The Princess Merry sailed north along the White River, its sails bulging with the wind, overtaking other slow ships along the way, and the sailors were constantly amazed.

"Are you servants of the river gods? I have sailed for so many years without such treatment. The first mate was joking with the mercenaries and the others.

"That's because your heart is not religious enough. Rui said expressionlessly, his eyes looking at the river in front of him.

"Miss, it's not right for you to say that, how do you know that I'm not religious?"

Rui ignored him and yawned at his companion. "I'll go to rest first. ”

"I'm also resting, so I'm getting up early to find the boat, so be careful. Stan and Fern nodded.

Fern watched his surroundings from the deck, as if something reassured him. Ness sat on the floor, her eyes closed, meditating, while Ryan and Stan had gone down to the cabin to rest. Although they were on the river isolated from the land, the mercenaries did not dare to let their guard down, not only to be vigilant against the danger of the dark tide, but also to watch out for these sailors. On more than one occasion, Fern had seen a bearded, middle-aged sailor and a slightly younger, long-haired sailor constantly glancing at Niss.

The midday sun was warm, and Fern felt that she was about to fall asleep, and Ness stood up and motioned for her to go to her room in the cabin to rest. Fern nodded, blinked his eyes vigorously, lifted his spirits, and looked ahead again, only to realize that the ship was slower than it had been before, and when he looked back, the sails were not as tight as before.

"Did Ness do it?" Fern suddenly had a new understanding of magic.

The day had passed, and the Princess Merry had sailed through the Whitewater Bend with great ease, thanks to Ness's help. As the group ate dinner in a modest dining room, the others talked about Doyle's battle, and Ness looked tired.

"Are you seasick?" Fern asked with concern.

Ness held her head in her left hand and smiled reluctantly, "No, no, Rui's method works." With that, he took out a petal from under his tongue. "It's just that I spent too much energy just now when I went through the whitewater bend, and I'll be fine after a good night's sleep. ”

"It turned out to be Ning Shenhua, I actually forgot about it, but fortunately Rui also knew. Fern looked at Rui with a little gratitude, but Rui continued to eat the food on his plate disapprovingly.

"Magic is a magical thing, and I've seen how powerful it is today. Stan sits upright even when chatting, with a serious expression.

"Magic is powerful, but it drains the caster's energy, so we don't usually use it lightly unless necessary. Rui continued the conversation.

Hearing Ray's words, Fern thought of something, he stood up and walked to the door of the restaurant, peeked out into the hallway, made sure that no one was there, closed the door, and then stood behind the door for a moment before returning to his seat. "Rui, you haven't told us what the hell is going on with Canrito. ”

"I thought you weren't going to ask. Rui took a sip of cold water and collected his thoughts. "As far as I can tell, Canrito is surrounded by a band of demons. ”

"I know that, and everyone in the border country knows it. Stan frowned unexpectedly.

Rui glanced at him, and looked back ahead. "Yes, they only need to deliberately let people see them, or attack some people who are out of the city, it is enough to make the people in the city defend themselves, except for the border abroad, the people of other kingdoms have a great fear of demons. ”

"Won't they attack Canrito?" asked Fern, puzzled.

"It's a demon, but with the number of a team, it's impossible to attack Canrito. Rui looked at Fern, "After all, Canrito has knights they are proud of. ”

"Then why don't the knights fight back? Even if they are afraid of demons, but knights are masters of overcoming their inner fears, and they can fight against them. Stan slammed his fist on the table, his eyes meeting that of Rui, who had just been drawn to the punch.

Fern nodded at Stan in agreement, "Yes, the knights of Canrito aren't intimidated by demons, they must have some other reason. Fern thought for a moment and continued, "I think maybe they don't know how many demons there are, so they don't dare to rush into action. ”

"It's possible. Rui replied, and she took another sip of cold water, "That's all I know, and the rest can only be guessed." ”

Ness suddenly thought of something, "How do you know this, Rui?

