38: Chapter 38 I won't wear it.

The moon and stars were bright, and there was no one around.

Walking down the street with Avril, Zhang Mu kept his head down, deep in thought.

Originally, his plan was to flee far away after taking out Charlie, leaving Potter and Avril behind, but events had unfolded beyond his expectations.

The fact that the two of them stood by him regardless of the consequences—it would be a lie to say he wasn't moved.

Zhang Mu even found it hard to understand why.

After all, the three of them had only known each other for a little over a month. Although he hadn't deeply experienced the Church's deterrent power, he could see a glimpse of it from the fact that the Town Mayor had thoughts of suicide just because of a verbal divine oracle, Charlie's amplified combat prowess, and the True Word Spell.

That they would go to such lengths—it would be a lie to say his heart wasn't moved, and precisely because of this, Zhang Mu felt a bit anxious.

Once the incident was exposed, Potter and Avril would inevitably be implicated because of him.

Irritation rose in his heart, and in an instant, Zhang Mu understood why: he was too weak, still too weak.

He had to speed up improving his magical strength.

Meanwhile, Avril, walking beside him, cast a sidelong glance at his furrowed brows, her own heart not at peace.

After a while, she recovered from the shock and finally recalled the white Fireball Spell Zhang Mu had released when destroying the evidence.

Avril was not stupid; she was very intelligent.

In just a short moment, she understood that it was an improvement upon the Fireball Spell.

And because she was intelligent, she chose not to ask, even though her curiosity was about to burst from her chest.

She believed that Zhang Mu wasn't hiding it from her out of stinginess; when it was time to tell her, he would.

Returning her focus, Avril suddenly realized that even among mages, her junior was exceptionally handsome.

Of course, she had seen plenty of people with outstanding looks; what attracted her wasn't that, but...

His eyes, which were not polluted by desire.

It wasn't that he didn't have any; how could a person have no desires?

It was just that Zhang Mu's gaze made her feel that he was in control of his desires, rather than being controlled by them.

People are infected by beauty. Avril's sidelong glance unconsciously turned into staring sideways at his eyes, which contained tranquility.

After staring for a while, her heart, which had always been entangled by worldly troubles, quietly relaxed a bit.

Her eyes curved into crescents as she thought, "What beautiful eyes."

Watching him like this for a long time, a strange palpitation welled up in the depths of her heart.

For Avril, this feeling was quite a fresh experience, somewhat unfamiliar, but not unknown.

She had seen many couples in love, and the frequency of their Mental Energy fluctuations seemed to be much like her own right now—extremely chaotic and disordered.

Forcing herself to look away, her expression became very strange.

"Love? Me?"

"Forget it... I still have many things to do, and I might just die somewhere any day."

"Junior, his path is still very long, and I cannot accompany him forever."

"Most importantly..."

Avril's expression became even stranger. Her junior wasn't someone who would be captivated by simple beauty; he might not have any thoughts about her, and he seemed to have some rather unique hobbies.

In their daily interactions, Zhang Mu's gaze rarely fell on her, and the fact that he couldn't take his eyes off Leah was strong proof of her conjecture.

"Demi-humans, huh..." Suddenly, she remembered some rumors Mora had told her.

"I heard that in some shops, they sell strange, lewd jewelry..."

"Hiss—"

Following the thought of jewelry deeper, some indescribable images suddenly appeared in her mind. Avril gasped inwardly, her Mental Energy fluctuations becoming even more chaotic.

So much so that even Zhang Mu, who was lost in thought, noticed it.

"Hmm?"

Looking up in confusion, Zhang Mu looked at his senior. What was wrong with her?

He didn't know Avril's mage level and hadn't asked, but it couldn't be low, because Zhang Mu had never perceived her Mental Energy fluctuations.

This meant that her Mental Energy intensity was at least one level higher than his own.

But at this moment, he could clearly feel Avril's Mental Energy radiating chaos, and a cold chill was pouring out from her whole body.

"Is she worried about the Church?"

"What's there to be annoyed about? If they really come, I'll just go with them. Halfway there, I'll use the resurrection function to fake my death and escape. Could the Church still find trouble for my senior and teacher?"

Zhang Mu gave a comforting smile: "Senior, rest assured..."

"I won't wear it!"

"Huh?"

Avril, like a cat with its fur standing on end, jumped a few steps to the side of the road, shouting.

This intense reaction completely bewildered Zhang Mu. What was going on?

"Uh, Senior, what are you talking about?"

Avril quickly calmed down, looked around, and realized that what had just happened was all her own fantasy.

After a moment of silence, she feigned calmness and walked toward the town gate: "It's nothing."

"Are you really okay?" Zhang Mu hurriedly followed, asking with concern as he looked at her slightly reddened, delicate earlobes.

"If there's something, you can discuss it with me..."

"It's nothing!" Her cold tone raised slightly.

"Oh."

Zhang Mu rubbed his face. What was up with his senior? This cold tone hadn't appeared since they ate and washed dishes together that day.

For the rest of the way, Avril pursed her lips tightly. Zhang Mu felt she was in a bad mood, so he didn't speak either.

After walking for ten minutes, they arrived at the town gate.

"Bishop Haige, you cannot do this!"

It was the Town Mayor's voice, loud, and his tone was filled with anger.

The two exchanged a glance and quickened their pace to run over.

On the grass outside the town gate.

The residents of Kas Town were crowded into a pile with not a sliver of space left, surrounded by six people wearing light armor with long swords with silver-white hilts at their waists.

Avril's little class on common knowledge: Believers in the Church who wore armor were classified as high-ranking Believers; they had a unified title for outsiders: Fanatic.

Zhang Mu recalled the knowledge he had learned, while he and Avril quietly approached the two people who were arguing fiercely on the right side of the crowd.

One was the Town Mayor; his knuckles were white as he clenched his fists, and his beard shook with his heavy breathing.

Opposite him was someone dressed similarly to Charlie; he must be a bishop from a branch of the Church in another city, and his rank was not low, as could be seen from the four hexagrams embroidered on the collar of his white robe.

Charlie's robe was pure white, without a single one.

The two of them—calling it an argument was actually the Town Mayor being threatened unilaterally.

"Bishop Haige." The small patch of flesh on the Town Mayor's face exposed outside his beard was dyed red with anger. "Monsters could attack Kas Town at any time. You are forbidding the townspeople from evacuating. If there are massive casualties, who will take responsibility!"

Haige calmly swept a glance at the shivering pile of townspeople: "They can use magic or Knight Techniques to hunt the monsters."

"What nonsense are you talking about..."

"In any case." He interrupted the Town Mayor's argument, his eyes indifferent, "Before the heretic is found, no one is allowed to leave."

The Town Mayor wanted to say something more, but a Fanatic wearing light armor ran over from the town gate.

"Bishop Haige." The Fanatic arrived in front of him, his face burning with rage. "The True Word Spell on the statue of god was indeed activated. Charlie is missing. Judging from the battle scene in front of the bedroom door, the body must have been destroyed. No sign of the heretic was found."

Murderous intent, as well as a grave expression, welled up in Haige's eyes.

The True Word Spell actually didn't kill the heretic. It must be that Charlie's strength was too poor, and his vitality was insufficient, so it didn't exert its full power.

Haige shouted: "Everyone, line up and accept the interrogation of the True Word Gem!"