Krafft's Anomaly Notes

Chapter 364 Our family has fallen...

When the first ray of morning light shone through the cracks between the strange rocks and trees and into his eyes, Field finally realized that it was impossible for him to catch up with Dominic.

The courage he had to hit the road on impulse cooled down in the dark faster than hot soup poured into the snow. After narrowly escaping fractures and even falling to his death many times, he was forced to slow down.

Perhaps only those who are completely crazy enough would dare to gallop on horseback on a mountain road late at night.

The horseshoe prints that were deeply embedded in the mud ahead always clearly pointed the way, proving that the horses always maintained an incredible speed. Even when passing through tricky bends, they hardly slowed down, as if they had already walked this route countless times and knew the route by heart.

If there is anything worse than a madman, it is a madman who still retains the ability to function normally.

We must be thankful that we took Dominic's sword away in advance, otherwise we would be facing an armed madman now.

Considering that both of them had only limited experience in the use of weapons to training, he had no confidence of winning.

Even when facing Dominic who had no weapons, he hadn't figured out how to effectively control him. Adding to that the premise of not causing too much damage, it was even more difficult, and the possibility was so low that it made people a little desperate.

But turning back was not an option.

Regardless of the friendship they have had over the years, he didn't know how to face his colleagues and superiors when something like leaving his post without permission and losing his companions happened. To put it bluntly, it was a disgrace to the college he was attending and the teacher who recommended him for the job.

Spending the rest of his life in decadence filled with guilt and the strange looks of others, and being unable to return to the arms of Heavenly Father after death, just imagining that scene, Field felt that dying in the line of duty to rescue his brothers in the order was a completely good ending.

What's more, the priest had told me before I left that there was a knight's territory ahead that they visited from time to time, and that their family had believed in God for generations, so I should be able to ask them to allocate manpower to help... right?

With this thought in mind, he passed another sharp turn and the barrier of trees became sparse.

The rare gentle slopes stretched along the valley, struggling to survive like mosses trampled between the shoes of a rock giant. The coldest and darkest part of the night had not yet been dispelled and still lingered here.

A village lies silently on it, its surfaces covered with black water marks left by years of humidity. It is crowded on high ground, leaving as much land as possible close to the river for crops.

There is no church sign in sight, but you can see a semi-fortress-like building that is attached to the mountain and nearly twice as high as other roofs. It controls the commanding heights at the narrowest part of the valley and overlooks the entire village.

If it weren't for a few scattered figures, Field would probably have thought that there was a cemetery deep in the mountains in front of him, burying the remains that were not blessed and abandoned by the world.

The residents who got up early to work had a kind of indifference that matched the environment. There was little curiosity in their eyes towards outsiders. They just silently cast a lonely glance like a spider web hanging on the dew, and soon disappeared in the morning mist. It was impossible to confirm whether they were still looking at them.

Field lost the desire to talk, rode his horse quickly across the only paved road in the village, and knocked on the door of the building.

What followed was a long and uneasy wait. When he began to hesitate whether to knock on the door for the third time or ask the owner if he happened to be out, the door slowly opened a gap just enough for one person to pass through.

The person who came to open the door was a young man dressed in a servant's uniform, with bread crumbs on his newly sprouted soft beard.

The monk was brought to the dining table, where an old man and a middle-aged man with similar facial features to the boy gestured to him to sit down. Without saying a word, they continued to saw off the crust of the bread with a copper knife, making a monotonous sound like wood shavings.

It was hard to tell whether this was an unwelcome hint or some old-fashioned family etiquette that prohibited conversation during meals. But he was immediately served the same food, so it seemed to be the latter.

The food on the plate did not look particularly healthy, and under Kraft’s guidance the monastery might even have been classified as harmful. The side dish was a sauce made of chopped greens, cheese, and oil.

Despite a night of running around, Field lost his appetite after a polite attempt. He avoided the sauce with a strange color and taste, moistened the small piece of bread with saliva and swallowed it.

The people at the table finished their meal in silence and quickly. After the old man nodded, the middle-aged man sitting on the left squeezed out a greeting from between his beards that was as dry and hard to swallow as the food:
"Hello, we rarely have guests here."

His hands were placed neatly on the table, and the thick and deformed joints showed that he had trained enough to a certain extent. The edges of his nails were worn and cracked, and the gaps were gray and black, which were traces left recently.

Field's eyes moved around the three people a few times, guessing their relationship. It was difficult to determine whether it was three generations, or an elderly knight and his two sons, so he finally chose a more conservative name.

"May the grace of God always be with you and your territory, Your Excellency. I am a monk of the Knights Hospitaller, and I was led here by God. I pray that you will forgive my intrusion."

There was no displeasure on the old man's face. The monk felt relieved and looked at him openly, but in fact he looked past him to observe the emblem on the tapestry behind the main seat.

Most of these printed and dyed woven products are expensive and cannot be cleaned using conventional methods. Even if they are carefully maintained, it is easy to see their long history of use from the inevitable old dirt.

On the two-part emblem with a red and white or red and silver background, a sword and a spear with the tip pointing downward are embroidered in gold thread. The two weapons are crossed and pass through the huge mouth of a beast with fangs and scales behind.

Field was so distracted by the exquisite and eye-catching patterns that he forgot to hide his surprise.

He was a man who had seen the world. Even in Dunling, it was rare to find such a gorgeous and bold family emblem. Moreover, there was no extra pattern information formed by the continuous branching, which showed that it might be closely related to the source family.

Then, realizing his faux pas, he quickly turned his attention back to the table, praying that he hadn't been noticed.

"I was at my wit's end, and I heard that there was a family here that had been devout and devoted to the Lord for generations, so I followed the Lord's guidance and came to your door to beg for your help."

Frankly speaking, it was impossible to have too much hope. A family guarding such a remote village obviously would not have extra manpower and financial resources to squander. I hadn't even seen a servant since I entered the house.

But this mansion... no, it should be called a small fortress. It is much more reliable than Baron Priyère's residence, and the corresponding construction work is not small, which does not match the apparent economic situation. Maybe he has a large inheritance from his ancestors, but his lifestyle is simple?

"If the Lord uses my hand to carry out His will, it will be an honor for my family. Please tell me what you need." The old man paused and turned his head to look at the tapestry behind him. "Although we no longer have the glory of the past, and even the names of our ancestors are unknown to future generations, the Heavenly Father still remembers the oath we made before His altar."

"Your kindness and generosity are enough to move Heavenly Father." Things went incredibly smoothly, Field was almost moved to tears, and hurried to tell the situation, "It's like this, a friend of mine got crazy for some reason a few days ago, and rode to the mountains. I hope there will be helpers who are familiar with the local conditions to bring him back together."

The old man stopped stroking his beard and looked at the middle-aged man seriously and said, "Benny, take Lucian and go with this monk. Hurry up and set off now."

The middle-aged man called Benny had no complaints about the sudden request. He agreed immediately and left.

"Please come with me. Father is right. We have to hurry."

(End of this chapter)