In the dark realm of black and white, Gawain, Amber, Betty, and an unnamed wild mage sit around a humble wooden house, with Betty's freshly prepared lunch in front of them—simple slices of bread, fried sausages, and some vegetable soup.

It's all colorless, like an old black-and-white photograph.

Gawain didn't mean to touch the food in front of him, although it was true that he could cook in the Shadow Realm, he was really not sure what would happen if he was a living human (presumably) who ate something from the Shadow Realm.

Amber and Betty next to them didn't use their knives and forks either.

The wild mage on the other side of the table didn't rush them, he just silently ate the food in front of him, and seemed very quiet.

An eerie tacit understanding lingered in the wooden house.

The first to break the silence was Gawain: "How long have you been here?" ”

"It's been a long time," Master Wild said, putting down his knife and fork, looking polite, "I've settled here since the year after I left the Secret Festival. ”

"You were once a member of the Arcane Society?" Gawain asked, somewhat surprised, "I thought you had always been a wild mage. ”

"I was originally a second-level member of the Arcane Magic," Master Wild said quietly, "By the standards of the Arcane Magic, I am a crappy spellcaster - I am good at calculation and reasoning, but I lack the ability to transform it into a spell model, in other words, my spellcasting level is always at the beginning level, and such a mage is not welcome in the Arcane Festival." ”

"So they drove you away?" Amber feels incredible. She knew that a true mage was precious, even if his spell casting level was very lame - lame was only for those arcane masters, in the eyes of ordinary people, even a mage who could only release a small fireball was a big man, even if these grassroots spellcasters were not taken seriously in the secret puja, they would not be swept away.

"I left on my own," the no-mage shook his head and turned to look at Betty, "I had to leave for the sake of my daughter, for the sake of healing her." ”

Betty looked at the wild mage in a daze, then nodded confusedly.

Gawain didn't dwell too much on this issue, but stared into the eyes of the wild mage, pressed the hilt of the long sword at his waist with his right hand, and said slowly, "You should know what we're here for - we don't have much time to waste. ”

The wild mage's stiff and sluggish expression finally changed slightly, his body trembled slightly, and then lowered his head: "...... Guest, I don't really understand what you mean. ”

Betty looked at Gawain a little nervously: "Master? ”

Gawain frowned, and after a moment he removed his hand from the hilt of the Pioneer Sword, and he slowed down: "Then wait a while. ”

The Wild Mage lowered his head and continued to eat his meal quietly and silently, the only superfluous movement he had during the meal was to raise his head from time to time to glance at Betty next to him.

The food will eventually run out, and Gawain can't wait indefinitely.

Wild Mage ate the last bite of the sausage, then carefully wiped the broth off the soup plate with a slice of bread, and after he finished his meal, he looked up in Betty's direction—but his eyes weren't really focused on Betty at all, but on a little further away. His body swayed, as if he was trying to stand up, but several attempts were unsuccessful.

In the end, it was Betty who helped him up.

"Daddy, I'm leaving," the little girl took the wild mage's arm and made sure he was on his feet before letting go of her hand, she moved to Gawain's side in small steps, "Miss Rebecca and Mrs. Hetty are still waiting for me—and the Lord is here too." ”

The wild mage's lips twitched, and finally nodded slightly, his expression had calmed down, and he carefully explained: "Don't eat what strangers give. "Go to bed on time." "Remember to listen to the teacher." "Don't fight with other kids."

The splendor of reason was fading from the poor man's eyes, and Gawain knew that all he was talking about was now.

Although he was barely awake the whole time before.

The figure of the wild mage gradually faded, but in the fainter and fainter shadow, there was suddenly a flame-like thing burning, Gawain had been waiting for this moment for a long time, he quickly drew the sword of the pioneer, and a faint glimmer surged on the blade.

Amber quickly pulled Betty into her arms and covered the little girl's eyes in time.

Gawain stabbed his sword into the flame of the wild mage's chest, and the flames shook violently, and the wild mage, who had already transformed in the direction of the evil spirit, suddenly stopped transforming, and the illusory figure quickly re-solidified into an entity, and then the raging flames engulfed him, burning him into a hideous and terrifying charred corpse.

It burned for half a minute before the corpse was completely destroyed.

The sound of clattering came from all directions, and the cabin quickly disintegrated after losing its owner, and in the blink of an eye the dense cracks filled the walls and roof, and the pale light of the outside world spilled into the room through the cracks in the wooden planks.

Gawain ran out of the house with Amber and Betty in tow, and the second moment they ran out, the cabin collapsed completely.

The collapsed wooden house ignited a fire in front of their eyes, and the fire lasted for a short time, as if it was not a wooden house that had been burned down, but a paper house.

As the cabin gradually turned to ashes and drifted away in the wind, Amber suddenly grabbed Gawain's arm and pointed at the foundation of the cabin and exclaimed, "Oops! Look at that! ”

Gao Wen looked intently, and saw that under the ashes of the wooden house, a flickering line was brightening, and the light passed through the scattered flying ash, gradually forming a complex and huge structure—it was the appearance of a large magic circle.

