The cemetery is located in a corner of the city, near a better neighborhood in the lower city, so Ferrara and others were able to travel with Aaron for a while.
After confirming that everything was completed, Ferrara, a veteran elite warrior, took down a large square box from the carriage.
The workmanship of the box is quite exquisite. It is carved from pear wood and has a small lock hanging on it.
"This is our thank you gift for this trip. Please accept it, Lord Viscount."
Aaron raised his hand to indicate that he was holding the urn containing the ashes of the War Mage Apprentice. Upon seeing this, Eleanor took the big box.
Miss Pastor weighed it secretly. The box was very light and she didn't know what was inside.
"And this is our special thanks." Ferrara took out a more exquisite small square box from his body. He reluctantly handed the gilded small square box to Aaron: "
Please be sure to keep it."
"Thank you." Aaron had his hands this time. He took the small square box with his remaining hand and put it in his arms.
"Why don't you open it and take a look?" Ferrara joked strangely.
"Is there anything that you carefully weighed three times with a scale and tightened all the curtains to avoid leaking a little bit?" Aaron smiled naturally: "If you want to deceive me, do you still need to be so cautious? Running business
It’s not easy, Mr. Ferrara~”
"You are so observant!" Ferrara put away his joking expression in surprise. The mercenary leader's face was regular and serious, and he could not help but admire him in his eyes: "I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future, distinguished Salian
Lord Viscount!"
"There will be a chance. I think this won't be the last time you come to Cormyr for business." Aaron nodded, and the Viscount captured what the mercenary leader did not say.
"If the current tension can be alleviated, we will be happy to come to Cormyr again, and I hope that the Viscount will be able to facilitate us." Montero took a step forward: "You have conquered our group of mercenaries who lick blood with their blades.
"
"Let's talk about it when you come. Then send someone to inform me at Salian House, No. 18, 'Three Crowns' Block, Uptown."
"May Taimora bless you, our Lord Viscount, and thank you for your helping hand to us."
"May the radiance of the Silver Virgin illuminate your way forward,"
Ferrara and others left, leaving the priest and the viscount behind.
"Let's go too."
The road leading to the cemetery is a little muddy. This is not a wealthy area, so naturally it is not in the best condition. It just rained in Susal last night, and the cleaners in the lower city are not that diligent. There are also
Some areas were not cleaned as well as they should have been.
"Guess what the mercenaries' gifts are?" Aaron glanced at the large square box in Eleanor's hand.
"Hmm...it should be spices, right?" Miss Pastor couldn't feel the weight of her arms.
"Correct!" Aaron nodded, and then asked half-jokingly: "But cheating is not allowed, Miss Eleanor, must have sensed the smell of spices, right?"
The words of a charismatic person are always full of magic. The pastor lady couldn't help but nod her head. She really felt the smell of spices.
"Nutmeg kernels, cardamom, pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, cinnamon, raw sugar cane, cloves, bay leaves, fennel." Opening the box, Miss Priest sniffed and stuck out her tongue: "Good deal, Lord Viscount.
"
"Hey, the little nose is quite clever." Seeing this, Aaron took out the small square box that Ferrara and others cherished very much from his arms: "Guess what this is? If you guess it right, I will give you this big box."
for you."
"I don't want it!" The pastor lady was a little proud at first, but when Aaron said this, she suddenly felt a little discouraged.
Can you give me some hints?
How many poor people at the city gate can be saved by this big box of spices?
"It's saffron." Aaron opened the small box gently, and inside was a handful of bright red stick-shaped strips: "This little bit of saffron is three times more valuable than the same weight of gold.
above."
"So this thing has another name, called blood gold, and it can be circulated even in hell!"
"If I don't bring enough money today, I will use this to pay." Aaron slowly put away the smile on his face: "After all, times have changed, and no one knows what the cemetery is like now."
