The merchant girl hugged her knees and squatted in the ruins. Occasionally, she would stretch out her slender neck to look at the situation outside. Her brown eyes darted around until she saw that there were no more soldiers outside. Then, she patted the dust off her skirt and stood up.
"Ha —" She let out a long sigh and asked, "Sister White, this is the Holy Cathedral, but I don't think I saw Brando's face!"
The one called 'Big Sister White' was a contract spirit in the form of a woman. Her upper body was that of a beautiful woman, with a pair of elf-like pointy ears. However, her lower body seemed to be transparent, made up of swirling dust and air currents.
This female figure was called a contract spirit in the ancient witchcraft literature recorded on red parchment. Although the Witch Queen could contract any contract spirit, she was especially fond of White Mist, the Queen of North Wind. White Mist was the keeper of knowledge on the glacier. The Queen of Ice left it to the Roman, hoping to borrow its wisdom and experience.
White Mist was a beautiful woman, but she had a pair of lifeless eyes. She glanced at the Roman and answered weakly, "Fate is in front of you and behind you. Mortals can grasp its direction, but they cannot see its form."
"I just felt that Brando should be there. Is the divination accurate, Sister White?" The merchant girl could not help but ask curiously.
"Divination is to ask yourself. If you believe it, it will be there. If you don't, it won't be there."
The Roman tilted her head. She did not know if she understood, but she walked confidently in a certain direction. After two steps, she stopped and took two steps back. Then, she picked up a spiked hammer from the ruins.
This was a holy weapon used by the clerics to exorcise evil spirits. The silver spiked hammer's handle was engraved with delicate patterns, and the head of the hammer was injected with a Holy Bullet. Usually, the clerics would be careful with it. However, the merchant girl did not seem to have such a concept. She waved it around and nodded with satisfaction.
"You want to use this to protect yourself? Wisdom and knowledge are more effective. "White Mist shook her head and disagreed.
"Yes, I used to have a hammer in Bucce. However, it was later lost by Brando. " The Roman couldn't figure out which skeleton had picked up the hammer in the end. Anyway, he decided to frame Brando first. It was impossible for a merchant like him to be careless. It was all Brando's fault!
Brando sneezed for no reason.
The two of them passed through the ruins of the Anderla Cathedral. Just as they were about to reach a certain spot, there was a sudden crashing sound. The rubble loosened and rolled down from the slanted wall. Then, a person came out from below. The man was wearing a noble's formal attire and had a long sword at his waist. However, his hair and clothes were covered in white lime powder, making him look dusty.
Benninger blinked his eyes. It took him a while to get used to the sunlight outside. When he left through the secret passage, he did not expect the ground to crack open and lava to gush out in all directions. His followers were buried in the sea of fire. He relied on his family's talisman to survive. Then, he used his memory of the secret passage under the cathedral to find a way to escape.
He pushed open the stone wall and saw a beautiful person standing not too far away from him. She had her hands behind her back and was staring at him with her mouth agape. Benninger was meticulous and had an amazing memory. Even though he had only seen the Roman once, when she was with Magadal, he recognized her immediately.
"Miss Roman?"
"Ah," the Roman was slightly stunned. "You … How do you recognize me?"
"It's me, Benninger. Miss Roman, do you still remember me? I'm with the princess. We've met before. "Benninger was secretly happy to see that the girl was so gullible. He did not know what happened outside the cathedral, but he guessed that the two sides were at war. The girl in front of him was obviously very close to Brando. If he could get his hands on her, the princess would have one less ally.
"Oh, oh," the Roman nodded seriously. "I know. Since you recognized me, there's nothing I can do about it!"
"Ah?" Benninger was slightly stunned. What's with this conversation? "Wait, I'm the princess —"
Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that Romaine would make a move just like that. What was even more unexpected was that Romaine had hidden her trump card behind her back. By the time he reacted, Romaine had already raised her mace and swung it at his head.
Viscount Benninger himself was at the pinnacle of Iron-ranked. Normally, being hit by a hammer from an ordinary person would only cause him a little pain. However, he did not expect the mace that Miss Merchant had picked up was also a ceremonial item. When the mace hit his head, there was a burst of golden light.
Our poor Benninger let out a scream and fainted.
"You're obviously a man, but you still want to pretend to be a princess. Don't be like that," the Roman snorted and mocked him, imitating Brando's idiom. White Mist looked at her speechlessly.
"But this guy seems to be quite strong. I don't think that hit was enough to kill him. He'll wake up soon. You'd better find something to tie him up." However, the Contract Spirit was not a kind-hearted person. Her duty was only to ensure the safety of her contractor, not to teach her who was right and who was wrong.
The Roman agreed and quickly took out a white silk rope from her bag and tied Benninger up. Still not satisfied, she took out a purple silk rope and did the same. White Mist sighed. These two ropes had a great history. One was given to her by the Queen of Ice, 'Olemis's Silk', which could connect the mortal realm to the Kingdom of the Dead. If a mortal walked along this rope, they would be able to enter the Kingdom of the Dead. The other was the Witch Queen's inheritance, 'Tyvo's Hair'. Tyvo was the king of the Titans in Wohnde. Legend had it that he was extremely strong, and even his hair had the ability to pull anything up. This hair also had the ability to increase one's strength. However, the Roman actually used it to tie someone up.
