"You're leaving?"

Viscount Andre, who was enjoying morning tea, asked.

"Yes. Leo played with a cup on Andrew's table and said, "Our destination is the deep sea of ice crystals, and if we play for a few more days, we won't have time to arrive before winter." ”

"Okay. Andrei called out to the attendant next to him and asked him to bring the seal and paperwork.

"Originally, Gale City was strict in and out during this time..."Andre signed his name on the delicately printed pattern and stamped his seal. "But for Miss Nana's sake, I will reluctantly allow you to pass once. ”

"It's really not because of your father's token?" Leo said teasingly, taking the paperwork.

"Of course... Well, it is true that because of that token, although I am now nominally the owner of the city, in response to this war, my father temporarily replaced all the people in key positions with his people. Andre had some reluctance to let the attendant take away the pen and paper.

"If it were me, I would do the same, Gale City is the gateway to the south, and there is a strategic advantage in guarding this place, so it is also appropriate to be careful. Leo looked at the words on the paperwork: "The six members of the Dragon Expedition are hereby authorized to go out of the city once, Viscount Andrei." ”

"I write well, I've practiced. Leo complimented.

"If you don't have anything to do every day, you can learn it well. ”

In Gale City these days, Leo can see that Andre does not have much real power in his hands, that is, he can slightly reduce the taxes of residents, so there are carnivals in Gale City these days and aristocratic dinners every now and then.

"It's not because you're not good enough. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"How dare you say that?" Andre was reminded of bad memories: "If it weren't for your disruption of my experience, I would never have come to manage a city." ”

Leo suddenly snorted and quickly turned to leave.

After handing over the paperwork to the guards, the party left Gale City without incident.

There are two worlds inside and outside the city, and the silence outside the city is rare for birds, and this is the atmosphere that should be in war.

The group passed through many villages along the way, but none of them were empty, and the fields next to the villages were overgrown with weeds, and the wheels and miscellaneous things were left at random on the edge of the fields.

Occasionally, you can see blood stains on the ground, but the corpse is nowhere to be found, and it is estimated that it has been taken by some wild beast.

Little Paul felt very uncomfortable, his hometown had been reduced to ruins after the war, and he was touched by the familiar sight in front of him.

Little Paul kept emitting a burst of low pressure in the carriage, and Leo had to open the map to try to distract little Paul.

"This is Gale City, and it takes about two months to walk to the Ice Crystal Deep Sea, and it will be almost winter at that time, and the road may be difficult to walk. Moreover, the harsh climate near the deep sea of ice crystals has led to the absence of a city within a radius of several hundred kilometers. ”

"So what is this. Ente pointed to the icon of a city near the deep sea of ice crystals. ”

"That's the city of dwarves, you won't like it. Leo shook his head.

"Dwarves?" Ente said in surprise, "Dwarves, aren't these elves driven to the unexplored territory to the west?"

"It's the only special one, they're... Huh?"

Leo suddenly looked alarmedly in a direction outside the carriage.

At the suggestion of Isenas, Leo remained in a state of perspective perception at all times, which greatly increased his proficiency and familiarity with this ability.

In Leo's perceptual range, a few kilometers away from the main road, there were several figures moving, but unfortunately it was already close to his perceptual boundary, so Leo could only get some vague images.

Leo pointed in the direction he sensed and said, "There are a few people over there, I'll take a look." ”

With that, Leo opened the carriage door and jumped out of the moving carriage.

"Is there anyone here? are they soldiers?" asked Paul Jr.

"Eighty percent of the way, ordinary villagers should have deserted a long time ago. Ente shook his head as he remembered the yellow-skinned homeless people and desolate villages he had seen along the way.

(Kids?in this kind of place?)

Leo silently hid behind a large tree, watching the two children concentrate on pulling something in the grass.

After observing for a long time, Leo was sure that these were indeed just two ordinary children, lacking vigilance, gathering knowledge, and reconnaissance awareness.

The more normal the situation, the more strange Leo felt, where did these two children come from?

After thinking about it for a while, Leo did not act rashly, but returned to the carriage first.

"Two children?" the group asked in unison.

"Yes. Leo sorted out his thoughts and continued: "I wonder if we should go over and take a look, after all, such an abnormal thing, turning a blind eye to it is a bit of a bit of a relief for me. ”

"Let's go, I'd like to see it too. Ente said immediately.

Isenus also nodded in agreement: "Whether these two children escaped from the slave camp or got lost with their families, it is not too much for us to go up and help, not to mention that we may also learn about the deployment of military forces nearby from them." ”

"Then it's settled. ”

The party hid the carriage and, driven by curiosity, found the two children again with Leo.

They silently followed the two children, watched as they found a few herbs, and left the meadow in high spirits.

