24 Knights

  Panni was sent to the place, and Vika bid farewell to Panni outside Mushtir. To prevent things from changing, the young man paid 200 Beren to the bard as a reward for his matchmaking efforts.

  He trusted Vika and believed that this intelligence dealer had professional ethics consistent with her reputation.

  Then, in this icy and snowy land, began a quiet wait. North of the gray-white forest, an army was gathering, and according to the rabbit's words, the arrival of the Saint Warrior Tiel would be within these two days.

  Occasionally, Panni would meditate in this small town called Paloka and attempt to activate his perceptual abilities to predict the future fortunes or misfortunes, but the result was a complete unknown, leaving him frowning secretly.

  Since that mysterious wine guest showed off his divine power in Dehum City, he found that his perception seemed to have a problem. Although the effect of perception was still accurate, the omen began to be unpredictable, and every morning when he woke up, his brain would strangely ache for about ten minutes before calming down, even affecting the progress of his arcane research.

  This discovery made him extremely annoyed, but he was completely at a loss about it and could only temporarily put it aside. This failure also made him decide that in the future, unless necessary, he would not easily use this ability again.

  He had a vague feeling that overusing this innate ability didn't seem to have any benefits, as if every extra benefit came with a cost, and now he was probably at the point where he started paying the price.

  "Tsk, your complexion is really poor." The bard seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and it was clear that neither of them had left a good impression on the other at their first meeting. Anel, who had always thought of finding an opportunity to severely strike this sly and impolite little kid in his eyes, spoke sarcastically: "If I were the leader of the Knights' Order, I would definitely not want you, a burden."

  "They all dare to find a completely unreliable Mr. Rabbit as an intermediary, so there's no reason to look down on me." Penny retorted calmly.

  "You? How can you have this artist's charm?"

  "Charm is shown through pretending to be cool. Tell me, Mr. Rabbit, do you know what it means to pretend to be cool?" Penny glanced at Anel.

  "What's with the pretentious act? What kind of language is this?" The rabbit was indeed stunned.

  "In other words, it's about constantly using profound and mysterious language, as well as exaggerated and elegant behavior to package oneself in order to stand out from the crowd and attract attention. This is roughly the definition of being pretentious."Penny gazed at Anel with a "you're beyond help" look, shaking her head pitifully: "Look, you don't even understand how to show charm, using your terrible art will only scare people away."

  "Who... who said that." Anel was exasperated: "You little brat, you're also qualified to discuss charm with me? Don't you know that the bards are Ferrin's most charming group? Bragging, I've been doing it since I was born."

  "Alright, alright, I wish you become the first B- ranker in Ferren soon." Penny nodded casually and suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes outside the town. She opened the window to see a dazzling reflection, which was the silver armor shining brightly along with the knight's long sword.

  "Here." Panni let out a breath, but saw that Mr. Rabbit had already run out, and hurriedly followed him out of the small hut, seeing the riders walking into the town entrance, a total of only four, feeling somewhat strange, so few people, what role can they play in this internal strife? Maybe it's just a moral name.

  "Ah, greetings! Warriors of Tir." Anel laughed and ran over, the leading knight removed his helmet, shook out his long hair behind him, spat out a mouthful of white mist, and gazed calmly at the half-elf, saying:

  "Not good at all, Arnell. Seeing you reminds me of that unpleasant experience in Dragon Bay. You should be grateful I serve Lord Tyr. Otherwise, I would have cut off your head with one sword."

  "Thanks, Your Highness," Anel's gaze shifted to the back of the blond knight, and the three knights also removed their helmets. One of them was smaller in stature, and when they took off their helmet, a delicate yet beautiful face was revealed, with sunlight reflecting off her golden hair like the sun itself, and two bright blue eyes shining like jewels against the pure white background.

  Seemingly stunned by the scenery, Penny slightly narrowed her eyes, while Anel had already leaned in and started chattering away:

  "Oh! Madam, my name is Anel Stefan Ni, the most famous artist in the Northland. I'm delighted to serve you. I wonder if I'll have the chance to get to know you better..."

  "Apprentice Knight Seragrofia, thank you for your enthusiasm." The female knight, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, spoke in a clear and cold voice, with a polite smile that seemed to keep people at arm's length: "However, the captain told me that you are the most notorious rogue informant in the North, and asked me to keep my distance from you. I'm afraid it's unfortunate."

  "Kamael Knight! How dare you slander me like this!" Anel's face was hurt, pointing at the leading knight with a tragic expression.

