He took another look at Romantic; this Miss Merchant also wasn’t very suitable. Although she had keen perception, her own strength was too weak to follow him on an adventure.
Romantic looked at him, blinking her eyes adorably.
Brand knew that this Miss Merchant was pretending to be this adorable to make him take her along on the adventure, but Brand wouldn’t fall for it. He finally turned his head, his gaze falling on the absent-minded Frey.
"Ah? Ah—!" Frey looked up at him, dazed for a moment, her face flushing red.
"What’s wrong with you?" Brand was momentarily stunned seeing her . In his original impression, Frey should be a girl with independence and insight. But ever since Xavier Mountain Path, she had been acting oddly.
If the Elf Sword hadn’t reacted to her, Brand would have suspected that she had been replaced by Madara’s Undead.
"N-nothing, Brand. Is there something you need?" Frey was still flustered thinking about Brand’s strange request earlier, afraid he might see through her thoughts.
"I need to check up ahead. Come with me."
Frey was stunned for a moment and quickly nodded, "O-okay."
"I want to go too." Miss Merchant twisted around on her horse.
"You stay here obediently. If you want to learn horse riding so much, I’ll let Char teach you. But if I come back and see you tied to the horse again, I’ll drag you over and tie you horizontally to the back of my horse." Brand glanced at her and replied fiercely.
"But I can’t learn it." Romantic answered straightforwardly.
Can’t you be a little humble? Brand couldn’t help but shake his head, "It’s okay, there’s plenty of time. Horse riding is a very simple thing. You need to learn it if you want to go on adventures with me."
"It’s okay, Brand. I can tie myself to the horse. I don’t feel uncomfortable at all." Miss Merchant thought for a moment and responded seriously.
"It’s very important; it’s not just about whether you feel comfortable or not." Brand gave her a bad-tempered glare. He ignored the future Miss Merchant’s complaints and went over to Reto to explain some things that might need attention, grabbed a spare crossbow, and then called Frey to set off.
In Brand’s memory, the most likely place for the plot to occur in this valley was the western branch path. However, the more hidden the place, the more frequently players searched it. In fact, Brand had been there once or twice but found nothing.
But he still remembered every blade of grass, every mountain, and every stone in that area.
The two left the team, and Brand kept an eye on the surrounding scenery. After about ten minutes of horse riding, he finally confirmed his suspicion—this Land of the Elves was definitely different from the game. Something must have happened in the following few months that was unknown.
But seeing him riding around a rocky area repeatedly, Frey behind him became puzzled and couldn’t help but catch up to ask, "Brand, what exactly are you looking at?"
"I’m looking for the entrance." Brand kept turning his horse around the chaotic white giant rocks, and he seemed to have found something. Suddenly, he dismounted and walked toward the rocky area.
"Entrance?" Frey dismounted too and followed him hastily.
"Yes. It’s here, come with me—" Brand answered while drawing out the Elf Sword with a ’clang’ and walked step by step toward a narrow gap between two sharp rocks.
He remembered this place was called ’Crossroads of Destiny.’ In the game, reaching here would prompt a message in the system log, but there was obviously no prompt in this world. He could only rely on experience.
He remembered that behind these rocks, there should be an open iron box containing a stone tablet. That stone tablet was a necessary tool to enter the Crossroads of Destiny but couldn’t be taken out of this valley. Some tried to carry it out in a dimension bag, but it mysteriously disappeared eventually.
This could only be explained as the stone tablet being part of the idealized part of this world.
Thinking about this, he circled the rocks but didn’t expect a gust of wind to hit. Brand’s perception had become quite keen at this moment. Although his mind hadn’t reacted yet, his body responded instinctively—he retreated, bumping into Frey, and the next moment, a golden arrow almost grazed his nose as it flew past.