The City of Marronligar

Although the influence of the religious order is not as good as before, and most of the citizens of Marenliga are not very pious, some important life ceremonies need to be performed in the temple, or a priest must be invited from the temple to preside over them.For example, the name given at birth, such as the funeral after death.

Among them, the "funeral" of the lightless is a bit embarrassing: first, the lightless are basically regarded as beasts carrying murders, and are not suitable to enjoy the same treatment as ordinary people; second, they are no longer It is a person, and in most cases the original identity cannot be identified, and the family members may not be willing to claim it.

However, under the influence of the "two-stage death theory" and the "benevolence" part of the teachings, the order still explained the second death of the lightless: this is a ritual, whether it is a real, holy death or a death. They have "human" dignity.

——Miscellaneous Notes of Silver Bay Tower·Life and Death Rituals

The inhuman claws slashed across the old brick wall, and the throat that could no longer speak like a human was emitting a hoarse neighing.

The Lightless are not far ahead.

The two teaching police responsible for blocking the rear had already set up their shields, and their spears protruded from the side of the shields, reflecting two points of cold light under the swaying firelight.Hagrid put down the torch in his hand, and drew the broadsword worn at his waist.

Louis nodded to Adrian, who immediately understood, wrapped the prepared oil-soaked cloth strips around the front ends of the three arrows, and lit the torch.Afterwards, Adrian set up a light crossbow, aimed at the direction where the sound came from and shot it out.

The burning arrows were like three dazzling meteors, swiftly passing through the dusty darkness, drawing several parabolas with murderous intent.The arrow hit the brick wall, and the sparks were fleeting; at the same time as the flames fell to the ground, the disturbed Lightless stopped his neighing, twisted his twisted neck, and turned his head towards the rattling human.

"It's coming." Louis whispered.His two swords are already in place, just waiting to drink the turbid, viscous dead blood of the Lightless One.

Adrian judged the position of the Lightless by the sound: "There are two. One is on the ground, and the other is on the top."

He grabbed three arrows from his quiver, quickly filled the arrow slots, raised his hand, and pressed the crossbow again towards the Lightless One who was crawling fast while clutching the vault.The Lightless One moved very quickly, and only one of the three arrows fired this round hit one.However, even though the Painless One's left leg was pierced, its attack speed did not decrease much.

It kicked off the wall and jumped towards Adrian from mid-air.Adrian didn't have time to load the arrows, so he simply used the crossbow as a melee weapon, grabbed the arm of the crossbow and swung it towards the lightless man's head.Crossbow | One end of the bow struck the Lightless One's temple, and with a scream, it stretched its arms to grab Adrian's throat.Adrian dodged back, pulled out a dagger while rolling, and blocked the sharp claws that were close at hand.

Seeing this, Hagrid rushed towards the wall closest to Adrian and the Lightless, and the heavy full armor was as light as nothing on him.He kicked off the wall and leaped back into the air. Taking advantage of the tendency of his body to fall, the wide-edged sword in his hand slashed towards the heart of the Lightless One.The Lightless One couldn't dodge completely, and Hagrid cut off an arm directly.

"...Tch." Hagrid was not satisfied with the result.As soon as he landed, he raised his sword and slashed at the Lightless One.

Adrian and Hagrid on the side locked on the same target.At such a close distance, the crossbow was no longer useful, so he immediately put the light crossbow aside, pulled out another dagger with his backhand, and rushed towards the howling Lightless One with lightning speed.

Meanwhile, Louis was already at war with another Lightless.The sword he used was about as long as Hagrid's broadsword, but the blade was thinner, and the two swords were more light and nimble when wielding them.The flowing sword light was accompanied by splashes of blood, and it was difficult for others to follow his rhythm with their eyes.

While Hagrid swung his sword and chopped off the head of the Lightless One, Adrian precisely pierced the dagger into the decaying heart.The Lightless One immediately fell to the ground, the remaining three limbs twitched for a moment, and then stopped moving.The battle on Louis' side also ended quickly. He picked up the torn clothes of the Lightless Man and dragged the corpse towards Adrian and the others.

Adrian panted lightly, picked up the torch that fell beside him, and began to confirm the condition of the corpse.

