After that, I spurred the horse and headed quickly toward Winterhold. By sticking to the paved roads instead of cutting through the untamed wilderness, we were able to make excellent time.
I could have cut across the mountains to shorten the route, but the snow was deep and the terrain was too rugged for the horses to handle comfortably.
Besides, bandits often lay in wait along the passes, so I decided to take the detour through Dawnstar.
The journey seemed to be going smoothly until another obstacle appeared.
"Hey, stop right there!"
A group of Imperial soldiers had blocked the path. They looked like Legionnaires at a glance, but something felt off.
For one thing, the squad was a mix of Orcs and Dunmer, and their faces were caked with dirt as if they hadn't seen a bar of soap in months.
"Is there a problem?" I asked warily.
An Orc, who appeared to be the leader of the group, stepped forward.
"Citizen! To use this road, you must pay a... er... 100 gold toll!"
The bastard demanded money immediately without even offering a proper explanation. So this is what it feels like to be targeted by a clumsy voice-phishing scam.
It was obvious. These were bandits who had either stolen the uniforms or stripped them off dead soldiers to impersonate the Legion.
The right thing to do would be to cut these criminals down, but there were seven of them. The Orc leader in particular was massive and looked like he knew how to swing a mace.
With my wallet being quite heavy these days, I figured it was better to avoid a fight I didn't need. Sure, other travelers might suffer, but I could always come back and wipe them out once I got stronger.
Just as I decided to pay the fee and reached for my coin purse, Lydia stopped me.
"A toll? What kind of tax is this? As far as I am aware, the Empire does not collect tolls for passage on public roads."
"What?"
The bandits looked momentarily taken aback by Lydia's pushback.
Most travelers would have been terrified and stayed submissive, but Lydia, with her overflowing sense of justice, was different. She had clearly sensed the suspicious aura coming off them too.
"It's a military secret. We cannot disclose the details to civilians," the Orc lied through his teeth with staggering confidence.
Not one to be outdone, Lydia pressed him again.
"Then show me the official documents bearing the Imperial seal. This is my right as a citizen of Skyrim."
The Orc was flustered again, but not for long.
"Just shut up and hand over the gold. Or don't pass at all."
He drew his sword from his hip. At this point, I don't think he was even trying to hide the fact that they were bandits anymore.
"Lydia. We're outnumbered and these guys look reasonably tough. For now, we should just—"
—Fwoosh!
The moment I began whispering to Lydia, the Dragonborn, Choi Ha-neul, took drastic action. She fired a flame-imbued arrow straight at the Orc.
The action was so sudden that I stood there blankly for a split second. The flaming arrow slammed into the Orc's face, leaving it charred black.
It didn't look like a fatal wound, but the agonizing heat had him clutching his face in a blind panic.
Not missing the opportunity, Lydia leaped off her horse, drew her sword, and charged at him.
"Chief! Watch out!"
One of the bandits shouted a warning, but what could an Orc who was blind and screaming in pain do?
Lydia's steel blade thrust toward his vitals. He must have had high HP, because the first strike only left a shallow wound.
However, Lydia's second strike buried itself deep into his flesh. Naturally, the Orc slumped to the ground, dead on the spot.
The bandits, having lost their leader in a matter of seconds, froze in confusion for a moment before drawing their weapons and rushing us.
"Die! You bastards!"
They screamed curses as they charged, but Choi Ha-neul launched her second spell. Another bandit went up in flames.
"Gah! It's hot!"
The fire spread rapidly across his fur-lined armor. He rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames. I buried an arrow in his chest, and just like that, the bandits had already lost two of their comrades.
There were five left. Since they had managed to close the distance during the chaos, Choi Ha-neul and I drew our weapons for close-quarters combat.
Three of them lunged at Lydia, who was closest to the front line.
"Die!"
She ducked under a swinging woodcutter's axe and delivered a sharp kick to the man's shin.
She could have finished him with a thrust or a shield bash, but since she was facing three at once, she couldn't afford to focus on one target for too long.
A second bandit rushed in immediately. Lydia blocked the blow with her shield, sidestepped a mace swing from the third man, and drove her sword through the third man's neck.
In the meantime, the bandit she had kicked scrambled back up. He and the second man lunged at Lydia simultaneously.
It seemed she couldn't avoid everything; while she was parrying one, the other managed to slam his mace into her back.
However, thanks to her high health and the protection of her heavy armor, the damage was minimal. After killing the second man, Lydia spun around to face the last one. The remaining bandit cringed in terror.
