Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 880 - 817: Rescue

Children’s energy seems inexhaustible; they always need to grab something. If their little cherry mouths aren’t munching on something, they are bound to make noises to assert their opinions. From the time their words begin to flow, talking to children has never been for the sake of communication, because of the difference in status and understanding, their tender voices often sound comical and cute.

Those two little short legs might be the spring switch of Lucy’s vocal cords; she always talks as she moves, and her legs would sway quietly. She is a good child, in Joseph’s view, much better behaved than himself.

"Not going out anymore?"

"Yes," Joseph thought, that piece of pancake was the last provision. The cellar storage was not as well-stocked as the old knight had described. The refugees must be going crazy with hunger by now, most of them would blame their hunger on him. Joseph empathized with their pain; his vision was dim, his body overheated, sweating coldly, and he felt like biting his nails and even more. He hurriedly took a few sips of water and focused his attention on Lucy’s words.

"Let’s pray, Joseph." The little girl grabbed the man’s hand, and Joseph’s trembling large hand felt somewhat powerless under her small one.

"But you just prayed a little while ago."

"We cannot slacken in our prayers to the Holy Light!" Lucy puffed her face, pulling Joseph’s hands together, "Just like saying hello to your neighbors over and over makes them friends, it’s the same with God Almighty."

Joseph could only smile bitterly and go along with her, clasping his hands seriously to humor the child.

"I don’t have a home, nor do I have any neighbors. I haven’t prayed to the Holy Light for a long time, so Lucy, you must lead me." To perform a long-missed prayer at life’s endpoint, Joseph actually felt a sense of ritual; with nothing else to do, he might as well let Lucy be happy.

"Mhm, I will take good care of you, Joseph." She nodded vigorously, placed a little angel statue between them, set a candle on each side, facing each other, and Lucy slowly recited the unchanging prayer words punctually. She recited a line, Joseph followed with another, and only the voices of the two resonated in the room.

Lucy soon entered an oblivious state; devout praying brings about forgetfulness, and such fervor can infect those around. However, Joseph’s mumbling soon ceased as he became restless and already lacked much pursuit of the Holy Light, now just closing his eyes, posing, and going through the motions.

Joseph’s nonchalance made him hear an unusual noise.

The sound of the lock opening, and footsteps.

Da... Da... Da...

A breeze brushed past behind, and Joseph tensed up; he heard deep, heavy breathing, felt a liquid flowing along the floor patterns to his feet, and smelled a scent that chilled his heart — it was blood.

Joseph’s scalp tingled and he trembled, almost deciding to shut his eyes tight as if nothing had happened. But Lucy’s praying continued, a sound that allowed Joseph to find himself again. He wasn’t alone here; Lucy was requesting assistance from the Holy Light, and surely the Holy Light would help us, right? Joseph, being an adult, had his own set of principles; he didn’t opt to pray but instead grabbed the handiest thing nearby — the little angel statue worshipped by many, and turned around, charging forward.

Joseph collided solidly against the armor, causing the blood-soaked armor to momentarily recoil in this dire attack. This armor belonged to the old knight; that still skilled Paladin wouldn’t easily remove it. The knight’s right hand gripped the sword while the left arm armor, dislodged by Joseph’s previous collision, revealed the fleshly tendrils beneath the armor.

"For... the Holy Light..." came a fragmented, low growl as the sword tip turned towards Joseph at close range, not caring if it might pierce through itself.

At the sight of the exposed anomaly, Joseph panicked; he was unable to speak, think, seemingly entrusting everything to instinct.

"Back off!" Joseph crashed into the desk, but oddly, the old knight was also sent flying. He didn’t miss this fortunate opportunity. He dropped a handful of stone powder, scooped up Lucy, and fled. As they passed by the chapel, Joseph covered Lucy’s eyes, unsure if she had finished her prayer. The sight before him made Joseph infuriated, feeling a newfound strength to continue fleeing toward the unlit darkness.

Feet pounding on dark mud, away from the collapsing unlit chapel, holding Lucy, Joseph ran as indefatigably as a mule, straight in one direction.No one knew how long Joseph ran; he felt his lungs would burn dry, breathing out hot air, surrounded by endless darkness, he became numb, just running forward.

At the end of his line of sight, a Black Knight riding a black horse stood waiting. He looked this way, stopping, the horse exhaling puffs of deep purple mist, its hooves as white-hot as fire, steaming upon touching the black mud. Joseph, with Lucy, quickly approached the knight.

The Black Knight pulled on the reins, turning sideways to face them.

"Priest."

"Please... save her... take her away." Joseph gasped for breath, extending his arms to push the girl forward.

The Black Knight, gentler than his appearance suggested, picked up the somewhat confused little girl, placed her on the horse, and then asked, "Who is she?"

"Lucy, her parents are dead. Fate has brought her to me, and I guess she’s my daughter now, Lucy Ashburn; Ashburn is a name I’ve just adopted."

The Black Knight nodded and reached out his hand towards Joseph.

"And you, priest?"

Joseph smiled, glanced at the little girl sitting on the horse, and while she wasn’t looking, revealed something hidden under his robe. The Black Knight withdrew his hand, resting his fingers on the hilt of his sword.

"Do you need help, priest?"

"No, not in front of her..." Barely audible, Joseph moved a few steps towards Lucy and looked up at her.

"Lucy."

"Joseph."

"Goodbye, Lucy."

"Goodbye, Joseph."

After saying goodbye, Joseph bowed and sat directly on the muddy ground, turning to lie down and rest.

"I’ve been running too long; I need a good sleep."

The Black Knight pulled the reins, urging the horse to carry Lucy away quickly, so fast that even the night couldn’t catch up to them.

After a while, quiet knocking sounds came from the Black Knight’s breastplate; the knight lowered his head to look at the adorable little girl.

"Is Joseph going to die?"

The knight hesitated and asked, "Why would you say that?"

"We never say ’goodbye’."

"..."

Lucy leaned back against the Black Knight’s armor and said, "That’s great, Joseph is also going to heaven. He’s terrible at making beds; he can use the time before we die to learn more from mom. We won’t make them wait too long, are we going to die soon too?"

The knight gripped the reins tightly, took a deep breath, and answered in a voice exceptionally thick, mature, and full of confidence, "No, Lucy, you will go through famines looking gaunt and skeletal, you will face wars lost and displaced, you will suffer from plagues losing all your hair and feeling weak, but you won’t die so soon. You need to grow, become more beautiful than any flower, find a decent man to start a family, have a few annoying kids when they grow up, keep some sheep, do decades of housework, until the day you have no teeth left and even drinking water makes you vomit, that’s when I’ll allow you to die of old age."

Her little fist knocked even harder on the breastplate, judging by the sound, she was really exerting herself.

"Bad guy!"

"Hmph hmph hmph."

"...Bad guy, my name is Lucy."

"Lucy Abelsheen, call me Algernon Farrell."