The wall to the east was high, but she could hear the groans of pain and see arrows, fire, smoke, and flashes of light. With these clues, it's not difficult to imagine what's going on outside. In the night, only the light of the broken moon can also illuminate the blood-stained stone barrier in the distance. In the direction where the adventurers sent them, a broken spear was stuck in the gap. It was unknown where the owner had gone. A gap nearly four feet long opened in the stone wall on the west side, and people - or specifically, two nuns - blocked the road with a clock and poured foul-smelling potion into the flower beds.
Anthoros is the headquarters of the Church of Gaia, home to the most outstanding monks in Knox. When Hitarian was distracted, he watched them deal with everything in a hurry: raising the wall, filling the cracks, locating the wounded, and covering up the traces. At least I can recognize what they're doing, she thought. Everything has a purpose.
Lord Kong Jing cannot escape the battle unscathed, and mortals and low-level mystics will only get worse. The battle line is still stuck at the Lushui River dock, but the city is already in chaos. The homeless man Hitarian encountered in the cathedral was part of the chaos. If it weren't for Legela, I would have been killed by him long ago. She still can't figure out why the other party wanted to kill her. There were no answers to all the questions, and she suspected that she was trapped in a hallucination. Could it be that Antoros didn't fight at all? The lord actually didn't show up, but Mr. Oz is still looking for me everywhere? I am lucky enough to be blessed by my sister, so I cannot be on the battlefield...Lucia, if this is a dream, please wake me up quickly.
But her sister, Ruth, was still wandering in her dream and couldn't help her. Hitarian missed his sister and everything about Byrne. How long until I can go home? The mentor, Dean Ning Ail, wished her good luck, and the northerner Witek taught her the secret of hiding. They all hope that I will stay here...but there is also Murum who wants me to go home. He loves me even though he can't do anything to help me. As for Lady Liana, I hope there won’t be any new orphans in the Bronze Gear for her to take care of. No one can take my place, and a little selfishness is good for everyone. Hitarian found that he missed her second only to his sister.
It's hard to tell whether she was a lucky one, but Hitarian was never in real danger. In front of the altar, she felt that the lord would protect her; after Jizuk appeared, the unknown "weird expert" Oz Cranky paid attention to her safety; when the conflict broke out between the adventurers and the wizard, the "Confessions" dream Uriel, her companion whom she met during the mission, appeared in the cathedral and asked the two alien adventurers to send her away. Only the homeless man was a threat, but Regla killed him... Based on this analysis, it didn't seem like she had anything to worry about. Maybe I should give my luck to those who really need it.
After the small rescue station was stabilized, monks continued to bring soldiers covered in blood, then turned around and left, rushing to the battlefield again. If Hitarian were them, he might just run away. After all, running away was much easier than fighting for his life. It's a pity that the only Black Knight who can take her out of Moniantoros is still in the cathedral. Hitarian couldn't believe that the other adventurers were willing to listen to her explanation that they recognized Uriel, so she had no choice but to go nowhere.
She began to help the two nuns take care of the wounded, helped them off the stretchers, and placed them in the open space. In just five minutes, six people crowded in front of the steps.
Those closest to her were hurt the most. This man was a knight's squire. Unfortunately, he lost both his feet and an inch of his calf bone. Gaia's magic could stop the injury from getting worse, but it couldn't calm his panic. Whenever someone passed by, he would ask at the top of his lungs: "How is my foot? Can I still be a knight?" until the other person struggled to break away. Hitarian frequently gave him magical comfort, but in his heart he gave a negative answer.
Next to him was a lightly wounded man with a face full of acne scars and a short chin. Compared with the attendant's serious injuries, he only lost three fingers, which was considered lucky. But Hitarian found that his expression was stiff, his eyes were unfocused, and he bit the bandage with his teeth from time to time. "I still have my fingers," he said to the Cross Knight lying across from him. "If they were chopped off, how could I still feel them? It's just a small wound...a glorious battle wound."
"Then I wish you more glory," replied the Knight of the Cross.
