This temple of light is located in the northeast neighborhood of Anke City, in the middle of nowhere, the place is not big, the main hall is just a slightly larger room, there is a small courtyard in front of the temple, planted seven or eight trees, there are three or four rooms on the side, one of which is the office and bedroom of the monk Riddle, the furnishings are very simple, the walls are plastered, two square windows, with half-rusted iron branches, there is only a table, a cabinet, a rack and a bed, plus a few wooden chairs and a basin stand.

Minna "automatically" followed Riddle into his office, and then sat down "automatically", her eyes almost bursting with fire, but Riddle herself seemed to be unaware, and she could see that her teeth were itching: "Father, I really don't have to bother you, my parents are nearby, I can go to them myself, really." ”

"Then tell me, what are the names of your parents and where are they now? I'll call them right away, huh? Riddle blinked.

Minna bit her lip, of course she couldn't say it, Mom and Dad were in East.

Riddle smiled horribly, "Children shouldn't lie, your parents aren't in Encore, aren't they?" You kid, you can't leave home by yourself, right? It's really ignorant, even in Shaonan, a little girl like you walking alone on the street can't ensure safety, let alone in Anke City? Half of the land here belongs to Wisha, child abductors are everywhere, and if you are left alone on the street, you will soon be targeted, and I can't put you in that danger. You have some magic in you, but when the bad guys force you with knives, it may not be able to save you. ”

He opened the scroll of paper in his hand: "Let's tell me what your name is first, and where your home is." Ivan said someone left you behind, what's the matter? ”

Minna hesitated for a long time before she reluctantly told part of the truth: "I didn't run away from home by myself, I was abducted and trafficked... But I escaped! A man who had promised to take me with him suddenly reversed himself this morning, left me outside the temple, and gave me money. Say... Tell me to find a way to get home on my own, if I need help...", she looked up at Riddle, "You can find someone here." "If she had known it was such a terrible creature, she would have been far away. Never walk in on your own!

Riddle frowned. It looked even more terrifying than the smile just now: "It's so irresponsible!" How can you just leave the child alone?! Then he said to Minna, "Since you are now outcast, stay here for the time being." It just so happens that all my girls left last month, and now I have free beds for you. That's right. What is your name? ”

Minna stared at him and said slowly, "My name is... My name is Sarah. The name of the little princess Sarah was borrowed, but Minna was depressed at the thought that she and Persika had left her alone.

"Yes, Sarah. You can stay here in peace for the time being. Give me the address of your home and the names of your parents, and there are often caravans going out of town, and I will have a letter to your home when I have the opportunity to pick you up. ”

Minna didn't hear Riddle's words clearly, her attention was completely drawn to the other person's movements: "Father, you... What are you doing?! Why did you put away my money?! ”

Riddle put the bag containing Minna's money into the cabinet behind him, locked it, and turned around, "Just in case you try to sneak away, just leave the money with me for the time being." Wait for your parents to pick you up and leave. I will give you back a lot of land. ”

"You—you're robbing!" Minna was so angry that her face turned red. "I don't believe you! You're just like those thieves, you want my money! ”

Riddle's men paused. Reaching out and touching Minna's head, Minna dodged and wanted to rush to the cabinet to get her money back, but found that she was frozen by Riddle again, and only heard the other party say: "Although I need money very much, I won't be greedy for you." I know you're trying to use that money to hire a boat or a car and go home by yourself, but that's too dangerous, and who knows what you'll encounter on the way? So, let's wait for an adult to pick you up. Now, go back outside and play with the other kids. ”

Minna stared straight at Riddle, but her body "automatically" walked outward, and when she reached the door, her limbs listened to her again, when a priest's voice came from behind her: "Child, don't be willful, you should learn to trust adults." ”

Minna looked at him hatefully and stomped her foot secretly. Believe in adults? It's because she believes in adults too much that she will be sold, and she has suffered so much! Just this morning, she got on his horse because she believed in Pedica, but he left her behind. Adults are unreliable, so she shouldn't trust them!

Whether she wanted to or not, she settled in this temple for the time being. She lived in the small courtyard behind the main hall, where there were two huts, one for the kitchen and one for the girls, but now she was the only one. Her life here cannot be said to be very comfortable, but two meals a day are guaranteed, the quality of the food is not bad, and the beds and clothes are simple but clean.

