The sky was gray in the wee hours of the morning.

The sky, which had been gloomy since yesterday, did not turn into dark clouds or dissipate after a night of fermentation, but slowly shrouded overhead, like a haze that could not be swept away.

"Sorry to bother you so early, Deacon Bernie."

The young nobleman at the door was a little embarrassed when he saw Bernie open the door, and said, "It's just that I'm afraid that you'll be late, and you've already gone to church." ”

"It's okay, I've been awake for a long time." Bernie replied, then asked curiously, "Is there anything wrong with me?" ”

As he spoke, he stepped out of the way and motioned for the other party to come into the room and talk.

"Father's going to have a private dinner tonight, Deacon Bernie, and he wants you to go—"

As he stepped into the room, Levi Cambore was stunned when he suddenly saw the small round table in the living room that glowed with light.

"Is this a holy thing?"

"It's just a fun attempt."

Bernie replied without changing his face, walked over and flicked his palm, and the white light that was attached to the table was like iron powder attracted by a magnet to the palm of his hand, and then his five fingers were closed, and the light overflowing from the gap between his hands slowly disappeared.

There was nothing to hide, being in an otherworld, the young nobleman himself was surprised by this, but he didn't pay much attention to it, and after a few glances, he withdrew his gaze.

He then sat down on the side of the round table at Bernie's suggestion, and politely thanked Bernie after pouring him a cup of nettle tea.

"I suppose there must be some reason why the Earl invited me?" Bernie, who sat across from the young aristocrat, asked.

"Yes."

After taking a polite sip of the bitter tea, Livay Cambore put down his glass and said, "Father would like to ask you personally about some of the things you had done when you met my brother that day. I beg your pardon, Deacon Bernie, for he is too old to walk for long periods of time, so he can't come to you on his own initiative. ”

"It doesn't matter."

Bernie said thoughtfully, "But the banquet will be forgotten, and I will go to see him later if I need to." ”

"Father also wants to personally entertain the new deacons who have recently arrived, including you, Deacon Bernie."

Livay Cambore replied: "As local lords, we have always had a good relationship with the Church and we want it to be maintained. ”

"That's right."

Bernie nodded, "Then please tell Lord Earl that I will go to the banquet, exactly when is it?" ”

"It's five o'clock tonight."

The young nobleman replied immediately, then stood up and saluted with a smile, "The Cambore family is looking forward to your arrival. ”

"I'm looking forward to the dinner too."

Bernie smiled back, sent him away, and turned to look at the three people who had quietly appeared at the table and chairs.

"If the resale of holy water is true, then it is impossible for the Cambore family, as local lords, not to know about it."

The middle-aged bishop then spoke, "I even suspect that the Cambore family itself is one of the participants in this event, so there may be something going on in this banquet. ”

"What do you mean?"

"We can't let them know that we've found out something is wrong, so you need to go to this party."

Rhodes said: "But don't worry, even if something happens, they won't have the courage to murder church members at the banquet, but maybe they will find a way to make you do some ugly things, and if you pay more attention, you shouldn't fall for them." ”

Bernie nodded, "What about the other people who went to the banquet?" ”

"Don't tell them." Rhodes shook his head, "This matter needs to be kept secret for the time being. ”

After saying this, he began to instruct his accompanying deputy, Warren, to return to the Rowland Islands, and secretly dispatch some trustworthy people to Nerham to search for evidence.

Then he looked at Bernie again.

"Does Boswell have anything else to do besides this?"

"No, he just said it and left."

"From which direction did you leave?"

"Looks like I'm heading in the direction of the fish market."

Bernie said with a pun.

"But I guess he went there to deceive me, and maybe he changed his destination halfway."

……

As Bernie said, Boswell, who had left Oak Street, did not go to the Fish Market in Neham, but made several turns halfway through.

After feeling that no one was following, he headed for his intended destination.

