"Ship? Sir, ship?" the attendant asked in shock.
"Is it necessary to repeat it? I want a ship." Hitarian's voice was suppressed. She was holding the suitcase in her palms, sweating so much that it almost fell out of her hands. "Ship to the south, leave Danlao. I hate it so much. This damn place will never be safe for a day." The prepared lines were swirling in her stomach. Hitarian actually didn't hate Danlaw that much. The spices here were extremely rich and the climate was warm and humid, but she had to memorize the lines.
It seemed like she had left Byrne a thousand years ago. She had to recall her vows every five minutes before she had the courage to continue. Of course, the sword hung by the Black Knight's neck is more effective... In any case, she is walking beside the dock in Danlao, with a muddy gravel road under her feet, and a series of gray alleys beside her. These roads, like the sandy road beneath her feet, zigzagged to completely unfamiliar houses. Fortunately, she didn't have to go in, otherwise she wouldn't be able to crawl out even after dark, but if she stood here alone, she felt that she had no cover. Leaving Byrne, she seemed to have lost her soul.
Even life last week was better than here. After being canonized, Hitarian was sent away from Bain, and came to Monian Toros with the northerner Witk, where they were received by the scouts of the Order. His name is also Witek Shazo, but he looks exactly like a local. All the guides have only one name for each other, Celsus told her, you only need to remember this name, it has mysterious protection.
The local Witek placed them in a villa, which was so luxurious that she was shocked. She didn't have time to ask her doubts. The long-distance teleportation made her dizzy and had to lie in bed for two days. After he could walk in the fields, Hitarian was given a maid's dress and told that he needed to water the tulips in the garden at six o'clock every day. Hitarian knew he had better do as he was told. On her first day, she met a northerner dressed as a gardener next to a flower pot, and she immediately understood that this was all part of the disguise.
"I want to be a maid?" Hitarian asked among the flowers. There seems to be nothing wrong with this, and daily work is actually very easy.
"Only on the surface," the northerner replied. His glove dug into a rose thorn, and he lowered his head to pull it out with his teeth. "Those who do rough work are servants, and those who do easy work are apprentices."
"apprentice?"
"The Dark Wizard's Apprentice. This was once a laboratory where a Dark Wizard hid."
I'm not afraid at all. Hitarian swallowed. "I am a dark wizard..."
"...Apprentice. Well, don't worry, this dark wizard doesn't want to find an apprentice at all. He needs someone who knows some mysterious knowledge and a qualified test subject. You won't meet him. That idiot is now interested in the housekeeper. Just do what you say." The butler was the local "Wittek". Hitarian saw him once when he walked out of the staircase, and immediately threw himself to the drainage ditch to vomit. "He won't hurt you, and he doesn't remember that he never had an apprentice like you. Servants and experimental subjects are the same."
Hitarian didn't dare ask which one he belonged to. Since it's almost the same, let's just do whatever it is. Anyway, these senior nightingales will make arrangements.
“I just need to water every day?”
"No. You are not a tulip." The northerner spat out the thorn, "What the dark wizard needs is a mysterious apprentice, not an ordinary maid. You have to memorize all the knowledge he teaches you, and it is best to apply it skillfully."
"In my room?" she asked quickly.
"That's right. And it's at night. This is not a task that can be completed in a short time. You have to work hard."
Learning the occult is not like learning the alphabet. Hitarian is a changed doctor, and she knows very well that magic requires repeated practice. The profession gave her a reservoir of relevant knowledge, but the first time she cast the spell it still scared the rat out of her mind - she had intended to calm it down. Mrs. Ning Ayre thought she had exerted too much force.
I want to comfort it, Shitarion thought, comfort a fragile animal. Once upon a time, I was also a mouse in Yotsuba Castle. Byrne gave her peace, but the Black Knight drove her out. She couldn't pretend that she didn't hate him. But Ruth was still dreaming... Sometimes, Hitarian felt it was unfair. She is coming to the dangerous Theocracy of Gaia, but her sister just needs to sleep soundly. She also kind of hated Lady Liana and Celsus, Murum and the Mentor, and even the northerner Witek in front of her, who had all boasted of protecting her.
