Paladin

Hugo took Evan to the study of the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar. It had been dusty for more than 120 years, and the nanmu desk and chair were covered with a layer of dust.

Hugo gently reached out to brush off the dust on the table, and opened a sandwich in the desk, so that Evan could see a small groove here.

"The seal of the Grand Master should have been placed here, which is the only emblem of the Knights Templar to obey orders, but as early as 60 years ago, the Knights Templar will also receive orders from the Pope one after another. The position of the Grand Master It’s been vacant for too long, Evan, many times the matter of the Knights Templar is decided by the head priest. Since the position of the head priest has been interfered by the Pope, we have lost a lot of freedom... Now the head priest has also left, I will represent some affairs." Hugo said in a low voice, "As you can see, I have also learned... to compromise."

Evan sighed and paced in the study.From the dust rising in the air to the rough lines on the bookshelves, everything is so leisurely. I don’t know what the situation of the Knights Templar was like when the last Grand Master was still sitting here.

"The last grand master is named Isaac Rhodes, the same Isaac Rhodes who purified the gravel swamp and dissuaded Grand Arcanist Clayfield a hundred years ago. His last order, It was to obey the pope's call-up order to attack the magical city of Drizzt." Hugo murmured, "But after leading the Templar Knights to attack the magical capital of Drizzt, Isaac Rhodes was in this study Killed himself, with a bootknife of unknown origin . . . the seal of the Grand Master was lost after his death, and we have never found it again."

Evan walked around behind the desk and leaned on the back of the chair with one hand. In the dark, he seemed to see Isaac Rhodes sitting on this chair and meditating and then looked sideways, as if looking at him.

The first grand master of the Knights Templar and the last grand master looked at each other for a short moment between the real and the unreal interlayer after more than 100 years.

It was just a momentary hallucination, and soon the phantom of Isaac Rhodes disappeared into the air again.

Evan lightly brushed off the dust, then sat on this chair, and said to Hugo: "Colin, have you ever sat on this chair?"

Hugo shook his head.

Evan sat firmly, with a look of nostalgia on his face.

He said: "This chair is a special seat for the head of the group. One of the legs of the chair has been deliberately shortened by three centimeters. When sitting on this chair, you must always pay attention to maintaining your balance, otherwise you will fall."

Hugo was slightly surprised when he heard the words: "I never knew about this."

"The position of the head of the group is not easy to sit. This rule is actually used as a warning. At the earliest time, someone gave me a chair, which was handmade by elves. I liked it so much that others sat on it. Sometimes I will be a little angry unconsciously..." Evan's eyes were full of memories, and he slowly narrated, "Later, Scarlet reminded me of this, and I was shocked: Power has actually begun to erode my self. Inwardly, I began to rely too much on my privilege. The more comfortable I sat, the more dangerous it was actually. I drew my sword and chopped off a chair leg on the spot... As a warning, I put all the positions of Grand Masters like this Deal with it so that when you sit on it, you can remind yourself: stay vigilant, stay tense, and stay humble.”

Hugo looked down, and sure enough, he saw a leg about three centimeters shorter under this comfortable, stable, and introverted chair, but it didn't move at the moment.

"Colin, tell me: was Isaac Lord sitting on this chair when he died?" Evan asked.

Hugo nodded solemnly: "Yes, it is said that he sits very dignifiedly and calmly, and no one may even have noticed the strangeness of this chair. When he was discovered, he was holding the boot knife tightly in his hand—— He slashed an artery in his leg and bled out to death."

The last grand master, Isaac Rhodes, died silently in his study, and his body was enshrined in the Hall of Valor on the Temple Hill, together with his power ring and the bootknife.

Because he obeyed the Pope's order and died not long after attacking the magical capital of Drizzt, the Pope at the time insisted that he was plotted by the mage, and someone used witchcraft to destroy his mind, so he did not Not by suicide, but by a murder.He was buried in an extremely grand funeral, and after him, the Knights Templar insisted on not accepting the candidate for the grand master from the Cardinals, so the position of the grand master was vacant for hundreds of years amidst the confrontation between the two sides. Long.

