"According to the Continental Code, we, Elliot Carsfield, in the name of the God-given Knight of the Rose and the eternal King of the Red Clay Plateau, bear witness to the canonization of the fourth class astrologer apprentice D. Jonah as a vassal, and now on April 26, 2282 Continental Calendar, Lord Jonah, will you grant the title of Knight of Toba in the holy morning light, engrave your family coat of arms on the knight's armor, and accept all the loyalty and humility of your followers? "The Rose Knight held the thick code in his hand and said,

"Yes. Jonah replied,

The astrologer apprentice stood by the deep crypt, holding a sword in his right hand, and in his left hand he raised the illumination staff he had brought out of the astrological tower, and the crystal at the top of the staff shone brightly, making the miracle steppe of night rise again with a dawn sun,

"Toba, do you swear to keep the knightly creed, to follow the virtues of humility, honor, sacrifice, valor, mercy, spirituality, honesty, and justice, and to dedicate your loyalty to the owner of the family coat of arms in humility until the end of each other's lives? Elliott's fingertips swept over the words of chivalry in the Codex,

The person lying in the eyes of everyone did not answer, a crystal clear teardrop slipped from the corner of Long Ji's eyes, and dripped on the face of Sibi, who was sleeping like a child in her arms, and the little grasshopper smiled in her sleep, as if still snuggled in the arms of the head of the room,

That's an affirmative answer. The Rose Knight closed the Codex, "Now, Lord Jonah, please complete the canonization ceremony. ”

Jonah half-knelt down, dipped his fingers in the blood, and drew a simple pattern on Toba's scarred chest: the broken eye hidden in the center of the spiral, the spiral represents all the mysteries of the starry sky, the eye represents the endless quest for knowledge, and the broken pupil represents the hard collision between truth and reality, the family coat of arms that the astrologer's apprentice has just decided, whether it will be illustrious or humble in the future, only at this moment, the glory of the two lives of Jonah and Toba is one,

"I have never seen the noble astrologer in my life, it is the greatest honor of my life to be able to fight with you last night, and when I have children and grandchildren, I hope to be able to use your name as their surname, and from now on to commemorate this precious memory between me and my lordship......"

Toba's words rang so clearly in his ears, and he tapped his sword on the shoulders of the chambermaster three times, and Jonah stood up and looked at the pale face of his loyal knight, "Toba, from now on, my name, your surname, and you, your descendants, will inherit this surname forever, Toba Jonah, my glorious knight,...... Please take a good rest, we have a longer way to go. ”

At this point, the astrologer apprentice could no longer control his emotions, and as soon as his fingers loosened, his staff and sword fell to the ground with a thud, the light was extinguished, and the grassland baptized by blood and fire was once again dark.

"Licheng. Elliot whispered, "Well, sir, say goodbye for the time being, and when we have completed our mission, we will definitely come back to chat, drink, and look at the wildflowers with you, and then this grassland will be in full bloom with brilliant flowers, as beautiful as the mushroom farm of your dreams......"

Jonah walked into the dark distance, and with each step away from Toba, his steps became heavier as if he were carrying the faith of his companion, and he did not make a sound, but let the tears run down his face, and the rustle of the soil falling towards the tomb came behind him, and he knew that in this life he would never have the opportunity to see the face of the peasant of Bazeral, but Jonah walked firmly, with a courageous determination,

As his eyes gradually adjusted to the night, he noticed the brilliant starry sky overhead, and the astrologer apprentice raised his head, found the position of the North Star in the manner taught by Master Koshava, and began to walk westward.

Footsteps sounded behind him, "Your staff, I think it's important." ”

Long Ji appeared next to him with the little grasshopper in her arms, holding the staff embedded with the illuminated star array in her hand, Jonah nodded, and took the parting souvenir that Teacher Koshawar gave him,

After a few minutes of silence, Jonah asked, "Where do you think Jekon would be?" ”

"I feel that he is still alive, but far away. The Oriental woman replied,

The sound of hooves sounded, and the Rose Knight appeared beside him, and he carefully took the grasshopper from the dragon queen and placed her on the unicorn's broad back.

