The sun is high

Shuge's return was warmly welcomed by all the children.

When he saw those dirty young faces, the heavy burden on Xiuge's heart seemed to lighten a little.

Shuge sorted out the pile of things he brought back. The weapons and trophies seized from the members of the Three Color Brotherhood were piled all over the table. This made Felix stunned. He was really a little confused. I envy a spellcaster's ability to survive in such a bad environment.

In the room, Shuge sorted and put the bullets suitable for different crystal guns, and then he pushed two of the firearms with the bullets in front of Felix.

"I'll just keep a handful of these, and you can arrange the rest. You can consider giving one to Marlena... When they go out, they also need to find ways to protect themselves."

After getting to know each other before, Felix has now put down his guard against Shuge.

Even though there are indeed many complicated mysteries surrounding the former Ernst house writer, his and Marlena's lives were both saved by Shuge. He has no reason or need to continue to treat Shuge Beware of everything.

What's more, he doesn't have the ability to guard against a mage.

"Hey... put the dagger down, be careful not to cut yourself!"

Seeing a child picking up the Demonic Silver Dagger and playing with it, Felix quickly stopped him.

The various weapons and equipment on that table have opened Felix's eyes, and the big bag of food, medicine and other materials that Shuge collected while hunting the descendants of An Yuan is now a priceless treasure in Salem City. , there were even a few canned meats, and Malena solemnly placed these canned meats at the highest point of the room - together with the canned fruits, to prevent any greedy ninjas. Keep eating secretly.

Felix couldn't help but sigh: "It would be great if I could also do magic."

"Where do all these ifs come from?"

Shuge shook his head and smiled: "If you have that time to sigh, it is better to think about the next thing, not to mention... Felix, you have done a good enough job before."

Felix was a little helpless at Shuge's compliment. He nodded, then sat down at the table and began to pack away those dangerous alchemy bombs.

He asked casually: "I have always heard magic explosions before. Are you casting a spell?"

"Well, I met some people from the Tricolor Brotherhood. They were very enthusiastic. Not only did they tell me some more important things, but they also gave us these weapons. Isn't it great?"

"..."

Felix was an honest man, and he didn't quite understand Shuge's weird humor, so he grinned twice and asked, "So, you have a conflict with them?"

"Yes, those guys are not simple. They were trying to hunt down mages, but they ended up running into me."

In the eyes of all the children with great admiration, Xiuge inspected the wheel crystal gun and said lightly: "Unfortunately, most of their weapons are defective products obtained from Iris Street. They are really useful." That’s all.”

Having said this, Shuge asked: "By the way, Felix, those people from the Three Color Brotherhood mentioned that General Boots on Iris Street is trying to recruit survivors in the city. Did you know about this before?"

"of course I know."

"You're not interested? I don't think the people on Iris Street would refuse someone like you to join."

After hearing this, Felix smiled bitterly: "I have understood it before. Joining Iris Street means that I have to live in Iris Street like those soldiers. Of course it will be very safe, but... Bu General Ci is not friendly to children. He believes that in this special period, manpower and material resources must be streamlined as much as possible."

At this point, he lowered his voice: "General Boots believes that children who cannot work and have to take up food can only be a burden to him..."

"But there are still more or less other children left in the city. How does he deal with them?"

"The ones that are slightly older can at least help with the work, carrying supplies, repairing walls and houses, setting up fortifications, etc... There is always something that can be done."

Felix whispered: "But if it were smaller...it wouldn't be good."

"Just tell me."

"The number of mages in Iris Street is limited, and they are still trying to expand their sphere of influence. Therefore, General Boots is under great pressure to clean up those monsters. In order to improve efficiency, they will force young children to leave at night. Go to the streets to lure out and kill the monsters in the neighborhood, or lure them to other places."

What surprised Shuge was that Felix's mood and tone were very stable when he said these things. As a person who still insisted on helping other vulnerable people in such extreme circumstances, he felt very grateful for General Boots. And Iris Street's approach did not seem to generate any anger.

Felix felt Shuge's doubtful gaze, so he smiled with some difficulty: "If General Boots really wants to establish a relatively safe area on Iris Street and nearby, then he must find a way to clear the All hidden dangers... For them, this method is indeed feasible, and the establishment of order on Iris Street also proves that their decision has certain merits."

Felix carefully placed the sorted alchemy bombs on the table: "I don't agree with their approach, and I will pity the old people and children, but I can't do more, and I don't have the ability to fight with them. It’s time to blame them, and instead of getting angry in these areas, it’s time to think about where you can go to find something useful next.”

"makes sense."

Xiuge nodded in agreement. He also realized that his thoughts and thinking had just fallen into a misunderstanding. In this extreme and harsh environment, no matter how kind a person is, he must make himself rational. This is the only way. Only Felix was able to ensure the survival of these children who were under his care and shelter.

The sky outside the window had gradually darkened, and a strange sound came from every corner of Salem City.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk..."

It was the sound of people sealing and reinforcing doors and windows.

Malena and the other two eldest children also got busy. They took very thick wooden boards wrapped in thick sheets and began to fix them on the windows. Each time a window was closed, Malena also Careful inspection was required to ensure that the boards effectively sealed the window and that the gap between it and the window frame could be filled with thick sheeting.

Soon, the entire room was enveloped in deep darkness.

