The mysterious man charges towards the Astral Express Crew as March launches more and more arrows towards the man, who simply raises his 'shield' to block the incoming attack. Zhi Jiang would question why the shield looks like an oversized guitar case if not for him instinctively pushing the crew away as he was rammed by the man.
The mysterious man's advances came to a halt as he felt like he was pushing a heavy box. He took a look and was surprised as Zhi Jiang had used his body to stop him and even pushed him back slightly. He didn't get to process how Zhi Jiang could do this as he heard someone approaching him. He sidesteps to the left to narrowly avoid a spear strike, while also letting go of his shield. This causes Zhi Jiang to lose his balance from the sudden lack of resistance before the shield and the spear collide, causing both Dan Heng and Zhi Jiang to get knocked back.
The mysterious man grabs the shield back and uses it to swing at Dan Heng, who raises his spear to block the attack, but is knocked back by the force and right into a pile of snow. Stelle had charges in while raising her bat to swing at the man's head, but he simply ducked down and slammed his fist into her gut, causing Stelle to cough out some of her saliva. Noticing that March is about to shoot, he tosses Stelle right at March, knocking her back.
Before the man could go and check on the guards, he was hit by a rock covered in a snowball, causing him to stumble. He was very lucky that it hit his chestplate, as he was surprised by the attack and tried to look at where it came from, but he couldn't see anyone. He can't help but feel his stomach twist as he looks at his armor and notices a slightly visible dent on it.
Dan Heng groans as he climbs out of the snow, but notices the guards have raised their glaives at him. Dan Heng had prepared to defend himself by blocking the attack using his spear, but he, along with the guards, was surprised as a snowball hit the guard right on the head. What's surprised them even more is how the snowball not only knocks the helmet away, to reveal a young man with messy brown hair and a pair of bags under his eyes, but the impact also cracks the helmet.
"Noah!" The mysterious man shouts in concern as more snowballs hit the guards who are attempting to attack March and Stelle; each impact knocks them out one by one. "Finn! Felix! Elijah! Henry!"
The man didn't get the chance to rush towards the unconscious guard as Stelle had recovered and tried to bash the man right at his head, but the man was too concerned and angered by the scene that he slammed his fists right at Stelle's head. Stelle stumbles a bit before she counters by swinging the bat right at the man's cheek, leaving a huge bruise.
He was then attacked by several ice arrows, which rendered him ineffective once again, as the man didn't react to them and kicked Stelle, who grabbed his leg and swung her bat at the man, knocking him back by a few feet. He was unable to recover from the assault as Zhi Jiang pops out of the pile of snow right behind the man and raises his spear, intending to hit the man on the non-vital spot.
The man's eyes widened at how Zhi Jiang managed to sneak up on him. But he was surprised when the crystallized monster suddenly flew towards Zhi Jiang, and he redirected his attack at the crystal monster. The man believed he got his chance and tried to attack them, but suddenly, more and more crystal monsters started to appear, surrounding both him, his fellow guards, and the group of strangers.
The man had grown slightly worried at the sudden appearance of the monster, and it didn't help that his fellow guards were unconscious thanks to that snowball assault. But, once again, he was surprised when the strangers had moved their attentions towards the crystal monsters, and even some of them had protected the guards.
The man had so many questions, but it wasn't the time as he joined them to fight against the monsters, mostly for the sake of his fellow guards' lives. He knows this group of strangers is formidable, but the greatest surprise is the pink-haired archer. The attack seems not to have affected him in the slightest, but she manages to take care of the majority of the monsters.
Also, he notices how the man who manages to sneak up on him is also using his bow to take care of the monster. He can't help but wonder what else he can do.
It didn't take long for the group to handle the incoming monster attacks, as the man let out a sigh of relief before he remembered the strangers. He had prepared to attack, but he blinks when he sees the group is not moving.
"H-huh...?" The man utters in confusion. He remembers clearly how they were very aggressive towards his fellow guards earlier, and now, they had stopped and didn't even finish the guards off when they were vulnerable. What's going on?
"What?" Dan Heng asks as he notices the man's confused expression.
"...what are you planning?" The man asks suspiciously as he raises his shield. "Lowering our guards and then strikes us down?"
"...you do realize these guards are literally lowering their guard (Zhi Jiang can't help but cringe at how it sounds like a bad pun, wishing he used a better choice of words) by simply being unconscious and we could just kill them if that's our intention in the first place, right?" Zhi Jiang asks incredulously, earning a stare from March and Dan Heng. "...what?"
"You really dare to say that after knocking them down with what? A rock covered in a snowball? Just how hard did you throw to knock them down and break their helmet?" March asks in disbelief. The man stares at the man in surprise, the snowball was him. But, when he slowly thinks about it, it does make sense as he literally sneaks up on him, and he has the necessary strength required to stop his shield ram easily.
"...enough," Zhi Jiang mutters as he looks away, trying not to show his embarrassed face.
"Then...why are you attacking our guards?" The man asks in confusion.
"We're sorry about that, but the guards leave us no choice but to defend ourselves. We had tried to communicate with them, but it seems that our now disappeared 'companion'," Dan Heng sounds slightly annoyed at mentioning 'companion', in which the man notices. "had caused a huge misunderstanding that led the guard to not hear us out. That man seems to have caused you and your guards a lot of trouble, and we apologize for the misunderstanding and conflict, but we're simply a bunch of travellers who seek the nearest settlement."
