It's been a long time since Norman has heard anyone address himself to his face, and it's a familiar voice, especially since he had only met this person not long ago.

Hardy Juvenstein.

Norman heard the owner of the voice in one ear.

With the wanted warrant of the Father's Cult, it is difficult for him to gain a foothold in the human world, and it will be a big trouble if his identity is revealed on the spot, but Norman did not react aggressively because of this, he just looked around blankly, as if he was looking for someone, and at the same time his expression was confused, and he looked confused.

Lancelot's voice came at this time: "Respond with the reaction of an unwitting ordinary person!" Apparently they also thought of it with Norman.

But Hardy wasn't fooled by Norman's performance.

"Everyone's body smells differently, and I am a person who is very sensitive to smells. I always remember the smell of your body, Sage, and I recognized it as soon as we met just now, but I was a little unsure after all, so I waited for a while until just now. ”

"I have heard the rumors of the sword in the stone for a long time, and it is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to make the sword in the stone move so abnormally. And among the people I know, except for the Pope, maybe only you, the Sage, can do it, so I finally confirmed your identity. ”

Smell, draw the sword......

That's when Norman realized how Hardy recognized himself.

He really didn't expect that Hardy would have such a magical special function - according to the legend of the Knights Templar, it should have something to do with hormones or something. However, it is true that he has not been in contact with Hardy for a long time, so it is not surprising that he does not know.

As the situation changed, Lancelot's voice came again: "Calm down! Stabilize the other party first, and then talk about the situation." ”

And that's exactly what Norman was going to do.

"Good day, Hardy Priest. ”

Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Norman stopped acting, and also responded to the other party with a magic mouth, "I haven't seen you for a long time." Then look in the other person's direction.

Now the former cardinal priest of the Church of God of God was standing in the crowd of the church, and when he saw him looking over, he bowed slightly in his direction and bowed.

Hardy continued to use the magic mouth to say, "I am no longer a cardinal priest, Sage. Now I am just an ordinary priest in the diocese of Arica. ”

Norman let out an "oh?" and said, "I heard that you were exiled to Penco, so the rumors are true?"

"Yes," said Hadi, "the Pope himself ordered you to be condemned as a heretic, and I was the one who advocated for your canonization, so I was implicated. However, in the light of my past exploits, the Pope did not put me to death, but exiled me to Pencole. ”

Hardy said this, and then he seemed to understand very well what Norman was thinking, and said, "Sage, you don't have to be nervous, I have no ill will towards you, and I will not reveal your identity, you can rest assured. ”

No malice towards yourself and no exposing yourself?

Norman couldn't guess what Hardy was thinking.

From what he knew, Hardy was a very competent member of the Church and a very firm position, and even death could not change his faith, so he should be consistent with the Pope. What's more, he was exiled to the prairie even if he was involved, he should hate himself, how could he talk like this?

Norman was puzzled, so he asked tentatively: "Why are you doing this? I have heard that I am now a heretic personally approved by the Pope, and it is said that even the gods themselves have sent down oracles." ”

Hardy shook his head slightly and asked rhetorically, "What is heresy?"

Without waiting for Norman to answer, he continued: "I used to think that Lord Thomas was a heretic, but now I realize that perhaps in the eyes of Lord Thomas, the present church is the real heresy. ”

"I know everything you have done, Sage Lord, and there are several more things that have happened, and I was with you at the time, and I witnessed the whole process with my own eyes. What I see is a great and merciful brave man who sacrificed his life for the lives of all people, a compassionate saint, at least hundreds of thousands of lives were directly saved by you, and you have single-handedly contributed to the current political situation, so that the kingdom will not be in chaos for a long time or even fall apart, which indirectly saves millions of people. ”

"I see a most holy heart, I see a true saint, and I don't think such a saint deserves to be treated the way it is now. Maybe I can't change that, but that doesn't mean I'm going to encourage such a wrong action. ”

To be praised to the heavens in such a face, to say that it is not happy is false—who doesn't like to be said nicely? Even a true saint is probably not exempt from vulgarity, let alone a false saint like Norman. And as Hardy said these words, Norman unconsciously thought of a person, the Thomas that Hardy had just mentioned.

Norman seems to have vaguely understood why his honorary teacher had betrayed the Father's Religion, because Hardy now seems to have a bit of a precursor to this: first there is a change in thinking, and the long-held faith begins to waver, and then as the rift gradually widens, it develops into action, and finally ends in a rupture.

After thinking of this, Norman's heart was relieved, and he was not as nervous as he was just now.

If he had just arrived in Cárdenas, Norman would have been so praised by Hardy's words that he would have wanted to take out his heart and give it to the other party, but now Norman is not so easy to trust people.

The corners of his mouth just flashed a wry smile slightly, and said: "I'm not as great as you say, and the rumors are not wrong, I did serve in the Dragon Clan, and served as the Great Situ of the Dragon Clan." ”

He believes that at this distance, it should not be difficult for Hardy to see his expression, so he did not have a trace of slackness, and did a full set of acts, even the micro-expression changes were done together with the content of the words.

After hearing Norman admit that he had surrendered to the Dragons, Hardy's expression did not change, not even the slightest surprise, apparently he had already confirmed this information.

