Enzo got furious when he heard this, and slammed his square-headed hammer down on the ground:
"Bullshit! Mark! What the hell do you mean? Do you look down on me? Do you think I'm scared? Let's die together! I..."
It's true that he was somewhat following his heart, but if Mark and Monica both decided to stay, he definitely didn't want to be left out!
"Enzo!" Mark interrupted him, his voice low but filled with unquestionable authority, "This is not the time to be a hero! We need backup! We need a pair of eyes outside the danger zone! You and Anna are our only trustworthy escape route right now!"
He walked up to Enzo and stared at the dwarf's face, which had turned even darker due to anger and worry.
"Listen, your mission and Anna's are equally important, perhaps even more crucial! Leave Maple Leaf Town immediately and wait in a secluded place with a good view outside the town. If Monica and I don't come out before dawn, or if you see anything unusual happening in the town..."
Mark took a deep breath, his tone extremely solemn:
"Don't hesitate! Immediately, immediately, return to Osborne Town as quickly as possible! Go find the Black Gold Gang, or go directly to Kyle and Ruby! Tell them everything that happened here! Only if you leave safely can we be rescued! Do you understand?"
Enzo opened his mouth, his chest heaving violently, and his small eyes stared at Mark.
Of course he understood what Mark meant. This arrangement was impeccable intellectually, but emotionally it made him feel like he was deserting the battlefield.
Finally, he spat fiercely, his voice hoarse with unwillingness: "Fuck! Damn it! Fine! I... I'll listen to you! But if you two dare to die in there, I'll dig three feet into the ground to pull out that damn wild god and hammer him into sugar slag! Do you hear me?"
Anna's emerald eyes scanned back and forth between Mark and Monica's faces, her cold face full of worry.
She didn't say anything, but nodded vigorously, her fingers tightly clenched around the cold feathers of the Demon-Breaking Arrow, as if making a silent promise.
When Enzo's harsh cursing voice and Anna's light footsteps finally disappeared outside the heavy oak door of the church.
The deserted courtyard returned to dead silence, with only the night wind weeping through the tall grass.
The dim light of the fluorite lamp swayed in the corner of the prayer room, stretching the figures of Mark and Monica and casting them on the dusty dust sheet, like two ghosts trapped in the amber of time.
Mark looked around this overly neat forgotten place, his eyes finally falling back on Monica.
She was holding Xiao Mu and walked silently towards an inconspicuous low cabinet deep in the library.
The cabinet was embedded in the lower side of the bookshelf and blended into the shadow of the wall. If it weren't for the faint light of her identification skills constantly flowing in her wine-red pupils, it would be almost impossible to detect this hidden wooden cabinet.
"There's something wrong here." Monica's voice sounded particularly clear in the empty library, with the confidence of an appraiser locking onto a target.
She gathered a faint trace of magic on her fingertips and gently brushed across a tiny groove on the edge of the cabinet door that was covered with dust and almost blended into the wood grain.
“Click.”
There was a soft sound, extremely harsh in the silence.
The door of the low cabinet opened a crack inward, and the accumulated dust fell down.
There was no chilling feeling of traps and mechanisms, only a richer, more intimate scent of old paper.
There wasn't much space inside the cabinet, containing only a dark brown leather notebook and a feather pen whose nib had long since dried up.
The leather of the notebook was worn and white, and the corners were curled up, obviously it had been read frequently.
Monica carefully took out the notebook and blew away the thick dust on the cover.
There was no emblem or name on the cover, only a single line of faded ink, written in clear and neat strokes:
“May the holy light guide us, the maple leaves remain evergreen, and our hearts remain warm.”
She turned to the first page.
Under the dim light, the handwriting that comes into view is neat and beautiful, with the youthful vigor and an almost pious idealism.
[Holy Light Year 3175, Winter Calendar, November 3rd, Sunny.]
[Finally returned to Maple Leaf Town after seven years.
The grandeur and bustle of the holy city seem like a world away. Only when I set foot on the barren land of my hometown and breathe the air with the smell of soil and dead grass, can my wandering heart truly settle down.
By the Light, I return with the hope of changing it.
The town remains dilapidated.
There are low thatched houses and muddy paths, and people’s faces show fatigue from years of hard work and worries about the harvest.
In my memory, winter is always the most difficult time. The cold wind can penetrate the thickest thatch, and the thin oatmeal porridge cannot fill the empty eyes of children.
It was in a winter like this that my father, in order to save a bite of food... (The ink is slightly blurred here)
The mentor is right, the holy light shines everywhere, but it takes wisdom and hands to dispel the haze of poverty.
I think I found the key - maple syrup.
I found it among the dusty pages of "A Study of Northern Scenery: Ancient Scrolls" in the Holy City Library!
It turns out that the sugar maple trees that we see all over the mountains and that we think of as useless actually hold such sweet miracles!
The ancient elves called it "Tears of the Forest", which can give food supreme sweetness.
Although the extraction method is incomplete, the basic principle still exists: condense the power of frost, evaporate the essence of sap... Guided by the Holy Light, I will be able to recover!
Pure joy and a sense of mission leap between the lines of the notes.
Mark could imagine the gleam in the eyes of a young, idealistic monk as he discovered a treasure among the piles of old papers in the Holy City Library.
He sent his allowance back home so that his family could have more food to eat.
He brought back the secret of maple syrup in order to free his entire hometown from hunger and cold.
Monica continued to flip.
The contents of the notes gradually became fuller and busier, recording repeated failed attempts and the ecstasy of ultimate success.
[Year 3176 of the Holy Light Calendar, March 17th of the Spring Calendar, light rain.]
Success! My first drop of truly pure maple syrup!
Golden red like amber, sweet and intoxicating!
Little Lina, the granddaughter of Old Buck, tasted a little bit and smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into slits. She said it was like holding spring in her mouth.
At that moment, all the exhaustion was worth it.
Starting tomorrow, I will teach you! 】
[Year 3178 of the Holy Light Calendar, October 10th of the Autumn Calendar, clear skies.]
[Maple Leaf Town has changed!]
More and more new wooden houses were built, with roofs covered with sturdy wooden tiles instead of thatch.
The children's faces were flushed, and the sounds of chasing and playing were full of energy.
Our Maple Leaf Town’s unique candies and syrups began to appear in the market, and even passing caravans were willing to stop and buy them at high prices.
May the Holy Light have mercy on us, maple syrup truly brings abundance! 】
When Mark saw this, he could almost feel the satisfaction and relief flowing from the pen tip of the note owner.
The dream of changing a poor hometown is coming true.
However, after Monica turned a few pages, her handwriting was still neat, but the ink seemed darker, and an imperceptible confusion and worry began to seep out between the lines.
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