Late at night, in the village of Almo.

Almost everyone, including the shopkeeper, fell asleep late at night.

Tourists relive the best moments of the journey, and workers relieve the fatigue of the day's work. Tita, who had spent the whole afternoon solving the pump problem, had already slept soundly, Estelle and Joshua were in the next room, and Faye also returned to the inn after that conversation, took a simple shower, changed into pajamas, said goodnight sleepily, and fell asleep.

The "......" gaze swept over Fei's lovely sleeping face, the kind of gentle gaze that Helriga had never had for the second person. It was a complex feeling, including the distress of the girl who had to step on the battlefield at a young age, accompanied by blood and gunsmoke, including the responsibility of nodding her head firmly and vowing to be by her side forever, and more importantly, the love of a teenager for a girl.

It took a long time for Helriga to take his eyes off Faye's face. The girl's steady breathing could be heard clearly in the quiet night. Heliga tiptoed to the side of the package, and from the mezzanine inside, secretly took out a small glass bottle, in which some kind of crystal liquid emitted a dazzling streamer in the slightest moonlight.

"If it weren't for this, it would be too hard...... I'm not coming to you, Bernardo. Talking to himself helplessly, the boy uncorked the bottle, swallowed the liquid from the bottle, and then gently lay back on the bed.

The body became heavy, as if floating out of the bed, drifting into the distance...... Soon after this vague and unreal sense of weightlessness continued, Helriga realized that his consciousness, his own perspective, no longer seemed to be in the inn of Almo.

"What an accident." As he spoke, a voice that sounded not at all unexpected, sounded beside the boy. Bernardo, with a strange object in his hand, was bored and playing, while looking at Heiliga with interest.

"You said that if there is a difficult problem that is difficult to solve, let me come to you." Swallowing his saliva, Haliga said straight to the point.

"Ah, that's a nice look." Bernardo did not answer Heiliga's question, but instead changed the subject, "although the question itself is not ...... However, compared to the one who was afraid and stagnant, it is already much stronger. ”

"Don't change the subject, time is of the essence." Heliga interrupted him impatiently.

"Alas...... Good, good. Throwing away the things he was playing with, Bernardo spread his hands helplessly, "I know what you want to ask, but unfortunately, I don't know the answer." ”

“…… You know? Heiliga was stunned, the other party knew what he wanted?

"You want to know what that is, right?" Bernardo said calmly, "You guessed it, it was indeed something like a curse...... But the specific effect, the way it happens, how it works, how to use it, I don't know anything about these things. ”

"Don't pretend to be garlic. Didn't you read those obscure books at some academy in Winterhold? As you said, whether it's here or Nairn, all magic, curses, and channeling are essentially uses of the concept of light, aren't they? ”

"You're right, but not entirely." Bernardo nodded, "It's true that light is the root of everything, but there are also many forms of existence and ways of impact...... It can turn into a flame that consumes everything, or it can become an ice freezer in space. It is the answer to eternal miracles and the key to opening the gates of hell. To put it in layman's terms, the masters—I mean, the great magicians, and the gods who are high above, all have their own unique understanding of light...... They deal with the essence of light, allowing it to take on a variety of forms, branded with their own...... And this time, you'll obviously meet one of the opponents who is good at it all. ”

"In other words, you can't know the real goal through this?" Heiliga said disappointedly.

"Unfortunately, it is. I'm glad we reached a consensus. ”

"What a surprise, I thought you, as a dragonborn, would be able to help me solve this mystery. After all, it was only with the help of your external power that I could clearly sense that something was wrong with that thing. ”

"You can feel the presence of that filthy and unclean curse because the power itself is not of this world. It has a natural repulsion to the original power of the world, so you can feel that way. And ......" Bernardo snapped his fingers with a wry smile, and dozens of dim light sources appeared around him, "You see, most of the dragon souls that make up the dragonborn are still asleep...... If you want me to help you solve your problems, it's easier to think. ”

"Expect you to solve the problem...... But forget it. Then I'll change the question. That archaeology professor...... Do you remember? ”

"I remember, but I don't remember it very clearly. It seems that it is some kind of implicit method of dispelling it, diluting his presence unconsciously. None of your buddies noticed the problem. ”

"yes, they look pretty normal." Thinking of the rough-witted Estell, Haley deepened his thoughts, "But, since they are mentioned, then, according to your judgment......"

