Kerry lifted his bow and arrow, and Perrant put his hand behind his back and swung it slightly.

The knights looked at the strangers with gloomy eyes, and the two knights in charge of "roasting" the black-footed halfling, under the cover of their companions, turned over their horses neatly, and then pulled the reins to put themselves in the same position as the other knights, and the distance needed to make the impact - before the adventurers did not stop, the knight in charge raised his iron gloved hand to stop them from proceeding.

"This is the territory of the 'Black Lev,'" cried the knight at the head, "strangers, tell me what you are here for, or we will arrest you as thieves!"

"We're just passing through here," Perrant said calmly, both he and Kerry were wearing hoods, not showing the characteristics of elves, and the spider silk shirt and Mithril chain mail inside were hidden under the dark brown cloak, as a druid, Perrant had only a few ornaments on his body, although Kerry himself carried his Mithril double blades, but for concealment, his weapon was the same as the dagger that the thief put in his arms, it was color-plated, and it looked like an ordinary iron weapon from the outside. Behind them was Berdwin, his prosthetic limbs hidden under his coat and leather gloves, and he looked like a down-and-out warrior, but Leona caught the interest of the knight chief, his gaze resting on Leona's chest for a moment, and then turning to her face, a look of regret in his eyes.

"Are any of you priests?" he asked, for he saw the lich, who was dressed in the white robe that Tyr had bestowed, and as a former immortal and spellcaster, he would not sit aback with such a precious magical paraphernalia just because of his dignity and willfulness.

"I'm not a priest," the vicious lich waited until the knights smiled lightly before continuing, "I'm a mage. ”

A mage is certainly worse than a priest, but it's hard to say, and the silence of the knights provokes a little resentment from the lich: "Looks like you need a proof. He said, he raised his hand, and despite the knights' hurried retreat of the horses, he cast a small spell—a ball of water made by the spell fell on the bonfire used to "barbecue," extinguishing the flames, and causing the black-footed halfling, who had been strung on iron bars and already smelled of burnt, to weep bitterly and gratefully.

"What do you want to do?" the knight leader exclaimed in a sneering voice, "We also have mages. ”

"It was many years ago. A knight muttered in a low voice, and the chief knight almost resisted the urge to reprimand the fool, but he looked at the distance between them and the adventurer, and reassured himself that the latter should not hear anything.

"I guess my companion is just answering your question. Perrant said that it wasn't the first time he had dealt with the stupidest and worst of humanity, but it still made him tired of it: "So, can you answer us a question?" he pointed to the blackfoot halfling, "what are you doing?"

The knight leader was annoyed, but he knew that an adventurous party with mages was not something that could be bullied and insulted, and he suddenly realized that he had to shout to get the voice to reach the other party, but the other person's voice was not like hoarseness, "We are carrying out the task given to us by the lady," he said reluctantly. " These hateful thieves have stolen the corticed pig's legs from the castle, as well as some gold and silver objects, and we must torture them into their mouths for their whereabouts. ”

"Black-footed halflings don't steal these things," said Perrant indifferently, "they live in swamps, and they're used to cold, tasteless food, and even if you put the most delicious ham in front of them, they'll only choose toads and water snakes, and as for gold and silver, most halflings will probably like it, but black-footed halflings will only steal cloth and pottery, because that's what they need." "Every time a merchant wants to cross the snow-covered swamp under the guidance of the Black-footed Halfling, the Black-footed Halfling, who never leaves the snow-covered swamp, will only choose these things as commissions, and Perrant knows this very well.

"You're not a halfling," the knight leader shrugged, "how do you know what they think, maybe they just want to change their appetite?"

"And," he added, "if they didn't come for theft, why would they be in a castle more than three hundred miles away from the snowy marshes?"

"Then there must be a reason. Perrante said.

"It seems that you are indeed going to shield these sinners. The knight leader said ominously.

Perrant didn't decide to protect the Blackfoot Halfling for no reason, he had traveled the continent in his early years, and knew that human kindness and cruelty coexist, and in many cases, the latter often surpassed the former by a lot - the elves of the Silver Crown Forest did not kill indiscriminately when they could find other food, and even when they needed flesh and fat to survive the harsh winter, they would not choose young beasts and mother beasts, but humans did not, they made good use of every beast and every bird, their feathers, fur, bones, The entrails are used as food and ornaments, and unlike most of the beasts that do not continue to hunt when they are full, their desires are never-ending, except for a few sensible and intelligent people, even if the prey has been piled up, there will still be people who cannot help but draw their bows and knives. Maybe it's because they've seen a fat fawn, or maybe they're looking for an underwear made of pangolin scales, or maybe it's just because their wives and daughters have asked them to bring back one or two of the most beautiful feathers to decorate their hair when they're leaving.

Their sins befall not only the beasts, but also their kind, and even more. If the farmer pecks the seeds from the birds when they are sowing in the field, they dare not knock them down or shoot them, but let their children run around the field and wave strips of cloth to drive them away, if nothing else, because the birds peck the seeds may starve them, but if they dare to shoot down these birds that belong to the lord, they may be blinded, which is still a more merciful sentence, and there are other ways to die by the knight arbitrarily at the discretion of these halflings.

Even the knights of Tyre and the priests of Rosada have a hard time saying anything about this kind of thing, after all, each territory has its own ruler, and they make laws and require knights and soldiers to enforce it It is completely doctrinal, although it is strict, it is also their own business, unless there is a clear sign that they are using the flesh and blood of thousands of humans to worship some evil god, or fulfill a contract with a devil, or commit blasphemy, and a pious person is willing to start a war for it, and the priests and paladins can leave the temple and help him achieve the ultimate victory。

Or else?

