When Shantar spoke of his father's death, Esther was not surprised by such an outcome.

After all, Shantal's act of breaking into the room in the middle of the night didn't seem like something that a devout follower of the sun could do. If Shantal's father were still alive, Esther was sure that Shantal would follow his father now, and he would obey his father's wishes whether he wanted it or not.

She was silent, waiting for Shantal to put an end to the story.

The young man, whose body had been changed by a magical object, hung his head and hunched his back, like a branch bent by snow, and his voice was low and steady:

"I suspect he had a premonition of his own death, or was suspicious of someone, but he wanted to do it anyway, and he complained to me many times when he was drunk about the heresy of the Storm Church......

"When he went to Byam, I stayed at the fish factory in Nas, training in martial arts and practicing the occult language. My father told me that if he didn't come back one day, he would open the box under the bed and everything that was left for me would be inside.

"He didn't come back that time anyway.

"It was a week after I heard about his death, and I threw down the half-cut whale skin from my hand and ran home. I thought to myself, I could finally open that damn, mysterious broken box. ”

"We didn't have a good relationship at the time, and I wanted to be like him, and I wanted to go to sea and become a pirate. Of course he didn't agree, every time we talked about it, we would argue, more often than not, I was yelling at him, he wouldn't speak, just hugging the box in a daze. ”

Esther shifted her seat, holding the red cloak under her hand as she noticed that it was slowly extending in the direction of Shantal.

Shantal didn't notice this little gesture and continued:

"There are a few notebooks stuffed in the box, and the money he has saved over the years, and the funniest thing is that there is another box inside, but it is sealed and cannot be opened. I learned from his notes how to lay out the spiritual wall, and I used a sanctified dagger to unlock the seals on it.

"Inside, there are the rings, a few charms, and the recipes and potions materials needed to become extraordinary. He knew what I wanted to do, so he paved the way for me early, but never told me.

"He wrote in his notes that the extraordinary world is far from being as beautiful and great as I imagined, and the stories he told me were all embellished. When I was very young, he used to teach me to sing, but I was always not very serious, so he told me too......

"If I don't want to sing the praises of the sun as he did, then I should sing the praises of everything I want to sing.

"That's the recipe he left me, 'The Singer.'"

Esther looked at Shantar silently for a moment, and the two of them did not speak for a moment, and Shantal withdrew the "Sun" charm from her arms.

Esther's hand clenched the cloak: "Have you been an extraordinary for a long time?" ”

"It's only been a little over a year since my father left me potions recipes up to Sequence Seven, and I've taken over the network of contacts he knows, some of Byam's pirate contacts. I also went to the underground trading places, taking on trivial tasks while seeking materials for Sequence 8.

"My mother's ring is very useful, and thanks to it, I was able to hide my true identity and have a strong power of self-preservation. Only a few trusted acquaintances knew that my father, Peter, was the bartender at the Herring Tavern last night. ”

Esther smiled, "This may be your mother's protection of you, too. ”

Shantar glanced at her strangely, "I'm sorry, I don't believe that...... Although it sounds a little reasonable. ”

"You seem to think I'm the kind of cold-blooded and ruthless guy?" Esther saw the skepticism behind his words.

“……”

Esther shook her head and pointed to her weakly breathing body on the bed, "I don't need to spare his life. ”

"You give me the feeling that it is strange and dangerous." Shantal's gaze dodged slightly, "My mother's ring has the ability to enhance spiritual intuition, and it is very accurate. ”

Esther smiled slightly: "Including divination? ”

"Yes, it can control the frost to condense spears, and make things that come into contact burn with black flames."

"I'm guessing your name isn't 'Shantal' either."

The look on the young man's face was dark: "That's the name my parents wanted to give their daughter. 'Shantal' means 'singer', but my real name is Matteo. ”

"A divine gift?"

"You know......" During this conversation, the young man's eyes fell into a little moonlight for the first time, and the crimson stained the smile that crossed his eyes.

