The once bustling and noisy capital of Roanoke, St. Sean, is now depressed and silent, and no longer has the title of one of the two richest capitals of Wallis. The sound of bargaining between vendors and customers on the street still lingers in my ears, but now there is hardly a single vendor in sight on this wide street leading to the south gate, and only a few scattered pedestrians quickly disappear from sight with small steps.

Quiai couldn't help but feel a little lonely when he looked at the scene in front of him. "St. Sean was the big city I came to most often when I was in the Mage's Tower, and when I came to visit with my sisters, I always felt that one day was not enough, but I didn't expect it to be ...... now."

Fern led the horse to the side, occasionally noticing the staff wrapped in white wool behind his back. "The news of the Dark Tide's attack on Chavana must have reached here a long time ago, and the people here have even learned of the destruction of the Mage's Tower, and fleeing is the best option. ”

Quiai glanced at the staff behind Fern's back. "I'm sorry Fern for keeping that staff on your back. ”

"It's okay, it's too eye-catching to hold such a long staff in your hand. Fern looked around alarmingly. "It won't take long for Karina to find out that the staff she took is fake, and she'll be stopping us on the way. ”

Hearing Fern say this, Quiai also became nervous. "You said she would be in San Sean too. ”

Fern's face twitched unconsciously. "Well, I see she's here, but there are only three of them, and Saint-Sean is so big, they can't keep an eye on every corner, but we have to be careful not to make a big noise. ”

"Hmm. Queai nodded obediently and subconsciously leaned towards Fern.

Fern led Queai through the middle of the city, which had once been a very large market with all kinds of goods from all over Wallis, but now only a handful of traveling merchants sat on the side, watching the two of them walk by boredly. After passing through the mall, the two turned a corner and came to a side road in the west of the city. It used to take them almost a noon because the bustling crowd prevented them from passing quickly, but today it took less than ten minutes.

Fern stopped in front of a nondescript inn and walked in after making sure no one was following them.

The shopkeeper was leaning against the kitchen door boredly, looking suspiciously at the two who had just entered. "Do you want to eat, or do you want to stay in a hotel?"

"We're going to stay for one night, let's get some bread and cheese first. Fern found a chair and sat down, placing the staff on the table. "Another jug of ale and a pot of hot jasmine tea. ”

Queai sat down uneasily, observing the situation in the shop. "There are no customers here except us. ”

"Who else would come to the inn at this time?" said Fern with a wry smile, "I guess they all went to Tempe or the Great Rift, and this inn is already very remote, so there are fewer people, but it's okay, we're more hidden." ”

"But I think ......" Quiai yawned and rubbed his dry eyes. "Living in the city always made me feel insecure. ”

"We are so tired, we didn't sleep all night yesterday, and we have been on the road today, and if we don't rest, I'm afraid we won't be able to survive tonight. Fern touched his forehead and blinked vigorously. "Unless you have to, get a good night's sleep here. ”

Quiai didn't say anything more, she was very tired indeed, she was physically and mentally exhausted by the battle of the Mage Tower, and if it weren't for the hunger she was in, she would even want to go to sleep now.

The food and drinks were quickly served, and the owner was very curious about the two customers. "It's not that I'm talking too much, it's not a good idea to go west now, I suggest it's safer for you to go north to Duluth. ”

Fern shrugged noncommittally. "We want to try our luck in Wet Harbor and see if there is a boat that can go north, because Dark Tide will not sail. ”

"That's, that's. The shopkeeper smirked. "Good luck to you. ”

"Then why don't you leave, there will be no other guests here if you stay here. Quiai poured himself a cup of hot tea.

The shopkeeper sighed. "I can't walk anymore, and everyone else in the store has been sent away by me, and I can't walk. ”

Fern took out a gold coin and shoved it into the boss's hand. "We also need some food, enough for two days, help us prepare it, the sooner the better. ”

The shopkeeper looked at the gold coin in his hand and reacted for a while. "Okay, okay, no problem, of course, no problem. As he spoke, he retreated to the kitchen.

After the two of them finished their food slowly, they found that the sky was gradually darkening and the wind was getting stronger, adding a bit of gloom to the quiet street.

