The midday sun shone lazily on the White City.

Under the glow of the white walls, the whole city seems to be bathed in a holy light. People live in an orderly manner.

It has to be said that "order" was only the most basic requirement for a city just a few years ago, but now, it has become a luxury.

In an era when gods and demons are madly interfering in human affairs, it is extremely difficult for a city to maintain order. After all, all they can make is a mess that ordinary human lords can't solve. Bai Cheng must also have the eyeliner of the gods and demons, but he hasn't shown his head yet, and he doesn't know where it is. This is probably also due to Irene's status as Gray's allegiance.

Although Gray, who is the Lich King, has disappeared, Irene is still in contact with Rich and Jones, which also means that White City is the easiest place for these two forces to invest their strength, and it is also the most difficult place for gods and demons to intervene.

Of course, no one knows how long this stability will last. After all, the rest of the Duchy of Besil has begun to have some turmoil except for the White City.

Irene's status as Gray's allegiance will not always be useful. The crisis is already approaching step by step, and under the terrible situation, Baicheng cannot be left alone.

Of course, at least for now, the situation is good.

Although the number of conscripts has exceeded the highest level in history, soldiers can be seen everywhere on the streets, and the number of blacksmith shops is increasing day by day, but people's lives have not been greatly affected.

Except for the Elvins.

......

Sunlight shines on the ground through the three open windows, leaving dappled spots.

In the castle ballroom, there was a long table, and at each end of the table sat one person: Irene and Elwin.

Irene was wearing a light blue dress and looked very plain. On the contrary, it was Alvin, who was wearing a black dress, and looked even more luxurious than Irene...... Well, there is no doubt that his father forcibly put it on him. It was polite enough for his philistine father not to wait at the gate of the castle in person to meet the lord, how could he let Alvin come in civilian clothes?

At this moment, the two of them were eating lunch with their heads bowed.

Irene looked calm, as if she had a spare time on a weekday, with her head down and taking small bites. Of course, for her, meeting a knight with potential is just a daily routine.

Alvin looked a little nervous, looking up at Irene from time to time, unable to even grasp the rhythm of eating. After watching too much, he was a little fascinated.

I have to say that Ireen is indeed beautiful, especially with her long silver hair and that cold and glamorous atmosphere. It is indeed easy to fascinate men, and men who have just grown up are no exception.

Gradually, Alvin became a little intoxicated.

"You own a blacksmith shop at home?" said Irene.

"Huh?" Alwyn was startled and quickly replied, "Yes...... Yes, there are three blacksmith shops. ”

"Three?" Irene glanced up at Alvin slightly, and continued, "That's a blacksmith merchant, and there are indeed quite a few blacksmith shops in White City now." Most of the main battalion is weapons. ”

"Yes, in fact, Lord Duke Beshir, you are our family's biggest customer. After a moment's hesitation, Alvin added, "If you get the order." Sometimes we don't get an order, and we do something else, such as the royal family of Isaac, or other lords' business. My dad doesn't always get orders. ”

As he spoke, Alvin smiled awkwardly.

"Was it in the arms business before? I mean when the arms business wasn't that popular. ”

"My father used to be a blacksmith, and our family has been a blacksmith for generations. In recent years, the demand for weapons has increased, so I directly opened my own blacksmith shop, and then opened more and more. ”

"It makes sense for a weapons merchant to train his children to be knights. The weapons business has been good all these years, so your father also has enough money to train you. Yilin smiled faintly, took a sip of soup, and then asked, "So your family has always lived in Baicheng, and you also grew up in Baicheng, right?"

"Yes, I grew up in White City. ”

"Then will you be my knight and be loyal to me?"

"Ahem, ahem, ahem!" was suddenly asked by Irene, and Alvin choked directly, and looked at Erin with wide eyes.

The air seemed to freeze, and Alvin blushed. Ireen didn't speak, just stared at him.

The two sides are at a stalemate.

After a while, Irene waved her hand, motioned to the maid standing next to her to remove the sweet soup that had been drunk, and then said softly, "What? Is it difficult to answer my question? You participated in the selection, but you are not willing to be loyal to me and become my knight?"

Irene's eyes widened.

Alvin was even more embarrassed, so he could only reach out and scratch his face, and whispered, "Yes...... It was my father who asked me to go. ”

"So you didn't want to go?"

