"Let's go for a walk."

Rhodes extended an invitation to take a walk with Valolet, who greeted him.

"My subordinates didn't know you were coming."

The two strolled through the empty square, and Valolet wanted to say something, but was always afraid that something would be out of place, so she finally decided to remain silent.

"It's okay, Valolet, you don't have to be so reserved."

Rod gave him a faint look, "At the training camp, I was your combat mentor; After joining the Demon Hunting Squad, you are my brother and comrade-in-arms. Now that there are no orders, the line between superiors and subordinates can be blurred, so there is no need to worry about saying something wrong. ”

It's always like this, Valolet sighed, this man can always see through others at a glance. Having said that, isn't it already clear that Wren can be valued by such a person?

Suddenly, cold sweat covered Valolet's back.

"I'm sorry, sir."

He apologized softly, and Rod didn't ask why, just stopped and stared deeply at Vaolet.

"You didn't feel sorry for me, and I don't need your apology. Of course, at this point, I'm not going to ask you to apologize to Wren - it's not a bad thing to be wronged and treated differently when you're younger, it's better to be frustrated when you're old. ”

Although this was the first time Rhodes had come to the underground training camp in a long time, he was clearly aware of what was going on here, "I heard, you have doubts about Wren's true identity?" Because he's terrifyingly strong? ”

"It was like that before."

Vaolet didn't ask the stupid question of 'who listened', he just nodded.

"And now?"

"I still hold on to my partial judgment that he is not normal."

"On what basis?"

"I firmly believe that power does not appear in a vacuum, that there is a price to acquire it, and that it takes a vehicle to use it."

This was said to Polly not long ago, "I have tested Wren's spirit, soul, and body by various means, and they are all ordinary and ordinary, so they are very abnormal. Perhaps most people think it's a gift, but their subordinates don't agree. ”

"If I agree with you, Vaolet, how do you judge whether the origin of this power is good or evil, if, as you say, Wren's power is created by some special cause?"

"This ...... I can't judge. ”

"What about those who possess this power?"

Rod smiled and asked, "Maybe it's easier to judge him?" ”

"Most of the time, Wren didn't give me much trouble. Except for this competition, he did not trouble his colleagues. ”

Valolet said reluctantly.

"I'll take your words as 'this guy is not bad.' Since we can't determine the goodness or evil of the power itself, let's look at the master of the power. ”

"Like the long knife on your waist, it can be used to defend justice or to kill people, but the key is the will of the user, and we need to focus more on this," said Rod mildly. ”

"Yes, my subordinates know their mistakes."

"Your intentions are good, after all, we have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders."

Rod sighed softly, "I just didn't expect that you would see Wren as a contender. ”

Valolet was stunned, his face began to burn, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

"Of course, I can pretend not to know about it, but since it has caused you trouble, I think it is necessary to explain my original intention."

Rod continued to walk forward, not looking at Valolet's slightly red face, "I do value him, I can't hide that. Of course, there are no mediocre people who can enter this training camp, just other young people...... Well, it's too much like a standard witcher. ”

Valolet didn't understand the meaning of the words.

"Anyway, I do have the intention of training that young man as the leader of the demon hunting team, but in any case, we all end up wanting the same, aren't we? We all want to strengthen the power of justice. However, Wren is so young, and his out-of-control behavior this time is even more proof of that, and I won't pretend not to see it. ”

Rod glanced at Valolet, "Yes, I will consider him his successor, but he doesn't have to necessarily take over this burden from me, Vaolet - he can also take it from you." ”

"I'm sorry, my lord, I'm sorry ......"

As if the sun was shining into his heart, Valolet's face, which was much younger than Rhodes', but also full of determination, was now filled with tears, "Oh, I don't know what to say, now that I think about it, my actions are really worthy of your trust, you let me run this training camp, but I always have selfish thoughts......"

"It's nothing, demon hunters are also human, I'm afraid only my lord can really be free of distractions."

Rod shook his head, "Institutionally, there is nothing wrong with your behavior. forbid him to use real arrows, of course, who made it impossible for him to use arrows of light; He was not allowed to participate in the training, no problem, he was not a Holy Powered after all, although the Holy See had never explicitly stipulated that he must have strong Holy Powers to become a Demon Hunter......"

"Genus, subordinates are ashamed."

Valolet said ashamedly.

"No, it doesn't have to be that way, your snubbing and suppression of him is all the power given to you by the system and common sense, Vaolet. I sometimes wonder when I should follow the system and when should I follow my heart. Or how do you find a balance between the two? ”

Rod whispered, as if remembering something, and he showed a look of loneliness.

"I don't understand what you mean, sir."

