From a distance, Scott could see Tess's dazzling red hair shining in the firelight. The little girl was walking to the river with a jug in her arms, surrounded by several children, big and small, and she was still in good spirits all the way to the river.

Scott loves Tess, and that kind of lively and exuberant vitality is always enviable. Even though there was a lingering shadow in his heart, Tess couldn't help but smile back when she spotted him and waved a hand vigorously with joy.

By the time he crossed the narrow stone bridge over the river and entered the place where the sick gathered, Tess's eyes were so caught up in the little leopard in his arms that he didn't even pay attention to Mo, who fled from her shoulder in a puff of smoke.

"You can actually hold it!" she glared at Valette with envy, her amber eyes so bright that they could almost glow, "It's not fair! Doesn't it mean that no one can hold a holy beast?! Norway won't let me touch a finger on it!"

Scott was stunned - holy beast?

It's a term that hasn't been used for too long. Legend has it that in ancient times, gods walked the earth in the form of wild beasts, but that was before the birth of the elves.

"It is true that some elves call it so," Parnasas explained to him in a low voice, "but only out of reverence for the forest, not for the incarnation of some god...... Because white leopards are very rare, they have never been seen in such a healthy way. It's not that no one can hold it, but it's free, and it's wild and agile, and it doesn't give people to hold at all. ”

Scott looked down at the white leopard nestled in his arms, licking his paws intently...... Wild?

Tess held out a finger. Looking at Scott expectantly, "Can I poke it?"

Scott smiled, took the jug she held on her chest, and placed the baby leopard in her arms.

Tess's cheers had just been spoken. The white leopard had already screamed in discontent, jumped out of her arms, and ran down the river into the depths of the forest.

"Xiaobai!" Tess cried out and chased after her, and several children followed her in a hula-la-la, and the tired and frustrated people by the river watched them run by, with a more or less smile on their faces.

Panasses led Scott into the nearest tent, the red spots on the sick elf's body not yet festering. He was still sane - he was not too late, not so that he was only looking at the corpses of dead savages, as he had been in the ice field......

Heal is a very simple spell. Scott also knew very well whose work it was, but there was always a faint uneasiness in his heart - the plague from Lydia could only be relieved by the power of Nethers...... He would have thought it was just a coincidence, or maybe Lydia didn't know about Nesses. But now he is becoming more and more skeptical. It's not that simple.

He didn't know how the disease spread, which meant that he had to heal all the sick people as soon as possible and purify the entire forest - and indeed the entire city of Damaran. This is not one of the remote villages of Anktan, and it only takes half a day to walk from the head of the village to the end of the village to treat them one by one...... He had to find another way.

He wasn't a qualified pastor in every sense of the word. Even though he became more and more accustomed to using magic, he was only good at the simple and crude ones, and he never had the intention of studying them.

Copas probably knows what to do...... But he didn't want to turn to Kopas for help at all. Keller Brian must have known that too...... But where is the half-elf priest now?

Norvi soon heard the news, and there was a heartfelt smile on his slightly haggard face.

"You have to warn Ed. He found an opportunity to whisper in Scott's ear. "There are quite a few ships that have fled from the port of Damaran...... Visa, Stonebucci. Any city and village along the Vinez River can be hit by the plague. I've asked Gavin to inform the priests of Dick and Theresia, but the most widespread in Rutgar is the Temple of the Water God, and perhaps Ed can get the news out as quickly as possible...... And not to cause panic. ”

He probably didn't know about the conflict between the Temple of Water and Ante Bofford—just in case, Brooke had asked all of the scattered Water God's clergy to withdraw to Collins or hide for the time being.

But he was right to be apprehensive. Including Scott, there were only six priests in Nessus, and once the plague spread, they were completely incapable of doing anything, and the priests of the other gods seemed powerless about it...... Ed, who wields the Staff of Eternity, may be an exception.

Staff of Eternity...... Showers on the May Day......

Scott looked up at the sky and suddenly had an idea.

"Panasses!" he called back to the Elven Lord, who had thoughtfully stepped away from the distance so that he and Norway could speak a few words alone, "get everyone out of the tent...... Regardless of whether you are infected or not. ”

Panasses agreed without hesitation, but couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

Scott smiled at him smugly: "It's raining." ”.

"Little white!" cried Tess, unwilling to watch the little white figure disappear into the thick bushes - she still couldn't catch up with it.

