"Mental illness" in this era was attributed to illusory spells such as "illusion curse", but as a modern person, Roddy's view of these illnesses was much more objective.
Roddy understood "claustrophobia", "agoraphobia" and "darkness phobia", so he was very clear that Akasha's current situation was indeed terrible. If she had the slightest ability to think, she would not directly enter Roddy's tent.
"Stop first, don't drill."
"I, I, I …"
"I won't go, and you don't move either. I'll talk and you listen, okay?"
The thin and simple tent finally stopped swaying. In the small space, Akasha shrunk into a ball in fear. Roddy helplessly covered his face, only smelling the faint fragrance of her body …
What is this called? Does an otaku also have a spring?
Thinking back to the time when he was in the game, he was like a lone star, unloved by his grandmother and uncles. As a result, after transmigrating, his luck with women seemed to be dozens of times better than before. It was really sad and lamentable …
If it was an ordinary person, perhaps the only thing they would think of was to take advantage of the situation, but Roddy had never relaxed his vigilance towards Akasha. Although he hoped that this "Divine Priest" could join the team to help, he really did not dare to casually trust her before he knew her background.
So after stopping Akasha, Roddy bluntly said, "I know you are afraid, but I want to ask … What are you afraid of?"
"I … I am afraid of the dark …"
The tent was dark at this time. When Akasha said this, her fingers were tightly grasping Roddy's arm. Under extreme fear, her actions were completely instinctive, and she had no ability to think at all.
"Relax, I said relax …" Roddy spent a long time to pry Akasha's hand away. After thinking for a while, he directly raised his hand and activated the light on the ring.
When the soft light appeared, Roddy could clearly feel that Akasha's body seemed to relax a lot. Her slightly red eyes stared at the glowing ring, and her somewhat rapid breathing gradually calmed down.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"En …"
"That's good. I happen to have some questions for you. Sit here and answer them."
Akasha hurriedly nodded, but her body moved closer to Roddy, as if she wanted to be closer to the light.
Roddy had nowhere to hide, so he could only lean back and say, "Tell me about your past, where did you come from, and how did you meet me in that damned place?"
He originally thought that Akasha would evade or refuse to say anything, but he never thought that she would immediately reveal everything without hiding anything. How did she enter the "Viper Cross", how did she come to Hollier City, why did she want to leave the Church … Akasha had no intention of hiding anything at all. She told him everything.
These things had been suppressed in her heart for too long. To a large extent, Akasha's depression and fear were caused by the accumulation of negative emotions. And Roddy's question just happened to open her mouth, allowing her accumulated pain, depression, and sadness to finally find a way to vent …
With Akasha's narration, Roddy finally understood that the secret passage in Hollier City was created by the "Viper Cross", and her appearance in the "Ancient Records Room" was because of the Snake King Sakya …
Roddy listened quietly. Although he had never studied psychology, he was used to analyzing and solving problems rationally. Obviously, what Akasha lacked the most now was a "sense of security", and what he needed was her healing magic. If that was the case …
His eyes suddenly lit up, and he suddenly thought of an almost forgotten method.
After Akasha finished narrating her experience, the accumulated negative emotions were cleared. She found that her fear seemed to have lessened a lot, and her originally blank mind slowly recovered its ability to think. She rubbed her red and swollen eyes and said in a low voice, "I … I feel better …"
Roddy did not expect that he had accidentally made Akasha's "mental illness" feel better, but he had to press on. He thought for a moment and said his solution, "Your experience is very complicated, so I can give you two choices now. One, like the two mercenaries, accept my employment for three months, and I will sign a contract to ensure the validity of the contract.
Or … you can choose to follow me. My subordinates have territories in the kingdom, and you can have a new, legal identity. At the same time, you will no longer have to worry about the church's revenge on you. "
"Give me an answer when you have thought about it."
Roddy's words could be said to be to the point. Because a "new identity" and the guarantee of personal safety was what Akasha needed at the moment!
So she immediately replied excitedly, "I-I choose to follow you!"
After saying this, Akasha found that she actually exhaled involuntarily, and her body was suddenly filled with an inexplicable power …
Roddy did not know that his decision had completely changed Akasha. At this time, he was looking at the interface in front of him with a perturbed mood, and after seeing the dialog box that popped up, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
[Do you want to accept Akasha as your follower?]
Without hesitation, Roddy chose [Accept].
"Follower Contract", this was the method that Roddy had just thought of. This was a contractual connection that the players had long ignored, but it immediately solved the problem that both of them were vexed about: Akasha was forced by the system to become a comrade who could not threaten Roddy, and Roddy provided her with protection, solving the problem!