Confused, but he still plucked up the courage to speak out, "It seems to me that institutions produce order, and order breeds stability, and stability gives birth to peace. ”

"You're right, let's not dwell on that."

Rod smiled, "What about Wren?" ”

"He's in the confinement cell, does he need to end his confinement?"

"No, you're going to lock him up for a few days?"

"Well, I was going to lock him up for another week."

"A week, that's enough."

Rod said lightly: "Please call him, I will send him back before the end of the confinement." ”

"You...... Where are you going to take him? ”

Vaolet asked, surprised.

"I want to take him out for a walk, to have a heart-to-heart talk, and maybe to give him some extra education along the way, and now there's an opportunity...... Anyway, it's also a trouble that I brought back, and there's no reason to keep bothering you about it. ”

Hearing Rod say this, Vaolet didn't ask anything more, his long career had made him accustomed to obedience, so five minutes later, he took Wren to Rhodes.

"Hello, my lord, it's been a long time since I've seen you, and it's great to see you as healthy as ever."

Seeing this man who threw himself into the training camp, Wren didn't have much expression on his face, and even the greeting was obviously perfunctory.

"Hello, Wren."

Rod obviously didn't care about his attitude, "Time is pressing, let's go." ”

“……”

Wren didn't move, and said after a moment of silence: "I am mentally prepared to be removed from the training camp, but I need to emphasize that this is not the result of my deliberate actions...... As I said before, you've lost your eyes, Lord Rhodes, and I'm not as good as you think. ”

"What? No, how can you have that thought? ”

Rod was a little surprised, "Every young man who becomes a reserve is a valuable talent, and we don't want to drive him away because he accidentally injured his opponent in a competition." ”

Wren glanced at Valolet, who said coldly, "I just said that you were leaving, but I didn't say that you won't come back." Lord Rhodes is going to take you to a private tutoring, and although I don't know the contents, this kind of opportunity is not easy to come by, and you better brace yourself and learn. ”

His voice was cold, but Wren's mood suddenly improved.

It turned out that he was going to open a small stove for me, he thought, this is very good, Rod is much stronger than Valolet, and being personally guided by him is a dream opportunity for many people.

Afterwards, Rhodes whispered something to Valolet, handing him a package as he left. The thing was wrapped in a black cloth, and Wren couldn't tell what it was, but it should have been quite heavy, as he saw that Valolet's hands had visibly sunk after taking it.

After this, Rhodes took Wren to the bootcamp's teleportation room, from where they returned to the temple and then teleported a second time there.

"If there's a third time, allow me to find a place to vomit for a while."

Wren's face turned pale, and he forced himself to endure the dizziness caused by crossing the space twice in a row, "It feels like getting drunk while getting seasick, oh, I really don't like this way of traveling." ”

"It's good to get used to it, and there's no third time, this is our destination."

With that, the two walked out of the teleportation room. Outside, Wren found himself in a church that was as large as St. York's Cathedral in his hometown of Shade City.

"Our current location is St. Paul's Cathedral, in Red Sand, the main city of the western city-state."

Before Wren could ask, Rhodes gave an explanation, and at this moment, a little old man wearing a gold-rimmed robe on a white background ran over.

"Which adult is here late at night?"

The little old man asked cautiously. The Holy See's teleportation array is not connected to the outside world, and only the clergy can use it, so whoever comes must be a high-ranking person.

"It's me, Bishop Browning, I'm sorry to disturb your rest."

Rhodes greeted him and shook his hand.

"No, no, no, in fact, I'm reading a book in my room, and that's how it is when I'm old, sometimes I can't sleep enough, and sometimes I can't sleep......"

Browning narrowed his eyes, then startled, "Lord Rod! How did you end up here? ”

Rod smiled, "It's just a private matter, I need to borrow this place for a transfer, don't worry, I'm not here to deal with any unexpected situations that you don't know about." ”

Thank God!

Browning sighed, as the head of the entire Western Diocese, he knew all too well who Rod Palmer was, and he was really worried about some dark incident under his jurisdiction that had alarmed the Temple and he had no knowledge of it—and if that was the case, it would be a grave dereliction of duty.

Afterwards, Rod refused Browning's insincere offer to stay, and left St. Paul's Cathedral with Wren, and then the two of them made their way west of the city.

Although Wren loves to eat the special steaks produced by the western city-states, this is the first time he has visited Red Sand City. He looked curiously at the night view of the main city, and his heart was full of strangeness. If it's just combat training, just find a place where no one is, is it necessary to cross most of the Holy Light Empire to come here?

Wren couldn't help but ask, "My lord, what does the so-called individual counseling mean?" ”

"It's barely a hunting mission."

