Chapter 83

After Xiaoman accepted the commission from Mithril City, it was not Yorutina but the princess who sent her back to the business.

Ceris El——The royal family of the Holy City, the eldest sister of the king.

Xiaoman had never been around people of such high status before, but she had dealt with a dragon before, so her feelings at this moment were just normal. No matter what the princess's true character was, at least she acted quite approachable in front of her.

Seeing the iconic crystal spires of the City of Commerce from afar, the princess said to Xiaoman before returning to the spellcaster's base alone: ​​"If you didn't have your own mission... I really want to write a letter to recommend you to join the guard and serve as the next decorated knight. But it's no use saying this now."

"Thank you. But I'm still far from being able to do that," Xiaoman said.

"Everyone is good at different things. Lord Amara is also completely clueless about leading troops or commanding subordinates. You are the same type of people. But what does it matter? Not being smart and cunning is sometimes an advantage. Neither the temple nor the royal family will ignore such a trustworthy force." The princess smiled.

"If I had ascended the throne at that time, I would have invited you to be my captain of the guard by now. Even if I failed, I would have tried several times. Unfortunately, I love magic more." She said with her hands spread out.

Xiaoman listened silently, and even she could vaguely sense the princess's somewhat dissatisfied attitude towards the royal family or the current rulers. But these things actually had nothing to do with her, just like the prosperity or fall of the royal family would not disturb the isolated little building in Lazarus.

After the princess went back, Xiaoman wandered aimlessly on the street. She was a little unsure whether to go see Amara again after returning.

Amara is very honest and very correct, but he is difficult to get along with.

He was known as the Sword of the Temple, and he really lived like a sword, cold and hard, without any of the softness that would make people love him.

He is very strong, but the strength he displays is achieved by forcing himself with extraordinary persistence. If Xiaoman had not come into contact with the teacher, Belu, or even Lielie, he might have believed that only this is what a strong person looks like.

As they walked, they arrived at the square on Xiaoman Road. Thinking of the unpleasant first encounter, the traveler turned and headed towards the city gate.

Since the plan included using herself as bait to lure "that person" into the trap, and Amara was in the city, she was not sure whether that person would temporarily stop and wait and see, so she decided to take the initiative to create conditions, such as visiting the towns around the Commercial City first.

Day one… Day two.

Money is easy to use anywhere in the world, and this is especially true in the commercial city. Behind the trends, transactions, and various job titles is the fast-flowing money. As a traveler who has traveled to many places, Xiaoman has deeply felt this.

At least before, she had never seen a beastman with golden blood willing to put aside his dignity and serve as a driver for a short and rich man in the form of a beast, and everyone around him was used to it.

In other places, even if they work as guards or even mortgage their freedom because of debt, they will not sell off their dignity as beastmen for money.

She felt uncomfortable seeing such scenes behind the extreme economic prosperity and could only stay away from them.

But Xiao Man was also curious about this - Chen Xing's wealth was probably no less than that of the most famous wealthy people in the City of Commerce, and she often heard Winchester's pseudonym from merchants who were either generous or stingy, so why did he stay in the City of Art? This is the soil and heart of commerce.

For this purpose, Xiaoman spent some money to inquire at the local mercenary guild, and soon someone who claimed to be well-informed explained this not-so-dangerous secret to her.

"Dinos is a free city with no real owner. It is protected by a force, so it exists like a rose. It is allowed to be moderately covered with dust, but it will not break and fall into the sewer and be destroyed all at once... That's what 'Winchester' means."

The middle-aged man who was deliberately mysterious spoke slowly.

It sounds like treating the potted flowers in his house, Xiao Man thought.

"More than 20 years ago, Winchester was still an active businessman. Later, even the royal family was jealous of the huge trade he manipulated. The signal of reconciliation between the two sides was that Winchester donated part of his property, drew a clear line with the Chamber of Commerce on the surface, and was quietly "exiled" to Dinos, never to leave. And the already declining Dinos family retreated to become a puppet of a group of flowers according to Winchester's wishes, and no one could arbitrarily interfere with his remaining hobbies and the development of his art. This is what happened back then."

"But as long as it's Winchester's intention, the Chamber of Commerce will of course give him face. This is the power of wealth." The man's tone was not without envy.

Xiaoman's reaction was rather indifferent. It seemed that she had little demand for the materials and services that the business could provide. Instead, she was more familiar with Chen Xing's state of being at the mercy of others.

But Yuan Qian was already feeling a little embarrassed when he heard this conversation through the broadcast.

I didn’t feel it was a problem when I used emotional values ​​to fill in the background before, but now that outsiders have pointed it out, it seems so childish!

[Don't worry, they are talking about No. 4, or even a pseudonym for No. 4. What does it have to do with you?]

That makes sense. Yuan Qian gave up thinking. However, the information that appeared in front of Xiaoman, the protagonist, would become the truth that could not be rewritten, so it would be useless for him to regret it.

He watched Xiaoman, who was vaguely disgusted with the culture of wealth supremacy, unknowingly move away from the center, and the route became more and more remote, and unexpectedly approached the location they had arranged in advance.

"You've expected this?" Yuan Qian couldn't help but have a changed opinion of his teammate. He felt that being a demon king does require real skills.

[It's just because I understand this habit of resisting noisy environments, and her impression of Amara will certainly make her pay more attention to the temple recently. Of course, it's just a gamble. It's good not to spend your affection points to change it.]

