Gunther served plates for their dinner.

Soup: French onion, slices of crispy bread, slices of bread.

Main course: wild bone lamb lollipop coarse mint preserved.

Salad: A blend of ancestral cherry tomatoes and sweet apple cider vinegar.

Main products: full roasted wind pheasant, red wine restoration self-brewing.

Dessert: Creamy Brulai

Gwen held out a trembling fork, resisting her deep-seated desire to take pictures. Each dish is more fragrant than the next, bringing her taste buds to a climax.

She took a sip of her wine.

Pair wines! just ***.

"Mr. Walken was furious. Gunther swallowed before speaking, smiling calmly each time Alexia blinked her eyelashes. "Of course, I reminded him that if he took you in, Master would definitely repay him by letting him spend a week in Sofina's courtyard. ”

"These factional conflicts are spiraling out of control," Alexia sighed. "With so much infighting, nothing can be done. ”

Gwen watched as Alessia leaned sideways closer to Gunther. The man remained stoic and unmoved by her bold intentions.

"Gunther, can you tell me about these factions?" Gwen interrupted the conversation. The awkward atmosphere began to become unbearable.

"What do you know?" Gunther asked.

"Everything?" said Gwen. "I hadn't been to the tower until yesterday. ”

"Really?" Gunther glanced at Alexia, who nodded solemnly. His master, the always fussy Henry Killroy, asked a girl to be his apprentice within hours of meeting her for the first time, and even if Alesia vouched for her, it seemed excessive. "That old man must like you very much. ”

"More than you know, Gunther, Gwen has spelled out the Secret Creed of Odo in one sentence. Did Master tell you?"

"Noble favors, our superior superiority combined with greater generosity ... "When remorse is out of touch with power, it's an abuse of greatness. "Gunther examines Gwen with renewed interest, and I certainly understand why you have made such an impression on Master. ”

"Yes," Alexia gestured rudely with a fork. "I'm afraid you're no longer the one you love the most. ”

"If that's the case, I'm glad for Gwen," Gunther replied, showing nothing on his face. "Still, Ellie, you've always been his favorite person. ”

"It doesn't matter now. Alicia grinned. "Gwen is a pet darling now. ”

Gunther grinned, reminding Gwen of the men on Van Haesen's posters.

"Anyway, to answer your previous question," he continued to Gwen. "There are three main factions. Our masters support the middle-of-the-road faction, prioritize the protection of human cities, including Nome, and maintain diplomatic relations with half-humans. Four of the 10 justices of Oceania are among us. ”

"The second faction is the Purists, also known as the Radicals. Three of their commanders are in the ranks of the border militia. They believe that we should carry out a continuous cleansing of magical creatures and half-humans, and expand human influence into the wilderness. ”

"Is it possible?" Gwen blurted out in disbelief. After all, she witnessed firsthand the capabilities of her mythical "relatives". What is the cost of conquering such a creature?

"With the support of the tower, this is possible. Gwen wanted to ask what that meant, but the man was already gone. "The last faction believes that the answer lies in joining those outside the city, and that we should not live in isolated enclaves. There are also three mages in this faction. Sir Walken is one of them. ”

"Nasty little man," Alexia said coldly. "There is a sordid connection to the wasteland demihumans. ”

"Alright, alright, Ellie," Gunther gestured ill-intentionedly. "You know as well as I do that the grey market materials provided by those mages account for half of all the magical items in the tower. ”

Gwen perked up.

"Alesia, what if someone on the tower made Edgar's teleportation ring, and is there a record of what anyone did on the tower?"

Gunther shook his head.

Records are kept secretly by wizards. Anyone worthy of espionage would not leave such a big lead. A teleportation emergency ring costs between five thousand and fifty thousand HDM companies! Moreover, no wizard outside of Europe has access to Ascher inscription technology. ”

"Oh. Gwen slurped sadly. This is the end of the investigation on this issue.

At the end of the dinner, Gunther brought out the cream of the Brulai.

Alicia continues to seduce her seniors, although the paladins of the Tower of Sydney remain calm.

