The four adventurers stopped and looked at the river that cut the forest ahead.

Burris was standing by the river with a pendulum in each hand. The left hand was transparent crystal and the right hand was opal. The opal stands motionless vertically, while the transparent crystal is constantly dancing, like a pen floating in a painting.

"You lost her here?" Burris asked.

Sir Naylor nodded. He stood diagonally behind the mage, Burris couldn't see him at all, and Estee answered him aloud.

Originally, Naylor did not accept other people's participation in the operation. Esther talked to him for a long time before he agreed to let "Kreve, Burris's best apprentice" follow. He respected Esther's mentor very much. If "Kreve" could not only be appreciated by the elder, but also recommended by Esther, he should be a credible person.

But Lot can't, Nayler has always strongly refused to let Lot go with him. He said that Lott's whole person was weird. Although he couldn't tell where there was a problem, he was full of unknown aura.

Esther secretly sighed that the Otarot disciples were indeed very sensitive. The Bone Maharaja did have an aura different from ordinary people, but it was difficult for ordinary people to detect it.

Naylor said that he didn't reject him unfounded. In addition to his sense of ignorance, he also felt that Lot had a bad character to be trusted.

After arriving at Black Cliff Fort, Lot has been wandering around happily, showing no respect for the Knights, turning a blind eye to the icon of Otarot, and often spreading and inquiring about various gossips. When he saw the old knights, he asked people about what they had before. I haven't tortured the mage before, and when I saw a teenage knight, I asked if he had killed anyone...

In desperation, Esther had to tell Naler: The Mr. Lott must follow, because he can't worry about Kreve... His relationship with Kreve is almost the relationship between you and me.

Nayler suddenly realized. At the royal dance party, he saw Lotte dancing with the little mage. At that time, he only felt strange and didn't think much about it. He thought it was because they were unpopular and had no partners.

In this way, Burris and Lott were finally accepted by Naylor. As Esther recounted the process of persuasion, Burris's mouth kept smiling sarcastically: We are helping you, and you are ashamed to dislike us, you really deserve to be a Templar knight.

The four of them left the city in the morning and came to the countryside where Lisa had appeared. Sir Naylor was responsible for leading the way and re-traveling the areas he had searched.

Not long ago, Naylor chased his mother to the forest creek. The person in front waded across the river, revealing his calf and feet under his robe. It could be seen that she was indeed a woman. Nayler also waded across the river, getting closer and closer to the other party. Strangely, the mysterious figure disappeared instantly after crossing the river. There was no trace of her in all directions, as if she had been swallowed directly by the woods.

Burris asked: "After crossing the river, continue to move forward, where is it?"

Nayler said: “There is nothing special, just a large hilly forest. Continue to the west to reach Mount Yam, which is the southernmost part of the Lunar Mountains.”

"Have you brought lighting equipment?" Burris asked.

"Lighting tools? It's not that dark in the forest."

"No, not in the forest." The wizard moved his left hand, and the transparent crystal pendulum continued to vibrate according to a certain pattern, as if to outline something, "Sir Naler, I know why you lost that person. The forest opposite. There is a huge underground space below. The part closer to us is a natural cave. Going further west, there may be an artificially built area... I need to get closer to distinguish clearly. The person you are chasing has not disappeared. Instead, it got into a hidden underground entrance."

"How do you know!" Naylor was surprised.

Burris didn't bother to explain, Estee would explain it to him anyway. These two pendulums were also Estee's. She knew she wanted to find someone for Nayler, so she made preparations in advance. Now that Burris came, she gave all the pendulums to her teacher.

The opal pendulum can detect undead creatures, and the transparent crystal can detect areas that are invisible to the naked eye: such as entrances protected by blindness, or camouflaged traps and secret doors. Mages can also use no tools, but temporary casting is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it is not as convenient to use magic items set in advance.

"Anyway, let's cross the river first, shall we?" Esti suggested.

Naylor nodded, walked over and hugged her directly. This action is very natural, and both of them take it for granted.

The river is so shallow that you can walk straight over it, but Naylor will not let the princess's feet and clothes get wet by the cold water.

Seeing the knight holding the princess into the river, Burris secretly smiled with relief.

At this moment, Lott suddenly put his arm around his waist and the other hand around his knees. Burris struggled and said in a low voice, "Wait! Your lord! You can't fly!"

"Who said I'm going to fly," Lott said, "I won't fly in front of that knight! I just want to hug you."

"No need...I'm not a princess, I can go by myself."

"Hey, don't you really understand?" Lot said, "what if it's not a princess? Nayler wants to hold Estie, not the "princess". Even if Estie is a village woman, Nayler is the same. Will hug her across the river."

After finishing speaking, he also hugged Burris without a word.

Naylor and the princess had already crossed the river, and they stared at Burris blankly. Burris's face was hot, and he didn't dare to struggle. Struggling would make him more petite...

Lot deliberately looked at Burris a few more while wading. The mage was shy, and pretending to be calm. Seeing this funny expression, Lott smiled contentedly.

It's almost noon. Naylor suggested that everyone take a break after crossing the river. There is still a considerable area to search, and Keeneng will consume a lot of energy.

