The church's followers actually saved a witch?

Yokou unknowingly put down the bacon, his attention entirely focused on Annie.

"They broke the Hero out of the cage, and afterwards, it was under the cover of these prisoners that she evaded the church's search. After the war, the surviving Judgment Knights even sent her food and clothing for a period of time, until the army returned to Hermes. They bid farewell to the Hero, and before leaving, all the Judgment Knights who had been in that cage came to express their gratitude to her."

Yokou frowned. "But the title of Hero, won't it be..."

"She is a hero," Annie said decisively. "No matter how the citizens she healed view her, she saved tens of thousands of people in Wolfheart City, and she also saved Amy's and my lives. She deserves this title."

The Ambassador couldn't help but sigh. It turned out that the pain these witches had suffered was more cruel than he had imagined. If he had been treated like that, let alone trusting ordinary people, it would be normal to regard everyone as an enemy and want to kill them all.

The little unhappiness of being doubted by the other party gradually dissipated.

"Her leg... maybe there's a chance to recover."

"What, are you serious?"

"What needs to be done?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Yokou, including the Hero. Looking at her appearance, she might only be nineteen or twenty years old. Even after being ravaged by war, her eyes were still full of expectation, not numbness and bewilderment.

"Ahem, I'm not sure," Yokou rubbed his nose. "Hill mentioned that the witches gathered in Graycastle probably exceed three hundred, and the power of the devil... no, I mean abilities are always strange and varied, right? Maybe someone can regenerate severed limbs, or simply conjure a new one for her."

"Three hundred?" Seventy-Six exclaimed. "How did the King of Graycastle recruit so many witches?"

"That's a long story. My old friend is a natural king. He saw through the church's conspiracy long ago. Not only did he stipulate that witches could live like ordinary people in his territory, but he also promoted the innocence of witches throughout Graycastle. Over time, many witches naturally joined his banner and worked for him." Yokou took the opportunity to praise His Majesty Roland. "So you don't need to worry about your future life at all. His Neverwinter City is known as a place where everyone can find a suitable job, and witches are no exception."

"What kind of job?" Amy's eyes sparkled.

How would I know... I haven't been to Neverwinter City. "Uh, of course, it depends on what kind of ability you have. For example, those who manipulate flames can become blacksmiths, and those who control whirlwinds can go to mills to drive windmills, things like that." Yokou made up stories. "In short, His Majesty plans to build a new capital in the Western Region and needs a lot of manpower. Even if your abilities are useless, you can work like ordinary people."

"Sounds good," Annie gave Amy, who wanted to say something but stopped, a look. "But lies are always better than reality. Right now..."

"I know, I know, you can't completely trust me yet, right?" Yokou spread his hands. "Just trust your own eyes when the time comes."

"By the way, how did you meet the Hero?" Seventy-Six asked.

"When Wolfheart City was captured, I happened to be staying at Amy's house. Because I noticed the strange behavior of the Judgment Army, I followed those people and found the Hero." Annie said while stirring the campfire. "Meeting Broken Blade was several months later. She was captured by the church followers stationed there and planned to be taken to the Holy City. I ambushed the escort team on the road in advance and rescued her."

"You alone?"

"If you have enough time to prepare, hunting a team is not much more difficult than hunting animals," Annie said calmly. "It's just that after that ambush, the church's search efforts in Wolfheart City increased several times. We could no longer hide there, so we left Wolfheart in the refugee队伍 and finally settled down in the orphanage in Radiant Glow City."

"It's an incredible escape," Seventy-Six sighed.

And it's not over yet, Yokou thought. Although the Kingdom of Dawn is not as terrible as the church, it is more than enough to crush their group. He hoped that Hill's worries were not true, otherwise Anpein. Moya would never let them leave. As long as they had not left the territory of the Kingdom of Dawn, they could not be considered safe for a day.

He shook his head and threw these annoying thoughts out of his mind. "Go to bed early after dinner, we have to hurry tomorrow morning."

...

The subsequent escape was unexpectedly smooth. Under the Magician's planning, the group traveled exclusively in the suburbs, bypassing cities, and arrived at Dawn's Windward Ridge five days later. One more day's journey south, and they could enter the northern region of Graycastle.

Yokou also relaxed a little.

After all, it's not comfortable to be on edge all the time, and he would wake up at the slightest movement every night. Seventy-Six was much calmer than him. She not only helped take care of the witches, but also took care of him along the way.

In a few days, she had become quite familiar with the witches, especially the gullible Amy, who simply regarded Seventy-Six as her fourth sister.

Yokou leaned against the cushion, gazing at the rolling hills and withered fields outside the window, and couldn't help but hum a little tune in his heart.

The position of Ambassador was ruined, but at least he brought back four witches for his old friend. If Hill was right, what kind of reward would His Majesty give him?

Just as he was daydreaming with anticipation, the Magician in charge of guarding suddenly caught up from the rear of the team. "Your Excellency, we may be in trouble. Someone seems to be tracking us from behind."

"What?"

Yokou was shocked and quickly poked his head out of the window, but he didn't notice anything unusual.

"Those people are all knights, about seven miles away from us. You can't see them." The Magician controlled the horse under him, keeping his body parallel to the carriage. "They are not moving fast, but we are even slower. At this rate, the other party will find and catch up with the team sooner or later."

"Are you sure they are enemies?"

"Not sure, I only took a quick look from a distance, but we can't gamble on this opportunity. There are about twenty or thirty of them, fully armored and without spare horses. They must have found us by following our tracks."

"What should we do?" Yokou panicked.

"We must abandon the carriage and walk. There is a dense forest nearby where horses cannot pass, and the knights' speed cannot be brought into play." The Magician said in a deep voice. "But doing so only brings our speed to the same level as theirs. Once we are caught up, everyone will die. If we want to be foolproof, it is best to have one person lead the carriage forward to attract them to the road."

He paused. "In other words, someone has to be willing to make a sacrifice."