The roots reached their destination and opened up, releasing a pile of people. Klein closed his eyes from the sudden appearance of sunlight, and only after half a minute was he able to see the already familiar house where Leah lived with her dad. The elf’s mystery always brought them to this place, so everyone was already familiar with Sianverlay, the girl’s father. He, as usual, sat by the window, hardly moving. He smiled faintly at his daughter's companions and made a subtle movement of his head that could be considered a greeting.
A discordant chorus of voices greeted the ancient elf, and Klein couldn’t help but think that Sianverlai was hundreds, maybe thousands of times older than Robert, but looked younger. Elves were beyond the understanding of people and caused envy.
- Take the girls to the temple. Even if Abbot Arthur is not there, the novices and monks must cope, this is not the first time for them. Also, someone take Jay to the doctor. He's about to fall off his feet. Not to mention that a bloodied man on a city street will raise many questions.
- I'll go with Jay. – Klein volunteered. - But what will you do?
The magician sighed resignedly, and his gaze grew heavier:
- Keep my promise... I promised Leah that if she stops being offended and takes us home, I will sit with her and her father throughout the entire story about today's hike, and assent to her...
- Oh. – The paladin winced. “Then I’ll see you when you’re done.” Will this be in a week? Two?
- Don't joke like that, please. I'm scared.
- Hey, you're discussing it as if spending time with me is such torture! – Leah intervened. - This is so bad?
- Of course not. – Robert answered obediently. – I am very pleased to spend time with you, but you elves have a somewhat different view of time and its value, so to speak. That is, it is completely normal for you to have one conversation all day long. And then move on to another topic.
- And what's wrong with that? “The elf asked incomprehensibly, and Robert sighed again, catching sympathetic glances.
Klein and Jay said goodbye to the others and went to the outskirts of the city. The paladin had not been here before, so he simply followed the knight, helping him not to fall to the ground along the way. In order not to remain silent, Klein asked his senior comrade:
- You said that you became an adventurer to impress a girl. Who is she, if it's not a secret?
- Heh, it's no secret. This is Jaya, the Setting Sun.
Klein stopped in his tracks. He didn't know how to react to such words. Either admire what high standards the guy in front of him has, or lament the unrealizability of his hopes. Just in case, the young man clarified:
- The same Jaya? Which is a candidate for court magician? Chosen by Dimoth and the Golden Dragon? Who, at only twenty years old, has already reached level sixty and managed to take part in the slaying of a dragon?
- Yes, that's her. I love her.
- Whoa. – Klein could only say. - Whoa.
He didn't know what to say; the guys walked the rest of the way in silence. Finally, a small, modest building with a cross on the roof appeared. Klein silently assessed him and turned to his companion again:
- So you are a sectarian?
- Hey, Christianity is not a sect, really! – Jay began to make excuses. – And in general, I don’t even believe in this One God of theirs! I am a follower of Dimot. Although he doesn’t pay attention to me... And I come here because Father Ronald lives here. He does charity work and treats those in need. Well, he spreads his faith. This is a small church, but few parishioners come here. Don't mind the accent, Ronald is Irish.
Irish... A proud people of hot-tempered highlanders, similar in spirit to dwarves... At least, they were like that a century ago. Now England, Scotland and Ireland were under the complete control of an incredible horde of goblins. Previously, Klein did not understand how it was possible to lose to the goblins, even if there were many of them, but if each of them has an aura that strengthens all the others, then the horde of greenskins becomes an incredibly dangerous enemy, capable of wiping out entire countries from the face of the world.
Which is what they did. About a hundred years ago, the Goblin Lord stood at the head of one of the nests, he began to unite disparate groups of goblins into a horde, and step by step captured the territories of the islands. And so, fifty years ago this invasion ended. Since then, there is not a single person in England who is not a slave to green monsters. And the horde was not stopped even by the death of their leader sixty years ago. Although, if Askeltak survived that purge, then the Goblin Lord could too...
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
And despite the fact that this took place far across the sea and did not reach the center of Europe, the echoes of these events were heard even here. In particular, there were an incredible number of refugees from those places. And they began to spread around the world, bringing with them their religion in Jesus, undermining authority and taking the flock of other churches. And indeed, Christians did not contradict the basic postulates of the Five, and no one could openly outlaw them as sects of demons.
Klein didn't like Christians. Perhaps because they did not worship the Blind Master as much, without being followers of other deities, or perhaps because the appearance of many homeless Christian refugees flooded Europe with criminals and bandits.
However, Master Arthur protected them. Previously, Klein did not understand this sentimentality towards sectarians, but after seeing the abbot’s memories, he realized the reason. “I will definitely have to apologize to the master for intruding into his memory without permission...” thought Klein.