"Yes, I can feel the demons, or the ghouls, or even the other Grim Tide army. Rui stopped talking, and could tell she didn't want to explain why she could feel this.

"How did they get over Doyle to central Wallis?" Fern said with a different question.

As if grasping at a life-saving straw, Rui immediately replied, "If the demon completely covers his face with a hood, it is difficult to tell from his appearance that it is different from an ordinary traveler. ”

Fern snorted heavily through his nose, "Canrito must have something to scare the Tide." ”

"Yes, maybe it's something that can contain the Dark Tide, so the demon only needs to prevent the knights of Canrito from bringing the holy weapon out, and they don't need to attack it at all. Rui lowered his head and looked at the water in the cup, and said slowly.

No one spoke anymore, and everyone ate their own food on their plates. The candlelight of the oil lamps flickered, flickering and dimming, reflecting the shadows of the people on the wall, as uncertain as the prospect of this journey.

In the middle of the night, there was no sound except for the rolling of the waves stirred up by the Princess Merry, and there was a dead silence on the White River. Most of the people on board were resting, except for the first mate at the helm and the sailor at the top of the mast, Fern was also on deck uneasy to patrol his surroundings. The weather was fine, and the bright moonlight allowed Fern to see the situation on the shore in the distance, and there was no threat, but the mercenaries were still reassured.

"Mr. First Mate, there is a fog ahead, about a mile or so. The crew on the mast suddenly shouted to the first mate, which was particularly harsh in the silence of the night.

The first mate looked ahead suspiciously, "Are you sure, Hagen? ”

"Pretty sure, the fog covered the entire river. Hagen replied aloud.

The first mate frowned and thought for a while, shouted a few words into the sound pipe next to the rudder, and then ran to the bow of the ship to pick up the telescope and observe nervously.

Fern also looked forward with the first mate, and could vaguely see the river disappearing into a gray-white mist in the distance, "I have a bad premonition. The mercenary said to the first mate beside him.

The first mate glanced at Fern and said angrily, "If you really think so, you'd better wake up your companion." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the captain came out of the cabin, looking dissatisfied, and yelled at the first mate, "I said, old man, if you can't prove that it's really necessary to call me up, you don't want to take the money for this run." ”

At that moment, Hagen shouted to the captain in a panicked tone, "The fog seems to be coming towards us!"

"Hell, how can there be fog in this weather!" the captain snatched the binoculars from the first mate's hand and looked ahead, the gray-white fog was closer to the ship, he cursed softly, and turned to the first mate and ordered, "Quick, wake everyone up, let them quickly put on their clothes and go to the deck!"

The first mate hurriedly ran to call someone, and Fern hurried to the cabin to call out to his companions, and Ness and Ray followed Fern to the deck with sleepy eyes, where Stan was already waiting.

"What is this?" asked Ness, looking at the fog that was getting closer.

"It doesn't look like ordinary fog, it just obscures the surface of the river and some places along the river, and the land in the distance can be seen clearly. Stan came back to him.

Fern looked at Rui and raised his eyebrows. "Can you feel anything?"

Rui also seemed puzzled, and thought for a moment before answering, "No, I can't feel the aura of the dark tide, but ......" The mage closed his eyes and frowned, "There are remnants of magic in the mist, this is the creation of magic. ”

"What does that mean, someone has created this fog to surround us?" Fern looked at the fog again, and was only about a hundred yards away from the Princess Merry.

"Yes, and that person seems to be nearby. Rui replied, looking at Ness.

Ness nodded, agreeing with Rui's statement, "There is no danger in this fog itself, the danger is the things inside, and if you can create a fog of this scale, it must be a high-level mage." ”

"Looks like we're in trouble. Fern sneered, holding the scabbard in his left hand, "My hunch is not wrong, it's just a little late." ”

The sailors were in place, the captain was back at the helm, and everyone was nervously waiting for the moment when the fog would fall. Thirty yards, twenty yards, ten yards, and finally, the Princess Merry was swallowed up by the fog and disappeared into the river.