The return of Shuge was warmly welcomed by all the children.

When he saw those dirty and immature faces, the heavy burden on Xiuge's heart seemed to become a little lighter.

Hug sorted through the piles of things he had brought back, and the weapons and loot seized from the Tricolor Brotherhood were piled up on a table, leaving Felix dumbfounded, and he was a little envious of a spellcaster's ability to survive in such a terrible environment.

In the room, Hug sorted the bullets that were suitable for the different crystalline guns, and then he shoved two of the guns in front of Felix along with the bullets.

"I'll keep one of these things is enough, and you can arrange the rest, and you can consider giving one to Marlena...... When they go out, they also need to find ways to protect themselves."

After getting to know each other before, Felix has now let down his guard against Xiuge.

Even if it is true that there are many complicated mysteries in the former Ernst old house writer, but his own and Marlena's lives were saved by Xiuge, and he has no reason and no need to continue to be wary of Xiuge.

What's more, he doesn't have the ability to watch out for a mage.

"Hey...... Put the dagger down and cut yourself carefully!"

Seeing that a child picked up the silver dagger and fiddled with it, Felix hurriedly spoke to stop it.

Felix's eyes were already on the table with all kinds of weapons and equipment, and the large bag of food, medicine, and other supplies that Xiuge had collected in the middle of hunting the Descendants of the Abyss was a priceless treasure in the city of Salem today, and there were even a few canned cured meat, which Malena solemnly placed at the top of the room - along with the canned fruits, in case any glutton could not help but steal them.

Felix couldn't help but sigh, "If only I could do magic too."

"Where are so many ifs?"

Xiuge shook his head and smiled, "If you have that time to sigh, it's better to think about what will happen next, let alone ...... Felix, you've done well enough before."

Félix's compliment made Felix a little helpless, and he nodded, then sat down at the table and began to clean up the dangerous alchemy bombs.

He casually asked, "I used to hear magic explosions all the time, are you casting spells?"

"Well, I met some people from the Tricolor Brotherhood, and they were very welcoming, and not only told me some more important things, but also gave us these weapons, isn't it?"

「……」

Felix was an honest man, and he didn't quite understand Shug's weird humor, so he grinned dryly twice and asked, "So, you had a conflict with them?"

"Yes, those guys are not simple, they are trying to hunt the mage, and they end up running into me."

In the admiring gaze of the children, Xiuge inspected the wheel crystallization and said lightly, "Unfortunately, most of their weapons are defective products from Iris Street, and these are the ones that can really be used in them."

At this point, Shug asked, "By the way, Felix, those people from the Tricolor Brotherhood mentioned that General Boots of Iris Street was trying to recruit survivors from the city, did you know about this before?"

"Of course I do."

"You're not interested? I don't think the people of Iris Street will refuse to join someone like you."

Hearing this, Felix smiled bitterly: "I have already understood before, joining Iris Street means that I have to live in Iris Street like those soldiers, of course it will be safe, but ...... General Butz is not kind to children, and he believes that in these special times, it is necessary to keep as few people and materials as possible."

At this point, he lowered his voice: "General Butz thinks that the children who can't do the work and have to take up food can only be a burden to him......

"But there are still some other children left in the city, how does he deal with it?"

"The slightly larger ones can at least help

Busy with work, carrying supplies, repairing walls and houses, erecting fortifications, etc...... There's always something that can be done."

Felix whispered, "But if it's smaller...... It's not good."

"Tell me straight."

"The number of mages in Iris Street is limited, and they are still trying to expand their sphere of influence, so there is a lot of pressure on General Boots to clean up those monsters, and in order to be more efficient, they will force young children to take to the streets at night in order to lure out the monsters in the neighborhood to kill them, or lure them to other places."

To Sugg's surprise, Felix was very stable in his mood and tone when he said these things, and as a person who insisted on helping other vulnerable people in such extreme circumstances, he did not seem to have any anger towards General Boots and Iris Street.

Felix felt Xiuge's puzzled gaze, so he smiled a little hard, "If General Butz really wants to create a relatively safe area on Iris Street and around there, then he must find a way to clear all the hidden dangers...... For them, this approach is indeed feasible, and the establishment of order in Iris Street also proves that their decisions have some merit."

Felix carefully placed the alchemy bombs on the table, which had been sorted and packed, "I don't agree with what they do, and I will pity the old people and children, but I can't do more, and I don't have the ability and time to blame them, instead of being angry in these aspects, I should think about where I can look for useful things next."

"That's right."

Xiuge nodded in agreement, he also realized that his thoughts and thinking had just fallen into a misunderstanding, in this extreme and harsh environment, no matter how kind a person is, he must make himself rational, and only in this way can Felix ensure the survival of these children under his care and protection.

The sky outside the window had gradually darkened, and a strange sound could be heard from every corner of the city of Seren.

"Tuk tuk, tuk tuk......"

It was the sound of people closing and reinforcing doors and windows.

Marlena and the other two older children also got busy, and they took very thick planks wrapped in thick sheets, and began to fasten them to the windows, each window that Marlena had to do a careful inspection to make sure that the planks actually sealed the window, and that the gap between it and the window frame could be filled by the thick sheets.

Soon, the entire room was enveloped in deep darkness.