Esther looked at him helplessly, "Don't you realize that I've been talking to you in Intis since we entered the house?" I have a good teacher. ”

Shantal, or rather Matteo, tightened her grip on the ring around her neck and looked detached again: "So I'm done with my story, ma'am, it's your turn." ”

"There's not much to tell about my story...... But the change in your body is probably because of your mother's ring. Most magical items have a negative effect, and if you need it, I can help you suppress it. ”

Matteo looked at Esther nervously, "Is it really possible!?" ”

"Of course, it's not difficult for me, I'm not interested in snatching someone else's wedding ring." Noticing Matteo's eager and hesitant look, Esther added, "As you think, there is a price. ”

Perhaps after talking about the past, Matteo's attitude relaxed a lot after his fear of Esther faded: "So why are you telling me this? Is storytelling what I can pay? ”

Perhaps after talking about the past, Matteo's attitude relaxed a lot after his fear of Esther faded: "So why are you telling me this? Is storytelling what I can pay? ”

Esther narrowed her eyes slightly, and the smile in it made Mattio incomprehensible: "Three points, see if you are honest, have a preliminary understanding of your background, and decide whether to keep you as a person." ”

Matteo suddenly straightened his back: "You interfered with my consciousness? ”

"I'll steal a little bit of your self-control, and then induce your desire to talk, and it will go well."

Matteo's face gradually flushed as he recalled his previous fluctuating emotions: "But you have no malice, so your spiritual intuition doesn't give a reminder?" ”

Esther didn't answer the question, but stared at Matteo: "I can hear that you don't love the sun, and even have a resistance to the Church of the Eternal Sun. ”

"Hmmm......"

"You can't be a Storm Cult either, what about the Church of the God of War?"

Matteo shook his head alarmedly and said slowly, "I don't believe in any official gods, though my father he- I'm not. ”

He muttered in a whisper, "If the gods were really watching the world and the devout believers, they should not have allowed me to be born, and they should not have allowed my parents to meet." Then there will be no tragedy. ”

Esther laughed cheerfully: "Hah! And what does it matter? It is the prerogative of mortals to tarnish faith with love, and the gods will never understand it. ”

Matteo looked at Esther in disbelief, and he felt offended even if he was not religious.

Esther had to raise her hand and wipe the mocking smile on her face: "Since you don't believe in anyone, and you know the ancient Hermetian language, then I have a honorific name, can you help me read it?" ”

Matteo stared at Esther even more in shock, his mouth opening and closing like a fish exhaling in water, but he didn't utter a word for a while.

"You see, I can actually ignore you, directly control your body, and make you unable to refuse to recite it. I'm giving you a choice now because you can refuse outright, and I won't use it as a threat. Esther reached out and tapped Matteo twice on the shoulder as a reassuring gesture.

"But if I refuse......"

Esther's kind smile only stayed on the surface: "I will have something else to do with you, it may be more troublesome than this, it may be more dangerous than this." ”

Matteo spread out his palms, and the two rings nestled in his palms.

"You can think about it, tomorrow night, I mean tonight." Esther turned out the window and saw that it was already dawn, and Nath's morning had come sooner, "Let's meet at the Herring Tavern." ”

She tapped her forehead, and a few points of light floated up, and before Matteo could react, they flew down on the black ring and melted into it.

The little evil aura emanating from the ring gradually subsided and became even darker.

"It's a little bit of an advance benefit, and it's called an 'experience card' in my hometown."

Mattio looked at Esther blankly, his dark brown eyes revealing struggle, "Thank you, I...... I'll think about it. ”

"What I want you to shout is not some murderous crazy evil god, it's just that I have something that needs to be verified, and it won't work if I call it." Esther nodded her temples in annoyance, but Matteo didn't know what she was thinking.

Matteo tucked the ring back into his collar and got up to the floor.

Esther was still sitting on the table, with her chin propped up in one hand:

"By the way, I don't know how long it will take your body to recover, but it should take about the same time as you will change. The willingness of that magical object to harm others is very, very low, and in general, this physical change should be irreversible. ”

Before Matteo could put on his mask again, Esther caught a glimpse of a smile on his lips.

"I still don't know what to call you."

"Call me Valery for now, that's the name of the half-dead bald head." Esther tilted her head, "If you really help me pronounce that honorific name and help me practice some conjectures, maybe I can finally leave my real name to someone else." ”

"Doesn't that person next door know your real name either?"

Met the puzzled gaze under Matteo's hood, Esther bared her teeth at him:

"Because it's useless to tell you, you'll all forget about it sooner or later, it's better not to know."

At least then I can comfort myself that it was my own choice and that I didn't want to be known by them.

Because of certain things, I really wanted to write some stories about apostates and witches, and I thought it was very interesting.

Just write it, that's it...... (Eye Shift)

I should be responsible for the hydrology! (Frankly)