Hagrid picked up the severed arm, and found that one of the fingers was still wearing a brass thimble, stuck in the bulging deformed claw, which looked very awkward.

"It... he used to be a tailor or a cobbler." Adrian said softly.

"Brother Shadu's elder brother is a tailor, and he helps others in the market." One of the teaching policemen said, with helplessness and regret in his voice.

Louis looked down at the Lightless who had been dealt with by himself.Although the once-human creature has changed beyond recognition, it can be seen that it is smaller than the other one through the shriveled chest and slightly bent body under the tattered clothes, and a very thin necklace hangs around its neck , with a small green stone amulet on the end.The necklace itself is not made of gold or silver, but made of ordinary rough iron.

After a moment of silence, Hagrid made a decision: "We have to drag the dead body of the Lightless One into the sunlight."

Only by turning the "cursed" into ashes can the tragedy on them be completely ended.

But at this moment, Adrian stood up suddenly: "Wait, there is another one nearby—"

Before the words were finished, a third lightless person suddenly popped out from the depths of the side channel that he hadn't noticed.It ran on all fours like a wild beast, struck from behind the crowd, and directly knocked down a policeman who hadn't had time to turn around to defend. Its sharp front claws and fangs left several deep scratches on the heavy armor.

Another teaching policeman reacted immediately, raised his long | spear, and stabbed at the lightless man who was riding on his comrade-in-arms, who was about to tear off his armor and feast on it.The humanoid beast immediately jumped out of the attack range of the spear, and rushed towards Adrian and Louis who had less armor.

It may have been degraded into a lightless person for some years. It has not seen light in the sewer all the year round, and its body is not naked. It has become a monster that is integrated with the underground world.

Adrian sideways dodged the swift attack of the Lightless One, which aimed at the chest and abdomen. Unexpectedly, the ground soaked in water and mud was extremely slippery. He staggered half a step and managed to stop, but was still scratched by the Lightless One on his left upper arm.

The sharp claws cut through the clothing and flesh, and the deepest part of the wound was almost close to the bone, and the dagger in Adrian's left hand fell to the ground in response.But the moment the gushing blood stained its sharp claws, the Lightless screamed like a wild beast on fire, let go of Adrian immediately, and jumped back. Like a ghost, he chose to retreat.

Torresso's blood did the trick.

Before it was too late, Louis swung his sword forward and destroyed the heart of the Lightless One cleanly.He threw the body of the third Lightless One aside along with his long sword, and first walked towards Adrian, who was pressing the wound and half kneeling on the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Louis squatted down beside Adrian, pulled away the hand covering the wound, and moved closer to inspect the wound.

Adrian was a little unwilling: "...It's okay." He dodged back without a trace, retracted the short sword that fell on the ground, and stood up calmly with Louis' outstretched hand.

Louis frowned.Although he could see the pain that Adrian wanted to hide from the past, he didn't say anything.

Hagrid helped up the police officer who had just been knocked down by the Lightless, and said to Louis, "Your mission is over."

He looked at the wound on Adrian's arm, and added: "After disposing of the dead body of the Lightless, we will go back to the temple."

They dragged the remains of the Lightless One toward the nearest exit.The moment he left the sewer, the lightless man's cold and twisted body was ignited by the sunlight, and collapsed into a puddle of fine ashes.

When the wind blows, the ashes mixed with the dust on the surface are gently raised up like green smoke.In the end, what remained on the ground were only broken pieces of cloth and small relics that did not disappear from the world with their masters.

This is what the Lightless leave the world, and it is evidence that they "was human".

Hagrid and the two church guards stood silently at the junction of light and darkness, nodded slightly to the ashes of the lightless, and whispered silently at the same time: "May the Lord God and the brilliance of the stars guide you from endless curses, and enjoy the long sleep that the dead deserve. "

Ending the brief prayer ceremony, Hagrid picked up the copper thimble and the greenstone amulet from the ashes.

"This is a relic of Sadhu's relatives, and we are obliged to return it to him." He whispered.

When everyone returned to the temple, Shadu had already awakened.He was still very weak, sitting on the bed in the rest house, with his head bowed, his eyes were red, and his expression was in a daze. He hadn't recovered from the tragedy he had witnessed.

