Azeroth Shadow Trail

Chapter 759

A city-wide purge is proceeding in an orderly manner in the grim night of Drustvar.

Guided by the superb hunting skills of the seven watchmen, coupled with the secret assistance of the Uncrowned summoned by Laike, there are also local organizations eager to "wash away the shame" who will fight and rush with bare hands as "vanguards".

The citizens of Klein City that night could only hear the neighing of war horses and the frightening wailing all night long.

After the officials appointed by the Vic Reiss family in the city were screened by the first wave, they wandered around the city to appease the panicked citizens and let them go back to sleep obediently without watching the excitement.

It also said that after the early morning of tomorrow, every neighborhood will send some respected people to the city square to gather, and the local lord, the old Earl Vic Reiss, has something important to announce.

Accompanying these officials are the priests of the Church of the Holy Light.

They were ordered to soothe people's hearts with the holy light, and at the same time, they also launched a "free clinic" that night to disperse the pressure of the citizens.

All the arrests were apparently done by paladins and fanatics under Priest Isenlien's command.

Whenever those priests in white robes went to a designated "witch stronghold", they would recite holy advice and cleanse everything around them with scorching holy light.

After finishing the work, all unclean things should be destroyed with holy water.

It is related to the safety of the old pope, and the great mission of the Church of the Holy Light to show "superiority" and "practicability" in the local area, and probably because of the constant "saving of souls", their paranoia that has nowhere to rest in their hearts has been greatly suppressed. Great satisfaction.

Each of these pastors looked energetic, busy all night without any signs of fatigue.

This also caused the beating holy light to be everywhere in Klein City this night, forming a sharp contrast with the bright moonlight in the sky.

In the early hours of the morning, after the arresting operation came to an end, the old earl in military uniform rode over from the manor on horseback in the city square of Klein City, with his son guarding him.

Arthur Vick Reiss, who will succeed the earl in a few days, also put on the armor worn by the orcs during the war, carrying an epee and a battle helmet, majestic.

The most peculiar thing is that his fiancée, Miss Meredith, also wore a ceremonial light armor, dressed herself in a heroic manner, and followed her husband to a chilling city.

This is really a very smart woman.

She always knows what kind of dress to do in what situation, and what the meaning of such a dress is.

"Your Excellency, the followers of darkness in Klein City have been captured."

In the city square, Dathrohan, the silent great knight holding the sword of the Great Crusader, was holding the hilt of the sword. When the old count dismounted and approached, he whispered to him:

"According to the order of the Pope, we will hand over the evil people in the city to your guards. It has been confirmed that there are a total of 21 evil people involved in black witchcraft, and there are as many as 45 servants who were coerced or actively followed by them. people.

During the arrest process, seven people resisted fiercely. In order to protect the innocent, we had to use deadly force.

But at your request, the corpses of these evil ones were also brought back. "

Having said that, the great knight hesitated for a moment, and he frowned and asked:

"Forgive me for being curious, Your Excellency, what do you want their bodies for?"

"This is a local custom, Your Excellency the Grand Knight."

The old Earl of Vik Reiss was a swinger when he was young, and he couldn't talk about faith, but he regained his ancestors' enthusiasm for the Holy Light after he reached middle age. He respected the Grand Knight and explained:

"On the way you came, you should have heard of some backward customs in the mountains of Drustvar. My people are protected by the mountains, but they are also blocked.

They don't have much communication with the outside world, and they stubbornly insist on some ancient traditions.

Some of them are cruel and inhumane.

For example, burning witches. "

The old count paused, and he looked at the real witches in the square who were guarded by paladins and family guards.

The magic camouflage of those guys has been dispelled by the holy light, revealing their ugly faces full of scars and scars, which are evil enough to scare children to tears.

It's like an outward display of inner darkness.

It really is "the face is born from the heart", none of these witches are good-looking.

But the disguised identities they choose in the city are all young and beautiful ladies, using this false power to seduce the restless hearts of those men.

Earl Vic Reiss looked angry and ashamed, he let out a sigh of relief, and said to the great knight in front of him:

"My daughter-in-law once counted the number of 'witches' burned to death in the Drustvar area for me in the past ten years, and the report was shocking.

I have always known my people to be reckless and impulsive, but I have never understood the weight of this evil.