Fern finished his last sip of wine and was about to get up and leave, but there was a commotion outside the door, and a group of people shouted and broke into the store, led by a big man who looked like five big mercenaries and three rough mercenaries. "Where's the boss, come out for me, have you ever been here......" As he spoke, the big man suddenly spotted Fern and Quiai, his eyes lit up as if he had found gold, and he walked straight up to them. "You two, are you from the Mage Tower?"

Fern ignored him, and Queai glanced at Fern and didn't answer.

"The boss is asking you two, are you deaf?" another short mercenary jumped out from behind the big man and shouted at the two of them.

The shopkeeper also walked out of the kitchen at this time, still carrying the food prepared for the two of them, and had to stand at the kitchen door when he saw that the situation was not good.

Fern looked up at the big man. "Did Karina ask you to come?"

"I don't know her, I just know that she is dressed very gorgeously, and she must be a rich person, so she can pay us so many gold coins to search the whole city. The big man's voice was always loud, which disgusted Fern. "If you don't want to die, just follow me, I'm too lazy to fight, if you don't know each other, don't blame my subordinates for being ruthless. ”

"Oh?" a smile flashed across Fern's lips. "Didn't that woman tell you? You're no match for us. ”

"Just the two of you?" the big man glanced at Fern with contempt, then turned to Quiai. "Ouch, there's a beautiful woman here, I've made a lot of money today, kill this man, and bring me back the woman!" he said, reaching out and touching Kuiai's face.

As soon as the words fell, Fern's sword had already been struck, only to see a flash of cold light, and the screams of the big man followed, and a severed hand fell to the ground, and blood gushed out.

The mercenaries were stunned for a moment, no one expected that the swordsman in front of them would attack so quickly and so ruthlessly.

The big man looked at his broken arm that had lost his palm, and roared, and the mercenaries swarmed up. Fern grabbed his staff and threw it at the shopkeeper, then kicked the table over, raised his sword and met him. Queai stepped back behind Fern, drew his bow and arrows, and shot in the gap. For a moment, there was chaos in the tavern, and people kept being knocked out of the air and then falling heavily, smashing countless tables and chairs.

The battle didn't last long, most of the mercenaries were knocked down, and the few remaining mercenaries saw that their opponents were too strong, so they turned around and ran. Fern chased after him with a stride, slashing down the two mercenaries who had just run to the door, then snatched the sword of one of them and threw it at the fleeing mercenary in front of him, the sword passed through the mercenary's back, knocking him to the ground.

But there was still one mercenary who had already run far away, and Fern looked at the mage behind him. "Queai, stop him!"

With the crisp shaking sound of the bowstring, the arrow accurately hit the mercenary's thigh, and the other party stumbled and fell to the ground, and the whole person kept rolling on the ground, wailing in pain.

Fern ran back to the shop, put the staff on the ground back behind him, and then took the bag containing the food from the stunned shopkeeper and shoved a gold coin into his hand again. "This should be compensated for the loss of your shop, the guards will come soon, and you will say that you don't see who we are, only two groups of mercenaries are fighting. With that, he walked out the door.

Queai was still at the door, and just as he was about to enter, he saw Fern hurrying out with two large bags. "Are we leaving?"

"Yes, Quiai, Karina didn't expect those idiots to catch us. Fern quickly tied the food to the horse's back. "She deliberately didn't reveal our strength, she hoped that the group of mercenaries would fight with us, as long as the fight started, it would alarm the guards, and she would know where we were, and now in addition to the guards, she must be on her way over, we must leave here immediately!"

Quiai nodded, climbed on his horse, and got ready.

Fern jumped on horseback and glanced back at the messy inn. "I'm sorry Quiai, I'm afraid I'll have to sleep in the wild again today. ”

"That's better. "In the wild, I feel safer." ”

The sky was already a deep blue, the wind was getting stronger, and the chill was slowly creeping into the city. Far down the street, the shouts and running of the guards were approaching, and Fern no longer hesitated, pulling the reins and urging his mount to run. Quiai followed, her long hair fluttering in the evening breeze.