dedicated to violets

"Second question, besides the treasure, are there murals in that altar?"

"The third question, is there a scepter like a cross on the mural?"

Sean froze for a moment: "Only these three questions?"

"Just these three questions." Viri nodded, "So I suspect that the undead has something to do with the Holy See, and the scepter. I have seen that there are many tasks to search for clues to the scepter in the hall of the mercenary guild."

Sean: "I do know some news about the scepter, but I'm still a layman, so I don't have much information."

Willie took a sip of the milk.

After a long time, the milk has cooled down, and it tastes fishy, ​​cold and greasy.

Viri frowned, swallowed the cold milk, and continued: "Those mercenaries are not interested in the murals, they just took a quick look at them, so my memory of reading is also fuzzy, and I can only see the murals in the center. A picture of a cross in a circle, very similar to the violet on the coat of arms."

He recalled the pictures he had read, and thought about it: "It may be a variant of the violet on the badge, especially the lowermost petals are specially elongated to serve as the body of the staff, and the vines twisted with silver wire are used as decorations on the top."

Sean: "Then there are only two possibilities."

He raised a finger: "First, the altar they broke into originally belonged to the Holy See, and the scepter on the mural may be the treasure of the Holy See; second, that altar did not belong to the Holy See, and the scepter on the mural The scepter is the embodiment of theocracy and does not really exist."

Viri lowered his eyes, combing through all the clues he had.

As a priest, John is already a member of the Holy See. He walked in the misty forest and chose to join the mercenary group because the mercenary group entered the altar by mistake.After all, the possibility of entering the altar again with someone who has experienced it once is better than searching without a clue.

"Go to dinner first, let's continue talking after we're done," Sean leaned over to Willie and snapped his fingers, "This thing won't be able to come up with a result in a while."

The dinner was well prepared, and after the meal, the two returned to the living room.This time Mason didn't stand aside, but sat beside Sean.He handed over pens and paper for Sean and Willie to use.

Sean said: "The mercenary group you mentioned, I sent someone to find some of the information they provided when they registered."

He handed over a piece of paper with a few lines written on it, and Vili glanced over it, and found that the available information was pitifully scant.There are almost only a few missions that they failed, other than that, the number of mercenary regiments that must be provided, as well as the name of the mercenary regiment leader, and the level of the mercenary regiment.

"Even the name is a pseudonym." Viri shook the thin piece of paper. "I have always wondered why the management of the Mercenary Guild is so lax? As long as it is a humanoid creature, can it be registered?"

"Of course, our principle is not to interfere with everything about the mercenary group, even life and death, unless there is something we have to intervene." Sean leaned forward and snatched the paper back, "Our guild is not a charity guild, where do so many people come from?" free time."

Willie let go of his hand and let Sean take the paper.

"Mason, do you know about the scepter?" Before Willi could speak, Sean threw the question to the smiling Mason.

The handsome butler said, "I know."

"You really know?" Sean didn't have any hope at first, but when he heard Mason's answer, he looked at the calm Mr. Housekeeper in surprise, "I didn't say what kind of scepter it was?"

Mason smiled and said: "In my hometown, there have always been legends about the scepter. The scepter that looks like a blooming violet is dangerous and charming."

When he laughed, his whole body became lively, and his every move attracted the attention of others.The night wind slipped in through the crack of the window, carrying the fragrance of flowers.

Willie moved his eyes to the tall and handsome butler. He felt that Mason's smile was indescribably kind—he seemed to have seen such an expression somewhere.

"Cough." Sean noticed the probing look in Willie's eyes, and coughed lightly to remind him to restrain himself.

Willie suddenly came back to his senses and apologized to Mason: "Sorry, I was rude."

"It's all right, what's on Mr. Haydn's mind?"

Veri was silent for a while, and said softly, "Your smile is very similar to someone I know." Although he was answering Mason's question, he tilted his head and looked at the swaying flowers outside the window, his eyes were far away and full of nostalgia.

