"Can't the church be used?" Ronnie was stunned after hearing Master Nawellen's words, and then suddenly realized something, "Ah, that's the matter, the Holy Tree is sick or something."

"It's no secret." Master Nawell nodded and said softly, "This is a very rare thing. After all, the holy tree is a symbol of the legendary tree of the world where the gods live. It has the strong life of a distant tree. In addition, it is carefully taken care of by many monks, so it is impossible to have such a situation."

"Maybe it's just the monks who neglect their duties." Barrit said with a shrugged.

"Barrit." Lord Trumber, who was beside him, immediately looked at him sternly, "Don't slander the monks of the church in front of Master Naviron. There must be evidence to say such words."

"Yes, sir." Barrit lowered his head respectfully.

Master Nawellen did not care about their conversations, but looked in the direction of Hemi and said with a smile: "So because of this, I hope this lady can stay in Sentinel Town for a while, and after the holy tree is restored, we will perform this simple ceremony so that I can deliver what the saints entrusted to me to you."

Hermi's hand holding the knife stopped because of his words, and then she looked at Joel beside her at a loss, and one hand under the table grabbed Joel's cuff.

"We'll leave Sentinel Town early tomorrow morning." Joel announced in his hoarse and unpleasant voice.

The atmosphere on the long table was completely frozen because of his words. Even Ronnie was infected by the sudden quiet atmosphere. He put down the knife and fried potatoes in his hand in confusion.

The lord looked straight at Joel's white mask without blinking, saying, "No need to be in such a hurry, you can stay for a few more days-"

Joel interrupted him directly and repeated again: "We will leave Sentinel Town early tomorrow morning."

Silence fell on the long table again, Ronnie looked around and then stuffed half of the fried potatoes into her mouth.

Master Neville frowned slightly, then immediately stretched out again. He looked at Joel in a gentle tone and asked, "May I ask this gentleman is..."

"Mercenary," Barritt replied for Joel, and then he grinned, "He called himself 'Contin', and maybe he was really Kafar's son or grandson."

"Kanting?" Lord Trunker looked at Joel, with no expression on his face. "Aren't everyone in the Kangting family hanging by the emperor?"

"If you impersonate a noble surname, you will be punished, sir." Master Neville said to Joel softly, and then he cleared his throat when he saw that Joel did not answer, and said, "But who knows? Perhaps there is indeed a descendant of such a Lord Kafar that still survives in the world? The gods ask us to be humble, that we must be prepared to deal with such things at any time, so as not to insult the reputation of God's believers."

"It makes sense, Master Nawellen." The lord nodded and replied, without any touch on his old face. "I can't punish my honorable guests' entourage, so it's the case with our bento. Anyway, the mercenaries are all groups of people who have no past, so it doesn't make any sense to look at their identity in detail."

"So is it really necessary to leave Sentinel Town in such a hurry?" Barrit asked as he looked at Joel's eyes behind his mask.

The answer was not Joel, but Ronnie, who had finally eaten his fill. He drank the last drop of wine in the cup, then looked at Barrit, and replied to Joel: "Forgive me, ruthless, all of you. We are really anxious because the beggar brothers will be in trouble for this saint."

Ronnie's words made everyone silent for a moment, and then the first one to speak was the lord: "A bunch of rascals are just a bunch of rascals. As long as the Saint stays in Sentinel Town, our Sendevi family will protect your visibility."

"I want to advise you like this, Miss," said Master Neville on the side, "Oh, forgive me for being rude, I even forgot to ask your name, what should I call you?"

"Himi." The girl hiding under the cloak replied timidly.

"Ah, a cute name." Master Nawellen nodded, and then continued, "The way to the south is not as safe as you think. If the brothers are in trouble with you as the mercenary said, you cannot leave the territory of Sentinel Town safely - not to mention that they also have certain power in the south.

"And not only the problem of the Brotherhood, but also the cold winter and war, Miss Hemi. The cold winter may take your lives, and war is also possible. The mercenaries are a group of tenacious people, and they will fight each other even in the cold winter. I am very sorry, I have no intention of insulting you, I just talk about the matter - war is taking place in the south, and the mercenaries of the Principal and Kingdom continue to fight on the deserted wastelands and fields while the lords protect their people through the winter. They are much more dangerous than the Brotherhood."

Barrit, who was standing by, interjected with a smile: "Maybe there are still little monsters waiting for you next to the road. Didn't your mercenaries often say that 'the magic age returns'?"

"Ah, that's right." After hearing Barrit's words, Master Neville nodded firmly, "You are from the north, aren't you? There are many incredible things that have been born there? Giant monsters? Demon dragons? Oh, this is so terrible, it's really unimaginable. I really can't watch you step into danger like this."

