In the corner of the Academy of Magic is a very small and old chapel, an old building that has been abandoned for a long time, and almost no one usually comes here.

An old priest came in a hurry, looked inside as he got here, and immediately walked in

"Priest, is this a bit too much?" the old priest asked cautiously as he found the person he was looking for.

"Not too much. I just want to be quiet. Asa sighed, not expecting to be found here.

"But you should at least change places. "The elderly are always more rigid in details and rules.

"No, it's a great atmosphere. ”

"Your Excellency the Assistant Minister of Finance is looking for you..."

"I don't know, Assistant Chancellor. What is he looking for me? If he wants to find me, call him himself. ”

The old priest's face was froze helplessly for a while with his gray eyebrows, beard and wrinkles, and he looked at the young superior in front of him, and understood that it was useless to say anything, so he had to turn around and shake his head and walk out.

Asa struggled to change his position, he was not comfortable to sit on, there was no way, the carpenters made this thing to hold the holy book, the holy object and the hand of the Bishop, not to place the butt. The surrounding frescoes and reliefs depict the deities in their own poses, some squinting, some glaring angrily, and some gazing tenderly, watching the man who was supposed to serve them sit and lie on the altar.

A familiar sound of footsteps sounded unhurriedly from the door of the cathedral, but Asa did not look back, but sighed and said, "Is that you? ”

"Although this chapel is useless, is it too much for you to sit on the altar?" said the assistant minister in a calm and solemn voice.

Asa smiled and replied, "Where can it be too much." A pious old clergyman just said I was 'a little too much.' ”

"Originally, the old priest wouldn't let me in, but when I insisted on coming, he told me not to be surprised, because you have always been like this. The assistant minister's voice smiled slightly. "It seems like you're doing this all the time. ”

"Doing something? I don't think there's anything to do. It's just to drink some wine and eat some meat, and last time I finally found a one-eyed lizard in the grass outside, roasted and eaten, and was reprimanded by the bishop for a while. ”

"Oh, is it the one-eyed lizard called the Southern Glass Beads? I remember you kept saying you wanted to taste what it tasted like. The assistant minister's voice became a little more lively because he remembered the past. "Didn't the Bishop reprimand you for not killing indiscriminately?"

Asa scratched his head, sighed, and said, "No, it was raining outside, so I roasted lizards here, and grabbed a book to use as fuel. ”

"Hehe, you're still the same, haven't changed. ”

"You've changed, and your voice seems to be much calmer and more sophisticated than before. She is the Assistant Minister of Finance, and now the only female minister of the Empire. ”

"Really? I'm kind of aware of that. The assistant minister took a few steps forward and said a little self-deprecatingly. "Probably because I'm old. ”

Asa turned around, but what he saw was still the slightly round and delicate face, the slender eyes, the straight nose, and the thin lips, but the youthful and lively temperament in his memory was gone, replaced by maturity and self-control, and the well-fitting official uniform, which actually had a bit of majesty in the delicate and beautiful.

"There is no old. It became mature and pretty. Asa smiled at her, looking at her appearance and temperament that she had never seen before, and felt something strange from the bottom of her heart for no reason. I also had this feeling when I met Rodhart. He sighed and said, "I found that once a person becomes an official, or has a career, he will quickly change his appearance, become mature and sophisticated. ”

Xiao Yi smiled faintly and said: "I have seen a lot of people in the world, I have more experience, and my spirit and mind are focused on my own career, so people are naturally not as frivolous as before." ”

"But why am I the same? Asa sighed.

"It's probably your personality that's not suitable for these things. Xiao Yi smiled. "Actually, even I don't believe that you can become a priest, a hero who will be great in the future. You....you're not like. ”

"Yes. I don't fit. I only found out now, I found out yesterday. It's really not for me here. Asa let out a long sigh, squeezing all the air in her lungs and the feeling of depression and helplessness out of her body as best she could. "I'd rather survive alone in the swamp and desert, facing beasts and monsters, than stay here anymore. I'm too benzene. It's stupid. I can't see anything clearly, I don't understand anything. Even if you want to try to do something, you can't control anything. So I'm annoyed and want to be alone in this place. And then I thought...."At this point, he didn't go on.