After another six or seven kilometers, the two children slipped into a crack in a stone wall and disappeared.

Leo's perception captured the rift to the point where it leads.

"There's a village in there. Leo said to everyone.

"Village?" everyone was excited, such a hidden village, quite a legend and story, in the fairy tales circulated in various regions, there is often such an isolated village, which is either a mysterious creature such as a flower fairy fairy, or a secluded worldly master, now that such a place has been discovered, of course everyone wants to go in to find out.

Walking in the cracks, everyone could faintly hear the reprimand of a middle-aged woman.

"Matthew!Ben, this is the first time you've slipped out?"

The adventuring group continued to get closer, and the voice of the middle-aged woman became clearer and clearer.

"Don't think that if you don't find it once, you will never be discovered, it's just your luck! If you bring in the army, all of us dozens of people will be sent to meet their god of the sky!"

The party finally saw with their own eyes what was behind the crack.

It was a small valley, compactly built with eight or nine wooden houses, with a spring in the center, a trough, a few fields of farmland, and only a few vegetation.

The two children were hanging their heads as they were being reprimanded by a middle-aged woman.

A thinner child on the left couldn't help but look up and say, "But the herbs that Antti needs when she is sick are only available outside." ”

"That's not for you to look for, Matthew. The middle-aged woman reprimanded again, pinched the ears of the two children, and said fiercely: "This time you two are confined to a dull place, I will definitely not let you out without five days, and it is useless for old Diego to come!"

Leo finally couldn't help but interrupt the lady's shrill voice.

"Hello, ma'am. ”

"Who?" exclaimed the middle-aged woman, turning her head to look at the source of the voice, and then screamed, the decibel level was so high and the timbre was so sharp that Omoni had an urge to release the protective spell.

"Quick! Matthew, Ben, run to the village, I'll stop them!" the woman pushed the two children and turned to face the party.

"Whether you are the lackeys of the god of the sky or the stupid pigs of the Marquis, since you have discovered this place, then don't think about leaving!

The middle-aged woman is menacing, like a Shar Pei dog guarding her territory.

The people of the village also heard the commotion, and rushed over with their things and surrounded them.

Leo smiled bitterly, the people in this village were like frightened birds, the slightest movement made them overreact, judging by their reactions and words, this was just an ordinary village of refuge.

Just when the atmosphere was tense, an old man spoke.

"What are you doing? Magglo, put down what you were holding, there were women, children, old people on the other side, how could this be the army? Maybe they were the same people who fled the famine as we did. ”

The old man seemed to be quite prestigious, and after a few words, the people obediently laid down their weapons.

After the crowd had retired, the old man turned around and said to the party, "I wonder if you can introduce yourself? If you are also here to escape, we still have a little place to build a cabin." ”

Hearing this, Leo stood up and said, "We are the Dragon Expedition Adventure Group, and we have accidentally discovered this place, please forgive me for the offense." ”

"Adventure group?" the old man's face became vigilant. "I'm very sorry, but we only welcome displaced people, so please leave. ”

After speaking, the old man straightened his face again and called the two children.

"Matthew, Ben, you're sneaking out again, aren't you? I'm going to have to lock you up for three days and not be able to join the choir. You have also seen the consequences of going out without permission, and this time it was useless for Ms. Marglo to intercede. ”

Matthew and Ben bowed their heads and exchanged glances, looking at what the old man and Marglo meant, this time the confinement was settled, and they earned it when the old man ate two days less confinement.

Ben squirmed and took out a handful of herbs from his pocket and said, "This is the herb we gave to Antice, and we will go to confinement." ”

The old man tapped Ben on the head and said, "Antti doesn't want you to risk your lives to save her." ”

Looking at these herbs from a distance, Leo raised his hand and said, "Excuse me, if you are talking about the little girl in that room, then I have to regret to tell you that these herbs are useless at all. ”

The old man looked at Leo in surprise and pointed out the wooden house where Antti was located, muttered for a moment, and said, "This gentleman seems to know something about medicine?"

"It's just that you can see the disease, and you have to come to treat the disease. With that, Leo pushed Ente to the front.

"How dare you bother this gentleman to take a look at the little girl? ”

"Absolutely. Although Ente did not know Leo's intentions, he still accepted the task obediently, and as a knight serving the Light, it was also a matter of course to help others.

For the sake of vigilance in this fragile village, everyone only let Ente go in alone, while Leo and the others waited outside.

The villagers were driven back to the farmland by the old man, but the old man sat at the entrance of the village with Leo and the others.

"Your Excellency has arrived at the Sanctuary?" the old man asked Leo.