"Sentinel Town is the safest place, Lord Saint." Lord Trunker immediately said after Master Neville finished speaking.

And Hemi just looked up at Joel sitting beside her after hearing these words.

"No place is safe, sir." Joel replied hoarsely, "no place like this."

"Ha, it seems that some people are determined to leave in the wind and snow."

Barritt was the first to give up the idea of ​​persuading them, or that he didn't have such an idea from the beginning.

Hemi immediately said nervously: "I'm very sorry, I have to refuse your request. I'm really sorry, because I still have my own...the mission needs to be completed."

When Joel heard her say this, her hand holding her sleeve couldn't help but pull it tighter.

"There is nothing to do about this." The lord also made a regretful expression, then sighed, picked up the wine glass and took another sip.

However, Master Nawell did not give up: "Please think about it again and again, this will inevitably be a difficult journey."

"No journey is not difficult, Master." Joel turned his head and looked at Master Nawellen and said coldly.

"Of course, sir!" Master Nawellen said firmly, but he immediately noticed his tone and apologized, "I'm very sorry, I'm impulsive, sir. But I'm still so firm. If you can choose a safer and more comfortable road, why do you have to choose a difficult road?

"This is unreasonable, sir. Of course, I understand what you mean. Maybe you think hardship means more experience, but it does not mean that the safe and comfortable road lacks experience. If you think so, it will be too one-sided.

"Training is like a shadow that follows you, and it will not change because of the path you choose, so choosing the path of suffering does not mean that it is correct."

"This is really not like something a monk should say." Barrit said jokingly.

"It's helpless to think like this," said Master Nawellen, "because choosing to become a monk means choosing a difficult road, so it may be a bit unconvincing to say this. But sir, what I say is accumulated from the facts I have seen. I can swear to you that I will never hurt this lovely lady."

"No one will hurt her here." The lord immediately emphasized loudly, and the false laughter and joy on the other long tables also quieted down. They all put away the smiles on their faces and looked at them.

"No one here will hurt the Holy Maiden," Lord Lord announced again, "Master Naviron, I can also swear that if someone dares to hurt my guests under my roof at this moment, I will let them see the rage of the whistle."

"Of course, sir, I certainly believe what you said." Master Nawellen lowered his head humbly, "It is precisely because I am sure of this that I ask Miss Hemi to stay."

"But others seem to have decided to leave." Barrit raised his head and looked at them jokingly like someone else outside the matter.

Master Neville didn't reply, but just looked at Joel quietly, waiting for his reply.

After a moment of silence, Joel turned his head and looked at him, and then replied faintly: "The road is not chosen by anyone for her, but by herself. I am just following her."

"But Miss Hemi is still too young, maybe she doesn't know that her choice means-"

"Enough, Master." Trumber Sendewi announced, "Enough, please remember your virtues, Master."

Master Nawellen was stunned for a moment, and then the expression on his face became stiff. Barrit laughed out loud at this moment, and then he was glared at by the Lord. The expression on Master Nawellen's face gradually eased. He stood up, then walked to the side and bowed deeply to Hemi.

"Please forgive me." He said sincerely, "Oh, please forgive me. Gods, please forgive me too. A little wine makes me so arrogant. My road is still long. Please forgive me."

After saying that, Master Nawellen turned around and left, until his footsteps disappeared into the hall, the others began to whisper.

"Hey, I said-" Ronnie suddenly spoke out loud at this time, and Joel looked at him, and saw a dark red wooden box with golden branches and leaves in his hand.

"He seems to have forgotten something."

"I can ask my servant to send the things to Master Nawellen," said the lord, looking at the girl hiding under the cloak, "or, the Holy Majesty, will you just accept the gift now?"

"Is this suitable?" Ronnie, who was standing beside him, looked at Joel and asked.

"If you do this, maybe Master Neville might have some complaints when you look back, right? After all, this is not an ordinary gift, but a gift from the three saints of the royal capital. They must have their blessings in it." Lord Trunk sighed slightly and said, "Since that's the case, it's better to give it back to Master Neville."

"No, sir." Barritt put down his wine glass and said straightened his back. "In this case, Master Naviron will probably be criticized by those saints. After all, the gifts he deserved were not given."

"What suggestions do you have?" The lord looked at Barrit beside him with confusion.

"It would be great if you just prove that the Saint is a real Saint," Barrit shrugged. "Just leave her some things that can only be done by saints, can you prove her identity as a Saint soon?"

