"Hmm...... Partner? "I mean that I don't want to sleep on the street. ”

Albert hummed absent-mindedly at first, still looking over his shoulder. It took him two seconds before he reacted, "Excuse me, what did you say?" ”

His reaction made Dineen realize that this kind of euphemism was useless, so he sighed helplessly and picked up his original style.

"Since they dare to express a different opinion about a whole table of drunks as you did this morning, then they must have anticipated and had the ability to prevent something bad from happening without your help."

If not, then they deserve to be taught a lesson for their stupidity and recklessness—Dineen didn't say it, but Albert gave him a skeptical look. Fortunately, he immediately turned his head again and continued to stare at the counter.

"I'm not going to be nosy," Albert, perhaps finally feeling the protest from his cervical spine, turned sideways, agonizing over his memory, "but I felt as if I had seen them somewhere." ”

"I thought you'd treat all your acquaintances the same." "But I don't think an underage boy would be happy to see an elder and invite you to join them when he sneaks out of the house at night and secretly drinks with his friends." ”

"So, you're a supporter of the Prohibition of Minors? What a surprise. Albert twisted his head back, "You know, I tried to do that when I was ten years old. ”

"Then your father should not be a priest, and you are not expected to be." Dineen wanted to remind him that he had found the wrong point, but when he said it, his words changed completely, "Otherwise, if he finds you once, he should make sure that you are not interested in alcohol until you are an adult." ”

Then Dineh realized what he had said, and was surprised by the calmness. But since he's already talked to the other party about his experience, it shouldn't hurt to say a little more, right?

He didn't find that the idea was actually the same as digging a hole in a dam – sooner or later it would cause the levee to burst. Albert may have realized it, but not shown it.

"Actually, he was very religious, but ...... Well, he really isn't. "But so what? I have gone further than him on the path of light, enough for him to forgive me a hundred times. ”

"He forgives you because you are his son, and not for any other reason."

Albert glared at him.

"What's wrong?" Dineen recalled what he had just said, and didn't find anything offensive to call him offensive, "Is there anything wrong?" ”

"I don't think you're right now." Albert said bluntly, his eyes still straight, "but wait, I seem to remember ......"

The sound of a broken bottle interrupted all conversation and thinking. The two of them turned their heads together, just in time to see a drunkard angrily jumping up from his chair and shouting, "I want to teach your father a good lesson—"

He couldn't say the second half of the sentence before he was hit in the chin with an uppercut and rolled straight back. The brown-haired boy still maintained his fist posture, and under the shocked gaze of everyone, including his two companions, he calmly said, "My father is all right, and there is no need to appoint someone else to do his job." ”

Dineen was amused by the way the child spoke. Albert frowned, as if he was sure of something, and nodded affirmatively.

"I know who they are." He said to Dinein.

Dineen motioned for him to talk later. It's bustling over there. The punch undoubtedly sounded the horn of battle, and the guests at the table with the drunkard stood up one after another, intending to regain the scene for their accomplices amid the many boos. The boy's two companions were also alert, and the taller one took a step forward, pulling off his hood and preparing for battle. The other short man was trying to do the same, but was stopped by the other two. He scratched his head a little tangled, but eventually showed his face as well.

The smile on Dineen's lips froze instantly.

"What's wrong?" Albert turned his head sensitively, and found that the strange peace of his partner had finally dissipated. Dinen became wary and suspicious, as if he had suddenly realized that he had found the wrong target a moment before he launched the attack.

"Tell me again, what year is it?" Dineen asked rhetorically.

"Fifteen years after the opening of the Dark Gate." Despite his doubts, Albert replied immediately.

"That's not right......" Dineen turned his head, ignoring the question he had written on his face, and said to himself, "Time...... Shouldn't it? ”

As he pondered, he unconsciously scratched the table with the fork in his hand, leaving a series of marks that made Albert creepy. It wasn't until the poor fork broke in his hand with a scream that Dineen came back to his senses, and his eyes looked unfriendly.

"I think we should go upstairs and rest, mate." He said suddenly.

The paladin glanced at the clock on the wall, then looked at Dineen with a "you're probably kidding" expression.

Dineen bared his teeth.

Only then did Albert realize that he was serious. He hesitated to look at Dineen on the left, then at the chaos on the right, and immediately found a reason: "Of course I don't have a problem, but you see, those people blocked the stairs. I'm afraid we'll have to wait until they're done before we can go upstairs. ”

Dineen didn't say a word, but he pinched the fork in his hand into four pieces.

Albert thought seriously for a while, and persuaded the innkeeper to change to a better quality cutlery supplier to get the deal out of the way. But in the end, he carefully picked up the remains of the fork from Dinein's hand, and decided to use a more convenient method to destroy the body.

But leaving his partner behind, even for a while, is obviously not a good choice. So Albert continued to sit where he was, waiting for the scuffle to end.

As they deduced, although the inexperienced teenagers were a little scramble in dealing with the conflict, they had to protect the youngest. But the good training they received since childhood gradually came into play. In the end, the only survivor of the drunkard left his companion on the ground and rushed out of the door with a curse.

"They played well, didn't they?" Albert said with relief.

