The air, starting to get dull.

Silence is like a cross-species contagion, and under the urging of the storm in late July, you can barely hear the chirping of cicadas and the amphibians that inhabit the water's edge.

The first to come was the wind created by the difference in high ground pressure, and the palm trees and the bamboos on the hillside to the flax and shrubs swayed wildly with its direction, and the light began to flicker and darken, and the light that poured in through the gaps in the thick gray clouds looked from afar as if the gods had rained down from heaven - the scenery was as beautiful as it was dangerous.

"Tick, tick. A few drops of rain fell and slapped down the teardrop-shaped leaves of the tropical plants, running down it, like the usual advance party of the Sivalier hoplites, and in a matter of seconds the furious main force attacked.

"Whoa!"

All the noise was muffled by the rain, and all the sounds of animals and plants were now reduced to the sound of the rain beating, and the dirt was first wet and small pits appeared, and the layers of them covered all traces before the rain.

For those fleeing for their lives, the pouring rain means hope for life.

Even the deep traces left by the horses running at full speed can still be easily erased by the rain, and with the strong wind and lightning, no one will risk their lives to track them in such weather. The sound of "clanging" echoed through the entrance to the cave, where curved cuirasses and helmets were placed to serve as makeshift water collection equipment. The firewood that had been lit on the dry ground inside had been left by the hunters who had camped here, and there was a wooden bed made of logs covered with animal skins, on which Amonica, who was still fainting, was lying.

The plate armor and cotton armor on her body had been removed with Mira's help, and the interior of the cave was still very hot and dry despite the rain, and the bare skin of Amonica, who had passed out, was oozing a lot of sweat, and the distressed Luoan girl held two dry palm leaves and kept fanning her to cool off.

The cave was in a dense forest east of Allan Poe, and when the rain fell, the group had no time to set up their tents, but fortunately it was high and deep enough to accommodate twice the number of people it is now, and even with four horses.

All of them had stripped off their previous armor and were wearing only light clothing, and although it provided excellent protection, a white Church armor was still too conspicuous in the Soladin region, and it would become a redundant burden when the rain stopped and began to flee. The same was true of the saddle, which boiled the rations it carried by the campfire, and Henry summed up the aftermath of his actions.

"No, if I go to the headquarters of the church...... Mikhail still doesn't seem to give up, he stubbornly still thinks about how to bypass the other party's possible tracking and go to the rear to reveal everything, but Henry just shook his head calmly and smiled faintly.

"Do you think that the bishop of the region is qualified to call a knight chief equal to him? The sage hit the nail on the head, and the young triage cathar looked at him dumbfounded.

"In this matter, we lost all the amount of intelligence, and the control of the overall situation was in the hands of the other side from the beginning. The bishop of the region who provoked everything naively thought that he would hide everything by suppressing the report of casualties three times and twice, and we were all caught in this labyrinth of thinking, and following his thoughts, we felt that the people above were still unaware. Henry took a piece of the dusty pile behind him and joined it in the fire, and several shady insects, disturbed by his movements, quickly climbed to the top of the cave wall.

"Actually, I should have guessed as early as when the opponent began to mobilize the local peasants to engage in a large-scale siege and interception, although the west coast was chaotic, and the skirmishes between the White Church and the steppe people in the Soladin region continued one after another, but the large-scale group war had disappeared a long, long time ago. He looked at Mikhail, the sage's expression flickered with the flickering of the firelight, and a flash of lightning flashed outside, and two seconds later a rumbling thunder rang out, and Henry continued: "You may be good at small fights and coordination, and you are very good at individual soldiers, but this kind of thing-"

He said: "This kind of thing, at the same time mobilizing a large number of peasants and cavalry to cooperate, and finding our destination to ambush there in advance, this kind of thing is a strategic level of strategy, and tactics are two concepts. The sage lowered his eyes and stared at the swaying bonfire: "Don't say it's the White Church, it's hard to find such a talent on the West Coast." ”

Mikhail followed his eyes to the bonfire, but he could see nothing but a harsh orange color.

"Recently, there has been a change of power within the church. "Uh-" The young man looked up at the sage with a look of surprise on his face.