Hagrid stood at the door of the lounge, not going in for a long time.He stuffed the relics of the Lightless into Louis's hands: "You go and explain the situation to Shadu, and bandage the wound here by the way. I need to record the case that happened today in time, and apply to the rector for your reward."

Louis grinned: "For the sake of Samuel's old acquaintance, I can give you a [-]% discount."

Hagrid ignored Louis's "offer", turned around and disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

Soon, only Louis, Adrian, and Shadu were left in the rest room.Adrian sat in front of another bed, allowing Louis to clean his wound, acting very quietly.The potion flowed through the flesh torn by the Lightless, and seeped into the clothes with the fast congealing blood.Louis cut a clean piece of gauze and bandaged the wound properly.

——Dirty and torn, it seems that the clothes are completely scrapped.

Adrian was a little helpless.

Shadu slowly raised his head, saw the attires of the two in front of him, and thought of the church police and the heretic judge who appeared with them just now, and immediately guessed the identity of the other party: "You have just returned from destroying the Lightless."

Louis and Adrian turned their heads at the same time.

"Those two without light... No, my brother and mother..." Shadu lowered his head again, unable to speak due to the severe pain in his heart. "Have you... been freed?"

Facing the trainee priest who had lost his loved one, Adrian nodded with difficulty.

Louis walked up to Shadu without saying a word, and handed him the copper thimble and the greenstone amulet.

Sadhu held the two cold relics tightly in his palms, and tears of grief welled up in his eyes.

"At that time, they were right in front of my eyes—" Shadu choked helplessly. "Brother, he just brought back a roll of new thread from the market last night, because my priest's uniform was cut by a wooden thorn... and my mother, I gave this talisman to her. Souvenir for the novice, oh my god... before going upstairs to bed, she said 'I don't feel well', I didn't think that would be the last words of her life..."

There is always a similar story behind every Lightless One.Shadu was undoubtedly lucky—he once shared a room with two lightless ones, but for some reason, perhaps Shadu’s piety was rewarded, or perhaps it was a miracle brought about by the kinship that depended on each other, they did not kill these two Instead of a young apprentice priest, he rushed out and hid underground through the nearest sewer entrance.

Adrian suddenly remembered a detail.He asked tentatively: "When I found you in the sewer, you had an ax in hand."

Shadu buried his face in his palm, letting the thimble and amulet hurt and bruise his cheek: "God, yes, I carried the ax with me."

Adrian cautiously asked: "Is that for self-defense, or..."

"I have to...I have to kill them." Shadu expressed his true thoughts in pain. "When they turned into the Lightless, I was terrified, but I chased them out. I had to stop them from hurting people. I knew that the Lightless would lose their human consciousness and turn into bloodthirsty monsters, and I didn't want to see Even if my relatives become murderers, even if they don't remember me. But... But, I don't have this kind of power. But even if I have the corresponding power, I don't have the courage to do so. Those are my relatives! Believe it Me, my mother and my elder brother are all good and kind people, they were not originally like this..."

"We know." Louis comforted softly. "When they were taken away by the sun, there was not a single murder on them."

Sha Du slowly raised his head, showing a miserable smile: "Thank you for helping to end the pain of my two dear ones. Now, the souls of my mother and elder brother have probably arrived in another world, and they are reunited with my father."

Does another world really exist, or is it just a distant dream given to believers by the teachings?Looking at Sadhu who lost his family one after another and was alone, Adrian hoped it was the former.

The young novice was not ready to say goodbye.After the unexpected farewell, he will have to bury the only two remaining relatives - except for a handful of ashes mixed with sand and bloody clothes, he can't even find the remains that can be put in the coffin.

Sadhu was supposed to send off his elderly mother on the bedside and bury her with his brother next to his father and other brothers.When the two brothers pass away, they will also be buried there.The tombstones of the family will be reunited in the corner of the deserted farm outside the city, accompanied by the breeze and green grass, just like many years ago when there was no shortage of one person and complete happiness, no robbers and curses would disturb their sleep.

In the countless long years, such a tragedy happened more than once.

Although unwilling to break the solemn sadness in front of him, Louis still asked: "Before the incident, did your brother have any abnormal behavior?"

Author has something to say: BoneHunter/SnowNomad-MarvinKopp