"His mind has been shaken, but at least at the moment he chose to die, sitting in this position, he was firm." Evan sighed lowly, "When he led the Knights Templar to attack the heretics, At that time, he must have hesitated, right?"

Hugo lowered his head, with a kind of mourning for the tragic hero, he said: "Drizzt was breached on Christmas Eve. In fact, we all guessed that Rhodes was breached because of the most sacred and peaceful festival. He felt uneasy, injustice, and lost because of killing and terror. He could not forgive his actions and orders, so he chose to punish himself.”

"He's destroying himself, the Knights Templar, Hugo," Evan said.

Hugo suddenly opened his eyes wide, unable to hide his astonishment.

--What is he saying?Will the last Grand Master choose to destroy the entire Knights Templar?

Evan stood up, straightened the chair, exhaled and said, "Suicide is a crime in doctrine, isn't it? As the grand master, Rhodes chose to commit suicide in this study and in this seat. Once After being confirmed, it will obviously be a devastating blow to his own reputation and the reputation of the entire Knights Templar... and the Pope at the time probably also fabricated a witchcraft in order to preserve the power of the Knights Templar statement."

"But...but it doesn't make sense." Hugo was shocked, "Why, why did the Grand Master want to destroy us?"

"Because the Knights Templar is deteriorating and becoming less pure...Colin, maybe you can't feel it, but in fact every compromise you make to the outside world is to push the position of the entire Knights Templar to shift an inch You may not think that attending a trial, hunting down a few heretics, and obeying a few orders for unknown reasons will cause any consequences; but the fact is that you are being changed, and this change has been subtle for more than 100 years. The Knights Templar is no longer 1 years ago, the Knights Templar of me who said 'Only justice is obedient'." Evan said with a little emotion, "If this continues, it won't be long before, There will be a Pope who holds all the armed forces of the Holy See, including the Knights."

Hugo was shocked beyond words, and murmured after a long time: "So Isaac Rhodes was aware of this back then, and he would rather ... ruined it."

"You know, Colin, the reason why the Knights Templar is the Knights Templar is because it is pure, it only fights for justice, it does not participate in any worldly fights, hatred, mediation, transactions...no matter what Something. The meaning of its existence has nothing to do with powerful power, but only with strong belief! Once it starts to lose its purity, then it is already more terrifying than total destruction! If I fell into Rhodes' I will also choose to...destroy this powerless situation." Evan said firmly and forcefully, "You know why after more than 100 years, the Zongting would rather leave the position of Grand Commander vacant than let the Do you continue to govern yourself? Because I am sure that if the Grand Master is succeeded by any paladin, after he takes the place of Isaac Lord, he will also choose to... self-destruct."

Hugo was short of breath. After a long time, he raised his head and looked at Evan. He asked, "But how should we deal with ourselves, Evan? Should we rush to pure and glorious perdition? Or should we fight against this world and seek possible balance?"

"No one knows which option is better, Colin. If you want to ask my personal opinion—" Evan smiled and replied gently, "I choose to perish."

The weight of these words seemed to be unbearable for Hugo. He stood there blankly and did not speak for a long time.

When Evan left the study, many memories flooded his heart.

He thought about many years ago, when he had just had this idea, his mage comrade-in-arms Scarlet said: "Can't we just follow the Christian templar who treats the scourge of heretics as a jihad all day long? You really really have to Do you want to pull up a pure Holy Father Knights? I can tell you, I have almost seen the end of the tragedy..."

Later, he stood in front of the first batch of paladins, glanced at their young and calm faces, and said to them: "Look clearly at the brothers around you. From now on, you are already the loneliest people in the world."

Now another blurred face appeared in front of his eyes. Evan didn't quite remember his name, but there was indeed a young paladin who once asked him: "Your Excellency Paladin, aren't we here to save the people here? Why did they all hate us?"

But when Evan opened the door and walked out of the study, everything in the past receded like fragments, and was re-sealed by his memory and the thick history.

Evan is still the same Evan who walks steadily and always has a gentle smile.