"I guessed it...... The bishop standing in the back was trying to cover the lid too resolutely, and it was not a big deal if he was just trying to think about his own future. But the reason why he is so desperate and desperate to cover this lid, and acts stupidly, is probably because this matter is too important to him. ”

"What could be more important to the members of the higher echelons of the White Church from Lamani than to return to their homeland? Henry looked at Mikhail again: "Let me guess, the leader of the guy who has appeared out of nowhere lately, not to mention his age, black hair and blue eyes, looks like me?" he asked, the amount of information in his words was too large The young cathar knight had not yet been able to fully organize it, he was half a beat slow to answer, and stammered a little: "I, uh, I don't know...... In fact, I haven't met the ......."

The young man's tone was a little low, and Henry could tell from his diction that there was such a figure—he sighed, and the weight of it even turned his head towards Joshua and Mira, who were helping to take care of Amonica.

"He's hiding it too well. The sage said: "The intention of the action is completely according to the stupid bishop's idea, whether it is the siege and interception or the subsequent blockade, it seems that it is completely to achieve the stupid bishop's stupid purpose, and the fake show has really done it to this extent, and there is no way to judge the reason for the other party, and I have not until I see the knight chief to understand the true meaning of the other party's series of actions." ”

"Meaning...... But ......" Mikhail's mind couldn't turn, and all this analysis was still a little too advanced for him: "But, if it is the one, he has already learned all this, why do he have to follow the bishop's idea, and also help to direct the situation? Isn't this like helping others to deceive themselves, this, this is too ......" "Ahhhhh Mikhail covered his head and yelled in annoyance because of this series of events, and soon after the sound came out of the cave, it was muffled by a torrential downpour, and no one could hear it except a few people inside.

"......" the sage added firewood to the bonfire, and he seemed rather calm, but then spoke in a light tone, "Sometimes action is not to achieve a certain end in the end, but the action itself is the end. ”

He said this, and then seeing Mikhail's confused face, Henry shrugged his shoulders: "If you want to know whether a sword is sharp or not, what is the most effective way?"

"Uh......" Mikhail's eyes widened, and then slowly lowered his eyes again. He sighed, and then said slowly with a melancholy tone, "Is that so......

"Just to see if the army here can be mobilized...... "Partially, yes." The sage picked up the sentence in a low voice, and then turned his head to look at Kramer who was placed on the side, his expression thoughtful.

"We'd better all get out of this place, it's not friendly to all of us for a while. He summed it up, and Mikhail nodded, but he still had some doubts: "But ...... Even so, I'm ...... I mean, I'm also a member of the church...... Why are they—" he said, and Henry pointed to the wall against which Mikhail was leaning, "There's a bug there." The sage said, and Mikhail turned around, picked up the wood with the flames, and smashed it directly.

"Pop-" The yellow-green bodily fluids shattered, and the dead beetle stuck to the wall.

"It's actually non-poisonous, but why would you kill it?" the young man asked, and Henry asked, he froze in place, unable to answer anything, before he lowered his head and smiled self-deprecatingly, "That's so...... In those people's eyes, I'm actually like a worm......"

"So it's all meaningless, to die meaninglessly for meaningless, meaningless things...... I'm good, I'm nostalgic for the old team...... Even though I was just a rookie there and not some kind of captain. But...... Why all this...... I thought it was a great start...... Why, inexplicably, all this ......" Mikhail clenched his fists and hung his head, he trembled with excitement, his face was so red that he could not even say a word.

"Meaning is given by oneself, not by others, even for more correct reasons, the so-called justice and faith are actually just self-hypnosis, and the real meaning still does not exist......" "Bang!" Henry dropped another piece of firewood, and the sparks flew everywhere, and the words he said were like a boulder thrown into the sea of young people's hearts.

"Live, live, go further afield, find the meaning of your life. ”

"You are still young, as long as you are alive, no matter how much pain you have experienced, it will pass. He didn't look at Mikhail, his gray-blue eyes reflected only the orange-red fire. "What the hell ......are you?" The young man used an honorific title, which was different from the titles that were strictly prescribed in the church because of the relationship between superiors and subordinates, and he felt that he had been baptized in some way, and some clear and dark feelings began to come to the fore.

"The noodle soup is almost cooked—" "Teacher, Amonica is a little strange!" Henry's words were interrupted by Mira's nervous words, his eyebrows furrowed together, and he got up in an instant and walked to the edge of the simple little bed—the blonde girl still had her eyes closed, but her painful expression was palpable, and Amonica flipped her body from side to side, her hands clawed at the position of her chest, and her whole face showed a flush of red color.

