In the end, Laing didn't go looking for the dominion lord. Instead, he met Olivier on his way out and stayed at his place for the night. Olivier's caravan wasn't small at all. There were more than ten carriages and dozens of people. The carriages were filled to the brim with goods. The Empire merchants helped him clean up a clean room and Laing stayed there for the night.
The next morning, as promised, Laing and Teresa met up at the entrance of the inn. The two of them headed to the Church of Justice first.
The snowstorm swept through the streets. The streets were filled with people. The peddlers' cries and travelers' haggling could be heard everywhere. Every household had someone sweeping the snow in front of their door. Everyone was wearing leather hats and thick linen clothes. The Nords lived in the cold all year round, so the residents had developed a certain degree of resistance to the cold. On the other hand, there were some merchants who were shivering in their large cotton-padded jackets. They couldn't help but be mocked by the locals. The foreigners, on the other hand, cursed the weather in the North for being so cold.
The roads in Karzenhaven weren't specially built. They were mostly made of mud. The snow on the ground had been swept away to reveal black soil. The soil was frozen hard, but it was still quite comfortable to step on. As Laing walked in front, the citizens and travelers avoided him along the way.
In this era, the nobles were still the rulers of society. Even the wealthiest merchants were no more than useful pawns in the eyes of the nobles. Once they were no longer needed, they could be killed or replaced at the discretion of the nobles who controlled the military. Only in Marienburg did the merchants have a higher status, but that was only because the Duke of Marienburg was the wealthiest merchant.
Today, Teresa Trovic had changed into a red fox fur coat. Inside, she wore a white woolen sweater and tight trousers. She wore black suede boots. Her long black hair was tied up into a ponytail. Compared to her usual arrogance, the sorceress looked gentler today. However, the glint in her eyes showed that her nature hadn't changed.
Leon had also changed his clothes. Since they were already in the town, there was no need for him to wear a full set of chain mail. Today, he was wearing a loose blue Nord noble uniform, with a large silk scarf tied in front of his chest, a suit jacket, a vest, a white shirt, and blue trousers inside. Unlike the tight trousers that were popular in the palace, Leon's trousers were relatively loose, and part of the trousers was stuffed into his riding boots.
However, ever since Ludwig was crowned emperor of the new Empire, tight-fitting trousers were no longer as popular. Ludwig preferred to wear hunting clothes or loose clothing to banquets. Some nobles of the old Empire felt that Ludwig had brought his rural habits to the noble Empire, and the new nobles all followed suit.
The young man was handsome to begin with. He held a golden warhammer in his hand. The head of the warhammer was a curved triangular prism. Its shape was that of a griffin's claws holding the head of the hammer. It looked as if it was spreading its wings and soaring in the sky. Coupled with his astonishing aura and calm face, he was exactly like the heroic young hero that Theresa had always imagined him to be.
However, this person's attitude wasn't very good. "Good morning, Teresa."
After saying this, Laing directly walked in the direction of the Church of Justice.
The sorceress hurriedly chased after him. "Last night, you …"
"Sleeping in a dog's kennel, hehe. I even formed a deep friendship with a big yellow dog … But that has nothing to do with you. Once the Church of Justice's matters are settled, I'll let you know." Laing said indifferently. With his extraordinary physique, he wasn't afraid of the cold, so his clothes were only about politeness and rules, not about keeping warm.
"…" There seemed to be a faint estrangement between the two. For Teresa, taking the initiative to speak was already the limit. No matter what, she wouldn't ask any more questions. Thus, they maintained their silence all the way to the Church of Justice.
Pure white paint, tall buildings. The gate of the Church of Justice was no less than two meters tall. On the gate, the holy emblem of the God of Justice was engraved. On a huge blue shield, a scale placed on a warhammer was shining brightly. At the gate, there were two paladins wearing full plate armor and helmets. They were leaning on their swords and vigilantly looking around. However, when one of the paladins saw Laing, he was slightly surprised. "Eh? Isn't this Mr. 'Sledgehammer' Laing? Are you here to collect the bounty again? "
"How can there be so much bounty to collect?" Laing casually ridiculed, indicating that he was here to collect something.
