"I'm finally getting out of here!"

Danica sat in the carriage and sighed, looking out the window, the events of the past few days still vivid. They're going to make their way back, they're going to go back to their normal lives, and for the first time, they're nostalgic for the time they had in Ridimpa, they're going to miss everyone there.

However, this time it was only the two of them on the return trip.

"Vance, why he is still here, I don't understand. ”

Paz almost said what Danica was thinking, she shook her head, and continued to look out the window.

"Isn't that head of Vance your homeland, I really never knew before, he actually knew the people of the temple!"

"I don't know, he never talked about himself, and you'd better not talk about it. ”

"I know, it's a private matter after all. ”

When the carriage passed by the city gate, it suddenly stopped, and the moment of inertia occurred, and the two almost collided before they could sit still.

"Did something happen?"

Once she had stabilized, Danica poked her head out and asked the hired coachman.

"Please show me the certificate of leaving the city. ”

"Certificates?"

Five minutes later, Danica finally understood what had happened.

"The new rules introduced last night mean that everyone who leaves the Imperial City must go to the Imperial Palace and apply for a certificate of departure. ”

Danica tells Path and complains to Path, "We're going to go back now, the money for hiring a coachman is hourly, and it's going to cost extra money!"

"That can't be helped!"

"Alas......"

She sighed, there were so many people who went out of the city every day, and there must be a long queue at the palace now, and for this certificate, I am afraid that an hour or two would not work.

Thinking about how much extra money it will cost and how much budget for the return trip will be the maximum limit that I can tolerate, I can't help but sigh. In fact, it's useless to dwell on this matter anymore, it's better to hurry up and go to the palace, she warned herself not to feel distressed anymore.

******

In the quiet of the night, Samuel and Hima return to the ghetto.

The previous departure was too hasty, and there may be clues that were missed and not discovered, so I revisited the old place.

Originally, the knight chief Cyrus with a fierce face also planned to come together, but before he came, he was entangled in other things, so he didn't follow, and it turned out to be the two of them.

This combination is really the worst couple.

Hima wanted to complain as always, but there were too many things to say, and even he felt annoyed, so he didn't say a word along the way, and Samuel was the same, he was not in the mood to find something to say.

The environment in the slum is very bad, but the distribution of various houses and shops on the street is not complicated at all, and there are two rows of houses in front and back in a straight line, and a bridge is not far away. When passing the bridge, the appearance of the stinky garbage piled up under the bridge is disgusting, and through the light of the rare book next to it, you can faintly see swarms of small insects flying.

"Hurry up, I don't want to stay here any longer!"

Hima frowned deeply, remembering her previous experience, and the smell of death seemed to linger, and it was difficult to ignore or even forget it completely.

After dropping this sentence, as if he couldn't wait to escape, he left Samuel behind, and ran to the front first.

After a while, the destination arrived.

"Sure enough, it was in ruins. ”

The whole house collapsed due to a fire, and it is no longer visible in its original appearance.

"Hmph. ”

Samuel snorted coldly and glanced around.

"The fire was not burned down along with the other houses, but the fire was extinguished in time, and I have been walking the streets for the past few days, but I have not heard anyone say anything about the fire here. ”

"This means that no one cares about meow, there is a problem with meow?"

"Nothing. ”

The people who live here are so pitiful that even the soldiers don't patrol here.

But even if it's farther away, at least a few streets on the outskirts of the slum can be found above the fires, and the houses in this area don't look like the multi-storey buildings in those prosperous streets. Is this so bad that no matter what happens, it won't attract the attention of people outside the ghetto? If so, the shadow mage is in the right place.

“……”

"Don't be in a daze! we might find something here!"

Himma crouched down and was about to start rummaging, but saw him standing still.

"Got it. ”

Samuel crouched down, rummaged through the things at his feet, found the foot of what looked like a burnt chair, picked up a few things, looked at them, threw them back, stood up, and moved forward. It's not easy to walk here, some things are completely burned, some things are only half burned, and they are staggering.

"Don't look for it, there's no need. ”

"Meow?!What do you mean meow!?"

Hima immediately jumped to her feet, giving up so quickly, and glared at him.