"Something is very wrong!" said Mira, and Joshua next to her looked at Henry nervously, "What's going on!" The red-haired swordsman is just like the sage who doesn't often show his emotions, and his anxious appearance at this moment just proves the torment in his heart. Henry turned his head and glanced at him, in fact, he was aware of the entanglement in Amonica's heart and the awkward atmosphere within the team for the past few days, but more than all this, the sage knew better than the two parties how much they cared about each other.

When the intention exists, all problems are not a problem - which is why he did not mediate or something, but now it seems that all this is going to become a little less possible.

Amonica's symptomsHenry judged at a glance what the situation was: "Go and put up the waterproof at the door to block out the sun-" He said this, Mira immediately turned her head to look at him in surprise, the only emotion on Henry's face was seriousness, the girl Loan realized the urgency of the situation, she grabbed the tarp bag and ran towards the hole, Joshua anxiously turned his head to look at the sage, and Henry lifted the quilt covering Amonica and began to check her whole body up and down.

“...... It was put on the table. Something that had penetrated the cotton armor and left dark marks on the thighs of the loose linen trousers caught his attention, the faint smell of potion with a slight smell of blood that could only be detected at close range, and it was no wonder that the fatigue and the dimness of the rainy environment did not notice.

"What is it—" Joshua asked anxiously, and Henry let out a long sigh.

"The vampire spirit blood with the magic catalyst added to it, probably prepared earlier......" "Smack-" The sage held his forehead with his hand, although the meeting was still short, but it was the first time Joshua had seen him clearly express his powerlessness in such a way - the red-haired swordsman realized something, he lost his composure and composure, and directly pounced on him and grabbed the sage by the collar.

"Tell me what's going on, what's going on with her!' what's that thing!" the hysterical roar stunned Mikhail and Mira, who had just gone out in the rain to spread the tarp outside. Henry did not resist Joshua's actions, he just continued in a tone that was neither high nor low: "Catalyst...... The essence blood of a vampire is a high-intensity hormone for an existence like her, and those people can't come clearly, so they play with the yin ......"

"They're going to change her from a half-vampire to a real vampire. ”

"Now the magic circuit in her body is changing drastically, and when this is all over, Amonica will wake up, but at that time, she will no longer be the kind girl you know......"

From then on, she could only live in darkness. ”

"Click...... The pole used to hold the tarp in Mira's hand fell to the ground: "Liar......" She froze in place.

"......" Joshua let go of Henry's collar, and although he was blind, he could accurately judge the terrain in a high-speed battle, and stumbled to the edge of the bed and almost fell to the ground.

"No, is there no way to get it back......" he muttered as if he had lost his soul.

Henry shook his head, even though he knew that Joshua had no way of seeing. He clenched his hand, but let go of it.

The flush on Amonica's face began to recede, and the rhythm of the heaving of her chest gradually began to slow down, and finally, with the last undulation, the healthy blood on her face was replaced by a pale-

The girl died.

And then he came back to life again.

"Squeak—" She leaned over the edge of the wooden bed, straightened up, and slowly opened her eyes.

There was nothing to explain and explain, and the moment she regained consciousness, Amonica knew what was going on in her.

A distressing smile appeared on her pale face—and then, in the next moment, she suddenly got up and threw herself forward.

"Ahh "Whoa!" the rainstorm poured tarp from the emonica, and after the complete transformation, she rushed straight out at an alarming speed.

"Catch up!" Henry grabbed the dejected Joshua by the collar and lifted him up with one hand, Mikhail, who had not yet reacted, froze in place, while the white-haired Luoan girl stubbornly pursed her lips and climbed up on the ground.

"There's no time to lead the horse, catch up!"

......

Torrential rain poured, lightning and thunder roared.

A barefoot blonde girl running all the way at an astonishing speed.

There was a slight smile on her lips, but it was bitter, and tears were streaming from the corners of her eyes, the only flowing gland she had left, except that it was mixed with the rain and could not tell each other apart.

This kind of ending may be the best. I've been scared for a long time, but now it's a real liberation.

She laughed and cried.

The opportunity to stand by that person's side has probably been gone since he was rescued.

But I really like him......

Who will be his wife, give birth to and raise a child for him? I have never had such an opportunity, although the body is still growing, but the essence of being a human being has been lost, and even the flow of blood has become so sluggish, how can this body raise a new life.