"Anyway," Gunther reached into his pocket, pulled out a small ring box, and pushed it into the middle of the table.

Alicia's eyes widened.

"This is..."

The Witch in Red swallowed, her throat bobbing back and forth.

"For Gwen," Gunther coughed.

Alesia clicked.

"What is this?" Although curiosity bites her like a cat, Gwen doesn't touch the box.

"Master Henry believes that in the event of a life-threatening danger, it would be best for Alexia and I to come to your aid. Knowing your connection to this myth, we'd better have insurance. ”

"Oh?"

Gunther opened the box and found an intricate magical jewel, a silver band encrusted with obsidian.

"A teleportation beacon," Gunther explained, activating it with a command signal if you're in trouble, and it sends out a distress signal to the three of us. Then we can use teleportation or teleportation circles to come to you. ”

The two of them watched as Gwen obediently put on the ring, the small silver band moving along the circumference of her left ring finger.

Say. Gwen felt she should confirm her suspicions. "Does this ring update my whereabouts in real time?"

"Yes," Gunther said nonchalantly. "That's the point. Alicia and I both have one. ”

They raised their hands, dispelling the inherent charm of the ring. Sure enough, Gunther and Alesia also possess subtle silver belts. Alesia has an impressive ruby, while Gunther has a brilliant square-cut diamond.

What a stone! That damn thing weighed four or five carats.

"Don't take it off. Gunther's tone deduced that his suggestion was not a suggestion, but an order.

"Of course," Gwen smiled, with an unsettling youthful charm that a young man possesses.

"So, what's going to happen from now on?" Gwen asked. Is it even possible for her to return to school after the cumulative events of the Serpent, the Void Elemental, and the Second Awakening?

"You go back to school," Gunther guessed her train of thought, and surprised her. "Master believes that it will take time for your body to grow into having two kinds of magic, not to mention your Void element. After you graduate from high school, we will arrange some military service for you. You will be under my direct supervision. You should be relatively safe there. ”

Relatively speaking?Gwen noticed Gunther's conditional participle.

"Stay away from factions, families, sects, things like that," Gunther leaned back, feeling nostalgic. "But not monsters, wilderness, or people who want to duel you. There's no gain without pain, right?"

"I think so. ”

"Don't worry, Gwynnie. I've experienced the same thing, even though I'm a little younger than you......" Alicia affirmed Gunther's nostalgia. "I did some of my best work at the time. It was a carefree period of my life. All-day quests, weekly clean-up quests. There are no factions to bother me. ”

"That's a mild way to put it," Gunther laughed, his good mood returning. "Try to imagine, Gwen. A thirteen-year-old Alexia, only that tall, threw fireballs everywhere on the Brisbane line and wrestled with an eight-foot-tall crab. ”

"Thirteen!" Gwen nearly choked on her crème brûlée. Alexia is a child soldier?!What kind of bad experience did you two go through?

"Well, I'm only twenty years old myself," Gunther humbly boasted, and the bottle of Shiraz they drank had slackened his stoicism a little. "We were both offensive spellcasters, and you see, we were at the height of the Coral Sea War. Oh my God, those damn merfolk, thousands, hundreds of thousands of bastards, a never-ending tide of stinky fish. ”

"yes, we ate a lot of seafood," Alexia giggled. "The war kept me from eating shellfish for years. ”

"When a crayfish mermaid tries to take your arm off with pincers that bite off a steel plate, you'll never look at seafood the same way again!"

"I remember Gunther being dragged into the water by an octopus mermaid this time. In order to escape, he did it from the inside out. It took three days to get the ink off him, ha!"

Gwen listened to the two of them swap old war stories and knew that no matter how friendly her brothers and sisters in her craft were to her, there was a sense of intimacy that she would never be able to get. Although she is the newly favored kitten, there is a place in their owner's cabal that she will never be able to possess for his faithful hounds.

