blogombal Page 45
Page 45
It's important to know that before the Shadow Monster disaster, the average annual income of the villagers in Qingfeng Village was no more than 2 gold coins, which is equivalent to the 200 copper coins they used more often.
As the person responsible for repairing the damaged roads and buildings in Qingfeng Village, Uncle Sam knows better than anyone else:
To restore Qingfeng Village to its original appearance, the manpower and resources required would only amount to five gold coins, which is only half of the repair fee given by Arthur.
So, Uncle Sam's resolve began to waver, and he stopped insisting on kneeling before Arthur and begging them to leave.
A hesitant expression appeared on his wrinkled old face.
He hesitated, wondering whether to accept the generous gift from the knight, which he euphemistically called "repair fees."
When Arthur saw the obvious change in Uncle Sam's expression, he was not surprised, but instead smiled knowingly.
At the same time, he sighed inwardly:
Indeed, most of the time, money is the cornerstone for building good communication with others.
Thinking this, Arthur took advantage of Uncle Sam's momentary wavering and continued speaking:
"Uncle Sam, if you're willing to accept this repair fee."
I would like to ask you to gather all the villagers of Qingfeng to the vicinity of that dry well, to witness how we repair and seal the altar well of the Shadow Church, thus completely resolving the Shadow Monster scourge.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Sam's hesitation vanished instantly.
He seemed to realize something, and a helpless bitterness appeared in his eyes.
He sighed again and shook his head at the bag of gold coins Arthur offered him:
"Honorable knight, with your strength, what do you want to do in Qingfeng Village? Do you think we can stop you?"
I will do as you command and gather all the villagers of Qingfeng.
What Uncle Sam had just realized was the class gap between him and Arthur, and the power difference that allowed Arthur to easily kill him.
Therefore, he felt ashamed and foolish for having been greedy after seeing Arthur's donation of repair fees.
Why would he lose his awe of these high-ranking noble knights?
Perhaps it's because Arthur and Gawain are different from others.
Arthur and Gawain always extended genuine goodwill to the Breeze Villagers, who had been abandoned by Lord Windpull.
With that thought in mind, Uncle Sam did not take the bag of gold coins that Arthur offered. Instead, he turned around and walked towards the young men from the village who were waiting for him not far away.
Arthur watched as Uncle Sam walked away from him without saying a word, forcing the other man to accept the bag of gold coins he had given him.
He knew that if he did that, the result would likely be the opposite of what he intended.
After all, he was the lord of Blackrock Territory, not the lord of Qingfeng Village in Windpu Territory.
If he were to forcibly change their perception of the aristocracy, he would undoubtedly be harming them.
Arthur reminded himself of this:
"If you want to change the world order, you must first accept the existing order."
Arthur still remembered the conflict with the slave caravan when he saved Lancelot, the heart of knights.
At that time, Arthur realized his irrationality and, after reflecting on his actions, understood this point deeply.
He can retain his knowledge from his previous life, but he cannot act irrationally based on that knowledge when he is weak.
Think about this.
The voice from Gawain beside him pulled him back to the present:
"My lord, let's go."
-----------------
It was noon in Qingfeng Village.
The perspective shifts to that desolate grassland.
In the middle of the meadow was a dry well, its mouth covered with moss, suggesting that no one had ever been there.
At Uncle Sam's call, the villagers of Qingfeng gathered together and appeared on the edge of this desolate grassland.
They learned from Uncle Sam that the neglected dry well was closely related to the shadow monster disaster that terrified the entire village.
Therefore, all the villagers present couldn't help but show expressions of fear when they looked at the dry well with its mouth covered in moss.
However, two people were not afraid of the dry well that was closely related to the Shadow Monster disaster.
It's Arthur and Gawain.
They walked toward the dry well under the watchful eyes of the Qingfeng villagers.
The villagers of Qingfeng were not familiar with Arthur, but they knew a great deal about Gawain's deeds in the village over the past two months.
So they began to talk about the young, wandering knight:
"Wasn't he kicked out of Qingfeng Village by Village Chief Sam? How come he's back?"
"My front yard was recently destroyed because of this bastard's battle with the Shadow Monster."
"It is he who has caused Qingfeng Village to become so dilapidated today."
"Who is that knight next to you...?"
"..."
As a cacophony of accusations arose, Arthur and Gawain together endured the deep malice emanating from the villagers of Qingfeng.
"Quiet!"
In the end, it was Uncle Sam who stepped forward, sternly rebuked him, and ended this malicious farce.
Within Qingfeng Village, he was a highly respected village chief.
He glared fiercely at all the Qingfeng villagers he had lived with day and night, his gaze condemning their ignorance.
Then, Uncle Sam turned his gaze away and looked at Arthur and Gawain, who were walking towards the dry well. The ferocity in his eyes instantly turned into fear.