The decaying body, struggling, hiding its secrets in fear, maybe it would have ended better like this.

She didn't hate the people who had inflicted such fate on her, neither the man who had made her inhuman in the first place, nor the person she had never met to do it to herself today.

She didn't even complain about the fate itself.

It is always said that only those who have suffered truly understand the preciousness of life and life, and this girl does just that, she cherishes all the beauty and grasps every moment to bring full sunshine to the people around her with a smile.

Although the pain and suffering were many things that accompanied him for a lifetime and that other girls took for granted, she would never be able to achieve it, but as long as she was by his side, as long as she could continue to travel like this, even if nothing happened, even if he would like other girls in the future, as long as she could accompany him through this journey, everything was enough......

Yes, Amonica, the opportunity to stand by that person's side, you don't have it for a long time, so this kind of change, such a change that tears through this layer of calm and reveals everything to the surface of no longer needs to be covered up, everything is exposed, and everything is over, isn't it a great choice, isn't it-

So what's going on here.

What about the pain that almost tore through the whole body from the heart that had stopped beating an hour ago!

No, no, I don't want to leave him, I don't want to leave these precious companions, I don't want to leave my beloved, I want to have more adventures with them, I want to laugh and look at the sea together, I want to marry him and have children, I want to spend my old age together in my hometown's house, and tell the stories of the adventures and the best friends I have ever met to my children and grandchildren.

Why is it just me...... It's going to happen.

She slowed down gradually, and the raindrops began to get smaller.

They probably didn't chase after them.

After all, this is the case, and no matter how tolerant a person is, it is impossible to worry about a monster that will hurt him.

I understand, I understand the moment I wake up, this feeling of hunger and thirst that fills my body, when she looks at her partner, she sees not friends but beating veins, and that unbearable hunger will swallow her humanity and do irreparable things at some point.

"That's fine. Amonica looked up at the sky, the last of her tear ducts had been drained, and from that moment on she was truly the opposite of humans, a pale dead who could not breathe or have a beating heart.

Her rain-soaked clothes clinged to her body, and she stood barefoot at the highest point of the hill, running at a high speed for more than an hour, and Amonica didn't know where she had come.

The heart-rending pain is still present in the left chest.

It was as if the dead heart was still beating, and again, and again, the pain spread throughout her body.

"I'm sorry, Mira...... I'm sorry, Joshua......"

"I'm real—" "Amonica!"

A familiar voice came.

She turned her head in surprise, the red-haired swordsman panting, and the sage carrying the white-haired girl appeared.

The rain stopped.

There was a panicked look on Mira's face—but it wasn't from fear, it was a real worry.

This girl is even better than herself, and the life she lives will be more colorful in the future. It's nice to meet someone who has the same state of mind as you and who understands you.

It would be nice to be able to watch her continue to grow. A smile tugged at the corner of Amonica's mouth, and the feeling of heartache disappeared for some reason with the appearance of these three people, and only a piece of peace remained in her heart.

The clouds began to dissipate gradually, and the burning sensation echoed through her skin, but she didn't dodge.

"From that side, come down!" the Roan girl screamed, almost bursting her throat, echoing through the glade, and Joshua rushed towards him despite the mud all over his body.

"Hold on to that one!" said Henry, letting down the runaway Mira and handing Joshua the corner of his cloak, and the two opened it and ran towards it.

Amonica looked at him, the sage's face with the usual calmness.

Her relationship with him has always been a little delicate, Amonica always felt that this man was a little scary, his knowledge and always hid his inner appearance made the girl feel that her secret had already been known to the other party, and the original cause of this series of things was him, although it is true that his current fate is not unrelated to him, but if it weren't for the existence of this person, I'm afraid there would be no way to get through those difficulties again and again.

A reliable person, a trustworthy leader, and with a mentor like him, Mira's future is worth looking forward to.

"Come here!"

The water on the ground was splashed everywhere by the heavy falling steps, and Joshua shouted at Amonica in a heart-rending voice, he was not a good person to express his emotions, but the meaning of this series of actions was enough to convey that heart to the blonde girl.

The pain in the chest quickly turned into full happiness under the actions of the other party, just as Henry had thought before, two people who cared so much about each other, they didn't need other people to mediate, they didn't need any long talk, just a look and a gesture - all the misunderstanding and pain dissipated.