"Eli, Toba...... No, my servant knight, is he okay. "The astrologer apprentice did not look back,

"He's fine, finally getting a good rest. Elliot said calmly,

"In my hometown. Long Ji said leisurely, "People believe that the whole process of life is contained in two words: 'elimination' and 'breath', the growth process of the human body is also the consumption process of 'innate qi', so it is called elimination, and exhaustion is death, so death is a process of continuous accumulation, and the survival process of the soul and true spirit is called breath, which means that after death, a person only enters a state of rest, he may enter the underworld, or he may enter the kingdom of heaven, life and death are separated, not as far away as you think." ”

Jonah nodded thoughtfully,

A few minutes later, the Pitchfork's companions came to the entrance to the canyon where the fierce battle took place, corpses, rubble, and broken swords shining in the starlight constituted the remains of a brutal battle, and Jonah lit the illuminated star array again, holding back his nausea, and bowed his head to look for clues in the pile of corpses,

"This way. Long Ji waved her hand on the side, more than a dozen broken corpses were spread out on a red carpet of flesh and blood, and it could be roughly seen that the fatal wound of these Lan Xun soldiers was an X-shaped knife mark that cut off the body, thirty yards forward along the corpse, and came to a rock wall, a pattern was drawn on the rock with blood, and in just a few hours, the blood had turned dark brown, and it looked strange and inexplicable,

Jonah held up his staff, a bird-like motif about to fly, a tattoo found by Jekon on the body of a junior officer, a line carved with a knife underneath the scribbled drawing, each of which went deep into the rock: This is the cause of the other, this life is the other of the other, this is the cause of the other,

The astrologer's apprentice looked up at Elliot in bewilderment, and the Rose Knight shook his head: "This should be the Buddha of the ancient southern country, talking about the 'cause and effect' of the Buddha country, and we can't interpret the specific meaning, Lord Jekong seems to want to tell us that he does not have to wait to find the karmic cause of this tattoo, if our karma is still entangled, at some time and place, we will see each other again." ”

"Is that so...... "Jonah muttered," "where he went...... Looking for him again, Eli. ”

"No, we'll go back to Cherry Ferry now. The Rose Knight looked west, "It's been a few hours since the battle took place, the corpse collection team of the Zavi Empire should be almost there, after completing the burial and overtaking of the victims of the first ambush of the Gwadar team, they will appear in the Miracle Grassland, we are basically ineffective now, facing a large number of gravediggers and chaplains, there is no chance of victory." ”

Ryuki patted Jonah's arm: "Don't worry, for Jekong, he will be stronger when he moves alone than when he is with us." ”

"Okay, then, let's go home. Jonah hesitated for a moment, and sighed deeply,

The return journey was a silent journey, the tired astrologer apprentice could no longer drive the illuminated star array, the staff became the crutch he relied on to support his weight, no one spoke, the footsteps rustled, there were endless rock walls ahead, there was a glimmer of starlight overhead, I wonder if Zavi's army had reached Cherry Crossing, from Shiva's tears to Cherry Crossing, it was a fast five-hour march, if the Spiritual Warlock Khasarchin delayed the pace of the First Central Army a little, then the enemy would probably not be able to reach the ferry before midnight, that is, the A51 Pitchfork mission, there is a high probability of success,

But what price did they pay, the elder of the chamber rested forever in the place where the wildflowers bloomed, the mercenary warrior Gwadar accompanied not far away, the Sigma Tree Serpent and the Omicron Cave Horse fell like meteors, and the fallen Darkfire Mage Jeff Tower, whose fate is unknown, Jonah was absent for many years,

Is it really worth it all,

"I'm sorry. Ryuji turned her head sideways and looked at him with soft eyes, "It's all because of me, if I don't have to get that ticket......"

"You say, did the roommate think of such an ending early on? Jonah suddenly asked, "I always feel that when I set off, he gave people a strange feeling." ”

"Perhaps. The Oriental woman lowered her head, and the silver bells in her hairline were blown by the night wind,

The group walked slowly in the deep canyon, and suddenly several corpses appeared on the side of the road, silver armor and blue robes, it was the infantry of the Blue Medal Regiment of the First Central Army, and the partners of the pitchfork glanced at each other, "It's Hasarchin." ”

There were many more corpses ahead, most of them had been crushed to death by falling rocks overhead, and at the bottom of the narrow valley, the Syromancer's control of the rock had become a terrible sniper weapon, and there was no sign of too fierce fighting, no corpses of officers appeared, and likewise, there were no remains of Khasarchin,

"After causing chaos on the enemy, he should have retreated, His Excellency Hasarchin is a true strongman. Elliott couldn't help but say,

After a brief meal of dry food on the way, the Pitchfork's companions continued their march towards the cherry ferry, which was almost half as slow as they had been due to the injuries of the unicorn and Jonah, and when they finally saw the exit in front of the canyon, it was already three hours after midnight, and the ferry had set sail on the morning of April 27,

The sound of the surging rushing water on the other side of the holy river reached the ear drums, and at the same time, there was a bright light in the sky, it was a flame, a fire was burning in the cherry crossing, whether it was the shack area of the powerless or the stone buildings in the town, all of them showed a scorched black outline in the flames, and the billowing smoke obscured the starry sky,

The flames illuminated the shocked faces of the pitchfork mates,

"On October 29, the flames fell and the river was polluted......"

Jonah's trembling hand pressed against his chest, and in his pocket, a few pages of scraps of paper were emitting a cold sneer,

The prophecy was fulfilled,