"I've lost all my pride..."

That thought constantly scratches my mind.

...

The terrifying cold slightly subsided the next morning and the lack of food forced us to move. However, I can't move my body. After I pay my respects to Darilyus, my body just drops into the snow.

Haha...

My father, barely holding on to himself, is not an option for help. In the end, our saviour has to carry me on her back.

"Are you not cold?" She asks me. I handed her my coat moments ago.

"Mgh..." I reply with my head buried in her messy hair. She is the one naked in winter wearing only trousers she stole from a knight, I should be asking that!

My father notices the sound of crunching snow only appears from his footsteps, the woman seemingly "floats" above the snow with grace.

"Young saviour, what's your name?" My father asks.

The woman shrugs.

...

"Then what can we address you by?"

She pauses and glances at the snowflakes rushing down.

...

"Snow. I like snow." She says.

"I see..."

Hm? My father doesn't know her despite working closely with the prison.

Who...is she?

Her physical strength and footwork are leagues above mine. But she does not have an aura; I can tell.

We walk through the barren land until we see huge clusters of bare trees that soon extend into a forest. A frozen river stretches across the frost-laden nature, its surface glistening beneath the pale winter sunlight.

Following the river leads us to a small settlement. Hiding behind piles of white snow, my father scouts the area. Several guards position themselves near the wooden gate, each wielding measly strength and equipment.

"A small town but a rather large amount of merchants pass here and rest. A branch of The Warriors Association is here so news of the bounties on our heads reached," my father says.

Snow gazes at them with killing intent.

!

"Stop." He blocks snow with his hand. "We've killed enough..."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He looks around into the winter and back at the settlement. "Snow, with your footwork, you can rob passing merchants for supplies while we recuperate deep within the forest. Can you do that for us?"

Snow nods. They bring me deeper into the forest and set a small camp in an area encircled by fallen large wood.

Except for blinking my eyes, my whole body remains motionless. It's frustrating but it's a miracle I'm even alive after fighting a Grandmaster.

The night...is spent silently.

================

Three days later...

================

I recovered enough to speak. Staring at the same scenery for three days, I spent the time reflecting on the past.

...

Snow went out to get more food, leaving my father and I with our small campfire around white snow.

"Dad, what happened that day?" I can finally ask him.

He stares at me for a while before replying. "So many things."

"We have time."

My father looks away and sighs. "Is your mother and siblings okay? By now, knights would have stormed our home to arrest them simply because they are our closest."

"I hope. I asked Uncle Kasler and Uncle Eric for help to hide our family. We are planning to meet near the crossroads of Piear City. Anyways, don't change the topic. I really need to know what happened," I say.

...

Father stares at me with painful eyes. "I killed those people. This is karma. On that day, I took all troops and charged into the mountains without hesitation. The girl, Mina, was there to help me and we encountered a gigantic humanoid beast. It was...really strong. Mina changed the landscape to fight it and descended hell onto winter, even pulling out something akin to a flaming sword of the giants and carved her mark deep into the land. She failed. It escaped."

My father avoids my gaze and looks down. "Afterwards, a huge explosion ignited at Lorain. We tried returning as fast as we could. It was only one enemy. Mina exhausted everything and lost the fight, I don't even know if she is alive. I tried to save as many but more died. Many of my subordinates burnt in agony."

...One person?

"But for some fucking reason, he left me alive as if he needed a scapegoat," My father says with his fist clenched.

"...You already know who is behind this, don't you?" I ask.

My father does not respond.

...

...

"I'm sorry for being so weak."

"Don't push all the blame on yourself, Dad. I'm at fault too."

"The fault of a child is the fault of the parent."

My brows furrow at his remark. "No, spoiled apple does not grow from the tree. I really don't like how you always blame yourself. It makes...all my effort seems meaningless."

...

"Dad, look at me."

He slowly raises his head.

"The enemy I am fighting is not Zepdas, it's Fate. And I underestimated the omnipotent entity. What was supposed to be at the Iron Peak Range is a dragon but that beast showed up...I didn't prepare enough and I was complacent, thinking the knowledge of my past life is omniscient. There's many things I could have done to avoid the current situation. I just...got too drunk on hope. That's why, I'm at fault too. We both are," I say.

...

"Dad, stop dwelling on the past!"

!

"Think about the future, what can we do to avoid this from happening again! Fuck! All the sins and karma shit. Fuck those! It's...not truly over yet. If your life goes to waste, all those that I killed or stolen to...defy fate will truly lose its meaning. That's what you should be afraid of."

My father stares at me with widen eyes. A short moment later, a slight smile breaks open. "Haha...you've really grown up."

"The current me is mentally older than you, Dad"

There are many errors with how I proceeded in the past. Firstly, I rely on myself too much. I lack the help of others and thus cannot prevent incidents out of my reach. My plans were constructed and centered around what I can do to change the future.

Secondly, I lack the information of changes around the world. The newspaper can only provide me the bare fundamentals, I need information source that pries deep into the cobwebs of schemes within this world.

And lastly, the most important factor, power. I lack power, be it influence or strength itself, I definitely need enough to rope in as much people as I can into my plans. As bonus, this helps to mitigate any variables that pops up here and there.

...I should turn to Prince Julius for a start.

We will be moving tomorrow. It's almost time to meet my family and escape from this kingdom. Although before that, I need to stop by the Iron Peak Range.