In addition to Riddle, there was only one old monk in charge of the flowerbeds, and then the boys in the shelter. The boys lived in the front yard and got up early every day to pray and eat breakfast with Riddle, and then some went out to do odd jobs or apprentices in the shops, and some stayed in the temple to help with chores until the evening was eating, and they were free. After dinner, there was about two hours of study, where Riddle taught them to write, and then turned off the lights and went to bed. The daily routine is very regular.

When Minna knew that the children had more than half a day of free time every day, she immediately thought about it. Although she didn't remember the way to the Xiao family's trading house, it was easy to find out about such a famous store, and she just had to wait quietly for the opportunity to go out the next day.

However, it backfired. I don't know if it was because she was too strong to sneak away, Father Riddle was worried that she would leave on her own and be in danger, so he forbade her to go out during free time. She can only stay within the temple confines, do the cleaning work, and read a book if she is interested.

After Minna heard Riddle's words, she was so angry that she jumped to her feet, but unfortunately the other party's confinement technique was too powerful, as long as she made an out-of-line move, she would be immediately fixed, and then her hands and feet would automatically act according to the other party's will. She had tried to run her magic to get out of this predicament. It's a pity that it never worked out again.

Most of the light magic that clergy of the Cult of Light like Riddle usually learn is healing or restoration. There is no effective means of attack. It is said that it was in the war hundreds of years ago. Many clergy had died at the hands of the enemy because of this, so a senior monk in the Central Curia at that time had developed this kind of imprisoning magic, which could restrict the movement of others to a certain extent. It has become the unique means of self-preservation for the monks of the Cult of Light.

However, the use of this magic is very strict, never taught to non-clergy, and there are restrictions on who can be used, so Minna is very angry that Riddle has "misused" this magic. It's a pity that the people of the other temple in the city of Encore never say anything about it. And the old monk in the same hall was half deaf. Every day, I only care about flowers and plants, and I don't care about anything else. Minna had no choice but to continue to endure Riddle's confinement to be honest, her time here was not comfortable, and in addition to not being able to leave or contact anyone, the boys in the temple seemed to be ostracizing her, playing little pranks or something from time to time, which made her even more depressed.

These boys. Some of them were originally street children, thieves or beggars. Taken over by Riddle, and some more. It is similar to Minna's situation, being abducted by slave traders to encore or the surrounding area. When Father Riddle preached in the neighborhood, he always did his best to buy them and bring them back to the temple to settle down. If they are lucky, they will be reunited with their families, and if they have nowhere else to go, Riddle will teach them how to read, learn a skill, and then ask someone to find them a job so that they can earn a living on their own.

These children were saved by Riddle, so he has great respect and love for him. Minna has never been very polite to Riddle, and they naturally don't have a good face for her, but they don't dare to do anything in front of Riddle, but the small actions behind her back have never stopped.

In fact, after Minna found out what Riddle did, she was also a little moved, wondering if she had misunderstood him, maybe he was just terrible-looking and had a good heart? But soon she overturned her idea.

Grandpa obviously said that he is not a good person, if he is, doesn't it mean that grandpa is wrong? Although she often resented her grandfather for leaving her alone and going back to her own world, she was able to escape now thanks to her grandfather's teachings, and her grandfather's powerful image was ingrained in her heart and would never be so easy to change.

On the surface, everyone praises and praises the good people, but behind the scenes, she has a bad stomach, she has not seen it in the past two years, she still doesn't believe too much in Riddle's goodness.

Thinking like this, Minna decided not to tell Riddle the truth, but to find a way to go out and find someone from the Xiao family's firm.

So, the contest between sneaking and anti-sneaking began.

Minna tried to get out of the temple, but Riddle was afraid that she would be abducted, so he didn't let her go, and asked the boys to help keep an eye on her, and Minna waited for three days before she had a good opportunity.

It was a bit overcast that afternoon, and it had just rained. Minna came to the backyard and smiled a little smugly when she saw that there was no one around.

Riddle was receiving guests in his office in the front yard; No one went to the main hall to pray on rainy days; Among the boys, Ivan left with his employer this morning, Albert, the eldest, who is still doing odd jobs in the store, and the others are in the cafeteria to review their homework; The old monk who guarded the flowers and plants in the backyard left to look for a shovel.

