Chapter 299

Chapter Eighty-Five: Sudden Gales

“Thank you. I just did what was necessary…”

As I responded to the incessant Knight Commander, my toes lightly touched the ground, and I subconsciously put my thumb in my mouth, intending to bite my nails. However, my thumbnail had already been gnawed down, leaving no place for my teeth to go, so I switched to my index finger instead.

Then I blinked, my gaze drifting towards the light wall at the back of the tent… but from here, I couldn’t see the chasm or the abyss mud; they were obscured by the grass and white tents.

My frown deepened even more.

… Something felt strange.

Earlier, when I was on the mountain, I didn’t feel anything. Now that I was closer, that familiar aura faintly came through, just inside that translucent barrier… almost instinctively, I immediately understood this was the scent of “my kind.”

Calling it a scent might not be accurate, but I couldn’t describe the true feeling in my heart… this feeling was somewhat similar to the familiarity I felt from the endless abyss in the village… but different.

Firstly, it was very faint, so faint that it could easily be overlooked. This was clearly different from when the abyss monster appeared; its familiarity was strong, like seeing a long-lost, close and reliable family member.

But now, I didn’t have such a sense of closeness. I knew the weak aura came from one of my own, but it only gave me a sense of familiarity; I didn’t feel any warmth…反而微妙地，在感受到那股气息后，我心中竟然隐隐升起一种“上位”的感受，似乎那样气息的存在，理所当然应该低我一等…我不明白我为什么会有这样的心情，这似乎是从潜意识里冒出来的想法，它并不强烈，但根深蒂固。

为什么会这样…

难道深渊也是分阶级的吗？

那只怪物究竟还在不在泥潭里…

…不管怎样，我都应该马上过去看看。

“呸。”

吐出咬下的指甲碎片，我转头看向玛格丽特，正好对上她湛蓝的眼眸。

“怎么了？”敏锐的圣女立刻察觉到了我的异样，她上前两步走到身侧的位置，满脸认真的看着我，“你有什么发现？”

我歪着脑袋想了想。

“不知道，要去确认。”

“去鸿沟那边看看吗？”

我点点头：“好。”

玛格丽特闻言，马上转身望向一旁的骑士长：“带我们去尼禄主教大人那边。”

名为亚历山大的骑士长微微一愣。他扶了扶腰间的配剑，模样略显迟疑。

“圣女殿下，希尔维嘉小姐。你们长途跋涉刚到这里，不先休息一下吗？枢机主教大人应该就快要回来了，要不先去那边的营帐里等等吧？”

玛格丽特摇摇头。

“不了。时间紧迫，现在就过去吧。”

“…那好。”

骑士长便不再坚持。

他让一名骑士取来镶有金边纹路的白银头盔——就是我最讨厌的，将脑袋全部包起来的那种，然后扣在脑袋上。

教会骑士们的盔甲是制式的，多数都产自中央工坊。他们穿戴的全部都是这种百分之六十都由精钢打造的盔甲，看起来比我在王城穿的那身还要笨重，戴上头盔就谁也认不出来谁的那种。

“你们跟我来吧。”

骑士长带着我和玛格丽特在无数营帐中穿行，圣女班的修女们与迎接我们的骑士小队都沉默着跟在身后。一路上倒是有不少好奇的目光在打量我，那些眼神大多都来自营地里的骑士，偶尔还有三三两两穿着长袍的修士路过…又或者是神父？主教？好吧，从穿着上我分不清楚他们之间的区别。

只是他们其中有部分人，在迎上我的眼神时，会慌张仓促地避开目光…虽说这种场面我早已司空见惯，可以往会这么做的都是学院那些年轻害羞的男孩子，偶尔有女孩我也能理解…那几个路过的老头也这种态度是怎么回事？

我会吃人吗？

搞不懂。

也没心思计较，算了…

穿过最后的几顶营帐，沿着河边又往前走了大概十多分钟，翻过一座生满青苔的小山石包，泛着金光的半透明罪障已经近在眼前，奇怪的“嗡嗡”声自光壁上传出。

靠近之后才发现，这道将整个鸿沟包围起来的光壁，简直就像一把锋利纤薄的刀刃，将下方的泥土、岩石、河流，将所经过的一切齐齐切开。光壁底端深入底层有多少米我不知道，但露出在外的部分至少也有十多米高，需要将脑袋高高仰起来才能看到顶端的位置。

那些金光仿如水流般于罪障的薄幕上缓慢淌动，自顶端的位置逐渐变得稀薄、渐渐消散于空气中。光壁的上方确并没有封顶，也就是说，如果这此的怪物即会飞又会隐身，逃跑是很容易的事情。

