Arcane splendor begins with the throne

Chapter 134

In the early morning of the second day after the competition, there was no wind, and the sky was filled with gray clouds, which looked dull like a person's pupils without any focus.

When most people were still engrossed in the heroic performance of Brian, who was the champion, at the tournament, the paladin Strickland came to a weather-beaten 'Gnoll' tavern wearing a suit of armor covered in dust.

He sighed, and said to Tien, the prince of Karnas beside him: "You are doubting your own beliefs, doubting whether the justice you uphold is right or not."

"I'm not too...clear." The paladin prince muttered to himself with a slightly dull gaze.

Strickland raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said in a deep voice, "Although we cannot tolerate evil in our eyes, we must also be clear that evil is also a part of the world."

As a paladin who has gone through vicissitudes, Strickland certainly knows what is going on with his student.

Every paladin tries to conform himself to the highest moral standards of his beliefs, especially young paladins who are just being called, because they are impulsive, passionate, and idealistic.

But sadly, the higher this moral standard is often set, the easier it is for the paladins to make mistakes because they are too high.

Sometimes forced to choose the lesser evil, sometimes out of fanatical passion, their actions cross the line of reason, and finally become a paladin who breaks his oath.

At this moment, his students are already wandering on the edge of depravity and will fall into the abyss at any time.

For paladins, the evil presence of the world is like a poisonous aroma, which they can easily sense.

Similarly, the halo of kindness is as melodious as fairy music to them.

As a paladin, in addition to restraining one's irrational impulse and obsession with purifying evil, one must also restrain one's desire for goodness.

And his student, Prince Tien from the Kingdom of Karnas, not only saw the so-called 'evil' with his own eyes, but was helpless, and couldn't stand the temptation of the good blood, and finally lost in a duel with the Black Guardian After that, the belief in justice in my heart began to crumble.

As an experienced paladin, Strickland naturally knew that this situation was something that almost every young paladin had to face, even he himself could not avoid it.

After all, when every paladin accepts the call, he will swear to be loyal to the cause of justice and embark on the road of fighting against evil.

In their eyes, it is their duty to eradicate evil and maintain justice.

As everyone knows, how naive and idiotic are these unrealistic beatings and tempering, just believing that justice can change the world in their hearts.

Therefore, what Strickland needs to do is to let him face the evil, understand the nature of the world, and reawaken his firm belief.

As for whether it will succeed or not, it is entirely up to him.

Strickland beckoned to his students, and together they drew their cloaks tight and put on their hoods to conceal their identities.

Then, he looked at a waist-high stone statue of a jackal squatting outside the door of the tavern. Due to years of wind and rain erosion, its ferocious face had long been blurred.

Strickland couldn't help but patted the gnoll on the head. He and it seemed to be old friends, and then murmured to himself: "I hope to have good luck."

Then, he took his students and walked into the tavern without hesitation.

The door of the 'Wolf Man' tavern was opened, and most people glanced subconsciously, and ignored them when they saw two men in black wrapped in cloaks.

The two of them walked in together. The space inside the house was much larger than it looked from the outside, and it was connected to the adjacent huts on the left and right. There were more than a dozen huts in a row.

Despite the sweet, cloying aroma of blue smoke inside, it still couldn't quite cover the stench of piss, sour wine, and carrion.

At this time the room was not full yet, some guests stared at the two caped Kanas with bored, hostile or curious eyes, and the rest gathered by the pit at the far end, where two naked women held sharp knives in their hands. The duel in the pit, the audience burst into applause.

"Calm down." The paladin Strickland tightly grasped Tien's elbow, and the strength in his hand made the armored gloves creak. "Remember, we are guests here, not law enforcers."

At the end of the commotion, Strickland saw a man eating grapes in a wooden bowl with relish.

As soon as the other party saw him, he waved his hand, "Mr. Cavaliers, come and sit with me. How about some grapes from Florence? It's so sweet!"

This is a thin man with a greasy voice and a smile on his face. He wears a bright coat made of silver thread. The dangling sleeves stretch to the floor, and the buttons are carved in the shape of a monkey with jade. On his slender and bright white curly hair, he wears a fan-shaped hat. Beautiful green hat decorated with peacock feathers.

Strickland couldn't help but lamented that this thief nicknamed 'Slender Monkey' still had such a vicious vision.

After five years of not seeing each other, the other party guessed his true identity just by looking at him.

He led his students across the tables and benches, pulled up a chair and sat down.

During his adventurous career as a paladin, every time he came to Golden Feather City to track evil creatures, he would deal with this thief called "Ugly Monkey" and obtain a lot of valuable information through his intelligence network.

"My lord, is this your student?"

The thin monkey said regretfully: "I have seen his performance in the arena yesterday, it is really a pity, especially the duel with Prince Wikiman, it can be seen that the strength of the opponent is not strong, the only advantage is , it’s just your own mount.”

