"If I hadn't told him, he wouldn't have noticed it?" Billie said with a look of disapproval. "Who could have hidden it from that old man? He just doesn't think I can make it to that position."
"What are the requirements for becoming a nun?" Hitzfeld had been curious about this question for a long time and finally had the chance to ask it.
"First of all, it's the appearance." Billie counted on her fingers. "Appearance and figure, these have to be good, and the voice... In short, there is no bad-looking nun. This is a way for the church to attract believers."
"I can only look at it, but I can't..." Madeline muttered, "I don't see what the use is."
The sailors thought she was too bold. If word of this got out, the entire fleet might be implicated, so they all distanced themselves from her.
"Then you need to have a firm heart." Billie continued, "You must be determined from the bottom of your heart that you want to be a nun, and only then can you pass the 'Trial of Blood'."
"What is the name of this trial?"
"I only heard about this." Billie hesitated, but now that she had come this far, there seemed to be no need to hide anything: "Isn't it... isn't there a legend about the 'blood of the savior'? Legend has it that the reason why everyone can survive in this hellhole instead of being poisoned by the gray fog is because they have the blood of the savior in their bodies... I heard that the church has a blood sample in their hands, and can use it as a basis to infinitely reproduce the 'blood drops of the savior'. The so-called blood trial is to fuse this blood drop, and truly transform into an extraordinary person from then on."
Hitzfeld and the other two looked at each other, and finally the girl took the lead: "Do you believe it?"
"I don't really believe it." Billie pursed her lips. "The legend is too far-fetched... There's even a rumor that the gray fog is poisonous. If the gray fog is really poisonous, then why didn't you outsiders get poisoned to death in the beginning?"
"But there must be a ceremony." She changed the subject, "Otherwise, it is impossible to explain Hasim's situation... She was indeed a boy originally, and she became like this after the trial."
"Are all successful nuns girls?" asked Madeleine.
"...Guess why they are called this?"
"Why did Hasim leave you?" Hitzfeld frowned slightly. "If you had a good relationship before, there would be no reason. You must have done this just to pursue your dreams..."
Even Billie fell silent when talking about this.
"There's nothing to hide now. You'll know sooner or later anyway..." She spoke after walking a distance, "Actually, it's because we have some disagreements about our future plans."
"future?"
"That's right! Hasim was fine at first. He was very cheerful and ready to inherit the position, but my father was nosy and insisted on telling him his life story when he was 16." Billie pouted. "Since then, I noticed that he rarely smiled. One day he mentioned to me that he wanted revenge. I asked him how he could get revenge when he didn't even know what his parents looked like, why they died, or even if they were dead."
"Do you know what he said? He actually said, 'Then we should treat the blood sea as the root cause. No matter where all this came from, as long as we destroy the blood sea, we can break the cycle.'"
"Can a nun do this?" Hitzfeld asked seriously.
"It's definitely not possible now." Billie shook her head. "But... I guess he knows some secrets, some secrets about the Blood Sea... I suspect this is also related to the long-term recruitment order of the Corpse Retrievers' Union. This order has been issued for too long... Basically, every few years, they have to recruit a group of people to go on adventures in a mysterious place... I think they are related, otherwise Hasim would not have to stay in Inian Port... I think he must have encountered something when he was resting on the shore, and this incident completely changed his mind."
It was obvious that she had been holding these words in her heart for a long time. Not only did she speak very fast, but her tone even had a sense of pleasure in venting.
Hitzfeld continued to guide the topic and asked her a few more questions, then turned to another issue that they were currently focusing on.
"You said that the purpose of the Corpse Retrievers' Guild recruiting people was confidential, but Hasim just mentioned 'Knights'."
"We don't know about these things. Can you tell me what this word means?"
"I don't know either." Billie scratched her head, "It sounds like 'Blood Knight'..."
"What means?"
"'Blood Knight' is an ancient legend of the Kingdom of God."
Everyone was surprised because the person who actually answered the question was Xia Yibing.
