Arknights' Lock of Heaven

While the three were still trekking through the snow, they figured it was almost noon and were about to have lunch... but to their surprise, they were surrounded by people as soon as they had their food.

"Are you really going to rob us?" Fujimaru Ritsuka chuckled.

They were just a bunch of beggars, armed with two knives, trying to rob a Servant, a Sub-Servant, and a Master.

Ha, to put it bluntly, putting aside Holmes and Mashu, she could easily deal with these beggar-like robbers on her own using the magic she's learned over the years.

"Perfect! We were just worried about not being able to find anyone." This was a source of information delivered right to their doorstep. Fujimaru Ritsuka was overjoyed. She never expected to have such an unexpected gain!

"Are you infected?" Seeing that the three of them didn't seem afraid at all, the group of 'robbers' hesitated. "Are you guerrillas?"

"Hmm? Can you tell me properly what an infected person is? And what is a guerrilla?" Fujimaru Ritsuka winked at Mash, who nodded knowingly.

"?"

When I type a question mark, it's not that I have a problem, it's that I think you have a problem.

“Friends,” it seemed as if they assumed the two girls and the young man were backed by something, and that they were dressed so lightly in the snowy plains in the dead of winter, yet seemed not to feel the cold at all…

Seeing this strange combination and their odd behavior, the leader hesitated, deciding to play it safe for the time being. "Even if you are infected, there's no need to make fun of us like this, is there?"

"So what exactly is an infected person?" Fujimaru Ritsuka wasn't in a hurry at all. In fact, she wanted to spend more time with these people. After traveling for so many days, she had finally met other people, and she had to get some information out of them.

"Captain, why waste your breath talking to them!" Just then, a starving bandit couldn't hold back any longer. His eyes lit up when he saw the lunch the three had just prepared. "Quick! Bring the food over!"

As he spoke, he brandished his long sword, threatening, "Or we'll just go get it ourselves!"

“Mash,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said, raising her head with a disdainful look.

Upon hearing her senior's words, Mashu immediately picked up the shield, which she had been using as a cooking table, with one hand.

when!

Then, with great imposing presence, he stood on the snow, in a perfectly chosen spot where a rock protruded from beneath the snow. The violent sound of the two colliding seemed to strike the hearts of the dozen or so robbers.

"Come and get it."

Upon hearing this, the robbers exchanged glances, realizing they had met their match.

"My friend, we were rude just now. We'll leave immediately! We won't stay any longer!"

Upon seeing this, the so-called captain immediately backed down and then planned to leave with his men.

There was no way around it; judging from that girl's demeanor, she was no ordinary person. That shield was probably heavier than both of them combined, yet she could lift it easily with one hand... If those seemingly boneless little hands were to fight, they could probably easily twist open their skulls.

One person could probably hold down these dozen or so starving and freezing defeated soldiers!

Not to mention there are still two people who haven't made a move yet.

The captain regretted it a little. Sigh, he was so hungry that he rushed out as soon as he smelled the aroma of food without checking the situation first.

"Stop," Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a smile, "Did I say you could leave?"

Seeing this, Holmes, in perfect cooperation, glared at the group of robbers with a dark expression, while Mashu turned her head away in embarrassment. Her senior was really... so domineering!

“Friend, we were in the wrong just now,” the captain said, raising his knife warily. “But we’re not to be trifled with either. Let’s part ways amicably.”

The surrounding defeated soldiers also raised their knives in a very cooperative manner, looking like they were well-trained.

Holmes and Fujimaru Ritsuka exchanged a glance upon seeing this.

Judging from their appearance and that earlier address of "Captain"... these people are not simple individuals.

That's perfect. A bunch of down-on-their-luck robbers probably won't get much out of them, so someone with such a complicated background is just right.

"Want some?" Fujimaru Ritsuka dragged a deer from behind, pulling it by its antlers, to the front of him. This was Holmes's haul for the day, and he had even made a sled to carry it along.

Although there were better ways to handle it, he just liked it this way and enjoyed it immensely. Mashu was also very interested and participated in making the sled.

It's purely because it's fun.

"..."

None of the dozen or so defeated soldiers on the other side spoke, but their hungry, desperate eyes betrayed their thoughts.

"As the saying goes, no fight, no friendship," Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a smile. "Answer a few questions for us, and this deer is yours."

“…Captain,” upon hearing this, the fleeing soldiers swallowed hard and then looked at the leading officer.

The officer gritted his teeth upon seeing this. Logically, he shouldn't have stayed any longer; they were being chased, and these people were acting so strangely…

But he was hungry too!

He came from a minor noble family and had only been in the army for seven months. The men under his command were all from the city... The skills of their ancestors in foraging for food in the wilderness had been lost for generations, and it was unrealistic to expect them to survive on the snowfield on their own.

