"Griffith had heard strange noises on the boat, and had lost a little of his mind because of it," Amber remembered, "perhaps due to the activation of the wormshell organ." ”

I see!

Griffith finally strung together some suspicions:

"On the night of January 7-8, I heard strange noises and witnessed strange and illusory sights, a door being opened to an unknown point.

"In addition, the intelligence from the beacon claims that the stolen "Abyss Collection" has knowledge of high-level advent techniques.

"I believe that the Wormshell Organ's transformation of Quarksol into a monster is only a superficial side effect, and its real purpose is to complete some kind of summoning ritual, and devouring flesh is a recharge process before the summoning is activated, not an end. ”

The paladin Ensign Skortz and the Finnish sergeant major who were watching were all surprised, they thought it was just a monster ceremony, but they didn't expect it to get bigger and bigger.

Griffith looked at Amber with a solemn face, and then said to the stationed mage, "I think it all has something to do with the black wooden box in the cargo hold. There are signs of black magic left on the chest, there are living corpses in the vicinity, and the "Abyss Collection" also has knowledge of living corpse creation and domination.

"My point is that, for whatever reason, Quarksol used the worm-shell pipe organ and the Abyss Collection to complete some kind of ritual, and the thing attached to the black wooden box, or fused with what was originally stored in the wooden box, and we didn't find it. ”

The Church of Grace fell silent.

The garrison mage thought for a moment, "We're not sure how much this chest has anything to do with Quarksol, but testing has revealed traces of dark magic in the box that we haven't identified yet, at least we can confirm that the box once contained a dangerous dark magic item that was transported to the island of Neopolis."

"The owner and the real consignee of this box are already investigating. If Quarksol is not the owner of the chest, it means that the Spring Equinox incident exposed the dark magic items smuggled by other gangs, or that the owner of the goods was also accomplice to Quarksol. ”

Sergeant Major Finland, the sergeant major of the garrison on Neopolis Island, raised his right hand and asked to speak: "Are we going to monitor Milovan Neville, a member of the Arcane Council?

"No, but he's a big shot, and he's going to the Southern Continent tomorrow," stationed mage Conix glanced around the squad in front of him, "Councilor is not under our jurisdiction and dispatch, he himself is a powerful spellcaster in Sequence 6, let's not trouble him." The superior will arrange an investigation. ”

According to the results of the meeting, Griffith was in charge of patrolling the town of Heura. The soldiers of the two squads of the City Defense Force have been assigned to the town to take charge of security, and are ready to take orders from him and other extraordinary people.

......

"Squad Leader II, Miss Investigator, come with me," Sergeant Major Finnish gestured to Griffith and Amber after the meeting, "Pick up your gear." ”

"It used to be an outpost to watch the bay, consisting of a front fort and a back fort, connected by a drawbridge to the left and right two separate guard towers, and in recent years it has been converted into a church church when the threat from the sea has decreased," said Finnish, who walked through the corridors and rooms and led the two men to the small courtyard behind the main hall, introducing the various facilities here, "The walls of the church are very strong, and the courtyard is reserved for the heavy trebuchets of the artillery. ”

Amber followed the sergeant's introduction and looked around, only to think that this place was much larger than the ordinary Church of the Gods monastery. The three tall buildings of white stone are arranged in an "L" shape, connected by a wide courtyard in the middle.

Rows of grapes and nectarines were planted in the garden, and even a small gazebo was erected. Vines with blue-and-white petals hang from the sharp corners of the gazebo, which is extraordinarily chic.

"If you're going to have to cut down the vines if you're going to set up artillery," Griffith said, standing by the fence in the backyard, looking at the level ground and then at the stone walls on either side, "This wall is facing the bay, right?

"Yes, there are observation posts and bunkers on the rooftops on both sides, and under the hillside is the bay, where heavy trebuchets can be deployed to suppress the beachhead of the bay and the foot of the hill in the distance, and you can't attack in the direction of the residential area, it will smash a sea of fire," Finnish nodded, "from the structural point of view, this fortress has many flaws, there is also a mage tower in the city of Neopolis, and the sea near the main island here has been very calm for a long time, and now it is only because it is used as a stronghold for us, and it takes some time to deploy artillery." ”

The Finnish sergeant major came to a three-story tower at the end of the courtyard and knocked heavily twice on the sturdy iron door of the entrance.