It was a waste. However, it was definitely sturdy. Just as White Mist said, Benninger only fainted for a short while before waking up. His peak Iron-ranked strength was much stronger than normal people. However, he immediately realized that he was tied up. He did not know what the rope was made of, but it looked no different from a normal silk rope. He struggled for a while, but it did not budge at all.
"What is the meaning of this, Miss Roman?" Benninger raised his head and asked in exasperation. His fair face and forehead were red, and there were even a few drops of blood oozing out. He looked like a plum blossom petal in the snow. It was a pitiful sight.
"A captive." The Roman answered matter-of-factly.
"But I am on the princess's side, Miss Roman. I am Mr. Brando's friend. Her Highness and Mr. Brando are being framed by the Holy Cathedral of Fire and the nobles in the north. They are in danger, we have to hurry and help them!" Benninger could not help but shout at the top of his lungs. His face was filled with sincerity. He was born with a face that women adored, and in a moment of desperation, he really looked like one.
The Roman raised her eyebrows and asked seriously, "You said that Brando is in danger. Who are you?"
"I am Benninger, Viscount Roman. Don't you remember me, Miss Roman?" Benninger sighed. He was so angry that he was about to go crazy. Unfortunately, he was on the chopping block and could only endure.
"Oh, oh, I remember now! You are that Viscount Benninger! " The merchant girl looked as if she had just realized something. At the same time, she raised her mace and hit him on the head.
"Ah —!"
The Grenade of Holy Light had already been used, so Benninger did not faint this time. However, the pain made him cry uncontrollably. "What the hell is going on now? What did I say wrong again? "His head was buzzing, and at the same time, he felt like he could hear ten thousand people talking in his ears.
"This guy is up to no good. He is lying to you. But how did you find out?"
"Oh, I didn't find out," the Roman answered matter-of-factly. "I hate that Viscount Benninger the most. He is even more handsome than Brando. He must be a bad guy."
"I …" Viscount Benninger's heart was bleeding. What kind of logic was this? For the first time, he felt that his intelligence was completely useless, because the other party was completely unreasonable …
Although White Mist was speechless, with her wisdom, she would not be so shallow. She nodded. "Your intuition is very sharp. This may be the reason why she chose you to inherit this legacy. A witch needs to see through the fog and see through the threads of fate. The eyes of the soul are far better than the eyes of the mortal world."
"Then how should we deal with him?" The merchant girl was a little smug.
"He wants to lie to you. He must be up to something. You can ask him what his original plan was. People can lie, but they can't hide their desires. "White Mist answered.
Viscount Benninger's face turned pale. The other party did not try to hide their conversation from him. He could tell that although the merchant girl in front of him looked gullible, the person beside her was a person with great wisdom.
People like him, who prided themselves on their intelligence, preferred to solve problems with their brains instead of violence. Benninger had always looked down on those barbaric soldiers, but when he was in a difficult situation, he could not help but tremble in fear.
"Why did you lie to me?" The Roman squatted down beside him and tilted her head to look at the Viscount.
"I … I didn't lie to you, Miss Roman. Everything I said is true." Viscount Benninger clenched his teeth. Although he knew that he would not succeed, he still needed a little bit of luck.
"Tell me the truth."
"Everything I said is …" As soon as Benninger opened his mouth, he realized that something was wrong. It was as if his mouth was not listening to him, and he stuttered out his intentions.
He looked at the Roman in horror. If he had known that she was a witch, he would have turned around and left the moment he saw her.
Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets.
"You really are a bad guy," the Roman heard that Benninger was trying to trick her to blackmail Brando. She could not help but hit Benninger with her mace. Benninger hugged his head and screamed in pain, tears and snot running down his face. "You said that Brando is the Count, what is that all about?"
Benninger was tortured to the point where he did not look like a human anymore, but he was still very honest. He quickly replied with tears and snot running down his face, "Miss Roman … Marquis Yoakam told us that Mr. Brando might be the real Count Yanbao. Everyone thought that he was a Highland Knight or just a bandit from Tónigel. However, according to the information I received, both are unlikely. Mr. Brando first appeared in our sights after the incident at Fortress Riedon. He was not a Highland Knight, but his actions were that of a noble. This cannot be faked, and as far as I know, there is no such person in the noble circle …"
"So we thought that he might be a descendant of an unknown noble in the kingdom, or an alias. Now, it seems that Marquis Yoakam's judgment may be correct … "
"I see. Sister White, what do you think?"
"This person wants to harm that person, and you want to help that person. Conspiracies are like chains. Why don't you ask him what he is most afraid of?" White Mist looked at the Viscount who was lying limp on the ground, expressionless.
Benninger's face was suddenly filled with fear, horror, and unwillingness.
"I …"
"Oh? Satisfy the Roman's curiosity? "
… …
(PS: Today is 3000 words. Take a break and prepare for the end of the month. Tomorrow is the great adventure of the little Roman and White Mist!) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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