Hitarian didn't know if he should hate the Starless Night. I was a complete idiot, she wanted to cry a few times at night, I should have said no to the Black Knight. Danlau's tulips could not soothe her fear, even if no one in the villa really hurt her or cared about her. She is a nightingale who can only recall her hometown at night. But now, they have to take away even this little space.
So she studied at night and lit a white candle before going to bed. The incense draws her soul into a dream of knowledge. Hitarian hadn't seen Uriel for a long time, and of course he couldn't see his sister. After leaving Byrne, she didn't even have dreams of her own. Fortunately, the northerner said that she only needed to memorize the lines for a week, and the part of filling in the knowledge would be over soon.
He didn't lie to her. As Hitarian gradually adapted to life as a maid and became fluent in memorizing the basic spells of dark magic, the Crusader raided the villa. She witnessed the Holy Commandment kill the dark wizard, and the butler and most of the servants were missing. Witek, a northerner, found Hitarian and told her that this was all a prearranged script. She didn't know whether to believe it.
"You are to escape from Dunlaw," said the Northman, "from the sight of the Dark Wizard. Don't stop where you can hear his name. Go, Ringot, you know how to do it and how to say it. You God will bless you."
Hitarian fled into the streets, as his guide soon disappeared. The flames had reached the backyard, destroying the tulips she had tended. If the script had been followed, she would now be homeless. What can I do to get back to Byrne? Hitarian had to pretend to be happy about the fire behind her, but in fact she was almost in tears. In the eyes of the locals, she was an apprentice who was lucky enough to escape the control of the dark wizard... But that was her mask, not her. Now that preparation time was over, Danlaw opened his arms to her.
It's neither safe nor friendly here. Hitarian could not show her helplessness. She forced herself to click like a clockwork alchemy doll to complete the task: escape from the burning villa, go all the way north to the dock, and ask for a boat away from Danlaw. The ship leaves. The squire was not her squire, he belonged to the captain. In the dark wizard's villa, the northerner told her the origin of the captain.
"Rudy was a knight fifteen years ago. He was much stronger than ordinary people, but he was no match for mysterious creatures and his reflexes were slow. Later, the dark wizard cut off his foot on the battlefield, and the wounded Rudy died. Returned to Danlaw. He exchanged his armor for two boats, one of which stops on the shore at noon every day, waiting for guests who need to sail away. You go to him."
"What if someone gets on the ship before me?" Hitarian couldn't help but ask.
"You have no choice but to wait any longer. There is nothing you can do."
She could only pray that Ruth's luck would work across thousands of mountains and rivers. But I didn't expect that the problem didn't lie here. "Are you alone, mademoiselle?" asked the attendant. Although he sold his armor, Rudy still has his status as a knight. It's no surprise that he has attendants.
"one person."
The attendant stared at her, especially the inside of his arms. Hitarian realized that he should wash off the soot first, but that wasn't in the script. Now he knows I escaped the fire, she thought uneasily. Dark wizards were unpopular, and Cross Knights hated disruptors, and he was more likely to land me in the Sheriff's Office than off Danlaw's ship.
"You can't walk alone."
"Please, sir, I can pay."
"Of course you have to pay." He muttered, "Okay, I'll help you once. Come with me, I have to ask the knight." The attendant motioned for her to follow.
There is no difference between Rudy and the portrait. Maybe he never imagined that someone would specifically paint his portrait, Shitarian thought, only Nightingale would do this. She had to react as if she were meeting him for the first time, and it was not impossible that the maid tending the garden would recognize the captain on the dockside... Witke, a northerner, asked me to find him. Maybe he is also a leader and can take me away from Danlao. However, the script doesn't tell Hitarian where she's going next.
"Are you a servant of the... house in Thumb Lane?" The captain's eyes were even more unbearable than that of the attendant.
"I'm leaving Danlaw." Hitarian evaded the question. Everything is actually self-explanatory. "Let's leave now, do you want to leave?"
"Too urgent. Where are you going?"
"Go, go east." This was not the dialogue contained in the lines, and Hitarian began to realize that something was wrong. Rudy is not a member of the Society. Where am I going?
"As long as the weather permits." The captain actually agreed. "But you have to wait five minutes while I check the bottom of the boat."
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