"No eagle can live in the sea, no matter how vigorous it is. Xiao Yi's voice was a little gentle. "You're not stupid. Probably not suitable for such an environment. ”

The tenderness in this tone is only a little, but it makes the empty and helpless heart feel full. Suddenly, things that had been silent for a long time, almost forgotten, jumped out again. Asa was silent for a moment, and asked, "Do you remember what I told you before? I want to travel all over the continent, all over the world." ”

"Remember, you've talked to me a lot before. When it was mentioned before, Xiao Yi's voice was softer.

Asa looked at those thin eyes, and the hazy smile in them didn't seem to be as pure as before, but the slightest tenderness still filled every gap in his heart. He thought for a moment and said, ".....Actually, I had a question I wanted to ask you before, but I never asked..."

"What's the problem?"

"I want to travel freely. Will you come with me?" Asa turned his head and looked at the dusty idol, and he didn't dare to look at her again.

There was no answer, only the breaths of the two men alternated in the old chapel. This dusty place is full of traces of history, as if time can easily be pulled back into the past by memory.

"Are you still thinking about traveling, what about the things that the Bishop has arranged for you?" Xiao Yi's voice returned to its steady maturity. "Although you are not used to this kind of environment now, you should face the things you should face, and you should take the responsibilities you should bear, and it is useless to escape. She paused, her voice more steady, but also a little lonely. "We've all grown up. ”

Asa smiled bitterly and did not speak again.

The two fell silent again. After a while, Asa asked, "What is the matter with you coming to me?"

Xiao Yi took out a letter and handed it to him. "This is what my sister has entrusted me to give to you, and for you to pass it on to your friend Rodhart. ”

"Why didn't she go herself? Want you to hand it over to me and then hand it over?"

"I'm probably embarrassed. There may be something difficult to talk about in the letter, and the feeling of being handed over between two people in the middle will not be so strong. Xiao Yi's tone was full of the smell of people who had come over. "The hearts of the girls are like this, it's elusive. ”

Asa stretched out his hand to take the letter, shook his head and sighed: "It's really elusive....."

"Alright. My mission is accomplished. There's a lot of official business waiting for me. You'd better try to do your thing. The assistant minister turned and walked out.

It wasn't until she walked out of the door of the magic academy that she looked back at the dilapidated chapel and sighed, "Why didn't you ask me ..... back then?" Reaching out and wiping the corners of her eyes, she slowly boarded the carriage.

"Do you know what I want to do?" Asa sighed in the chapel. His hand took out the scroll in his arms and looked at it slowly. The tiny skeletons at the ends of the scroll glowed faintly. As long as he grabbed these two little things, all the troubles of this earthly world would no longer have anything to do with him.

The feeling of relief and relief is truly pleasant, but at the same time there is the pain of loss. I don't know if that side just now will be goodbye?

The next day, the troops who had gone to Airy to suppress the pagan rebellion set out.

Asa looked at the vast troops, frowned and asked Rodhart, "Do you need so many people?"

Rodhart rode on a snow-white horse, dressed in a shining silver knight's armor and purple cape, which looked exactly as his commander. Walking majestically at the front of the line with Asa, he shook his head and said, "Not much, only five thousand." I am very familiar with Airy's situation, and I will never suffer in the right time and place. According to the report, the heretic group is probably only about five or six thousand, but they are all a rabble with no formal equipment. It's no problem to deal with. ”

Asa took the letter from his bosom and gave it to him. "It's Chrissy who wants her sister to pass it on to me, and then let me pass it on to you. ”

Rodhart frowned, took the letter and opened it.

"What's written on it?" asked Asa.

"Nothing. She told me that the Emperor had proposed to the Duke. Rodhart replied lightly.

"What?" Asa was a little surprised, and looked at Rodhart's calm expression. "Looks like you already knew?"

"Of course. Rodhard nodded. "When I heard Chrissy talk about her and the Emperor, and she probably didn't even realize it, I guessed that things would come to this point. However, due to the impact of the events of the last hunt, it must have come sooner than I expected. ”

"You and Chris....should have always been....a good relationship. ”

"Of course. Rodhart nodded. "The Duke of Mrak sometimes deliberately wanted to do so. ”

Asa remembered the judgment of Lord Porugan, who had a big head and was very useful. For a talent like Rodhart, Chrissy is the Duke who guarantees that he will be able to receive him as an important bargaining chip. But now it's clear that the chip has a much more important purpose.

