Swords, magic, and martial arts

At the appointed time, Rhodes and his three companions led Messiah's warhorse to the dock.

"Is your captain awake?" Baron went up to ask a sailor he had met that morning. Rod remembered that he seemed to be the captain's nephew. He was sitting on a box, idly playing with a rope.

"It should be soon." The sailor looked up at him. "But even if he wakes up now, you'll still have to wait a while. We still have a lot of cargo to unload onto the ship."

"How long is 'waiting a while'?" Baron asked again.

"Even if they move quickly, it will still take them an hour or two," the sailor replied.

"Then let's wait a little longer," Baron said helplessly.

"Why don't we get on the boat first and wait there?" Hammer asked from the side.

"It's chaotic on the ship right now, and we don't know where my uncle plans to take you. You should wait at the dock for now," the sailor said.

"Then let's go back to the tavern and sit down. Rhodes, you stay here and call us when they're about to leave," Baron said to Rhodes.

Rhodes reluctantly agreed, and after Baron finished speaking, he led Hammer toward the tavern. Misel didn't leave with them; she found leading the warhorse around too troublesome, so she stayed on the dock with it.

Rod sat on a crate, watching the porters next to him shouting as they carried crates onto the ship, feeling somewhat bored.

He turned to look at Messiah beside him. He had been so immersed in grief that he hadn’t noticed how beautiful Messiah was, bathed in sunlight, like a fairy descending to earth.

No, there are no fairies in this world; they must be angels descended to earth.

Misell noticed Rhodes's gaze, turned her head, widened her eyes, and glared at him, asking, "What are you looking at?"

"I have a question for you. Last time I saved one of your knights, the one who went to Nord with Harvey to hunt down that priest of the Cult of Death. Do you know her? How is she now?" Rhodes withdrew his gaze, suppressing his embarrassment, and asked in a serious tone.

The thought that such a good-looking person needed to use the toilet just like him, and might even have their penis pinched, completely restored Rod's composure.

"I know who you're talking about. The sword you're carrying is hers. In the end, she couldn't hold on. She had just returned to Radiant City and left us before she could receive proper treatment. She was a good warrior. I hope she can find peace in the Lord's Kingdom." Messiah had seemed a little angry at first, but her tone was sorrowful as she spoke.

Rhodes was quite surprised. He looked at Messiah in astonishment and continued to ask, "Didn't you say that her injuries had completely healed?"

"Although it looks like it's almost healed on the outside, it's still a mess inside," Misell sighed.

Rhodes was somewhat saddened; he had previously thought he had successfully saved the female knight's life.

It seems that from beginning to end, I couldn't save anyone, and no one protected me.

"Do you need to take this sword back?" Rhodes took the two-handed sword that the female knight had given him from behind his back.

Misell shook her head. "This sword belonged to her back then. Whether she returned it to the Knights or gave it to you was her own decision. Since she gave it to you, you should keep it safe."

Rhodes was surprised that a knightly order that was short of money could have such rules, and decided that he would definitely help the knightly order if he had the chance in the future.

"Then what is her name?" Rod asked again.

"Her name is Fiona," Messil replied after a pause.

"She grew up with me. It's a pity she wasn't blessed by God and couldn't become a priest like me. In order to serve God, she chose to become a warrior. If she hadn't, she would definitely still be alive and well now."

Rhodes was very disappointed that he couldn't save her. Before asking Messiah these questions, he had always suspected that Messiah was actually the female knight.

But now it seems that's not the case; she doesn't look like she's lying.

Thinking about it carefully, their body types don't seem to match. The female knight is clearly taller, even though she's about as pretty as Messiah. Underneath that armor, there must be a woman who's like a female bodybuilder.

"When we get to Radiant City, can I visit her grave?" Rhodes sighed.

"Yes," Misell replied after a moment's hesitation.

Having just emerged from the grief of Weber's passing, Rhodes' mood sombered once again.

He felt a tightness in his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.

The once harmonious environment around him felt extremely noisy, and even the golden sun hanging high in the summer sun lost its color.

He sat cross-legged on the box and began to embrace the Yuan-Zhou-Yi (a state of focused concentration) to calm his mind. It took him a long time to calm down and enter the state of embracing the Yuan-Zhou-Yi.

When he opened his eyes again, he didn't know how much time had passed. The sun was about to set, and the last rays of sunlight shone on the river, turning the entire river red.

"Haven't they told us to leave yet?" Rhodes asked, turning to Messiah.

"Not yet," Messiah replied, her eyes closed as she silently recited a prayer.

She opened her eyes and glanced at Rhodes, who had just recovered from his autism, wanting to say something. Just as she was about to speak, the voice of a young sailor came from the ship.

"You can board now; we'll depart in an hour."

"You wait here, I'll go call Baron and the others." Rod climbed down from the box, stretched his body, and headed towards the tavern.

Ten minutes later, Rod returned to the port with Baron and Hammer. Baron was grumbling and complaining about the captain.

Rod listened silently while munching on his bread. It wasn't Baron who chose to take this ship; it was just because it was cheaper.

He walked over to Messiah and handed her two. It was already dinnertime, and the captain had said earlier that they would depart in the afternoon.

After thanking Rhodes, Messiah and the others prepared to board the ship.

They ran right into the ship's captain, who was yawning and looked like he hadn't woken up yet.

The hot-tempered Baron strode towards him, seemingly intending to pick him up and teach him a lesson. Rhodes quickly ran up and stopped Baron, not wanting to be thrown into the river and drowned while sleeping on the ship that night.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The captain smiled when he saw them, showing no sign of embarrassment.

"Why do you have women here? This has completely disrupted my plans," the captain said again.

"What do you mean?" Baron asked.

"I originally arranged for you to sleep in a dormitory with the sailors. I didn't expect there to be a woman here..." The captain stroked his chin. "How about this, I'll give her my room, which will also serve as my apology."

"Okay, okay, then please have someone take us to where the three of us are sleeping." Rod pulled back Baron, who was about to lose his temper.

Rod and Baron had assumed that the ship, like the Brilliant Gold Coin, offered a clean single cabin, but they were surprised to find that they had to sleep in a dormitory with the sailors.

However, Rod stopped Baron from losing his temper, fearing that if Baron beat up the captain, they would start a brawl with the sailors on board.

He wasn't afraid of being tough and thick-skinned; if a fight really broke out, he might even win. But there was also a seemingly frail-looking Messiah standing nearby.

Rod could only restrain his temper while also pulling Baron back to stop him from losing his temper as well.

"I don't have anything to do right now, I'll take you there." The captain said to himself, not noticing what was going on. "Don't worry about it delaying your journey, my ship is fast. Even if it's a ship that set off this morning, we'll get to Gulfstream City before them."

……