She could comfort herself that it was because she had to take care of the group of imps behind her, not that Xiaobai was running too fast...... It was very fast, but always ran for a while and looked back at her, apparently not doing its best. Being teased by such a little leopard frustrated Tess was frustrated, but she couldn't chase it any longer.

"Tess ......," a boy behind him called out uneasily, "shall we go back?"

They had moved away from the crowd into the depths of the forest, which was getting darker and darker even with the moonlight and starlight, and they didn't even have torches. Perhaps because of the spread of the disease, there was silence all around, and even a few bird calls seemed weak. I didn't feel it when I was chasing Xiaobai wholeheartedly, but now there is a chill that seeps into my skin little by little, which makes Tess shiver.

Of course, she wouldn't admit that it was because she was afraid, but the three children who had the audacity to chase after her had a fear on their faces. A gust of wind passed, and everyone involuntarily huddled around Tess.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" Tess reassured them loudly, "I remember the way, and I will be back soon...... Little Mo, Little Mo!"

It was then that she remembered the little mongoose she had left behind...... It won't leave her and run to Norvi, will it?

There was a rustling sound at her feet, and Mochi, who was much thinner and had a shorter tail, crawled down her legs to her shoulders and squeaked aggrievedly in her ear.

"Alright...... Xiao Mo is still the most well-behaved!"

The red-haired girl who liked the new and hated the old patted Xiao Mo's still fat ass weakly and began to walk back with the children.

But they didn't get back to Sandward "anytime soon".

The light veils of the moonlight vanished as if blown away by the wind, and the shadows of the night followed their steps. Tess looked up in exasperation - did someone steal the moon?

Looking up, the sky was cloudy and low towards the forest, and Tess had just blinked, wondering about the sudden weather, and the raindrops the size of beans had fallen without saying anything.

“...... Oh, shit!" Tess cursed hatefully, frantically shielding the children and looking around for a place to shelter from the rain.

But this is not a barren and rocky, undulating wind-whispering forest, where there are gaps between the rocks to drill after a short walk, nor is it a towering Grivar where you can drill into tree holes...... Or at least you can pick a few fat taro leaves to cover the rain. They scurried around in the rainstorm for a while, not only did they not find shelter from the rain, but they also seemed to be unlucky enough to lose their way.

Tess muttered curses on the damn luck, vaguely saw a building in front of her that looked like some kind of ruin, and quickly dragged everyone to run over step by step.

It was a ruined piece of ruin—the stone building was in ruins, and the cracks were full of vegetation, and it was impossible to see what it was, and Tess managed to find a place with a roof to cover her head, and as soon as she rushed in, she just wanted to collapse on the ground.

She was sore from the raindrops, but it wasn't cold. In retrospect, the rain that fell on her was almost warm......

Curling her soaked red hair, she looked back at the rain in the night, at first she thought that the faint golden glow came from the full moon peeking through the gaps in the clouds, and then she was surprised to find that it was the continuous raindrops that were shining.

It was more like the color dyed by the setting sun, red in gold, brighter and brighter in the deeper and deeper night, as if the stars were falling from the sky, pulling out brilliant trajectories, and it was like a rain of fire in the end of the day, so that the whole forest was shrouded in flames.

Tess suddenly knew who had done it.

She had witnessed another fire—a real fire, the flames roaring and devouring countless undead, burning a vast forest to the ground...... Scott Crieses, the power he displayed was so powerful and terrifying that the oppression was almost breathless. But at this moment, the light like fire is gentle, and the raindrops falling on the palm of the hand have a trace of warmth, and the disappearing light seems to seep into the skin, mixed with the blood, flowing through the whole body, awakening a certain desire in the heart, making Tess suddenly want to run around in the forest barefoot, or flap her wings and fly into the sky...... Unfortunately, she didn't have wings, and she had to watch the little imps in front of her who seemed to be just as excited to run around.

She grabbed a boy who had almost run away and shook her finger at him with a straight face. She realized why the rain was falling, but she was sure they had all drenched enough, and a shake of any of them would be enough to water a small tree.

As the rain subsided and the clouds cleared, the moonlight fell on the forest again, shining like jewels in every drop of water, but Tess had no intention of appreciating the beauty.

She was pretty sure they were lost...... And that's of course Scott's fault!.

(To be continued......)