New Leaf City

Thinking of the shadow he had just seen, the captain of the security team suddenly became serious: "Where is my [friend] now?"

His wife noticed that he looked unhappy and asked cautiously, "Are you two not on good terms...? I asked him to go to the living room and wait for you."

"We have a good relationship, but he hasn't been here for a long time. I need to go and greet him in person."

The captain handed the snack to the other party, and his expression softened. "You go back and rest. I will take care of the things here."

The woman hesitated for a moment, took the snack and said softly, "Be careful, don't get hurt."

The tall man smiled at her tenderly, turned around and walked towards the living room with murderous intent.

As the town's military commander, he had a hall built in his house to receive distinguished guests. As he approached, the man's footsteps gradually became lighter. He listened attentively to the movement inside the door to prevent himself from attacking.

There were so many people who wanted to kill him, countless in these years. But none of them succeeded. He sneered in his heart. The behavior of this "friend" had touched his reverse scale. The only thing he would never tolerate was the threat to his family!

The garrison commander kicked open the living room door with a bang, full of murderous intent. The living room was empty, and the tea on the table was steaming. It was obvious that the guest had just left.

He squinted his eyes and quickly looked over to confirm that the other person had really just left. His face turned extremely ugly.

Damn it. Isn't this a naked provocation to him!?

Veins popped up on the back of the captain's hands as he searched the house from top to bottom. In the end, he only found a piece of paper pressed under the teacup.

[Dear sir, I admire the strong defense force of your town and the solidarity and mutual assistance of the townspeople. It is really admirable. In order to help you grow, I buried an insect egg nearby. I hope you like this gift. And, your wife made very good tea. ]

【From a kind passerby. 】

At the end of the note was a brilliant smiley face. Staring at the mocking smiley face, the captain was so angry that he trembled all over and threw the note to the ground.

"I cvo#w@! (local swear word)"

He drew out his sword in a rage and was about to chop it down on the table when he remembered that this was his monthly salary. After a while of rage, he had to bend down again to pick up the paper. He didn't want to sleep anymore and turned around and strode out the door.

His wife, who had been listening outside the door, came over with a worried look on her face: "Aren't you going to rest today?"

"Who can sleep after seeing this? I'm not coming back tonight, you should have a good rest."

This is the egg of disaster. Even if the opponent is playing a prank, the captain of the army can be trusted just by his silent stealth skills.

They were not afraid of someone lying, but they were afraid that some powerful person was really sick and had to find trouble in this small place. Thinking of this possibility, the blood vessels of the military captain were about to burst.

He banged his colleagues out of their homes, and they shouted with gritted teeth: "Don't sleep! Sleep, sleep, sleep, the insect disaster is knocking on your door! Hurry up and make a defense plan!"

The prisoner who caused this series of chaos glided across the roof lightly, glanced at the duo of surveillance who were still chatting animatedly, and shook his head inwardly.

With this level of work quality, the people in the Black Mist era would have been gone long ago.

The blond young man waiting in the yard stared at the door without blinking, and only breathed a sigh of relief after he landed in the yard and took the initiative to greet him.

"Are you okay?"

"It's a piece of cake."

The next morning, the caravan consul was bewildered when faced with the guards who came to investigate.

He immediately thought of whether there was a traitor in the team, and calmly dealt with the murderous and vengeful guards, and immediately called the two people who were in charge of monitoring yesterday. "Christine and the other two didn't do anything yesterday, right?"

The two people in charge of monitoring swore: "No, no, we were guarding outside the door the whole time, and not even a bird could fly out."

The consul casually threw a few copper coins at them and said in a cold voice: "That's the best. If you work sincerely for me, I will not miss out on your benefits. If you are lazy and do something you shouldn't do...haha, don't blame you for eating it, I will make you spit it out."

The two of them were startled and immediately began to speak well of their loyalty. The consul ignored their thoughts and told them to go back and continue monitoring.

Although the guards were strict, they did not stop them from leaving. After loading the last box of dry grain onto the vehicle, the Old Tree Forest Chamber of Commerce's convoy started on its way again.

As he passed the city gate, Oreius saw the captain of the garrison who had visited him yesterday.

The other party had big dark circles under his eyes and scolded the soldier who was using the stove. He was tall and fierce, and he looked like a man who had been on the battlefield. He was very sensitive to other people's gazes. The gaze that fell on him was full of blood. The captain's arms were covered with goose bumps, and he thought to himself: This must be a strong man!

He turned his head sharply and met a pair of dark golden eyes. The red-haired young man was standing in the convoy and smiled at him in a friendly manner. There was also a hint of familiarity in his expression.

Strange, have we met before?

Such a distinctive person must be impressive. The captain of the military was confused and thought about it, but he couldn't find the corresponding company in his mind. He watched the team go farther and farther, until he could no longer see the figure of the old tree caravan. The man came to his senses and frowned at the soldier in front of him.

"Why are you still here if you're not going back to your duty?"

"Captain, you didn't let me go back just now."

"Good boy, you still dare to say it's my fault? Come, let's practice a few moves."

