Chapter 120: The Geat Betrayal

Hildegard had been following the timeline of the school even while she was here at home, and she knew that finals began last month and would have ended sometime around now. Hildegard hadn’t managed to write the exam with the rest of her year, so she was sure that she would be failing this year. This was exactly what the student council had been planning from the start. They had always wanted Hildegard to leave the school so she wouldn’t beat Mirio in their finals, and Hildegard was sure that they were all happy that she was out of their way now.

Hildegard cursed angrily, and she turned to go and lie back down on her bed! Hildegard was done with this nonsense!

"Hildegard! Come down here!"

Hildegard heard her mother’s voice call out to her loudly, and for a moment Hildegard thought she was hearing things! In the past month, Hildegard could count on one hand the number of times that she and her mother had spoken! There was no way her mother was calling her!

"Hildegard!"

The voice called out again, and Hildegard realised in shock that it was indeed her mother! What in the world was going on!? Her mother was calling her downstairs!?

’What if she changed her mind?’

At that moment, a strange, almost alien thought came into Hildegard’s mind! Hildegard knew that the only reason her mother would call out to her like this was if something serious had happened, and Hildegard felt her heart rate rising as she wondered if her mother had finally changed her mind about Hildegard going to school! There was a chance that one of Hildegard’s teachers was downstairs waiting for her, and they would take her with them! Hildegard threw her covers off rapidly and slithered off her bed before she began to head towards the door!

Hildegard took in a breath as she tried to calm herself, but no matter what she did, it was impossible for her to stop her heart from racing! Hildegard simply threw her door open, and she began heading downstairs!

"Mother?"

Hildegard called out once she saw her mother standing at the door with a man that she had never seen before. Hildegard’s mother turned around to glance at Hildegard, and Hildegard finally got a good look at the man in front of her mother. It was a large bull demihuman with an angry-looking face and a ring on his nose. He was wearing a long black robe that covered his whole body, and outside under the pale moonlight, Hildegard could see a few more people in robes standing around and waiting for him! Hildegard was immediately confused.

"Mother? Who is that?"

Hildegard asked curiously, but her mother didn’t say anything. Instead, the minotaur turned to Hildegard with his hands raised beside him, and he spoke in a voice that showed just how awed he was in that moment!

"Oh, we finally meet, dear Hildegard. I have waited for this moment for so very long. Come, let me get a good look at you."

The man began to approach Hildegard, but Hildegard immediately moved back to avoid his touch, and she turned to her mother and asked her what was going on! Hildegard’s mother frowned, and she told Hildegard not to be difficult.

"Everything will be fine, Hildegard. Now do what he says."

Hildegard was still very put off by all of this, but she couldn’t really disobey her mother, so she allowed the strange minotaur to touch her face and move her head from side to side like he was inspecting a product at the marketplace. The minotaur’s smile only widened as he seemed to find something pleasant about Hildegard’s appearance, and Hildegard was about to say something and move away, but in the next moment, the Minotaur placed his hand on Hildegard’s head and activated a spell!

[Sleep]!

Hildegard’s eyes immediately drooped as she felt her entire body becoming unresponsive, and in the next moment, Hildegard fell back and passed out! The Minotaur caught Hildegard before she could fall to the ground, and he placed Hildegard on his shoulder before he turned to Hildegard’s mother and spoke.

"You have done well, disciple. You can be sure our lord will repay you grandly for your actions here today."

Hildegard’s mother put her hands together and bowed her head towards the minotaur.

"All I do is for the dawn of Ragnarok."

The minotaur smiled and nodded before he turned to leave while giving the standard greeting.

"For the Dawn of Ragnarok. It will not be long now, I can assure you of that. Your faith will soon be rewarded."

....

[The Kingdom of Andura]

Every year, during the winter season, the Kingdom of Andura carried out a Kingdom-wide festival known as the Winter Festival. During this time, decorations were put up across the multiple cities in the kingdom, and it was common to see people moving around the cities in groups and singing or making music! There were gifts shared among family members or loved ones, and the bars were always filled with the sound of men and women making merry as they chased away the cold with warm beer!

Today was no different! After more than a full month of constant snow, Andura had finally become a proper winter wonderland that was completely covered in white dust! There were children at every street corner playing with snow or having a snow fight! And there were workers moving across the streets and putting up lights and decorations in preparation for the festival that would be taking place later tonight.

The Winter Festival had first begun ten years ago when the King had announced that there would be a celebration at this time of the year every single year. It had been a strange tradition to bring up at that time because people usually didn’t enjoy the winter season in Andura! This was usually the season when people would go indoors and hide away until the snow melted later in the year. But the king’s announcement had completely changed the kingdom, and now it was common for the festival to take place!

But what people didn’t know was that this festival was not the king’s idea at all. This festival had actually come to life as a result of a comment Verati had made during the winter a while ago. Verati had been watching the empty streets in the kingdom, and he asked the King why they weren’t celebrating Christmas. The King had asked what ’Christmas’ was, and Verati had gone into a long explanation of what the holiday represented and how the people of Verati’s home world went about celebrating it!

That had been the turning point for the season of Winter, and although the kingdom of Andura didn’t call it Christmas, they still celebrated the festival every single winter as a way to make people enjoy themselves even with the cold weather!

All around the kingdom, children played and laughed as they ran on snow, and people walked across the streets as they bought presents and listened to the merry bands playing music. The City of Aquinas was no different. The streets were absolutely filled with people who were waiting for the festival to begin, and there was a massive bonfire being set up in the city center where the main festival was going to take place.

"Come on, Lana wants to buy ice cream!"