Hearing such an answer, Wren was even more surprised, the witcher was not hunting beasts like tigers and lions, but evil beings that ordinary people could not deal with.

"So...... Is this a hands-on lesson? ”

"So to speak."

Rod looked a little tired, "But I don't know what the mission goal is for the time being, so it's not easy to assess the difficulty of the mission." ”

It's so strange that you don't even know the goal of the mission, so you brought yourself here?

"Well, I don't understand."

"Ah, it's okay, if my guess is right, I should be able to find the mission target this time."

Rod glanced at Wren, "You've changed a lot, Wren, you've also gotten a lot stronger, I still remember the first time I saw you." What is life like at bootcamp? ”

"Not bad."

Wren shrugged, "Mr. Vaolet treats me equally, my colleagues are close to me, and we all mingle like the best buddies." Yes, life there is a lot of fun. ”

"Sounds good, if that's the case."

Rod laughed, "Don't tell me you're still complaining that I threw you in training camp. ”

"That's my agreement with you, you exonerate me, I obey your orders, there's nothing to complain about."

"You seem to have gained some unusual powers there, right?"

"This strength is innate to me, I have been stronger than ordinary people since I was a child, but it has only become more prominent after training - why, do you think there is a problem with it?"

"No, I don't think so, I'm just more glad I brought you back in the first place."

"So, you're still going to make me a witcher? Or even one day in the future do you want me to take your place? ”

"Yes, I haven't changed my mind yet, but I want to ask you what you mean - after all this training, do you still think you can't do it?"

"It's not a matter of what I can or can't do, I know I'm no worse than those people, even if I can't be as blond as they are. I just ......"

Speaking of this, Wren scratched his head, "I just don't like to be attached too much sense of mission, it makes me feel very unfree, some god warrior, guardian of justice, embodiment of the supreme god's will to punish - of course, it is undeniable that many people like this noble and dazzling feeling, but it doesn't work for me." Even if I do pass the final exam and join the Demon Hunter Squad, don't expect me to sacrifice much, because work is just 'work' in my opinion, regardless of whether it's called 'Witcher' or 'Printer'. ”

After a pause, he added: "I won't be lazy at work, but I will never die for it." ”

"I see what you mean."

Rod nodded, "It's okay, there is still some time before the final assessment, let's wait until everything is over...... Ah, here it is. ”

As the two of them walked westward, the cityscape became more and more stale, and the streets became more and more dirty. Wren had already seen that the west of the city was the concentration of the poor in Red Sand City, and it was the old city at best, but it was actually a slum. This kind of place can be found in every city, even the capital.

At this time, Rhodes was standing in front of a large iron gate with no signboard, and there was a faint sound of shouting and shouting from inside, and then he pushed open the door and walked in with Wren.

Rumble!

The accumulation of heat in the human body, the noisy shouting, and the unpleasant stench in the air all mixed together, like a disgusting big dung egg, and it exploded in front of the two of them.

"Here's it, the casino? Aiming for a casino? ”

Wren asked at the top of his voice, there is no need to care about secrecy here, all kinds of noise are the best secrecy measures.

He'd been to the big casinos in the Green Shade before, where the waiters were young ladies in sexy uniforms, and the players were well-mannered rich people — or at least polite, they all wore decent dresses, talked softly to each other, and won or lost money by saying 'wow, lucky' or 'oh, what a pity'.

The slum-based black casino was clearly more focused on mass entertainment, with everyone laughing loudly or cursing sincerely. Wren saw a man in a torn leather jacket shove three dice into the mouth of the man next to him, and then forced him to swallow them in his stomach, and then the poor man was thrown out amid everyone's laughter.

"Maybe it's because of the thousands,"

Rod analyzed with interest, "But apparently the poor craftsmanship has been caught, speaking of which, being forced to eat a few dice in such a place is already a very mild consequence." ”

"I don't understand!"

Wren said irritably, "What the hell are we doing here?" Catch a bet? Or do you want to use the Holy Light to influence this group of gamblers? ”

"We're here to find a target, have you forgotten?"

Rhodes stared at the man's vacated chair, "Of course, I don't know exactly where the target is, so I'm going to try my luck here." ”

"But it's all ordinary people! The most evil of them are just some ruffians! ”

"That's right, it's them."

"What do you mean? Are you planning to work part-time as a National Guard? ”

"Calm down, Wren, the target obviously doesn't come up in this kind of place, but with a bit of luck, we might be able to find the target here."

"The target's goal, what's that?"

Wren muttered discontentedly.

"Relax, Wren, I suggest you find a table to play with as well,"

Rhodes walked over to the vacated seat next to the table, "After all, it's too boring to just stand there when you arrive at the casino, and it's too dazzling. ”