The crystal lamp turned on, but the light was a little dim, but it was an important light source in the darkness. Felix used shabby clothes to block the gaps in the door. After that, the children became quiet. Even the youngest one just huddled in Marlena's arms, biting her fingers and stopped talking.

Dry food and canned food for dinner were distributed to everyone, including Shuge.

What Shuge got was a canned fruit, which was filled with the "Crown Apple", a specialty of the Royal Capital of Delan. This thing was very popular among the noble ladies on the plateau. Shuge had eaten it twice, and he was very fond of this kind of apple. I really like the little bit of magic it contains.

The dinner ended unconsciously with the slight sound of chewing and swallowing.

Then, under Felix's instruction, Marlena took the other children into the bedroom. There was also a huge mattress in the bedroom, which was barely enough for everyone to sleep on.

Marlena was very smart. She could tell that Felix had something to talk about with the mage "Alfred", so she obediently closed the bedroom door and stopped disturbing the two of them.

"Mr. Shuge..."

At this moment, Felix couldn't help but use honorifics to Shuge. With the light of the magic street lights, he looked at Shuge and then asked: "In the past period, have you really been... In Salem City?”

"If I'm not in Salem City, where else can I be?"

Shuge smiled: "And why do you ask that?"

"Uh... no, well, just a gut feeling."

Felix smiled sheepishly: "You know, I used to be the head of the Mutual Aid Association, and I know Salem City and the people in the city very well, so I can always see or judge something. It happened just like what happened with the Tricolor Brotherhood and the Peace Newspaper at that time..."

He licked his dry lips and said: "This feeling is a bit like fishing. As time goes by and the number of times increases, I will be able to see if the fishing rod is shaking normally and the fish is really biting the hook." Judgment, if I say this, can you understand?”

"sure."

Before nightfall, Shuge's magic rats had already spread out. He was very sure that there were no noteworthy threats around, so he relaxed and talked with Felix: "What you want to express is, You know 'normal conditions' very well, so you can immediately detect any signs of abnormality?"

"Yes, that's it!"

Felix nodded vigorously: "As expected of a writer, I thought it would take me a long time to explain."

Xiuge smiled and leaned back in his chair: "So you think there is something wrong with me?"

Seeing that Shuge was not taboo about this topic, Felix also relaxed and said: "You... don't look like a person living in Salem City, at least not like a person who has been trapped here, sir. , you are too calm, in your eyes, monsters and thugs seem to be objects that can be easily dealt with."

Shuge did not refute Felix's point of view, but calmly replied: "Is it possible that my performance is due to my magic?"

"maybe?"

Felix said in an uncertain tone: "But I also saw some mages who were also trapped in Salem City before. They also control magic, but... after experiencing so many things, they also Becoming like everyone else, it feels completely different from you.”

"Anything else?"

"Also, Mr. Shuge, you are very knowledgeable about the causes of the disaster in Salem City and those monsters, and you seem to be really thinking about how to solve the problems in Salem City... Sorry, this is actually all me. I can't produce any more 'evidence' based on my intuitive judgment."

After listening to Felix's statement, Shuge nodded: "Although I think it is too far-fetched to attribute all this to intuition, I have to say that your judgment is still very accurate."

He met Felix's gaze and said calmly: "As you can guess, I do come from outside the city, and I do want to solve the dilemma here."

Even though he had been mentally prepared before, Felix couldn't help but open his mouth.

Countless thoughts rushed through his mind, and he tried to stop them, but he always couldn't.

After a long while, Felix finally came to his senses. He asked in a trembling voice: "So...Mr. Sugar, I want to know how people outside, the world outside...how do they view Salem?" City? Are you an envoy sent by the Legal Committee or the two kingdoms? "

"They have forgotten Salem City."

Shuge whispered this extremely cruel answer: "Maybe there are still a few people who remember it, but those who remember Salem City can't change anything."

"How is that possible! This is...a whole city! There are so many people in the city!"

At this moment, the leader of the Mutual Aid Association who had been struggling to hold on in Salem City finally began to collapse.

He could accept the temporary suspension of Salem City due to the war outside, he could accept the magical blockade adopted by the Legal Committee to isolate that terrible monster, and he could even endure the cruel measures adopted by Iris Street to consolidate order.

But Felix couldn't accept this calm and indifferent forgetfulness.

He didn't understand, and he couldn't figure out why, as the fuse and starting point of a terrible war, Salem City and everyone in the city received such treatment?

The expression on Felix's scarred and thin face kept changing. He seemed to want to cry, and he seemed to want to yell something, but in the end everything returned to silence.

Shuge saw that Felix's sunken eyes seemed to be glowing, as if they were on fire.

"So, Mr. Sugar, you came here because..."

Felix's voice became a little dry and hoarse due to his emotional fluctuations, and those words were squeezed out of his throat, and they seemed to contain Felix's last bit of luck and hope.

"I must admit that the reason why I returned to Salem City was entirely due to an accident."

Xiuge and Felix looked at each other. In the fluctuating eyes of the other party, Xiuge answered honestly: "But since the accident has happened, I naturally have to find a way to deal with and solve it... Since the Legal Committee and the If the country is unwilling to take care of the affairs of Salem City, then we can only rely on ourselves."

He raised his hand and patted Felix on the shoulder: "Keep fighting spirit and confidence. I have said it before. If you want to solve the dilemma, I can't do it alone. Mr. Felix, you have to be responsible for me." A good guide and introducer will do.”