Heading north from Ston Butch, across a deep green plain, gently rolling hills stretch to the dense forests beneath the Mariette Mountains in the northwest. The Mayne, the most mysterious tributary at the southern end of the Vinez River, is hidden in a valley between forests and hills, and its low roar can be mistaken for a wide river, but in fact, for most of the year, the Mayne is so small that it can only be called a stream, and only after a few heavy rains in the summer does the raging water crash violently against the rocks on both sides and roar south.

The swollen river flooded the edge of the forest, and in the midst of the trees, a ruined tower, built at an unknown date, stood lonely in the water, as if there was no way out.

At the beginning of the rain, there was silence all around, as if all life had not yet recovered from the onslaught that had fallen from the sky. Only a tall man shuffled through the forest with heavy footsteps, and walked straight to the tower, as if he could not see the deeper and deeper water beneath his feet.

He was soaking wet, but he didn't realize it. The water ran down his waist and down to his calves. He had disappeared for a few moments behind the tower's remaining stone walls before another figure cautiously poked his head out from behind a thick oak tree.

The tracker is not young. The wrinkles on his thin face looked like the bark of a tree in front of him, but his slightly narrowed eyes still shone sharply.

There was no movement in the tower, but the trackers were not in a hurry. By the time the sun had dispelled the last dark clouds and landed under the tree, he had quietly climbed up to the tree and leisurely threw an almond into his mouth.

Tracking down a half-dead former paladin was already more difficult than he expected...... He is not in a hurry to provoke the messenger of the Lord who is hiding in the darkness.

The tower is the remains of an ancient temple. The remnants are not as dilapidated as they appear from the outside, and the statue that once stood in the depths of the hall may have been brought to a new home by the devout believers, or it may have been long lost, mottled with moss covering the empty base, but the stone pillar in front of the statue where the prayer book was placed is miraculously intact.

Lydia Bell stood in front of the pillar with her arms crossed. Her footing was high above the water, but her long skirt was too light for the wind to blow down the steps and half-submerged in the water...... But at the moment, all her attention was focused on the stone pillar, and even when the man who walked into the tower waded through the stagnant water, walked up the steps step by step, and stood beside her in a daze, she did not look up at him.

What was placed at the top of the pillar looked like a piece of rubble at first glance, and it took a good enough look to see its different texture from the rock—it was a white bone, carved and polished into a small irregular circle, and it was completely indistinguishable from any animal, and there was a strange luster in the white of the bone, as if it had been petrified like a relic from a thousand years ago, and the bright red on a small symbol in the center was as dazzling as if it had just been dyed.

Fingers tapped on his arm. Lydia remembered the way Beye had brought it - dark red blood soaked through the bone pendant, and it seemed that there was still minced flesh clinging to it...... She was used to seeing corpses, and had seen many worse things, but she still didn't want to hold it in her hands.

She vaguely felt the flesh clinging to it, as if it was still squirming slightly.

There was no cleansing, no spells were cast, just like the last time, the flesh seemed to be absorbed, and the bone pendant returned to its original color, but it was ...... The symbol on it slowly turned into another before her eyes.

She remembered the symbols—she had seen more of them when Ankeland woke up, but she had been impatiently told that they didn't mean anything......

As a result, that thing ended up in someone else's hands.

The corners of the mage's mouth twitched, shocked at her own stupidity. But for anyone who has nearly fallen into hell, a brief period of confusion and vulnerability is probably forgivable.

She was foolishly credulous in the power to save her for an extremely short period of time...... Because she had nothing else to rely on.

Now she has understood these symbols more than from the ancient Elvies...... Even the spells that evolved from the dragon language are more powerful, but they are completely incomprehensible and more difficult to control.

No...... Nothing is incomprehensible, or uncontrollable.

A smile tugged at Lydia's lips as she spoke softly:

"Do you think of something?"

The man standing next to her stared blankly at the ground, motionless, as if to understand that this was not asking him.

No one answered...... Only a huge gem that Lydia hung on her chest suddenly flickered.

That's not reflected sunlight.

"Be patient, Your Majesty...... Patience. ”

Lydia casually reassured, "Isn't it nice to be like this now? it's a beautiful gem, it's so brilliant that it never decays, and I'll ...... it Protect you until you find a body that is absolutely suitable for you - I don't understand why you have to be so persistent. ”

Her tone had completely lost the respect she had had, and it sounded like she was sending a wayward child away. She also completely ignored the fact that when she first met this "Majesty", he was sealed in a similar black gem, and in her most helpless situation, he tried every means to tempt her to smash it...... This was probably an unbearable captivity for him.

His shrill voice scratched at her soul like a cat's claw—the most damage he could have done to her by now.

So useless...... She sneered. She used to think what a great existence he was.

But he was still the key to her solving many mysteries, and he knew it himself.

The female mage sighed and rubbed her forehead in annoyance. If she can't find a way to control him, she can only continue to coax him. Even if he is arrogant and irritable, he is also extremely cunning in some ways. And...... She seems to have gotten used to getting along like this.

Another flash of light flashed in front of him, but it was not from the gem.

The air shook slightly, and a golden rose suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, and scattered like dust in the wind.

Lydia chuckled lowly.

"All right, Your Majesty. She said, "Look, I have a date." ”

She calmly tucked the gem into her chest, her hands interlaced above the bone pendant. The rocks grow like plants, hiding the bone pendants in them.

Before leaving, she thought for a moment and turned back to give the man a new order.

"Go out for a walk, my good knight. She smiled, "As a good host, you can't let your friends down outside...... What do you say?".

(To be continued.) )