There was a report from Airy that the pagan organization was growing there, and that the church had been sent to deal with it.

In the aftermath of the vampire incident, these strange things are shrouded in a terrifying shadow, as if there are overwhelming skeleton zombie ghosts that can be killed at any time. The nerves of all the officials, especially His Majesty the Emperor, were tense like tightened strings, and they immediately made loud noises at the slightest movement. In this case, if there is anything related to some heresy or monster, of course, it is necessary to ask the clergy to exorcise evil spirits.

This kind of thing, of course, fell on Asa's head. One is because of the trust of His Majesty the Emperor, and the other is the strong recommendation and operation of Bishop Ronis.

Bishop Ronis immediately summoned Asa to the Academy of Magic and assigned him a task.

"After your last hunt and meritorious service, I once revealed to the great priests my intention to promote you to the position of high priest, but they did not approve of it, especially Cuthbert, who strongly opposed it. But it's no wonder that their positions have been worked hard in the Academy of Magic for so many years, and it is really unacceptable to see you so young and unqualified, but you can immediately be on an equal footing with them. I can directly promote you to be a priest, but to be promoted to a priest, I and the three priests need to jointly recommend it to the Holy See. ”

"So this is a good opportunity for you. Airy's heretics are making a lot of noise, and it seems that something is going on in the Whispering Forest, and it would be more appropriate for you to deal with it. If you can deal with those heretics cleanly, then I recommend you to be the Great Priest and no one else can refute it. ”

Asa frowned secretly, but now this priest feels extremely troublesome, and it is really a bit unbearable to add the word 'big' in front of it.

"As long as you are a great priest, I can also have a showdown with the elves. ”

"What's the matter with those guys?" Asa had almost forgotten about them, and the only thing he still remembered was the elven girl who was almost strangled to death by him.

"Probably now Wang Du is the only city in the entire continent that doesn't want you. I've told the people below to collect your wanted warrants from the Adventurers' Guild and the Thieves' Guild, and I've told them that they're not allowed to accept your wanted notices anymore. Bishop Ronis took out more than a dozen portraits of Asa from a drawer.

Asa picks up a portrait and sees his wanted warrant for the first time. The elves' hands are very skillful, the lines are very delicate, and they outline his appearance just right, and Asa can't help but nod his head in admiration: "It's very good, at least it's better than me." ”

"As long as your identity can be recognized by the Holy See. At that time, the wanted of the elves was equivalent to a piece of waste paper. ”

The influence of the Church of Light is like a giant beast and a little rabbit compared to the elves. Even if the elves were to take out all their miserable possessions as a bounty to get a high priest of the church, adventurers and bounty hunters would rather go straight to robbery.

"When the time comes, I can make another proposal to the elves to let them join our alliance, and they won't accept it. By their nature, they disdain to join forces with humans. But you are essential to them, and if they can't catch you, they can only help you stand with you. And with the addition of the elves, our strength is much larger, and if we unite with the surrounding countries and the empire to ask the church to support us in dealing with the necromantic guild, the church can no longer ignore it. ”

"Oh, that's right. Asa nodded, a little complicated, but he finally figured it out.

"Because this mission is important, I intend to have Rodhart go with you and assist you in this mission. ”

"Oh, has he already returned?" Asa hadn't seen him in a while. Although they are indeed friends, they have been born and died together, but Asa always feels that there is not much correspondence with him.

"He dealt with the infidels in other places during this time, and the results were quite good. This is a very capable and promising young man, and he will definitely be able to help you a lot. By the way, you should go and solve the problem of the magistrate and the minister of the Imperial Mission in Airy being killed by the infidels last time. That would add a bit of money to your political capital. ”

Asa looked at Bishop Ronis quietly, and carefully recalled that he had indeed not told him about the minister. For some reason, the Bishop seemed to be sure that he could solve this headless case that once caused a sensation in the empire, and he could solve it by the way like eating a bun. He asked tentatively: "It's been so long, and there are no clues, the murderer shouldn't be able to be found, right?"

"Of course I do. Bishop Ronis smiled incomprehensibly. "Of course, it's not easy to find, but you can make one. Anyway, there are so many heretics there, and finding a few suitable people and making up some suitable stories and evidence will naturally be another great achievement. ”

"Oh, I see. Asa nodded.