  "The Code of the Holy Warriors binds me to never speak falsely, I merely speak the truth." Kamael hummed and his gaze passed over the half-elf, falling on Panni wrapped in thick cotton: "Introduce your friend."

  "This is Panni Xien, a mage from the Dragon Coast, my friend, I trust him to work with me." Anel said.

  Penny nodded slightly, and Anneli said apologetically to Kamo, "Sorry, he's a bit of a loner and doesn't like to talk."

  "So, this gentleman is willing to work with us?" Kamajyo asked.

  "Yes, he wants to accumulate experience in adventure." Anel spouted nonsense, but also pulled out a sentence of irrelevant truth: "This is related to his promotion task."

  "A task? Alright, bard, although your character is rotten, I still have some hope for your professional ethics, so I'm also willing to trust your friends. However, as the Hand of Tyl, we'd like to conduct a small test on your friends." Kamael hesitated for a moment before turning to Penny: "Would you mind undergoing a detection for evil magic?"

  "No problem." Panni nodded, and after being pointed out by Anel, he didn't dare to speak in a half-baked Komir accent anymore. He intentionally lowered his voice and made himself look like someone who doesn't talk much.

  As for this spell, he is not too worried. According to his self-reflection, he thinks that what he has done and thought is still some distance away from evil.

  Kamajo waved his hand, and the female knight behind him muttered something under her breath. A burst of spiritual light erupted from the center of her palm, enveloping several people around them. After a while, the light dissipated, and the female knight nodded to the captain of the knights. Kamajo looked at Penny's expression, which had become more gentle: "I'm glad you have the qualification to travel with us, but we still hope to know what your purpose is, sir."

  "What's the point? It seems that our own camp is still far from being good, otherwise these knights wouldn't have this question," Panni thought to herself and felt that there was nothing wrong with saying: "Investigate the unintentional."

  "Are you also here to investigate the Unseen? What a coincidence." Kamael looked surprised, and Penny's heart skipped a beat - were these knights also after those things?

  "Yes, we are also here for the innocent. It's great that we share a common goal." Kama nodded, noticing Panni's puzzled gaze.

  "I'm glad too." Penny nodded, but saw Kamajo stroking his chin, seemingly thinking for a moment, and then said: "There's one last question, sir. If you join our ranks, from now on you'll be our comrade-in-arms. If in battle, you're unable to lend a hand or find yourself in unnecessary trouble, it will hinder our actions. We must..."

  "There is a ring in your left breast pocket, which contains three divine magic shots." Before Kamajo could finish speaking, Penny closed her eyes and said so.

  Kama Zhuo was taken aback, patted his chest pocket, and was both surprised and suspicious for a moment.

  "And your necklace has been specially enchanted, possessing a spell slot that heals severe injuries. The two scrolls in your package I couldn't identify are probably high-end goods above level 5. As for the other two knight gentlemen, their rings respectively stored: Brute Force, Divine Favor, Dispel Magic, Curse Removal... Oh, and there's also a wand that removes toxins..."

  The expressions of several knights changed, and they did not expect that this young man would casually close his eyes and identify all the magical items in their pockets. The female knight was still in shock when she saw Penny's face turn to her, opening her eyes:

  "Your sword is quite impressive, I wonder whose masterpiece it is? It seems to have a soul dwelling within..."

  "Aidamir Dawn, that's one of the few holy swords in the world." Kama Joe let out a sigh and patted Penny on the shoulder, smiling: "You're qualified, comrade."

  "I'm honored." Panni smiled slightly. Several knights passed by Panni with a hint of surprise, and the female knight who had been supporting her sword was still there.

  After a while, Anel, who was staring with his mouth agape, came over and said: "You know, if you were to switch professions and become a thief, all the mages would cry."

  "Maybe." Penny nodded noncommittally.

  An'er thought for a moment and suddenly said: "According to what you just said, weren't you just pretending to be cool?"

  Penny almost spat out a mouthful of water and nodded weakly after a long while: "Alright then."

  "Why can you pretend so perfectly, while I was rejected before I even opened my mouth? Oh, master of my life cycle, is the charm of art really no match for cold, icy magic?" Anel recalled the chilly treatment she received from the female knight, her face filled with anguish.

  "To pretend to be impressive, being awesome is a necessary condition. Otherwise, you'll just be seen as **. You don't need to understand these dialects at all." Panni glanced at Anel with a relaxed expression: "All you need to know is that she's not interested in you simply because you're not good enough."

  "I won't do it...... I won't do it...... I won't do it......"

  A string of words heavily slammed onto the human artist's head, and the half-elf suddenly felt that the world in front of him was even darker.