Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

Lacier was still groggy and hadn't fully woken up yet. After hearing what Charles said, she subconsciously muttered:

"Just disappear. Fog will eventually dissipate..."

At this point she finally realized what was happening, her sleepy eyes suddenly widened, and she said:

"What? The fog has disappeared? Where is it? Help me up! Let me see!"

Her words were also recognized as orders by the master-servant contract, so Charles could only reach out to Lacie and help her up as ordered.

But before he could touch Laciel, Laciel slapped his hand away:

"Go away! Useless thing! I can do it myself--"

After saying that, she swiftly lifted the quilt, stuffed her feet into the boots beside the bed, kicked off lightly, and strode out of the house.

Then, just as Charles had said, Rachel saw Lentiheim after the fog had cleared.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant, and there is a peaceful scene everywhere.

Just as she had seen when Lao Deng brought her here, it was graceful and elegant, like a fairyland far away from the human world.

"But why?" Lacey asked herself in confusion, "Why did the fog suddenly dissipate?"

After saying that, she turned her head and looked at Charles:

"Tell me all the changes you just saw in the fog, and try not to leave out any details."

Charles was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied:

"The fog changed very little, at least in the first half of the night, and there was no sign of it dissipating anytime soon - until recently."

"Not long ago?" Lacier frowned. "Be more precise, how long ago was it?"

Perhaps because Ciel had never seen Lacie so serious before, he was a little unaccustomed to it and stuttered when answering the questions:

"To be specific, it was about before I woke you up, about... about three or four minutes ago."

"..."

Lacele's frown deepened.

Her expression was serious, but the appearance of this body would take away that seriousness—like a kitten with a sullen face, thinking hard, so the onlookers wouldn't hold their breath for it.

On the contrary, as a bystander, Charles actually thought that Rachel was somewhat cute.

But the existence of this idea itself was a sin to him, so he quickly threw the idea out of his mind and tried to make himself serious.

"Anyway, about three or four minutes ago, light suddenly shone through my eyelids, and when I opened my eyes, I found that the fog that had covered the entire Lentiheim had disappeared."

"What about before that?" Rachel asked, "You had been resting your eyes?"

"Yes," Ciel nodded gently, "but I open my eyes every once in a while to check the surroundings. The interval between opening my eyes is about half an hour."

"Did the fog show any signs of clearing half an hour ago?"

"No."

"So, whether it's the thick fog or the sunshine, they all disappear or appear suddenly?"

"……should be."

After learning this information, Lacier sighed slowly and made a preliminary conclusion:

"So, this thick fog is indeed not normal 'fog' - but in this case, it has become the most troublesome situation."

Charles didn't understand what Laciel meant by this and wanted to ask, but before he could ask, Laciel looked at him like an idiot and said:

"So you haven't reacted yet? If the mist is abnormal, then it is most likely a magical creation. But if it is a magical creation, why doesn't your forbidden spell work on it?"

Charles was stunned when he heard this.

And Rachel continued to speak to herself:

"It's not just the fog that has disappeared. There's also the magic circle that the elves used to teleport us from the entrance to Lentiheim into the city. That thing is obviously magic, but your forbidden spell can't affect its normal operation at all. Don't you find it strange?"

"Something's wrong!" She pursed her lips and turned to look at the city-state standing in the dim morning light, which looked as peaceful and tranquil as usual. "Everything here is wrong!"

Charles lowered his head silently, slowly stretched out his hand, and placed it on the hilt of the holy sword at his waist. After a brief hesitation, he seemed to have made up his mind, so he raised his head again, looked at Lacier, and whispered:

"I didn't notice the details you mentioned. This is my fault... But Master, actually... Actually, my mastery of forbidden magic is far inferior to that of the previous generation of heroes, so..."

Lacier raised her eyebrows and continued his words:

"So, whether it's this thick fog or the elves' teleportation array, their abnormalities are not abnormal enough?"

"Well," Charles nodded but then shook his head, "No, the two cannot be generalized. I'm not sure about the teleportation array, but the forbidden spell certainly can't work on the fog."

"?"

Lacey typed a question mark.

She thought to herself, how rare, your forbidden spell has flexible criteria, right? If it meets the criteria, it will work, and if it doesn't, it won't work?

Charles saw Lacier's confusion and explained:

"I'm not good at passively maintaining forbidden spells, but if I consciously and actively release forbidden spells, there shouldn't be any problems."

Lacey understood:

"So, what you're saying is that the fog is definitely not a product of magic, and as for the elves' teleportation array, you're not sure what it is, right?"

"Yes." Charles nodded awkwardly.

"Then we have an idea of ​​what we should do next," Laceer nodded. "Let's go and check whether the elves' teleportation array is a magical creation."

"…But shouldn't we investigate the cause of the fog first?"

Upon hearing this, Lacier glared at Charles with some disapproval, then sighed and said:

"Stubborn thinking! Connections are universal. Maybe the cause of the fog is related to the elves' teleportation array. Don't you think there are too many anomalies in Lentiheim? What if there is something wrong with the city itself?"

Perhaps he felt that what Lacie said made sense, so Charles stopped asking questions and silently picked up the bronze lantern from the ground.