It wasn't the first time Sean saw Vili showing such an expression. In the past, Vili would be fascinated whenever he rested, and most of his expressions were like this at that time.Over time, Sean got used to it.After so many years, he saw Willie's expression again, and it was rare and a little nostalgic.

Soon, Viri adjusted his emotions. He looked away and said gently: "Let's continue to discuss about the scepter."

Mason said that since he can remember, he has heard the legend of the scepter.

"In my hometown, his name is Violet." Mason closed his eyes, recalling something, "My hometown is in an isolated place, with little contact with the outside world."

Viri suddenly remembered the mercenary chatter he had heard in Pence.

"The name of the scepter that the Mage Guild is looking for is also Violet," he said, "It seems that they should be looking for the same one."

Mason pursed his lips and smiled lightly: "According to the legend, this scepter belongs to a god, and it represents the power of a god. If you own it, you can become a god."

Xiao En took a breath, and immediately denied this absurd legend: "Impossible, this is absolutely false, there is no god in the world."

Mason looked at him, "It is true that there are no gods now, but there were before."

"Before?" Sean asked back.

Viri also grasped the key word "before": "You mean before the new calendar?"

Mason nodded: "This year is the 99th year of the new calendar. One year later, it will be a full 1000 years. God has disappeared from this world for a full 1000 years."

The name of the god worshiped by the current Holy See is Ogg, which represents the sun and light.The time of the birth of the Auger Holy See is not clear, it is not known when it was established, nor when it arose.

By the time the empire reacted, it had grown and crazily restrained believers.When it was at its peak, even the royal family believed in the Holy See of Auger.

"Speaking of which, I don't even know when the Holy See of Auger began to decline," Sean felt something was wrong, and asked Mason suspiciously, "Do you know?"

Mason: "I don't know either."

Viri took the quill and wrote quickly on the parchment.

As he wrote, he said: "Write these down first, so as not to forget."

"Does the Violet War have anything to do with this scepter?" Viri asked suddenly.

Sean scratched his cheek: "It shouldn't matter, the name Violet Wars, doesn't it come from the fortress we met for the first time? It's the Fort Ellette."

The naming of wars is usually based on the source of the place name.

Countless wars have broken out between countries, and the place where the battle is the worst will be named after this place.The same is true for the Violet War, whose name comes from the fortress of Airlight, where the battle was the most brutal.

That fortress was covered by the forbidden spells of the mages hundreds of times. The imperial mages and the Holy See mages exchanged forbidden spells, and countless people died under the magic.

Sean and Viri stayed in Airlight Fortress for less than three months before they retreated urgently.

"Elwright has not grown a blade of grass until now, and no one lives there at all," Sean sighed. "I went there a few years ago. It was too desolate and lifeless."

Air Wright means violet.

Willie remained silent, lowered his head, and continued to write and draw on the paper.

"As for the decline of the Holy See you said, it should have happened 500 years ago. No one knows the specific reason. There are private records in the library of the college. After getting some clues, he changed the subject, returned to the Holy See, threw the pen away, and sat back on the sofa, "The recorder guessed that there might be something wrong with the Holy See."

Sean waved his hand: "Don't study the crap about the Vatican. I'm just curious. Is there really a god in the Vatican?" He said this to Mason.

Mason was taken aback, and replied helplessly: "Master, I only listen to the legends of my hometown, how could I know these things?"

Sean shifted his gaze to Veri again, and Veri shrugged: "There will be no such things in private records."

The three of them looked at each other, neither knowing the answer.

In the end, Sean slapped the table and came to a conclusion: "Now we know that the Holy See and the Mage Guild are all looking for this kind of scepter. I heard that they can gain the power of the gods, so our Mercenary Guild can't be left behind." He said He asked Viri again, "And the undead that appeared, do you remember where they are on the edge of the misty forest?"

"remember."

