Chapter 113: Ange

A month later, in Kelun Town, two thousand kilometers from Mara Town, Faler and a squad of Holy Knights waved goodbye to the ascetic Ange, their eyes glistening with tears.

One Holy Knight tightly clutched two magic crystals, his voice choked with emotion:

Ange-sama treated me so kindly—I just casually hunted two rabbits to offer him, and he gave me one magic crystal, asked me to hand over the live rabbit, and shared the larger one with everyone. Oh, oh, oh, he’s so generous! I’ve never even held a magic crystal in my life—I truly want to follow him forever and serve him well.

Everyone glanced at him collectively: Are you reluctant to leave Ange, or his magic crystals?

Though the title of Holy Knight sounds impressive, in reality they’re miserable—overworked, underpaid, rarely home, and for low-rank Holy Knights like them, it’s even worse; any high-ranking church official can summon them at will.

And sure enough, they were summoned by Ange—sent over two thousand kilometers away, away from home for two months.

If everyone were like Ange-sama, people would gladly accept summonses—but many high-ranking officials aren’t like that; they order people around and don’t even pay them.

Even if meals and lodging were provided during the journey, what about the return trip?

Even if meals and lodging were covered, some bastards make them pay out of pocket for food and drink, promising reimbursement upon return.

Yes, theoretically reimbursement is possible—but you have to go through procedures, a process that takes one or two years, and you might starve to death before it’s done.

Even if reimbursement went smoothly, what if they deduct a little handling fee…?

So whenever they heard they were being summoned, everyone resisted—especially since Ange was an ascetic, famously poor and hard-living; traveling with him meant enduring wind, rain, and hardship.

Too bad no one dared refuse—a man who chased a fallen angel into hiding—who would dare oppose him?

The group, along with Faler, trudged off dejectedly; that night, they ate their fill of grain and sugar beets.

At the time, they thought: At least meals are covered.

But when one Holy Knight brought back a litter of rabbits—including live ones—and Ange gave him one magic crystal in exchange, everyone realized this ascetic wasn’t poor at all.

Though Ange routinely received thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of magic crystals, they weren’t currency; ordinary people never even saw them—one magic crystal equaled ten gold coins.

One gold coin, in a good year, could feed a family of three for a whole year.

A litter of live baby rabbits exchanged for one magic crystal—enough to feed a family of three for ten years…

Instantly, everyone’s enthusiasm surged; along the journey, fresh items kept appearing before Ange—food, drink, toys—and they served him with utmost devotion.

Actually, not everyone was after payment; after the first litter of rabbits, Ange stopped giving magic crystals—but always returned something of equal value.

The key was his attitude: these Holy Knights had no expectations; their only hope was not to lose out on this trip. The things Ange returned were far beyond what they’d given.

Why stop giving magic crystals? Of course, Negril stopped him: “You wasteful bone! You throw a magic crystal at a litter of baby rabbits? Are you insane? When I was alive, baby rabbits were candy—one bite and the whole litter’s gone!”

Ange tilted his head: So cute, not worth anything?

From then on, anything Ange returned was always checked by Negril first.

Upon reaching their destination, Ange gave each of them one magic crystal, two sacks of grain, and some sugar beets—enough to last until they got home, with money left over.

“But why did Lord come to Kelun Town? Kelun Town is already at the desert’s edge—is the desert Lord Ange’s place of ascetic practice?”

“Probably. I heard a bronze dragon resides in an oasis here—I wonder if Ange-sama can defeat a bronze dragon?”

“Who knows? Ange-sama possesses a Holy Soul, and his divine arts are beyond measure.”

Faler and the Holy Knights chatted idly as they left Kelun Town.

Soon after they departed, from a secluded spot outside town, a juvenile bronze dragon, a unicorn, a dazed little girl, a handsome zombie, a low-rank Sword Saint, and a sapling all burst out, gasping for breath as they collapsed onto the ground: “Phew, finally out—I nearly suffocated!”

Trapped in the Palace of Rest for a full one and a half months, everyone was going mad—except the sapling, it wasn’t human… uh, well, except Lu Se, none of them were human…

Whatever they were, everyone was driven mad—not only did Ange refuse to approach the palace complex, none of the others wanted to either, so they all lingered near the farm.

Aside from the farm’s greenery, everywhere else was dead silence; in such an environment, only undead could survive—and even they couldn’t endure it, as seen by the Angel Skeleton and the little zombie, who fought daily from sheer irritation.

One or two days were fine, but forty-five days straight? If they didn’t get out, they’d all go insane.

They’d heard Ange had farmed here for over a thousand years; now, when they looked at him, their eyes sparkled with admiration.

“Where are we?” Lu Se asked, gazing at the desolate surroundings with interest. “Have we reached the most desolate town? The desert’s starting point?”

Kelun Town is called the most desolate town? Look at all this grass, these cacti—let them go see the Abyss of Rest, then they’ll know what desolation means.

Originally, Negril planned to find Bai Yin and Andongni, send Ange back, then go alone to find the bronze dragon mother—but everyone strongly objected.

“We’re going to ride the dragon mother!”

Fine, the most dangerous part was over; with a squad of Holy Knights escorting them, everyone assumed he was some high-ranking church official and let him pass without a single check.

As long as Ange wasn’t in danger, going anywhere was fine—especially since Negril couldn’t get rid of them.

Ange used his soul link to ask Bai Yin where the nearest bronze dragon was; they learned one dwelled in an oasis in the desert, so they arrived here under the Holy Knights’ escort.

Kelun Town was a small settlement at the desert’s edge, Haocheng the most desolate human administrative unit; as the desert expanded, Kelun Town grew increasingly barren—vegetation vanished, farmland lay fallow, people migrated away, and soon the town would be swallowed by sand.

“Let’s go, find the dragon mother!” Lu Se called out, urging everyone to move.

Ange didn’t move—he stared blankly into the distance.

“What are you looking at?” Negril asked, leaning over.

“There’s farmland there—abandoned.” Ange said.

Negril nearly spat blood: “Others can’t move when they see gold or females—you can’t move when you see farmland? Can’t you have any ambition!”

“Oh, all these farmlands are abandoned? Can I grow things here?” Ange spoke in a fluent, continuous stream—no longer speaking in single words.

This—was Ange’s pursuit.

“No!” Negril roared: “I’m going to ride the dragon mother—I don’t have time to help you farm!”

The others shot it sideways glances: See? You just admitted it.