Unlike the others, this clerical knight was very quiet most of the time and never participated in discussions. The back of his head to his chin was covered with gauze, and there was a laceration on the inside of his left arm, with blood soaking through the armor. Legla was cleaning him up. The Cross Knight half-closed his eyes and opened his eyes to stare wherever someone spoke. Chitalion was afraid of his gaze, so he quietly included him in the scope of magic.
The other three were dead.
The outermost one was originally still alive. His face was covered with bandages, and his facial features could not be distinguished. A cluster of gray feathers stood up in the gap. Arrow feathers. Hitarian thought the shot to the head was fatal until he cried out as he hit the ground. But the nuns could not save him, and the wounded man's fire disappeared minutes before.
The other two died earlier, and their places were vacated for the new arrivals. A nun named "Lolo" asked Hitarian to help.
"Tear off the cloth," she instructed, "go to the water and wash it off. Now the wizard has to take action, so don't just watch!"
"This is a used one." Shitarian, who studied under Dean Ning Ail of Byrne, certainly knows the relevant knowledge of battlefield first aid. "It needs to be disinfected before it can be used again."
"We don't have that condition here. Go quickly! If you volunteer, you can make it as clean as possible."
When the bandages were torn off the dead body, the wet and hot stench emanated from the unhealed wounds. Hitarian felt sick. She has a set of odor isolation masks in Byrne and washes them dozens of times a day. Now I can only use my sleeves, which are already covered in dust from the church. She had no choice but to convince herself that divine magic could cut off the possibility of infection, and that severe injuries were the cause of death.
When another wounded person arrived, Sister Luoluo left her behind and ran to hand over the stretcher. What was delivered this time was a chopped-up woman in gorgeous clothes. She was in agony and her face was distorted. The nun stopped abruptly. "mortal?"
"She is Countess Harnessi," said the nun who sent her.
"I have long admired your name." Sister Luoluo raised her eyelids coldly, "I will give her a few more indulgence coupons when I have time. Give it a try."
The countess opened her eyes wide: "A indulgence? What do I need it for? I'm not here to confess! Can't you see? Please help me."
"I really want to help you, madam, but Gaia will save you now, as long as your indulgence is enough. Apprentice? Help her and carry her out."
Poor mortal, Hitarian slowed down and saw the look of despair on Countess Hanesi's face, but Sister Rolo remained unmoved. As the stretcher was carried across the stone steps, the countess quickly grabbed the door frame: "How dare you do this to me? Civilian!" She seemed to be no longer in pain.
"Bishop Aimok stipulates that we can only provide treatment to the mystics on the front line, ma'am."
"My husband is a friend of the Bishop." Countess Hanesi begged. "I also donated the chapel to the monastery."
"Bishop Aimok did not ask us to cure his friend, madam. Magic power is limited, and Gaia does not allow me to waste it at will."
"You're not even willing to treat my wounds?"
Having said that, Hitarian could tell that the wound on her shoulder had been carefully bandaged by a doctor and smelled of medicine. If the Cross Knights had suffered the same damage, they would almost be able to return to the battlefield now... maybe they wouldn't come to bandage them at all. "Obviously, ma'am, we have different understandings of 'processing'."
Sister Rolo directed Hitarian to lift the stretcher and go around the door frame. Countess Hanesi kept cursing, but she could not get off the ground, so she could only dance and try to intimidate Hitarian and the nun who brought her. None of them were frightened by her.
By the time Hitarian returned, Sister Lolo had stripped the last bits of wrapping from the corpse. It had long been soaked with blood and pus, and its color was indistinguishable. As for the smell, everyone here smells the same, can't blame it. Hitarian almost vomited. I am a doctor, she said to herself, and I just deal with injuries. But she had thought that treating the patient's mental state would be enough.
Sister Rolo noticed her discomfort. When there was no one to send her, she sat down next to Hitarian and rested. "You've never seen a seriously injured person, Ringot?"
"No." I've seen a lot of them, more than anyone else. It's not just war that creates serious casualties. "Before I became a wizard's apprentice, I was a street orphan."
"You look nothing like me. I thought you were a girl from a good family, just like Miss Legla."
Hitarian couldn't help but pause. The wandering sisters in Four Leaf City became ordinary people in Byrne. They were cared for and cared for, and they had been away from disease, poverty and humility for several months, enough to make them unrecognizable to past acquaintances. But the suffering they escaped has not disappeared.
