34 The Wind in the Willows

(hmm...... This meme is a little too obvious)

"Kelan is at the tavern, and he didn't go back to the manor." Parrett said, carrying her luggage, and then looked guilty.

Mello and Erin packed their bags and followed Parrett towards the tavern, ignoring Parrett's guilt and apologies, instead finding him hilarious.

"You're going to leave now, huh? We've only been here for less than a day. "But also, it will take another month or two to get from here to halfway to the island, so it's better to leave early, without delay." ”

Erin is practical: "I hope to get on a stable boat...... Ah, that's Kran. "We'll have to hurry up, too, we have to get to the port before curfew," she said, pointing to the figure next to the tavern. ”

When the three of them got closer, they found that there were four other people beside Kelan - all white-haired old men, two men and two women, and they were talking to Kelan about something.

“…… Then go to Riverbank Town, where we have our boats that we can lend you. An old man said to Kolan.

Kelan saluted and thanked him: "Great, thank you for your advice and help. ”

"Where, where, we are all old friends, you can still think of us, it's too late for us to be happy! Hahahaha......" said the old woman, her voice very cheerful.

"Ah, here they are." Koran beckoned to Milo and the others, "Let me introduce you, they are my friends - Milo Entekoman, Erin Akayi, and Parrett Chevalier, all trustworthy people. ”

"Looks like you've expanded your social horizons again!" Another old man said in a hoarse voice.

Kelan turned to Milo and the others, "Then let me introduce these four elders...... she turned to the four of them again and asked in a low voice, "Name?" Or ......"

"Nickname!" The old woman said decisively.

"Hey, then let me introduce: these are 'river rats', 'frogs', 'moles', and 'badgers'." (The first two are male, the last two are female, don't go out of your way to remember)

"Hello!" Erin saluted politely, and Milo and Parrett bowed.

"Okay, don't be polite, you have to be in a hurry, right, let's get ready to start." Badger said.

The three of them looked at each other, they didn't know what to "start", but they were afraid that it would be rude to ask more, so they didn't speak, and began to ask Kelan with their eyes, but the latter did not respond.

"Come, stand among us." The frog beckoned, and the four old men stood away, with Milo and the others and Kolan standing among them.

"Don't talk, don't be surprised, just stand firm." Kelan said, and the three of them nodded at the same time.

The river rat took a deep breath and said in a serious, hoarse voice, "It's time to start, don't move!" The four old men stood still, their eyes closed, and began to say something silently. At first, there was no movement, but soon, Milo felt that his hairs were beginning to be sucked by something, he looked around, and a faint blue light began to appear in the place surrounded by the four old men, and then, the blue light began to slowly roll into a spiral, surrounding everyone, the spiral continued to expand, slowly covering everyone. Mello looked at the other three, and Erin and Parrett were all surprised, watching this unbelievably shocking scene—and finally, the spiral completely covered them, as if they had become tunnels again, and the end of the tunnel glowed with white light. Suddenly, a force pushed everyone into the light, or rather the light against everyone, and everyone was shrouded in white light......

When the white light dissipated, Milo realized that it was no longer the streets of Komet City, but a green forest, and what was even more amazing was that the sun was still in the sky, but it was just about to set.

"It's teleportation, right?" Erin asked Kran.

"Hey, I asked these four old friends to come to Komet and help us shorten our journey." Kelan replied.

As you recall, Klan gave him a letter before saying goodbye to Captain Allen, and the captain complained that "it was to those four weird old fellows again", which was actually a letter to the four old men, asking them to rush to the Duchy of Komet to join Kolan.

"Why is their teleportation magic like this?" Milo asked, and Klan just wanted to answer, but Erin hurriedly said, "I know: 'If several magicians cast spells at the same time, the magic circle will appear little by little, but it is different when one person uses fusion magic. That's what I heard from the wind chimes. Erin remembers very well that it was based on this that Wind Chimes began to suspect Sevia.

Milo suddenly realized, "Oh, I remember, it was when you first came to Windwalk. ”

Confused, Parrett answered, "What the hell are you talking about...... But what about the four of them? ”

Kelan pointed not far away, only to see the four old men facing the low tombstone, as if in mourning, the frog slowly knelt down towards the tombstone, and the two people next to him also leaned down to support him and comfort him.

As the sun sets, the forest is very quiet, except for the sound of the breeze. Kelan whispered, "Don't disturb them, this is their story, let's leave quietly." Then he walked in the direction of the setting sun with a white cane. Milo and the others may still have many doubts, but they know that the four old men have little to do with them, so they have to leave with Kelan.

