She was more curious now about whether this surveillance was well-intentioned or malicious.
If it was out of good intentions, then the purpose of monitoring her was very simple... it was nothing more than confirming her abilities, so that when she returned, she would most likely be summoned immediately, rewarded, and entrusted with important tasks.
At the very least, the security level will be raised by two levels.
But if it's malicious...
Hitzfeld stared into the woman's dark eyes, waiting for further explanation.
"There is a legend that has been circulating among some classes in Wayne," Xia Yibing said, "The true heir of Sara should have the power to 'control dragons, command the oceans, and dominate light and shadow.'"①
Hitzfeld glared slightly.
"We all know that's impossible." The woman nodded.
"No one has such power, not even the royal family... Besides, dragons are only legends and may never have existed."
"But this does not prevent some people from believing it to be true, and making a heinous statement based on it—"
"'The Sara family are thieves'."
Hitzfeld's pupils contracted.
"'The royal family regarded themselves as the saviors of the Dark Ages and claimed to have inherited the knowledge of the previous royal family. However, as more and more ancient books were unearthed, and more and more relics and ancient sites of civilization were discovered, this statement has been basically determined to be a pure lie..."
Xia Yibing closed her eyes and began to repeat.
"From the current situation, I tend to think this is nonsense. After all, everyone - nobles, merchants, and even tree people support them... But -"
She opened her eyes again and looked at the girl's tense face.
"I am also sure that the current situation is very abnormal."
"No reward for merit."
“Not even a summons.”
"There may not be 50 gold-rank flint knights in the entire Sara. Such people are not sent to guard the local parish but to protect you."
"Fifty years ago...a hundred years ago...this was the only time this happened when dealing with those who rebelled."
"You can think I'm being overly sensitive, but this is my intuition."
"So Hitzfeld..."
At this point, she was at a loss for words.
"Anyway, please be careful of those two people..."
"I believe you."
Breath hitched.
What she saw was the girl smiling softly at her.
"I believe Xia will always think of me."
"No matter how ridiculous it sounds, I will try to believe it."
Ignoring whether the black-haired woman was moved or not, Hitzfeld had his own thoughts in mind.
Because she remembered the information she got in the Gray Mist Temple.
The Big Book...
The voice inside mistook her for a "Threish person" and asked her why she couldn't understand the "Threish language".
This was of course just a misunderstanding, but ignoring the misunderstanding itself, it was enough to show that in the Big Book's concept, Laceres should not be called this name.
It should be called "Ceres Continent".
Similarly, Sara should also be "Seranic".
Then Sarah is equal to Seran.
So similar, isn't it?
Spelling, pronunciation...it seems to be just the difference between dialect and standard accent.
so……
Hitzfeld had not come across those rumors yet, so she couldn't determine whether they were true or not.
But at least from the perspective of cultural and historical heritage, the Sara royal family is not qualified to be the savior and inheritor.
--------
①: A rumor. Mentioned in Chapter 61 of Insomnia.
Chapter 10: Spiritual Sea
After reaching a consensus with Xia Yibing and deciding to guard against the members of the cult together - at least against the two Flint Knights, Hitzfeld found himself in new trouble.
There is a causal relationship here: the extremely responsible Agent Xia Sha claimed that the cabin was too big for eight people and forcibly moved in on the grounds that she was worried about living alone.
"..."
Hitzfeld had no comment to make.
She tried to persuade the other party by emphasizing that "all the furniture is nailed and welded and is impossible to move, and sleeping on the floor at sea is too dangerous."
But Xia Yibing just snapped her fingers, took a screwdriver and walked to the bed. In a short while, she removed a few screws, and then lifted the bed board up a bit with a click.
Like magic, it turned into a bunk bed.
"..."
Hitzfeld was completely speechless now.
She could only accept the current situation with some kind of emotion that she couldn't even explain, and started living with each other again.
In a blink of an eye, the Norayesan had been sailing on the sea for two days.
During the two days, the eight crew members had a basic understanding of each other and roughly knew each other's personalities.
They can be roughly divided into three small groups.
The first small group is from the Department of Homeland Security, a secret police force nicknamed "Shadow Lion", and consists of three core members of the 17th Squad: Xia Yibing, Ethan, and Zafira.
The three of them planned their actions entirely with Hitzfeld as the core, and everything was based on her personal safety.
This is indeed as Sixus said. The purpose of letting Hitzfeld pick people is to accompany and protect them.
The second small group consisted of two priests, the white-haired young man Torres-Shishilo and the pink-haired nun Cybert-Guime.
