Chapter 398

Chapter 22 Anna Celist

Turning her head, she saw several church knights who had taken off their armor and put on civilian clothes sitting around a campfire not far away. Their faces were illuminated by the firelight, showing signs of drunkenness. The words came from a young knight with brown hair. He was sitting cross-legged and said, “She is now in the royal city. Do you know what happened there? My sister is a remarkable hero. She was even featured in the news report a few days ago… I’ll show you…”

The young knight’s cheeks were flushed, clearly drunk. To prove his words, he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small piece of folded paper. He spread it out in front of the campfire and pointed at what looked like a portrait, proudly showing it to everyone, “Do you see? This is my sister. You’ve never seen her. She’s much prettier than in the picture! She’s both capable and beautiful… Before I left home, she sent a small bag of gold coins to our grandmother, telling her to eat well and saying that she misses the village and us…”

As he spoke, he raised his chin slightly, looking very proud.

The other knights curiously examined the picture and exchanged glances. Someone couldn’t hold back a hearty laugh.

“Little Barry, you’re so drunk!”

“Who wants to wake him up?”

“I’m yellow, let me do it…”

Someone pretended to stand up but was laughed at and held back by others.

“Isn’t this Miss Silviga?”

“Open your dog eyes and look clearly! It’s not Miss Silviga at all. It’s clearly Little Barry’s sister… Hahaha!”

“Luckily, I have one too…” A fierce-looking knight also pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his chest and showed it to everyone, “Look, this is Miss Silviga’s portrait, cut out from the news report, right?”

“Good! So you all have…”

“Little Barry, brother, please let me meet your sister? She’s the person I’ve been dreaming about…”

“You, you can only think about it in your dreams…”

“And in your wine!”

“Hahaha——”

The more they joked, the louder they laughed. The young knight named Barry blushed and angrily said, “You… I’m telling the truth! If I’m lying, I’m a dog! She is my sister!”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“Little Barry, you’re really good at boasting! No wonder you hang out with Morle…”

“Hey Barry, no, Barry brother, I’ll call you brother in the future. Will you consider me as your brother-in-law?”

“Hahaha——”

“Don’t carry my sister’s portrait with you!”

“Okay, Barry brother.”

They laughed and joked, drinking too much and talking nonsense. Anna Celist stood there for a while, feeling bored, and seeing someone noticing her, she panicked and stood up, turning to leave. Holding her longsword, she walked through countless brightly lit camps, encountering two small groups of knights who awkwardly saluted her. She ignored them and walked straight past them.

Soon after, Anna Celist arrived at the seaside.

The surging waves rolled to her feet, and the sea breeze carrying a faint fishy smell blew against her face. She walked along the beach alone, leaving a series of shallow footprints behind her.

In the distance, the warships docked at the pier raised their white sails again and sailed toward the sea under the night sky. Distant voices could be heard. Cold waves pushed onto the shore one after another, soaking her worn-out shoes. Soon, her coarse linen clothes also became damp.

She looked around and saw a round stone about a person’s height nearby. She walked over, leaped onto the top of the stone, took off her shoes, placed them aside, and sat down barefoot.

The sea wind made her clothes rustle, and her hair was blown up, revealing Anna Celist’s delicate and childlike face. She still held her sword in her arms, quietly gazing into the distance, her starry eyes filled with the flickering flames on the ships at sea.

Unconsciously, she sank deep into her thoughts.

Four days had passed since the battle at sea, which wasn’t particularly intense.

Four days ago, Captain Nick led more than ten warships out to sea to confront the enemy. The knights were full of fighting spirit, swearing to fight the infidels to the death, defending honor.

The glow.

Unexpectedly, those who came to meet the battle were nothing but a disorganized rabble that scattered at the first sign of conflict.

As flames engulfed the sea and the masts, the two fleets drew closer. Annasylis boarded the enemy ship. The infidels fought desperately, but after killing several of them, she was shocked to discover that these so-called “ferocious” enemies could barely hold their swords steady.

The battle ended quickly, too quickly to believe. Many of the infidels from the Eastern Continent were either dead or wounded. Many jumped into the sea, never to resurface. Within half an hour, the enemy surrendered.

The knights captured many people. After a brief interrogation, they discovered that these were actually merchants from the Eastern Continent.

However, there were indeed some among them who could wield the sin fire.

Only… they were all quite inexperienced.

To Annasylis, their strength and skills seemed as weak as a child learning to speak, utterly incapable, far different from what she had anticipated.

It shouldn’t be like this…

Even she thought this way; Nick,团长 with rich experience in leading troops, naturally became even more vigilant. He immediately realized something was amiss, ordering the warship to return swiftly. He thought this might be a feint, and the real attack would be elsewhere. But upon returning, he found everything was fine, with no incidents occurring.

Then, he seemed unable to contact the person constantly relaying intelligence.

Thus, during these days, the Church knights nearly turned over every inch of the area approaching the coast, and continued large-scale searches at sea. However, four days passed with no results. The captives did reveal some information; some of them were indeed infidels, but they knew nothing. They only knew they were here to secretly transport a large amount of lotus grass back to the Eastern Continent. This place, due to its remoteness and lack of other docks within a hundred miles, was often used for deliveries. They hadn’t expected such a fierce interception.

团长 Nick naturally didn’t believe their story. He ordered some people to be burned alive, but it was of no use. Most of the living captives were terrified out of their wits. Annasylis once glanced at them; on a piece of open ground a few miles from the village, many knelt pleading for mercy, while others were hanged from trees. But it seemed they really knew nothing.

团长 Nick became somewhat anxious. He seemed worried about something. Occasionally, when he asked her about it, Annasylis didn’t respond because she truly didn’t understand these matters and didn’t want to know. Whatever happened was fine by her.

Annasylis was born in a settlement north of the Holy Wall, just a wall away from the Dead Sea Cartel Garlin. It was a harsh and barren land where survival meant everyone preying on each other.

She grew up hungry, eating soil and rotten meat. In her first decade of life, Annasylis didn’t know what being full felt like. To her world, surviving and having something to eat was enough.

Later, through an accident, she left the mountains and entered human society, becoming a Papal Knight, with monthly pay beyond imagination, finally able to live like a human.

But some things etched in her bones remained forever.

Sometimes, Annasylis saw the pity in Nick’s eyes when he looked at the Mosley villagers—perhaps to him, this place represented all the suffering in the world.

That man from a privileged background probably never imagined that in the fertile and prosperous Silgaya, there could still be places like her hometown.

Regardless, in Annasylis’ heart, after becoming a Papal Knight, her work was simple.

Kill monsters, or kill people.

Then take the money.

Other matters were beyond her understanding and concern.

And those infidels… she didn’t truly understand the concept of “infidel.” She didn’t care whether they were demons causing havoc in the world. But since she was sent to assist Nick in fighting the enemy, she would kill them all when she arrived.

The night was deep.

The waves surged endlessly.

Annasylis felt hungry and took out a hard, dry biscuit from her waist pouch. She tore off pieces and ate slowly. When there was little left, she put it back in the pouch and closed her eyes, hugging her knees motionless, as if asleep.

The sword remained in her embrace.