Seeing this, the two paladins opened the gate of the Church. "Mr. Laing is truly the enemy of evil. You're also an old friend of our Church. There's no need to be so polite. Please come in."
Because of the bounty he collected from the Church of Justice all year round, Laing's appearance had already been widely broadcast in the Church of Justice. In addition, paladins were often mobile, so many paladins recognized him. Although Laing didn't know the names of the two paladins in front of him, they looked very familiar.
"Since I'm your old friend, have you prepared my Holy Communion?" Laing said casually. The paladins also laughed. "If Mr. Laing wants to eat, it's easy. Just tell us and we'll prepare it. However, I feel that our food might not be good enough for Mr. Laing."
"That's true." Laing followed one of the paladins into the Church of Justice.
"You're really familiar with these people." Teresa followed Laing into the Church of Justice. The paladins at the gate noticed this beautiful yet dangerous woman. They hesitated for a moment, but didn't stop them.
"I'm really familiar with them because they are my parents. Relying on the annual salary, I can barely support myself. You see, I don't even have a retainer now. I'm very poor." Laing spread out his hands. The sorceress glanced at him and didn't say anything. According to the known information, Laing had always been alone.
Knights like Laing who traveled alone were very rare. Generally, knights traveling alone would bring at least two retainers. One would be responsible for horse logistics, and the other would be responsible for weapon logistics. For example, Laing never used a lance because it would break after charging into a peak in battle. He needed a retainer to protect him and change his weapon.
As a matter of fact, according to Theresa's knowledge, many knights had more than two squires when they went out on a trip. Knights would always have more than a dozen squires when they went out on a trip, and some even brought their lovers along. The cost of this was very high, so it was reasonable for Leon to say that his salary was not enough.
However, Laing's annual bonus from the Church of Justice or the Kingdom's finance minister was several times his salary. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to hire a few retainers.
So he didn't want to. It wasn't that he didn't have the financial ability, Teresa thought.
The interior of the Church of Justice in Calzenhaven was clean and simple. There were some young paladins practicing with their swords in the courtyard. Other than that, there were also some people praying. Passing through the spacious courtyard, they came to the main hall. The statue of the God of Justice was shining in the cold air and emitting warmth. The stone statue contained majesty and love, full of hatred for evil and justice for all things in the world. Even so, the statue that was a few meters tall looked a little sad. In the statue, the God of Justice's eyes were missing. What was left in his eye sockets was a deep darkness. He held a balance in one hand and a famous artifact in the other hand, his beloved sword, the Judge.
Every time Laing walked into the hall, he would always feel endless admiration for the God of Justice. The God of Justice wasn't a native god of this world. He was like the fairy in the lake, a foreign god. He came to this world about 1,800 years ago. Before that, seven Gods of Justice had fallen. This God of Justice was the eighth.
The God of Justice was really a dangerous profession.
His eyes were dug out by the Evil God of Chaos during the first invasion of Chaos. His left hand was cut by the Son of Chaos during the second invasion of Chaos. This god was always at the front line of fighting against evil. His disability and wounds symbolized unwavering justice and sacrifice. It was also because of this that the doctrine of the God of Justice was the most widely spread across the entire continent and had the largest number of people who believed in him.
The priest in charge of this church had something to do and hadn't returned yet. So the two sat down in the courtyard of the Church of Justice. There was a stone table and a stone chair. A priest brought two cups of water and signaled them to drink. Laing drank without hesitation. Teresa was a little hesitant. Sorceresses weren't used to drinking water.
This world wasn't safe at all. It was difficult for civilians to find clean water. So, apart from the priests and believers who drank water purified by the church, most civilians got water through porridge and soup, and all kinds of low-quality fruit wine and ale. Teresa came from a rich family. She usually drank all kinds of fruit juice, porridge, and occasionally some wine at home. She rarely drank water directly.
"Drink it. It's holy water." Seeing Teresa's hesitation, Laing went straight to the point. "A small church like this can't be like a large church like the one in Coldwinter. Archbishop Innocent has the ability to see if we're corrupted by Chaos, but the priests here don't. So, we have to drink the holy water to gain their trust."
