More than a month has passed since that sudden accident, and to this day, the Scarlett family and the Kaos family still receive letters of thanks, and Joshua's relationship with the Brandons and others has become closer.

After initially passing the Twin Blades of Order Inheritance test, Brandon obtained a lot of memories of the Glorious Age period, as well as some inheritances related to the sages, including the secret words that Joshua had told him a few years ago, how to liberate the True Name of the Twin Blades of Order, but other than that, there was no more information, and the warrior confirmed after several inquiries that the blonde swordsman did not fall into that lifelike illusion like him, and saw part of the sage's soul with his own eyes.

This has to be said to be a pity, because it means that Joshua has completely lost the possibility of meeting the sage again, and now there are still many questions and doubts on the Microf continent that need to be solved, and without the sage's most simple and direct source of answers, everything can only be investigated slowly by himself, but this is also a good thing, after all, in the case that most of the problems have almost been solved, the next big event will have to wait until the abyss invasion nearly twenty years later, if there is nothing to do during this time, Joshua would also get bored.

Now, on January 15, the year 836, Joshua disappeared one morning 'as usual', and Hotaru, who had been serving him, did not show any surprise: she was already a little surprised that her master would suddenly disappear in a few days. What's more, from the mouth of this unruly master, the Divine Machine Maiden has already learned a lot of news, for example, not long after, he and other legendary powerhouses have a large-scale joint operation in the void.

"The master is not here."

In Joshua's empty room without any decorations, Hotaru, who had a gentle smile on her face, suddenly became cold and deep, she put the hot tea prepared in her hand on the cabinet next to her, and sneered, "It's time." ”

And not long after, Hei, who woke up from a deep sleep in a daze, suddenly felt very uncomfortable in her posture, so she wanted to turn over and change directions, but just when she was about to do this, the black dragon girl was suddenly shocked to find that she was actually tied to a chair in a sitting position!

Suddenly opened his eyes, and the still somewhat confused Hei couldn't figure out the situation at all: wasn't she in the Lord's Mansion? The safest place in the main city of Moldavia, next to the owner! In fact, who else but the owner can tie her up!

When she opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings, she found herself in a mysterious room. This room is a regular square space, six sides without doors, each wall is painted with Mithril and amethyst with extremely complex and mysterious rune arrays, rows of rune arrays flashing with mysterious arcs of light with each other, they form part of a multi-dimensional circle, and in the center of this room, a huge rune amethyst shimmers brightly, and she is tied under this crystal, and around, Hotaru with an indifferent face, a tired Rin, and the same indifferent No. 3 is looking at her with a strange look.

"Jingle Bell...... It's horrible......"

A soft, vibrato-sounding voice came from above his head, and Hei realized that between the two horns above his head, Xiao Guang had also been caught, and a miniature energy circle had restrained it in place, making the ball of light, which had learned how to speak human language a little, tremble, and did not dare to move.

"This ...... What's going on? Hei, who had always had thick nerves, wanted to scratch her head, pretending to smirk and ask what was going on, why she suddenly grabbed herself, but halfway through she found that the chains and sealing spells that bound her were unexpectedly strong, not to mention the chains that should be forged from pure gold, and that binding magic could only be poured out by a high-level archmage of gold.

"Eh, Rin, why did you tie me up-" It was only then that Hei, who really understood that she had no possibility of breaking free, panicked, and she twisted her body and hurriedly asked Rin, who had always had a good relationship with her, "There must be some misunderstanding in this!" ”

I didn't steal anything! I didn't skip the training plan set by the owner! I even obediently learned how to swim in humans!

Black tears welled up in her eyes, she really felt that she had been very well-behaved and obedient lately, and had not done anything that would be punished at all—and even if she accidentally turned into a prototype when everyone was about to go to sea, and turned the surrounding coast into a high-temperature saltwater steamer, the owner just knocked her on the head! It's heavy though.