Despite the two young and powerful knights' repeated expressions of goodwill, he remained fearful that they would take their anger out on the villagers of Qingfeng who were present.
Now, in his eyes:
The shadow monsters that only appear at night are far less terrifying than these two knights who could slaughter everyone in this village at any time.
Therefore, even if there was only a slight possibility that the villagers' scolding had angered them, Uncle Sam would still feel panicked.
Ultimately, Uncle Sam was fortunate that neither Arthur nor Gawain took their anger out on the ignorant villagers.
Now, let's shift our focus to Arthur and Gawain.
The two appeared only three meters away from the dry well.
First, look at Arthur.
He produced two extraordinary items he had obtained from the alchemist Merlin for repairing the altar's dry well:
A crystal ball the size of a palm contains a curled white worm about the thickness of a finger; it is a rare magical beast, the Space Worm.
A tiny, round bottle, about the size of a thumb, with a transparent body, containing a gray, viscous liquid that is the material for repairing the alternate dimension.
After taking them out, Arthur recalled the restoration steps Merlin had instructed him to take:
The first step is to open the crystal ball to revive the space worms;
The second step is to open the small round bottle and squeeze out two drops of gray, viscous liquid onto the space worm.
The third step is to place the space worm on the specific object that needs repair.
Soon, Arthur successfully completed the first two steps and proceeded to the third.
Now, he picked up the space worm coated with a gray, viscous liquid and walked to the dry well.
Immediately afterwards, Arthur carefully let go.
Finally, the space worm touched the moss-covered well opening.
The next moment, something unexpected happened.
As the space worms rapidly crawled into the dry well, Arthur watched as dense purple runes reappeared on the surface of the well.
Purple runes appeared, accompanied by an invisible but powerful repulsive force.
Arthur was prepared; he drew his fine iron sword and planted it in the grass to support himself.
"Woo~"
A moment later, a familiar low growl came from the dry well, which was covered with dense purple runes.
Arthur instantly became alert.
—It's a shadow monster!
Chapter 52 Repairing the Shadow Altar
Immediately, Arthur tensed up and activated the "Flame Lion Breathing Technique," mobilizing the immense life force within his body to unleash a wave of flame.
His Flame Wave has a bright characteristic, which is effective against Shadow Creatures.
He manipulated the flame wave to surge out of his body, forming a barrier in front of him.
Just as the barrier constructed by the Flame Wave took shape, the owner of the low growl from the Shadow Altar well before them also transformed into a billowing plume of smoke, rolling in and gushing out of the well's mouth.
Arthur looked closely and, sure enough, it was the same three shadow monsters.
However, things are different from before.
The three shadow bears, shadow lions, and shadow rhinoceroses were shrouded and enveloped by a murky black mist.
The almost solidified bodies were thus twisted and intertwined, becoming the upper body of this billowing smoke.
The three-headed shadow monster surged out of the dry well and pounced on Arthur, who was standing nearby.
Their faces were ferocious, like abominable demons struggling in their death throes.
Arthur manipulates the barrier constructed by the Flame Wave to defend against it.
But he was no match for the combined attack of three second-tier shadow monsters.
In an instant, the Flame Aura Barrier in front of him was shattered by the three-headed Shadow Monster's head-on attack.
As a result, Arthur's body was hit by a violent impact and was instantly thrown back several meters.
The villagers of Qingfeng, who were watching from the edge of the grassland, couldn't help but feel panicked when they saw this scene.
Panic began to spread among the crowd, which gradually became agitated and showed signs of escalating into a riot.
"Don't panic, they're at their last gasp!"
At this time.
Having just suffered a severe injury, Arthur rose again and shouted loudly, dispelling the panic of the ordinary people with his unquestionable voice.
The facts are indeed as Arthur described.
After bursting out of the dry well, the three-headed shadow monster was not able to completely leave the well opening.
The billowing smoke seemed to be drawn back into the dry well by an invisible force.
But the billowing smoke from the three-headed shadow monsters seemed to resist the pull from the dry well at the altar; they were struggling and roaring desperately, trying to break free from the parasitic well.
Because their newly awakened intelligence as second-tier monsters told them that the shadow space rift in this dry well was closing.
Initially, two months ago.
The damage to the Shadow Altar allowed them to awaken from their three-hundred-year slumber.
However, they discovered that the gaps in the space opened by the broken Shadow Altar were too small for them to completely detach themselves from the Shadow Altar and could only move within the area of Qingfeng Village.
They had assumed that the rifts in the shadow space would continue to expand.
Given time, they will be able to completely break free from the shackles of the Shadow Altar.
However, they never expected that a Holy Church knight would come to Qingfeng Village a month ago.
This church knight was very young and not highly skilled.
However, he possesses the "Blessing of the Sun," a power far exceeding his own level, which allows him to unleash solar waveguides that pose a significant threat to them.
The Holy Church and the Shadow Church have been sworn enemies since their inception.