"...No, no, no, Captain, I'm wrong. It must be my fault! Ouch! Be gentle, don't take out your anger for not sleeping all night on me!"

"What did you say? Say it again to me? Who would take out their anger on you?"

“….”

As the sound of horse hooves faded into the distance, Christine asked in a low voice, "What did you tell them yesterday? It turned out to be so effective."

"secret."

"...There's no need to keep it a secret at this point, right?"

"You'll know sooner or later anyway."

"???"

The closer we got to the south, the more people started talking about insect disasters.

As Christine and the innkeeper had said, the journey to the south was not short. They had to travel a long way and cross several national borders.

Fortunately, the Old Forest Caravan was very resourceful and obtained the corresponding permits in advance, making the journey much easier.

With Christian and Aurelius around, the road is smooth.

Along with this came a rumor that a powerful man had gone mad and specifically attacked prosperous towns, sending out warning letters at night.

The content of the letter was nothing more than one sentence: In order to test whether your town is united, I have buried an insect egg next to your town, hoping that you will work together to overcome the difficulties.

The towns that were innocently affected were furious, and the situation reached a peak when a town actually found traces of the plague around them. These towns raised their alerts and jointly launched a wanted list for the strong man who had defected to the enemy. Even Christine received a special invitation letter, which was a special letter sent only to the top ten strong men in the Mercenary Association's hunting performance.

The blond young man read the invitation letter quickly and couldn't help complaining: "They must have made a mistake. How can there be such a boring strong man?"

Oreius: "..."

Christine: "Honestly, the most boring demigod I've ever seen was someone who had been piling stones in the Far North for two hundred years, but he was not as bored as this guy. Piling stones is to train one's will and body, but what does this guy want? Fame? He might as well just say that he joined the Insects."

Oreius: "......"

Christine: "Aureus, why don't you say anything?"

The red-haired young man looked at him dimly. After a while, Christine's smile froze.

He looked down at the invitation letter in his hand, looked up at the silent young man, looked down at the letter again, looked up at the other person again, and looked down again...

After repeating this several times, he twitched his lips and said, "It can't be you, but there are more people who received the letter than just those of us on the road."

Oleus's eyes wandered: "In order to conceal my tracks, I also sent a few to other places."

Christine: "It's not that close."

Oreius: "That's not something that can be solved in half a night. This place is much safer than where I came from."

Christine: “So it’s really you?”

Oreius: “Yes.”

Christine: “…”

Oreius: "......"

The blond young man silently crumpled up the recommendation letter and burned it on a candle until it turned to ashes. He said bitterly, "I asked you to pass on the information, but I didn't ask you to actually make yourself a wanted criminal, did I?"

The red-haired man looked up and down but not at him: "Isn't it faster this way? You see, if you go there as an ordinary person and say there is an insect plague nearby, the other party will definitely be suspicious and question you. But as long as you go there as an enemy, even if you can't produce any evidence, you will be taken seriously immediately."

Christine looked doubtful: "What on earth made you develop such an idea?"

Of course it was the Dark Ages.

Look at Ai Bo, his actions are so many that Mason has developed a kind of reflex. Wherever this guy appears, there must be a conspiracy, so the profiteers have not left the capital yet, fearing that if the vest leaves, Ai Bo will make a big news.

"Forget it, I'll take care of these things for you. Don't do this kind of thing again when you enter Xinye City."

Oleus nodded obediently. Christian felt a little uneasy, but he had no choice but to give him many instructions and determined to keep a close eye on him.

In this atmosphere, the caravan hurried and finally arrived at Xinye City.

As the headquarters of the Church of the Goddess of Fate, the layout of New Leaf City is like a Moebius ring. The double-ringed city walls are connected together, symbolizing the infinity and cycle of fate.

The inspection at the gate was extremely strict. The heavily armed guards checked the carriages and verified identities one by one. The waiting line was very long, but surprisingly no one complained.

The Lao Shulin Chamber of Commerce has special permission, so we went through the Chamber of Commerce entrance. On the left is the normal queue passage.

Many ordinary civilians lined up in that passage, carrying large and small bags, dragging their families with them, and with deep fatigue on their faces. They were all disaster victims who had rushed here from further south, and their tattered clothes formed a sharp contrast with the well-equipped Chamber of Commerce, which was unforgettable.

Christine looked at these disaster victims and sighed deeply: "I have been to New Leaf City before. It was spring here at that time, with flowers blooming and fields everywhere, especially in the south of New Leaf City. The south was once a rich granary, but now it has become like this. The impact of the insect disaster is really too great."

No matter what era, the most suffering people are always the lowest class.

The impact of the insect disaster is far-reaching. The Lao Shulin caravan came via the inland route, so the situation was relatively good. However, Xinye City gathers people from all directions, and the area south of Xinye City is a high-incidence area for insect disasters, which has been severely affected.

Seeing this, Christian, who was revisiting the old place, had no interest in talking. Oreus did not interrupt him, but observed the place silently.

