readx; "What do you mean?" Because it had been raining for days, the firewood around me still had some moisture when I picked it up. The bonfire made a crackling sound, and the smoke was a bit choking, so the group sat in a direction more upwind - the person who spoke was Joshua, and the orange firelight illuminated the side of his face. , the silhouette of the sea and the bridge of his nose make his face look more profound.
"The arrow shaft is made of white wood, straight, oiled and polished with fur. Although the arrowhead is just the cheapest short cone, the arrow feathers are better turkey tail feathers, with the correct shape and meticulous workmanship. Most ordinary hunters will use them. Homemade arrows, arrows carefully made by professional craftsmen, are obviously not the choice that poor thieves would make." Henry picked up a piece of wood next to him, threw it into the bonfire, and then continued.
"The group of people approaching us look like low-level mercenaries, but they should not be with the archer." Mira and Emonica next to her both stared at Henry's side face. The sage's expression was as calm as ever. But his tone was raised a bit, showing his seriousness.
"This is a test. Someone with a bigger background is targeting us." The wind direction suddenly changed. Mira, who was sitting next to her, was choked by the thick smoke and coughed repeatedly. She stood up and moved her position. , Emonica next to her took out a piece of cotton cloth and handed it to her to wipe her tears with concern.
"You mean you're coming again?" Joshua said straight to the point, without any fear in his tone.
"Well, the cost of hiring archers who can afford this kind of equipment is not low. Although I don't know why they are targeting us, they will definitely come again." Henry looked around at the three people around him, and then said softly : "It's better to be careful in the future."
He said this, and Joshua seemed a little silent. He lowered his head and stared at the vague and shaking bonfire for a long time, and then he said: "If I didn't kill that person, but left him alive." if……"
The red-haired swordsman only spoke half of what he said. The tall sage next to him shook his head - even though he knew that Joshua could not see his move - and then continued: "He is just cannon fodder, worse than those lower-level servants." The soldier is just a little more advanced. Most of what that person has is a description of the target, and the specific purpose and reason are not known at all."
"It's a good thing that you dealt with him directly. Otherwise, with the characteristics of the archer, he could continue to ambush and track." The bonfire continued to make a "cracking, crackling" sound, and the sage said a faint word as The end of this conversation.
"Arrange a vigil in shifts."
…
It had been raining for nearly a week, and at first I was grateful for the slight drop in temperature. After like a tireless nagging shrew, it continued to make noise and bring humidity every day and every night. Make you feel bored with everything.
The tinder that failed to light after being struck dozens of times with a flint; the firewood that made you choke and cough as soon as it burned and emitted a lot of smoke; the night that was still sultry and sleepless despite the rain; the smell that started to smell due to the constant humidity. Clothes and cloaks whose musty smell makes you feel sick.
This does not include the thieves and wild beasts that take advantage of the reduced visibility to run around. After a tiring day of running around, if you sleep too soundly after dinner and ignore your surroundings, you will probably never wake up again.
Travel in this era is a luxury concept.
Because you either have to spend a lot of money to hire guards and followers or even bring your own carriage, a series of furniture and mattresses; or you have to spend your own money and risk your life to go into the wild and wander around.
Except for the pampered children of the nobles who want to go out and "experience things", in fact, many people would not be willing to travel if they were not forced by life. But then again, in such an era, only a few people can live their lives safely even in ordinary lives.
The concept of a "peaceful age" is a fantasy for all the people we have met so far, including our Mira, Emmanica, and Joshua.
This is a chaotic era, where violence and death can be seen everywhere, so even the most kind-hearted examples, such as our Mira, only hold values of "not taking the initiative to harm others" rather than "avoiding killing".
She can't escape the background of this great era, or to put it another way, if she had the kind of untimely kindness and tolerance that exists for everyone, she might have died before meeting the sage.
"Kindness" is not the "Mother of Universal Relief". It means not using this power to infringe others or doing evil on the premise that one has the power not to be violated by others, but rather being polite and respectful. Respect for other people as “human beings”.
This kind of respect cannot be blindly avoiding and compromising, if so, it is just cowardice; kindness is a kind of respect and tolerance, but it must naturally be based on strength, and it must be based on strength when it is offended. Fight back decisively.
If necessary, he will choose to kill, but he does not live with this idea every day.
The trend of the times is carrying our protagonist and his party forward. Perhaps one day in the future, the definition of all this will be different.
During this day's journey, they carefully protected something, something sparkling that they tried to protect in such an era. Perhaps after thousands of years, it will take root and sprout when spring comes.
At this moment, they still don’t know what will happen in the future.
Even a sage with rich experience is not an omniscient and omnipotent god - in fact, if he was asked to say whether gods are omniscient and omnipotent, Henry might have a skeptical attitude.
All in all, for the time being, they are just continuing to move forward towards the front of their journey.
Two flowers bloom, one on each side.
The second round of storms in the Thoradin Highlands in July is getting ready, but in addition to the power of nature, other things that are also closely related to people's lives have also begun to happen frequently, and they exist in various fields. It has some impact, but if we want to say that it has been the biggest impact, we have to mention the clergy of the White Church on the west coast and the apologist knights under them.
The beginning of everything must be traced back three months to the five countries that do not believe in the White Church and are considered "lawless places" by the church.
Just like any large organization with tentacles in many areas, everything that happens on the entire West Coast, large or small, is bound to be noticed by the White Church as long as it is related to their interests. Based on this fact, April shocked many people. The White Church's lackluster response to the incident of demons appearing in Duke Monroe's Mansion was obviously something that was difficult to understand.