But his direction was not to leave Neham, but to the chaotic docklands of Neham, and to spend the night in one of the inns called Three Fish.

Because he was dressed strangely, he even took off his tight clothes halfway and changed into a cloak and robe that looked like a normal traveler.

At the same time, the dock area, which has a large flow of people, also provides some cover for his whereabouts.

But after entering the hotel room, Boswell always behaved very nervously, sometimes hesitating, sometimes gritting teeth, and a few times even sneakily ready to sneak away, but in the end he chose to stay where he was.

As if waiting for something.

It wasn't until the next morning, the same time that Levi Cambore had gone to invite Bernie to the feast, that the existence he had been waiting for finally appeared.

It was a black-haired crow that fluttered its wings and landed behind the window of the hotel room, and a pair of dark and shining eyes looked at Boswell in the room.

"You said something in that human deacon's room, and then led the local bishop over."

Raven said, "Tell me, what did you say at the time?" ”

"Why should I tell you?" Boswell, with a stiff face, asked rhetorically.

"Because you are aware of our presence, but you do not hide from it."

The raven replied.

Its voice is similar to that of a parrot, but more hoarse.

"You want to meet us, and even risk staying in the city for a night for that."

"I just don't want to leave yet." Boswell said, "I have nothing to tell you. ”

He accentuated the tone on the syllable of you, and the crow tilted its head as a result, and then flapped its wings and left.

Boswell sat in his room and waited.

After about twenty minutes, a rustling sound suddenly sounded from the dirt walls of the room, and then one by one, praying mantis crawled out of various hidden corners, densely packed, and finally converged in front of Boswell, progressively forming a surging black human form.

"What do you want to say? Can you tell me. ”

A hoarse voice sounded in the "mouth" of the insect man, and it sounded quite permeating, like the noise of thousands of insects crawling distorted.

"I don't have anything to tell you." Boswell added, "I'm just here to get some sleep."

The human form formed by the insect tide shook for a moment, and then collapsed and reverted to a dense mass of insects that fell off the floor and scattered in all directions.

After about half an hour, Boswell, who was sitting quietly in his hotel room, suddenly shook his body, and then involuntarily collapsed on the straw bed in the room, falling into a deep sleep.

In his sleep, Boswell found himself in the ruins of a battlefield full of corpses in a dark environment.

At his feet was the corpse of a leather-armored soldier with half of his face rotten, quietly staring at the sky.

But when Boswell looked down, the dead body suddenly looked sideways at him, and opened its mouth at the same time,

"What the hell do you want to tell us, damn necromancy?"

When the corpse opened its mouth to speak, the half-blackened tongue in its mouth was clearly visible, and some pus-stained maggots were also entangled and wriggled between its teeth and deep in its throat, looking very disgusting.

"I am an apostle of the devil."

Boswell did not respond perfunctorily this time, but opened his mouth bluntly, "But because of something, I offended my master." ”

"Stupid." The rotting corpse lying on the ground commented.

"It's stupid, and it's serious."

Boswell said bitterly, "My master is a very vengeful devil, and his methods are particularly cruel. I don't think he'll let me go in the future. ”

"It's normal."

The corpse on the surface grinned, "But we don't want to hear a stupid necromancer tell its stupid story, you know what I'm talking about, right?" ”

"No, you'll want to hear it."

Boswell said, "My master is the Morning Star, Ymir Wollaston Morning Star." ”

Before he finished speaking, there was a violent upheaval in the hazy dream world like an earthquake, and the dead body lying on the ground suddenly widened its green eyes, as if frightened and excited.

But then the dream distorted and vanished, and Boswell woke up in his hotel room.

But after a while, there was a knock on the door outside the room, and Boswell walked over and opened the door, revealing a dirty little boy.

Outwardly, the boy appeared to be a beggar, with a dirty face and a torn sleeveless linen blouse, but what he said did not match his outfit at all.

"Follow me,"

He said, "Our king wants to see you." ”