The girl who was pulled out as a suspect usually smiled slightly, and looked extremely gentle, but her personality was unexpectedly tough and stubborn. After the initial panic, she argues against any "proof" that would hurt her soul - a damage that would probably not be healed.

In the eyes of some, this was enough to prove her guilt, otherwise why should she worry? If she was really innocent, the goddess would naturally protect her.

But York, though angry, did not lose his mind. No matter how devout he is, he has to admit that "God's protection" is mostly just a vague hope, a self-righteous fantasy of human beings, as Aurora once warned him, "Don't judge what God will do according to the way humans think." ”

He is not unseen of a believer who died unjustly without sin. Even if the innocent soul of the deceased would naturally be soothed and praised in the temple, no one's life should be sacrificed in this way.

Besides, it was easy to find someone who confessed his sins, but what he wanted was the truth—that the old man he loved, even if he had fallen into a long coma before leaving, should not have died so unexplained. And Lori, who was with her for the longest time in her final days, probably knew something she didn't even realize she had...... Something that could not have been squeezed out of her soul by violent means.

He protected Lori, even as a result of a conflict with Rano Boense, which caused the clerics of the Temple of Dawn to split into two factions. His unwavering faith has enabled him to face the flood of accusations and suspicions, and his strength ...... And the reputation accumulated over the years by always being sent out to solve various problems and participate in various activities on behalf of the temple brought him enough support.

He could clearly see the latter, but it was actually because of the casual words of the girl who was "protected" by him - "If you were not York Tracy, the 'Dawn Child' that everyone knows, but an unknown guy like me, how many people would be willing to believe you and be on your side?"

And when he was a teenager, he began to let him leave the temple and travel almost all over the continent, and finally got the meaningful title of "Son of Dawn", it was Aurora.

So he could never accept Bornser's approach, even if the prestigious priest kept saying that it would bring the greatest benefit to the temple, and of course himself.

York didn't waste his advantage. He'd been through enough to be out of the box to deal with Boense's attacks, but the reason why Bounse, who had been determined to win the position of High Priest, was temporarily silenced was because they never found the Sword of Light.

In the nearly two years before Aurora's death, there was very little time to be sober. The rumor that "Rano Bounse will be the next High Priest" is something that even the people in the temple can't tell how it got out. Few questioned the fact that Bornser's position in the temple was indeed only below that of Aurora, and York, although he was highly regarded, was too young. But at the end of the day, whether it was because of other intentions or simply because he was delirious, Aurora didn't leave the Sword of Light to his successor—they searched all possible places and couldn't find the pendant.

However, when Locke brought it up, Lori remembered that she had seen the pendant, though she didn't know how important it was at the time. In her opinion, the silver pendant was barely delicate - although she was an unfavored daughter, she was also from a noble family.

The small pendant was discovered while she was making her bed. It had fallen between the thick mattress and blanket and could only have belonged to Aurora, but when she asked the old priest, Aurora had no idea when she had lost it. The girl even thought that the old man probably didn't remember whether it was hers or not.

But that afternoon, the old man sitting in the rocking chair in front of the window seemed to have a moment of clarity in his consciousness.

She looked at the bright sunshine in the courtyard and hummed a song in a low voice, the melody was beautiful and bright, and there was a kind of high-spirited momentum, but she couldn't hear the words clearly. When Lori asked her, "What are you singing?", she just spoke to her casually as she usually would, not expecting an answer, but the old man turned to her and told her that it was an elf song.

The elves don't just sing at night, they also sing at dawn at sunrise. The songs full of life and hope have been gradually forgotten, and the songs that float in the forests of Grivar are gently low, with a sorrow and melancholy that seems to be eternal.

"It's the song of the elves," repeated the old man, looking down at the pendant rubbed in his hand, "the song they sang as they forged the sword." ”

The latter sentence was taken by Luo Li as a whisper, and she didn't take it to heart, after all, she didn't know that the seemingly ordinary pendant was the Sword of Light.

When she finally remembered it after York's various reminders, she didn't know where the pendant had been thrown later.

But the elves she mentioned made York think of another possibility.

"Many of the magical objects that humans regard as 'artifacts' are in fact the hands of elves, not gods," the priest admits with difficulty, "something that we think can only be manipulated by those chosen by God...... The real way to manipulate it is in the hands of the elves. ”

“...... Enough!"

Bornser, who had been standing silently for a long time, stepped forward and spoke again, with a stern remark, as if it could no longer bear his blasphemy: "I can understand your sorrow—you cannot accept the death of the High Priest, but what you have done is an insult to her lifelong faith...... She had held the Sword of Light for decades, and before her, several High Priests had used it as a token for nearly a thousand years......"

"Thousands of years back, since the beginning of human history, the Goddess of Dawn has never had a saint. York interrupted him coldly, "'Only a Sage can wield the Sword of Light' has always been a legend. ”

Bornser's lips were closed, and his face turned blue. This is indeed true...... And it's not an unspeakable fact, there is no god who has never appeared before, and the goddess of dawn is not the only one who has ever appeared, but his rebuttal is not all for himself - York Tracy could have become a saint, and the Temple of Dawn could have achieved a status equal to that of the temple of water. He really couldn't understand what this young pastor, who usually seemed proud but slick enough, at least knew what "benefit" was, insisted on to this point, even at the expense of giving up the glory at his fingertips.

York turned away and ignored him. Still holding on to the sword, he straightened his arm and handed it out.