The crystallized lamp came on, but the light was a little dim, and it was an important source of light in the darkness, and Felix used the shabby clothes to block the gap in the door, after which the children were quiet, and even the youngest was just cowering in Malena's arms, biting his fingers and not talking.

Dry food and canned food for dinner were distributed to everyone, including Shuge.

What Xiuge got was a canned fruit, which contained the "crown apple", a specialty of the royal capital of Deresan, which was quite popular with the noble ladies on the plateau, and Xiuge had eaten it twice, and liked the magic contained in this apple very much.

Dinner ended imperceptibly with the slight sound of chewing and swallowing.

Then, at Felix's behest, Marlena led the other children into the bedroom, which also had a huge mattress that lay on the floor and barely enough for everyone to sleep.

Marlena was very clever, and she could see that Felix had something to talk about with the "Alfred" mage, so she obediently closed the bedroom door and stopped bothering the two of them.

"Mr. Hugg......

At this moment, Felix couldn't help but use honorifics on Xiuge, and by the light of the magic streetscape lamp, he looked at Xiuge, and then asked, "Have you really been in the city of Seren all this time?"

"I'm not in Salem, where else can I be?"

Shug smiled, "And why are you asking?"

"Ugh...... No, well, just a gut feeling."

Felix smiled sheepishly, "You know, I used to be the head of the Mutual Aid Society, and I know a lot about Salem City and the people in the city, so I can always see or judge something, just like the things about the Tricolor Brotherhood and the Peace Newspaper at that time......

He licked his somewhat dry lips and said, "This feeling is a bit like fishing, after a long time, more times, whether the fishing rod is shaking normally, whether the fish is really biting, I can tell, I say this, can you understand?"

"Absolutely."

Before nightfall, the swarm of magical rats had already dispersed, and he was sure that there was no notable threat around, so he relaxed and talked to Felix: "What you want to convey is that you are very aware of the 'normal situation', so that if you show signs of abnormality, you can be aware of them immediately?"

"Yes, that's it!"

Felix nodded vigorously, "It's really worthy of a writer, I thought I had to explain for a long time."

Shuge smiled and leaned back in his chair, "So you think there's something wrong with me?"

Seeing that Xiuge was not taboo on this topic, Felix also relaxed, and he said, "You...... Unlike a man who lives in the city of Salem, at least not like a man who has been trapped here, sir, you are so calm, and in your eyes, whether it is a monster or a thug, it seems that you can be easily dealt with."

Shog didn't refute Felix's point of view, but calmly replied, "Is it possible that my performance is due to my magic?"

"Perhaps?"

Felix said in a tone of uncertainty that "But I've seen some mages who are also trapped in the city of Salem, and they also control magic, but ...... After going through so much, they've become just like everyone else, and that feeling is completely different from you."

"Anything else?"

"Also, Mr. Shug, you know very well about the causes of the disaster in Salem City and the monsters, and you seem to be really thinking about how to solve the problems in Salem City...... I'm sorry, but this is actually my gut judgment, and I can't come up with more "evidence."

After listening to Felix's statement, Xiug nodded: "Although I think it is too far-fetched to attribute all this to intuition, I have to say that your judgment is still very accurate."

He met Felix's gaze and said calmly, "As you might guess, I'm from outside the city, and I do want to solve the dilemma here."

Despite his mental preparations, Felix couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

Countless thoughts rushed through his mind, and he tried to stop them, but they never worked.

It took a long time for Felix to finally come to his senses, and he asked in a somewhat trembling voice, "So...... Mr. Schugg, I want to know, the people outside, the world outside...... What do they think of Salem? Are you an emissary from the Dharma, or from the Great Kingdom?"

"They've forgotten about the city of Seren."

Shuge whispered this extremely cruel answer: "There may be a few people who remember, but those who remember the city of Salem can't change anything."

"How is that possible! Here's ...... A whole city! There are so many people in the city!"

At this moment, the leader of the Mutual Aid Society, who had been struggling to hold out in the city of Seren, finally began to crumble.

He could accept the temporary shelving of Salem City due to the war, the magical blockade that the Judicial Council had put to keep out that terrible monster, and even the cruel measures that Iris Street had used to consolidate order.

But Felix couldn't accept this calm and indifferent forgetfulness.

He didn't understand, and he couldn't figure out why the city of Salem and all the people in it, as the fuse and starting point of a terrible war, should be treated like this?

His expression kept changing on Felix's scarred, thin face, as if he wanted to cry,

It was as if he wanted to denounce something, but in the end it was all silent.

Shug saw that Felix's sunken eyes seemed to glow, as if they were on fire.

"So, Mr. Schugg, you're here to ......

Felix's voice became a little hoarse because of his mood swings, and those words were squeezed out of his throat, and it seemed to carry Felix's last trace of luck and hope.

"I must admit that I returned to Salem City because of an accident."

Xiuge and Felix looked at each other, and in the fluctuating gaze of the other party, Xiuge replied honestly, "But since the accident has happened, then I naturally have to find a way to deal with it and solve it...... Since neither the Legislature nor the nations are willing to take care of the affairs of the city of Selen, then we will have to rely on ourselves."

He raised his hand and patted Felix on the shoulder: "Keep fighting spirit and confidence, I said before, if you want to solve the dilemma, I can't do it alone, Mr. Felix, you have to be a good guide and introduction for me."