Except for the ordinary farmers and workers who are deaf to what is going on outside the window, and the matters that separate the two territories become just a passing topic that is discussed a few times and then forgotten. The vast majority of them did not come back until June and July I actually learned about what happened in Monroe from the mouths of the refugees--and forgot about it in the blink of an eye.
But as - or at least what they claim to be - "the first line of defense for human civilization against evil," the White Holy See reacted calmly after learning about the demonic movements in the Monroe area: it did not organize knights to fight against the darkness and save them. light; they did not call on people not to be afraid to move forward as in the legend; they did not make any grand statements or speeches - in fact, they felt extremely unusual that they did not release any news about the devil.
Are you afraid that people will panic? Is it because the current White Church does not have enough strength to strangle demons? Some people on the West Coast who were quite aware of these things began to have doubts in their hearts.
Since mankind has such a thing as history, these evil ghosts are always whispering in your ears, just like our shadows, they exist in this world with every life. They cannot come to this world because Some kind of huge and outstanding power isolates these evil creatures. When the power of the White Church rose, they were given the name "demons" and were used by the church to claim that they were pure evil and chaos, the greatest fear imaginable by humans.
Looking through history, traces of these guys can be found everywhere. Some remaining ancient books and many legends have given scholars and magicians some knowledge about demons. However, when it comes to the individuals or organizations that know the most about demons, it is naturally the church itself that has fought against them for many years.
- Summoning them is not easy. Any experienced mage or advanced scholar who has read tens of thousands of books will tell you this fact: Even a high-level black magician with rich experience, sufficient mana, and a large amount of casting materials cannot guarantee that he can successfully and efficiently summon magic. Demons come out in large numbers for servitude. Human beings are always stupid and stupidly think that they can control everything, and many disasters related to demons in history often originated from someone who thought they could control demons.
Sincerely terrified.
The duke's family in a kingdom that was not particularly powerful successfully summoned a large number of cheap but loyal demon hounds - this should not be too familiar to scholars who are familiar with the relevant history. Obviously, this is something. A high-level demon lord used these tricks to make those humans think they had control of the situation and then actively settled in the world. Once it succeeded, it would inevitably bring chaos and blood to the world.
Who succeeded in stopping this guy? Those advanced scholars and practicing magicians who are hiding somewhere but are not ignorant of the world are curious about this. However, what they are more interested in is - someone who should know better than them. Why aren’t more white churches responding to this?
Doubts linger in the minds of these gray-haired old people who live in seclusion. But it is naturally impossible for the White Church to have no reaction to this. In fact, in a place unknown to them, this ancient organization, which has extremely developed root systems like trees in arid areas, is intertwined in many places. In just three years, Great changes have taken place in a matter of months.
First, many regional archbishops were forcefully replaced.
People were surprised to find that many of the familiar clergy in the church had been replaced by new people who came out of nowhere. These people spoke very elegantly and thought very sharply. They looked very proud and confident, and most of them ——They are all quite young.
Things gradually heated up. By mid-May, the first conflict involving Kiyas attacking humans occurred in a remote town in the Thoradin region.
Rumors about these creatures are not uncommon on the west coast and even in all areas of the Rigal continent. However, with the expansion of human influence, they have been increasingly hidden in inaccessible wilderness areas, and even if they encounter humans Also keep a distance as much as possible and don't get too close, because there are easier prey in nature.
Attacking humans means being retaliated by many of these same tall, strong creatures.
Beasts can understand this, and so do demihumans with higher intelligence. Therefore, in the past, they would never conflict with humans unless humans offended their territory - but what happened in May, But it was the demi-humans who took the initiative to invade and plunder the human villages. In connection with the previous appearance of demons, some people who were very concerned about the church's movements began to think deeply and fearfully.
Among the splendid documents and historical records of the Laman Empire, there are naturally many theories about various creatures. Some scholars have mentioned a concept: through their own persuasion and some mental interference, demons can make humans become A creature that obeys itself more, becoming chaotic and greedy. However, there are many records and legends in which some warriors or heroes with stronger spirits were able to resist the devil's charm and maintain their true nature.
——So, what if we think about this example in reverse?
Demi-humans who also possess intelligence and intelligence, but whose spirit is more pure and primitive than humans. What would you do if you were bewitched by the devil?
What happened in Monroe was not a single incident from beginning to end, but the beginning of a series of events.
On May 19, 1330 in the divine calendar, when the second Kiya attack occurred in another village in the Thoradin region, the ignorant people put aside the fact that the White Church, which some people had been paying attention to, finally With them, they can also visually see the movements.
If you don't sing, it will be a blockbuster.
Signs of armed members of the Guardian Knights heading into the wilderness from various places began to be frequently witnessed by people from all over the place. Ignorant civilians had no idea what was happening, and those who paid attention to the White Church could only guess in vain. A power change occurred within the White Church on the West Coast.
Those replacement clergy who appeared out of thin air, and the sudden and frequent expeditions of the Guardian Knights, who had only served as the guardian of the Holy See for many years, all hinted that some of the policies of the Holy See had changed.
What they are for and what they want to gain is currently unknown to us.
But what is certain is that this will inevitably affect a large range.
Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, with one step, we arrived in July, which was not much different from June. The heavy rain in recent days made the ground damp and soft, and a group of knights wearing cloaks with holy emblems ran wildly along the way.
And the direction it takes is exactly the same as that of our sage and his party. (To be continued.)
