The Book of Hibernation

The escort team buried two bodies nearby.Before the burial, the knights took some items from the two men, and handed over the usable spell-casting materials to Kanai, and handed over the scarves or necklaces to the priest for safekeeping, and left them for the relatives and friends of the deceased in the future.

After dawn, the few people who went out to track down the murderer hadn't returned yet, so the escort team set off on their way as planned.

At noon that day, they arrived in Shuangxi Valley smoothly.The mayor knew that there would be a group of Templar Knights lodging, and he had already prepared accommodation for them.

There was no large inn in the town, and the accommodation area of ​​the tavern was too small, so they prepared a vacant farm row house for the Templar Knights, enough for everyone to live in.There is sufficient food and firewood on the farm, and the mayor told them to take it freely.

At noon, the knights were busy without saying a word, setting up the necessary luggage, and then leading the horses, carriages and prison carts to the stables.

Kanai got out of the carriage and stood by the row of houses, looking at the still dark prison car under the sun.

Knights need to cook their own lunch.Everyone took off their armor and lit the stove. Not long after the smoke rose, another group of people arrived in Shuangxi Valley.

It was the man who tracked down the murderer who came back.No one was injured.And successfully caught up with and caught the murderer named Pad.

Pad tried to escape at first, but after being surrounded, he did not resist, threw away his sword, and knelt on his knees, tears streaming down his face.

The knight captain confiscated Pad's armor and weapons, tied him up and locked him in one of the huts.Some of the knights had left some to guard him and the carriage, while the rest assembled in the empty barn.

On the way to escort, the captain had already interrogated Pade initially.The two mages were indeed killed by him, and the method was the same as everyone speculated, that is, to use the sharp edge rune on the dagger, and use the opportunity of the night watch to strike quickly.

Regarding the motive, Pard has also confessed.

The Cavalier Captain relayed it to everyone, and everyone's expression was heavy.

According to Pad's account, not long after the escort team set off, he received a suspected threat from a necromancer while on duty.

The other party did not show up in person, but hired errand runners to deliver the mail to him.

Everything about him was mentioned in the email.His hometown of Kanda County, his mother, grandmother, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and the neighboring fiancée's family... Not only did the other party know this, but he also carried some small things from his family in the mail bag, which was enough Prove that the other party is in Kanda County and can monitor all his family members at all times.

The other party asked him to kill the two mages.And it was specified that the two members of the Austrian Law Federation were to be killed.

As long as he does this, all his relatives will be safe and sound.If he tells the story, then he will never see his loved ones again.

Pad was very shaken at first.Of course he didn't want to kill the mage, but he didn't dare to report the situation.

At that time, the escort team had just approached the border of Shandonia, and it was too far away from the Kingdom of Rekelia. If something happened to the family, he couldn't rush to confirm it quickly.

The next night, Pard received another mail package, still containing concise letters, and more small items from his family.

The letter stated that he had to do it before approaching the Lake Lookout Pass.Once the escort team passes through the Wanghu pass, his family will lose their lives. Even if he is willing to kill the mage at this time, it will be too late.

For the next few days, whenever he spent the night in town, he would receive such packages.

At one point, he even received a section of hair from his fiancée.Pad could recognize that it was indeed her hair, and it was tied with a unique ribbon that Pad's mother had braided by herself many years ago, and Pad had given it to his fiancée by hand.

Pad caught the man who came to deliver the mail at the post station.The other party is just a local kid.

He asked how the child knew him, and the child said that the messenger told him to "give it to the Templar with the birthmark on his face, when he is alone".A Templar Knight with a birthmark on his face is easy to identify, even if a child does not know him, he will never be sent to the wrong person.

The kid who delivered the letter had no idea who the sender was, left the letter on the counter of the local tavern with a note about delivery requirements, and the kid who delivered the letter would pick up the letter regularly and take the money directly from the tavern keeper.

There are little kids everywhere who run errands to earn pocket change to supplement their families.This situation is not unusual.

The last time Pad received a mail package, it contained hair from his mother and sister, and a missing baby tooth, said to be from his young nephew.

The attached letter stated that his family would not simply be murdered, but would become something else.They are about to become flesh-hungry monsters, and when the night comes, the whole family will come out, use Kanda County as a table, and will not be full if they eat.

In the end, they will be beheaded by the county guard or foreign adventurers.The corpses of his whole family would be fixed on the gallows in the square and baked in the middle of the day until they were beyond human shape.After the sun goes down, they will wake up again, screaming on the gallows all night, and it will be like this day after day.

If he continued to hesitate like this, Wanghu Pass would be approaching soon.

It didn't take long for Pad to break down.

So, when he was close to Kanda County, he finally made a move and killed the two unsuspecting mages.