But Rin, who was questioned, only sighed tiredly - from the look on his face that was about to sublimate, he could know that he had recently stayed up late to deal with countless official documents and government affairs, although the lord's mansion was recently studying the Eastern Plains, preparing to form a lower-level government organization to deal with daily government affairs, and then liberate the lord's mansion itself from tedious and trivial matters, but this series of handover work is the most tiring. Regarding Hei's expression on the verge of crying, the young man hesitated for a while, and then shook his head and said: "I advise Hei that it is better for you to be honest, the master also said when interrogating the cultists: Confess leniently, resist strictly." ”

Hei was immediately shocked, when did he become a group with the cultists? But before she could really ask, Hotaru, who was full of indifference on the side, crossed her hands on her chest and said impatiently: "Okay, don't talk too much, the master may come back at any time, let's hurry up and ask." ”

As she spoke, the silver-haired girl simply took a step forward, she bent down slightly, stretched out one hand, lifted her black chin, and then looked at the black dragon girl with moist eyes, Hotaru's eyes were full of coldness: "Say it quickly!" Black, how the hell did you let your master take you out last time! ”

Black: "??? ”

"Don't you want to say it?" Sighing, Hotaru shook her head and withdrew her hand, as if she was about to take out something bad from her waist: "It seems that it can only come hard-"

"Nope! I said! ”

She didn't know what Hotaru was going to take, but Kuro's instincts told her that it must be extremely dangerous! So Hei obeyed his heart and said without hesitation: "But Sister Hotaru, you have to at least say which time!" ”

"Which time did you even ask!" This time, even the face of No. 3, who had been silent on the side, changed, the magic projection rippled, and the surrounding amethyst also flashed with light and darkness, and the artificial intelligence girl held it with one hand, increasing the output of the magic seal, and then said viciously: "Say, how many times have you been out with Joshua in the past six months?!" ”

"Except...... In addition to training, it's just once-" Hei, who didn't know why she was treated like this, was also helpless, she racked her brains to recall, and then said slowly: "That is, half a year ago, I went to the abyss with my master - but it was at least seven or eight months ago, eh, you shouldn't be for that, right?!" ”

"That's it!" Hotaru and No. 3 suddenly said in unison, and Rin muttered beside him with a helpless expression: Can I go to rest? And the ball of light that stayed on top of the black head was also frightened and rolled on the spot, and shrank in a circle.

"What did the master say, ten centuries of grudges can still be avenged!" As if to hide the previous embarrassment, the silver-haired girl at this time coughed and began to repeat some of the messy Joshua quotes: "Don't say it's been seven or eight months, I can remember it clearly in a thousand years!" Well, Hei, how did you leave us alone and go out with your master that time! ”

"Say it, and we'll let you go." No. 3 also added a sentence on the side, different from Hotaru's rather god-like expression of a vicious oppressor, the AI girl seemed to be more gentle and elegant, she seemed to think of something, and then added coldly: "And Xiaoguang - how did Joshua meet her and bring her back?" ”

Light Sphere: "??? ”

"I really don't know this!" I can't understand why I tied myself up because of this kind of thing, Hei felt bitter and aggrieved, but I couldn't say it, but under the cold pressure of Hotaru and No. 3, she still obediently recalled: "I remember that day I was nesting in the corner, and the master passed by and asked me what I was doing here......

Hearing this, Hotaru immediately withdrew her previous threatening expression that she didn't know who she was imitating, quickly took out a notebook from the small pocket on her waist, picked up the pen and began to prepare to record, and No. 3's eyes also began to flash with a faint blue data light, she seemed to plan to record it along with the video sound.

“…… Then I replied, it's so boring, I've already walked around the ice fields, and next time I want to go for a walk in the hilly areas of the Ural Mountains, the host thought for a while and replied that no, there are more caravans there, and it is easy to scare people. ”

Black's memories are very painful, and it is very painful for anyone to recall the conversation with someone seven months ago, but she has to recall, because the two figures, one silver and one blue, are in front of her, and there is a momentum of immediate execution without saying anything, so the black dragon girl can only stumble and recall: "...... I must have been disappointed at that time, so the master thought for a while and asked, I don't want to be stronger. ”

"Getting stronger?" Hotaru, who was taking notes, stopped taking notes, she frowned, and whispered to herself, "What does this mean......"