The caravan entered the city safely and found a place to stay. After unloading the goods, the consul of the Old Tree Forest Caravan immediately found the two people and respectfully handed over the wages.

"Thank you for your care on the way."

The implication is self-evident: the matter ends here, and we hope that both sides can take a step back and not pursue the matter further.

A consul is not a fool, and he can more or less tell something from the two men's actions. Orelius took a look and found that the two men who had monitored him were not among the caravan. It seemed that the consul also knew that these two men were unreliable.

He accepted the money and said, "I hope this won't happen again."

"Sure, sure."

The consul smiled apologetically, exchanged some pretentious greetings with them, and then immediately sent them out. It looked like he wished he would never see them again in his lifetime. Christine shrugged, a helpless look on his face: "This is the first time I've been so disliked by someone."

"If you stay with me, you might be able to experience it more times in the future."

"That sounds good." The blond knight was eager to try. "What should we do next? Should we go to the Temple of the Astrologer to have a look?"

"I want to go to the south first. Although the Old Forest Chamber of Commerce is unreliable, the insect disaster is related to whether they can reach New Leaf City in time. They will definitely communicate with the temple."

“I want to prove something else.”

As Aurelius spoke, he unconsciously pressed the gauze on his wrist with his palm.

Since coming here, his healing ability has been greatly hindered. The blood began to corrode his body, and the wound on his wrist has not healed yet. Problems with his dominant hand have a great impact on his combat effectiveness, so he has to solve this problem first.

Christine thought about it and agreed with him: "Then let's go to the south first. I also have something I want to prove."

Oleus stared at him for a while, and suddenly asked: "Christian, how many divine marks do you have now?"

"Hmm? Five."

Christine answered openly that it was no secret. Every time he received the favor of God, he would make a big splash. Only a few people like the young man were unaware of it.

Five...

The red-haired young man silently said in his heart. When Canaan returned for the second time, Christine said that it was after he obtained the three divine seals that the goddess of fate took the initiative to find him.

"I have a guess. Maybe the goddess of fate has already started looking for the culprit of the insect plague. And you are the core of this matter. If I am not mistaken, you will get some benefits every time you kill a bug."

Christine's eyes flashed with cunning: "Aren't you the same? If the mark hadn't reacted, I would have thought that you were also the one favored by the goddess of fate."

Aurelius made no secret: "Killing bugs can heal my injuries."

Christine's eyes lit up: "That's great! Your wounds haven't healed yet, I was worried."

"Don't you want to know how I can do this?"

"Everyone has secrets. All I need is to know that you are my friend."

A smile flashed in Oleus' eyes: "I see, so we are friends now?"

"Maybe - they can be considered as temporary master and apprentice?"

Christine made a light joke, with a slight smile on his face. The two of them changed direction while chatting and walked towards the South Gate. Unexpectedly, they were stopped by soldiers just as they approached.

The fully armed soldier said politely: "Sorry, the South Gate of Xinye City is now closed to traffic."

Aurelius looked at the patrol teams coming and going behind him and the locked city gates: "What if we want to go south?"

“You need to apply to the church and the local governor, and you can enter after getting the paperwork.”

The blond young man asked unwillingly, "No room for negotiation?"

The soldier didn't fall for it at all. The spears in his hands flashed coldly and were crossed to block their way. The two men had no choice but to return the same way they came.

Walking to the corner, Christine scratched her hair in distress: "This is bad. Although I know astrologers, their approval procedures are very complicated. They must be combined with the revelation of the goddess of fate..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, look at the stars. I will start reviewing documents when the time is right. If the time is not right, I can't even see anyone."

"So what does it mean that the time has come and the time has not come?"

Christine threw up his hands helplessly: "That's the problem. Whether they show up or not depends on whether they want to work today. If they don't want to work, they won't show up."

"That's all I can do. I have an idea."

"I have an idea, too."

The two smiled at each other and observed the guards' shifts. They quickly found the gap in the shift change, which was difficult for ordinary people to grasp, but easy for the two of them.

The two men took advantage of the gap between shifts, suddenly jumped out from their hiding place, stepped on the city wall and used the force to fly, moving as if they were walking on flat ground without using any special abilities.

All the guards were startled by them, and when they reacted, they shouted: "Someone rushed out! Stop them quickly!"

Oleus swiftly dodged the patrolling soldiers on the city wall and said hurriedly, "Hurry, it's time for you to come out."

"Is this the only time you want me to take action?!" The blond-haired young man shouted helplessly, "I'm sorry, please tell the archbishop. Later, I, the God-favored Knight Christine, will come to your house in person to apologize!"

The name really shocked the soldiers. They lost the chance to catch them after a moment's hesitation. They watched the two men jump over the wall. The guards looked at each other, and one of them asked hesitantly, "Is he really Christine? The legendary knight favored by God?"

The other rolled his eyes and said, "Who knows? Go back and report to the Archbishop. But I know a way to confirm it."

The others pricked up their ears: "What is it?"

The man said firmly: "Those who can come back from the insect disaster are the real ones, and those who can't come back are not the real ones!"