This is also the tacit understanding that human beings have almost secretly formed after the Holocaust, and they seem to be tired of being weapons of the gods, and they have been fighting all day long for their beliefs.

The elves had to understand this earlier than other races, and because of the Silver Crown Forest, a special location that can be said to be surrounded by many countries, as the Gray Ridge and the manager of the first barrier to the outside of the Silver Crown Forest, Perrant knew how to endure more than other elves, but now he had to get these black-footed halflings, and when they were about to pass through the snow-covered swamp, he accidentally got the news that the black-footed halflings who originally lived there had fled the swamp in a hurry, no matter what, he needed to find out clearly.

"I can't be the master," said the knight leader reluctantly, he looked at the knights and servants behind him, no one knew the abilities of his subordinates better than him, they might be fine when dealing with farmers and halflings, but even hordes of goblins could bite them and squeak, and the team in front of him didn't seem to be anything special, but a mage was enough to be feared, he sighed deeply, "Gather those thieves," he said to his knights, and then turned to the strangers: " Adventurers, if you do have a better way to get them to reveal the whereabouts of the stolen goods, you can come with me, if you can do what you say," he looked at Perrante, "I think our generous master will provide you with a warm and comfortable room, and if not, you will have a room to live in, but I don't know if you are in prison or stables." ”

When the knights had gone any further, the thief Glenn made a small grimace under the hood of his cloak: "But I remember someone told me that the black-footed halfling would also ask for gold in return. ”

"Obviously," Gülen's voice was soft, but Leona heard it, "you have been deceived, fool." ”

The thief shrugged indifferently, he hadn't bought the piece of information anyway - or maybe the merchant had just dug a trap for one of his competitors to jump on, and he had now obtained a more accurate one, again without spending a copper coin, he just had to write it down.

Like the rest of the territory, the castle of "Blackcoat Lev" stood beside the river, which was not very large, probably a part of the water that overflowed from the snow-covered swamps, and now its surface was frozen, and some people sprinkled food on the ice, and set up nets to catch birds and small beasts, but they did not seem to be very successful, and those nets were set up on the ice, and there was silence around them, and not a single sparrow tried it. Baldwin glanced at Leona, who was also confused, because all the birds and beasts in the territory belonged only to the ruler of the land, which was one of the most unchangeable legal provisions, but it was rare for a lord to let his servants take a net to catch birds and beasts, because that would not necessarily be too little.

To their surprise, on the way back to the castle, several knights saw a red deer with two horns passing in the distance, and they did not hesitate to turn their horses' heads and go hunting with great pleasure, without asking their lord for permission or asking for his wishes, had they obtained his lord's permission before leaving, and ordered that deer and wild boars could be hunted in his domain?

The knight's face was not pretty, if I had to use a metaphor, it was a lead-gray sky with dense clouds, and he struck the horse's belly as if in anger, trying to tell it to go faster, but the horse only neighed lazily, and continued to move forward with a slow pace that made people feel like they wanted to sleep, and at this moment, even the knights who did not leave laughed, but they were very careful not to let their leader see it.

The black-footed halflings were driven away by a few young knights, and the boys did not look very strong, their faces were blue, lacking the rosy cheeks of a young man of his age and status, and their clothes were not bright enough, two of which were apparently taken from the bodies of adults and dressed for them.

So, it was not so surprising to the adventurers to see an almost abandoned castle and a thin, low single wall, but it should have had its glory too, and the dripping beast on the eaves was particularly vivid and exquisite, it was the image of a devil with wings on its back, the size of a foal, its head down, its elbows bent, its fanged mouth wide open, the transparent icicles hanging from between its teeth, three feet long, and because of the fact that its eyes covered with ice glittered in the sunlight, it looked as if it were alive and eyed every living person in the castle。

Perhaps the rest of the castle is particularly pitiful because of the contrast to such fine carvings, the walls are not completely broken, the outbuildings in the castle have either collapsed or been destroyed, there are only a few horses in the stables, listlessly munching on hay mixed with twigs, the reels of the well are not iron ropes but leather ropes, and the blacksmith's workshop, which should have been burned for a long time, has left only a strangely shaped depression, and the reason why Bedwin can see that it was originally a blacksmith's workshop is because of this depression, which every anvil leaves such a depression- There is not a single blacksmith in Thundercastle, and they occasionally want to change workshops.

Berdwin genuinely wished they had just moved the blacksmith's workshop away and not just sold the anvil.

However, the most angry thing for the former knights of Tyre was the small sanctuary, which was not very large, and it seemed that only a few knights could pray in it, but the carvings in the masonry and a white granite pedestal indicated that it was none other than a sanctuary of Tyre, where the lord may have been a follower of Tyre, or a believer in Tyre, and where he built the sanctuary of Tyre for him and the knights to find peace of mind.

But now these have been destroyed, especially the scales of Tyre, the black iron that would be placed in front of all the sanctuaries and temples of Tyre, and may have been sold for a bargain by its new owner, like the blacksmith's anvil.

"Put this down. The chief of the knights was tired of saying, "Otherwise, we would have accused you of stealing." ”

Baldwin put down the heavy stone.

"What about the priest here?"

"Dead. Said the knight chief. (To be continued.) )