Chapter 125 - Sir Byron’s Encounter (2/2)

It was perhaps understandable that Byron could only temporarily preserve his life and make an escape in that encounter. However, at that point, he was already deep in the castle, and the castle had become half a hideout for that heretic cult believer. It was more difficult to comprehend how he had escaped the castle in such a situation.

Pittman had begun the exorcism rite. He used incense and druid spells to neutralize the foul powers inside Sir Byron’s body while pretending to piously murmur useless things to the gods of nature. Byron’s complexion saw an evident improvement. He used more effort and went on, “When we were fighting, I was struck by the heretic cult believer’s magic and fell into a cave behind the castle. There was a pool inside the cave. I managed to keep my life because of it, and I found out that the pool was connected to an underground passageway. — It turned out that Tanzan Town also had a tunnel system underground. The heretic cult believer probably thought that I had fallen to my death, or maybe he had something else to be busy with, so he did not give chase. Whereas I crawled for a day and a night underground before I found the correct way out… The exit was right beside this mill.”

Gawain and others stared speechless at one another. Amber could not help but comment, “That was really lucky… so lucky that it seemed fake.”

“There are many tunnel systems under the grounds of the south. Most were constructed under my charge. For example, the passageway network under the Cecil territory. But I was unaware of the underground tunnels here in Tanzan Town.” Gawain frowned. “…Perhaps, the descendants had constructed them after I died for the first time.”

Sir Philip mused, “If there exists this tunnel, we can perhaps steal into Viscount Andrew’s castle along this tunnel?”

“It sounds like a good idea.” Gawain nodded and then looked towards Byron. “After that? — What’s with this child too?”

The mute child who led the group was quietly standing near the straw stacks, looking in their direction with a curious and slightly guarded gaze. Byron glanced at this child with a complicated expression and then let out a light sigh. “When I got out of the tunnel, I realized that the curse on my body had taken effect. I originally wanted to return to the territory to report the situation, but I was worried that the curse would spread, so I prepared to find a place and wait for death alone… Actually, there was no way out other than waiting to die. At that time, my movements were already a problem. I wouldn’t be able to walk to the territory at all. But I never expected that while I was semi-conscious, I’d walked to this mill by myself and was saved by this child.

“He’s a mute, most likely a slave of the boss of a certain chamber of commerce. He was stranded outside the town by that absurd confinement order. I laid here for two days, and he would get food and water for me. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold on till now at all.”

Pittman finished with his useless murmurs to the gods of nature. He lifted his head and glanced at Byron. “The first stir we heard from you here was you scolding him.”

“I had no choice. The curse in my body has started to go out of control.” The middle-aged knight tugged on the corner of his lips to reveal a very ugly smile. “At the start, I could still barely manage to suppress it. But later on, I increasingly felt that it would infect others, yet this child didn’t understand this point at all… I chased him away several times, explained to him what a curse was. Once, I even wanted to crawl outside and drown myself in the river. However, just when I arrived by the river, I recalled that it was the Cecil territory downstream. — In the end, while I was hesitating by the river, this child found me. He pulled me back here by forcefully dragging me.”

“One can’t tell that he’s pretty strong.” Pittman completed the exorcism rite. He turned to look at the little mute while packing up his ceremonial tools and casually commented, “He looks small and thin.”

With that, the old druid stood up and nodded lightly to Gawain. “The curse is no problem now.”

Gawain looked towards Byron. “Are you still able to stand and lead the way?”

“Although I really want to continue lying down longer,”—Sir Byron moved his arm—”it seems like finishing off the threat of that heretic cult believer is the most crucial thing at this point. No problem, I feel that I’ve recovered 50-60%.”

Gawain nodded. “Alright, take a brief rest. We can make use of the underground tunnel that you found to steal into the town.”

“But we still have a problem,” Amber suddenly chimed in then. She pointed to the mute child standing beside the straw stacks. “What do we do with this child?”

“We certainly cannot bring him in.” Gawain frowned. “But if we leave him just like that…”

He pondered for a moment, feeling that he could not leave this mute child behind just like that. He approached the child and squatted down.

The latter was so frightened that he took half a step back but still kept his head up, eyes staring fixedly at Gawain.

“We are going to go handle some matters inside,” Gawain looked at the child’s eyes and spoke slowly. “Can you wait here for three days? If we return within three days, you’ll come with us. If we do not, you should walk south along the river to a campsite beside the river and seek shelter from the people there.”

Following that, he took out a talisman from his chest and stuffed it into the child’s hand. “With this, they will take you in.”

The mute child took the talisman and slowly nodded.