Paladin

Inside the church, Evan and Hewitt stood in the bedroom.

They heard movement outside, and Brother Cesis was doing his best to treat the injured.Many people were bitten or scratched when fighting flying foxes, and some people could not avoid being burned by the flames... There were many wounded, and Cesis had to ensure that his magic was used on those who most needed healing.

Evan wanted to help after cleaning his body briefly. He could also use some magic, but Hewitt insisted on discussing some things with him.

Now they stood at a table with a map and a dead flying fox on it.The mage drew three or four red crosses on the map, and said, "Don't keep paying attention to the lightly wounded outside... You have to know that the most pressing time now is the cursed person."

Evan looked solemn, and asked, "What happened to them? It has been almost two days and two nights since the curse."

"It's not optimistic. Basically, the first batch of cursed people have lost their minds, their vitality has been continuously deprived, and some weak people have begun to coma and go into shock..." Hewitt said lightly, his hands kept moving back and forth on the map He gestured, drew small crosses with red ink on several positions, and said, "We don't have much time left, we must find the source of the curse and solve it."

Evan also looked at the map. From the beach where he woke up, he saw the small fishing village where Rose was, saw the valley where he and Hewitt met, and then saw their current location—Em Deng Town.

Hewitt stopped his pen and said, "This curse comes from an arcanist. I know his laboratory is hidden nearby, and I also know that you should also walk out of his laboratory—"

Evan looked at him and nodded, "You're right."

In this short glance, they tacitly understood each other, neither asking each other about their past, nor asking each other why they knew about it.

"This Arcanist is named Grey, and he has been operating by the sea for a long time. The Holy See and the Empire each found his trace, and even sent a team of demon hunters and scouts, but they all returned without success." Hewitt He continued, "He hid very well. But this time he did it too hastily - there are too many flying foxes, and almost all of them have been cursed. They usually don't eat meat. The curse should not come from food, Rather, Gray the Grey artificially planted the Amber Curse on them."

"You mean, Grey-robed Gray is deliberately spreading the curse through flying foxes and herrings," Evan said after thinking for a moment, "He wants to collect life energy through the characteristics of the curse?"

His thinking is quite sharp, and Hewitt said with a little appreciation: "Yes, these are all deliberately done by him. This provides us with clues."

The mage dipped the quill pen in his hand with red ink, and drew two arcs on the map: "The terrain here is very peculiar, and the wind generated can only be the returning valley wind, and flying foxes rely on the help of wind to fly, so Their source can only be here, and here... Looking to the south, there is not enough area for flying foxes to inhabit and feed before the mouth of the Agate River, but to the north, these fishermen say that they have never seen foxes that can inhabit I can only think of two possibilities: [-]. Someone deliberately moved the flying foxes from other caves here; [-]. The caves of this group of flying foxes are hidden in places that no one has discovered so far.”

Evan frowned slightly, recalling what had happened.

In the cave when he just woke up... what the two young men said when they pushed the cart and threw him into the sea——

"Let's just throw him into the sea and forget about it? If the sea devil anemone raised by the teacher likes it, it should eat him."

"It's okay if you don't like it. The tide will be high soon. When the time comes, the entrance will be completely closed, and the tide here will flow back along the seabed. This fossil is estimated to remain on the seabed forever."

Hewitt stared at the map, lost in thought.

Evan suddenly reached out, wandered on the coast of the map for a moment, and said, "Here... there may be a cave near here. Has the tide been high these two days?"

"It's true that the tide is rising. According to the monthly calendar, it will take three to five days before the tide ebbs..." Hewitt looked at the position he was pointing at, "You mean, the tide blocked the entrance of the cave? Is this an underwater cave? Look at it this way... …Indeed, if the burrow is large enough, with sufficient oxygen enclosed within, it is indeed possible to be inhabited during high tides...and the environment would be able to support flying foxes as well.”

The mage suddenly realized, and quickly drew a route for the flying fox to reach the town—it was seamless, and the time from the high tide to the present was just enough for the flying fox to fly.

He drew a small circle on the map, and then said: "Since we are sure that we are here, then we should set off as soon as possible to capture the gray-robed Gray and solve the source of the curse. This matter is a bit reluctant for the two of us alone, and it will take a long time." A guide for rowing and wayfinding, or an experienced fisherman should do as well."

"It's not too late, I'll ask now." Evan said.

Hewitt pondered for a moment, and then said: "I'll take care of this matter. You have more things to do, about the residence, food, and appeasement of the cursed people for the remaining few days. Only you can calm them down here." Mind; In addition, you must discuss with Corbett that this town can no longer be lived in, it is best to start preparing for the relocation now, and notify Moa City to prohibit the circulation of herring and meat produced here..."

