The trees flashed by like a flash of light, the sound of hurried footsteps and breathing filled Ness's ears, and the girl was held under the arm of the strong warrior, unable to move at all, and left him to take her wherever she went. In a trance, Ness felt as if it was Fern hugging her, and the mercenary's strong arms wrapped around her, and she gave up the struggle, dizzy and unconscious.

The beautiful azure eyes slowly opened, the sky was pitch black, the fire was burning, the wood crackled, and the surrounding woods swayed and swayed in the firelight. Nessy found herself lying on a large blanket, and she propped herself up and looked at the two of them by the fire in confusion. "Where is this? Am I saved?"

The warrior glanced this way, picked up a cup of hot tea from the fire, walked over to Ness, and then hunched over and bowed his head slightly. "Miss Ness, this is my hot tea for you, I hope you will be satisfied. ”

A name popped out of Ness's mind, and the previously vague figure suddenly became clear. "Are you...... Boss Rhodes?"

"Hahaha, yes, it's me, Rod, it's my honor that you remember me, Miss Ness. The warrior smiled heartily and handed the teacup to the girl.

Ness took the teacup and took a sip. "I felt familiar at first sight of you, but the way you are, I can't really relate to the tavernkeeper. ”

Hussey interjected, sitting by the fire, his voice older than Nesse had seen him at Wolfsburg. "Bared, you're hiding it well, the tavernkeeper's life isn't bad. ”

"...... Barred, on the way back to Dayton from Altoona, Fern seems to have told me the name. Ness looked between Hussey and Barred in a flash of realization.

"Yes, Ness, my real name is Bared, and Rhodes is just my pseudonym in seclusion in Deville. Barred sat down beside Ness and pulled a bottle out of his pocket. "I thought I could live a peaceful life like this, but then I realized that I should do something about it, otherwise you young people would not be able to solve some trouble. ”

"So...... If what Fern said was true, you had entered the Far North with Adeline?" Ness took a few sips of hot tea and relieved herself, and the days of fear were finally over.

Barred laughed again. "Did you tell you all about that fellow, but since he said it, he doesn't need to say it again. ”

Ness looked curiously at Bared, how many secrets the gray-haired warrior had. "But Fern doesn't know all the stories, and your group is really full of secrets. ”

In fact, he knows almost all the facts, as for some inconsequential things, it is better not to let anyone except the person concerned know, it does not have much impact on the whole thing. Barred drank, his stiff face flashing in the firelight.

Ness pursed her lips, understanding that it was better not to continue. "In any case, I am very grateful for the help of both of them, and during the days that they have been here, I have not been able to sleep until I am too tired to hold on, and I have closed my eyes and fallen asleep, and they have used silence on me, and I cannot even speak. ”

"If I don't use the silence technique on you, they really won't be able to let you be caught with your hands tied. Hussey chuckled and gave Ness an approving look. "Your strength has made great progress in the past few months, and the same growth will take me years to reach, and I have to say that you are worthy of being an elemental envoy who only comes out in hundreds of years. ”

"Really, I ......" Ness wanted to say something modest, but opened her mouth and didn't know where to start.

Barred took a long sip of his wine and smacked his lips. "I don't quite understand what you're saying, but there's one thing you're wrong, Ness, we're not two, we're three. As he spoke, the warrior pouted behind Ness's left side.

Ness turned her head and was surprised to see that outside them, a mage about the same age as Hessey was leaning against the trunk of a tree with his eyes closed. "Who is this?"

The mage slowly opened his eyes, silver hair hanging down to his neck, and behind the lowered eyelids were wise eyes. "Hello, young elemental, Black Ward is my name, you may not have heard of me, but I was an archmage in the Mage Tower until I left my post without permission. ”

"Black Ward?" Ness remembered the name of the mage who had left the Tower early that Hesey had revealed to them at Wolfsburg. "You're the archmage who guarded the source of magic and didn't know where to go?"

"That's right, it's me, I think you know everything. A faint smile hung over the old mage's wrinkled face.

Hussey raised his right hand, and a teacup flew up into thin air, and then he waved his hand lightly, and the teacup flew towards Black Ward. "This guy actually escaped to the Black Swamp, and it took me a lot of effort to get him out. ”

Black Ward took the teacup and sighed. "I wanted to spend the rest of my life there and never get involved in it again, but I was persuaded by Hussey. ”

"Black Swamp...... Vern...... By the way, have you seen Fern in the Black Swamp?" several things suddenly connected in Ness's brain.