前方的不远处，在光壁之下的紫藤河边，数十名似乎正在休整的教会骑士们或坐或站着，又或者用白布擦拭着手中的长剑与头盔，几名身穿教会长袍的老者被他们围在中间，似乎正聚在一起讨论着什么，其中那道紫金相间的身影尤为显眼。

骑士长带着我们走过去，那些老者便停下了交谈，目光向这边看过来。

我和玛格丽特走上前，到老者们面前站定。温婉的圣女望着最中间那名身着锦葵紫的长袍，袍袖与下摆均秀有复杂金色纹路的微胖中年男人，对他垂头行了教会礼节，口中轻声说道：“枢机主教大人。”

听到玛格丽特对男人的称呼，我不禁扬起眉毛，乌黑的眼睛一眨不眨地看着对方。

这就是尼禄枢机主教…

他就是释放出这个罪障的人…

仔细一看，我发现男人脸上的褶皱并不少，皮肤也很粗糙，鬓角已经带上几缕花白，眼睛又细又窄，身体略显发福，**的肚子将长袍顶得凸起一块，从面相上看应该有五十多岁，普普通通的模样。

如果褪去那一身华丽的长袍，卸下头顶靡丽而繁重主教冕，将他换上一身布衣丢到人群里，大概就会被埋没在其中，被人当作一名做点小生意糊口的商贩——有些人打眼一看就会让人觉得，他大概是医生，他可能是渔夫，她或许是教师…而眼前的紫衣男人，则是商贩。

可这就是神圣教会中，除安吉尔以外权力最高的四名主教之一，也是教会在伊森贝尔王国的总负责人。

“圣女殿下，你来了。”

尼禄枢机主教笑呵呵地回应，随后目光不经意地转向我，如鹰一般锐利的眼睛里，带着意义不明的审视，与久居上位之人所独有的锋芒。

“她就是…教宗骑士希尔维嘉小姐，专程来协助我们对抗深渊。”

玛格丽特很自然地一步踏至我的身前，用半个身子挡住尼禄主教的视线，低声向他介绍。

…她是在担心什么啊？

难不成我们还能打起来…真是的…

“你好。”

我紧了紧背上的皮箱，上前一步走到玛格丽特身旁，轻声对主教打招呼。

眼睛就直勾勾地盯着他看。

…说不紧张是假的。

因为我明白，面前的这个人知道我深渊的身份，并且他…或许不认为我的存在是一件正确的事。

他会怎么想呢…

要是他讨厌我，不愿意理我…那我也就不理他好了，没什么大不了的…

那尼禄主教半晌没有说话，

He just stared at me with a poker face… He didn’t say anything, and the others couldn’t tell what he was thinking, so they naturally didn’t dare to speak much either. The atmosphere became somewhat tense, even Margaret began to feel nervous, her soft little face visibly tightening.

… Was he showing off or what?

Seeing this situation, I of course couldn’t show weakness and immediately widened my eyes even more.

Given his narrow-eyed appearance, staring him down definitely wouldn’t work… So what if he had something against me?

I wasn’t afraid of you…

The eye contact lasted for several seconds, perhaps longer. Just as I thought that Bishop Nero would let out a cold humph and then turn away from me, he suddenly blinked his little eyes in a rather playful manner.

“An interesting way of greeting.”

Uh…

My expression froze, feeling somewhat dazed. Although I saw Bishop Nero smile, revealing uneven but white teeth, “As beautiful as rumored. The Church thanks you for your arrival, Miss Silvija, welcome you.”

… Huh?

“Also, thank the Holy Maiden, it is you who brought us reliable reinforcements… To be honest, I really like young and beautiful girls like Miss Silvija.”

“Mmm—”

I didn’t quite know how to respond to him.

This person… Is he really a cardinal? He knows I’m from the Abyss, seriously questioning my existence?

But this isn’t…

His attitude seems quite friendly.

“Thank you…”

In any case, it’s basic courtesy to say thank you when praised by someone older.

Was Margaret overthinking it?

At least he put on a good front, not seeming like someone completely inflexible… I had imagined him as a stern and rigid old man who was hard to deal with… It turns out he isn’t.

I wasted my time being nervous…

Thinking this, I glanced at Margaret again and saw her exhale lightly, her shoulders relaxing slightly.

This made me feel puzzled.

Could it be that he wasn’t always like this? Otherwise, why would Margaret be so cautious…

“Although I really want to sit down and chat, unfortunately, this isn’t the right place… But I must say, you came at just the right time.”

The first meeting didn’t involve much small talk; everyone understood what the most important matter was. Bishop Nero waved us over and led us to the outer side of Sin障