Although Carlo Ed is old, his resolute character has not changed at all.

After agreeing to visit "White Eagle" and leaving two reliable servants to help run errands and deliver letters, he stopped lingering and took the initiative to say goodbye to Winters and Anna.

The black carriage decorated with silver strips drove out of the village. Carman, who had been playing the role of a puppet, asked Winters coldly: "Lies, tricks and conspiracies... You brought me here to listen to these. Do you want to confess? Or is it just for the sake of confession?"

Wasting my time?"

"None of them." Winters replied immediately, and he solemnly declared: "The reason why I ask you to accompany me to receive guests is because there is a friendship as precious as gold between us."

Anna looked at the mountains in the distance with shame, pretending not to hear anything.

"Your Excellency Montagne." Carman put on a polite smile: "You are really not shy at all when you speak! As expected of you."

Winters nodded in thanks. He was completely immune to this level of attack.

Kaman snorted softly, picked up the cup and took a sip of ice water.

Next was Winters' turn. He also picked up the cup and asked calmly: "I'm also curious, if you don't like to sit in, why don't you just find an excuse to leave?"

"That's not because..." mid-sentence, Carman suddenly stopped. He glanced at Anna's back and swallowed what he was going to say next.

Winters, who was victorious, left his chair and stretched hard. His spine joints, which had been stiff from sitting for a long time, made a series of muffled sounds.

Winters exhaled a long and comfortable breath. He looked at Anna and asked with a smile: "Is the sunrise beautiful?"

"Beautiful." Anna replied softly.

"Let's go, Mr. Carman, let's go and enjoy it too." When passing by Carman, Winters patted the latter's shoulder: "Although the sunrise has passed, it's not bad to take a walk."

Kaman remained motionless and continued to taste the ice water.

The devout priest of Wolf Town had wasted a whole morning in vain and even missed morning prayers. He was sulking and didn't want to pay attention to Winters at all.

After walking a certain distance, Winters whistled, and the two wolfhounds immediately ran towards him like arrows.

Kaman was slightly startled when he saw the two wolf dogs circling around Winter. He immediately stood up, nodded to Anna, and hurriedly chased after her.

…

Look at the mountain and run to death.

The top of the mountain seemed not far away, but Winters was still halfway up the mountain after walking for a full hour.

The human village in the center of the valley is small enough to fit into the picture frame, but the top of the mountain has long since disappeared due to the curvature of the hillside.

The air in the mountains was thin, and Winters felt a little tired, so he stopped walking up. He found a flat piece of grass nearby and sat down slowly.

The moment his butt hit the ground, Winters couldn't help but let out a long sigh of contentment. He slapped his sore calf and called to Carman: "I'm not going, let's take a rest."

"Isn't this going to work?" Kaman's cheeks were slightly red, but his breathing was still steady.

"Stop pretending, I don't believe you're not tired." Winters patted the open space next to him: "Sit down and rest for a while. We'll go back when we've rested enough."

Kaman was noncommittal. He walked straight to Winters, but instead of sitting down, he stood with his knees up and slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm.

The two wolfdogs followed Winters all the way up the mountain, and were very tired at the moment. The two big dogs lay next to Winters with their wet tongues hanging out, panting heavily, motionless.

The cold air of the late winter was refreshing. Winters leaned comfortably on the wolfdog and took turns rubbing the two dogs' heads and chins.

Suddenly, Winters let out a long sigh.

After sighing, he jokingly said to Kaman: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have been able to imagine that there are still some people in the world who live surrounded by mountains from birth to death. When they open their eyes every day, what they see is

Mountains, all I see are mountains.”

Kaman asked coldly: "Why, you haven't seen a mountain?"

"It has nothing to do with 'whether you have seen the mountain'. [Seeing it with your own eyes] and [hearing it with your ears] are different." Winters considered the words and explained with a smile: "If I say this, you may be able to understand that since I was born

Until I reached adulthood, wherever I lived, I could definitely see the sea within an hour’s walk.”

"What about when you become an adult?"

"After adulthood?" Winters laughed at himself: "After adulthood, won't you be sent to Plato?"

Kaman was touched by Winters' true feelings and couldn't help but sigh.

He sat next to Winters and narrated softly:

"It would be difficult for Monta people to imagine a world where they can see the ocean within an hour's walk. I have met some believers who have never left their parish in their lives. For them, the world is their homes, farmland,

Markets and churches. Life is so poor that the kingdom of heaven is needed and the kingdom of heaven must exist.”

Kaman finished his speech and both fell into silence.

After sitting there for a while, Winters asked: "By the way, have you ever seen the sea?"

Kaman was about to answer, but was suddenly stunned.

After a moment, Kaman hesitated and said: "I haven't seen it..."

But he immediately added: "But I know what the ocean looks like."

Winters burst into laughter: "You have never seen the sea, but you know what the sea looks like. How do you know? An angel gave you a dream?"

