This knight is too perfect

Chapter 13 Judgment [Two in One]

"What's wrong with you, Rhine?"

In the room, Rhine's wife Anna in his dream looked at Rhine who was still sitting on the bed in a daze and asked in confusion.

Rhine did not respond immediately, because he was still sorting out the strange memory in his mind.

If you don't clearly know that you are performing the so-called "ritual of destiny".

Then Rhine might even start to doubt whether he had traveled through time for the second time.

After all, everything in front of me is too real.

It was so real that Rhine couldn't even regard it as an illusory 'dream'.

However, after sorting out the information in his mind, Rhine finally understood what had happened and what he should do now.

According to the information in his mind, Rhine is currently in a small town called 'Xavier'.

He is a church knight sent here by the Church of Holy Light, and his duty is to guard the only church in the town.

While stationed in the town, Rhine fell in love with a woman named Anna Ortiz in the town, and eventually they had a grand wedding witnessed by the church pastor.

Had a really great time.

But this beautiful period did not last long.

Just three years after Rhine and Anna were married, and shortly after the church sent a new priest, a plague swept through the town.

The plague was so horrible that even the church's holy water could not cure it.

In just less than a month, the plague reduced the town's population by one-fifth.

Faced with such a terrible plague, the survivors in the town ran away and asked for help.

But what makes the residents of the town despair is that the noble lord of the territory where Xavier Town is located wants to prevent the plague in the town from spreading to other places in the territory.

Not only did they not send anyone to help the townspeople, they even sent soldiers to blockade the entire town.

As a result, anyone who dared to leave the town at this time would be greeted not by the lord's mercy, but by the soldiers' cold blades.

There are the lord's soldiers outside and a terrible plague raging inside.

At this time, the residents living in the town of Xavier were like being shrouded in a terrible nightmare. They could neither wait for salvation nor see any hope of life.

I can only wait quietly for death to come in despair.

And just one month after the plague lasted, a rumor emerged.

That is, everything that is happening in the town now is actually caused by a witch hidden in the town.

The origin of this rumor is unknown.

But not only did it spread throughout the town in an instant, but it was also grasped by everyone in the town like a life-saving straw.

But not everyone can catch a witch, and a professional must lead the team.

As a church knight, Rhine is a professional in the eyes of the town residents.

Therefore, what Rhine is now urged to do is to take the few healthy adults in the town to find the "witch" hidden in the town.

After understanding all this, Rhine immediately got up from the bed, and with the help of his 'wife' Anna, put on the heavy knight armor that he could not wear alone.

However, while putting on the armor, Rhine discovered that his wife seemed to be worried.

Not only did he keep making mistakes in his hand movements, but he also looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated several times.

So after putting on the armor, Rhine looked at his blurry adult self in the mirror and said gently to his wife Anna beside him: "Anna, I think you have something to say to me, right?"

After hearing what Rhine said, Anna was silent for a while, then asked softly: "Rhine, do you really think that everything that happened in the town now was caused by an evil witch?"

Rhine did not answer the question directly. Instead, after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Anna, why do you think witches must be evil?"

Rhine's question obviously caught Anna off guard.

So much so that her beautiful and gentle face was full of surprise.

Then she suddenly thought of something, holding the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands, lowered her head and said, "Because, because the church and the nobles all said so, so, so..."

Before Anna could finish her words, Rhine gently placed his hand on her head.

"Relax, Anna, don't be nervous."

With Rhine's comfort, Anna finally calmed down.

Then she raised her head, looked into Rhine's bright and clear eyes, and said hopefully, "So, Rhine, you actually think that witches are not evil, right?"

To Anna's surprise, Rhine shook his head.

This action also made Anna's eyes noticeably dim.

But at this moment, Rhine suddenly laughed.

"Anna, I don't think you understand what I mean."

"what?"

Anna looked up in confusion, with a puzzled look on her face.

Rhine looked at her, slowly put away the smile on his face, and said seriously: "Anna, the reason why I say witches are not necessarily evil is because I never think that anyone is born evil."

"Or rather, I prefer to believe the evil I see with my own eyes rather than the evil that others talk about."

"Therefore, I believe that to judge whether a person or a group is evil, one should never rely solely on listening, but should see with one's own eyes."