Surrendering to the guerrillas is even more impossible... These people know better than anyone how they treated the infected before. The infected in the base were driven into the desolate snowfield by armies like theirs. No one dares to imagine what would happen to them if they fell into their hands.

All they could do after that day's defeat was run for their lives... and then, incredibly unlucky, they ran in the wrong direction in their panic... and headed north!

"Ask away," they finally relented under the influence of hunger.

“Here, take the meat, the fire, and the spices,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said, taking a step back. “Let them cook, and you answer our questions.”

“Alright,” the captain told his men to deal with the deer, then approached the three men. “What questions do you have?”

"You're not ordinary robbers, are you?" Holmes asked, looking at him. "Although you're dressed in rags, you all look the same, and your weapons are of the same type. You seem well-trained when facing the enemy, and they call you captain. Are you in the military?"

"Or to be more precise, defeated and routed soldiers?"

Actually, these are all things that can be seen with a little attention. Holmes explained them in such detail not to show off, but to break down the other party's psychological defenses.

It's not a wise choice to try to fool a smart person who can see through it at a glance.

"The defeated soldiers..." The captain, quite straightforward, replied, "But they didn't suffer a defeat."

"That was no match for us!" he shouted emotionally. "More than fifty warships! Hundreds of mobile combat units! They were routed without even being able to fight back... Even the Duke is dead, what can a mere captain like me do?!"

“Uh,” Holmes and Fujimaru Ritsuka exchanged a glance upon hearing this, “A warship? You’re the navy? And there’s sea around here?”

"Navy? What is the navy?" The captain looked up, his face full of confusion.

Upon hearing this, Holmes keenly realized that he wasn't talking about the navy, but rather what the navy actually was... This was even more interesting.

"Didn't you say warships?" Fujimaru Ritsuka pressed.

“Yes, a warship,” the captain said, even more confused.

"If there are warships there, isn't that the navy?" Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't understand.

"We have warships, but what is a navy?" The captain couldn't understand it either.

Both of them felt like they were talking at cross purposes.

"Sir, have a bowl of soup first," Mashu said, quickly bringing over a bowl of hot soup they had prepared earlier. "Warm yourself up first."

"Thank you, thank you," the captain said, his hands trembling as he took the bowl. He then swallowed a mouthful of hot soup, feeling the warmth spread from his throat to his limbs, and then suddenly burst into tears.

What kind of mess is this? How could we be so unlucky? It's one thing to be defeated, since it's not our fault, but how did we end up running in the wrong direction?

Seeing this, the two didn't ask any more questions. Instead, they waited for Holmes to calm down before asking, "Excuse me, could you describe the warship you mentioned?"

"Warships? Don't you know?" The captain was baffled by the question. "They're steel warships that burn Originium ore, weighing from several thousand to tens of thousands of tons, specifically designed to deal with large-scale wars!"

I know about warships, but I'm certain that what I know is not what you're talking about...

"So, this warship you're talking about... does it run on land?" Holmes continued to ask.

"Yeah, what else?" The captain was even more confused. In this day and age, no one knew about warships... Could it be some savage who ran out of the mountains?

But looking at these three people, one of the girls was wearing what looked like high-tech armor, the other was plain-looking but her clothes didn't look simple either, and the last one was even more outrageous. His outfit should have been seen on the streets of Victoria, not in this desolate snowfield.

"Do you know what a mobile city is?" the captain asked tentatively.

"..." Upon hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Holmes exchanged a glance.

Mobile cities... that doesn't sound simple at all.

Seeing the bewildered looks on their faces, the captain sensed something was wrong.

"No, you really don't know?"

“Describe that so-called mobile city,” Fujimaru Ritsuka asked, instead of answering.

"A mobile city is a city that can support millions of people, connected by many mobile plots, and can be used to escape natural disasters!"

"You don't even know this?" The captain became increasingly suspicious. "And what race are you?"

He scrutinized the three men closely. "No ears, no tails, no horns, not even halos on your heads or wings on your backs... You are the legendary Agorians?"

Faced with his question, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Holmes exchanged a glance.

What the heck is all this about?

489 Avalon? Merlin?!

“Yes, we are the Agorians,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said without blinking. “You just said that the mobile cities were to escape natural disasters? What natural disasters?”

Upon hearing this, the captain was completely stunned.

He suddenly realized that staying might not be a good choice.

It's one thing to not know about warships, but not knowing about mobile cities... There are people like that in the world, many tribes in the Sami region have never even seen a mobile city. It's going too far to say you don't know about natural disasters.

He hunched his neck and looked around. The cold snowfield, two pretty girls, and a young man who looked like he was not to be trifled with... Could this be... an encounter with a snow demon?

Snow monsters are legendary creatures from the Ursus Inn. It is said that the dying will encounter them in the snowfields; they are bizarre and extremely dangerous…