I replied, yes. Hei continued honestly: "Then the director said okay, and then he took me away." ”

"It's that simple?!" After the recording was completed, No. 3 looked incredulous, and the magic projection shook his head, letting the long blue hair and the small wings behind him shake together: "Impossible, how can it be...... But if it's Joshua......"

The voice gradually became smaller, thinking of Qiao Shuya's usual words and deeds, both Hotaru and No. 3 frowned, and began to think seriously, the silver-haired girl even bit the tip of the pen and said in a vague voice: "If it is the master, it is really possible to ......"

Can I go back and rest? Rin yawned, he had no idea why he had been called - it was stupid to ask such a complicated question about a dragon, and he would rather delve into the recipe when he had the time.

"That's all...... Well, can you let me go? ”

Black writhed uncomfortably in the chair, she felt uncomfortable being locked up like this, especially on her chest, and the pressure was heavy. But at this time, both Hotaru and No. 3 just gave the black dragon girl a cold look, and then continued to ponder: Becoming stronger? Just for that reason?

"The master is indeed this kind of character...... "The girl whispered to herself, she felt that this was indeed Joshua's train of thought: "Hei is bored, the master must think that her training is not enough, so he asked her if she wants to become stronger, since she wants to, then increase the amount of training, and then take it out to fight...... Everything makes sense! ”

Whether it's the actual combat in the abyss or the skyrocketing training volume after returning, it means that this is the truth! And No. 3 also nodded slightly, agreeing with Hotaru's speculation, and the two of them immediately left the black who was shouting 'Eh, hurry up and help me untie the chain', and went to the side of the room to analyze it carefully.

But after calm analysis and careful thinking, both Hotaru and No. 3 suddenly turned pale and found a problem: Mom, wouldn't they be completely cold in this way?

One of them is a god machine, the other is an artificial intelligence, and it has nothing to do with fighting and exercising to become stronger!

"Yes...... Damn it! ”

Taking a deep breath, Hotaru, who was pale, stomped her feet, gritted her teeth and said, "I don't admit it!" Try it to find out! ”

No. 3's reaction was not so big, she just whispered to herself: "It looks like the development process is going to be stepped up......

Hei Ze still cautiously asked, "Can you untie it?" It's so tight! ”

Still no response.

……

Not long after, Joshua returned from the Void Stargazing back to the Lord's Mansion, he walked out of the space-time gate with a calm face, and then saw the Shenji sister and brother, the Black Dragon Light Ball and No. 3 all waiting for him on the top floor, which couldn't help but surprise him a little: "Why are you all here?" ”

And the expressions of No. 3 and the ball of light are a little strange, and Rin also looks tired.

To be honest, at this time, Joshua was quite moved in his heart, he didn't speak, but stepped forward and patted the silver-haired girl in front of him on the shoulder: When he returned from going out, the whole family was waiting for him, and this kind of treatment had not been done for a long time.

At this moment, Hotaru's heart hesitated for a moment, but she immediately put the meaningless thing behind her mind and said loudly, "Master! I want to be strong! And No. 3 on the side didn't speak, but his eyes were undoubtedly saying the same thing.

"Huh? It's good that you have that heart...... But. ”

Although he felt a little inexplicable, Joshua was shocked by the girls' hearts that wanted to become stronger, he laughed, and changed his words: "Don't worry, in a few days I will go to the Eastern Plains to meet with Barbarossa and the others, he is the leader of the generation of the Guantian White Tower, with the technical reserves of the Eastern Plains, it is not a problem for you to become stronger on the original basis!" ”

"Also, Hotaru and Rin, I'll have a long trip in the next month, so get ready."

After finishing speaking, Joshua casually nodded at the black and light ball that was trembling aside: "Xiaoguang also come along, it is estimated that it will be needed for this operation." ”

Ignoring Hotaru's excited expression of clenching his fists, Rin's confused expression of not knowing what he had done and his shocked expression, feeling betrayed, Joshua's mind turned to the big news that Nostradamus had told him not long ago.

"The people of the Earth Temple, are you planning to reconcile with me recently?"

As he pondered the meaning of the words, the warrior shrugged his shoulders as he recalled the girl he had killed for betrayal in the Blood Moon Abyss.

Hopefully they will be sincere enough.