When sitting under a tree eating, Burris always took a peek at Naylor and Estie. He didn't know what to see, but he just couldn't help paying attention to them.

Sir Naylor was always serious and rigid, but Estie could not smile because of the poison. These two expressionless men sat side by side, one looking down reading a book, the other studying a map, Estie arched her elbow to offer Naylor, Nayler handed the water bag to her mouth; Nayler yawned Leaning back, Estie reads a book while taking out a blindfold and handing it to him...

Burris sighed secretly, feeling very complicated.

Lott suddenly wrapped his shoulder with one hand, and whispered in his ear: "Looking at young people lovingly, are you envious? Don't be envious, we can be more numb than them!"

"No..." Before Burris finished speaking, Lott pulled him over, letting him lie half-lying on his shoulders.

Burris struggled to sit up straight: "No need!"

"Don't be shy, none of your students are shy, what are you afraid of? One of the essence of outdoor activities is to snuggle together when you rest."

The mage squeezed his brows: "No... it's not a question of shyness. In fact, lying down like that is uncomfortable, but it makes the body tight and uncomfortable. It is meaningless... You read less romantic novels that do not fit real life? "

Lott didn't refute further, but started thinking seriously. After thinking about it, he walked to sit behind Burris, wrapped the mage in his arms, and let him lean back on his chest.

"You make sense, I understand," Lott said, "Is it all right now? I used to put my arms around you to rest like this. At that time you were afraid of the cold and couldn't lean directly on the cold stone or tree trunk. I Just use it as your cushion. You've never refused. It should be comfortable to lie down like this?"

He was talking about more than sixty years ago.

At that time Burris did not refuse. He yearns for warmth and eagerness to rely on. Although he does not know the identity of the "Black-robed Reaper", he is inexplicably dependent on this person.

=================

When on the way, the "Black Reaper" always interrupted Burris' sleep. Whenever he slept for too long, the black-robed man would try to wake him up, probably because he was afraid that he would not be able to wake up when he fell asleep.

They have no medicines and no shelters to keep them warm enough. Once, Burris woke up in the early morning and found that his cheek was resting on his naked skin. The black-robed man untied his shirt and wrapped him in his arms, and wrapped the two people in his coat and robe.

Seeing that he was awake, the black-robed man pointed him a direction: "Look, the direction of sunrise is Sandenia, we are almost there."

"So fast?" Burris rubbed his eyes. Back then, he hadn't thought that this abnormal speed should be achieved by the maharaja's magic.

Burris was very weak, but didn't want to eat. The black-robed man chatted with him casually. If he said he was tired, he would continue to sleep with him.

Probably because he had a good rest before, Burris is not dizzy now, and his mind is clearer. He finally couldn't help asking: "My lord...who are you? I know, you are not a **** of death."

The black-robed man was not angry, but smiled instead.

He stroked the mage's hair with his warm palms, slowly narrating his origin and identity.

Burris listened quietly, without interjecting to ask.

When the black-robed men had finished speaking and there was no sound for a while, the wizard asked: "You are imprisoned in the swamp of the dead... Is this permanent? Or is there a time limit?"

"Should be permanent." The Maharaja said.

"What can I do to get you out of there?"

The maharaja touched his hair again: "What? Little mage, do you want to help me? Can you do it?"

Burris smiled weakly: "I definitely can't do it now. If you know the way, tell me, I will..."

The Bone Maharaja said, "I don’t know what to do. Maybe I didn’t know the way to escape, or I knew it, but that memory was lost in the long years...Little Mage, if you really want Help me, you have to live well first. After I leave, you also have to live well."

"I will," Burris said, "I still have a lot to do... I won't die casually..."

The Maharaja hugged him tighter again: "You have a lot to do? For example, what?"

"I promised Axia and Willa to bring gifts back to see them," Burris thought he was sober, but he was still a little confused when speaking, "Shiva River...Jingbing Lake has palm pythons...not now, in the future I want to get rid of them..."

The Bones Maharaja snickered: "That thing is really disgusting, but fortunately I have cleaned up a large part of it for you."

"I want to continue to study," Burris said, "I want to learn more and become a very powerful mage...much better than Yrill..."

"and then?"

"Build your own mage tower and go to the south to build... It's too cold here, I don't like..."

Hearing this sentence, the Maharaja wrapped the thin blanket and warm clothing tightly again. He embraced the mage in one hand and held the slender hands together in the other.

"Go to a place like spring in all seasons," the Maharaja suggested. "If you really succeed in releasing me, I will live there with you. You must choose a good place!

Burris half-closed his eyes, then nodded confusedly and seriously.

The soft hair rubbed against the bone maharajah's neck, the maharaja couldn't help but secretly kissed the top of the mage's hair.

"I also want to... want a very big room..." The little mage continued to mutter, "There must be a large curved window that opens up to the ceiling. I can sit by the window and read a book and rest, and the room will always be warm. Suitable...this is a guest room...or a bedroom. There is also a special library..."

While talking, Burris fell asleep again.

He didn't know that back then, the Bone Maharaja kept smiling at his sleeping face, and said softly to him: "I want to see your tower and your room, too. You must remember to pick me up."