"You should feel right. The brunette teenager...... I did feel the same presence in him...... And this presence is more intense, more pretentious......"

"It feels dangerous."

"yes, that thing is dangerous." Bernardo was surprised by Heiliga's decisiveness, "So? ”

"Well, to be honest, I want to sneak away with Fey...... "Helriga said his thoughts with some concern, "I don't want to believe it, but Joshua ...... At least in practice, it seems that there is a big problem. ”

"Just because that little girl told you saw him go out?" Bernardo scratched his head helplessly, "This is too vigilant." ”

"There's no way, I can't let Faye get hurt, even if it's just a possibility."

"Worms that have been cut open can't turn into butterflies, and you're already overprotective." Bernardo shook his head, "Don't you see what's wrong, that girl, is it really just these umbrellas that you secretly built for her?" ”

“…… This ......"

"She has the fighting power, she has the ability to protect herself, she has what she wants to achieve, and she's ready to work hard for it...... By doing so, you are cutting her off from anyone other than you. She's a living person, and she doesn't need you to arrange her life. You are disgusted with the Hunter King and his group of self-righteous men, and you think they are imposing their personal feelings on the little girl...... Aren't you doing the same thing yourself? ”

“…… However, this kind of thing is really dangerous......" Helriga tried to calm himself down, "It's not that I don't know Fei's abilities, didn't I choose to believe her when I was fighting the fire in the orphanage?" ”

"It was the right thing to do." Bernardo nodded approvingly, "So this time, you should also trust her and trust her judgment, so that you can cultivate that tacit understanding." And, if you're really not at ease...... I can give you a guarantee. ”

"What guarantees?"

“…… Joshua, it shouldn't hurt you now. Although, that kid does have some kind of dangerous aura on him, and he may even be your enemy at some point in the future...... But ......" paused, "at least, the milk he had just delivered...... You're really overthinking. ”

“…… That doesn't mean he's really harmless. ”

"Yes, the decision is yours. But it's time to think about what it means to trust such a thing. ”

“…… Trust...... ......"

————————————————————————————————

When I opened my eyes again, it was already the next morning. After a full night's rest, both tired workers and excited travelers are ready to start the day.

After saying goodbye to Maxu's mother-in-law, Hailiga and the others embarked on a journey back to Chase. Estelle needed to learn about the doctor's research, and the happy journey came to an end.

On the way back, the group met a man as strong as a giant bear. With a wine gourd hanging from his waist, he asked the people in which direction the village of Amor, where they had just left, and left in a hurry.

"From the Republic." This is the conclusion reached by everyone after a small discussion.

Despite Bernardo's assurances, Heiliga kept Joshua at arm's length, consciously or unconsciously. The black-haired boy didn't seem to notice it, and he was still as usual.

"Maybe it's my psychology, I always feel like there's some commotion......" Estelle suddenly stopped and said as she approached downtown Chase.

“…… It's not psychological, I do hear a noise in the distance. After a moment of silence and careful listening, Joshua said quietly, "It's the direction of the central workshop." ”

"There is a burning smell in the air." Fei's nose quivered cutely, as a former hunter, she was very sensitive to the smell.

“…… Alas, what's going on here...... Anyway, go check it out. ”

——————————————————————————————————

"Huhu, I thought I was going to die...... Goddess bless...... "The white overalls had been soiled, and the black-and-gray and embarrassed Master Madoc had escaped from a building emitting black smoke. Taking two deep breaths, he calmed down and looked around at the people who were injured to varying degrees: "Okay, everyone is okay, right?" ”

"Yes, yes, ordinary employees are ......" one worker hurriedly began to count the number of people.

"So......" Maddock was about to give instructions to the people below, but was interrupted by a voice, "Mr. Workshopmaster! ”

"It's you...... I've come back from Almo! ”

"What's going on with this commotion?" Estelle asked, impatient.

"It looks like there's a gas leak somewhere...... The entire fifth floor was filled with smoke. The fire extinguishing device was not working, presumably not a fire. "The head of the workshop did not hide anything, and told everything he knew.

"That...... What about Grandpa? Tita looked around, but didn't see the familiar figure.

"That ......" The staff who was silently counting the number of people on the side turned around at this moment, and looked apologetic, "The ordinary staff have all confirmed, but only Dr. Russell hasn't come out yet......"

————————————————————————————

P.S: Today's update almost dropped the pigeon, yard to 3 a.m. T.T