I want to be a faded person for life

D corrected Roger's statement, his voice surprisingly calm and gentle beneath the helmet.

"You can call me D. I hunt the deadborn and remove the dead roots."

Contrary to the impression given by his voice, D's words were quite harsh.

"... Let me warn you first. Based on what I've learned, the death has probably already spread throughout Stonewell, and even to other places outside of that city."

"In that city, there will probably be more than one [ship]."

"If you don't want to lose your life, it's best not to get close to Stonewell, or even set foot on the land of Nimgefu for the time being."

The man named D emphasized his tone.

"Look at what happened to Roger... The once high-spirited swordsman was bewitched by death, pierced by thorns and reduced to a half-corpse, unable to even move. All he can do is spout useless nonsense every day."

Although such a statement made some of the round table members who respected Roger feel dissatisfied, Mr. D who said this was an old friend acknowledged by Roger himself, so it was impossible to blame him.

Xiangzi interrupted Mr. D and did not let him continue, and brought the topic back to the changes in Stonewell.

"What is this [ship] you're talking about?"

"That's the messenger that calls the dead. I've already told you—if you don't want to die, don't get close, especially where there are [ships]."

D repeated what he said again, and seemed not to want to talk about it any more.

"No, we can't allow Stonewell to continue to be corrupted!"

Nepheli pounded the table. She seemed to have some special feelings for that city.

It was the same thing before at the blessing point in the City Lord's Tower. He just challenged Greg for a strange reason.

"If we can understand the cause and find the culprit who hurt Mr. Roger, my father, Sir Baizhi, may be able to find a cure."

He turned to look at the noble knight, whose expression still hadn't recovered.

"And Diaros, have you ever thought about what to do if Miss Lenya is in the city right now? Can you just leave her alone?"

Hearing this, Diaros's expression became even uglier.

"How could this happen? I really can't just leave her alone..."

D turned his gaze to Xiangzi, who was silent.

"It seems that these two people are idiots who don't understand advice... What about you? What do you think?"

Under Nepheli's expectant gaze, Xiangzi shook his head.

"I don't agree with rushing into Stonewell. First of all, there's the issue of combat capability. Can we resolve the disaster that even Greg couldn't resolve with all his forces?"

"And Diaros, take my advice, which is based on my personal experience... Don't take unfounded facts as facts. You haven't received any definitive information like 'Miss Lenya might be in Stonewell.'"

"This kind of misunderstanding will often only lead to worse consequences. You might miss the chance to find Miss Lenya, or even die in Stonewell yourself. Then, what will Miss Lenya do when she returns to the Round Table Hall?"

Diaros immediately calmed down from his previous impatience and sat in the chair muttering to himself.

Without paying any more attention to the nominal meeting host, Xiangzi continued.

"The most urgent task now is to notify the other living people in Nimgerfu and ask for assistance—such as Mr. Kenneth of Hyde Fortress and Morn City on the Weeping Peninsula in the south."

"Whether it's relocating residents or investigating Stonewell, we need more manpower."

Xiangzi turned to the stunned female soldier.

"...And finally, Neferi."

"The first thing you should confirm is your father, Sir Baizhi's attitude towards this matter. Although I'm not entirely clear, Lord Ofnir should also be an important force in the Round Table, right?"

The female warrior wilted.

Colin, who had been silent just now, clapped his hands.

"This... Miss Xiangzi, although she is a new member, seems to be more suitable to be the host of the round table meeting than Diaros."

Realizing what he had just done, Xiangzi quickly waved his hands, trying to avoid being put in a bad position.

"No, no, no, there's absolutely no such thing."

"I'm just a newcomer, and those are questions that anyone can think of."

D also looked at her a few more times.

"You're a smart person who understood the warning. Honestly, I'm not sure I can handle it now that it's spread to this scale."

"We need assistance to remove the dead roots this time. I need to leave here for a while and should be back soon."

"If you don't want to lose your life, don't act rashly until I return to the Round Table Hall."

D's words changed slightly, and he turned and left the room.

Xiangzi breathed a sigh of relief and asked for help - it seemed that she actually had a strong reinforcement on her side.

I just don't know if the Pureblood Knights...will cooperate with the people from the Round Table on this matter.

Chapter 29 Seeking Help

The meeting in the Round Table Hall roughly determined the next course of action.

First, there was Mr. D who had already left. He did not tell others where he was going, nor did he explain who the reinforcements he had asked for were.

Nepheli and Diaros decided to set out to investigate the outskirts of Stonewell, the area between the Storm Pass and the outer city wall.

Between that area are Storm Hills, the Jungle, and Sage's Bridge to the east.

Diaros also suggested that no one should enter Stonewell until D returned with reinforcements - but instead they could investigate the water sources and villages along the way to confirm the extent of the curse's spread outside the city.

Both of them are quite powerful faders, but at this level there shouldn't be any problem.

Sir Baizhi did not directly participate in this operation, but simply allowed Nefeli to do as she wished.

Xiangzi was responsible for notifying Kenneth of Hyde Fortress and the Lord of Morn City in the Weeping Peninsula to seek help from these two powerful nobles of Nimgefu.

As for the clergyman Colin, he stayed to take care of Roger. Although he could not cure the curse, he could alleviate the pain to some extent and slightly prolong his life.

“May you be guided by the light of blessing along the way.”

Colin folded his hands and began to pray.

-

Before actually starting the action, Xiangzi went to meet Se Lian underground in the ruins of Yizhan Street.

"He was indeed completely asleep."

After inspection, the witch came to this conclusion.

