Raising Paladins

Chapter 65. Golden Apple Tracking (4)

In the garden of City Hall where darkness has descended.

Soldiers carrying torches came and went busily looking for something.

“The gate guard is down! Someone broke in!”

“There is a commotion at the northern boundary wall too!”

“Find the intruder!”

They each run around the garden with their eyes wide open.

Some even pulled out their swords and poked through the dark grass.

And there was someone who looked down on those security guards from high up in the trees.

It was the knife.

‘There are only a lot of numbers, but there is no proper soldier.’

If the base they were guarding was invaded, the dogs, who are sensitive to smell, must first be released, and the soldiers must search for footprints by illuminating the ground with torches.

Also, look carefully between the thick trees, and if you are suspicious of a high place, shoot a lit arrow to confirm it.

However, all the soldiers wandering around the city hall garden were in a hurry to find something in front of them.

“Damn it, there’s no sign!”

“First, wake up the two fallen guys. If you ask them, something will come out.”

rumble.

The security guards who were wandering around the gardens were rushing somewhere.

He was probably trying to wake up the two guards who had fallen after being hit by stones thrown by Carl.

As the surroundings became quiet, the knife flew away.

It was toward the branch on the other side.

Poof!

A sword wrapped in a robe-like priestly robe and leather cape.

However, his light steps landed lightly on the tree without any damage.

It was a technique that applied divine power.

‘hmm… … .’

Carl quietly closed his eyes.

And with the divine power emitted from the silver heart in the heart, he raised his senses.

The first thing I noticed was a group of soldiers walking away.

The smell of a guard dog near the northern outer wall.

The smell of cooking like meat soup is being cooked somewhere.

However, there was something special even in the midst of various energies mixing and flying.

Two spirits, not one.

‘It’s definitely here.’

One of the two was weak divine power.

The very energy that Carl feels ecstatic and sweet.

However, as if something was blocking the divine power, the energy was very weak.

on the other way.

‘Something that shouldn’t be here is here.’

As expected, the energy of black magic is weak but clear!

To the sword with divine power flowing through its veins, the aura was so unpleasant and gave goosebumps.

In particular, it made Carl feel bad that the smell of energy was similar to the Baphomet pattern on the back of the Noll killed in the last Battle of Tournoble.

‘I’ll check this first.’

Poof!

Carl threw himself again.

In the city hall garden, there were trees planted along the wall, and he was climbing over them one after another.

It was planted to block outside gaze and interference, rather helping the free movement of the sword.

‘Is it over there?’

I found it shortly after.

On the other hand, a relatively unoccupied garden.

There, I saw a passageway that seemed to descend into a cellar.

What was surprising was that there were dozens of people guarding it.

‘They’re the ones who followed Malone back then.’

They were dressed in completely different outfits from the security guard in the center of the garden.

If the security guards had swords, spears, axes, shields, and crossbows in their armor, the men guarding the basement entrance were wearing light cloth clothes, leather armor, and black hoods covering everything but their eyes.

Particularly impressive were the curved swords worn around the waist and two or three sharp daggers on the thighs.

‘Are they the assassins of the mercenaries?’

The last time he fought Marlon who was trying to kill Devaldo.

I used to scold those guys back then.

They must be assassins like them.

Unlike the security guards, who seemed to have gathered a bunch of idiots, I felt quite a prayer, and the orderly guard behavior proved that.

‘The real one must be down there.’

As expected, a strange energy emanated from the bottom of the stairs leading to the basement.

As Carl holds his breath to observe the situation a little longer.

I heard something in the basement.

“Quaaa… … .”

It wasn’t loud, but it was clearly audible to Carl’s ears.

It sounded like the sound of a dying human squeezing out the end of their lives, and there were despair, fear, and resignation as if their souls were being sucked in.

‘What are you doing… … !’

Carl heard a terrible moan and tried to draw it.

Because no matter who is in there, if it’s enough to make a sound like that, it’s clear that the situation is in great pain.

Unfortunately, the sound from under the stairs was faster.

push shot.

“Ouch!”

dump.

The sound of blades passing and the sound of breath taking.

And the sound of people falling.

If you stop breathing while standing, the whole body collapses, starting at the knees.

Carl knew that distinctive sound from hearing it a lot on the battlefield.

Soon after, a mercenary appeared at the bottom of the stairs, wiping a bloody dagger.

“Have you met your quota today?”

“Ugh. The last one was a bit noisy.”

“great job. stop going in Don’t forget that tomorrow is your first shift.”

“effort.”

The mercenaries talk calmly even though it is clear that they just killed someone.

The mercenary with the blood-cleaned dagger at his waist walked away.

‘… … They are the ones who will be punished.’

Something not good is going on down there in the basement.

From nob le mt l dot com

Judging by their conversations, it seems like everyone else is being victimized, not just someone who just died.

After examining the inside of City Hall, I planned to attack with a proper plan, but it seemed that I should advance the plan.

‘Please be patient.’

If anyone was still alive down in the cellar, I wanted to ask him.

Please be patient for a little bit.

The sword threw itself again and headed in the direction where the divine power was felt.

Whiik!

The city hall garden was much larger than Carl thought.