Pard said that he didn't want to escape last night, or get away with the crime, but wanted to rush to his hometown to see how his family was doing.

He had no horses, was extremely confused, and had no extra energy to track back, so the other knights quickly caught up with him.

The knight captain agreed to him, and would hire a local from Shuangxi Valley to check the situation in Kanda County.Pard, now somewhat calmed down, confessed to the crime and thanked the captain.

Judging from the contents of the threatening letter, the man was obviously a necromancer.The monsters mentioned in the letter are ghouls, and necromancers often carry out such disgusting transformations as combat power.

However, the other party did not explain the reason for killing the two mages.

If the purpose of the necromancer was to weaken the escort team, why did he specifically ask to kill the two mages from the Arcane Federation?Wouldn't it be better to kill Kanai together?

After hearing the captain's question, Kanai sneered. "I understand why," he said.

"why?"

"Obviously she knows me. She knows I'm different from those academics."

The captain asked: "You just said... her?"

"Well, I know a suspected necromancer, a woman. But it may not be just her, she may have accomplices."

The captain said: "So that's the case. Then, is it because she knows you, knows that you are a battle mage, and thinks you are difficult to deal with, so she gave priority to attacking the other two?"

Kanai shook her head: "No. She didn't give priority to killing me because I can die or not, but those two mages must die."

"why?"

Kanai clasped her hands tightly, her eyes became more and more gloomy: "She is not afraid of my power, but knows that I am incompetent. Captain, maybe you remember that there is a set of magic defenses on the door of the prison car that can be adapted to the magic prayer. It is a high-level arcane spell formed by the combination of two spells. In order to allow the door to be opened when needed, this spell is not constant. Every three or four days, a new spell needs to be added by the accompanying mage, and it can be given by the caster at any time. Release."

Captain knows this.He nodded, waiting for Kanai to continue.

"And I... I'm a battle mage, only good at force fields and ray attacks," Kanai said, "I can't cast those spells."

After hearing this, the knights present looked at each other in blank dismay.

They are difficult to understand.In their concept, every temple knight must be able to use military weapons, understand riding and marching knowledge, can recite sacred prayers, and can recognize divine spells... As long as they can be regarded as independent knights, it is impossible He only knows how to use a sword, but not an armor.

If anyone really doesn't understand these things, it can only be because he is young and has low qualifications. Once he reaches the same qualifications, the knights should know about the same things.

Not so with mages.There are almost no so-called all-rounders in the arcane field.

The knight captain tried to understand the situation, and asked: "Then the problem now is, if the arcane on the door of the prison car fails, you can't make up for it, so the defense of the prison car will become weaker, right?"

"Yes." Kanai said.He suspects the Cavaliers don't realize how serious the situation is.

A young knight next to him said: "The prison cart doesn't rely on any one spell. It has sacred prayers inside, multiple reinforced locks on the door, and other protections on the outside. It's okay to lose an arcane spell, right?"

Kanai guessed right, they really didn't think it was serious.But Kanai didn't bother to continue explaining. Anyway, the matter has come to this point, and analyzing it hard will only exaggerate the tension, which may not be good for the next journey.

He asked the captain for a map and checked the location of the nearest large town.Next, the escort team must rush to the next city with a commercial post station as soon as possible, and use the post station's letter eagle to convey the unexpected situation.

"Before you find Xinying, don't you have any magic to pass the message?" the captain asked Kanai.

Kanai said: "Originally there was." He carried a small copper bowl and wax strips in his backpack, as well as several kinds of flammable powders, which were used to cast communication spells.

"What is there originally? Isn't it gone now?"

Kanai shook his head: "It was okay a few days ago, but now the distance is too far. Whether it is to spread the news to Harbor City or to Hilda Academy... now our distance is too far. All communication spells will Limited by distance."

I'm afraid this is also in the necromancer's calculations.When the escort team first set off, everything was calm. When they were far away from the Academy and Harbor City, the necromancers gradually began to show their fangs.

The members of the escort team discussed the next arrangement again, and decided to shorten the rest time in Shuangxi Valley, and seize the time to continue on the road.

After the meeting was over, Kanai heard two little knights walking out while muttering, and one of them sighed. If I had known this, the Arcane Federation should have sent more mages.This would not be the case with a few more people.

Kanai couldn't help but smile bitterly.In fact, there is no need to bring more mages.

If they have been to a teaching academy, they will know that most mages sit all day long, and the furthest distance they walk is from the bedroom to the study.Not only are they physically weak, but they may also become dizzy, vomit and diarrhoea.With such a long distance from the academy to the southwest, those people might become ill.

