At night, in the corridor of a building in the backyard of Tiamagos Cathedral in Hurenger, the half-orc Mithril Knight named Bogro led the young paladin and the witcher elf girl behind him to a door at the edge of the corridor, and stretched out his hand to insert an iron key into a lock hole in the door.

The metal serrations on the iron key fit precisely into the gaps in the keyhole, and Bergero expertly twisted the key three times in a clockwise direction with his fingers, and the lock on the door immediately made a clear "boom" sound, relieving it of its attachments.

The rugged-looking orc paladin reached open the door, and a dormitory room with three white beds, a wooden desk, and a floor-mounted wardrobe appeared in front of the three of them.

In Ferdia, churches and shrines were places for priests and paladins to take office and learn skills and spells, as well as free inns in another sense, as the churches of the Templar church usually provided several dormitories for priests and paladins from other places, as well as for wandering devout travelers. In the previous game, Paladins like Finn often took over the captaincy of the team when needed it, and then went to a nearby church with his teammates to take a proper rest.

Bergero walked into the room with Finn and Arya, turned around and handed Finn a key from his hand and said, "This is the key to this room." The church dormitory may not be as comfortable as a fancy inn, but it can at least provide a place for you to sleep. ”

"Thank you." Finn took the key from Bergero's hand.

"Miss Arya, your room is next door. This is your key. ”

"Thank you."

The orc paladin and the elven girl had a similar interaction.

After that, the orc paladin named Bogro briefly explained to Finn and Arya a few precautions about staying in the church, then turned and walked through the door of the room, quickly leaving in front of the two of them.

Arya paced around the room that temporarily belonged to Finn, Arroyo, and Raymond, turning her head from side to side to look at the limited dormitory, muttering to herself, "This is the dormitory in the church......

"yes. As the orc gentleman said, the conditions here are worse than those of high-end hotels, but they are enough for those who stay overnight. Finn heard her murmur from the side, then turned to look at her, "What?" Your first time staying overnight at a church? ”

"Isn't that obvious?" The elven girl looked back and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not a priest, and besides, I don't have a church in my hometown. ”

"You mean the Far South Forest?"

"Hmm." The elven girl smiled and nodded, "I was born in the northern jungle of the Far South Forest, where most of the elves believe in Liv, the goddess of life, and the temples of life and druids can be seen everywhere, and some elves from the shores of the Crystal Lake are happy to settle there. ”

As the words fell, her eyes suddenly became empty for a moment, and the expression on her face seemed to enter the depths of memory, which made her mind temporarily return to that distant homeland, as if she heard the nightingales in the woods chirping in the treetops, saw the lively little animals chasing back and forth in the grass, and the spiky elves and fairy friends from the crystal lake sat in the wooden hut in the tree hole and talked happily, countless familiar pictures flickered in her mind, and those scenes living in memories came to life.

The forests of the Far South are the homeland of the elves.

Legend has it that two tears of Liv, the goddess of life, fell from the abode of the gods at the beginning of the Second Age, and one of them poured into a basin south of Ferdia, and the other was formed by a piece of soil next to the moor, and since then beautiful fairies were born from the pure waters of the lake, and graceful elves walked in the ethereal forest.

Fein stared at Arya. He watched the latter also come out of his mind for a moment, opened his mouth silently, and then whispered to the elf girl with a light golden ponytail in front of him, "Arya." ”

"What?" The two emerald green pupils in the elven girl's eye sockets came back to their senses.

"If ......," the young paladin paused, "if you want to go back to Dawnwind first, I won't force you to stay in Hurengue to assist me in resolving this Purple Spot incident." ”

"Huh?"

The elven girl blinked, her mouth half-open.

After two seconds of silence—

"Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?" She stared into the eyes of the young paladin, and the expression on her face became slightly serious.

"Because along the way, I've found that I'm always causing you trouble." Finn organized the words, then said, "Whether it's that adventure in the Melore Mines or the battle that night in Azur Harbor, my actions have always put you, Arroyo, Raymond, Lilith, and I in danger, and you shouldn't have followed me around with these unfortunate living sins. ”

"So, you feel guilty about me?" Arya tried to guess what was in Finn's mind.

"A little bit. After all, what happens around us is an indisputable fact. Fein smiled helplessly, "Hurenger's purple spot epidemic is far from being as simple as it seems on the surface, and it may involve both the Dark Alliance and the Demon Shepherd's Cult. I am a warrior of the Templars, and my mission requires me to be at the forefront of the fight against evil, but you didn't need to be involved in these troubles with me. ”

"So, what do you mean by saying these things to me?" The elf girl crossed her hands and tilted her head, "You think my strength can't keep up with you, and you're afraid that I will drag you back, and you plan to drive me away from you?" ”

"Hey, I didn't mean that." Finn was stunned for a moment, "I just wanted to say-"

"Now, Finn." Arya took two steps closer to the young paladin, and interrupted what the latter was about to explain, "Do you remember the two things you said to me when we were in that undead barracks deep in the mines of Meror? ”

"...... do you mean?" Fein subconsciously tilted his chin back a little, distancing his gaze from Arya's face that was a little too close to his face.

"At that time, you asked me if I would be interested in joining your group if you formed an adventure group, or even a private guild in the future." Arya looked into Finn's eyes, "And, before that, when you saved my life, you said that you wouldn't leave your companion behind. ”

"Well, Finn, answer me a question first. What does companionship mean in your eyes? ”

"I ......"

Facing Arya's approaching body little by little, Finn took a few steps back in silence, not thinking that his question just out of worry and concern would actually cause Arya's reaction to seem a little excessive, as if the words in his mouth just now unconsciously uncovered a scar on the other party's past, reminding the other party of a very unpleasant black history.

"Knock"

A movement is not too loud of a collision.

Unconsciously, the young paladin who was gradually moving backwards had leaned his waist against the desk by the windowsill, while the blonde elf girl seemed to have no intention of backing down at all, and then took a step forward, allowing her face to continue to appear in front of the former.

Arya stretched out her hands from either side of Finn's body against the edge of the desk, burrowing her body in front of Finn. She was a little shorter than Finn, but she raised her head and looked up into Finn's eyes, this close contact made Fynn glance a little uncomfortably, but for a moment she didn't know which nerve Arya had been stimulated by her words that seemed to be a little emotionally disconnected, and how to give her a satisfactory explanation to the elf girl in front of her.

For a moment, neither Finn nor Arya said anything to break the silence, and the two of them were so close to each other that the quiet and awkward atmosphere quickly filled the room.

At this moment—

"My lord, Raymond and I are back." Arroyo's voice came from the direction outside the door.