"Teacher Se Lian, is this possible? The owner of this source stone is actually..."

Xiangzi tried to express several guesses he had made so far.

But Se Lian directly stuffed a handful of dried fruits into the girl's mouth, interrupting her to finish the rest of her sentence.

"Even if there is, you can't just talk about something that hasn't happened yet."

Looking at his apprentice's cheeks that were puffed up like a hamster and kept moving, Se Lian smiled with satisfaction.

"I saw an extremely rare scene."

"But this conjecture can explain some strange things, such as why I didn't notice the existence of another soul when I first met you. Perhaps it's because the nature of your souls is too similar, which led me to mistake you and the source stone for a whole."

"This also explains why you didn't turn into a magician after consuming too much powder. That person's understanding of the nature of the starry sky far surpassed yours at the time. When your sanity was on the verge of collapse, she temporarily took over this body and shared some of the knowledge with you."

"But this knowledge obviously did not exceed the comprehension of the Lost One, so the magician's speech process was interrupted."

The witch Se Lian changed the subject.

"... Having said that, you can't completely let your guard down, because you have to consider that this isn't the only possibility."

"Although the person claiming to be the Lost One had no ill will towards you during your last awakening, and even helped you survive—this could completely be explained as them being reluctant to give up your body, which is why they fought with Miss Deng."

"As for why he didn't take action after being transported to a safe place, it can also be explained by the other party expending too much energy."

"In the end, she revealed a secret that only you knew. Perhaps it was because your souls had been in the same body for too long, and they began to erode each other."

"The magician's methods are strange. Don't easily believe what the magician says, even if it's your own."

Xiangzi finally chewed up all the dried fruits and swallowed them.

Having said that, if things weren't what she thought, there didn't seem to be any need for Oblivionis to help her to that extent.

Of course, there is no need to use such words to refute Serlian'e.

"It's a mixed feeling."

The witch laughed.

“It’s not complicated – sincerity is a virtue, but so is prudence.”

Xiangzi, who had experienced this firsthand, could not agree more with this statement than he does now.

"However, since you've recovered well, I can relax my requirements a bit. You can try using some magic or summoning multiple ashes. Just don't push yourself too far. Since it's your talent, you should make good use of it."

"Besides, now, some parts of you...have become the same as when we first met."

The girl looked at herself in confusion. The armor was indeed worn neatly on her body, with nothing missing.

"what is this about?"

"Eyes, I can see that greedy desire for power in your eyes again."

The witch also understood what Xiangzi meant by checking his armor just now, and she smiled with her eyes narrowed.

"I'm not referring to the clothes, you perverted disciple."

"If the Origin Stone shows signs of revival, please return soon. I want to speak with the lady who claims to be the Lost One."

-

Xiangzi used the blessing to teleport to the outskirts of Hyde Fortress. She had previously hidden behind this stone to avoid the rain of arrows from the fortress.

This time, there was no rain of arrows coming from the tower, but several monkey-sized demihumans were chattering at him from above.

It seems that not every demihuman possesses Burke's level of intelligence, and only a few can communicate.

However, they did not launch an attack directly, but retreated, looking like they were planning to report to higher-level people.

After a few minutes, a man wearing a huge pumpkin-shaped helmet walked slowly over with a flail in his hand, and made a gesture to invite him to lead the way.

Xiangzi still remembers this swordsman.

When he had previously attacked Hyde Fortress, he had relied on summoning Delirious to violently collide helmet to helmet with the opponent before he was able to squeeze out of the city gate and ride Torret over him.

Thinking of this, Xiangzi felt a little embarrassed, because it seemed that this swordsman was not completely a rebel who had joined Knight Commander Dolan. He should be working for Kenneth Hyde now.

The roses in Hyde Fortress had been completely cleared away. Kenneth was no longer in the City Lord's Mansion but at the top of the tower, just like when they first met, he was standing on the top of the arched ruins stone.

Next to the other person stood a person Xiangzi had never seen before. He was wearing a strange iron hat shaped like a conical hat, a tattered cloak and a leather waist armor. This attire gave people the feeling that he was out of place in the border area.

"Oh, it's you."

Kenneth greeted warmly.

"Miss Xiangzi, have you changed your mind and decided to join my army? That's wonderful—though I can't do it now, I will definitely knight you later."

Xiangzi shook his head and began to explain the purpose of his visit.

But soon Kenneth showed an embarrassed expression.

"As you can see, I'm also short of manpower here."

"Although we've reached a settlement with the demihumans by returning the remains and offering compensation, and even hired some of them...the situation at Hyde Fortress isn't very good."

"First, the servants and soldiers who were bewitched by the Knight Commander. They are now temporarily imprisoned. Without Mr. Yura's help, they might have started a second rebellion."

Chapter 30: The sword below is not from the same hometown

It seems that we can't count on Kenneth to provide support.

The few remaining soldiers and subhuman soldiers he had managed to gather together needed to stay behind to guard the rebel prisoners. If he easily moved the troops out of the city, he would most likely be unable to suppress the half-crazy prisoners in the prison.

"Who is this?"

Although he no longer had any hope of getting help, Xiangzi still couldn't help but ask.

This was not because she wanted to make one last struggle, but because no matter how she looked at it, the iron hat that looked like a conical hat and the other party's waist leather armor were somewhat similar to things from Xiangzi's hometown.

and......

Xiangzi turned his gaze to the other person's waist, where an extremely slender and slightly curved weapon was hanging. The girl's gaze moved from the handle to the blade, and finally to the scabbard.