"This house was on fire and now it is down, half of it is burned, and half of it is not burned down. Samuel sneered, "Think about it, who live in this area, the poor guys who can't even afford food, they have been here and picked up everything that can be sold here, and all that is left is a pile of garbage that no one wants." ”

"So what to do......

"I wasn't expecting to find anything here. ”

“…… What a meow. ”

"By the way, there's one thing I've always cared about. ”

“…… What a meow!"

There are so few places where clues can be found, and Himma feels irritated.

"Last time I was a bodyguard, I attended that aristocratic party, why did you happen to be there so coincidentally?"

"Meow, meow, what's the good of answering you!"

"That's not a place that ordinary people can enter, how do you get in? ”

"Meow!! I didn't expect you to care so much!"

"Huh!" Samuel sneered, "an alien is also interested in aristocrats, and I don't know how you lost your ears, but I have to boast that it's smart to pay attention to this detail." ”

"Meow, it's good that you don't say this kind of thing, and when you say this kind of thing, it makes people angry!!"

"Thanks for the compliment, then you can say it now, you won't go to the aristocratic party just to eat and drink, who is that person with you? Approaching with no purpose? You don't look like the kind of guy who wastes time casually, have you noticed?"

"Meow, I now understand your reason for pursuing this matter! This princess is very angry, so she doesn't bother with you. That fellow, when he saw him lose something on the street, Princess Ben personally came out to help him, and then she was very grateful for Princess Ben's selflessness!

“…… It's boring. ”

"What do you mean by rolling your eyes, meow!

“……”

I can't help but want to cover my face, I really don't want to know this guy.

******

They returned to the palace, and for Danica they came back again, and a trace of disgust rose in the hearts of the nobles who came and went in this remarkable place. In those days with the nobles of the royal palace in the past, it was not so easy to completely let go of all prejudices. She read the time, prayed that it would pass quickly, that it would be her turn quickly, that she would leave as soon as possible after getting the certificate, that she must return to the mountain city as soon as possible, she had been delayed for too much time.

Paz didn't line up with her, he needed to watch the luggage on the carriage and sat inside, looking at the street through the window like Danica did before.

"It's boring, when will it be?"

Three hours later, Danica returned to the carriage with a black face.

"Path, we can finally go. ”

Pull the curtain and find that Paz is not there.

When he asked the coachman, he learned that an hour earlier he had come down from the carriage in a panic, and had hurried away after telling the coachman to take care of his luggage, and had not said anything strange to the merchant.

“…… Business...... People?"

Danica muttered to herself, and soon, she thought of what it meant, patted the coachman, and hurriedly urged.

"Quick! let's go to the temple branch!"

After a while, she came back to the temple branch, and jumped down without waiting for the carriage to stop.

Dropping a word to keep the coachman waiting, he hurried in.

"Sorry!

"Vance!"

"Is Vance in there?"

She wanted to find Vance, and even though it sounded ridiculous, the only person she could ask for was Vance.

However, Vance was not here at this time, and did not come out, but the people who came out were Liliel and Ruthma.

Rosema is still resting here, and Lilil is here to take care of those who need to rest.

Although Ruthma is resting, there is actually no problem, strictly speaking, she is not a patient, after all, there is no major problem after waking up, on the contrary, the rest of the temple is ......

"What's wrong, meow? Did you forget something and come back to get it?"

"No! Have you ever seen Vance?"

Vance ...... Half an hour ago, I saw Lord Vance staring at a small note with a grim face, and then left with a few people...... Result...... What's going on?"

"Sorry excuse me, I know that little note. Because there was a kid who came in with it and was going to talk to Master Vance, and I was in charge of the reception. "A knight intervened and told everyone.

Then, it took a few minutes to gather my thoughts.

That is, Paz saw the merchant. ”

"Yes, I'm pretty sure it must be the merchant, he doesn't know many people here, it must be the merchant!"

"Didn't the merchant be found dead on the street?"

Lilil shuddered, "Ghost...... Ghosts?"

"Ah, I don't want to think about it, but...... I finally got a clue. ”

Ruthma began to laugh, "Now that we're going to find Paz first, he must have gone out to find him." ”

"I'll help too!"

"Lilil is going too!"

