782

"Yes, you don't need a reason to ......"

Hearing Anthony's words, Letty Orr's light blue eyes widened at first, and then darkened for a minute. She gritted her teeth, her eyelashes and messy bangs casting heavy shadows on her forehead.

"It's not because the highlands are dangerous, it's not because they have been violated, it's just because they need to, they ...... other countries and people," Audrey whispered to herself, as she spoke, she raised her head, looked directly into the other party's dark eyes, and asked solemnly, "Then the honorable archbishop of the Northern Continent, may I ask, after occupying the highlands as a colony again, will the life of the people of Rune be better?" ”

"Will the homeless people be able to find work?"

"Will poor children be able to get subsidies to go to school?"

"Those who are unemployed, those workers in the East Side who cannot find work, those disabled soldiers who cannot be supported by the state, those poor patients who are sick and have to wait for death...... Will their lives and misery be improved by getting colonized? ”

Halfway through these words, Audrey suddenly felt the fingers on her shoulders tighten.

She endured the looming pain and insisted on speaking her questions out loud.

If this can really be done...... No, it's obviously impossible! Even if the entire southern continent is seized as a colony, the commoners will still be civilians, and the poor will still be poor! They don't improve their lives just because they got a colony, because they used to be like that...... However, there will still be a part, or even a large number of people, who will get a new job opportunity, a new life, because of it, right?

St. Anthony showed the virtue of tolerance and patience, and after listening to Letty Orr's questioning, he sighed with emotion:

"You are a kind lady, a doctor, and you possess virtues that are enough to make you a good name in any city."

I've heard that stuff too much. Audrey thought silently.

She has too many fames: the brightest jewel of Bakeland, the treasure of the earl's house, the beauty of gold, the purity of a maiden, the character and soul of diamonds, and the most understanding of friends...... These are all titles that Audrey doesn't care much about now, but can't be abandoned. These titles have surrounded her in a variety of ways for as long as she can remember, often emphasizing her beauty rather than herself.

Of course Audrey likes to be complimented, and everybody likes to be complimented.

But these words are repeated so much that it is as if "Audrey Hall" is more like a beautiful work of art to be admired than a living person with a hobby of her own.

Even the well-praised kindness and beauty of character are often just a mask of Audrey's personality to deal with others—something that is extremely illusory. When Audrey really needed money, there were so many of them that she could publish a book and she couldn't even exchange a copper plate.

After becoming more and more sophisticated on the road of "audience", Audrey also felt more and more that the praise was single and empty. She sometimes couldn't figure out what those people were seeing in her or what they were praising them, so she took these repetitive words as feedback for her own digestion of the potion.

Ah, right.

Now, her artwork is also going to Intis to save her life.

If it weren't for her high enough rank and good luck to form friendships with members of the Creator's Church, she might have gotten a fiancé there. At that time, regardless of age, family fortune and title, she will marry him and leave a legacy for the Hall family.

Even Earl Hall, who was enlightened and doting on his daughter, would not allow her to rebel in such a big matter.

A work of art cannot be resisted, nor is it qualified to resist.

In just a few seconds, the string of thoughts raced through Audrey's mind. After becoming a spectator, examining oneself has become almost an essential act for her and Susie every once in a while.

So, just as Audrey was thinking about herself, St. Anthony spoke again:

"If I say that the resources of the Highlands, the Republic, can save all of Rune, even if I say so, a wise man like you will not believe it."

…… Is this the first time I've received approval from an enemy side? Audrey felt a little delicate in her mood.

So, do you want to admit that this attack was a move in Rune's favor?

Do you want to recognize this as a legitimate act to save the country?

Admittedly, is even such a slaughter-like attack, soaked in blood and tears, indeed an indispensable medicine for the salvation of the people?

"But because you're smart, you should be able to tell...... Even if it doesn't save everyone, it will allow tens of thousands, even 100,000, or 200,000 people, to get new jobs and new livelihoods. With some land and resources, they will be able to survive as a result. ”

"......" Audrey was silent for a moment, her tone strange, "Land? ”

If anything else, Audrey really doesn't necessarily understand, but, land?

For various reasons, the Kingdom of Rune is just in the midst of a change of members of the aristocratic class! The status of the landed aristocracy was threatened, and a new type of bourgeois could obtain knighthoods through donations and purchases of land...... Tell Audrey this, the archbishop really chose the wrong topic!