"It's not...... Actually, I want to go too, I want to know how far I am from the real knights. It's too tiring to practice hard alone. ”

"That's all?" asked Irene.

Alvin took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, it's really just that. ”

Irene looked at Alvin silently, and saw that Elwin's scalp was numb.

The maid next to her brought another dessert, and was about to give one to Elwin after giving one to Irene, but Ireen waved her hand to signal that she didn't need to.

"You want to know how far you are from a real knight, which means that your knightly training was not entirely forced by your father. You still want to be a knight. But...... But you refuse to be loyal to me because I am not worthy of your allegiance?"

"No! I didn't mean that!" Elwin was anxious when Ireen said this, and hurriedly said, "You are very worthy of my allegiance, very worthy! But I am already loyal to someone, and knights should keep their oaths, don't you? ”

"Who are you loyal to?, is it any lucky girl?" said Irene.

"No...... Not a girl. To be precise, he wasn't even human. Lowering his voice, Alwyn said seriously, "It's Your Excellency the Lich King, our head of the Silver Moon Knights. ”

Hearing this, Irene was stunned.

Alvin continued, "Actually, I've met you several times, and I used to come to the castle when the head of the regiment was in the White City. With the rest of our group. You probably don't remember. ”

With that, Alvin looked at Irene with a smile.

The smile on Irene's face gradually disappeared, and it was replaced by loss: "You are a member of the Silver Moon Knights?"

Alvin replied earnestly, "Yes, I have always remembered who I am. Even if the Captain is gone, I'm a member of the Knights of the Silver Moon. ”

"Are the other kids alright?" asked Irene.

"They...... It's all good. But some have given up on their dream of becoming a real knight. However, they still live on this land. As he spoke, Alvin smiled.

"Okay, I see. Irene smiled as well, "It's a pleasure to have lunch with the members of the Knights of the Silver Moon." ”

......

"And then?"

"No more. ”

"You refused?"

"Hmm. ”

In the small room, Alvin sat expressionless, his eyes fixed on the empty ground in front of him.

Elwin's father, Bud, widened his eyes and jaws dropped.

"You, you, you actually refused, my God! You don't want to be crazy about the knightly title in your hands?"

Alwin's father trembled with rage, an attitude that could be described as gritting teeth.

However, Alvin still had that indifferent attitude, his face was expressionless, and he could even describe his eyes as blank.

"After so many years and so much money, aren't you just waiting for today? As long as you nod your head, you are a nobleman. Our whole family is noble! Nobles understand? Our family is no longer commoners!" Alwin's father paced back and forth in the room, roaring angrily, "Do you know what that means? It means that you will be the only one in the history of the entire family! Your descendants may not remember his grandfather's name, but they will certainly remember your name! We will have our own family crest and wear it on our chest......! Oh my God! You refused? In order to ensure that you have enough money to embark on the path of knighthood, and not to be looked down upon after becoming a knight, I don't even dare to hire a maid! I cook dinner every day! I don't just do business, I have to cook dinner!"

"I can do it later. Alvin spread his hands.

"Is this a problem with dinner? Is this a problem with dinner? You!" Bud's face turned green: "You go back to me now, and tell her that you have changed your mind before it gets dark!"

"It can't be. Alvin replied lightly, "I have made it clear to her that I am only loyal to the Commander, so if I go back now, I will break my oath." No one wants a knight who has broken his oath. ”

"You!" As soon as he said this, he saw Bard lean back slightly, his eyes wide. A moment later, a hysterical roar resounded throughout Xicheng: "You rebel ——!"

Okay, it's a bit too much to resound through the West Side, but it's pretty much the same. At least their neighbors heard it clearly. However, they are also used to it. These two fathers and sons don't make trouble every day, that's not normal.

......

At night, Alvin made dinner, finished dinner, washed the dishes, and then lay alone on the roof looking at the stars in the sky.

Except for training every day, his favorite thing is probably to let go of his time. Stay alone quietly, empty your head, and feel the beauty of nature. Simple.

Of course, it can also be understood as a kind of helplessness in confusion. After all, if he can only serve Gray, and Gray is missing, he will indeed be very helpless.