"The four of them are all highly respected and excellent magicians, who often act together, travel all over the world, and do a lot of good deeds." As if she were telling a long history, "Later, a lot happened...... Something unexpected...... They had to live in seclusion, and until now, many people even think they are dead......"

"Kran!" Behind the group came the voice of an old woman, it was a mole, "You take this, Kolan, it is the letter that Elder Agatha asked me to pass on to you." ”

"Thank you, Mole." Kelan said gratefully, took the letter, and hugged her.

When the mole was far away, Koran stuffed the letter into his baggage, "Let's hurry first, we will get on the boat before dark." ”

"What is this place?" Erin asked.

"I think this place looks a lot like the forest in the south of the Dragon's Empire, it's really like it!" Parrett speculated.

Kelan said approvingly, "Hey, Parrett is right, we are in your homeland, in the south of the main island where the Golden City is located, and we will soon arrive at Riverbank Town. ”

"Isn't that the southernmost point," Parrett said...... Oh, I see! From there, take a boat to halfway to the island, and it will be there in about ten days. ”

As soon as Parrett said this, Milo and Erin couldn't help but admire that Kran's plan was so thorough and ingenious, and they had prepared it in advance, borrowing the power of the four old men to cast the teleportation magic together, which greatly saved the time of hurrying.

"Really, Koran always has a way." Melo said in Captain Allen's tone, "But...... Why is it still lit here? As soon as the question was asked, it was exchanged for Irene and Parrett's surprised and caring eyes, "I...... I really don't know! ”

On the way afterward, Erin explains to Milo what "jet lag" is.

As the sun was about to set, the group arrived at Riverbank Town. It's a replica of the small town of Sick, and both Milo and Erin feel very familiar. With no time to go shopping, the four of them went straight to the pier, where a long, narrow brig was moored in an extremely old style.

"Be careful!" The sharp-eyed Erin said to the others, "There are samurai on board!" Sure enough, Milo and Parrett also noticed that there were several men in light cloth and samurai swords on the ship. Once again, Milo and Erin remembered the fear of being hunted down in the Dragongon Empire last time.

"Don't worry," Koran comforted the two of them in time, "These warriors obey my sword. ”

"Knives?" Erin, Milo, and Parrett asked at the same time, as they had never seen how Kran fought or what weapon she used, even though they all knew that she was the second-ranked battle mage.

Led by Kolan, the four of them arrived at the boarding springboard, where a samurai stopped the group and signaled them not to approach easily. Seeing this, Kelan raised the white cane that never left his hand, and gently recited a spell, and the staff was transformed into a katana under a burst of white light! To the great surprise of Milo and the others. The katana was nothing special except for the white scabbard, but when the samurai who was blocking the way saw the sword, he immediately got down on one knee and got out of the way, and motioned for a few people to board the ship.

"It's my usual weapon, my friends, but I'm not her true master. Her true master is the mole who just said goodbye to us. With that, Koran turned his katana back into a white cane, and then quickly boarded the ship, followed by the three of them. Seeing the noble samurai respecting herself, Erin felt an indescribable joy in her heart!

Milo and his party soon learned the name of the ship, the Otter, which had been an expedition ship, and what was even more interesting was that it was a rare animal-powered ship! In the cabin below deck, four horses are dedicated to powering the oars and assisting the boat in speeding up.

The captain appeared to greet everyone, and Kelan commanded, "Captain, sail now and go to the halfway island." The captain had no doubt and immediately coordinated the sailors, and the samurai stayed on board to help, and the Otter was out of port before the sun had completely set over the sea.

When the oil lamps on the ship were lit, Klan had a drink in the dining room - for the four of them, May 19 was too long a day, especially for Milo and Irene, who had spent more than ten days full of thrills and challenges in their dreams, and they still had to adapt to returning to May 19.

"Ah, Klan......" Parrett approached the dining room, and he was a little surprised to see Kran here, "You're here, then I'......" He wanted to turn around and leave—

"Don't be inhibited, my friend, just come and talk to me." Klan beckoned Parrett to sit aside, much to the latter's surprise, and immediately sat down next to her. Klan handed Parrett a glass of wine, and he took it without thinking about it.

"Haha, it's good wine!" Parrett said with a smile, "It's a white wine from Komer, it's so fragrant!" After hearing this, Kelan smiled, tilted his head and neck back, and stretched his beautiful figure - he was in his eighties, but his body was still in his twenties, Parrett was very polite, and looked aside, he respected Kelan from the bottom of his heart, not the blind pursuit that was misunderstood at the beginning.