"Farming, yes? Yes, before industrialization, people were working in the land and were self-sufficient, and then the food bill was enacted, and a large number of people poured into the cities, but ......" she said to herself, and her beautiful eyebrows suddenly twisted together:

"Land, Rune has a lot of land! Churches, merchants, and aristocrats hold a lot of land! They used the land as a hunting ground, grazed their sheep on it, built estates and golf courses, or did nothing just to show their status...... These lands are deserted on the outskirts of Beckland! You can also farm there! Archbishop Anthony, since you want the people to get land and jobs, why not start with the resources of Rune native, why not take the abandoned and idle land in the hands of those nobles! Why not build a factory on church land! ”

"Is it because you don't want to?"

She was stunned by what she said and what she thought:

"Or is it because of something else? …… Aren't you and Rune sitting on a pile of gold and saying that you don't have money for disaster relief? ”

At this moment, just after these words were spoken, Audrey suddenly got the answer.

The balance in her heart—the balance that originally had "Rune" on the left and "high ground" on the right, the balance that had long been crumbling and sometimes tilted from side to side, suddenly collapsed at this moment and disappeared without a trace.

There is no need to suffer from gains and losses, and there is no need to think about who to help.

Audrey understood.

In an instant, she got the answer.

She got the answer she had been looking for, and she finally saw through the entanglements and hardships she had been having.

She understood everything.

At this moment, she suddenly felt extreme pain, extreme sadness and sadness - she wished that she had been sent away by Tawfik just a few dozen minutes ago, so that she would not see, hear, and understand all this.

In this way, Anthony Stevenson was still a respectable and kind archbishop in her heart, so that the church, the gods, and the nobility were still in her heart the same impression that despite their shortcomings, they were still an indispensable part of society.

- She did not flinch in the face of divine punishment, and at this moment she really had the idea of regret.

"Ahhh......hh

Letty Orr sobbed, but she couldn't.

“…… I'm so sad, I'm so sad......"

"We are so rich, we can support ourselves, we don't need to hurt others, we don't need to plunder others!!"

Probably because of spending so much time with members of the Indulgence faction, Audrey instinctively chose to rant as a way to vent and shock when her heart and ideas were about to collapse.

"You don't even have to give up your entire fortune! If you don't want to lose it, you can even rent out the idle and wasted land! ”

"But what are you doing...... But you have chosen war...... You have chosen the slaughter!! ”

"Why the hell is that?!"

"Tell me! Why the hell is that? ”

After the roaring questioning ended, there was silence in the darkness.

Tawfik did not answer, his heart was soaked in hatred and blood, and he had long taken war for granted. Even if he was once a perfect victim, now that he is the perpetrator, there is no answer.

And Anthony just stood there quietly, looking at the doctor who questioned him with a look of pity and regret, and said nothing.

Audrey was a little stunned, and the spiritual power burned with her uneasy mood, burning her eyes into brilliant gold.

Then, she covered her face and slowly bent down, letting out a cry with a dragon's roar:

"I'm so miserable, I'm so miserable, Dad, Mom, I'm so miserable......"

“…… I want to go home......"

Tawfik's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say a word,

At the moment when she showed her fragile and collapsed side, Anthony's eyes suddenly darkened. His figure melted into the darkness, wandering around like a night mist, and a sense of crisis came from all directions.

There was hardly any time to react, and the back of Tawfik's neck was cold.

A huge wolf claw several meters long silently appeared from the darkness, directly pressing his entire neck and even the head to the ground. A sharp, chilling claw pierced into his body, pinning him to the ground, shattering his entrails and flesh with all his might.

Tawfik spat out a mouthful of flesh, his eyes instantly bloodshot, his body turned into a puppet, and the shattered flesh and bones turned into sawdust falling from the window. Taufik struggled the wolf's claws as he penetrated, revealing the dried blood under his robes and the body that had been wounded in the previous brief encounter.

His eyes were blood-red, as if he had completely forgotten the pain, and the aura of hatred and anger affected everyone present, but the gap in one sequence only made St. Anthony's claws shake a few times, and he didn't fall into chaos.

Once again, the Requiem resounded in the dark space, as if the Sage of Sequence 3 was mocking them with his own skill.