"Then this big box is given to you, Miss Eleanor, you can dispose of it as you like." Aaron patted Miss Pastor's shoulder lightly: "Anyway, please enjoy dinner at home tonight and accept my hospitality.
Take a good bath and report to church tomorrow, okay?"
After listening to Aaron's conditions, the pastor lady pursed her mouth slightly, pressed her hands on her lower abdomen, entangled her fingers together, and exerted slight pressure.
That’s it again!
This man is always so good at using words to occupy the right to speak. He always holds tightly to the grace of the Silver Virgin to control her. He always first puts forward an offer that he cannot refuse, and then gradually touches his bottom line.
However, I was unable to resist his invasion.
Holy Silver Virgin, my lord, why did you arrange a nemesis for me?
Faced with the temptation that a large box of spices could save at least 100 poor patients, the pastor succumbed again.
Plan passes!
A deep sense of pleasure shot from Aaron's belly straight to his forehead.
Cool!
He discovered that the original Aaron Salian had a crush on Miss Priest, so when he kept teasing Miss Priest, Slaanesh's power would come to life.
It seems that you can consider giving the priest a Slaanesh gift, she will definitely like it!
But looking at the saffron in his hand, Aaron couldn't help but think of one thing: Lady Fortune likes saffron the most (this thing is not only a spice, but also the best dye, which can dye clothes into wealth)
Lady's favorite gold), as long as you donate saffron to Lady Fortune's church, you will receive magic, money, and blessings.
However, before the Year of Turmoil began, Ms. Fortune disappeared and her whereabouts are still unknown.
This may be one of the reasons why Ferrara and others smuggled this kind of "blood gold".
So where did the Lady of Fortune go? Now it's the Lady of Joy who is filling in for her.
I don’t know, it’s still too early for me to do these things at the moment.
The cemetery was once a peaceful place, a quiet and peaceful land. Priests and temple guards have always protected the place and allowed the dead to rest in peace.
The cemetery was once the territory of Melkor, the King of Bones, one of the three gods of death. This was a powerful god who belonged to the neutral evil camp.
People have always respected and feared the god of the dead. After all, except for a very few existences, everyone will die. Melkor's priests often threaten the living if they don't respect the god of the dead and don't hand over enough "skulls."
"Money" is destined to have a bad ending after death.
The priest of the King of Bones is actually right, because without the protection of the God of the Dead, the corpses would be stripped clean by scavengers within a day or two if they were thrown into mass graves. Vultures, wild dogs, and jackals would also be the special ones.
Like these delicious meals, many necromancers even go to the mass graves regularly to find "suitable" experiment subjects. No one wants their bodies to become like that.
People don't like the King of Bones for his greed and high skull money, but at least the King of Bones lets the dead sleep in peace.
But just two years ago in the Year of Turmoil, the three gods of death collectively fell, and all their power fell under Cyric, the Prince of the Dark Sun. Melkor's priests also collectively turned to worship Cyric.
Aaron is not sure what the current situation of the cemetery is.
The cemetery temple has indeed undergone changes. The original holy symbol of Melkor was replaced by Cyric's holy symbol, and a purple sun pattern was added to the outer circle of the skull.
A priest in gray robes and a skull mask appeared.
Aaron and Eleanor both bowed their heads in respect.
No one will not respect death!
"Are you planning to send these ashes to the cemetery?" The cemetery pastor knows very well the purpose of others coming to the cemetery.
"Yes." Aaron held Hicks' ashes.
He could still remember the scene when the War Mage Apprentice tried desperately to get him to escape and fought a doomed battle with a group of orcs that had no chance of winning.
"This is an offering. In order for my friend to rest in peace, please accept it." Aaron took out two gold lion coins and respectfully handed them to the cemetery priest.
Unexpectedly, the cemetery priest looked at him deeply and shook his head: "This is not enough, child."
Not enough? Both Aaron and Eleanor opened their mouths in surprise.
Two gold coins are the most standard skull money in the country, how could it not be enough?