"So, even though most witches are evil, I still want to believe that there are some who are not evil at all, but are forced to become evil by others."

"Anna, if in the future an innocent person is forcibly sent to the flames just because of her identity as a witch, even if everyone opposes, I will rush in and save her from the flames without hesitation."

"For no other reason than that I am a knight, a true knight."

Rhine's expression was very serious, so serious that one could tell at a glance that these were words from his heart.

After hearing this, the hesitation in Anna's eyes gradually faded away.

Instead, there was an unprecedented brightness, as if she was no longer confused about her future.

Then, she suddenly hugged Rhine tightly, rested her head on his shoulder, and said softly: "I understand, my dear knight."

"Um, this, this..."

Facing Anna's sudden hug and the fragrance that came to my face.

Rhine, who had never been so close to a woman, immediately became at a loss and lost his composure.

After all, although he knew that everything that was happening now was just a dream, was this the kind of dream that a twelve-year-old boy should have?
Shouldn't it?
Perhaps he sensed Rhine's unnaturalness.

Anna raised her head and looked at Rhine who was so close to her and said jokingly, "What's wrong? Our knight is not afraid of fire, so would he be afraid of a hug from a weak woman like me?"

"..."

Before Rhine could explain, Anna let go of him and said softly, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. Go out quickly. After all, Pastor Lark and others have been waiting for you outside for a long time."

"Before you come back, I will pray to the Lord in the church, hoping that you can return safely this time."

"So, dear Knight, could you please take your hand... off my waist?"

"Cough cough..."

Rhine laughed awkwardly twice, and then he lowered his hands from Anna's slender and soft waist as a "conditioned reflex".

Rhine's innocent and shy look made Anna laugh again.

"Alright, alright, let's go out now. Don't keep Pastor Lark and the others waiting for too long."

As she said that, Anna pushed Rhine's back with both hands, urging him to go outside quickly.

Under Anna's 'drive', the two soon arrived at the door of the cottage.

Just as Rhine was about to leave, Anna suddenly spoke up: "Rhine, be careful."

Rhine paused for a moment, then nodded heavily.

Then he walked out of the house without looking back.

After seeing Rhine disappear in the yard outside the cottage, the gentleness on Anna's face gradually disappeared, replaced by an indescribable calmness. So calm that he didn't seem like a human being.

She turned back to the cabin and skillfully opened a secret door inside.

As she continued to go deeper into the secret passage, without seeing Anna make any moves, the fire pots on both sides of the secret passage began to burn spontaneously and illuminated the secret passage little by little.

After reaching the end of the secret passage, Anna pushed open the secret room in front of her.

There was a dissected corpse placed in the middle of the secret room, and many glass bottles were placed on the cabinets around the secret room.

And what were contained in these glass bottles were the corpses of rats.

Under the dim light in the secret room, Anna ignored the cold and terrifying environment, walked to a box alone and opened it.

I saw that what was placed in the box was a pitch-black robe.

Anna placed her hands on her robe and stroked them gently.

At this moment, Anna seemed to be lost in some thought, and her eyes became hazy.

She stared at the black robe in front of her, muttering to herself, "So... is it really time to leave again?"

At night, in a house in the small town.

I saw a group of adult men in the town rummaging through drawers and cabinets in this house.

Although the owner of the house looked terrified, he didn't dare to step forward to stop it.

Because what these people are looking for now is evidence that their daughter might be the 'evil witch'.

Therefore, it would be better if they did not step forward to stop it at this time.

If they were to stop them, they would most likely be regarded by the crazy townspeople as accomplices who were sheltering the "evil witch" and beaten to death.

Fortunately, after an almost destructive search, the adult men did not find any "witch's evil props" here.

It also proves the innocence of this family.

"You didn't find anything?"

"No."

"Okay, then let's go down quickly and tell the Rhine Knight about the situation here, and then go to the next possible witch's lair."

"Yes."

A group of men from the town went downstairs immediately.

But when they got downstairs, they unexpectedly found that Rhine was not waiting for them downstairs.

Only a small town man who was accompanying the group stayed here alone.

Everyone looked at him and asked in confusion: "Where is the Rhine Knight? Why are you here alone?"