Like those hypocritical nobles of Boralus high society, I think I am a very qualified lord.

But I am not.

In the past ten years, 172 women have been burned to death in this mountainous area. They were all accused of committing the crime of "witches". .

They believed that it was a way to drive away bad luck and darkness, and they believed that the fire could purify everything.

However."

The old earl covered his heart, his voice became deeper and deeper:

"Among the 172 women who died in vain, there were not a single real witch! They were all accused of being evil for some trivial, unreasonable reason.

And during the 'cleaning' that started on this land not long ago, I sent people to conduct a secret investigation, and found that most of the dead were reported by real witches hiding in the crowd.

The reason why they framed these innocent women might just be because their beauty and youth made the witches jealous, or a suspicious look made them feel threatened.

It was a mistake, Grand Knight.

I do not deny the failure of me and my family in this matter.

Because of Vic Reiss' connivance, my people's hands are stained with blood, and I dare not even think about how many innocent people have been sent to the stake because of these ridiculous traditions in the past hundred and thousand years.

This bug should be stopped today! "

Earl Vic Reiss straightened his back again, and he said to the great knight in front of him:

"It took my soldiers several months to wipe out the witch organization in most of Drustvar, and many of their members heard the news and fled this mountainous area.

Our collection of them will never stop!

This is the oath I swore in front of the Holy Light, and every generation of Vic Reiss Patriarchs will inherit and abide by this oath, so as to make up for the mistakes made by my ancestors and me.

And the group of witches in front of them should be the last group of evil spirits remaining in the Drustvar Mountains.

I will judge them in their own way, before my people! "

Dathrohan nodded.

Under the heavy battle helmet, he glanced around. The officials in the city were erecting a black gallows in the center of the square, and someone had brought charcoal and firewood.

What they are going to do is self-evident.

Although the "fanatics" in the Church of the Holy Light headed by Pastor Isenlien used "burn the heretics" as a slogan all day long, in fact, these pastors were just talking about it.

As an ancient church that has been passed down for more than 3,000 years, the cruel punishment of burning with strong religious rituals has long been eliminated.

Successive popes have not allowed this backward punishment to recur.

And the old man Fao's character is even less likely to actively promote this kind of behavior. He even abolished the organization of the Inquisition.

He believes that the Holy Light's punishment of darkness is a means rather than an end, and violence must not be allowed to mix with faith.

Therefore, this was also the first time that the Grand Knight Dathrohan witnessed the burning.

Frankly, it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

He had killed orcs on the battlefield and seen various corpses. After becoming a paladin, he also dealt with many dark things in the name of faith.

But burn the living.

Even if it is a punishment, it is a bit too much.

Probably feeling the great knight's discomfort, after the old earl left, Arthur and his fiancee came over and explained softly to the great knight:

"Your Excellency Dathrohan, please don't dislike this land because of this barbaric custom. In fact, father has already made a decision. The witch trial that will be held today will be the last in the Drustvar region." trial."

Miss Meredith added:

"Father has made up his mind that after the trial, he will, in the name of the lord, permanently and completely abolish all traditions related to the witch trials.

From now on, no innocent person will die in the flames of injustice on this land.

And, personally, I have no mercy for these witches who are about to be burned.

This is their well-deserved punishment, and precious consolation to those innocents who have perished for their dark sorcery and evil hearts.

This kind of terrible punishment derived from their fueling will be imposed on them in a real sense for the first time.

They will feel what the innocents have gone through, and go to hell in desperate agony!

This is justice overdue. "

Miss Meredith, holding her fiancé's wrist, concluded to the grand knight:

"But justice is better late than never.

We are also honored to be able to end a period of dark history under the witness of the Holy Light. This story may make you and the pastors of the church aware of some "stubborn diseases" in the land of Drustvar.

That is a chronic disease of the mind that needs to be cured, and its name is 'ignorance'. "

Meredith's words made the grand knight look at this future lord's wife with kindness, martial arts, and wisdom in local legends with admiration.

These words really don't seem to be something that a lady who lives in seclusion can say.

It seems that the praise of Mrs. Meredith among the people of Drustvar is not groundless.