Tien lowered his eyes, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

"Of course, in my opinion, you should thank Lady Luck." The thin monkey rolled his cunning eyes and smiled again:
"Because of the other two princes who competed with the champion of the competition, Brian, you should have noticed their fate. One died and the other was disabled. I don't think you will be lucky, so, kid, don't look downcast and sad. You should be glad you didn't fight Bryan. Otherwise, your end might be even worse, after all, you are..."

When the thin monkey said these words, he didn't deliberately lower his voice, as if he didn't care about being heard.

"Stop talking nonsense." The paladin Strickland interrupted the thief's chatter, "I'm here to ask you some news."

"Speak." The thin monkey ate the grapes self-consciously, spit the seeds onto his lips, and flicked them off with his fingers, "Dear Sir Knight, I am very happy to help you, as long as I know, I will Report to you without saying a word.

Don't you really want to taste these grapes?I heard that in your glorious city of Karnas, as long as you are illuminated by the holy light, you will immediately feel refreshed and energetic.

But what puzzles me is that there are still many children in the city who are hungry, and I don't know where the holy light shines.Surely it wouldn't shine in a gutter like ours, in my opinion, don't you, handsome little paladin prince? "

After saying that, the cunning thief picked up the grapes and shook them provocatively in front of Strickland, then said with a smile:
"I also heard that your lovely little prince blatantly opposed the marriage between our little princess of the Kingdom of West and Brian of Tigrila at the king's banquet, claiming that the other party was not worthy of our noble princess. At that time, I was a little bit I don't understand, gods, please tell me, the little prince, who would match the princess? It won't be a paladin with a pure heart and conscience, isn't it funny?
The Dark Guards who were born in darkness and advocated the power of darkness, and the murderous and ruthless wolves were all killed by blasphemous wizards who thought they had God-given power and privileges, and were worthy of our princess of the Kingdom of West. What are the paladin doing?I just happened to see him rolling in the mud yesterday. He looked so embarrassed. The rolling paladin, um, is a bit interesting..."

"you……"

Tien stared angrily at the thief in front of him, but was patted on the shoulder by his teacher, so he suppressed his anger and continued to remain silent.

"What I want is ale and news." Strickland said indifferently.

"It's still the same, you Kanas people are straight and anxious." The thin monkey complained: "You tell me, why are you in such a hurry? The more anxious you are, the sooner you will go to the grave."

A waitress pushed past the crowd and walked over, patting away the salty pig's hands who were stealing her ass.

Strickland ordered two glasses of ale, and asked the thief in front of him, "I'm here to inquire about the Andairians."

"Isn't that wolf already killed?" The skinny monkey picked up a grape, squeezed the skin with his thumb and forefinger, and put the pulp into his mouth.

"The head was also chopped off by Brian. It is said that it will be sent back to Tigrela, strung with spear points, and hung in the Astakla Fortress, so that the Niluskan people can take a good look at the heir to their kingdom. That must be A very interesting thing.”

"I'm asking about the Andairians, not the Niluskans." Strickland frowned, and he didn't think the other party would mishear him.

"Of course I know who you're talking about. Aren't you interested in the escaped black-robed wizard among the Niluskans?" The thin monkey blinked his cunning eyes and said with a smile.

"The black-robed wizard?" Strickland recalled what happened yesterday.

In fact, he was very impressed by what happened with the black-robed wizard.

Because when Brian and Mengbaton competed yesterday, he had been paying attention to the battle between the two.

When he saw a black-robed wizard under Meng Barton taking action, he instantly sensed the evil aura hidden in the wizard's spells due to the paladin's instinctive intuition about evil creatures.

"I have to admit it." The waitress brought over the ale, and the paladin Strickland handed her a silver coin, and nodded slightly to the thief: "Your method of changing the subject is simply too blunt, let's talk about it."

"You don't care if it's blunt or not, as long as the final result is correct, it's over." The thin monkey looked at Prince Tien who was suppressing his anger, and provocatively said: "At least it's still very useful for paladins, Am I right, sweet little Prince Tien?"

"Too much." The paladin warned coldly.

"That wizard..." The thief immediately withdrew his hippie smile, pondered for a moment, then threw a grape into his mouth unhurriedly, and said:
"I fled to the maple forest outside Golden Feather City. I'm still a necromancer. What I like to do most is to peel people's stomachs and stuff them with messy things. Last night I heard that there were ghosts there." .”

"Maple Grove? Necromancer?" Strickland's eyes flickered and he confirmed again: "Are you sure?"

Of course he knew about the maple forest growing on the hillside outside Jinyu City, and he also knew that there was a mass grave with very complicated terrain, and occasionally a few naturally awakened zombies ran out.

At the same time, he was also very clear that the true identity of the black-robed wizard from Niluskan was a necromancer.

"Very sure." The thief shrugged.

Strickland, the paladin, looked at the thief with cunning eyes, "Thank you for letting me know, but I'm not interested in those dirty things for the time being, so tell me about the Andairians first."