Most importantly, they are not good at fighting.For example, no matter how good a knight is at fighting, he cannot design and manufacture a battering ram while charging on horseback, and most mages belong to the kind of people who make battering rams, and they cannot face the battle directly.

Once facing the enemy directly, the weak researchers will not be able to hide, and they will not be able to run fast... Bringing too many mages will only hinder the escort team.

What's more, the two dead mages were already excellent candidates.If the enemy is a necromancer, or any undead creature for that matter, they're sure to take it easy.Magical defenses and alarms were set up around the camp last night, and it was impossible for necromancers or monsters to sneak up on them successfully.

Who would have thought that it was not a necromancer or a monster who killed them, but a temple knight.No matter how tight their protection is, it is useless.

Thinking about it this way, it must be no accident that the necromancer found Pade.If the enemy is really Irene Tarr, that is, March, then she must have observed the young knight in Harbor City beforehand.

She has taken a fancy to people with obvious personality weaknesses and who are easy to manipulate in advance, so that a series of inducements, deceptions and threats can take effect.

Kanai was annoyed.He should have killed her earlier in the first place, so that Winter Thistle would not have the opportunity to let her go... A lot of things can be saved now.

It was Kanai who first discovered Winter Thistle.Now, however, his thoughts on winter thistle were complicated.It can be said to be both grateful and complaining.

In all fairness, Winter Thistle has provided them with a lot of help, and many things can only be successful with his participation; but at the same time, Winter Thistle's various behaviors have also brought endless hidden dangers to Harbor City and Arden.

Fortunately, Kanai has also expected that this situation will eventually end.Sooner or later.

===================================

The escort team rested overnight in Shuangxi Valley, changed their horses at dawn the next day, and set off immediately.

They planned to take Pad to a big city and hand it over to the city guards to detain him first, and then deal with his problems slowly later.The escort had been galloping along the road, and they couldn't tie Pad behind the horse like they used to do with prisoners of war, so they bound him hands and feet and locked him in the baggage wagon.

In the afternoon, the terrain on both sides of the road gradually rises, and the Wanghu pass is close in sight.

The escort team passed through this corridor in the wilderness smoothly.To reach the foothold of the city, it takes about a day and a half to move forward at a constant speed, so most of the time we still have to camp tonight.

Kanai sat alone in the carriage, dozing by the window.On the seat in front of him were two small packages containing a small amount of personal belongings of the two mages.

Gradually, the sound of rain knocking on the carriage awakened him from his drowsiness.

It's been rainy these past few days, so it's not surprising.Obviously the rain was not too heavy, but the carriage stopped.

Kanai looked out the carriage window.The knights in front gathered together, as if they were discussing something.

He asked the knight not far away, and the man told him that starting from here, they need to go down the main road and walk on the muddy land of the wasteland.

The road turned south, leading to a city that was in the opposite direction from the direction they were traveling.If you continue to take the main road, you can, but it will take several days to go around, it is faster to walk through the wasteland.Moreover, this area is a plain, where horses and carriages can pass.

But there is also a problem with this: there has been too much rain these days, and the land has become muddy. In some places, the wheels may get stuck, and if it is more serious, it may bring danger to the horses.

Fortunately, the Day Riders have some field experience and can find the road suitable for horses and carriages.The Cavaliers intend to temporarily change the formation of the team.Send a few people to walk forward on foot, walk about a hundred feet first, find a suitable route, let the team behind follow up, and repeat like this.

This section of the road needs to be walked slowly as a whole. As long as you survive this section, you will cross the wasteland of about ten miles, and there will be regular country roads to walk on.

The escort team temporarily slowed down and continued on their way despite the rain.In order to see the situation outside, Kanai opened the curtains on both sides of the carriage, letting the rain soak his clothes.

It's not raining too much now, but the sky is getting darker and darker, and there are dark clouds pressing up from the west. It looks like there will be another heavy rain in the future.

Sure enough, as we walked, a burst of white light illuminated the cloud and the ground, and a moment later there was the sound of splitting thunder.

Among the thunder, Kanai also heard a sharp chirp from a magic siren.

He hurriedly opened his backpack and took out the detection compass that his teacher gave him, and the magic circle on the compass rotated rapidly.

Kanai rushed to the window, just about to make a sound to remind the knights, another thunder and lightning tore through the sky at the same time.

The originally soft raindrops turned into dense water curtains.Kanai looked through the hazy rain and saw the team ahead stop.

One of the knights shouted something and drew his sword.There are a few small black dots here and there, which are the advance team in charge of exploring the way.

One crouched on the ground, not sure if he was injured or what happened.The other man staggered towards him with a sword in his hand.

Halfway through the run, a few black figures suddenly jumped up from the surrounding soil, throwing the crouching people down into the muddy water.