The three lay on the flat cart, letting the Hoofed Beast drive itself towards the castle.
[ Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti ]: "Could you tell me what your tasks were? I hadn't even finished the beginner tasks yet, I hadn't even seen the interface."
[ The Good Times Don't Last ]: "There's nothing inconvenient about it. Actually, there's a broken alchemical golem inside the castle. The guide probably wanted to fix it, but it's too badly corroded. He told us to give the usable parts to the village chief of Dragonborn Village so he can help repair it."
"Eh, an alchemical golem?"
The newbie fell into deep thought:
"It's indeed a common setting in this kind of world, it's a pity we didn't get to see it stand up."
[ The Good Times Don't Last didn't last long] and nodded in agreement:
"Who can argue with that? This thing is probably powered by Psionic Energy, but unfortunately we're still far from that level..."
The two chatted casually, but the [ Shit Appraisal Master ] seemed heartbroken by the series of losses and did not choose to participate in their discussion.
He thought his ordeal in Dragonborn Village was bad enough, but little did he know that even worse things were yet to come...
As the three of them drove back to the vicinity of the castle, they coincidentally encountered five Holy See guards returning from White Wax Town.
With the return of these five people, the five Hoofed Beast once again became resources that could be used to assemble the Hundred-Ton King.
In other words, the timing of their missions perfectly coincided with the Hoofed Beast's downtime, and the mission to transport the alchemical golem's remains did not actually need to be completed immediately.
Now the [ Shit Appraisal Master ] really couldn't hold back anymore. He had been tricked into this miserable state but couldn't find any logical errors. Apart from a lot of coincidences, everything seemed so reasonable that he couldn't even find a target for his hatred.
But quitting the game was impossible. He understood better than anyone the principle that it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance. In addition, everyone's account was registered with their real name and limited to one Number One per person. He simply couldn't let go of this groundbreaking masterpiece.
The [ Shit Appraisal Master ], slumped on the flatbed cart, thought it over and over, and finally decided to learn a few tricks from his father in the real world, so he wouldn't lose money hauling goods—it was just too outrageous...
Duolin was waiting for Ed's message below the castle. He already regarded this young man as the backbone of the Second Holy See. Although the other party only called himself a bishop, it was obvious to everyone that within the Second Holy See, whether it was a bishop, an archbishop, or even a higher-ranking cardinal, he was actually the same person. As for the pope or the monarch... the Tree Worship Church, which reveres the Tree God, did not have such a position. The College of Cardinals of Cardinals, composed of multiple cardinals, was the highest authority within the organization.
Just as Duolin was lost in thought, he suddenly sensed a slight change in his surroundings.
Upon closer listening, it became apparent that a certain sound in the surrounding area seemed to be missing.
He looked around; the Elite Warrior under Bishop Adrian were still working with great enthusiasm, just as before...
Suddenly, his eyes met those of a pair of golden eyes.
Duolin then noticed that below the floating, Shattered Castle, there was a house made of some unknown material.
He had seen the building before, but assumed it was part of the castle.
Upon closer inspection, although the building's color scheme is very similar to that of the castle, a clear stylistic difference can be found.
The woman sitting behind that long table was no ordinary person. Duolin sensed a terrifying aura emanating from her. Just one glance made Duolin's breathing quicken and his blood rush, as if he had already entered a battle state.
Just then, a young soldier walked over and patted Duolin on the shoulder:
"Captain Duolin, Bishop Adrian requests your presence."
"Thanks."
Duolin felt himself instantly freed from that locked-on state. He didn't know if it was the young warrior who had helped him or the terrifying girl who had spared him, so his gratitude was sincere and not just a polite formality.
"Soldier, what's your name?"
"Me? Just call me ' Dawn Ah '."
After repeatedly imitating those few syllables, Duolin and the others arrived at the castle hall.
At this moment, a Vine Sheep and a "Plum Blossom" Deer were lying next to Ed.
As a species widely distributed in the wilderness and with low combat strength, [ Dawn Ah ] went all out to obtain the activation code.
Although he is not outstanding in any of his strength, physique, or agility, he also has no obvious weaknesses.
[ Dawn Ah ] wants to obtain more offerings, while [ Howling Pothos ] is determined to become stronger.
The two hit it off immediately and began to accumulate experience in battle.
It was already afternoon. The collaboration between a former professional player skilled in combat and an assistant who excelled at observing and recording the habits of creatures made their skills in crushing weaker opponents even more refined.
They've even learned how to remove the antlers of the "Plum Blossom" Deer without harming these Aberration, antlers being one of the high-value materials Ed has been recycling.
With this skill, [ Dawn Ah ] can carefully observe how long it takes for "Plum Blossom" Deer's antlers to regenerate in the future, but right now, it's obviously more important to bring in the teacher and junior students.
[ Dawn Ah ] watched the figures of the group enter the castle and suddenly remembered what [ Howling Pothos ] had said to him during a casual chat. The other party had expressed a desire to learn the limb Alienation skill from those NPCs, but unfortunately, they had left early this morning without giving him the chance.
So [ Dawn Ah ] quickly found [ Howling Pothos ] nearby, who was waiting for the next hunt. Upon learning that Duolin and the others had returned, he immediately said that he wanted to go and talk to them to see if he could learn any skills. The combat team was temporarily disbanded.
Inside the castle, Ed watched as five people carrying large and small bags walked in, his face alternating between confusion and joy:
"You came, but you brought so much stuff... what is all this...?"
Duolin placed several bags on the ground, took one out and unfolded it, revealing a dark green robe bearing the World Tree emblem to Ed.
"Isn't this a church uniform?"
Ed was even more puzzled. Why bring all this stuff from so far away?
Duolin naturally didn't think he had done anything wrong, and he said with a smile:
"Your Excellency, these are all brand-new uniforms from the White Wax Town warehouse, presented to you here."
"The thought of these things from the Holy City remaining in the hands of those apostates makes me particularly uncomfortable, so before I left, I used my privileges to retrieve a portion of them."
"This is the limit we can go without arousing suspicion. We hope you can understand."
Good grief, another one trying to take advantage of the system!