The woman didn't know what was going on, but when she heard this phrase, she spontaneously recalled relevant information and read it out loud: "...Blood Knights generally refer to warriors blessed by the most ancient blood of salvation. There are nine of them in total. It is said that each of them has the power to rival the gods, as if they possess the true blood of salvation. As long as the nine bloods can be reunited, anyone can transcend and become a god."
"You really don't look like outsiders."
Billie gave her a complicated look, then turned to Hitzfeld and said, "...That's pretty much it."
Hitzfeld thought about it and felt that it was possible that the current focus of the Church of the Mother of Savior and even the entire Kingdom of Corrupted Blood was on the task of "finding the nine blood knights."
"How long has this legend been around?" she asked Xia Yibing.
"I don't know." The woman shook her head.
The knowledge imparted in the nightmare was very mysterious. She did know it, but she had lost track of the time relationship between them.
"At least several hundred years!" Billie confirmed. "It may be older than the church!"
She was very excited, as if she had discovered some shocking secret, and talked a lot. Then she found that Hitzfeld... and even her two companions were too calm.
"Are you unhappy?" She was stunned. "They have been hiding the secret! The Blood Knights! They might be looking for their graves!"
"Does it make any sense?" Madeline sighed. "I mean, knowing this would change anything?"
Billie was stunned again. She thought about it carefully and it seemed that it was really useless.
For her and her father, the most important thing to get through now is the conscription order, and after today, there will be Hasim's revenge. And for these three people, what they care about most is freedom, right? The fate of both sides is tied together to some extent. Of course, she hopes that they can succeed in making incense, so that Captain Xiude will not be conscripted to this mission.
If you don't participate in the mission, it doesn't matter whose tomb it is.
After figuring out this logic, she became a little dejected, and felt a little lost for some reason.
"Let's wait and see." Hitzfeld vaguely guessed what she was thinking.
Children of this age have no resistance to legendary adventures.
But the top priority now, the task that concerns the fate of both sides, is to make incense.
Continuing on, they passed a tall archway.
It cannot be said that this thing is very gorgeous. It is actually only a little over 2 meters long. The door frame is made of bones of various animals, and it is hard to tell whether it is red mud or something else that sticks them together. From time to time, some mysterious people in black robes with their faces covered walk in.
"This is the Blood Mage Guild." JB said softly.
"All blood mages in the entire Port of Inian must register here."
Madeline was full of curiosity about the situation inside the door at first, and was a little scared when she heard him say that, because she remembered that the blood mage liked to conduct blood and flesh experiments on outsiders.
"What is the difference between a blood mage and a blood butcher?" Hitzfell was not afraid at all. She was even more curious and couldn't wait to learn more.
"If I must say, the power of the Blood Slaughterers comes from some mysterious source. They have many forked roads, and each road has a different system."
After all, as an adult, Jay understands this better, so he should answer it.
"The threshold to become a blood butcher is lower... Of course, I don't know how to do it. They have a small circle to inherit new people, and they are extremely exclusive. In addition, there are legends that some blood butchers even eat living people... This, you know."
That must be a ghoul.
Hitzfeld thought silently.
It seems that the Blood Slayer is the mysterious main system of the Elsa continent, or it can be said that it is a general term for professions extending from this system.
"What about the blood mage?"
She became even more curious. How could the Blood Mage actually compete with such a profession and not seem to be at a disadvantage?
What is going on here… Are there two evil gods up there, one targeting the mysterious lord, and the other restoring the blood mage?
Irwin seemed to have mentioned that the Blood and Bone Mage Society existed in Namiia's original history, but this is the 'Blood Mage Guild', so the two should be different...
"Blood mages are more specialized." JB hesitated. "I'm only telling you what I know... If blood butchers have many branches and may use various means to assist in combat, then blood mages only rely on the blood bones they control to fight the enemy."
"Similar to Hashem's bone shield?"
"It's better than that." JB emphasized, "She must have bought that bone shield from here."
Can the related spells be turned into powder and stored in a small bottle?
Xia Yibing and the girl looked at each other again.
It may not seem as strong as the Long Summer Blade or Ice Needle, but it is a very convenient ability. It is difficult to deal with them in large numbers.
