"Ah"! Are these the conditions for passing the trial? Artoris looked at the bloody hole in her chest and smiled bitterly. It was only now that she understood. If she had known that the ending would be like this, as a knight who never gives up, would she still fight to the end like before? Artoris closed her eyes and fell backwards amid the flames.
"Will do"!
…
"Selling apples! Fresh apples!" A teenage boy carrying a basket of apples shouted in the market. He accidentally bumped into a middle-aged man and the apples were scattered all over the floor.
"Yes... I'm sorry... sir!" The boy squatted down in a panic to pick up the apples scattered on the ground. You are afraid of being scolded by the other party. In this situation, if the other party is in a bad mood, you cannot avoid losing money. The family still needs the money from the apples he sells to support their lives! The little boy hurriedly picked up the apples on the ground, but the apple he just picked up rolled down again, this time rolling to the side of the man's shoes.
"It's over"! The boy thought, and just when he was about to apologize, the man leaned down, reached out and picked up the apple on the ground.
"How much does this cost? I bought it." He was not scolded. The boy was surprised when he heard the other person say that he wanted to buy his own apple. The boy stood up and said quickly: "Thank you very much, sir, the price of this apple is..." Before he could finish his words, the boy's eyes suddenly turned to horror when he looked at the man.
The man wondered why the boy didn't explain the price clearly. Could it be that he had changed his mind temporarily? So the man repeated what he said again.
The boy stretched out his hand trembling with fear and put the apple into the man's hand. "I'm sorry...this apple is free!" As soon as the boy finished speaking, he ran away without looking back. The man had no time to stop him and watched the boy run away. The man waved his hand and threw the two copper coins through the dense crowd, but they landed accurately in the boy's pocket.
Hearing the commotion here, a large number of people turned their attention to the man. Almost in the next second, a group of knights in silver armor evacuated a passage in the market and walked straight towards the man. One of the leading knights knelt on one knee in front of the man, gritted his teeth and raised his hands and said: "Captain Fred, the church's actions are very subtle!"
Seeing these knights, Fred sighed and said: "The church has always been at odds with the Knights, and now they have seized the opportunity to completely remove the Knights from the imperial city!"
At this time, how could the people around not see that these people wearing silver armor were members of the so-called Knights? People started whispering for a while.
"It turns out they are from the Knights." A woman who looked like she was born into a noble family said to a man next to her: "Look at them, they are all strong and well-fed. How much money can the Knights make? They must be exploiting the property of the common people!"
"Yes, yes!" the man echoed: "I heard that they had just returned from a defeated battle. They really insulted the glorious title of knight! And I saw that just now, that man actually attacked me for a few apples. The poor kid got into a fight..."
Although it is understood that most of these lies and rumors are supported by the church, their actions obviously have considerable results and incite people's resentment against the Knights.
These remarks were heard by the knights. Although the anger was burning in their hearts, they could only endure it. Who makes them knights.
Captain Fred ordered the knights to continue patrolling the city while he walked alone in the direction of the church. Soon he saw the door of the church, and then a curse came into Fred's ears.
"What! No money?" A tall man wearing a white robe grabbed the thin man in front of him by his collar and suddenly picked him up.
"Our family is poor and we really don't have the money to buy indulgences."
"Do you know how many of us will be killed by your selfish thoughts? Your souls have been covered with evil. If you don't buy indulgences, you will all be punished by God. And the defeat of the Knights this time is also destined by God. This is the consequence of going against God!" The tall cultist threw the man out, "You only have three days, and you must buy me an indulgence by then! Get out!"
The man straightened his clothes, clasped his hands and said, "Thank God for your forgiveness!" After saying that, he was about to leave when he suddenly saw a ghostly figure appearing in front of the believer.
Without saying anything, he punched the cultist in the nose. The cultist covered his nose and screamed in pain, then glared angrily at the person in front of him. The male believers recognized him at a glance, the current leader of the Royal Kelid Knights - Fred.
If it were in the past, I would have run away when I saw the leader with glory shining on his body, but things are different now.
Fred waved his hands and seemed to be talking to himself: "I don't know what kind of food the church distributes, which can cultivate people like this?" As soon as he heard this, the believer became really angry. An old guy in his fifties or sixties is still so arrogant. Does he still think that he is still the invincible Fred who defeated all the enemies in the world?
"You old man, if you don't eat the toast, you'll be punished with a drink!" As he said, the cultist raised his fist as big as a sandbag and hit Fred.
"Have you ever thought about giving me a toast?" Fred turned his face sideways and easily avoided the opponent's attack. And he raised his hand and slapped the believer on the abdomen with his palm. The cultist staggered and almost fell down.
The believer knows that his three-legged cat's kung fu is not as good as that of his enemy. It only takes two moves to tell. He felt sorry for letting Fred go like this, so he suddenly came up with an insidious method.
"You...you...are so vicious!" The cultist suddenly covered his stomach and deliberately amplified his voice and said, "Everyone, come and see! The leader of the knights bullies the common people, and he is so ruthless!" These few words instantly attracted people's attention. It caught the attention of passers-by, and in less than a few minutes, hundreds of people gathered around to watch.
Everyone looked at a middle-aged man in civilian clothes in the middle of the crowd, and they recognized him immediately. Fred knew that at least one-third of the people watching were church members, after all, this was near the church. And even more people are joining in the fun.
"As the leader of the Knights, instead of protecting the country, you are still oppressing the people here. You people have simply insulted the title of Knight!" Someone spoke first, and it was this sentence that completely aroused people's hatred of the Knights. of hatred. For a time, countless verbal abuses were directed at Fred.
Fred's hands, which were frozen and clenched into fists, were trembling. He hated the church. People were not heartless. It was the church that blinded people. As knights, they defend their home and country against external aggression and maintain national security at home. They are the ones who can truly give people hope for survival. But now they have to bear such a crime, how can Fred not be angry?
"So kneel down, you guy!" the tall cultist shouted, raised his sleeves and punched Fred in the abdomen. Fred reacted and was about to get out of the way, but he didn't want the injury he had suffered on the battlefield to recur at this moment. Blood gushed out from the wound on Fred's shoulder, instantly staining half of his arm red.
In pain, Fred couldn't dodge anymore and was punched in the abdomen by the cultist. The cultist pushed the injured Fred to the ground and looked down at him with a mocking expression. I don’t know who started it. People who didn’t recognize the reality for a while smashed eggs, tomatoes, and rotten vegetables in their hands on Fred.
"I didn't expect that the once brilliant leader would be reduced to such a state." Fred raised his head and stared straight at the believer in front of him with his bloodshot eyes.