Ronnie frowned slightly, then looked at Joel beside him, and Joel remained silent, looking indifferently at the Lord and the Chief Guard behind the mask.

...

"So I thought you would refuse them."

Ronnie, who was wrapped in a cloak, exhaled a white breath as she spoke, and the snowflakes fell on his red, so he also pulled up the hood of the cloak.

At this moment, they were shuttled through the avenue in the middle of the noble mansion outside the Sentinel Hall. Many doors were wide open, and many people stood silently at the door with lanterns, quietly staring at the three of them.

"Oh, these guys are so weird." Ronnie couldn't help but whisper, and then he leaned closer to Joel, "Why don't you refuse the old lord's request?"

Because Joel had no time to refuse, Hemi agreed in one go. Although he felt a little impatient, he said that he wanted Hemi to choose his own path and it was not easy to interfere any more. But in fact, he was also confused in his heart, because he didn't understand why Hemi agreed to such a request.

"As you know—"

The words of Barritt at the banquet sounded in Joel's ears. His expression seemed to forget what he would say at any time. Of course, Joel knew that he was just saying what he wanted to say for the old lord.

"The holy tree in the Sentinel Town church is sick - ha, if the leaves fall off and the bark peels off is only considered sick. The monks came to us with a pale face and asked us to ask for help from the church in the royal capital, so the royal capital immediately sent the Neville.

"Newellen blamed the withering of the Holy Tree on the activity of the cultists - you probably have heard similar rumors, right? The Beggar Brotherhood has some connection with a certain evil sect. But no matter what, we have no definite evidence to prove them. Although Newellen conducted multiple investigations - to be honest, that guy is quite a good guy, but he still can't find out the traces of the cultists. That's a rumor, I'm not defending myself, what do you think I'm doing every day?

"I conducted an investigation as soon as the rumors first appeared. More than half of the beggar brothers had been locked in the dungeon by me, but even so, I did not find any clues about the cultists. In the end, I had to admit that this was just a rumor.

"But no matter what, the holy tree is no longer possible. And that Neville is still conducting an investigation on cultists, and we have been in such a deadlock for a while. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask this little saint to investigate cultists, but another thing. Another thing that may be somewhat related to cultists.

"Recently, farmers outside the Sentinel Town continued to enter the city to ask for protection from the lords - their animals began to disappear at night. At first, these farmers just came to complain and beg us to find the criminals. Our guards naturally went out, but they found nothing. Gradually, they also found something wrong. It seemed that several young and strong farmers wanted to catch the thief themselves at night, but unexpectedly they encountered some strange things. Don't ask me what that was. Those idiots were frightened by the screams and didn't even see what the other party was.

"Who knows what that is? Maybe it's just a hungry beast that ran out of the Valley of Wind. But rumors and panic have begun to spread. I have led the guards to go to night patrols several times, but I have found nothing. I even think it's just the peasants and the beggar brothers united to tease us. But as long as we don't go one day, the next day there will definitely be farmers coming over and crying that there are few chickens in their chicken coop, leaving only a few blood-stained feathers.

"If it's just a wild beast, that's the best. But if it's something else - like a troll - it's not something we can handle. Didn't you come from the north? You should be very good at dealing with this kind of thing? And the saint should know how to solve it, right?

"But no matter what the result is, we will tell Nawellen that the identity of the Saint has been verified, which is a good deal for both parties, right?"

"If the Saint, you should be able to find the criminal who steals animals?" After Barrit said that, the old lord looked at Hemi with his eyes curled up.

"Yes, please leave it to me."

Before Joel could make any statement, Hemi agreed immediately.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Contin." Hemi, who followed Joel, whispered, "I agreed."

"Did the saint agree to it?" Ronnie asked in surprise.

Joel pressed Ronnie's shoulder and then leaned forward. Ronnie turned her head and saw Joel's pale mask.

"Shut up." Joel said to Ronnie in a low voice. Ronnie frowned and broke away from Joel's hand, then retreated, but he didn't argue with Joel, but just frowned and looked at the other person.

Ronnie turned her head and looked at Hemi, who was hiding under the wide cloak, then bowed slightly and asked, "What is the way the saint can do, so did he agree?"

"Please, please don't call me Saint..." Hemi lowered his voice and said in panic, "Just call me Hemi."

"Let's talk about it later," Joel walked two steps closer to them, "get out of here first," and said, he raised his head and looked at the man holding a lantern standing at the gate of the mansion not far away. The other party was also looking at them coldly, "Now."

After saying that, Joel took Hemi's hand and pulled her towards the iron gate in the distance.

7
Chapter completed!