overwhelm a smaller city. However, it was the villages that would be in the most danger. Red had told everyone what she planned on reporting, and Mash listened while he cleaned the grounds. She had dictated the words to Luke while writing them in the book. The book would apparently copy its text into a replica that the general had. It seemed kind of cheap. They could’ve just contacted his brother with Priscilla, but Red told him not to. The general had asked Red to do this because Arthur was already working too hard. Mash could picture that too. His brother was the type to do everything excellently, and he would put in the time and effort to show it too.

Red was left to write what she wanted, and she exaggerated the story greatly. The way she spoke made the wolves seem several times stronger than they were, but it was her report on the insects that really felt wrong. She wrote that even the smallest of the bugs could threaten an adventurer, but he didn’t think that. Even without his skills, he could have dealt with any insect individually. Luke thought the same and asked her about it. She said it would provoke a response from the larger cities. Meaning that the nearby settlements would get protection sooner, and the insects' hive would only be explored by exceptionally high leveled individuals. She was lying to the general and their home, but none of them protested it. A lie to help people, was one they could all live with.

The clean-up went smoothly. Mash didn’t look too hard, but he couldn’t see any more insect corpses. Even if there were a few bodies left, they were buried by the snow. It was good enough. Red was done with her report as well. After she finished, they left. They could have stayed and continued to fight the monsters. They probably could have even joined the general in whatever she had planned. He imagined she would come and exterminate as many insects as she could. Monster hives like these could easily overflow and probably would’ve soon. His fate finally seemed to do something good. Even if it was due to someone else’s preparations.

It took a lot of responsibility off his own shoulders. He might be selfish, but he was fine with that. The general could do a better job than him anyways. Not to mention, his tendency to make things worse. Especially when he lingered somewhere. Also, he had made a promise to Timor and would keep it. The whole group was interested in visiting another continent. Another kingdom that was truly unique.

The air was cold in his face, and it would only get colder the further north they went. They flew through the sky, but not over the mountains. Mash stared up into the clouds and felt uneasy about it. The fact that they were so high up didn’t help with the freezing air, although it did make it easier to avoid the mountains. Plus, it meant they had to take fewer detours, though they still needed to take some. Some mountains they passed were so large that it was easier to fly around them than above them. Mash remembered the first time he flew upward. When he had pierced the veil that hid those grand monsters of the skies. He didn’t think he was ready for that. They flew lower to the ground, but still near the top of most of the mountains.

Only a few of the mountains managed to pierce the clouds, and they could avoid those easily enough. Although it was hard to see. They didn’t go above the clouds, and there had been a constant stream of snowfall. It wasn’t falling quickly, but he flew fast enough to make the snow explode when it struck his skin. Some of it turned to water, and he could feel his hair slowly becoming wet. It was cold, but he could easily control his body temperature. Although that didn’t stop the water from clinging to his clothes. The others couldn’t do the same, but they had bought items to deal with it. They all had coats with a minor warmth enchantment on them.

They could’ve just let Mash go on his own, and then Jill could teleport to him. He was the one who knew where to go. His connection to the imitation of Priscilla was still there, and he could follow it easily. The fact that the link was there meant that Timor was alive, and he had kept the imitation out of any storage item. Mash wasn’t sure if Timor would trust him, but he was glad to see it. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if Timor should. Mash tended to bring things with him. He wasn’t so despondent as to blame himself anymore, but events chased him. A few had been good, but most were just chaotic.

Timor didn’t know what Mash was. The things that Mash might bring to his home. Mash was tempted to send Timor a message, but it probably wasn’t the time for it. They were still a good bit away. Even if they flew as fast as possible it would still take them a week at the very least. He would let Timor know, but only after they got closer. He knew he should let Timor know, but he hesitated. It was a discussion he didn’t want to have. Mash didn’t want to preface every relationship he made with a discussion of the risks of knowing him. That just sounded miserable. Either way, the group wanted to stop if they saw a city or something. So, he wasn’t sure exactly how long it would take to even get to Timor’s home.

The others wanted to fly together. They were curious about the north and wanted to see the lands. Mash couldn’t disagree. Unlike his home, the land here wasn’t blemished by towns or cities. The wind kicked up snow in between mountains. It filled the valleys in what looked like a flowing river of white water. Where the wind slowed, the mountains were covered in a pristine carpet of snow. The tallest mountains’ snowy tops blended in with the clouds they punched into. Mash wanted to fly into them, to soar past into that place far above them. To tread among dragons and other beings that claimed that place.

He didn’t do it and flew on through the snowfall that threatened to blind them. If not for his connection, he was sure they would have gotten lost a few times. The snow would’ve made it near impossible to know where to go. He wondered how the people got around. Maybe they didn’t? He hadn’t seen anything like roads or cities of any kind just yet and imagined they might live outside the main mountain range. The edges might have more open areas for roads and towns. Although that didn’t really align with what he had learned about the area. The north was known for its mountain kingdoms.

Day changed to night, and it grew dark quickly. The sun was already mostly blocked by the clouds and snow, but the night was something else altogether. It wasn’t pitch black, but the darkness was deep. Little light touched the night, but where it did it made the snow glow. The snow seemed to capture the moonlight. Each piece seemed to glow faintly. They were moving quickly, and the snow rushed past his vision. During the day, the snow had been familiar.

Now it was like a stream of lights. With how fast they were moving it seemed more like the stars themselves were falling. An endless shower of tiny comets swarmed across his vision. The mountains would’ve been hidden by the night, but patches of snow was illuminated by some rays of moonlight that managed to sneak by the clouds. The mountains were given a faint outline as the snow reflected the light. Mash took in the sight. It was something he had never seen before. He was so entranced by the image, that he barely noticed when Jill stopped. They had been flying together, but they had all been taking in the sights.

He only really noticed when she left his domain, and he paused mid-flight. He was the last to notice, and he flew back to see what happened. He guessed she was running low on mana and would need to rest. Honestly, he expected to take more breaks, but their flight skills were fairly efficient. Mash just had enough energy to exceed them.

[There’s something over there.]

They communicated through messages rather than words. It was hard to hear one another with the wind and snow. Jill floated in place and stretched one shaking hand toward a mountain as Priscilla sent her message around. She was least able to deal with the cold but insisted on handling it herself. It was obviously too cold though, and Mash raised the temperature around him. She glanced at him but didn’t protest this time. His gaze turned to follow her finger.

At first, Mash didn’t see anything special. It just looked like a normal mountain. It was the tallest mountain in the area, but it wasn’t the tallest he had seen. Its peak didn’t actually reach the clouds. He could see the peak clearly as it was outlined by a strange orange hue. He didn’t think anything of it, but then realized why it was important. And he stated the obvious.

[It’s a volcano.]

[It’s a warm place to take a rest for the night.]

Jill’s message explained what he had already understood. He just hadn’t said it.

[I believe we could all use a break. And we aren’t likely to find many warm places this far north.]

Red sent a message and started drifting toward the volcano. Mash followed simply. The volcano was still a good distance away, so Mash planned on staying near Jill to help her stay warm. He didn’t think she would object anymore, and he felt bad for not doing it earlier. She had wanted to deal with it herself, but he should’ve helped anyways. Although, there wasn’t a huge risk. Luke could heal sickness just as well as frostbite, so Jill wasn’t in any real danger. There just wasn’t any real reason for her to suffer for no reason. He planned on telling her as much once they set up camp. Jill grabbed everyone. Stretching one arm to pull Red and Luke together. Her other hand grabbed his shoulder.