"W-Wait, plea—"
Before he could finish his plea, his head was parted from his shoulders. Every movement of hers was chillingly fluid.
'Damn. She's terrifying.'
While I had been busy dealing with one bandit, Lydia had handled three by herself. I couldn't help but be impressed by her combat prowess. Bringing her along was definitely the right choice.
"You're... really strong, Sister..."
Choi Ha-neul, who had finished off a bandit with me, approached Lydia with wide eyes. I reached out and gave her a sharp bonk on the head.
"Ow! What was that for!"
"It's a good thing Lydia is as skilled as she is. If she weren't, one of us could have died because of your stunt."
Even though all three of us were unharmed in the end, her action had been reckless. If Lydia hadn't been this competent or if Ha-neul's magic had missed, there was no telling how this would have ended.
"No more impulsive moves from now on. Understood?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
She replied with a bit of a pout, but I figured she understood well enough.
"More importantly, Sister! You were amazing! Where did you learn to fight like that?"
The Dragonborn turned to Lydia, who was busy wiping the blood off her sword.
"Heh, you flatter me. My father began teaching me the blade when I was just a girl."
Lydia seemed pleased by the praise.
It was a strange sight—two women casually chatting and feeling proud about how well they had killed people. A bizarre scene, truly.
Regardless, we dragged the bandit corpses off the road so they wouldn't obstruct other travelers and climbed back onto our horses.
Choi Ha-neul was so impressed by the fight that she kept peppering Lydia with questions.
"How old are you? Do you have any hobbies?"
"Well..."
Lydia seemed a bit overwhelmed by the barrage of social energy, but the two of them became friendly quite quickly.
We continued north, and I could feel the climate shifting drastically.
Being the frozen north, the air grew biting until the shivering set in, and before we knew it, the world around us was a blanket of white.
Lydia and I were Nords wearing thick furs, so we were naturally resistant to the chill, but Choi Ha-neul—a High Elf wearing nothing but thin mage robes—looked like she was freezing to death.
"Ugh... it's r-really cold..."
"That's because we're in the north now. Just wrap yourself in this for now."
I pulled a blanket from my bag and handed it to her, telling her to hang in there since we were almost at Winterhold.
We needed to find an inn and secure permission to enter the College before the sun went down.
We rode past the outskirts of Dawnstar toward Winterhold, and finally, the city came into view.
However, the horses couldn't gallop properly because of the ice on the road, so the trip took longer than I'd anticipated.
By the time we arrived, the sun had nearly set. I decided we would sleep for the night and visit the College first thing in the morning.
"Argh! It's too cold!"
Choi Ha-neul shouted the moment we entered the city limits. True to its name, Winterhold felt like it was stuck in a perpetual, biting winter.
"Let's just sleep today and go tomorrow morning."
"That sounds good..."
"Get us to an inn, quickly!"
We ducked into the Frozen Hearth. I'll never understand why Skyrim innkeepers choose such depressing names.
"Sister! Share a room with me!"
Ever since the fight, the Dragonborn had insisted on calling Lydia "Sister."
"In the same room? My apologies, but perhaps another time..."
Lydia politely declined, likely still feeling a bit awkward. Human relationships are like that.
There needs to be a certain distance between people. If you want to get closer, you have to take it slow instead of rushing in.
I was sure they would become close soon enough.
"Aww... that's a shame."
Choi Ha-neul backed off, looking disappointed. I was exhausted too, so I warmed myself by the hearth for a bit before turning in.
The next morning, after finishing breakfast at the inn, we finally arrived at the bridge to the College of Winterhold. We approached Faralda, who stood guarding the entrance.
"What is your business at the College?"
Choi Ha-neul raised her hand and spoke up.
"I wish to enroll!"
Faralda let out a sigh, sounding rather annoyed. That's strange. Was she always this prickly in the game?
"Another applicant? I apologize. Seeking knowledge is a noble pursuit, but with the war going on, we've seen a massive surge in visitors lately. It's caused some... complications."
She began explaining why they were being so selective with new students.
"We get many who have no talent for magic at all, or those who drop out the moment they learn a few simple spells. Honestly, that wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the students who become drunk on the power of magic and use it for ill intent. It's done a great deal of damage to the College's reputation."
So that was the situation.
"We're not like that! If I'm accepted, I'll study really hard. And we're not bad people!"
"Hmm..."
Faralda narrowed her eyes as she looked us over. After a long moment of contemplation, she finally spoke.
"Very well. I shall put you to a test."