"It's time."

When Dineen walked through the door with a gloomy face, Albert had just herded the boys upstairs to sleep. Hearing this thoughtless sentence, he was slightly stunned, turned his head to look at his partner, and then understood.

"Are they going to act?"

"Tomorrow morning, the grain will be brought to the city."

And the Cursed Cultists had to distract the Silver Hand before then, which meant they were going to leave now. Albert put aside the wooden sword he was using for practice: "Can you help bring the bag?" I went to the second floor and called Itreig down. ”

As soon as he climbed the stairs, he heard Atrigue's deep voice, slowly telling ancient tales in a lingua franca that was much more fluent than before. It had become a routine between the old orcs and the boys, and Albert couldn't bear to interrupt it. He stood in the doorway and waited, and the wild words naturally fell into his ears.

Blood and fire, beasts and spears, ancestors and spirits...... Albert's mind wandered back to those quiet nights in the Alterac Mountains. The elders tell great stories of generations by the fire, and the young children listen intently, and then they will walk through the wilderness with the heroes in their dreams, raising their heads and shouting.

It wasn't until Itreig's account came to an end that Albert came to his senses. He knocked on the doorframe and gave an apologetic smile to the people inside.

"We're leaving." He said to the orcs.

As if he had a hunch, Itreg nodded and stood up. Tyran realized what was going to happen after only a beat, and he followed up and stood up, "Are you leaving?" ”

"Go back to my people, yes."

Tyran snorted, but finally didn't say anything, just bowed his head sadly. Renault looked shocked and looked left and right, as if to confirm that it was not a joke. Darien pursed his lips tightly, trying his best to contain his emotions.

Albert was able to understand their feelings, and saying goodbye was never easy.

Itreg was silent, just patted them on the shoulders one by one. Finally he said to Tyran, "Convey my thanks to your father on my behalf." I will remember his noble deeds of keeping his word. ”

"He'll remember you, too." Tyran said, a slight choked voice in his voice, "...... We all will. ”

Albert knew they weren't going to sleep well tonight. He also stepped forward and touched the boys' heads before leaving the room with Itreig.

Dineen was already waiting in the hall. He glanced at them, but didn't ask why it had taken so long, but spread out the map on the table, repeating the intended route.

At first, the two of them would walk together for a while, but Albert would later turn back and wait to meet the Silver Hand, and Itreag would not want to have any more entanglements with the humans, and he would go straight south in search of the new tribe, most of which was for him. He asked if they had any messages to convey to Sal, and Albert hesitated.

"Nope." He said.

Albert had imagined how the Cult of the Damned would get them out of the city, and there was no shortage of magic in it. But when he followed Dineen to the basement of an inn and saw the runes and candles on the ground, he couldn't help frowning and looking at the dark lines suspiciously.

Dineen tapped him impatiently on the back, "Ink and strange dust." He pointed to the ground and said, "Those candles are made of whale oil." Teleportation is a change system that has nothing to do with necromancy, and they add at most a little blood to improve the caster's accuracy. ”

A black-robed mage standing beside the circle looked up at them. Dinen noticed his gaze and turned to glare at the other, grinning with one sinister grin. The mage's head tilted back sharply, no longer staring at them.

"Two, please stand inside the circle." Said another person in the room. Albert judged from the change in Dineen's eyes that the other party should be Hatis whom he had seen once in the sewers. He had expected the necromancer to ask questions about why he, the priest's apprentice, had left the city with the orcs, but Hatis didn't seem to find anything strange, and someone had apparently explained it to him. Albert glanced at his partner stealthily, remembering how much Dineen hated using lies and disguises in private—but he did it anyway.

Albert felt his stomach twist strangely. He turned to Dineen, "I guess I should tell you—"

Dineh's eyebrows rose exaggeratedly, obviously knowing what he was going to say: "At this time, are you sure?" He glanced at the two mages next to him, then grabbed Albert's shoulders and pushed him forward, "Okay, I don't care. If you need an answer. ”

Albert allowed himself to be pushed into the circle by him, and couldn't help but laugh, "I remember your words, brother. ”

"I will walk the talk." Dinen snarled viciously, gesturing for Itreg to enter the circle as well, "That's what you should remember. ”

"Of course, of course." Albert nodded in agreement.

But when the light of the teleportation lit up, he couldn't help but give his partner a sly smile.

***

When the bell struck nine times, Dineen climbed onto the roof.

Although people don't usually look up at the heights, he first moved to the brick chimney and then looked at the street below. The main thoroughfare, which connects the gates of the city, is particularly crowded at this time, and a large number of citizens have been standing here for hours. All eyes were fixed in the direction of the city gates, eagerly waiting for the good news to come.

Things turned out just as he and Albert had guessed a week ago. Most of the food stored in the hands of the Stratholme was bought at a high price by bakeries to supply the rest of the city who did not have food in stock. Other types of food have also been more popular, but they have been a bit expensive as a staple food. Some people want to get some food from farmers in the countryside, but the farms that have just paid their taxes don't have much food to provide. Nowadays, the need for food is becoming more and more common and urgent throughout the city. When they heard that the first batch of food would arrive today, people poured into the streets for fear of missing the opportunity to buy it.