But Gwen is at least happy that she's going back to school. There is still almost a year to go with Xiaoyue and Avia, and she will enjoy every minute. Yue said that she was going to participate in military training, but with Alesia's help and the influence of the mage, maybe they could be together!Elvia would leave alone, although they could still see each other during the break.

"Gwen?" called Alessia.

"I'm sorry, I'm daydreaming......" Gwen apologized, even though she had only taken a sip of her wine and her face was red.

"It's okay, you must be exhausted. Gunther pulled back his chair and found a yellow duck on an apron. "I went to clean and go to bed. You can go back to your dorm tomorrow. ”

"Thank you, Gunther. "You too, Alesia. Gwen smiled warmly at them, then took off and put the chair back in its place. "See you tomorrow?"

"I'm going to leave soon," Gunther replied. "Although I'll see you nearby. ”

"Good night, you two. Gwen made a lovely curtsy.

"Good night, little sister. Gunther smiled like a pearl.

Oh! her heart was pounding. Talk about a natural female killer.

Gwen's siblings waited in the cabin on the second floor until they retreated to the cabin on the second floor. It's getting late, and it's past the exciting moments. On the surface of the bay, fragments of refracted light emitted by the barrier shield flew around like silver fish in the raging black water. Sydney stretches from the interior of the bay to the water's edge, with colourful rays of light shining straight into the horizon.

"What do you think of Gwen?" Alicia asked her brother what he was doing. Sometimes, he was the lover of her dreams. Other times, he was the big brother she trusted and loved. Sometimes he felt like a stranger, a stoic tower paladin, a title turned into flesh.

Gunther made it clear in his deep, resonant voice: "She has matured surprisingly in her age. ”。

Alicia found herself leaning against Gunther and her head resting on his shoulder, and they sat on a couch overlooking the bay. One of his hands moved to touch her arm, his fingertips gently caressing her skin until he reached her hair, spinning in circles around his fingers before letting the little ring fall off. Although Gunther always boasted of his charms, he was a serious man. Showing affection openly in front of a stranger like Gwen is beyond his reach.

"I am worried that Master has given me a difficult task. What do we know about her? Is she really as innocent as she seems? I'm afraid she's not a child. ”

"Well, she's quite tall, well-developed, and has legs for days," Alexia replied jokingly. She can't deny that Gwen's peculiar mixed heritage gives her an exotic charm: girl's eyes, her well-proportioned limbs – no wonder Gwen's uncle wants to sell her to the highest bidder.

Gunther patted Alexia on the thigh in a friendly way.

"Don't be stupid. "I'm not interested in little girls. His beaming tone took a sudden turn. "I suppose you agree with Master, do you both believe that she will be an asset?"

"She's going to be a good sister and a good apprentice," Alexia's voice raised an octave. "You can't look at her in terms of assets and deficits, Gunther, she's still a person who is more important than anything. I've been teaching her for three months now. She's a good girl. ”

"Alright, well, I'm sorry," Gunther kissed her forehead as a sign of compensation. "I'm just looking for Master. You know he's not in good health. It takes a lot of effort to train a new apprentice. ”

"That's why we're replacing him, right?"

Gunther grunted, exhaling deeply.

"I think you're right. ”

The two are still entangled, feeling at ease in the familiarity. Alexia could feel Gunther's body beneath her, at ease and relaxed. They were hugging, or at least she thought they were. His arms wrapped around her thin waist, her skin pressed against his cheeks. Maybe one day, Gunther will return her affection, but his work, his responsibility, his loyalty to his master - all this prevents him from pursuing a personal life.

Upstairs, Gwen fell asleep, exhausted by 40 hours of continuous wakefulness, and only Sofina's Ambrothea kept him on his toes. If she could see Alexia and Gunther sitting on the couch, she would immediately recognize their body language.

This is the case of two dogs playing on the fireplace carpet. The young one was anxious, wailing, growling, snapping, and plucking the old dog's ears from time to time, while the other lay drowsily, winked at the fire, raised his paws, and then turned to lick the first. Gunther and Alesia are a littering couple who hug each other tightly, with their heads resting under the other's chin, asleep, numb from their intimacy with each other.