There are too many things, but not many people are enough to convince the crowd. The paladin rushed to discuss with the captain of the guard, Corbett.

The uninjured guards were spontaneously cleaning up the remaining traces on the ground. Because they were too short on time, they did not clear out the isolation zone. After the fire spread overnight, half of the town was burned.When everything stopped, there were charred corpses of flying foxes everywhere, and the smell of ashes and scorched earth wafted in the wind.

On the eve of dawn, they agreed on a plan.

Corbett decided to take some healthy people to Moa City early tomorrow morning to ask for help and warn the police.

Then Evan went to visit the wounded and treated the wounded with Cesis.Wherever the paladins passed by, people's sad and depressed hearts seemed to be relieved. They looked at Evan as if they saw salvation.

Someone surreptitiously called Evan "Blonde Brilliant."

Evan's heart was not as relaxed as it appeared, and he thought in his heart: If I have more divine spells, as a priest like Mu You, at least I can heal these wounded; if I still have the same reputation as before I fell asleep, now You can find mages and druids to lift the curse...

Deep within the paladin's heart was guilt and pity.

At the same time, Hewitt was discussing with the fishermen, asking if someone could take them to the cave where Gray the Gray was hiding.

The fishermen were a little embarrassed when they saw the location on the map. They all said that there are quite a lot of submerged reefs in that area. Fishing boats are easy to hit the reefs and sink after entering, so few people will go there.

It is precisely because the entrance is submerged in the water when the tide is high and cannot be seen, and when the tide is low, the sea is too shallow, easy to hit the rocks, and boats cannot sail, so the cave has been hidden and has not been discovered by fishermen.

Hewitt thought of this, and then someone said: "I know Rose's father Connor can go. He has gone out to sea at high tide before, and he has a big harvest there, but he said that there are huge sea monsters there— - Then he came back from injury, it seems that his leg is not fully healed now."

Hewitt immediately went to Rose.

Rose is taking care of her younger brother Tim... The latter's situation is already quite bad. Because of the shortage of food, he spends more than 20 hours a day in a coma. While tied to the chair, he continued to murmur and yell that he was hungry.

Rose's eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she sat beside Tim numbly, wiping his body for him from time to time, and was stunned for a long time after seeing Hewitt's arrival.

Hewitt explained why he came here, and Rose said in a hoarse voice: "I'm sorry, Mr. Silverfire, father... he was seriously injured. His left leg is almost completely useless, and he can't even sit on the chair stably. I'm afraid I can no longer take a boat to sea..."

Hewitt stared at Rose for a long time, but finally couldn't bear to continue asking the poor girl, and said, "Sorry, I can't do anything about the curse for now. We will find a solution as soon as possible."

Rose forced a smile at him, then turned back numbly, leaning her head on the pillar, staring blankly at her younger brother Tim; and this lively and clever boy hadn't stood up for two days. She jumped and laughed and called her sister.

"Tim, don't be sad...it won't hurt soon..." Rose stroked the boy's hair lightly, and whispered, "We are just suffering...it's not that we were abandoned by God the Father..."

Hewitt returned without success, but when he returned along the road, he was unexpectedly stopped by someone.

It was the front desk of the mercenary guild who called him. A young man said shyly, "Mr. Yinhuo, please wait a moment. I have something here that I hope you can pass on."

Huit nodded, and then the young man handed him an exquisite small box.The mage opened the box and took a look, and saw a small and luxurious earring padded with black velvet inside.

Hewitt felt that this emerald earring looked familiar, and the young man said: "This earring originally belonged to Lord Paladin, but for some reason it fell into the hands of a little fisherman. She sold two of them for a little food the day before yesterday. Earrings... this one fell into the hands of a businessman who planned to take it back to please his wife."

Hewitt motioned for him to continue.

"This businessman issued a mission in our mercenary guild. He hired someone to escort him to Moa City. Coincidentally... Your Excellency Paladin received this mission." Speaking of this, the young man from the mercenary guild A little embarrassed, "The merchant later found out that it was His Excellency Paladin's earrings, but because he bought it legally, he never returned it...until yesterday, so many things happened...he has to leave today, so please ask me Return this earring to His Excellency Paladin, he will relieve the task of employing His Excellency Paladin, and at the same time leave a word to His Excellency Paladin."

Hewitt closed the small box again and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"He said, 'I'm sorry, Lord Palatine. Thank you too, I am truly delighted to have been born in your time and to have seen the glory of the Father.'"