Contents
Chapter Thirty-Five
Overview
An avalanche engulfs the Western Pass, forcing Sora to command a risky leap into a cliff cut that saves her, Mikail, and Euyn. In the calm after, Euyn confesses Seok forged Chul’s consent and Sora was never sold, overturning her core trauma. Sora responds by striking Euyn, resetting trust.
Summary
On the Western Pass, Euyn drives the califers as snow thunders down the mountainside. Sora wakes, shouts “Avalanche,” and rejects Euyn’s plan to outrun it, insisting they abandon the sled for a narrow cut in the cliff ahead. With no time to argue, they grab what they can and jump.
The avalanche rips across the pass. Pressed back-to-stone in a shallow recess, snow surges up their bodies as the sled and animals are swept into the gorge. Euyn panics, expecting burial, until he realizes the cliff cut channels most of the slide outward, sparing them. Sora’s mountain knowledge proves decisive, saving all three.
As silence returns, relief turns to laughter. Grateful and moved by Sora’s selflessness despite their past lies, Euyn decides to repay her with truth. He reveals that Seok threatened Chul’s family; Chul stopped fighting to protect them but refused to sign indentures. Seok forged Chul’s signature before a corrupt magistrate; Chul later killed the judge. Sora and Daysum were never sold by their parents.
The revelation brings Sora a complex surge of grief, relief, and joy—then anger. She punches Euyn in the face, expressing both betrayal and the shock of having her lifelong belief overturned. The moment both bonds and divides them, reframing Sora’s past and the group’s fragile trust.
Who Appears
- SoraMountain-raised fighter who orders a leap into a cliff cut, saving all; learns she wasn’t sold and punches Euyn.
- EuynNarrator; drives the sled, trusts Sora’s plan, then confesses Seok forged Chul’s consent; gets punched.
- MikailCompanion who jumps with a rucksack and survives the avalanche thanks to Sora’s quick decision.