Thanks to this, I was able to reach the place where I felt the divine power after climbing over dozens of trees.

A strangely shaped tall building made of round red bricks in the middle of a vast garden.

No, it’s not enough to be called a building.

But what is certain is that it feels as if something has been imprisoned by building a wall with several layers of bricks.

Carl sharpened his senses immediately with an ominous foreboding.

OK.

Suuu-.

Divine power seeping through the tiny cracks in the bricks!

It’s so weak that it’s hard to notice unless it’s a knife.

Like the entrance to the basement earlier, mercenaries wearing hoods were guarding the entrance.

‘… … The place where the golden apple tree used to be has been fenced off. I built a garden around it and built a city hall.’

A golden apple tree called the grace of God 200 years ago.

However, for some reason, it is said that the divine power has disappeared from the world.

Then the golden apple tree, which maintained its life with divine power, must have also withered.

The weak divine power that I feel now is probably because of that.

Baron Astell and his gang hastily hid the withered golden apple tree for something unknown.

And you’re going to do something with it.

Carl gritted his teeth at the fact that he dared to use the sacred tree to do heinous things.

Of course, on the other hand, there were also fortunate facts.

‘It hasn’t completely disappeared yet.’

Divine power is leaking out from the cracks in the bricks, albeit weakly.

That means that the golden apple tree’s life force has not completely died out.

From nob le mt l dot com

Just as Carl revived the sacred tree sapling in the courtyard of the Meirium Temple, if you infuse the golden apple tree with divine power, it will bloom as beautifully and ecstatically as before.

when you’re thinking like that

The lower part of the high wall opened and two mercenaries came out carrying something.

All they carried was a small wooden box.

“Are you successful?”

The mercenary guarding the entrance asked the mercenary who came out.

“It worked hard. When I put the ring the owner had saved by my side, the green color of the leaves returned for a while. But only one egg was opened. We need more divine accessories.”

“i get it. I will report it directly to the owner.”

“yes.”

Suk.

He handed over the two wooden boxes brought by the mercenaries.

The moment the torch flashed between them for a moment, Carl could see the face of the person taking the box.

It was Marlon, the butler.

‘As expected, it would be quicker to kill that girl.’

Looking at what the Divine Accessories were doing, Carl could roughly guess what they were up to.

It seems that he would probably find an object imbued with divine power, such as a high priest’s pendant, and offer it to the golden apple tree, and when the tree absorbs the energy and bears fruit, he uses it for other things.

But we need to find out some more details.

That’s why you have a reason to attack the city hall.

‘First of all, even the baron is a market.’

Even if it was certain that Baron Astell was plotting, he was still the ruler of the city of Meirium.

I don’t know what he paid for the mayor’s position, but I can’t attack him without any grounds.

After securing something that the citizens can understand, you have to reveal it to everyone and start working.

In order to do that, I thought it would be a good idea to rob that butler named Marlon.

‘The tail has been attached since a few days ago.’

When Carl comes out from work in the temple.

Especially when leading the servants to a farm outside the city, a certain presence was felt.

Then, when Carl finished all his tasks and entered the temple, he disappeared.

I didn’t dare to go inside the temple, but there was someone who always followed me when I went outside.

Today, the knife sneaked out late at night, so the ganja couldn’t track it down.

He must have thought Carl was asleep and went back to his base.

‘I’ll have to use that tail to pull him out.’

Baron Astell or Marlon, who were not allowed the power, would not directly eat the golden apple imbued with divine power.

He’s probably using it to make something bad.

Carl intended to catch Marlon and hear about it.

‘This is enough for today.’

Carl stepped on the tree branch he was standing on and climbed to the highest point.

Then he climbed over the wall of the city hall garden and disappeared outside.

***

the next morning.

As usual, Carl was leading his servants to the outskirts of the city.

Cut it, cut it.

Farming tools with seeds, and steel swords with knives hanging from their waists swayed whenever people walked.

Today, the reason why I came out with a steel sword instead of a wooden sword was to catch the tail that always caught up behind me.

‘He’s the guy who comes every day. There are others.’

The guy who followed Carl every time he left the temple.

But today, in addition to him, I could feel the presence of some other guys.

Anyway, the more he dealt with at once, the better it was for Carl, so he calmly hummed and went ahead.

Then, at the fork in the road separating the farm from the forest, the knife came to a halt.

“You guys go ahead and start working. I’m going to do some business for a while.”

“Yes, priest.”

The seeds with plenty of farming tools are moving away.

Carl moved toward the forest, fiddling with his waist as if he needed to pee.

Anyone can see the staggered gait of a person in a hurry to urinate.

As Carl untied his belt in the woods, wanting to be at this point, he heard a voice behind him.

“You found your own way to die, you foolish bastard.”

Carl turned around with an expressionless face.

Then a group of mercenaries, including Marlon, came into sight.

I tried to grab the tail and interrogate him or use it as bait to attract Marlon, but thankfully, when he came to find me, Carl smiled brightly.

“I didn’t even start fishing, but the fish jumped into the boat.”

Sureureung.

The sword’s steel sword escaped from its scabbard with a bleak echo.