The sentry set up by the Silver Hand in front of the city gates has not been removed, and several paladins are conducting close checks on the vehicles carrying food. But in the eyes of the townspeople, it was only an unnecessary delay, and the disgruntled chatter was heard through the crowd, and Dinen could hear the angry grumbling on the rooftop. The pressure on the paladins is palpable, and they still refuse to relax in the slightest bit about their duties, but they also inevitably become impetuous. In order to improve efficiency, several carriages that happened to enter the city at the same time were hastily let go.

If Uther was still here, he would never have been allowed to do so. However, the high-ranking members of the Silver Hand had already left Stratholme in the early hours of this morning, as people from a nearby village hurried to report that they had seen traces of orcs. Dinen didn't know if these people really saw Itreg and Albert, who had been secretly sent out of the city by Hades yesterday, or if they had just been arranged in advance. But with Itreig living alone in the wilderness for many years, and Albert knowing the Order's efficiency, they will be able to get rid of the Scouts of the Cursed Sect and meet the Silver Hand at the right time.

When the convoy of grain finally passed the inspection, the neighboring citizens cheered, and the city guards in charge of escorting them shouted at them to make way for the vehicles. The carriage was almost surrounded by an agitated crowd and slowly drove towards the city.

Dineen watched them fade away, then jumped straight from the roof back into the hidden alley from which they had come. He used a forward roll cushion force when he landed, and when he stood up, there was a little blue light in front of him. The light of the teleportation technique flickered, but it also made his eyes narrow. Fortunately, almost all the surrounding residents ran out into the street to join in the fun, and no one was attracted by the strange light, poked their heads out of the window, and found that there was an extra person out of thin air.

"What's the news?" Dineen patted the dirt on his body and asked.

Gianna raised an eyebrow: "I thought it was basic etiquette to say hello first when we met. ”

Dineh spread his hands and said lazily: "Salute!" Her Royal Highness, the princess of the kingdom of Kul Tiras, the archmage Antonidas—"

"That's enough, thank you." Gianna interrupted him, "I'll remember to skip this part next time, so let's get down to business for now." ”

Dineen held a hand to his ear, signaling that he was listening.

"I found many traces of necromancy in the city, but mainly in the city cemetery and the baron's mansion." Gianna frowned worriedly, "I believe these two places are the gathering places of the cultists, and the traces they left behind are subtle but dense. ”

"The cemetery is the source of their army, and Rivendell is their command center. The former can be handed over to the Silver Hand to deal with, how many people have they left in the city? ”

"A third. And they know what they're up against. I saw that the priest had prepared a lot of holy water and some other things to ward off evil spirits—not all of them worked, but they wouldn't listen to me. Gianna sighed.

"On the battlefield you will listen to it. Guarding the cemetery wasn't a problem, but it was also hard for them to pull their hands against Rivendell. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the main force of the Silver Hand returns to the city. ”

It's not that Dineen didn't plan to rush headlong into the enemy's base camp and chop everything he saw moving to pieces. A long time ago—not long ago, he corrected himself with a bit of amazement, and although it could really be counted as a matter of a previous life, it wasn't really much later—and that's what he did. But then, Dinen was faster, more ferocious, well-armed, and never alone.

Now he is. So Dineen once again controlled his anger. Of course he wanted to destroy this shameless plot, but if he wasted his second life cutting off branches and leaves instead of digging out roots, then he simply didn't deserve the sword that two generations of Stormwind kings had placed on his shoulder.

"And what is your role in that?" Gianna asked. She may not have meant it badly, but it sounded like she was skeptical that Dinen would stand idly by.

"I promise they won't be attacked," he told her sternly, hesitating for a moment, before adding, "I promise they won't be forced to destroy the city with their own hands." ”

If Gianna had seen the gloom in his eyes, she did not say anything, allowing him to continue: "The grain has passed the inspection when it entered the city, and it has not been contaminated. I will stop them from throwing the plague. ”

"You're going to go alone?"

Dineen shrugged. He had no other helper to bring, except for the three overzealous boys. In order to satisfy their desire to help, Dineen had to give them a task in advance to ensure that they could stay in a safe place.

"Mind an extra helper?" Gianna asked, gesturing at herself.

Dinen turned his head sideways and stared at her in surprise, "Are you sure you want to go out on an adventure with the werewolves, Your Highness the Princess?" ”

"I think it's a good fit. Don't forget, in fairy tales witches always act with werewolves. Gianna gestured as she raised her staff.

"You know I'm not really a werewolf, right?"

"And I'm not really a witch, but there's a good chance those paladins think so. If they didn't know who I was, they would have been more than happy to see me as an accomplice to the cultists. ”

Dineh tugged at the corners of his mouth, a little amused: "It makes sense, then let's go." ”