However, his thoughts were interrupted by a man in a modest white cassock who came out of the church. The priest looked almost fifty, had a head of curly red hair, and his face was covered with freckles, which created a rather free-spirited and cheerful image, but his deep, tired eyes ruined the first impression.
Ronald saw the wounded Jay and hurried to the knight, grabbing him by the arm with his usual movement.
- Again? Who is it this time?
- Goblins.
At the mention of the green creatures that destroyed the priest's house, the man's eyes sparkled with anger, and he asked:
- Did you kill them?
- A little more than ten. If it weren’t for this kid and his squad, I would have died there myself. Goblins are strong...
- I know. If they weren't strong, my nation would have survived. Don't underestimate us. – Ronald turned to Klein and said in a much softer voice: “Thank you for saving this fool.”
- You're welcome, this is our job. Are you related to him?
The man looked displeasedly at the paladin and answered irritably:
- Not all redheads are relatives, so you know. And contrary to superstition, we have a soul. Unlike these monsters. Goblins, dwarves, elves, mimics, lizardmen and other godless creatures.
- I understand, goblins, but why didn’t the civilized races please you? – the guy was surprised.
- Ha! Civilized! Certainly. Creatures of darkness and chaos, designed to test our faith. But let's not talk about unpleasant things and go inside, I need to provide first aid to this wounded poor guy.
The men entered the building, and Klein helped lay Jay on the table so that the holy father could begin treatment, and the young man asked:
- Does your Jesus give miracles to his followers? How will you treat the wounds?
- Does not give. And we believe not in Jesus, but in his father - the One God. You can heal, you know, without the help of magic. There are many places in the world where there are no priests of Aronis or druids who can use healing magic. But many druids and priests, even having the opportunity, do not study these spells.
- I don’t know about the Druids, but the clergy don’t choose which miracles to master. Only the Blind Master decides what to give to us mere mortals. – Klein defended his church.
- Okay, wait and don’t distract me, please, I’ll patch up the guy and talk to you.
Klein sat down on a bench and examined the decoration of the church, accompanied by Ronald's dissatisfied sounds about how poorly Jay applied the bandages, and they were dirty, which is why they would have to wash the wounds and say prayers so that they would not fester.
When it was all over, the priest sat down on the bench and sighed heavily. The more well-groomed Jay stood up, examining the treated wounds. The doctor finally told him:
- I did what I could. But I’m not a sorcerer, so don’t exert yourself too much for a week, and I forbid you to fight for at least two weeks. You will come every day, I will change your bandages and examine your condition. And you, little paladin, be so kind as to bring a jug of wine from the next room, we urgently need to wet our throats.
- Doesn’t your religion prohibit drinking alcohol? – Klein clarified.
- No, it doesn’t prohibit it. Gray Herald Saivas has a point about this. For us, this drink is no worse than the others. The only thing is that we are not allowed to get drunk. In this state, a person is more like an animal than a human. In the meantime, everything is within normal limits - no problems.
Meanwhile, Jay, having finished examining himself, guiltily thanked the Irishman:
- Thank you very much, Holy Father. Really, I don’t know how to thank you. You pulled me out of the other world so many times... Maybe you’ll still take at least some money?
- Hold the money, young man. – Ronald answered irritably. – I don’t need them. I have what I need for life, but I don’t need more. Excess is a sin. But the money will definitely come in handy for you. Because of your wounds, you were left without work for an unknown period of time.
- You are right, as always... But still...
- Oh Lord, I’ve already said a hundred times, I don’t need gratitude. Jesus commanded to love your neighbor, and I just try to do everything in my power, nothing more. In addition, when I arrived in this country, one person helped me, and I am only trying to make sure that it does not turn out that he saved an undeserving person.
- Yes? Who was that? – Klein became interested.
- I don't know. It was a member of a high-level adventurer party, and they were all wearing bird masks. Later, I found out that this was a group of Moon Bird Feather heroes, but as far as I found out, the person in that white raven mask was not with them. Well, it's not surprising, perhaps. This was more than twenty years ago. Maybe he died a long time ago... It only saddens me that I didn’t thank him. He didn't even bring flowers to the grave if he really was dead. I would like to know about his fate someday.
- Understand. - Klein said. “If I find out anything about him, I’ll tell you right away.” AND…
The paladin suddenly fell silent mid-sentence. He felt his soul twist and pull to the side. "Gays!" - Klein recalled. The cursed lich’s spell worked, and, apparently, having determined that the paladin had been in the city for a long time, it was now pulling him back to Askeltak’s abode, as he promised...
Klein smiled forcedly and said doomedly:
-...And unfortunately, I have to go... All the best to you. Jay, maybe I'll visit you later. If I survive, haha.
-Where are you going that you might get killed? – Ronald was alarmed
- To lessons...