"Doesn't the Duke know that the Emperor likes Chris?"

"He didn't know. It's a secret, and no one seems to know about it except me, Chriss, and the Emperor himself. The Duke pays too much attention to national political affairs, so naturally he doesn't care about the details of these little children. ”

"Didn't you tell the Duke the news?"

"Because there's no need to let him know. Rodhart smiled, as if it were a bitter smile, as if it were a sneer, a little inscrutable.

Asa frowned and asked, "That's all written in the letter?" If it was just these words, it didn't seem that there was any need to call two people to transfer them in the middle.

Rodhart's expression was slightly unnatural, and he said lightly: "She also said that she was confused and didn't know what to do. She will be waiting for me at noon today at the tavern we frequent. If I go, leave the royal capital with me. His tone was flat, and his words were very simple and clear, as if nothing was very important.

Asa smiled bitterly. Another such marriage, another stillborn elopement. But Rodhart looked very different from himself at the time, and he didn't seem to have much effort to decide what to do. She was waiting for him there, but he was already busy with his own tasks, his own work, and gave up neatly, without the slightest bit of mud and water.

Asa looked at Rodhart. The lines of his face are not very distinct, it is a soft beauty of handsomeness and affection, which originally had nothing to do with the temperament of fortitude and bravery, but the same calmness and reason at all times and places have long been towards the strength that any courage can represent. This is a person who blends in with this environment in a sinister manner, and he will definitely become a real powerhouse in this environment in the end.

But that's none of my business anymore. Asa touched his waist, it was hard, and he could feel the magic flowing on the scroll through his clothes, it was the smell of freedom and renunciation.

Leaving the royal capital, he can quietly walk away at any time, travel freely everywhere, hide, and be hunted down by the church until there is no way out, just open this scroll. He really didn't want to stay in the royal capital anymore, stay in the endless plans and tasks to face those who didn't want to face at all. It's really like Sandru said, where your feelings and efforts are not even as good as a fart.

Asa glanced at Rodhart. Everyone deserves to live in their own right environment. For big things, let people who can do big things do it.

"Actually, I'm an orphan. Silently moving forward, Rodhart said suddenly. "I don't know who my parents are. I'm just an abandoned baby picked up by my grandfather. ”

Asa looked at him, not understanding why he had suddenly spoken of this.

"Even so, my grandfather has always loved me. He put all his heart and soul into educating me, and he wanted me to be the best person I could be one day, and spent all his fortune to send me to a knight's school. The folks also thought that I could be a great knight, a hero. So I made up my mind since I was a child that I must live up to their expectations and become a hero who presides over light and justice like the main character in the story. But then I realized that ..... I was so naïve. I didn't become a hero, just a kid who didn't understand anything, and the culprit killed them. Rodhart still looked ahead, his tone faint as if telling a story from afar, and the hazy light in his eyes seemed to be ethereal and determined. "Later, I finally saw the reality clearly, finally recognized the world, and finally grasped the opportunity. I won't be naïve anymore, I want to be strong, I want to be a master by my own efforts......" he looked at Asa and smiled miserably. This expression suddenly broke his original calm and strong in an instant, and it was a smile full of pain and helplessness. "So even if I like her very much, that's the only choice. ”

Looking at this very awkward smile, Asa suddenly felt pity for him. Then inexplicably remembered what Duke Mrak had said to himself in his bedroom.

Those who can move forward bravely in this world and strive to climb the peak, their powerful motivation is mostly from unforgettable pain and helplessness.

"Everything I have now is what you gave me. You saved me and gave me the opportunity to get to where I am today. You are the most grateful person in my life. Rodhart looked at Asa. Asa could see in his expression the last traces of the innocent young man in Airy that day. "I will go on well, and I will help you go better, as long as we successfully complete this mission in Airy, I will also be further recognized by the church, and my position will be more secure. At that time, I will no longer be a pawn of the duke, but a person with whom I can negotiate terms and cooperation. I will definitely be able to go higher and farther. ”

Rodhart's eyes have always been in Airy's direction, where there is his past and his future.

Asa decided. Let's go to Airy and help him complete this mission before leaving.