"I know that taking care of the wounded is not what wizard apprentices should do, but Gaia teaches us that we must put aside differences in status at critical moments." Sister Luoluo said, "The goddess remembers your every move, and she will reward you for your good deeds. Commendation.”
Acts of kindness. Hitarian's heartbeat suddenly accelerated as he remembered his identity. The Inquisitors hunted down the unknown who wandered away, and their fate was far worse than the wounded lying in the courtyard. These clerical knights fight for honor, future, and faith, but we just fight for survival. After all, what do they have to sympathize with? The more Inquisitors and Cross Knights die, the safer Byrne becomes. Am I helping the clergy? Will any of my companions die from this in the future? Before coming to Antuolos, no one told her how to treat the clergy!
She crossed her arms, goosebumps rising on her skin. "Thank you, Sister Rolo. But I'm very tired now."
"Okay. Anyway, Bishop Aimok didn't ask me to do anything to you."
At the top of the hour, the bell rang in Antros. Originally the heaviest and farthest bells should have come from the cathedral, but now there is silence. Silent and cold. A large flame burned behind the glass of the magic lamp, brilliant but without heat. Legla squeezed beside her and exhaled moist white mist.
Twenty minutes ago, the attendant bumped into the steps while they were giving first aid to the priest they had brought. When Sister Lolo found his body, swarms of ants were crawling above his head. Hitarian regretted that he had forgotten to maintain the magic, and felt guilty for having thoughts of sympathy. Everything I did was wrong, and nothing I did was wrong. She forced herself to shift her focus.
After the bell rang, no more wounded were brought in, and all the dead and seriously injured were taken care of. Sister Luoluo concluded that the war was over, because only during the armistice, the wounded could rest nearby at the dock, and there was no need to send seriously injured soldiers back to the church. Hitarian looked outside the broken wall, wondering what would happen if he slipped away now.
"Did we win?" the Cross Knight suddenly asked. Hitarian didn't even consider the question.
"The Gospel says that the clergy will not fail in Antrolos."
"Didn't your gospel say that Moni, who was favored by Gaia, died here?"
"He died, but he also gained salvation." The man with the missing finger retorted, "I know every gospel by heart, knight. It is impossible for the heretics in those barbaric lands to win. Do you not have confidence in your comrades?"
The Cross Knight closed his eyes, unwilling to argue with him. But Hitarian could see that they were all anxious.
"Lingote." Legla whispered to her, "If the church loses, where will we go? Back to the stone tower?"
Return to Byrne. Hitarian wanted to say, but it was too early to reveal the secret. What's more, the task assigned to her by the lord has not been completed yet. What if the black knight doesn't take me away?
She suddenly realized that her task was impossible to complete. She came to the School of Silence, became a wizard's apprentice, and explored the secrets of the mysterious fulcrum... She had already done all of this, and she had been to the wizard's treasure house. But what to do next? Why on earth did I come?
Witek, a northerner, taught her to settle in the dark wizard's home in Danlaw and then disappear without a trace. After Lord Mercury returned to Byrne, the intelligence network she ran was also wiped out. It wasn't clear before he came, but now Hitarian understands that he is unable to take over Lord Mercury's territory. Besides, Witek didn't leave her any way to contact the association, so how could she pass on the secrets she stole?
Maybe she should run away alone and take a boat to Tamlau. The rectangular ladder is faster, but Antroth's shuttle station will be garrisoned even in times of war. Is it possible for the soldiers to believe the lie that Lord Oz ordered us to leave? I can’t even go out to church now…
()
"It's absolutely true. Why did you lie to you? Wizards' End sent reinforcements to surround the mercenary fleet on the river. They flopped like stranded fish. But you watch, Miss Ringot, the sun comes out By then, the fish will be caught in the net, and order will be restored to Antoros.”
A feeling of uneasiness passed through my heart. Hitarian tried his best to appear relaxed: "It's all thanks to Gaia's blessing."
"Antros is a special city." The nun told her. "During Moni's time, this was the place where the goddess was welcomed."