"Parrett Chevalier," said Koran, resuming his seat, "isn't your real name?" Parrett was slightly surprised, but yet felt expected, and nodded with her eyes drooping.

"Sure enough, I can't hide it from you......," Parrett said convincingly.

"Captain Alan didn't tell me, I just guessed something," Koran continued, "Tell me about it, and be honest about your past. Rest assured, I won't tell them to Milo, let alone say it...... Think of it as sharing past experiences with friends. ”

Parrett's eyes were gloomy and his expression was serious, his mouth tightened, he took two deep breaths, and finally began to tell his story:

"When I was a child, I lived on an unknown outlying island in the Dragonon Empire, which was outside the law because it was far from the main island, and people made a living mainly by stealing passing cargo ships and smuggling, and I became an adult smuggler, and I was just barely making ends meet, never thinking of doing anything big.

"Later, we were caught by the Dragon navy, and when we were sentenced, we thought we were dead, but the navy people consulted us: as long as we cooperated with them, they would not execute us, but we needed to keep it secret. At that time, I had no choice, if I didn't agree, I would die, although my family was long gone, and I didn't have anything to worry about, but I was also afraid of death, so I quickly agreed to cooperate, and one vote survived.

"The navy gave us a ship to pretend to be a ship of the Gast family to plunder everywhere, and said that we would do things absolutely and ruthlessly, alas...... At that time, I was also young, killing people and destroying flowers, and I didn't fall behind any of the bad things I could do, and I didn't know how many lives I had in my hands, but at that time I actually felt that this was not enough! Alas...... Our ship also began to become famous, so we stole the name of the Gast family's 'Raven' and continued to do evil, and later the navy people used this as a reason to extort a lot of money from the Gast family, and at its most rampant, we even took the fake 'Raven' to their port to ask for money and grab goods, and I met Alan Gast several times at that time, so when I was on the steamship, including when I was on the Pearl, I did not dare to look at him, for fear that my identity would be exposed...... Far away, we continue to run rampant at sea, and the navy nominally wants us, but behind the scenes it is conniving...... It wasn't until later that something happened......

"We attacked a slave smuggling ship, which had no money on board, but there were three or four hundred Kulo slaves, all of whom were shackled to their hands and feet, and were transported around like cattle, many of whom were starved to the bone...... When some of our people saw this, they immediately relented and said that they would release these slaves, because we were once inferior people like pigs and dogs, and we saw these slaves as if we were ourselves. But the captain of the ship said, 'Sink the ship and leave no room alive.' That's three or four hundred! We have never killed so many people at once, some people hesitated, and later more people hesitated, they opposed the way the ship boss did it, even if he 'did it absolutely and ruthlessly', he had to have a conscience...... Alas, it's too fake to talk about conscience at this time, right? But the captain of the ship had long lost his line, and threatened those who opposed him with knives, and in the end, I didn't know who made the first move, so we began to fight each other, and in the chaos I remembered that the ship was full of fire, and those Kulo people could not run in shackles, crying, shouting, and howling in the fire...... I will never forget that voice for the rest of my life...... Then our ship caught fire as well, and both ships sank to the bottom of the sea, and even then I could hear all sorts of screams coming from the bottom of the sea, only in a more dreary ......

"Luckily I got to a plank and drifted to a small island, where I was rescued by a crew that was shipwrecked, and it was a group of Kulo people who saved me...... At that moment, I really felt remorse for the bad things I had done...... I left the other survivors behind, fled from Dragon, and ran incognito to Obey to earn a living. When the djinn was in trouble, I enlisted in the army, and later met Milo and the others in Windwalk...... Alas, this is my story, and I know that my sins are too great to be forgiven...... So ......"

Parrett bit her lip and couldn't say any more.

Klan handed over another glass of wine, and Parrett took it, but he didn't drink it for a long time, his eyes glistening with tears, and finally put the wine back on the table, hiding his face and weeping.

"I remember you said that when you are with me, your heart will be very calm," Kelan said slowly, "You will follow me in the future, I just need a helper and bodyguard." ”

Parrett was a little surprised, and hurriedly wiped away his tears: "Really...... OK? ”

"Hey, really. But if you have the opportunity to meet Captain Alan in the future, you will have to apologize to him personally. ”

“…… I will. Parrett hesitated, but said in the affirmative.

"On the other hand," Koran continued, "I only love my husband in this world, you know? ”

"I understand, just like before." This time, he replied decisively.

Koran was relieved, and on the same day, another sinful man confessed his sins.