The oath was meant to be a very absolute thing, and it meant that it had to be done. However, there are always countless variables in reality, and an oath that is not rigorous enough often leads to a very awkward situation.

It's like the state Alvin is in right now.

If Gray has been declared dead, he can choose another allegiance, such as Gray's successors, Rich and Jones, or Gray's original allegiance, Irene. However, no, no one declared Gray dead, he was just missing. In that case, it seems that Alvin has nothing to do but embark on a journey to find Gray.

But he didn't even know where to look, and that's terrible.

The night breeze blew softly, shaking his short brown hair, which was slightly upturned.

A firefly flew past him, slowly circling around him. Alwin's gaze was drawn to the fireflies, and he watched silently, flying with the fireflies.

"It's been a long time since there's been a firefly in the city, and there's only one. Holding his hand on the roof, Alvin sat up, stared at the fireflies and muttered to himself, "There is only one, are you also out of the group? Or maybe your buddies aren't following the agreed path. Don't worry, little one, if it's not our fault, we don't need to feel guilty, do we? There's nothing worse in the world than guilt, and we're at least a little bit better off than the worst. Right?"

Alvin held out a hand.

The fireflies slowly flew towards him and landed in the palm of his hand.

All of a sudden, Alvin laughed, laughing from the bottom of his heart.

"Are you still in the mood to chat with fireflies?"

Suddenly, a voice came, and Alvin turned around in fright. A girl who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old was standing behind him.

She has curly blond hair and wears a blue and white dress.

It can be seen that this dress should have been very good-looking, but now it is dirty. Not only was the dress a little dirty, but the girl's face was also covered with ash, as if she had just crawled out of the chimney.

"Cardina?" Alwyn called out the other man's name. This is the girl who lives next door to his house, because the two houses are actually built together, connected to each other, so they can only share a piece of roof.

"It's me, who else could it be?" Cardina staggered over to Alvin and sat down.

Although the girl was dirty, as if she had just crawled out of the chimney, her face was delicate. A pair of amber eyes look even more pleasing.

The two men sat side by side on the roof, chatting sentence by sentence.

"I heard you arguing with your father. ”

"Don't you hear it often? It's normal. ”

"This time it's different, you're arguing fiercely. I've also heard that he's going to sell all your armor and weapons at a discount. ”

"Well, whatever he is. ”

"And your war horse, he also wants to sell it. ”

"Hmm...... No, don't listen to his nonsense. ”

"But I saw him on his way to the stable, and he said that if you can't be a knight, you should be an honest arms merchant. Getting rid of all these things will help you to retract. ”

Alvin stood up in fright, turned around and was about to go downstairs.

At this moment, Cardina's laughter was heard behind him, and Alvin paused and slowly turned back.

Cardina, who looked expressionless a moment ago, was already trembling with laughter: "I'll just say, you must still care." ”

Alvin was a little angry, "So he didn't go to the stable, did he?"

Cardina grinned and replied, "No, but soon." He asked me to talk to you, this is your last chance to save the warhorse. ”

Alvin sighed helplessly, "Why did he let you come?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to see you. Cardina pursed her lips and smiled, "Tell me, tell me something that will make him less angry, or a little promise." Uncle Bud is very nice, you shouldn't be so angry with him. At the very least, you should give him a little hope, not complete despair, right?"

As she spoke, Cardina blinked at Alvin with wide eyes.

The two sides were at a stalemate for a while, and Alvin could only bow his head helplessly and said softly: "Help me tell my father that although I can't swear allegiance to Duke Beshir, I can help her with things." I can't get a territory from her, but ...... I was able to get her to recognize me as a knight by doing things for her. As long as she admits it, the whole White City will admit it. I will be a nobleman, he will have the family crest he wants, although he has no territory and no income. Is that all right? I'll go and tell Duke Beshire to-morrow, and she'll agree, for she's desperately short of manpower. ”

"Wouldn't that be fine?" Cardina stood up happily, and said to herself as she passed Alwin, "Such a big man, he doesn't know how to talk to his father well, and he wants me to help him." Really. ”

Alwin, who was six or seven years older than her, was so stunned that he didn't say a word.

With a twist of her head, Cardina had already climbed down the ladder next to her. Alvin was left alone on the top of the building, looking at the sky.