The effect of this contract was very straightforward: Roddy would keep 95% of the experience he gained in the future, and the remaining 5% would be given to Akasha as a "reward", and Akasha was obliged to unconditionally assist Roddy in battle.
Previously, his relationship with Sodelor and the others was built on the basis of being subordinates in the military system. After that, they became comrades who had killed their way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood together. It had long been abnormally stable, so Roddy had completely forgotten that there was such a contract in the game that could bind NPCs … In the game, "Follower" could only be between NPCs and players, but players generally had no interest in NPCs who could not be resurrected, so the "Follower Contract" had always been unpopular and almost forgotten.
But at this time, such an unpopular contract had immediately become a "control" method. With the restriction of the contract, Akasha had to assist Roddy in battle, and he only needed to lose 5% of his experience in exchange for a "healer" who would not betray him … This was definitely a good deal for Roddy who "could not afford to die".
He was in a good mood. Seeing that Akasha was still sitting, he said, "Are you feeling better now? Then go back and rest early. "
Akasha was trying hard to adapt to her new role. Although her mental state had improved a lot, her fear of the dark did not immediately disappear. She looked at Roddy's ring, wanting to say something but hesitated. Finally, she whispered, "Can … can you keep it lit? I'm still a little afraid of the dark … "
Roddy raised his eyebrows, then happily reached out to take off the ring and directly placed it on Akasha's palm. "In the future, you can take it. If you're afraid of the dark, just light it."
With the contract, Rody was not afraid that Akasha would run away with the ring. He did this because he trusted the 'contract' and not because he trusted Akasha. However, Akasha did not see it that way. She held the warm ring and was instantly moved to the point that she did not know what to say. With tears in her eyes, she put it on her hand.
Roddy did not realize the crux of the matter. After sending her to her original tent, he went back to rest. But Akasha, who was lying on the simple bed, did not sleep for half the night. She just stared blankly at the ring that dispelled the darkness and fear. She whispered to herself, "Is this the feeling of being trusted …"
She sighed softly. For many years … Akasha had never been as calm and satisfied as she was at this moment.
***
Elon Calendar, Year 588, October 23rd.
Under the gloomy sky, Gigg Town outside the Forest of Silence gradually became deserted. There was no longer the bustling hawkers in the cold air. Even during the day, the streets seemed empty. Only a few big shops, such as the Mercenary Guild and the herb shop in the central area, were still open. But they were deserted and had few customers.
For humans in this era, when the cold winter arrived, all activities outside would be avoided as much as possible. Not to mention that Gigg Town's taxes this year were much heavier than in the past, so the income-strapped residents did not have the leisure to carry out other trades.
Where there was poverty, there was wealth. In this era where the gap between the rich and the poor was extreme, no matter how many homeless beggars froze to death on the streets, the nobles would still sit in front of the warm fireplace and enjoy exquisite food as if nothing had happened.
As the owner of Gigg Town, Viscount Tranka was the same.
In the master bedroom of the 'Ford Manor', the viscount was choosing clothes for the banquet under the service of a maid. Tall and handsome, he could be considered a famous romantic figure in the Efta territory. At this moment, the viscount was thinking about which noble lady he should invite to the banquet tonight to spend the night with. His gaze was quite contented as he looked at the fit and beautiful figure in the full-length mirror.
The narcissistic viscount was about to ask the maid to bring another set of clothes, but when he turned around, he found that the two maids had already fallen to the ground, completely unconscious …
"Who?!"
He turned around and found a figure in a black robe standing silently behind him. On the other party's old and ugly face, a pair of cold grey eyes stared straight at him indifferently.
"Lord Ansadin."
In the next moment, Viscount Tranka knelt down on one knee and called out the name of the necromancer in front of him …
Obviously, this viscount in the Efta territory had long become the most obedient lackey under Ansadin.
"I received your reply. Well done. Now that the resources collected are enough, the next stage of preparation can already begin."
Ansadin's words made Tranka a little excited. He hurriedly replied, "For His Majesty Augustine, it's worth doing more!"
In order to raise funds for Ansadin, Tranka raised the various taxes this year by a full 40%, causing complaints in the territory. However, it was obvious that the lives of the civilians were insignificant compared to his "great" goal …
Tranka was one of the puppets created by the 'Soul Extraction Potion'. Although it was a puppet, it still retained its original consciousness and behavior. Before encountering the 'Puppet Lord', it behaved no different from a normal person.
In addition, Ansadin usually did not let him come into contact with the intelligence network of the undead. Therefore, such a puppet was completely untraceable and had no flaws.
"I have something to say," Ansadin's voice was low and cold, "The experiment will be postponed for the time being. Give me the information of the lord of Paar."
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