Torres is short and young-looking, and you can't tell from his appearance that he is already 25 years old. His personality is a bit like a "dead child", the kind of person who looks unreliable and can't take a joke at ordinary times, but is likely to be very reliable at critical moments.
There is nothing much to say about Sister Cybert. She is gentle and often shy. She is mainly against Priest Torres, but she is never shy towards Torres and often teaches him a lesson with her iron fist.
In the expedition team, these two men were theoretically academic researchers, but judging by their first appearance in the parish church, they were also capable fighters.
...I don't know whether the "Weimei" suffix of Sister Cybert is her surname or a title.
The third small group is composed of two Flintstone Knights.
This is very strange... because Hitzfeld originally thought that they and the two priests all belonged to the Mechanical Yang Goddess Cult, and should act together and be closer.
But in fact they were somewhat indifferent to each other.
It is not obvious when eating, changing guards, or chatting. But unless it is necessary, they will never take the initiative to communicate with each other.
She once asked Torres bluntly why he was like this, and the white-haired young man explained that the cult was a huge system, and the central diocese had thousands of people each performing their duties. It was impossible for him to know all of these people, so it was normal to be wary of strangers.
"Oh..." Hitzfeld sighed at the time, "I thought faith could be a bond that brought you closer together..."
"Belief?"
Torres sneered.
"Wake up, detective. Have you ever seen a miracle since the beginning of history? Not to mention the common people... even if it's the Central Diocese, those bigwigs should be grateful if 70% of the clergy can remain loyal to their faith!"
This conversation not only cleared up Hitzfeld's confusion, but also gave her a deeper understanding of the atmosphere of despair that was spreading throughout the Changxia world.
That night, after dinner, she casually leaned against the window sill of the restaurant and quickly wrote in her sketchbook:
[Admittedly, I don’t think a society built on a belief system is stable. But in some difficult times, when objective conditions are not met, this social model may be the best choice.]
[I have always thought so, but everything has changed today.]
[If even the clergy of the Central Diocese cannot have a firm faith, how can we expect the common people to believe?]
[Changxia, this place, the despair and darkness spreading here, the impact of those deep nightmares seems to be far more exaggerated than I imagined. If the situation described by Torres is not fabricated, then it is foreseeable that Sara, the largest paradise in the world, is gradually collapsing with the revival of evil...]
"What are you writing?"
A deep male voice came from the front.
Hitzfeld said nothing, but quickly folded the page to reveal a pen sketch underneath.
She drew a man with the muscular body of an ancient Greek hero, shirtless, apparently dragging a tire across a deck to build his strength.
"Nice painting."
In just a moment, the other party came and sat down next to him.
"Mr. Frick."
Hitzfeld nodded politely.
But she was secretly nervous - this was the first time Frick had found a chance to be alone with her.
Xia Yibing is just opposite the restaurant, about seven or eight meters away from here.
Hitzfeld gestured to her not to come over for the time being.
"I want to thank you."
Frick's next words made her pause.
"Kuroki City——"
Frick pinched the tip of his nose and looked forward somewhat unnaturally.
"After I was transferred to the Central Diocese, I read some files about the second golem curse and realized that it was you who would ultimately save the city. Yes, especially you."
"I'm sorry, you and Isaac Lord..."
"We have a very good relationship. I regard him as a respectable elder. He has taught and inspired me a lot."
"so."
"So I must thank you, thank you for saving the others, and thank you for avenging him."
"..."
Looking at the man's serious expression, Hitzfeld felt a little uncomfortable.
She was not qualified to read Isaac Rhodes' autopsy report, but she had communicated with the old man's residual spirit in the dream world.
The other party said at the time that he was killed by cultists.
Although she was reluctant to think so, the only person who could harm or even kill the parish head was probably her ladyship.
And she just suppressed the evil god again.
She really wasn't qualified to avenge Isaac Lord.
What made her sad was that she didn't know how to explain it all.
But she knew in her heart...
What made her most uncomfortable was her wife.
It is the fact that the lady has been changed and polluted.
Frick noticed a slight change in her expression and thought she was recalling those weird and bloody scenes. So he took the initiative to change the subject and started talking about the local customs and practices of Blackwood City.
Emotional intelligence is very high.
Hitzfeld commented silently.
Judging from the current contacts, the two Flintstone Knights are pretty good people.
Frick, who is at the gold level, is calm and considerate. Even without this level of strength, he should be able to get by among the kings.
The silver-level Carlo is much more "lively". To be frank, she thinks Carlo has ADHD. He touches here and looks there all day long. He was even yelled at by Torres for losing research materials while peeking.