The knight watched them act so actively, and from their conversation, he knew that this was something extraordinary, but they could not act on their own as knights of the temple without the orders of the chief knight. Just in case, before they went out, each of them was given a light magic scroll.

Then, I watched them leave.

“…… Phew, there's another incident, but unfortunately it can't help, and it looks like we have to report it to Lord Kazmo. ”

Leave the knight's self-talk.

******

A day later, a terrible piece of news circulated in the royal city of Serbro.

The news came out of nowhere, and now, people's hearts have become terrified.

The doors of many shops were closed, which was a very strange phenomenon on the eve of the Six Nations Conference.

In the royal city, on the streets, everywhere, there were people whispering in secret.

"Did you hear that?"

"Oh, that man died a terrible death!"

"It's horrible. ”

What people talk about seems to have started in the slums, where there was a murderer who fell victim to unfortunate people, and the fire of unknown origin, which was extinguished and many terrible remains were found.

Even, there are people who have been linked to several recent brutal incidents.

"The body of the merchant who died on the street disappeared inexplicably, and after that, someone claimed to have seen the merchant alive, what the hell is going on!?"

These rumors that suddenly spread made everyone uneasy.

"Could it be the revenge of the gods of the four directions?"

"How is that possible!"

"I didn't know what was going on for many days before, my husband, I obviously wanted to go to the branch, but every time I came back like drunk, I went more than once, it's a strange thing!"

"I've heard about this too, is there something wrong with the Temple of the Four Directions?"

"By the way, yes, I remembered, I saw a lot of knights walking out of the city on the street before, what was going on? What did those knights want to do when they left the city?"

It was as if a boulder suddenly fell from the sky, and the originally calm surface of the lake set off a huge wave thousands of feet high in an instant.

"I really saw him!"

Paz was back the next afternoon, and with Vance, he looked sullen.

"What the hell, Serbro is so weird. ”

"Alas......"

Danica sighed heavily, "I thought I could go back yesterday, but it turned out to be ......"

“……”

Since his return, Vance has been frowning.

Samuel's mind is like a knot of rope that cannot be untied.

"The collapsed house in the ghetto, I went to see it with Hima, and I didn't find a single body except for the burnt furniture. ”

"I thought the fire had burned them all to ashes!"

"Li, Lilil think now go to the street to find clues...... You may not be able to find a clue meow......"

"I don't understand how abnormal it has suddenly become. Rosema sighed and shook her hand, "This thing looks like it's broken, I can't use it to contact Lorog." ”

"Can't get in touch, I'll try!"

After a minute or two, Himma's eyes widened.

"Strange!What's going on?!Mine doesn't work!Is it really broken?!"

“…… Is it really fake? It's bad at this time?"

Samuel smacked his tongue.

Then, another day passed, and the streets were in the same atmosphere as yesterday.

Almost everyone was closed, and not even the shadow of the patrolling soldiers appeared, as if it were an empty city.

Danica decided to go to the palace to inquire, so she went out early in the morning.

Others are also thinking about what they should do next.

"Whatever the case may be! Our first priority is to get the meow out of Ppuin!"

Gema resolutely put this matter first, and Ruthma nodded, talking about another thing, with a look of embarrassment.

"One thing must be said now, these contacts are completely useless, and there are no shamans here in the branch who understand this kind of magic array. ”

"I'll put this kind of thing aside first!"

"No, I still think I'll have to report this to Lorog. Ruthma shook her head and said that she had gone out not long ago to find a post house to send a letter, and the door of the post house was closed, and no one came out no matter how much she knocked.

"It's really more troublesome!"

After a few discussions, I didn't think of a good idea, especially how to act next.

"Speaking of which, hasn't the chief knight come back yet?"

Samuel asked about the chief knight named Cyrus, and Lilil, one of the companions, shook her head, "I don't know, Liliel also went to ask, and she hasn't come back yet." ”

"Forget it, just wait for him to come back and make new discoveries. ”

"I hope so. ”

“…… There's no way to stay here, so let's split up and look for clues on the streets. ”

Samuel made such a proposal.

"That's it, the shadow mage is no longer here, but just in case we bring a few scrolls, let's go our separate ways!" said Lustma, and as if she had an order, everyone went separate and went to different streets, and continued to search, even better if there were other people on the streets.