It was also at the same moment that Audrey raised her head sharply and let out a sharp "dragon roar" from her throat!

The Dragon's Roar spread out like a sonic wave, temporarily interrupting the Requiem, and her body continued to emerge with scales, her legs and arms were alienated, and just as Tawfik barely broke free from the wolf's claws, she lunged forward, blocking the attack from the other direction with the body of the puppet.

The demon wolf has eight limbs.

Even if St. Anthony used two wolf claws to suppress Tawfik, he still had limbs that could move normally!

Almost as soon as Audrey saw the cold, blade-like claws poking out of the darkness with a dangerous edge, she took the initiative to bump into it.

The chest cavity and everything inside her doll's body were suddenly destroyed, and then a finger claw emerged from the darkness in front of her eyes, its curved claws like a scythe, severing Letty Orr's neck with ease.

Audrey didn't have any time to react. By the time she realized what had happened, her head had fallen to the ground, and she saw her beheaded body hanging from the fingertips of the giant demon wolf, gradually shrinking and turning back into a rag doll.

It hurts.

She thought, but it didn't seem to hurt that much......

The reverse summoning ritual that Richard left in her doll's body was activated by the severe damage to the body, and Audrey's vision quickly blurred, and her mind began to pull away from the body - Letty Orr was dead. She's leaving.

Audrey "lay" on the ground, she rolled her eyes and looked at Tawfik, her lips fluttering twice with effort:

“…… Sorry ......"

I'm sorry, I didn't finally see it all until today.

I'm sorry to show up here as a doctor, deceived your trust, and now left so many patients and you without permission......

It's too late, it's too late......

She thought in a daze, as if she heard a roar, as if she heard a wail. But Audrey's consciousness has become foggy, as if she is really dead, and she can no longer react to anything in the outside world.

At the moment when her consciousness went completely dark, her dilated pupils caught the light.

Is it dawn? Has the seal been lifted? Did he escape?

Mr. Tawfik? She thought she had spoken, but in fact her head was lying there, her eyes already closed.

Therefore, she did not see the black figure fall in front of St. Anthony, its body already tattered. But he had a relaxed smile on his face, and his brow stretched as if he would never open, as if he was immersed in a sweet dream.

He will never be angry again.

……

Beckland, Queens, home of the Earl of Hall.

Audrey, dressed in a white gauze nightdress, suddenly opened her eyes, her hands scratching in the air a few times, her eyes widening.

Seeing Audrey's body react, Susie, who was walking around anxiously on the side, suddenly pounced, put her front paws on the side of the bed, and wagged her tail with concern:

"Audrey!"

"Audrey! You're finally back! ”

"Why did you go for so long this time? Is there any danger encountered? Hurry up, dinner is ready, and your mother is about to come over and invite you over for dinner! …… Audrey? Are you listening? ”

Audrey stared at her ceiling in a daze, then turned her head and looked at Susie in a daze, her eyes making Susie feel a little uncontrollable fear and uneasiness, and her tail drooped.

"Audrey?"

It whispered, "What's wrong with you?" Did you encounter a patient who was in trouble......"

“……”

"I'm fine." After a moment of silence, Audrey sat up from the soft bed.

Inch by inch, she looked at her bed, her clothes, her room, and Susie. She had only been away for a few hours, but she felt like she had lived a life, and she had never been so strange to her room.

Oh, it's time for dinner. Mother will be coming soon?

She then rolled out of bed, walked to the full-length mirror in the room, and examined herself carefully with the help of the crimson moonlight shining through the curtains:

Those emerald eyes seemed to glow on their own, moist and clear, allowing one to see every detail clearly.

But in the depths of these eyes, anger, despair and sorrow swelled, and the emotions of countless people still seemed to resonate with her, making her unable to forget the hellish scenes.

Audrey closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, all anomalies were gone.

Then, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, her cheeks highlighted a shallow depression, her eyebrows and eyes were slightly curved, and her eyes turned lightly to reveal a standard smile that belonged to Audrey Hall:

"That's good!"

"I'm back, and I'm ...... Came back alive. ”

She had thoroughly digested the Dream Walker potion.

TBC

——————

Those lives, those happy processes, those easy exchanges, and desperate endings—all ended like a dream.

(End of chapter)