"Through books, paintings and other people's descriptions." Kaman defended himself: "I don't need to see the ocean with my own eyes to know what the ocean looks like."

"What did I just say? There is a difference between [seeing it with your own eyes] and [hearing it through your ears]." Winters patted Kaman on the shoulder with pity: "If you have the chance, I will take you to see the sea with your own eyes. But...

…You have never taken a sea ship when you came to Plato? Didn’t you first dock in the inland sea and then enter Plato?”

"I took the land route, passing through Munta to Plato." Kaman explained helplessly: "The land route is a little slower, but it is much safer than taking a boat, so I try not to take a boat if I can take the land route."

"Before coming to Plato? You had never seen the sea before."

"I was handed over to the Holy See by my sister as soon as I could remember. I have lived in St. Michael's Monastery since I was a child. How could I see the ocean? The monastery only has stone walls, corridors, corridors, prayer rooms, libraries and altars of divine grace..."

Without any warning, Kaman's voice stopped abruptly.

Winters, who listened with great interest, was confused and looked at Kaman questioningly.

Knowing that he had made a mistake, Kaman stood up abruptly, stared at Winters, clenched his fists tightly, and his knuckles turned white from the force of the clenching.

"I thought...we were friends." Kaman gritted his teeth and said.

Winters has noticed the changes in Kaman. At this moment, the Kaman in front of him is no longer the cold-faced and warm-hearted priest of Wolf Town, but has become a clockwork-headed beast intent on devouring people.

The two wolfdogs, their manes rising from their necks, stood guard in front of Winters, one on the left and the other on the right, baring their teeth at Karman.

But the tail of the wolf dog is tightly clamped between the hind legs, and the chest is almost touching the ground, and they dare not make any bark. This is the posture of a weak person. The smart wolf dog understands that the upright beast in front of them is more dangerous than them.

.

Winters' instincts were also frantically warning him that any slight movement could cause Kaman to lose control.

"We are friends." Winters said calmly, trying not to irritate Kaman.

"Friend? Is this how you treat your friends? Deception? Trick? Conspiracy?" Karman's chest surged with unprecedented rage, and his eyes almost erupted with tangible flames. When he thought he and Winters existed

At the moment of true friendship, he encountered a despicable "betrayal".

Winters understood what Kaman was thinking: "You thought...I was trying to trick you."

Kaman's body tensed and he looked at Winters without saying a word.

He broke the oath of silence that could never be broken. Unspeakable hatred filled his heart. He hated himself for breaking the oath, and he was even more furious because of Winters' "betrayal".

Winters stood up and looked directly at Kaman: "I do hope to learn about divine magic through you, but only if you voluntarily provide help. In the conversation just now, I did not intend to obtain information, nor did I use temptation or deception.

It's a trick. I'm just chatting with you, and the question is just because I'm curious, not about magic..."

As he talked, Winters found that he had fallen into a strange circle: he had never intentionally tricked Kaman into revealing the secret, and Kaman had not said anything important, but he could not prove it.

Winters didn't want to fight with Kaman. The battle between spellcasters was like smashing eggs with a sledgehammer. At least Winters didn't know any combat spells that would not cause injury or death.

The situation must be cooled down first, at least so that Kaman can listen to the explanation.

So Winters sat back again and said in a completely defenseless manner: "I asked you to go hiking for two reasons."

Winters looked at the village below the valley. Even if he didn't make eye contact with Kaman, he might feel threatened.

"The first thing is to say thank you. I am not unreasonably forcing you to meet with Carlo Ed." Winters smiled bitterly and explained calmly:

"Carlo Eide is a partner in the Navarre firm. I'm worried that he will pass on Mrs. Navarre's attitude, and Mrs. Navarre's attitude is not very friendly. But she has a sore point in keeping secrets. Mrs. Navarre

I don’t want more people to know about my relationship with Anna.”

Kaman didn't say anything, but the lack of anything was a good sign for Winters.

Winters continued: "So I need a third party who can be absolutely trusted to be present. If an 'outsider' is present, Mrs. Navarre's envoy will be wary; if the 'outsider' is a clergyman, then

Even if Mrs. Navarre comes in person, she won't be too aggressive. Just in case, I have a final plan for you to witness the marriage between me and Anna on the spot. So you must be present so that I can face it without any trouble.

Madame Navarre’s messenger.”

"Of course, Mr. Ed's unexpected tolerance... these are all things for another time." Winters turned his head and looked at Carman: "I can't say all of the above in front of Anna, let alone in the camp.

So I can only say thank you to you when it’s just you and me."

Winters nodded and said, "Thank you."

The wind poured into the valley, blowing through the coniferous forests on the hillside, and the rustling sound of swaying branches echoed in the mountains.

The wind also passed between Winters and Carman. She stroked Carman's cheek, messed up Winters' hair, and left with a smile.
To be continued...