In the past two days, the city of Serbro has been really strange and oppressively dull, and it is always uncomfortable to breathe.

Before Himema and everyone parted, she had a crazy idea in her heart.

Unable to find it on the streets, she had the idea that perhaps Popin was in a place that no one would have thought of, and that the only thing that would have met this was the heavily guarded palace.

She had to find a chance to enter the palace, and of course, the palace was so big, it wasn't so easy to find.

Not long after he walked out of the branch, suddenly, a figure came to him.

"Are you ......?"

After recalling it, it turned out to be useless, she couldn't remember the other party's name anymore, and was about to say sorry I can't remember your name, he showed a shy smile, and then took her hand.

"See you again at last, princess. ”

"Meow, honestly, I can't stand being called that!"

I couldn't help but hear this name, my face blushed a little, and I felt a little hot.

"Although I helped you before, I don't have to call it that every time!"

Looking at him, Hima came up with an idea to enter the palace.

******

"Looking for clues...... How the hell do you find ......?"

Samuel came out into the street, and now he could only look aimlessly.

"It's not just a waste of time. ”

That Vance and that Paz had already gone out in search of the 'merchant'.

“……”

"Everything is weird, it's weird. ”

Despite this realization, there is no answer in their minds, and they are missing the most important part, so that the puzzle is incomplete, and they cannot see the whole thing.

"It's a nuisance. ”

Complaining casually, looking at the empty streets, quiet as if no one was living.

"Am I going to knock on the door one by one?"

“……”

He exhaled, scratched his head, and continued to walk.

Suddenly, a figure flashed quickly in the field of vision, as if running wildly.

"Impossible!"

Samuel was shocked when she saw that figure, and her shocked eyes stared straight at the place where she had just appeared.

“……”

He took a deep breath and pinched his face.

"Feeling pain, that is, not a dream?"

"Impossible...... How did she end up here. ”

"Impossible ......"

Do you want to go back and tell the others, or do you go with it yourself?

Without thinking much about it, who can guarantee that this is not a deliberate decoy?

If so, there is another possibility.

"Did that guy finally show up?"

It's not far from the branch here, it's definitely too late to go back to find someone and hurry back, you don't even need five minutes before and after, such an obvious bait, how sure is that guy about himself?

Either way, it's the other people who are notified that counts.

He turned his head and was about to walk towards the temple branch ten meters away, surprised again.

"When did you come back?"

Chief Knight Cyrus stood at the door of the branch, glaring at him with a serious face.

When Samuel took a few steps closer suspiciously, Cyrus kept glaring at him, his fierce expression making people shudder.

"Or should I be sorry? Should I call you Master Knight first?"

However, the other party didn't seem to hear what he said, and when he took a step closer, Samuel felt something flash, subconsciously closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the whole person was stunned.

Cyrus held his sword and stared at him coldly.

He turned his head slightly to look behind him, the sharpest tip of the sword.

He saw the tip of the sword.

"Ah......h

Speechless, completely speechless, only a short moan.

At this moment, the sharp pain that brought death hit the whole body.

******

How many days is this?

He came back here in embarrassment with a strong tiredness and a lot of injuries.

“……”

He struggled to raise his head and saw the famous and iconic minaret in the distance, the tower of the great ancestors that stood guard over the area.

"Yes, I'm sorry. ”

Biting his lip and clenching his teeth, he had to keep going.

"I'm back. ”

"Your Majesty......"

The dark face showed a resolute expression.

"Hurry up...... Hurry up and ......"

He said in his heart that he should rush to the palace as soon as possible, and hand it over to His Majesty in person before His Majesty departs.

You can't stop, keep going.

Step by step.

It's getting closer and closer to the city gates!

"Hurry ......"

When he approached, everyone around him couldn't help but shout.

Some are afraid, some are worried, and there are doubts and scruples.

When he was about to get down, a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Little Tie, why are you ......?"

When he raised his head and saw the other party, the dark-skinned teenager finally showed a relaxed smile.

"Brother Qiao...... I...... Done ......"

It was as if he had concentrated all the strength in his body and made due explanations, and then he didn't need to worry about anything else, and he fell into darkness.