The sorceress's beautiful silver eyes stared at Laing for a while. After making sure that he wasn't lying, she drank the holy water. A burning sensation ran through her throat. It was a little uncomfortable, like something spicy.
Laing looked at Teresa's uncomfortable expression and frowned. He suddenly grabbed the sorceress's arm that was covered by a white lace glove, took it off, and pressed it on her wrist.
"What are you doing?!" Teresa shouted angrily. But Laing's wrist was much stronger than hers. Her wrist was pressed against the stone table, revealing a beautiful little hand. Her slender fingers were painted with purple nail polish, making her look very cute. But Laing didn't care about that at all. His big hand was still pressing on the sorceress' wrist.
"Bastard, let go of me!" Teresa's strength was still at its lowest point. She struggled with all her might, her eyes full of humiliation. Laing realized that she had misunderstood, so he quickly said, "You feel uncomfortable drinking the holy water because you're corrupted by Chaos! I'm checking for you! "
The sorceress stopped struggling.
Light blue energy appeared from Laing's palm and rushed directly into Teresa's wrist. The sorceress only felt a cold and refreshing feeling rising from her body. In her body, the black Chaos energy was like a mouse meeting a cat when it met Laing's light blue energy. It was completely eliminated in a few moments.
Laing let go of her wrist and sighed, "Teresa, you must be careful in the future. Don't be in this state where you've used up all your magic power. A spellcaster in this state is a delicious meal for evil gods. If you don't want to meet the end of destruction like those mad magicians, you must be careful."
"… I know." Teresa was not someone who did not understand the situation. Her mother had also taught her about mad magicians.
Most spellcasters had to rely on the Weave built by the Goddess of Magic to cast spells. Under such circumstances, only those who were Saint-level spellcasters who had experienced and come into contact with the origin of magic could cast spells without the help of the Weave. The Weave was the lifeblood of spellcasters. Without the Weave, a spellcaster's ability to cast spells would be greatly reduced. A sixth-circle legendary mage might even find it extremely difficult to cast a fourth-circle spell.
Under such circumstances, the so-called "mad magicians" appeared. They were so-called wild magicians who refused to rely on the Weave to cast spells. These wild magicians were more violent and wild. They were greatly affected by the elements. For example, a mad magician of the air element would generally be completely bald after a few years, and his skin would turn gray. A mad magician of the fire element would have his hair and beard turn fiery red, and he would have a bad temper. A mad magician of the life element would not like to bathe, and would be dirty and greasy all day long.
In fact, these did not matter. More importantly, these mad magicians almost all had the same destination, and that was depravity. This was because the chaotic energy in the elements between heaven and earth would also be absorbed into their bodies. It would not take too long for these mad magicians to advance rapidly due to the chaotic energy, but they would also depravity quickly due to the chaotic energy.
For example, from Laing's perspective, if the souls of humans were the school cafeteria, then the souls of spellcasters would be the teachers' cafeteria. Of course, the most valuable souls were the souls of elves. That was a Michelin restaurant.
"Are you like this to everyone?" Teresa picked up her lace gloves and put them back on. She had already accepted Laing's explanation, but she was still somewhat dissatisfied.
"No, it's just because it's you." Laing's words did not even have time to make the sorceress feel a little complacent. Instead, he shattered her state of mind. "You're an important partner. I still need a spellcaster to help me fight against the powerful monsters. With a spellcaster by my side, many problems will be easily solved, won't they?"
"Oh? Haha, I think it's enough if you can keep the enemy busy and ensure that I'm not interrupted when I'm chanting. I'll take care of the enemies, so you don't have to slowly and clumsily swing your hammer to fight the enemy. Don't you think that's stupid? In every sense of the word, "Teresa said with a look of disdain as she slapped the hand of the Royal Knight away.
The sorceress quickly turned her attention to the light blue energy in the man's hand. Finally, she could not help but ask curiously, "Can you tell me something, Laing?"
"Go ahead."
"What … is your profession?"
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