Amonica seemed to cry, but she couldn't shed tears, the expression on her face changed rapidly in an instant, and the interweaving of emotions such as emotion and regret became complicated - the girl finally closed her eyes and her face returned to calm.

"I'm sorry, Joshua—"

The clouds began to disperse in large areas, and even Henry's normally calm face showed a look of panic, and Joshua felt the brightening light, while Ammonica tilted her head and smiled slightly.

"I don't think we're a good fit, so I'm going to break up with you. ”

"What about you—" Ammonica said faintly, the distance closing rapidly, and Henry and Joshua sped up together.

"You're going to meet better girls. ”

"At that time, I hope you can get rid of this problem of not liking to talk, and tell the other party your mind well. ”

"Goodbye then. The dark clouds cleared and the sun shone down, her figure could not be seen because of the backlight, only the smile on the corner of her mouth was clear, and in the distance Mira stood up, Henry and Joshua were only a few steps away from her—the girl spoke faintly, and the happiness in her last words was almost overflowing.

"I love you—"

"Boom--" "No-ah-" The cloak was spread out, covering the white ash of the ground.

"Plop-" Mira, with tears on her face, knelt in a pool of water.

Joshua threw himself on the ground, curled up in pain.

"Ahh

There was blood in the tears that flowed from his closed eyes, and the sound from his mouth was not like the usual gentle swordsman but like the roar of some kind of beast.

The meaning of the shattering of the center made the animals in the nearby forest turn their heads to look at this side.

"Ahh

The voice echoed for a long time, until the throat was hoarse.

As the pioneer of the second round of storms, the brief rainstorm quickly dissipated, the sun shone again, the sound of birds and flowers obscured by the sound of rain sounded again, the world was bright and colorful, and the sky washed by the heavy rain was full of life.

It's as if no one has ever died.

......

"When did you start to realize the changes that were going on in her? ”

“...... Seven years ago. ”

"Because of body temperature?"

“...... Well, that idiot thought he could hide this secret, but as soon as I held hands, I knew that this temperature was not normal human at all. ”

“...... She's always like this, reckless, but she still thinks she's seamless. ”

“......”

“...... Now, aren't you a sage, then let me ask you, do you think her life is meaningful? ”

“...... Obviously I have experienced so many things, but I always force my face to laugh, I really have this qualification and this identity to hate and blame others, but I still decide to forgive everything, this kind of lifestyle, like a life for others, just once and without thinking about myself, is this kind of life meaningful......

"I don't think so. ”

“...... yes, that's the case......"

"No, I mean, I don't think she's forcing a smile. ”

"As for people, they will choose to end their lives, not some coercion or anything like that, there are usually two kinds of people who end their lives, the first is that they really feel that there is no hope of living, and they have tasted so much despair that they have lost the ability to believe that everything will be better - and the second is even better. ”

"Because I pray that everything will be better, because I sincerely feel that if I am gone, my loved ones will be able to have a better life, so I choose to end. ”

"It wasn't out of despair, but out of love that I made this choice. ”

"The ineffable, the ambiguous, the human emotion. ”

"Love itself is a complex and wonderful thing......

“......”

“...... Well, because I feel like I'm gone, I'll have a better future...... ? ”

“...... But what can I expect from the future of your absence? ”

"A long time ago. ”“...... Huh?"

"I was told a long time ago. ”

"If you have some meaning to somebody, if you help somebody or love somebody, if it's just one person, remember that you exist. Well, you may never really die. ”

“......”

"We remember her, Joshua, we all remember her. ”

"She's alive here, she's always been here. ”

“......”

“...... Thank you. ”

“......”

"What are you going to do next, although they have achieved their goal, this place is no longer suitable for us to stay. ”

“...... She said she wanted to see the sea. ”

"Yes. (laughs)

“...... What are you laughing at, I was asked to break up by her. (laughs)

"Then leave it at that, my friend. ”

“...... Well. ”

“...... I'll write down the whole story, as if it was my selfishness, but I want more people to remember her. ”

"Yes, I don't know enough about her, and when the time comes, I'll want to read it. ”

“...... See you soon, my friend. ”

“...... You're going to keep going south, right? ”

"Well, the storm is coming. ”

"It doesn't matter if it's the weather or the country. ”

...... (To be continued.) )