As a seasoned paladin, he was long past the age of impulsiveness, irritability, and the need to cleanse without flinching at the sight of evil creatures.

Because he knows very well that when the fist is retracted, it is just to swing with greater strength.

Although he is indeed interested in this evil necromancer, it does not mean that he will fall into the trap of this thief and be used by him.

"Of course I know that you paladins won't be interested in these things." The thin monkey met Prince Tien of Karnas with a sly look, "I also know that this world has changed a long time ago, because the real gods and There are no knights anymore, only some pious god sticks are left, talking nonsense in the streets and alleys."

"Rogue, you are testing the tolerance of the gods!"

Prince Tien couldn't help answering, the voice was so loud that the drinkers looked sideways, "Aren't you afraid of the whip of the gods to punish the wicked? You have committed so many sins. After you die, believe me, you will be punished." The gods descend into the Nine Hells or the Abyss.”

"I'm so scared. Excuse me, where are the gods? Where is the sin?" The thin monkey was so frightened that he dropped the grape in his hand to the ground, and then crushed it with his foot, pretending to be surprised.

There were muffled voices from the tavern, most of which were ridicule and mockery.

Strickland, the paladin, was about to stop him, but suddenly found that the divine energy on Tien's body was suddenly flickering. He glanced thoughtfully, and then fell silent.

"The gods created the world and everyone." Tien said righteously.

Seeing this, the crowd of onlookers began to slowly disappear.

Obviously, most people know that eating melons is a high-risk occupation here.

"Everyone?" The thin monkey laughed mockingly: "Little prince, then tell me, what kind of god would create a monster like a necromancer? What kind of god would tolerate a blasphemous wizard, if the world There really are gods, and they created sheep to keep the wolves from starving, and created the weak to be fooled by the strong."

"That's why we have paladins. Real paladins will protect justice and protect the weak." Tien involuntarily raised his tone, and the flickering light around him also brightened a bit.

Hearing the mention of the paladin and the flickering faint light, most people disappeared into the tavern without making a sound.

"Are you referring to those paladins who can only roll in the mud?" The thin monkey snorted and said:

"Forget it, I'd rather believe that this world is terrifying, and I don't believe that anyone will protect the weak. Otherwise, you self-proclaimed noble paladins wouldn't be ashamed of the evil wizards in Maple Grove. interest."

"He won't survive tonight!"

The paladin prince stood up from his chair and said in a firm tone.

As soon as the words fell, the sacred energy around Tien suddenly burst into dazzling brilliance, and then quickly converged in his body, scaring the thief's eyes back.

"Don't be impulsive."

Strickland cautiously reminded: "The mass graves in the maple forest are full of corpses and graves. For necromancers, this means that countless undead creatures can be awakened. We need to think long-term."

He knew that the prince, who was on the verge of depravity, had once again awakened his faith and justice. Although he couldn't throw cold water on him at this time, he definitely couldn't let him die because of it.

"You see, this is the style of your paladins, looking forward and backward, hesitating." The thin monkey said with a smile:
"In my opinion, as long as you attack quickly, like an eagle attacking a rabbit, the necromancer will definitely be caught off guard and die.

Your great Lord of Dawn will even give you blessings as a reward, and maybe your kind archbishop Rickard will allow me to spend a good night with the female priest of your temple because of my enthusiasm for providing information.

Dear Lord Knight, the time is ripe, more ripe than the grapes in my hand. If you are really unwilling, then I can only sell the news that the Necromancer is hiding in the maple forest to the champion of the competition, our Weiss. The fiancé of the Princess of Te Kingdom, Brian of Tigrela.

Believe me, in order to please the princess, this prince from Tigrila will definitely take this job without hesitation, kill the people of Niluskan, and clear the scourge for the Kingdom of West.It sounds really ironic. A world created by the gods is guarded by a blasphemous wizard. Tsk tsk tsk..."

The paladin Strickland took a deep look at the thief eating grapes, and subconsciously glanced at his students.

He saw the purest hatred for evil creatures flashing in his student's eyes, and the sacred energy around him began to gradually recover as his hatred increased.

Although Strickland had roughly guessed who was driving him behind the scenes to go to Maple Grove to kill the necromancer from Niluskan, he knew very well that he could not refuse this request.

Because this is the only chance for his students to rediscover the path of the paladin.

It's hard to imagine that the mastermind behind the scenes even counted his student's impending fall.

Thinking of this, Strickland got up directly and took Tien away from the tavern.

From the strength of the spell cast by the necromancer yesterday, he could clearly feel that the opponent was not that easy to deal with.

What's more, it is still a place of death full of negative energy, and he plans to discuss this matter with Archbishop Rickard, the 'judge'.

Looking at the departing paladin, the thin monkey let out a sigh of relief as he threw away the grapes in his hand.

Obviously, in the face of two paladins, including a stunned young man, he seemed to be very calm, but in fact he was also panicked, so he could only eat grapes to relieve his inner tension.

(End of this chapter)