On the large desk in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, several bonsai were neatly arranged, and Hilbert poured a stream of crimson water from the teapot, with steaming white steam, into the teacup, "This is the finest Ceylon black tea in the northern mountains of Delos, very strong, I recommend you can try it well." Sugar?"

"Okay, thank you, father (master). "Jack and Rod returned at the same time.

The air was filled with a faint woody scent, and the oily color of old wood was visible as far as the eye could see, and the two-story high, ceiling-high bookshelves were full of books, and the eyes from the floor-to-ceiling windows were very warm.

The fire in the fireplace was dancing, and it seemed to be unusually cold this winter. Hilbert Tosolina called Rod and Jack back, as if to announce something important.

"The Holy See has arrived. Hilbert took a sip of tea and said lightly.

"Huh!?" Jack and Rod froze for a moment, then immediately figured out the situation.

"Jack, you need to get out of here, at least for this time. Hilbert's soft tone seemed to have a toughness that could not be refused. "Rod!"

"I'm here. Rod replied.

"You're someone I and Jack can trust, someone from my Edwin family. Hilbert took another sip of tea. "I want you to be with Jack in times like this when he needs help. ”

"I will. Rod nodded solemnly.

Although Rhodes felt that he might not be able to come in handy, and he would not be able to protect Jack.

"I've got people in place, and you need to stay away, so I have a plan. Hilbert said.

"You're going out with Blackbeard tomorrow. Go to the town of Montenegro. Hilbert flung over a string of quaint keys, "Find my mansion and don't show your face." ”

"And after that?" asked Rod.

"There will be arrangements later, and you will know then. Hilbert tilted his head slightly, and Wallace whispered something in his ear.

Hilbert looked at Jack tenderly and patted him on the shoulder, "You've grown up, remember what I taught you." He touched Rod's head again and whispered, "I hope you take good care of Jack." ”

"All right, my children. Hilbert got up and looked out the window, his eyes full of desolation. A carriage came from afar, and Blackbeard, dressed in a thick coat with a cigarette in his mouth, took off his hat and saluted in the direction of the study.

"It's time for you to go. Hilbert's teacup snapped on the table, and there was no melted sugar in it.

"Yes! Rod-Jack and the two left the study together......

Hilbert watched the two get into the car from the floor-to-ceiling window of his study, and he pulled out a pocket watch from his bosom and watched the hands of the pocket watch turn.

"Did you start so soon......"

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Yorktown Central Square, in the Cathedral.

"Knock~Knock~Knock~......"

Ten bells rang, and a few pigeons flew through the skylight in the silent church, towards the dead branches not far away, and jumped twice on the branches, shaking off some snowflakes.

"Smack. ”

The snowflakes fell on the helmet of one of the guards standing below, and with a "zi" sound, it was instantly vaporized as if it had fallen into a boiling pot.

It was a group of Templars, dressed in incomparably ornate silver-white armor with a large sword at their waists, standing straight at the entrance of the cathedral, their armor reflecting a dazzling light.

In the cathedral, a man under the cross was dressed in a red robe, with short brown hair mixed with white neatly combed back, a small cross-shaped scar on his right eye, a thick but well-repaired beard around his thick lips, and a red cross around his neck.

He seemed to have just finished praying and turned his head to look.

In the deserted cathedral, only a woman in ornate armor sat in the first row. White-haired and golden eyes, the long hair tied up at the back of the head, cold eyes without the slightest emotion, full of contempt, and, strength. Two cross-shaped ornaments hung from her earlobes, swaying slightly in the air. A gorgeous brown-gray sword that looked like wood and not stone was quietly attached to the white thigh.

The man spoke, "Letney, it looks like there's nothing to gain." ”

The large sword on the woman's lap groaned restlessly, as if expressing dissatisfaction. A pair of white hands pressed down on the big sword, and the big sword immediately stabilized, as if nothing had happened.

"Bond, do I want you to teach me to do things?" Lettney said coldly, her cold golden eyes exuding her majesty in the dark church, and the air seemed to be a few degrees lower. "You're just a cardinal. ”

"Yes, I'm just a cardinal, but ......," Bond replied with a gentle smile instead of being afraid of Letney's might, "I'm also the one appointed by the High Priest to follow you and assist you in this mission." Saintess Lettney. ”

If anyone who is familiar with the hierarchy of the Holy See is here, his jaw will surely drop when he hears this. Originally, Yorktown was such a big city, and the highest position in the church was only a purple cardinal, but I didn't expect this to be a cardinal who was even higher than the purple one. Moreover, the conversation between these two people actually involved a higher high priest, and what was even more unbelievable was that this cold woman was actually a Holy See saint.