Leo glanced at the old man and said, "I just pointed out the location of that little girl, right?" I didn't expect you to have some knowledge, I am indeed already a Sanctuary, and the Knight of Ente who just entered and Isenas next to me are also Sanctuary. ”

The old man looked surprised and said, "That's really rare. ”

After a moment's thought, the old man said, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Diego Hangers, and I used to be a bishop of the Church of Light. ”

The old man's words also made Leo look sideways: "No wonder you can recognize the Holy Land, a bishop! ”

"It's just because the beliefs are different. Diego Sr. shook his head, avoiding the topic.

"I wonder how the war is going out there?" asked Diego Sr. again.

"It's bad, Gale City is strictly in and out, the viscounty is full of outcasts, I'm afraid this battle will be fought until winter, and the Sky God's men are becoming more and more unscrupulous, we just killed a team of Sky Thorn infiltrators not long ago. ”

"That's bad enough. As a former bishop, Diego also knew the notoriety of the Thorn of the Sky, and couldn't help but feel bad.

"I wonder where your group is going?" asked Diego again.

"Crystallized deep sea. Leo didn't mean to hide it, and replied simply.

Diego's eyes flashed with surprise, then he nodded and said, "Since your regiment has no intention of helping one side in the war, I hope your regiment will not reveal the existence of this small village to others." ”

"No problem, we're not that bored. ”

"Including homeless people. ”

"Good. ”

Leo understood the reason for this request after a moment's thought.

There are very few people in this valley, and if any more displaced people come, it will be a problem to either settle them or drive them out, so it is best to maintain the status quo.

Only then did old Diego let go of the last stone in his heart.

"What are you talking about choirs? Leo asked, remembering the chorus that the old man had mentioned to the two children.

Speaking of this, Diego was in a much more cheerful mood, and said with a smile: "During the day, the adults go to work in the fields, in order not to let some younger children run around boringly, I will teach them some church hymns, the children sing very well, do you want to listen to them?"

"Of course. ”

Diego stood up and led the party to a clearing.

Old Diego clapped his hands and shouted into the house, "Come, Chorus boys! Matthew and Ben, come out first!"

A dozen or so children poured out of the two huts and stood in front of old Diego.

"These gentlemen. Diego Sr. pointed to the members of the group and said, "Generously for Antti's medical treatment, I hope we can sing a song for them." ”

"Can Antti's illness be cured?"

"No problem, you can sing it as many times as you want. ”

"I can sing until the ass of the god of the sky is kicked hard!"

The children replied in a rambling voice, consciously taking their positions.

Old Diego picked up a twig from the ground and held it in his hand, using it as a baton.

He cleared his throat and asked, "How about the piece we've been practicing lately?" ”

"I count to three, one, two, three, up. ”

"Look your way. ”

It was the boys who spoke first, and the pure and clean children's tenor poured cold water into the souls of everyone in the adventure group.

"The kids are lost. ”

"Reach out to them and give them some help to get through the rest of the day. ”

The boys' voices changed from high to low, from chanting to low supplication, and repeated again.

The boys' voices faded away, and everyone's goosebumps finally went down a little.

Old Diego's "baton" was pointed at the girls.

The girls' voices were louder and louder, like a ray of morning light cast in the forest.

"Directions in the dark. ”

"A ray of hope. ”

"Passion in life. ”

"Glory Alley. ”

The boys and girls sang alternately.

Leo felt a cool breath go down his skin from the top of his head, down his heels, and back up again on top of his head.

He was lost in thought.

What is the light in the darkness?

In a trance, the children's singing was sung back to where it began.

"Looking at your way from afar, the children are lost. ”

"Reach out to them and give them some help to get through the rest of the day. ”

Just as Diego Sr. pointed to the girls again, Nana suddenly opened her mouth to join the girls.

"Directions in the dark. ”

"A ray of hope. ”

No one can interpret these two sentences better than Nana, her life is in boundless darkness, and Leo is the light of hope in her life.

In such an emotion, no one can touch people's hearts more than Nana's singing.

Old Diego was so surprised that he turned his baton in his right hand and circled Nana into the chorus.

The chorus seems to have found a backbone, and the song seems to come to life.

"Great, boys!

Watching Nana's singing, Leo poked Izenas.

"What's wrong?" replied Isenus in an impatient whisper, this is the sound of heaven, and the Yukon River, which the nobles have so hard to create, seems pretentious to the children's voices. Couldn't Leo just listen quietly?

"How can we end a war quickly?" asked Leo in the same whisper.

"Force, absolutely powerful force, this is the safest and most effective method. How do you ask about this?"

"I just don't think these kids deserve to spend their youth in such a small place, just like I can't sit back and watch Nana spend her life in the dark. ”

"Oh?" Eisenas glanced at Leo and asked, "And what are you going to do?"

Leo clenched his fists and said categorically, "I want to end this war!"