"You're not in a good position to arrange these things. I'll tell Rodhart about it and let him arrange it. Bishop Ronis frowned, looked at Asa and asked, "What's wrong with you?" I notice that you seem to be very absent-minded all along. ”

"No..... I'm probably a little tired. Anyway, you can discuss the details with Rodhart, I still have some business, so I'll go first. ”

After leaving Bishop Ronis, Asa went straight to the library's reference room. Something he was more interested in than Bishop Ronis's plan was here.

But from noon to afternoon, his shoulders hurt so much that Asa found the name 'Widnika ter Geffenhardt' only three times in the thick dossier and records.

However, this does not mean anything, it is the same three times, it is recorded in the roster of students of the Academy of Magic. The name, like countless others, was unobtrusively placed in the same place, and it only meant that the Academy of Magic had indeed had this person. There is no other information about what this person has done here and what kind of experience he has had here.

In any case, a man who was once an honorable student of the Academy of Magic and then turned his career to become a lich will never be unknown. Presumably, this only means that most of her information in the Academy of Magic has been deleted. The transformation of a student into a necromancer is indeed not a memorable event.

Asa closed the dusty booklet and shook his aching neck and arms. I came to the library to see what kind of person that strange student was before, but I couldn't think of it but found nothing, and I was very disappointed.

Although twenty years is not a long time ago, someone should know that there are many people in the magic academy who have gray hair and wrinkled faces and still have to salute respectfully, but Asa does not dare to ask. This may be a taboo subject in the Academy of Magic, and if you ask random questions, it will be troublesome for others to report it to Bishop Ronis. Things about Vidnika always seem to make the Bishop allergic. If he had known that the dangerous classmate had been in contact with him and invited him to join the club, the least would have been a long lesson and persuasion.

But curiosity scratches and scratches in my heart like a cat that can't be still. At this critical moment, the Marquis appeared in the reference room, he had come to bid farewell to Bishop Ronice, and he was going to go on a trip in two days, and by the way came to talk to Asa.

Asa immediately realized that this was definitely a good person to ask about. The Marquis was also a well-known figure in the Academy of Magic twenty years ago, and it didn't seem like he was one to tell the Bishop.

"How do you know that name?" asked the Marquis, looking surprised at Assa's words, looking at him.

Asa replied casually: "Well.... I only hear it occasionally, and I hear that he is a very interesting person. So I came here to check, and I couldn't think of it, but I couldn't find it. Do you know what's going on with her, can you tell me a little bit?"

The Marquis did not answer, but only let out a long sigh. This expression was really very rare for a person like him, who was full of vitality and aura. He walked over and retrieved a book from the dense bookcase according to the search on the shelf.

Judging from the cover, this is just an ordinary theological book, and most of the students of the School of Magic have to learn this kind of thing. And the thick dust on the book indicates that no one has read it in years. The Marquis blew off the dust and flipped to one of the illustrations.

The illustration is a half-naked image of the Virgin. The engravers have undoubtedly put a lot of effort into this great statue, and the lines on it are as fine and beautiful as possible. Mary's face was kind and gentle.

Asa did not understand what connection the statue had to do with a lich, but he saw the Marquis turn the illustration upside down.

The back of the illustration was originally blank, presumably out of respect for the Virgin Mary, who did not imprint the lead letters on her back. And in this empty space that was originally awe, there is a painting. This is a portrait of a woman on the back of the side. It seems to have been drawn with a pencil or charcoal, the lines are not very delicate, and the paper has turned yellow due to age. It was just such a picture, but Asa was immediately shocked when he saw it.

When compared with the painting, the holy and delicate engraving on the front immediately made it seem that it was nothing more than a stain left by the stupid objects of wood and iron that had been stained with ink and pressed over.

Those black lines perfectly constitute a woman's beautiful image and charm, and even have an elegant and agile temperament, no trace of carbon ink on the white paper is idle and useless, every trace is a strong pouring out of this woman's elegance.

Like a classical sculpture, the body is as well proportioned as a classical sculpture, the clear and clear facial contours are incomparably clear and tender like water, and the long hair is scattered and draped behind the back, which is clearly rough charcoal, but you can feel the soft and smooth luster of the hair. These already beautiful places are combined with a broader and more profound harmonious beauty, and anyone who looks at it has no way to escape except to be shocked.