"'Those two lads did a good job, but unfortunately they let one go.'" Dinein's face was expressionless, and his tone did not fluctuate, "'I guess soon the rest of the Blood Ravens will come to the door together, and those gangsters don't talk about shame and morality. ’”

He paused, and continued dryly under Albert's quizzing gaze, "'yes, hopefully we won't find them in the sewers tomorrow, you know, since Captain Coravin went home on vacation, the gang has become more and more unscrupulous. ’”

Then Dinein looked at Albert. "I'm sure you're not going to sit idly by." He said in a normal voice.

The paladin's eyebrows were raised, a clear expression of anger. His over-focus on juniors caused him to miss the message conveyed when the people around him were talking. The teenagers were able to take down a few drunken drunkards, but they couldn't handle an entire underground gang in a nearby neighborhood — and he almost let it happen. At the same time, he was disgusted by the thugs, at least Albert was sure that it would be a pleasure to settle them.

"Of course we're not going to sit idly by!" He habitually used the word, and then noticed that the other person's eyebrows were also raised, "Dineh? ”

The one who was pulled into the water looked at him with an unhappy expression for a moment.

"At least you'll have to find me some other weapon, blunt, if you don't want the scum to turn into a puddle of corpses." He compromised.

***

Ten minutes later, Dinen regretted it.

"I remember I was talking about, weapons." He stood on the street on the side of the inn and crossed his arms to express his resistance, "Do you want to eat the barbecue to the point of hunger, or have you already eaten it and left me with this?" ”

"I think it fits your requirements better than a mop and a broom." Albert shook the iron hammer in his hand and said sincerely, "And I have wiped it." ”

Dinen glared at him. But in the end, he reached out and took the iron hammer. This size is usually used for whole large searing animals, such as pigs and cows, so the length is about the same as a two-handed sword, with the thick details catching up to half of the arm and one end being sharpened quite sharply. Aside from the light weight and the thick smell of grease on it, it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be - but it was kind of hilarious anyway. Dineen began to wonder if he should continue with the sword, after all, there was no psychological pressure on him to cut a gang of thugs into seventeen or eighteen pieces.

"No, man. Think about how people will react to finding a pile of meat on the street tomorrow morning," Albert stopped him with his arm outstretched, "and the sheriff will chase after us like crazy." ”

"Oh, not necessarily. On the bright side, maybe he'll take you around in a circle, hold you up and cheer loudly, and then announce to everyone that you've won this year's Honorary Citizen Award? ”

Albert's face showed a complicated expression: "...... I'd rather he kill me. ”

The two of them walked idly through the sparsely populated streets, keeping a short distance from the teenagers who had left the inn first. They should have been told what they were in trouble for, so they put their hoods back on and quickened their pace as little as possible without suspicion - the underground gangs had the same sense of territory and fear and contempt for the aristocracy as the wild dogs. As long as they can get out of the neighborhood in time to get home, then tonight's little adventure can be over.

"I thought you'd do your best not to let them see what you look like." Dineen pointed out this with a little curiosity.

"It's not necessary. Those kids don't actually know me. "But I've seen their fathers. In terms of appearance, the blood relationship is still obvious. And I think you should ...... too."

"No, I don't want to know who they are." Dinen quickly cut him off.

But he paused for a moment, and finally asked with a faint hope: "Is it possible that you have recognized the wrong person?" ”

Albert looked at him in surprise, not understanding where Dinein's strange attitude came from. He hesitated for a moment, and finally chose the tactful way: "Maybe." But even so, we should still send them home, shouldn't we? ”

"Ah, yes." Dineen immediately looked a lot more happy.

Albert couldn't bear to point out to him that even if there were similarities in appearance, the subtle differences between ordinary Light followers and future Light Agents seemed obvious to him, and it was almost impossible for him to make a mistake in judging the two. He could only pretend to be vigilant in order to keep his mouth shut about it.

This behavior inadvertently helped a lot - when a group of people popped up from the mouth of an alley, Albert saw them immediately. He touched Dineen's arm to alert him, and immediately picked up his pace and leaned forward. And when the men approached the three teenagers in a surrounding formation, he could already be sure that the gang was not coming well, so he unloaded his hammer from behind.

He entered just in time after the bluffing intimidation had been finished. The frustration and anger on the boys' faces turned to consternation when they saw Albert blow the leader away with a hammer.

"Get out of here!" Albert shouted at them, and then went into battle. Although there is no opponent among these people who can compete with him, it will still take him some time in terms of numbers.

The teenagers hesitated. They exchanged hesitant glances, but finally stood still. Dineen could guess what they were thinking with his toes—if this person was coming for the thugs, they wouldn't mind running away. But now it was evident that he was helping them, and it was not in keeping with their education to leave their benefactors alone.

But soon the thugs who found themselves invincible changed their ways. Instead of head-on confrontation, they tried to lure Albert away from remote harassment. The paladins had to slightly expand their range of motion to pursue them. This caused several men to slip behind him against the wall, and then pounced on the three protected men with a fierce look.

- So you're in the way, little ghosts!

Expected by this, Dineen walked past them with a bit of disgust, smashing the bones of the speculators and knocking them unconscious. When he was sure that nothing had slipped through the net, he turned around and was about to say something, when he heard a short exclamation from someone in front of him, choking back on what he was about to say. Then the other worried, "What's the matter, Darien? ”

Dineng directly bent the iron drill in his hand.

"-Darien Mograini?!"