"Fern, yes, I remember him, he was seriously injured when he arrived in our village, and we healed him. Black Ward nodded slightly. "I wanted to keep him there, and several girls had taken a fancy to him, but he insisted on leaving. ”

Ness raised an eyebrow, and Black Ward's seemingly calm face surprised her by saying this. "Thank you for saving him, Black Ward, and I was so worried every day during that time that I thought he had been killed by those wolves. ”

"Oh, then, you're the reason he's insisting on leaving?" "Black Ward looked at Ness sharply, as if he had seen through everything.

Ness lowered her head in embarrassment at the question, and her face turned red, and Barred stepped aside to relieve her. "Okay, don't embarrass her, just escaped from the clutches, let her have a good rest, and talk about it tomorrow. ”

Ness looked at Barred gratefully, she really felt that the middle-aged warrior in front of her was very similar to Fern in some ways, such as this kind of self-relief at a critical moment, caring for herself, and being able to guess what she was thinking. "Thanks, Rod, no, Bared. ”

Barred smiled kindly at Ness. "With our protection, you can rest assured that no one will arrest you again, you must know that there are many people who want to arrest you. ”

"Is it? Is it because I'm an elemental envoy who can deal with the Dark Lord for them?" Nessy finished her tea, her hand holding the cup resting on her knee.

Barred held out his hand to Ness. "We'll talk about these things tomorrow, Hayward knows more than we think, he'll tell us. ”

Ness looked at Barrede's hand suspiciously, then handed him the teacup in a sense of realization. "Okay, but there's one more thing, can you answer me right now, I promise it's a very simple question. ”

Barred took the teacup and poured half a glass of malt into it. "Let's talk about it. ”

Nessy put her hands on her curled thighs, looking well-behaved. "How did you know I was captured by the Twilight Cult and be able to intercept them here?"

Barred handed the teacup back to Ness and lifted his chin towards Hussey. "Hessey is going to ask for this, it was his apprentice who gave us information. ”

Ness hesitated to take the half glass, but Bared's eyes couldn't be rejected, she just took it, but didn't drink it right away. "You mean, Quiai?"

Hussey gave Ness a meaningful look. "Yes, it was Quiai, she was there when you were in Canrito, and she saw you being captured, and she saw that Fern was attacked by those black-robed mages, and she tried to track them down, and at the same time released the ravens to inform me, and asked me in a letter asking for help, so that I must get you out. ”

"Queai asked you for help, so you didn't plan to save me?" Ness asked, surprised.

"That's right, Ness, although our original destination is here, I think it's better for your companions to save you, and we have other things that must be done, but Queai pleaded in the letter, I don't know why she did this, maybe she just felt guilty for betraying Fern and wanted to make amends to him. Hussey turned his head and looked at Ness flatly.

"You know she's betraying Fern for the sake of the Mage Tower, so ...... you" Ness looked at Hussey alertly, the spell popping into her mind.

Hussey smiled and waved his hand, raising the teacup in his other hand and drinking it calmly. "Don't worry, I'm not interested in the Mage Tower, that's why I like guarding the source of magic in the Wolf Castle Tower so much, Quiai is only ordered by the Mage Tower, I don't want her to accept this task, because after meeting you in the Tower, I found out that I should help you and not stand against you, but I can't stop the Mage Tower, and I can't stop Quai. ”

Ness pursed her lips and watched the glass shake. "I don't blame Queey, really, I don't blame her, I only blame myself for not listening to Fern and only thinking about himself and ignoring his feelings. ”

Barred patted Nice's delicate shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, you are still young, you have to experience many things to know what to do in the future, we were the same when we were young, who hasn't made mistakes?"

"Well, thanks, Barrede, you're really like Fern. Ness laughed cheerfully, revealing two dimples on either cheek.

"I think you're thinking about that kid, and I'm very similar to him, obviously he's like me. Barred laughed, tilting his head and gulping down.

"That's right, he's like you. Feeling better at Barrede's bold personality, Ness tightened her grip on her teacup and drank the ale in one gulp.