This beauty is the highest in the world, enough to make any man intoxicated, and a woman has to let worship and admiration suppress jealousy. The painting does not depict the woman's facial features, but just one aspect is enough to captivate all viewers.

"This is what I painted twenty years ago when I was younger. The Marquis's eyes were full of youthful light, and he remembered with emotion.

“...... It's so beautiful. Asa sighed. He was amazed at the beauty of the woman, and admired the Marquis's hand for expressing such beauty. Of course, he himself doesn't know anything about painting, but when he looks at this painting, he immediately feels shocked, but he also has a little regret. "But why don't you draw the front side, you can't see it? ”

"How can I, with such a pair of clumsy hands corrupted by the wine-colored world, express her peerless countenance. The Marquis looked at this work of youth, and even the voice was full of the melodious and intoxicated of young people's intoxication in their feelings.

"Then you must like this woman very much. Asa nodded, and he could feel the emotion in each of the marquis' strokes. Such a peerless beauty is indeed worthy of the love of a merry and talented man like the Marquis.

"I once proposed to her, and I used 99,999 flowers for every flower I could collect, and I spelled out the phrase 'I love you' in the wilderness outside the royal capital. "The marquis's deep, slender dark eyebrows shone with the sparkle of remembrance in his deep, handsome eyes, enough to intoxicate any woman who dared to look at her. And just imagine that these eyes erase the slight crow's feet at the corners, combined with the marquis's somewhat feminine handsomeness, regressing to that youth, Asa even suspects that even many men will be tricked.

Asa shook his head and sighed, "Ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine flowers? ”

"I just hate that I'm not mentally good enough to do this work completely myself. It took almost all the country's gardeners, a month's time, and thousands of gold coins. The spelled words must be run along the handwriting on a horse to see clearly. But she just smiled. You know, just this laugh makes me think it's worth everything. ”

Asa was shocked in this romance that can be regarded as legend and poetry, and twenty years ago, he went to experience the peerless beauty and the same peerless courtship of the marquis. After a while, I finally remembered what I was going to ask. "But does such a beautiful woman have anything to do with Vidnina? Could it be ..... that his classmate was jealous of the beauty of this beautiful woman, and killed her, or ruined her appearance?" Based on Vidnina's identity, Asa subconsciously came to this sinister inference of committing adultery.

The Marquis's words were gentle: "The person in this painting is her, my classmate from the Academy of Magic twenty years ago, Wang Du, no, the first beauty, Widniena ter Geffenhardt. ”

The bite muscles around his mouth were completely out of control, and Asa opened his mouth wide and couldn't close it at all, and his eyes almost fell off with his tongue and chin.

Asa felt that his brain had suddenly become the kind of mixed cooking in Oufu City, tumbling and boiling and sticky, with a strong but creamy flavor that I didn't know what it tasted like. The two extremes of the impression could not be combined no matter how much the power of reason could be used, and it was impossible to associate such a woman of extraordinary grace with a lich who was not even ugly, but only terrifying and disgusting. He'd cut through her mask in the Whispering Forest, seen half of her skeletal withered and disgusting face, and now the side face on this painting was truly breathtakingly beautiful. On one side are angels in the red world, and on the other side are living evil ghosts.

"What's the matter?" asked the Marquis, looking at his overheated expression.

Asa tried his best to control his thoughts and words, and asked, "What about this person..... What happened, why had I never heard of her like her, and there was only one name in the records of the Academy of Magic, and there was no information?"