"It's great to be able to bet right."

[It's probably... a passive bond between the villain and the protagonist.]

"…That makes sense." Yuan Qian couldn't help but recall the villains in some stories, who couldn't escape the fate of being spotted by the protagonist in the crowd even when they changed into casual clothes to buy groceries during their vacation. The protagonist would then transform and question them about their conspiracy. This might be a strange manifestation of fate.

As he spoke, Yuan Qian watched Xiaoman walk down the slope and gradually approach the old monastery affiliated with the church.

The half-stone and half-wood fence wall is very low, and standing outside you can clearly see the orphans wearing neat linen clothes playing. Because of the remote location, the worthless wasteland can be used at will, and the area of ​​the monastery is quite large.

These children of different races and ages would suddenly gather together and run in one direction like the wind, and then run to another place after a while. It can be seen that nearly half of them are disabled, missing an eye or have problems with their legs and feet and often fall down while running, or they are like the rabbits who were abandoned after they were born because there were too many children.

They are very ordinary, not very strong, but they are alive and well.

Xiaoman stood outside silently, watching these beast orphans. In fact, if she lived a little closer to the town and was a beast, she would have been qualified to enter the monastery and receive this minimum level of care and protection.

The children were singing a monotonous song from time to time. Xiao Man listened carefully and pieced together a few complete passages from the chaotic singing:

"We crossed rivers and leaped over hills to find the wise man Biandu. We brought him the wings of the green worm, and he gave us gifts. He gave us smart arms full of eyes and hands full of teeth."

"Joan said, 'Put your nose somewhere else so it won't sting when you eat.'"

"As long as we expose the adults, we can get what we want, hello!"

Although the content of nursery rhymes is often strange, this one seems to be a little too strange, and sounds a little close to the sacrificial philosophy of some strange and unconventional sects. Xiaoman raised a little warning.

Just at this moment, an adult noticed Xiaoman standing outside the monastery, opened the door and walked out.

“I want to donate some money here.”

In response to the inquiry about the purpose of the visit, Xiaoman answered.

Even though the monastery was clearly strapped for cash, the hyena in his simple white robes looked skeptical.

So she said, "Because Your Excellency Amara saved me...I am grateful."

The reputation of the Sword of the Temple was immediately known. After hearing this reason, the other party's expression immediately relaxed. He was as friendly to Xiaoman as if she was a famous good person in the local area and a devout believer for many years. He even took the initiative to take Xiaoman inside for a tour.

The main building of the monastery was small and very different from those in the commercial city. The dome, dirty with years, was low and almost without any decoration, and the mud and bricks were exposed.

In the vestibule of the monastery there is usually a human-shaped statue of a star god, which shows signs of having just been thoroughly repaired, and it can be said that the repair is very beautiful.

However, in the eyes of Xiaoman, who is more knowledgeable than the locals, the biggest problem with this two-meter-tall statue is that... it actually has a certain aura that is very similar to the true body of a star god, and is completely different from the statues enshrined in other places in an inexplicable way.

Seeing Xiaoman standing still and gazing at the sculpture, the man smiled with some emotion and explained, "We originally wanted to save some money to hire a stonemason from the next town to repair the statue of God the Father, but the price there is rising every year. Thanks to Mr. Biandu's craftsmanship, the children can now have a few more loaves of bread."

Xiaoman withdrew his gaze from the statue and looked at her instead.

"Is Biandu one of your people?"

"No, but kind of. He passed by here more than a month ago and stayed with us temporarily, volunteering. It really helped a lot to have him around."

It was obvious that the Hyena nun was genuinely happy about this and had a good impression of that person.

"Is he here now? I want to talk to him." Xiaoman said.

The nun already trusted Xiaoman very much, so she happily took her to find "Biandu".

Walking through the corridors filled with miscellaneous items on both sides, near the wasteland where the orphans were playing, a man with a face that did not match the old outer wall was fiddling with a bowl, and there were several other things on the ground.

Small wooden sticks, carving knives, water pitchers and spoons, clay of different colors, and a clay lion doll that was mostly broken into pieces.

It's easy to see that he was trying to fix this poor child's toy.

——"You found me."

He raised his head and smiled at Xiaoman, his tone as if he were meeting an old friend again. His warm grey eyes were so calm that Xiaoman instantly felt as if she had returned to the past.

[I hope she can't beat me up again this time!]

Therefore, only Yuan Qian knew how suspicious this guy really was, and he was always ready to say a few harsh words and then run away. Although it was only No. 5 who was injured in the fight, his teammates obviously didn't like being beaten, and it was impossible for them to attack Xiaoman.

"I don't think so..." Yuan Qian said hesitantly. This protagonist is young, but he has a real self-will. He dare not boast that he fully understands Xiaoman's thoughts.

[Anyway, if you hit me again, I'll quit. You go ahead.] The tone of the adjutant's voice sounded like a wild cat confronting a human, full of caution before reacting to the next move.

"Okay, okay, then it's my turn." Yuan Qian agreed with a sense of responsibility. In fact, he felt that Xiao Man would not act rashly at this moment. She was not that impulsive. Moreover, she would definitely be more tolerant of No. 5, whose face was indeed similar to that of Su Mei's adult relative. Xiao Man's sentimentality was a trait that everyone could see since the author's seal and serialization.

But to be so sure would make him seem narcissistic about his performance, so he didn't say it for sure.