"This is probably the highest achievement of that wild mage in his life," Gao Wen nodded slightly, "It is probably the problem with this magic circle that caused him to fall into this situation." ”

As she spoke, Betty's figure began to gradually transform into fluttering points of light, which flew in place twice before quickly flying in the direction where Gawain and Amber had come.

Amber looked down at her hands, which had turned gray and white and were bleeding again, and as the color returned to her and Gawain, the Shadow Realm's rejection of them became more and more apparent.

Shadowy things condensed from the thin mist around them, completely disembodied but clearly ill-intentioned, the natives of the Shadow Realm finally smelled the scent of outsiders, and something in the most shallow layers emerged, gathering like hyenas that smelled blood.

"We must withdraw!" Amber said to Gawain, "We're not welcome in this place!" ”

Gawain took one last deep look at the ruins of the hut, tried to memorize the glowing lines and symbols in his mind, and then pulled Amber's arm: "Go!" ”

After a brief moment of vertigo, the reality of the world reappeared before his eyes.

The fog of resentment had dissipated, and the forest had returned to its original form, while Rebecca and Hetty, who had lost their strength, were leaning against each other under a tree, Byron Knight was barely guarding the two mistresses with his sword, and the two surviving soldiers had collapsed to the ground.

Betty was probably the best of them all - she was standing beside Rebecca in a daze with a pan in her arms, as if the look had solidified on her face.

When Herty saw Gawain, she immediately stood up with her body propped up: "Ancestor, it's great that you're safe!" ”

Then she saw Amber following behind Gawain, and her face instantly became subtle: "Didn't this thief run away?" ”

"Hey! What do you mean by this discrimination? Amber suddenly jumped up like a cat with its tail stepped on, "I went to the Shadow Realm with your ancestor just now to save you, okay?" You big-breasted old woman......"

Hetiwan didn't expect that this thief lady would dare to scold him on the street, and his face immediately became unsightly: "Shut up!" It's rude! Do you know what it is to offend the nobles like this......"

Gawain hurriedly interjected in the middle to play a round: "Don't argue, don't argue, Amber didn't lie, the two of us did solve the crisis together just now - of course, it's really her fault that she scolded you for having big breasts later......"

The scene was quiet for a while, and Rebecca cautiously raised her hand: "Ancestor, Amber just said such a compliment and you rejected it......

Hetty's face was loveless.

Gawain: "......"

Fortunately, Herty is also a person who understands the general situation and did not dwell on these small issues for too long, and after Gawain explained what happened before, all misunderstandings will be dissolved.

What Gawain and Amber saw and heard in the Shadow Realm surprised everyone, and even the Byron Knight, who knew nothing about magic, couldn't help but come over and listen for a long time.

After all, this is an experience that ordinary people can hardly imagine.

"You were able to enter the Shadow Realm?" The first thing Hetty cared about was Amber's special ability, and she looked Amber up and down several times with suspicion, as if she wanted to see the answer from Miss Half-Elf's face, "Only a few high-level mages of the shadow system or the 'Divine Selection' of the shadow gods have this ability, how did you get it?" ”

Amber turned her face away: "I'm the chosen one of the goddess of the night, okay?" ”

Hetty glared at her: "Don't make a fuss, a divine chosen one can be slapped to the ground by Byron with an ordinary steel sword?" ”

"Forget it, don't ask questions," Gawain finally stopped Hetty from getting to the bottom of it, "I've promised her not to pursue that—she'll say it when she wants to." ”

The Great Ancestor of Heaven and Earth is the largest, and Gawain has spoken like this, and Heti can only choose to stop fighting.

"Let's bury the dead first," the fog dissipated, the warmth returned to everyone, and seeing that everyone had recovered a little bit of strength, Gawain got up and walked to the soldier who had died from a broken soul, "He also fought bravely, and should be buried like a warrior." ”

The two surviving soldiers looked at Gawain with some surprise.

Gawain was a little puzzled: "What, what did I say wrong?" ”

"After he is a serf," the Byron knight walked from the side, "it is the Viscount who issued a decree that a serf child like him has the opportunity to enter the territorial army and redeem himself for his service—but he has only served for half a year, so he is still a serf, and such an identity cannot be buried as a soldier." ”

Gawain frowned and looked at Rebecca, "Is that so?" ”

Rebecca immediately became nervous as if she had done something wrong: "Right...... I'm sorry! But I don't think serfdom is really ...... It's not very reasonable, so let them redeem themselves for their service, I know it's not in accordance with the rules, but ......"

Gao Wen's brows widened slightly: "No, I don't blame you. ”

He then bent down and fumbled to take a coin from his bosom and stuffed it into the dead soldier's breast pocket, placing it close to his heart.

The coin was placed by Charles I himself when Gawain Cecil was buried 700 years ago.

Amber realized what it was the moment she saw the coin, and then covered her eyes: "Mom...... At least half of the estate ......"

But Gawain himself was unaware of this, he just did these things according to the rules of his memory, and then clapped his hands and stood up: "Now someone has redeemed the debt of his soul and buried him." ”

Byron hesitated slightly: "But the rules ......"

Gawain glanced at him: "I am the rule." ”