"...ah..." The man mutters before he hears the guards slowly waking up. Upon noticing the Astral Express Crew, they panicked and even raised their weapon, but the man raised his hands to stop them.
"Calm down, everyone." The man calls, stopping the guards as they look at the man in disbelief. "These travellers had saved your life from those crystal monsters, so please, at ease and show some gratitude."
"B-but, Captain!" One of the guards stammers. "They were with Sampo Koski, the infamous criminal!"
"If you had at least heard us out, you would know that we just met him and we had no idea he's a criminal," March exclaims in annoyance.
"I mean, I have a feeling given how he describes the guards and mentioning his 'old buddy' Gepard-," Zhi Jiang mutters.
"I'm Gepard," The man reveals his identity, causing Zhi Jiang to blink before his mouth opens in a form of 'o'.
"...I should have connected the dots when they call you 'Captain'," Zhi Jiang mutters while scratching his cheek.
"Anyways, we promised we're not his accomplice," Dan Heng says in slight exasperation. "Besides, he literally abandoned us when we fought each other."
"W-well, it's not strange for criminals to abandon their companions! They're scums after all!" The other guards defends himself.
"So...without confirming that these strangers are truly the criminal's companions, you all had decided that the best course of action is to attack them without reason?" Gepard asks, slightly annoyed and slightly tired as the guards look away in embarrassment. "...I would be giving you all punishment for your rash decisions, but I believe getting knocked by snowballs is enough humiliation for some of you."
"Wait, what?!" The guards exclaim in disbelief. Zhi Jiang is about to correct Gepard's statement, but one look from the captain is enough to convince Zhi Jiang from doing so. He realizes the man had done it to embarrass the guards, punishing them by hitting them right where it hurts, their egos.
"Besides, if they truly are criminals, they would just run away when the monsters appear and leave you to die." Gepard adds more.
"Geez, what kind of monsters did you guys think we are to leave these defenseless guards to die?" March mutters while shaking her head.
"T-then why did you try to shoot us with arrows after we were disarmed?" Another guard asks.
"I was trying to immobilize you, I mean, you guys could still fight with hands," March says as the guards didn't know how to respond, because she's right.
"...once again, we're truly sorry," Gepard says while bowing slightly. "And I apologize for attacking you as well."
"...let's be real, if a random stranger attacks my companion, I would retaliate as well," Zhi Jiang says as the Astral Express Crew nods.
"Thank you..." Gepard is once again shocked by the kindness this group of strangers has shown. "But, may I ask, why are you here, travelling through such a dangerous path? With the blizzard and these crystal monsters, it should be enough to discourage you all from travelling."
"....then I hope you could hear us out with open minds," Zhi Jiang says as the guards and the crew looked at him with questioning expressions.
"...very well," Gepard says with a nod.
"We believed we may have found a clue regarding this seemingly endless winter, the source of it, you could say..." Zhi Jiang says slowly, making sure he picks the right word. "This clue may give us a way to stop it."
"...I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe," Gepard says as his eyes harden. "This winter has existed for 800 years without stopping, so excuse me if I can't trust a word of a stranger who claims you might find a way to stop it, even if you may have saved us."
"...fair enough..." Zhi Jiang lets out a sigh. He can't exactly blame them for not trusting them, given they're just strangers.
"Even if what you claim is true, do you have any proof for your words?" Gepard asks as the Crew seems a bit hesitant, because they didn't have them. Gepard simply glances at them in disappointment before noticing Zhi Jiang's face seems to brighten up.
"Oh, we do have it," Zhi Jiang exclaims, causing everyone to look at Zhi Jiang like he has grown a second head as he pulls out a book. Upon looking at them, they widened their eyes as they saw the title on the book cover.
'An Introduction to Stellaron and Its Impact on Planet: Written by The Herta, the Peerless Gem'
'Huh!?!' The crew thought in disbelief as Zhi Jiang handed the book over to Gepard, who looked confused. March and Dan Heng had become panicked since Zhi Jiang basically handed the man a book written in a common intergalactic language to someone who's from an isolated planet. Gepard opens the book and slowly reads it before his eyes widen slowly.
"This...this looks like the monster crystal we faced...and they were called Fragmentums?" Gepard asks shakily, confusing the crew once again.
"Uh...how did he manage to read it?" March mutters in confusion. Dan Heng takes a glance at the book and realizes one thing: everything in the book uses language similar to the Express's Data Archives about Belobog. Dan Heng looks at Zhi Jiang in surprise as Zhi Jiang gives him a thumbs-up. He had used the train's tech and data, along with Himeko's and Welt's help, to get a copy of it written in the old language used by Jarilo-VI's old civilization.
It was a gamble for Zhi Jiang since the data is from 800 years ago, but it wouldn't cause any trouble since at least there must be a historian that preserve the ancient history, given the path they followed. But, seeing him able to understand the language means that they did preserve the language and even used it till these days.
Truly a follower of Preservation.
"...this changes a lot of things," Gepard mutters shakily before glancing at the group; his eyes display a ray of hope. "Travellers, if you don't mind, would you come with us to meet with the Supreme Guardian?"
To be Continued