But I Believe in You

Chapter 40: But I Believe In You

Pursue, pursue.

How to pursue, how to seek?

This is a question.

Linton turned his gaze to the protagonist of this quest.

Ever since the girl finished recounting her "glorious deeds," she had fallen into a dazed state, her form becoming increasingly transparent—this was due to the rapid consumption of magic power that constituted her spirit body, caused by emotional fluctuations.

If he wanted to complete quest two, he was running out of time.

"Iris," Linton said gravely, "think back. Since we entered the village, what information have we gathered?"

"I don't believe anyone is inherently good, nor do I believe anyone is born with pure malice. There must have been a third party involved."

It was impossible to say who this third party was, and relying solely on his own thoughts might lead to errors. However, if Iris were to recall the events, he could identify and fill in the gaps from an observer's perspective.

Iris closed her eyes, meticulously reviewing every scene in her memory.

"Starting from when we entered the village, in chronological order, we met the old lady, the middle-aged man, Bella, and those children. Except for Bella, everyone else was an ordinary villager influenced by abnormal kindness."

"No, not just those few," Linton narrowed his eyes slightly. "There was also the merchant and the 'bad guys' Bella mentioned."

"The merchant and the bad guys?" Iris pondered for a moment before saying, "Didn't you say before that merchants occasionally pass through here? They don't stay long, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

"Whether there's a problem or not is another matter for now. We need to isolate him first. We can't let our preconceived notions about 'bad guys' cloud our judgment."

Linton suddenly looked at the girl, his tone rising slightly.

"Bella!"

"Huh?"

Bella seemed startled, looking up blankly.

"I'm asking you, you said you led your parents to the bad guys, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever left the village before?"

"No."

"Then how do you know there are bad guys outside?"

Bella said blankly, "The merchant told me."

"The merchant said he encountered a group of bandits on his way into the village and was almost captured by them. He also said those people were desperadoes, and falling into their hands meant certain death."

"At that time, I was thinking about what method to use to get my parents..."

"Do you remember the way you came?"

Bella nodded.

"Then, lead the way."

Linton turned and walked out of the yard.

The girl timidly followed beside him, subconsciously wanting to reach out her hand, but suddenly remembering something, she froze.

But as the hand, which had already begun to show partial transparency, was about to fall, she found she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She suddenly looked up and saw a face that was neither happy nor sad, but cold and stern.

"Let's go."

Iris walked beside Linton on his left. Seeing the girl, whose complexion was clearly much better than before but who still dared not speak, she frowned and asked.

"Since you know her past 'glorious deeds,' aren't you afraid she'll lie to you?"

Linton chose his words carefully. "Iris, I think we can trust her for now. Her current state is quite broken. The malicious emotions that originally occupied her are not much different from others, perhaps even less. In a sense, she might be 'good' more purely than the villagers here."

He never believed a child could be this inherently evil, especially after the emotional exchange with Bella.

Of course, Linton wasn't some kind of saint; he couldn't pity a murderer for no reason.

From the emotions flowing back, he felt that the "innocence," "liveliness," and other traits a child should possess were completely absent, like ice cream scooped out with a spoon, leaving a huge pit.

The remaining malice, like an animal without its natural predator, began to multiply and grow wildly, burying those large pits until it consumed her reason.

—This is definitely a case of external force intervention, not natural.

The same applied to those villagers.

There is no one in the world who would infinitely tolerate your actions, regardless of good or bad—except for parents.

However, Iris could not empathize with Bella. She strongly rejected Linton's persuasion.

"I'm sorry, even if you say that, I can't give her even a shred of trust. I can't believe someone who killed seventeen people just because of her own preferences, even if she's a child."

"Alright."

"But I believe you."

Linton was stunned by the girl's sudden change of tone.

"Don't misunderstand me," she said. "What I mean is that you are the one I am loyal to. You may not trust me, but I must completely trust you." Finally, she added, "Loyalty is a necessary quality for a knight."

Nodding, the man's eyes rippled with a gentle warmth.

"Thank you."

"Tch."

Iris turned her head away, not wanting anyone to witness the lovely blush on her beautiful cheeks.

Bella, who had been looking down, had been paying attention to their interaction. Hearing this, her eyes couldn't help but fill with a bit of envy, which then quickly turned into melancholy.

As they passed the house where they had stayed the previous night, Linton suddenly stopped.

"Wait for me here."

He knocked a few times, and the door was opened by the same middle-aged man.

"You're back? Are you staying here again tonight? I can have my son sleep with us."

"No need," Linton smiled. "I wanted to ask you, the merchant you mentioned who gave you candy, how often does he usually come to the village? And how long does he stay?"

"Hmm, let me think about it carefully."

The man pondered for a long time before slowly speaking, "The first time he came, I was only eight or nine years old. He stayed for about a month, I think? After that, he came once or twice a year, staying for about one or two weeks each time."

"This continued until about six years ago. He hasn't come since then. In the last two or three years, new merchants have come, but they aren't connected to the previous one."

"Do you remember where he used to stay then?"

"This…"

"Please, try to remember carefully!"

"Alright."

The man racked his brain for a long time. "He probably didn't stay in the village. He always came from outside. It seemed to be from the west… I'm sorry, that's all I can recall."

"It's alright, you've already been a great help."

Linton thanked him and returned to the two of them.

The doll-like lady, who had overheard their entire conversation, spoke first. "That merchant is indeed suspicious."

"Exactly. And according to my guess, this 'merchant' is the key to everything," Linton said calmly. "He warned Bella about bandits outside, desperadoes with blood on their hands. So why would he stay outside the village, disregarding his own safety?"

"Perhaps, we don't need to look for the 'bad guys' anymore."

Thank you to "Ao Wuji" for the reward of 100 Qidian coins, thank you very much!