But what the great knight didn't know was that Meredith's good reputation, in addition to "showing off" everywhere and showing his wisdom, was also inseparable from the tireless eloquence of a group of drinking alcoholics and bards secretly hired by the Red Hands. Oral transmission.

That's right, as the most outstanding "albatross" under Laike's command, Miss Meredith has learned the importance of "public opinion" without a teacher.

This is also an important reason why the old earl made up his mind to let this humble girl marry his only son.

All this could not be hidden from the old earl.

The wise ruler did not regard this method as deceit. On the contrary, the old earl felt that his son had been raised too upright by himself, and he needed a wife like Meredith to assist him.

Well, the leaders of big families always have such eclectic ways of thinking about people.

While preparing for the "witch trial" that was about to start at dawn, on the way to Klein City from Vic Reiss Manor, in the old Pope's carriage, Laike, who had been busy all night, was taking a nap.

Even though he was in charge of command work that night, and his subordinates ran errands for arrests and investigations, but command work is also very tiring, okay?

This is a serious burden on the intellectual level.

Opposite the snoozing stinky pirate, the old pope was flipping through the "Summary of Drustvar Witch Stories" that Meredith had collected with great effort.

That book is very thick.

It details the stories of local "witch trials" over the past decade.

Every story in it has a name and a surname, and that goes down to date of birth and date of death, but frankly, it's pretty boring because every story is so different.

If you don't look at the details, you will only feel that the same sad story happened nearly two hundred times.

The old pope took it very seriously.

From time to time he turned the rosary, said a few words, or scratched a religious symbol on his chest.

He is very silent.

Especially after reading this "dark story" written almost with blood and tears, the old pope closed his eyes and calmed down after a long silence.

He opened his mouth and said:

"It's really hard to imagine that this would be an evil that happened three thousand years after the beginning of human civilization. A weak organization that can be eradicated in a few months has secretly manipulated this dark thing for thousands of years.

Sure enough, the real evil is not just the fanatics who claim to destroy the world.

The truly creepy evil is always the madness hiding in the dark. "

"What can I say?"

Bu Laike shrugged, he yawned, opened his hands to the Pope and said:

"Suffice it to say, welcome to true Kul Tiras, my lord. This also sunlit land is filled with darkness, and it is hard to return.

But perhaps you can heal it, as you healed the other lands in the Eastern Continent.

The witch trial is just one of the "ancient traditions" in the Drustvar Mountains. As long as you have a pair of "discovery" eyes, you will soon open your eyes.

I see you're a bit tired. Shall I tell you a sweet story about 'The Little Girl's Teapot Party' to cheer you up?

That is the most popular bedtime story around Xiaowan Town.

It's been around for probably decades.

And the little girl in the story is now the most frightening existence in the nearby black forest. I guess, if you want to appease her grievances, you have to do it yourself. "

"You're just trying to scare me, you mean pirate."

The old Pope has seen too much darkness today, which made him feel mental pressure. He waved his hands and said:

"Let's talk about these stories later. I can probably guess why you insisted that I come to Drustvar in person. Do you want me to see the problems of this land with my own eyes?"

"No, I came here to beat Haixian, so don't think too much about it."

Bu Laike pouted and said:

"But Drustvar's problem is the slightest among the three lands of Kul Tiras. If the truth here makes you feel creepy, then once I reveal the darkness of reality, you may have a nervous breakdown.

Dai Lin thought he ruled this land, but the ruler here was never him.

I even think that humans have never really occupied Kul Tiras, and the ancient evils of this land have always sought to regain their dominion.

This place is too far away from the mainland, and the holy light cannot reach here.

Then something dark takes its place. A fruit that has rotted from my heart, even if it looks delicious on the surface, I will not taste it.

Well, it's dawn, and they're going to start burning witches!

Hurry up the carriage, my lord, this is a local 'repertoire', enjoyed by men, women and children, you won't want to miss it. Maybe you can read scriptures around the flames, throw a few rays of light, and cheer everyone up or something. "

The pope did not refute Laike's indecisive remarks.

When the carriage entered the city and headed towards the crowded city square, the Pope closed his eyes, twirling the rosary in his hand, and suddenly said:

"Tell me about that 'little girl's tea party.'"

"If you think I can save her, then I'm willing to give it a try."

(end of this chapter)