At some point, the flame in the lantern went out, probably because the magic power that the Archon lady had infused into it had been exhausted.

But it didn't matter. The thick fog had disappeared inexplicably anyway, and the lantern could no longer provide any help to Rachel and Charles. It might only be useful again when the thick fog appeared again.

So Lacele stopped paying attention to the lantern and let Charles take it with him.

The lantern looked heavy, and she was too lazy to carry it around the city.

Charles didn't care about the weight of the lantern. He held the lantern in one hand and the hilt of the holy sword in the other. He looked down at Lacier and said:

"Neither you nor I know the location of the teleportation array. I have to ask someone for directions."

Lacele nodded casually and waved to Charles, signaling him to come back quickly.

But before Charles left, Rachel suddenly remembered the strange things about this city, so after a brief hesitation, she called out to Charles:

"Wait, I'll go with you."

Charles was stunned for a moment, but soon realized that Lacie decided to go with him in order to avoid being left alone.

Of course he had no objection.

So the two of them left the wooden house that the Archon Lady had prepared for them and set out to ask the elves questions.

Perhaps because the fog had dissipated, elves began to appear on the streets of Lentiheim, where there were almost no pedestrians.

Those handsome or beautiful people with perfect physiques have resumed their normal daily routines, running flower shops, purchasing food, and greeting acquaintances gracefully...

Lentiheim, which was almost dead, came back to life and became full of vitality again. Everything was so peaceful and beautiful, as if the thick fog had never appeared.

Lacele followed behind Charles, waiting for him to ask the elf in front of him for directions, while she scanned all the elves on the street with a vigilant look.

Perhaps influenced by the deformed elf embryos that Fuvenna showed them, Lacie began to worry that she would find one or two monsters with six legs or two heads among the pointy ears on the street.

But fortunately her worries did not come true.

So she could only look away with regret - come to think of it, she hadn't seen Charles fighting for a while.

If there really are monsters hiding among those pointy-eared creatures, the brave man's holy sword will surely make them regret being born into this world.

While Lacie finished expressing her feelings, Charles finished asking for directions.

So the two of them set out again, heading towards their intended destination, the teleportation array they had used when they came here.

But before they took a few steps, the sharp-eyed Lacey spotted an acquaintance on the street—

She is the governor of the city-state of Lentiheim, Lady Fuvenna.

She nudged Charles with her elbow to remind him.

Charles soon noticed the impressive lady Archon as well and decided to go over and say hello.

He brought Lacie to the Archon and blocked her way.

"Hello, Ms. Fuvenna." The brave man saluted in a proper manner.

But the consul who was stopped by them frowned.

"Gui An," she paused and asked, "But... who are you?"

"?"

Charles didn't understand what was going on. They had just met the Archon yesterday, and the Archon had taken them to check out the abnormalities in the breeding room.

So he answered subconsciously:

"I am the brave Charles. I came to Lentiheim on your behalf to help you solve the problem of your mistress..."

Hearing this, the Archon's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

As if she had seen a madman, or a lunatic who was talking nonsense, she asked cautiously and doubtfully:

"Madam? What is that?"

[To be continued]

-

8. True and False

The answer from the Madam Governor was unexpected.

Charles was stunned when he heard this, but he did not act rashly. Instead, he subconsciously turned his head to look at Lacie behind him.

By chance, Lacie looked at him.

The two people's eyes met in the air, and they instantly confirmed each other's thoughts.

——They all realized the seriousness of the problem.

So, out of the sight of the Archon, Lacele reached out her hand calmly and tried to poke Charles on the back.

She planned to remind Charles to turn off the forbidden spell so that the two of them could discuss how to deal with Fuwenna next - but she soon remembered that Fuwenna, as the governor of Lentiheim, might be able to detect that she had used the voice transmission spell.

Even more than that.

If Fuvenna possessed top-notch magical attainments, she might even be able to decipher the content of their conversation.

Lacele had no choice but to withdraw her hand, raise her head and stare at the back of Charles' head.

There was no other way. At this moment, she seemed to have no choice but to trust Charles. However, the problem should not be too big. If Charles accidentally revealed any flaws, she could help him remedy the situation as soon as possible.

As for what is happening right now...

Rachel thought that the Archon would not be so bored as to play such a joke on the two of them. After all, not everyone has a bad personality like her.

So it has something to do with the fog that suddenly dissipated?

It was such a coincidence that after the seemingly endless thick fog dissipated, in the reopened Lentiheim, Fuvenna, who had commissioned them to investigate the mistress, inexplicably did not recognize them and even forgot the existence of the mistress.

Although there was no direct evidence, Rachel's intuition told her that there was probably some connection between the two things.

She always trusted her instincts.

Charles didn't know what Rachel was thinking, but he probably had similar thoughts, just like when they were in the Brave Team, the Brave Man and the Pastor Lady always worked together seamlessly. They didn't even need to communicate. They could understand each other just by looking at each other's eyes.

So, facing the obviously abnormal lady consul, after a brief silence, Ciel said:

"That's probably a joke someone played on us - someone sent us a commission in your name, claiming that an anomaly that was difficult to resolve had occurred in Lentiheim, so we came here."