"But you are also the Holy One of the Church, the patron saint of mankind. ”

"You are far superior to us, as was evident in the battle of Jebel Danner, and although I was not there in person, I have heard my colleagues describe the scene countless times. ”

"In your opinion, all things are equal, whether it is humans, dragons, elves and other intelligent races, or cattle, horses, sheep and other livestock, there should be no difference in your eyes, so you don't mind the difference between the races we are obsessed with. ”

"Father, please forgive me for my ignorance, I have never been able to reach your realm, what you hold is the Father's true will, so I can't know what your ultimate goal is, but I think it will not be purgatory, but heaven. All I can do is trust you......"

Norman listened silently to the words of the former cardinal priest of the Father-God Church, and did not know what to say.

It's not that he hasn't been worshipped as a god, in fact he's had done it many times, but it's just the "middle class" of the ignorant minions or the Knights Templar. Among the intelligent creatures he came into contact with, which one of them was not shrewd? For example, Hardy, for example, Agnes, for example, Chen Qinghe, for example, Fang Xiangru.

To be able to reach this level, they are all characters who see things very thoroughly, even when they are the most smooth and famous, they can't fully believe in themselves, they each have a lot of their own careful thoughts, there are all kinds of deceit, Norman This is the first time to see a character of this level who blindly worships himself like an ignorant market citizen, so he really doesn't know what to say.

Or was it just Hardy's rhetoric, and he had something else in mind?

Norman subconsciously thought about it deeply, and he even thought of a strange possibility: Hardy can't be a bitter ploy used by the church, right? Isn't that the undercover agent that Lancelot once told him about was this?

This made Norman ask, consciously or unconsciously, "Then what are your plans for the future?"

He was fishing, and it would be suspicious if Hardy replied that he was going to follow him, but Hardy's answer was not what Norman expected.

"Sage, you have your own path, and although I aspire to it, I cannot understand it or follow it, so I will follow my own path. ”

"I will obey the Pope's decree and continue to remain in Arica as a priest, and continue to study the Holy Scriptures while preaching, hoping that the light of God the Father will shine on more people. ”

Hardy doesn't seem to be an undercover agent intent on breaking into the Dragons, as Norman had suspected, but who knows?

No matter what, since Hardy has said so, whether he is sincere or scheming, Norman will not follow, but casually repeats: "This is fine, as long as the light of the Father can be spread, priests, it is the same." ”

......

While the two were chatting with the magic mouth technique here, the sword drawing ceremony was still going on.

The guy who was the first to rush forward after the new sword drawing platform was built, his face was distorted, and he didn't get the sword out of the stone in a moment.

This guy even wanted to follow Norman's example, pulling it out a little more and pulling it a few more times, but he couldn't do anything to the sword in the stone, and he was ruthlessly coaxed down by the knights standing on both sides of the sword. Because Wan Nian was discouraged and unwilling, he went down halfway downstairs, and accidentally rolled down directly, but fortunately there was nothing major except for multiple injuries on his body.

Those people in the sword drawing queue saw that Norman easily made such a big battle, and thought that today's sword in the stone would be particularly easy to draw, but after seeing the performance of the first contestant next, their mood fell slightly, and then the second contestant returned in vain, which made the hearts of those contestants in the sword drawing queue even colder. After the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth ones, these guys who were still full of excitement and delusional thoughts that they were going to become sword drawing heroes today and ascend to the sky completely calmed down and came back to their senses.

It doesn't seem that it's because today is the way out of the stone for the sword in the stone, so it's particularly easy to move, but simply because the middle-aged uncle of the first contestant is really a little capable.

The participants of the sword drawing ceremony reluctantly accepted this recognition, but this did not hinder everyone's enthusiasm for participation, the queue waiting for the sword drawing was still so long, and everyone was happy to participate in this annual event, and some guys were even repeated several rounds.

At the scene of the sword drawing ceremony, which restored the atmosphere of previous years, the metropolitan sat behind the viewing platform as in previous years, waiting for the participants to draw their swords one by one, the melon-eating crowds around the square raised their heads and chattered and exchanged views with the people around them, and the clever vendors were squeezing around the crowd with all kinds of delicious dried fruits, raising their voices and shouting.

But suddenly, the sound in the inner circle of the square stagnated, and fell into absolute silence.

This silence spread rapidly from the inner circle to the outer ring, and after two breaths, everyone in the square and around it stopped making a sound. Everyone kept their heads up in the same posture, staring dumbfounded at the top of the sword-drawing platform, which was made of stone walls, and the whole space was dead silent.

"Bang Bang"

A handful of dried fruits in the arms of a hawker in the crowd fell to the ground with a clear sound.

It was the only sound on the scene, and there was another sound that spread from the top of the sword drawing platform in all directions.

"Zi"

It was the sound of metal rubbing against stone.

Norman was also looking to the top of the drawing platform, where a tall woman was standing, holding a greatsword in her hand, pointing to the sky—the sword was so long, almost as long as two people combined, that she could only hold it in this position.

In front of the woman, there was only a huge stone, and the sword in the stone on it was gone, and then looking at the hilt, the sword in the stone was obviously the one that the woman was holding in her hand, and the sound of "zi" was the sound of her pulling the sword out of the stone just now.

That woman was Atramicia.

Although Norman has been chatting with Hardy, he also clearly sees the whole process at the same time: Atrimithea went up the stairs to the stage, walked to the sword in the stone, held it in one hand, and with a casual draw, the sword in the stone was pulled out of the stone by her.

It's that simple, she didn't even need to hold down the big stone, and pulled out the sword in the stone at once.

It all happened so fast......