Hitzfeld was worried that Madeline would not be able to handle future conflicts, so he turned around to look at her and found her playing with a familiar dark gold belt.
"..."
"..."
Madeline was embarrassed. "I saw no one wanted it, so I picked it up."
Jebby was still explaining science. He pointed to the inside of the gate and said, "Look there."
"The origin of the blood mage...is the largest portrait in the middle."
Hitzfeld focused his attention and looked over, squinting his eyes to temporarily improve his vision, and gradually made out the contents of the portrait in the shadow.
To be honest, she was surprised.
Looking at Xia Yibing, her expression seemed a little unnatural.
Madeline didn't feel anything, which was normal because she had never seen the person in the portrait before.
I should say that even if I have seen it, I am not impressed...
"Who is that?"
After thinking about it for a while, Hitzfeld asked JB.
In fact, she already had the answer in her heart.
"Who else could have accomplished something like this?" JB laughed.
"Of course it's our Majesty."
"The 'King of Man' who united the power of the Kingdom of God and led us in our struggle."
"How come...from the looks of you two, you don't recognize me?"
This was obviously a joke. Jiebi had seen how powerful Xia Yibing was. Even if he didn't ask them to make incense, he felt it necessary to get closer to them simply out of respect for the strong.
"Know him? Maybe..."
Xia Yibing's answer was ambiguous, and her tone sounded a bit playful.
She stared at the portrait.
Even though the painting was more than ten meters away, I could still recognize the voice and smile of the person in it. My mind was filled with information and images that kept interweaving.
The prince roared.
Giant trees towering into the sky.
Batti Villefort died in front of him.
And the conspirator hiding behind the scenes...that gorgeous face filled with indifference and madness.
"What a coincidence, isn't it?"
She glanced down at the girl.
"We have traitors on our side too."
Hitzfeld said nothing.
He just silently grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers.
--------
There is another chapter around dinner time.
Chapter 96: Master Style
After strolling around the Yixiang Street Market for a while, Hitzfeld and his group prepared to go back.
They did take into account the advice of Jebby and others and went to a regular spice shop, but the materials they bought in the store were very limited. In short, they were "far from being able to be used to make incense."
This is indeed puzzling - Jebby doesn't say that he knows a lot. Of course, he knows nothing about the art of perfume making. But he thinks that even if he doesn't understand much, he should still be able to smell whether a material is fragrant or not, or whether it has any flavor, right?
Unfortunately, most of what Hitzfeld purchased were tasteless, mediocre in appearance and use.
This material is very cheap even in high-end places like spice shops. After buying the materials, they actually used the extra money to buy a lot of precious fresh water, which seemed ridiculous to Jebby.
He wanted to accuse her, but was afraid of being killed by the arrogant woman. Therefore, JB endured the hardship along the way, and he decided to go to Captain Shude to complain when he came back.
As for Hitzfeld's two companions...Xia Yibing naturally trusted her completely.
Although Madeline didn't understand how she wanted to make perfume, the girl's purchase of fresh water was related to whether she could use it to take a bath, so who would say anything about such things? Of course, we must respect professionals.
In addition, they also bought some clothes, shoes and socks for daily wear and washing, and returned to the Thorn Demon before the so-called "darkness" came.
Speaking of darkness...this is also a feature of this world.
When they were on the Blood Sea, the three of them rarely came out to observe, and they thought that the gloomy and foggy weather was a special case. But after returning to Inian Port, they found that the smog had not only not been reduced but had become more serious. They realized that this land was indeed extraordinary.
In most of the land of Icarolin, including Sara, no matter what strange and tragic things happened in the eternal night, at least it had normal daytime.
This is real daytime. There is sunrise in the morning and the sun is strong at noon. When the weather is good, there are blue skies and white clouds. When the weather is cold, you can come out and bask in the sun.
But it's different here - the daytime here is just like what they saw early in the morning, gloomy and gray, everything seems to be filtered through a dark filter, and the depressing atmosphere makes people feel blocked.
Hitzfeld feels this deeply.