Facing everyone's inquiries, the man replied, "The Rhine Knight said he forgot the holy water for exorcism at home and had to go back to get it. He told us not to worry and just wait here for a while. He will be back soon."

"Is that so? Well then, let's wait here for a while. After the Rhine Knight comes back, we will go to the next place that is suspected to be the witch's lair."

Inside the town's church.

At this time, Anna, wearing a black dress, sat quietly on a bench in the church hall, with her hands clasped together, her head bowed, and prayed devoutly towards the solemn statue of the Lord of Holy Light not far away.

For some reason, there was no one else in the church except Anna, so the whole hall seemed very quiet, surprisingly quiet.

"Heh, I didn't expect that an evil witch like you would have the guts to appear before the statue of my Lord."

"Should I say that you are ignorant, or should I say that you don't take our Holy Light Church seriously, damn witch!"

Hearing the murderous scolding behind her, Anna slowly opened her eyes, slowly stood up, and turned to look at the second person who came to the church hall.

As she turned around, her black robe transformed into countless black feathers.

Soon, a gorgeous long dress that seemed to be woven with countless crow feathers appeared on Anna.

Anna raised her hand, and a black crow flew in from the skylight on the top of the church and finally landed on her finger.

At this moment, she no longer looked like the simple small town young woman she once was.

She is clearly a noble, mysterious and powerful witch.

After doing all this, Anna smiled and said to Pastor Lark, who was standing at the gate with a gloomy face, "In the eyes of you foolish believers in the church, aren't we witches supposed to be lawless and wanton?"

As she spoke, Anna moved her fingers.

The next second, the crow perched on her slender fingers flapped its wings and flew up, eventually transforming into a black staff and falling into Anna's hand.

Watching this scene, Pastor Lark was filled with disgust.

"Put away your dirty witchcraft, evil witch."

"This is a land of gospel under the glory of our Lord. We cannot allow a sinner like you to be so presumptuous."

"A person full of sins?"

Anna seemed to have heard a joke. She tilted her head and started counting on her fingers like an innocent little girl.

"Oh, that's really strange. I have never killed an innocent person since I was born, but why do you say that I am full of sins?"

"Since you say I am full of sins, what about you? You have just created a plague yourself, respected Pastor Lark."

"Are those innocent townspeople who were killed by your plague also full of sins?"

Anna stopped snapping her fingers, and the innocence on her face disappeared instantly, replaced by an indescribable coldness.

This is both a question to Lark and a trial of him.

However, facing Anna's questioning, L'Arc not only did not feel the slightest bit of guilt, but instead acted very righteous.

"It is their honor and proof of their devotion to the Lord to contribute a little to the Lord's cause of purifying evil."

"Besides, if I don't use this method, how can I force you, the witch hiding in the town, out?"

"Also, don't even think about defending yourself, you're a witch who plays with fate."

"After all, you who attempt to seize your destiny are born with unforgivable original sin, regardless of whether your hands are stained with blood."

"To destroy you and bring down my Lord's divine punishment on you is my innate mission and the purpose of my coming here."

"Even if many unrelated people are killed in the process?"

Facing Anna's merciless ridicule, the dignity on Larke's face did not waver at all.

He stretched his hand out from his robe, holding a thick church Bible tightly in his hand.

"Their souls will always shine in the holy fire of our Lord, and therefore they... never die."

"Ah."

Anna sneered, then looked at L'Arc with a mixture of sympathy and disgust.

"Everyone says that we witches are a bunch of irrational lunatics, but in my opinion, compared to you foolish believers in the church, we are simply normal."

"After all, if those townspeople you killed could choose for themselves, I believe they would rather live an ordinary life than become the immortal souls that keep shining in the holy fire of the Lord as you said."

"Compared to us witches who play with fate, fools like you who openly play with other people's lives are the real evil."

"As someone like you, what qualifications do you have to judge me?"

"Not to mention...I am innocent."

As soon as she finished speaking, Anna slammed her wand heavily to the ground.

In an instant, a huge mysterious crow made entirely of black shadow appeared behind Anna.

And just after this mysterious crow appeared, a cold shadow filled with the breath of death immediately began to sweep towards Pastor Lark like a tide.

But just as the tide of shadow was about to touch Pastor Lark, the church Bible in his hand... opened.

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(End of this chapter)