The Marquis sighed and began to recount the deeds of his sweetheart in a deep voice: "She is a member of the royal family. But for a person like her, what kind of identity doesn't mean anything. In terms of magical talent, she is a rare genius in a hundred years, and it only took a month to rise from a junior magician to an intermediate level. She was even more brilliant in her mind, and she never participated in theological studies or debates, but I, the champion of debate, never won a private debate with her, and she said that she had already read all the theological and philosophical works and found them to be nothing more than nonsense. But these intelligences, unique opinions, and her beauty are nothing compared to her beauty, but they are just a small and insignificant foil. At that time, all the most outstanding heroes and young men in the whole country fell under her incomparable charm, just to be able to get that smile, even if it was a sea of swords and fires, they were nothing. But she seems to be preoccupied only with the search for truth and magic. Because of her one-in-a-million qualifications, even Bishop Ronis accepted her as a disciple. It's just over twenty years old, and he is almost promoted to the rank of Royal Chief Scholar. The Marquis's voice fell suddenly, and the legends came to an abrupt end. But, suddenly, she died. ”

"Dead, how?" asked Assa. However, he knew that it wasn't supposed to be dead, but probably to become a lich and join the Necromantic Guild.

"It's not very clear. I had just returned from the Sandface Mountains when I heard that she was dead. Bishop Ronis announced that she had violated the taboo of the Academy of Magic by conducting an experiment on forbidden spells, which failed and she died. The consequences of that experiment were so devastating that I remember that even the cathedral was completely destroyed, almost half of the buildings of the Academy of Magic were in ruins, and many people died. Presumably for the sake of the reputation of the Church and the Crown, Bishop Ronis and His Majesty the Emperor destroyed all her information and forbade them to say anything about this person. ”

Asa suddenly remembered the exclamation that Bishop Ronis had once had, lamenting a man who had gone astray. It turned out that the person was her. However, the reason and process of this are unknown.

Asa asked, "What are you doing in that time in the Sandface Mountains?"

"I'm going to look for a poisonous dragon flower that only blooms there. It is the most beautiful flower on the continent, and legend has it that as long as you propose marriage with this flower, there is no girl who will not be impressed. ”

"Then you're going to get .....?"

"She looked at the countless flowers I had prepared for her and said that they were all carried by other people's hands, and that countless people in the world had seen them, and that she wanted to see the legendary poisonous dragon flower, so I went to the Sandface Mountains to find them. ”

Asa couldn't help but sigh: "Running there alone in order to propose marriage like a woman, even I can only say that you have a problem with your head." ”

The Sandface Mountains are the most dangerous region in the continent. Even if the bipedal wyvern and the wild cow are infested, and the lizard swamp full of poisonous insects is compared to there, it immediately becomes a good mountain and water with a beautiful wind and sunshine. Even the mainland's top travelers and adventurers dare not set foot in it easily.

"It took me nearly a year to cross the wild highlands into the Sandface Mountains and search for it, and I almost died several times in between, but I finally found the flower. I plucked the flowers and kept them in the ice with an ice spell. But when I returned to the Academy of Magic, I saw only the wreckage of the ground, not even her body...... When I heard that she was dead, I spent three days in the ruins, and the flower lost its protection from ice, and was exposed to the earthly air, and completely withered and disappeared in my arms......" The Marquis was silent in his last recollection.

Asa was silent with the marquis, partly because of the sympathy for the marquis's grief, and partly because there was a strong thought in his mind. The teleportation scroll that Vidnina had left him was still in Sandru's mansion, and he wanted to go to the Valley of Desya to meet the legendary classmate and ask her what made her willing to give up that peerless beauty and choose to become an undead monster who didn't even qualify for ugliness.

If the Marquis knew that she had not died but had become a lich, what would he have done?

The expression of the marquis, immersed in the memory, was not sad, it was beyond sadness, but a dead emptiness and blankness. He was silent for a long time, and said softly: "Goodbye, I'm leaving." He turned and left.

Looking at his back, Asa suppressed the urge to stop him and tell him the truth. Maybe he didn't know what was best for him.

Back in the big house, Asa hesitated, but instead of taking the scroll, he asked Sandru, "Do you know Vidnina before she became a lich?"

"Yes. Sandru nodded half-deadly.

"Then tell me why she came to the Necromantic Guild and became a lich ....."

Sandru's eyes suddenly lifted to look at Asa. There was no dazzling light or majestic momentum in those black and white eyes, but just looking at it like this, Asa immediately stopped unconsciously speaking.

"I find that you kid is getting more and more annoying, what are you doing asking about other people's **?" Sandru's face and tone were not stern, as if there was no difference from usual, but Asa felt very uncomfortable.

"I'm just curious......"

"There are some things you know less. Sandru said lightly, sitting on his simple plank bed and closing his eyes.