With the creak of the door opening, two garrison soldiers opened the thick door from the inside.

"Is there anyone else in here?" Amber poked inside.

"No, this is a warehouse. However, after the war in the East ended, there was no time to replenish supplies," the sergeant major happily invited the two in, "You can choose at will, there is nothing good anyway." You can return it here when you leave Neopalis Island, or you can return it directly to the port's warehouse. ”

Griffith thanked the sergeant major and immediately glanced around the arsenal of the Church of Grace.

The tall racks of weapons were empty. A few spears and shields were erected haphazardly by the wall, and on the shelves where the iron armor should have been placed hung several empty quivers without arrows.

The soldiers guarding the weapons depot brought in a large box. Finnish pointed to the box and said, "Apprentice, your saber was damaged in battle, see if it works here." Miss Investigator, would you like something?"

Griffith reached into the box and fumbled for a while, pulled out the only piece of chain mail, and shook it in front of Amber, "Do you wear it?"

The blonde girl was standing near the door, sniffing here and there. She looked at the dusty chainmail in Griffith's hand and shook her head in disappointment.

"Do you need to pay for war damage?" Griffith asked.

"We'll send bills to the Earl's Court, hehe," the Finnish sergeant major winked at him, "you're on your first mission?"

Griffith nodded with Amber.

"Well, my friend, don't be fooled by the rewards when you receive the mission, especially the C-class and D-class missions," Finnish said, pointing to the armor and weapons on the two men, "The arrows, armor, and weapons consumed in the battle will be reimbursed to your employer and deducted from your winnings." Even if the equipment is not destroyed, there is wear and tear depreciation, isn't it? If you are unlucky or spend a lot of money, you will not make any money except for accumulating merit points after a mission.

"Only for those particularly important tasks, the big guys will arrange everything for us intimately, and there are big rewards. ”

Amber patted her tight and beautiful leather armor: "I have my own armor, I don't wear yours!"

"Okay, what about the second team leader?" Finnish didn't mind retracting his leather armor and putting it aside, "Would you like something?"

"Well, I have an iron helmet and a shield," Griffith walked to the wall, drew a spear and examined it, "and a sword, two daggers, a spear, three throwing spears, a sabre, a short axe, and a mace." ”

“......”

Amber and the Finnish sergeant major looked at each other.

"Ahem, Mr. Knight, our next mission is to patrol and search, and deal with a small group of cultists," the sergeant major felt the need to remind his comrades, "I don't need you to break the formation." This longsword is of average quality, and it gives you improvisation. Throw a gun on that shelf. ”

"You're so cautious," Amber praised, "I like your character." ”

"That's because you haven't suffered careless losses," Griffith equipped himself with weapons, "I've suffered several losses, and I've learned to be good." ”

Armed with his weapon, Griffith, fully armed, walked to the town satisfied. Amber and Finn were behind him, watching the foot armored cavalry rumble forward.

Before he could reach the town, a team of local city guards ran over. The non-commissioned officer who led the team saluted first and confirmed each other's identities with the midshipman.

"Is there anything unusual in town?" asked Griffith.

"There are some," the corporal of the City Defense Force thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Trainee Knight, we are a calm and peaceful town here, and we usually don't talk about fallen mages or monsters, even public security cases are rare. ”

"Is there any difference between these two days?"

"Yes," replied the corporal, "just yesterday out of nowhere came a group of strangers, who first fought in the market, and then robbed two shops, taking away a few knives, hammers, and some money and food. We reported it to the resident mage. ”

What was going on?, Griffiths looked at the corporal in surprise, he didn't expect anyone to come and grab these things. If this is done by a black magic gang, it is too unbearable to rob a store and snatch a firewood knife~

"I have been informed of this by the Church of Grace. That's all they did?" asked Griffith curiously, "Did you catch it?"

"It's a pity that I didn't catch it. They were gone before we arrived," the corporal looked a little embarrassed, "there has never been a case of this kind in this town...... For a while, for a moment, he was caught off guard. ”

"Okay, I'll take care of it," Griffiths patted his scabbard, "let's see if we can find them during the round." Did you write down your physiognomy features?"

"Yes, Cadet Knight," the corporal drew a few crude portraits, "nothing unusual in his clothing, but ruddy, healthy, all of them tall and sharp-eyed, and with them were a couple of women, who, according to eyewitnesses, did not look like people who would do such petty theft." ”