Ordinary poor people can bury their ashes in the cemetery's large graveyard with just two silver coins!
What does Cyric want to do?
"The new God of the Dead has issued an oracle, requiring everyone entering the cemetery to pay 5 gold coins for burial." The gray-robed priest pointed to the tombstone next to him unnaturally: "If a tombstone is needed,
It costs 15 gold coins.”
"Should we add 50 gold coins and have a eulogy and ceremony?" The muscles on Aaron's face twitched.
"It turns out that your Excellency is going to arrange the 'Dark Sun Luxury Package'?" The gray-robed priest said quickly, "We can arrange the ceremony immediately."
Aaron and Eleanor looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.
As the current owner of the priesthood of the dead, Cyric's management methods are indeed completely different from Melkor's.
Aaron didn't say much. He only had 5 gold coins on him. Just as he had prepared before, he took out a little saffron and successfully paid 15 gold coins to build a tombstone for Hicks.
Hearing that Aaron was willing to pay more without arguing, the gray-robed priest looked slightly relieved and sighed: "It seems that he is really your good friend, really."
"This bastard has never been my good friend." Aaron said with a sneer: "He robbed my snacks, stole my toys, and told everyone about me since I was a child. Every time I see him, I think
,Why is this bastard raised by Bichi not dead yet?"
The gray-robed priest was stunned.
Hicks was buried in an inconspicuous corner of the cemetery, and his tombstone was very simple.
He was never a big shot.
Aaron and Eleanor stood in front of the tombstone.
"But...he died for me." Aaron's voice gradually became dull. He pursed his lips, took Hicks' favorite mead from Eleanor's hand, and sprinkled it on his tombstone.
"You have never been a big shot, you are just an ordinary battle mage apprentice."
"You have never been a queen of a famous family, Hicks. You move around and have no fixed residence."
"You are just an ordinary battle mage apprentice, my childhood playmate, and my enemy. When I saw you, I wanted to slap you. When I found out that I was with you on this mission, I almost threw up."
"Originally, you shouldn't have died on my behalf. Their target was me."
"If you knew this was the truth, you would be very angry, right?"
"Hahahaha~" Aaron laughed loudly, smiling, his eyes gradually turned red.
"Rest in peace, my savior, and enjoy your eternal sleep."
"That man is still alive, I will deal with him, I promise."
After saying that, Aaron poured the remaining mead into his mouth, turned around and left without any hesitation.
Eleanor followed quickly. She didn't know if she thought of something, but her eyes were also slightly red: "He is a brave battle mage."
"He's so brave!" Aaron's nasal voice was still a bit thick, and he cursed with a smile: "If he was really brave, he wouldn't have the second-level spells and only memorize the spider web spell and the mirror shadow spell, which are inescapable.
There are no spells that do enough damage!"
"The idea of this bitch is to control it with the spider web technique, protect itself with the mirror shadow technique, and leave the rest to us." Aaron slowly moved his steps: "But... indeed, as you said, the mage
There is no problem in memorizing magic like this."
Now Eleanor didn't know what to say.
Aaron collected his emotions and took the initiative to speak:
"It is said that there are three kinds of death in a person's life."
"The first death is the cessation of body functions, which means that his body has died."
"The second death is the funeral, which represents his death in a social sense."
"The third death is when he is completely forgotten. When all the books that remember his story, all the scrolls that depict his image, and all the people who still remember him pass away, this is a spiritual death.
"
"So, some people are alive but already dead."
"Some people die, but they still live."
"Because they are always in stories, books, poems, legends, and murals."
"The most important thing is...in the annals of history! In people's hearts!"
Aaron's words were like thunder, exploding in the pastor's chest, lightning flashing and thunder roaring.
Yes, she is always alive in my heart!
There is still hope, there is always hope!
Miss Pastor gently rubbed her chest, and she felt a new flame ignite in her heart.