"Okay, there is one more thing I need to ask for your help," Sean said, "Please help me find the places where the undead wander on the map. I am worried that they will attack adventurous mercenaries."

At noon the next day, Viri was thinking about the scepter, so he didn't set off immediately for the small town of Fryer.In addition, he and Sean Lucas haven't seen each other for nearly 20 years, so it's rare to get together, and of course they have to stay for a few more days.

When he was about to eat, he took a walk by the lake, and the snowy owl stayed on his shoulder, enjoying the bright spring sunshine with him.

The lake is as clear as a mirror, and the white clouds and blue sky are reflected on the water, as if you can touch it by bending down.

The snowy owl slept for so long that it was still sleepy.The whole bird was listless, almost curled up into a ball.

Viri teased him: "Is there a bird like you among the magic pets? I really doubt that you are not a bird, but a human."

"I'm not a human being," Snowy Owl was very vigilant, and immediately raised his head, "I'm a real snowy owl, a very ferocious bird!"

Willy laughed, one person and one bird had a good time.

When he returned to the small building, what greeted him was not delicacies, but Sean's calm face.

Sean was sitting on the sofa, and there were several men with strange faces sitting on the other side of the coffee table.They were of different shapes and dresses, and Mason stood by, and everyone in the room looked serious, and the atmosphere was extremely heavy.

"You're back?" Sean raised his head to look at him, "It's just right, I have something to ask you too."

Willie stood still: "What happened?"

"A mercenary group was attacked by the undead," Xiao En said. "The situation is very bad. Those undead are not afraid of swords, nor are they afraid of ordinary spells. Water and fire are useless."

Originally, he thought that there was more than enough time, but he didn't expect that his worries became reality overnight.

The snowy owl flew away knowingly, and Viri walked over, and under the watchful eyes of several strangers opposite, he calmly picked up the documents on the table.The file is an image taken by the magic spar—several dying mercenaries, their bodies covered in cuts and bruises, the scars are thin and long, and one of the mercenaries' chest was pierced, leaving a piece of bone.

"It's very similar to the undead I saw," Viri said. "Have you confirmed that these skeletons are called undead?"

Sean nodded: "Let's call it this for the time being. The survivors of the mercenary group told the guild that these undead are wandering around the Misty Forest. As long as anyone appears, they will swarm up and attack them. Not only that, these undead are here. It appeared within a day or two, until yesterday during the day, there was nothing unusual at the edge of the forest."

"By the way, let me introduce you." Sean pulled Veri to his side, pointed to a few people on the opposite sofa and said, "They are all the vice presidents of the guild, and they are the closest friends to me in the Violet War." Comrades in arms, the empire's leading swordsman, Willie Haydn."

Unlike nobles whose ranks are based on bloodlines, mercenaries only respect the strong.

As the president, Xiao En is definitely not someone who talks nonsense at such a moment. Since he said that this is a top swordsman, it must be nothing wrong with it.

The proud vice presidents greeted him politely.

Both parties were very polite, and time was running out. Sean asked Viri to tell all about the undead in one breath.

One of the vice presidents said: "You mean, the undead can only be defeated by the priests of the Holy See of Ogg?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Viri denied. "According to the current information, the undead can be dealt with by the priests of the Holy See of Ogg. This is only one of the methods, not the only one. Other methods need to be explored together."

Sean clapped his hands and signaled the vice-chairmen to focus on how to deal with the undead: "The undead in the misty forest must be dealt with, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous. Fast will close the city gate from tonight, and everyone who enters or exits the city gate must Search carefully, and don't let any suspects go."

"By the way, I want to arrest another person."

Willie looked at him sharply: "You want to arrest John?"

"That's right," Sean pulled the corners of his mouth, showing a sinister smile, "We have been fighting with the Holy See for so long, and now an old friend has come, how can we not treat him well."

Willie thought for a moment, then nodded in acquiescence.

What Sean said was right, whether it was public or private, John had to be caught—to figure out his purpose lurking in the empire.

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