"The High Priest said that there is a dark power here, and that would certainly not be wrong. Lettney said, "If you don't find it, there are only two possibilities." ”

"Dead, or......" Bond replied, "hidden." ”

Lettney stood up, and the light from the church skylight was so weak that only her figure could be seen.

Very high.

Almost as tall as the tall and sturdy Bond.

The great sword actually stood up on its own at this moment, emitting a white glimmer and slowly rotating around Letney.

"According to the investigation, no signs of destruction by the dark have been found near Yorktown. "I haven't heard of anyone turning into a bloodthirsty beast." ”

"Oh, is the High Priest's prophecy wrong?" Bond wiped a Bible in front of him, "the High Priest has never been wrong. ”

"I didn't say that the High Priest was wrong, maybe something worse had happened. Lettney tilted her face slightly. She was looking at the water trails on the ground. The snow melted and dripped from the skylight, shining in the sunlight, emitting a bright light that reflected off the side of Letney's face, and her cross earrings swayed slightly, looking beautiful in the bright light.

"Are you saying that he controlled the power of darkness and was not consumed by it?" Bond thought for a moment and said to Letney.

"The forces of darkness are beyond the control of ordinary people. Lettney said, "I've heard that House Edwin has dark powers. ”

Bond frowned, "The Edwin family, is the news reliable? ”

Lettney sighed, "So I didn't do it for a while. ”

Bond stood for a long time, and finally touched the cross in his palm.

"Looks like we're going to have to make a trip anyway. ”

"Knock~Knock~Knock~" The church bell rang eleven times, the pigeon flapped its wings, flew to the sky against the sun, and flew into the distance, and the city of York reflected in the eyes of the pigeon, covered in silver, became smaller and smaller. A feather fell from the pigeon, was blown by the wind, made a few circles in the air, and blew into the distance, where a chariot was galloping through the snow, followed by a few horses, all well-equipped guards.

A blackbeard man in a thick coat on the carriage smoked a cigarette and spewed out a few eye circles from time to time, and a long rut was pulled out of the snow behind a group of centaurs......

A horse's roar and the chaotic sound of horses' hooves stopped. Blackbeard lifted the curtain, took out a bottle of fine wine next to him, and blew on it.

"Ah~" smacked his lips happily and said to the people in the curtain, "Young master, Rod, come out, it's time." ”

"This is Montenegro?" Rod said suspiciously, looking at the small village.

"Montenegro? Of course not, Montenegro is much farther away than that, the sun has already set, and everyone and horses are hungry, so we will stay here for a few days and prepare some supplies by the way. After Blackbeard finished speaking, he took another big sip of wine, but he didn't know where the cigarette went.

A street, lined with more than a dozen wooden houses, is all the buildings that make up the town. A tavern, a grocery store, and a 'small inn' where you work part-time. There are only a few hundred residents in the village. Rhodes glanced at the setting sun, and Blackbeard beckoned the guards to dismount and find a hotel.

Brown-and-yellow wooden houses lined up neatly on both sides of the street, with dirty gray pavements underfoot, and occasionally some wet ground on the side of the road, which was clearly the marks of melted snow mixed with dirt.

"Jack, do you want to get out of the car and take a walk?" asked Rod.

Jack's face didn't seem to be good, and he replied tiredly, "No, I'm a little unwell, lie in the carriage for a while." ”

Rhodes had to look at the place alone.

There was no one in sight in the village for half a day, and as Rhodes walked down the street, he could only feel a lot of eyes creeping down on him from the windows of a nearby wooden house.

There was a small building at the end of the street, and two servant-like men stood at the door, and Rhodes walked in front, and Blackbeard led the carriage behind, and the sound of the horse's hooves immediately attracted the attention of the two servants, and one of them hurried into the room, presumably to report.

As Rhodes approached the brick house, he saw a wooden sign hanging from the iron fence outside, which read: Hotel accommodation.

"Looks like I found it. Blackbeard said with a hiccup, throwing away the wine he had just drunk.

At this time, two young men also walked out of the room, one was dressed plainly, dressed in sackcloth, with short brown hair, and a smile on his face, who seemed to be the owner of the place. The other person who came out after him was wearing a dark red robe, his face was calm, his face was not handsome, but it was not ugly, although he looked very ordinary, he just stood at the door, his eyes moved with Anglie, but there was a faint hint of weirdness in his calmness.

"Welcome, I'm Stanley, the owner here, are you here to stay?" asked the innkeeper as he walked over in a loud voice.

"Of course, what about the price?" Blackbeard stepped forward and began to bargain with his master.

