As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

When Moen found Gray, the old knight was wielding his greatsword in the camp's open space, and as he approached, he could hear the heavy swings and the whooshing sound of the sword cutting through the air.

Seeing Moen rushing back, Gray planted his greatsword in the snow, then leaned against it, watching him with a chuckle.

"Oh, you're back so soon? Ask me anything you want to ask, you're such a worrywart."

Moen braced himself on his knees, panting heavily.

The journey from Nohanville to here, which should have taken nearly twenty minutes, was compressed into eight minutes by him using [Frosty Wind Shadow]. His magic power was almost depleted.

"Old man, I have a question for you... well... I mean, hypothetically speaking." Moen swallowed, forcing himself to calm his breathing.

"Suppose Arya perished in the previous beast tide, and then the archbishop of the church falsely accused you of framing Arya, would you obediently accept the trial?"

After Moen finished speaking, he stared intently at Gray, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

"Hey kid, what's with your eyes? You look like you're going to eat me alive."

"I thought you were going to ask something else, but you asked a really weird question."

"However, if we follow your assumption, I'll definitely pick up this sword." Gray patted his good friend leaning against him. "Let's storm that holy church and see how many heads his archbishop has that I can chop off, hahahaha."

Gray laughed heartily, but Moen felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

No... none of them are right.

The plot of his past life clearly showed Grey silently accepting his fate and facing death, so why is it different from what he said?

The Trial Ring has extremely strict requirements for the trial process, and every trial is recorded on video for future generations to learn from.

He had personally witnessed Gray calmly ascend the execution platform, his gaze…

Moen suddenly realized why he had such a deep impression of that execution video: Gray's eyes at the time did not show the fear and despair that other prisoners had.

He then looked gently in one direction until the head fell to the ground.

Who was he looking at at that moment? Who else could be the most important person to Grey besides Arya?

A bolt of lightning exploded in Moen's mind, making his scalp tingle.

Yes, who else could it be but Arya?

In her previous life, Arya didn't die in the beast tide at all! Just like in this life, she survived.

In this life, Gray is willing to stay to protect Arya, just as he laid down his weapons and faced an unjust trial for Arya's sake in the previous life.

"I curse the Church of Judgment!" Moen couldn't help but curse in his mind.

That stupid archbishop never intended to kill Arya from beginning to end. All those excuses about "the container being flawed" and "needing to be cleaned" were just pretexts!

If he wanted an emotionless vessel, why turn a blind eye to Gray's doomed upbringing? Because it was part of the plan!

First, let Grey give Arya the deepest feelings, then destroy those feelings in the coldest way in front of Arya.

Only in that moment will imperfection transform into perfection, and the perfect vessel that the archbishop longed for will finally be completed.

No wonder I didn't know François.

He knew far too much as the executor of the plan, so much so that the archbishop went so far as to erase his place in history.

After all, how could the angels of judgment of the Church descend through such an unclean means?

Moen was brainstorming, but Gray only saw Moen frozen in place.

"What's going on? You weren't scared by what I said, were you?"

Hearing Gray's words, Moen looked up: "Grandpa, let's go together. With your strength, we can still get out together, and we'll still be able to..."

"Alright, Moen." Gray grasped Moen's arm, which was waving excitedly.

"Don't try to persuade me anymore. Once I've made up my mind, I won't change it."

"But you, if you change your mind and want to leave now, I can pave a way out for you."

Damn it, that stubborn old man.

The archbishop had accurately predicted Gray's personality, which is why he made Gray Arya's mentor.

"If you don't leave, I won't leave either."

Let him escape alone? He can't do it.

But if they don't leave now, they must start planning immediately. At least for now, they still have the upper hand and can make some arrangements in Nohanville.

"I knew I wasn't wrong, you and I are both stubborn wolves."

"I'll hold off François for you then; whether you can break through depends on yourself."

Gray didn't even consider trying to persuade Moen again; he knew the stubborn wolf wouldn't turn back.

"Old man, now that we know François is coming, we need to make arrangements in advance."

"Moreover, I have just deduced a crucial piece of intelligence: François is destined to be a pawn in this trip."

Surprisingly, Gray wasn't surprised by Moen's words.

"I told him a long time ago that with his ambition, he would never be willing to be a compliant pawn."

"He thought he was heartless and ruthless, but a heartless and ruthless person would not drink with me all night, nor would he become my partner."

"A disobedient pawn is destined to be discarded. With his intelligence, he must have guessed it long ago, but he just didn't want to believe it."

After listening to Gray's words, Moen came up with a solution.

Although it's uncertain whether it's feasible, as long as they can widen that crack in trust even a little further, their chances of winning will increase.

"Old man, you should stay here and train hard to maintain your condition, so you don't let us down."

After saying that, Moen left in a hurry without waiting for Gray's response, just as he had come in a hurry.

"That kid." Gray watched Moen's departing figure, shaking his head with a smile.

He pulled the greatsword from the ground, casually twirled it, and created a gust of wind.

Although he didn't think Moen could change the final outcome, he was impressed by the young man's desperate efforts to break the deadlock.

"Then let's go crazy one last time."

When Moen ran back to the city, panting, a striking figure was already standing in front of the Black Rat Tavern.

Sylvie no longer wore the black cloak that concealed her identity, but instead changed into a dark purple velvet dress.

She leaned lazily against the door frame, idly playing with a small fan, using illusions to confuse the occasional passerby who tried to strike up a conversation.

Her heterochromatic eyes only lit up when Moen appeared at the alley entrance.

"Oh, Mr. Moen." Sylvie snapped her folding fan shut and gracefully twirled around, lifting her skirt.

"What do you think of my outfit? Your Arya would never dress like this for you~"

Moen didn't have time to banter with her and walked straight up to her: "I'm here to talk about helping out. If you have any conditions, you can mention them first."

Sylvie looked into Moen's eyes, which seemed to hold the power of a lion, and her smile deepened.

She straightened up, not bothered by the mud and dew on Moen's body. Instead, she took Moen's arm and leaned close to his ear. Because they were so close, the soft touch could be felt through her sleeve.

"Let's go, great hero, let's talk as we walk."

"After all, the matter you want to discuss with me involves a church dispute."