The shovel had already been hidden by Minna, and it was estimated that the old monk would not be able to find it for a while. Minna secretly told herself that she must seize this opportunity.

Looking around, to make sure that there was no one, Minna quickly climbed the big tree by the wall, climbed the thick branches and jumped on the wall, and looked outside, there was no one in the aisle behind the wall, there was a small ditch flowing two or three meters away, and the ground on the side was all mud, with a few bushes of grass, it had just rained, and the surface should be very soft. Minna nodded lightly and was about to jump down.

"What are you doing?!" There was a loud cry in the courtyard, Minna was startled, her feet fell into the air, and she was about to fall, so she eagerly grabbed a few branches to stabilize her body, and when she turned around, she saw Father Riddle running over in a big way, shouting, "Are you all right?" Didn't fall, did you? What are you doing here? Why don't you come down soon?! She couldn't help but feel a wave of frustration: failed!

Minna secretly hated in her heart, but she could only obediently climb down from the tree. No matter how reluctant she is, she knows that if she doesn't come down, the result will make no difference.

Riddle rushed up, his eyes widened, and his eyeballs turned bright red: "Sarah, why are you so disobedient?!" Don't you know that is dangerous?! What if I fall off?! ”

Minna lowered her head and looked like she was being taught, but Riddle knew it was just an illusion and couldn't help but feel a headache. At this time, the two guests who came to the backyard with him suddenly spoke: "Is this child what you call Sarah?" ”

"Yes, that's her." Riddle replied in a gentle, deferential tone.

Minna glanced at the two richly dressed guests with some curiosity, wondering why they were mentioning herself.

One of the older ones nodded to Minna, "Is your name Sarah?" Was it from the slave traders? Is it the Oasis of Duli thirteen kilometers northwest of Encore? Did you escape when the oasis caught fire the other day? ”

Minna looked at the other party suspiciously, and said cautiously, "I don't know what the name of that oasis is, but I did escape from the oasis near Anke City, which was on fire at the time. ”

Riddle frowned slightly, and said to the guest, "How will Your Excellency know when this child escaped?" ”

The other party smiled and didn't answer, but continued to ask Minna: "Do you really call Sarah by this name?" I heard it was a very beautiful little girl. ”

Minna lowered her head weakly and didn't speak, the man was about to ask again, but Riddle interjected: "This child has also suffered a lot, so she is black and thin like this, originally she was a very cute girl." In fact, there are many children like her. In recent years, the situation of child abduction and trafficking has become more and more serious, and the children who were originally only orphans or children from poor families have not escaped the danger of being abducted. God of Light is above, they are so pitiful, although we have limited ability, we also hope to help them as much as possible, don't you say? ”

"Huh? Ah, yes. The guest cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, looked at Minna a few more times, and then smiled at Riddle reluctantly: "We are also very disturbed by this situation, but the countries have already taken action, and I believe that it will not be long before there will be no more children suffering this fate." After a few more gossip, he left a bag of money and left, and as he was leaving, his companion glanced at Minna a few more times.

Minna was bewildered by them, but the thought of her situation made her a little uneasy, and she prayed in her heart that Riddle would not ask her to copy the Illumination again, she was already in debt ten times.

Riddle didn't say anything, just looked at her quietly, and saw that her heart was furious: "Father, you..."

"Is your name really Sarah?"

Minna's heart jumped: "Yes... Oh, yes. ”

Riddle was silent for a moment, and then suddenly said, "I'm going to preach in the oasis in the west in two days, and now I'm going out to raise money, don't you really want to go out?" Do you want to come with me all the time? ”

Minna's mouth opened in surprise. For the first time, he allowed himself to go out.

"If you want to go, clean yourself up quickly, or I'll call someone else."

"I'm going!" Minna quickly ran back to her room to wash her hands and face, combed her hair, and carefully wiped the muddy water off her clothes before returning to Riddle.

Riddle was already dressed, looked Minna up and down, nodded slightly, and motioned for her to follow. Minna followed him to the street after a long absence, and her heart couldn't help but jump.

Riddle greets people all the way, and you can see that he is very respected here. He walked all the way to Xicheng District, did not stop on the way, and walked directly to a large store. When Minna saw the shop, she immediately held her breath.

It was the Xiao family firm.