"Fifteen silver coins a night. ”

"Less, too expensive, ten. ”

"But guests, this is the price we have always had here, and it has not changed. ”

"If you have less, we'll pay it all at once. ”

"But ......"

Here Blackbeard was negotiating the price with his master, but Rod glanced at the red-robed man, and he saw a red flame embroidered on the other party's high collar.

"Hello. The other party took the initiative to come over and say hello.

Rod smiled back.

"Santia?" he asked in a low voice. Rhodes remembers this pattern very well, he had seen it when he was looking through the library before, it was the symbol of one of the cities of the Delos Empire.

The red-robed man shook his head: "When you're out and about, it's better not to mention these." ”

"That's right. Rod nodded. Chris often tells him that knowledge is useful, and that's right.

The red-robed man stepped out of the way, revealing the hotel door: "There are still some people inside, no matter where you come from, we all should have a common purpose." Let's go in first. ”

Rod raised his eyebrows, wondering in his heart what the red-robed man was saying, and he was not polite, and strode into the first floor of the hotel.

In the living room on the first floor, several mahogany round tables are arranged in the shape of horns, and two groups of people sit on the sides of two large tables.

On the left, there is a man covered in a black cloak, which covers his face, making it impossible to tell whether he is a man or a woman from the outside. At the other table, there sat an old man with gray hair, and a girl in hunting clothes with an ordinary face and a beautiful figure.

Rod's entry attracted the attention of the old and the young. It's just that the old man frowned faintly. It seems that he does not want to see Rhodes appear. The red-robed man also walked in and took a seat next to the cloaked man. Close your eyes and don't know if you're meditating or resting.

Rhodes felt strange that these people seemed to have come for some purpose, and in the current situation, the best way was not to contact them. However, firstly, Rod and they have to stay here for a few days to replenish, and secondly, the red-robed man seems to regard him as a person who has come with the same purpose, and it is difficult to say what will happen to Rod if he leaves directly now. So he walked over to the empty table and sat down. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the whole living room was slightly awkward and dreary.

In the entire living room, the three tables all maintained a subtle tacit understanding, and no one spoke first.

Rhodes quietly activated the detection ability of the magic crystal lens, and detected traces of energy fluctuations from these people.

"The mana level is ...... magician"

"Hmm!?" Rod was secretly shocked, how could there be a magician-level character in this small village? This means that everyone here at least has the strength of the 'scholar' level. And Rod's level has only just reached the level of magician ability with a complex magic array. As for Jack, according to him, after the special teaching arranged by Hilbert, he already had the strength level of a warrior.

After a while, Blackbeard negotiated the price with his master, walked in with Jack, said a few words to Rod, and went out again. He needed to tell the guards to watch the wagon and get some supplies.

After a while, when it was time for dinner, a fat woman in a gray and white apron walked through the door with a large tray and began to distribute food to the three tables.

On each table is hard black jerky wrapped in bread, wheat cakes, and hot mushroom soup. Rod picked up the wheat cake and took a light bite, it was very dry and crispy, he remembered the crackers on the earth, and it was a little salty. Jerky is simply a stone-like thing. Jack threw a piece into his mouth, chewed it and spit it out, but didn't complain anything. Rod knew that Jack thought it was unpalatable, and he might have scolded the chef for his craftsmanship in the past, but in the past two years, Jack had grown a lot, the childishness on his face had faded a lot, and his body was stronger, more like an adult. Rhodes is not like Jack, after all, he has suffered as Long Ming, he chewed for a long time without chewing, and finally swallowed it directly. Only the mushroom soup was not bad, and Rhodes picked up the mushroom soup and poured the rest of the food vigorously. In his opinion, wasting food is simply a crime.

On the third floor, the innermost rooms on either side were the lodgings arranged for Rhodes by the innkeeper, and Jack was opposite Rhodes. There was nothing in the room except the bed and a table with a set of drinking utensils, and there was a faint smell of dust wafting through the air, as if it had only been cleaned up for a long time. Blackbeard came over and told Jack that he would sleep in the carriage tonight because he had bought some supplies, and the guards and he were going to watch in case they were stolen. After saying that, he left.

Rod and Jack exchanged goodnight and closed the door, sat on the bed, and Rhodes looked at the magic book.

Chris has told him countless times that knowledge is power.

Rhodes carried this through to the end and enshrined it as an article of faith.

It's just that Rhodes on the bed vaguely feels that something big is going to happen in this small village.

......

......

A crow flew away from the branch and flew over the village. The moon was very round and round, and a dark cloud drifted by, covering the moon just right. The flying crow suddenly fell, with a splash of blood in the air, and disappeared before it could hit the ground......