Wind, snow, frost, ice, gloomy clouds, a dull day, a faint sun, the Great Ajax Volcanic Mountains looming in the pale mist, and the unfrozen river of Mager that stretches for three thousand miles from its source.

It is these that make up the everyday landscape of Moldavia, one of the northernmost territories of the human empire.

The huge black granite walls towered over the endless white plains, where the nameless main city was located, and the cold wind blew through the rough stone walls, blowing fine snow dust into the sky, not big, but not small, and the snow that never stopped falling from the sky, as if trying to cover everything.

As the white air of the traveler's sigh drifted into the air, the cathedral bell rang out, clanging, clanging, back and forth nine times, proving that the day had come and that all beings should begin their work at this time.

Scattered around, some residents came out of their huts, and when they found that the soldiers who had been patrolling were gone, they took out their tools and began to clear the snow and ice in front of their doors.

In the center of the city, across the square, the Gothic church stands in the wind and snow, and the bell in the large bell tower at the top is still slightly vibrating.

Cathedral of St. Lauren.

Interior of the church.

In the quaint prayer hall made of pure stone, there was not half a clergyman, and now, only a silver-haired divine machine was walking around curiously.

From time to time, she would pause and look at something she was interested in for a while, and although it was small things that could be seen at a glance, she could see them for a long time.

When she walked to the statue of the emblem in the corner, she wanted to reach out and touch it, but before the slender white hand could be raised, she suddenly shook her whole body, and then quickly withdrew her hand.

"You can't mess with other people's things."

Whispering to himself, the silver-haired god machine changed direction and walked towards the stained glass not far away.

(There are so many novelties that are not recorded in the memory spar here.) ）

Secretly thinking, she smiled pleasantly.

It didn't take long for this pleasant wandering to end, though.

"Hotaru, are you there? Ready to go. ”

Dressed in a white shirt in the same church style, Joshua walked out of the side of the hall with a serious face, and Pastor Atanis followed him, and the two of them walked towards the silver-haired god girl together.

"This is what you're looking for...... The head maid? ”

Standing in front of Hotaru, the white-haired priest frowned slightly, looking a little puzzled, he did see Hotaru when he was in the hall before, but he didn't think about it: "Although I know that the housekeeper and head maid of your Radcliffe family have always been very young, whether it is Fan or your grandfather's butler, but like this level of ......"

He actually gestured for a moment, and then shook his head: "Too small, too young, where did you find it?" Remember, child labor is illegal. ”

"You treat her as my sister, you really can't do it for your daughter, and you don't expect her to do housework......"

The matter of the divine machine is very secretive, Joshua did not tell others, and fortunately, his family seems to have such a strange tradition, and a young maid is normal: "Then this is the case, when the wind and snow stop, you have to cooperate with me to gather the people." ”

"My duty, my dear lord."

Bowing slightly, Atanis didn't say much: "Now I'll go and draft the title inheritance documents for you, for the sake of the Crow Legion, the golden balance of the noble court will not hinder your earl title much, wait for the good news." ”

"Thank you, now that the Lord's Mansion is completely destroyed, only the church has a magic communication array directly connected to the imperial capital."

Joshua spoke and did things very simply and directly, and after nodding his head to express his gratitude, he immediately turned his head and said, "Okay, Hotaru, let's go." ”

Because the speed of Joshua and Atanis's speech was too fast, the Divine Maiden didn't really understand much, but she didn't need to understand, after hearing her master's words, she blinked her green eyes like fireflies, and immediately responded: "Yes, master!" ”

After saying goodbye to Atanis, the two of them left the church straight away, the black-haired warrior walking briskly down the street, the silver-haired god machine following closely behind.

After walking five streets and approaching the west side of the city, Joshua, who had not spoken since leaving the church, suddenly stopped.

"Hotaru."

"What's the matter, master?"

Hotaru immediately looked up and replied.

Joshua's expression looked very complicated at this time, his eyes looked into the distance, his brows were slightly furrowed, and he seemed to be a little irritable, and after muttering for a while, he said slowly: "You say...... With my physique, can I contract two magic machines at the same time? ”

Hearing the topic she was familiar with, Hotaru was stunned for a moment, then showed a distressed expression, her delicate eyebrows curved, and she thought for a while: "This...... It's a bit hard to say. ”

"It's okay, just talk about it."

Hotaru was silent for a few seconds, and then spoke again: "Speaking of the divine machine, the master's talent in this area is very strong, it can be said that it is beyond imagination, among the masters of the family in the past dynasties, some people even have difficulty pulling out the divine machine, not to mention using us to fight, fortunately, most of them can successfully reach a contract and launch the divine machine." ”

Saying this, she paused slightly, as if dealing with the vocabulary: "But even so, these people can't last long, and the master, the first time you touch the divine machine, you will directly pull me out, and the contract is also very smooth, even if you launch the divine machine, it is not difficult to use me to fight, many people can't last long, most of them are tired after ten minutes." ”

"You must know that when using us to fight, there will be a strong energy flowing backwards into the contractor's body, amplifying its strength at the same time, it also causes a great load, and ten minutes can be regarded as a very strong body."

Hotaru looked at Joshua at this time, with a strange expression: "And you, master...... Even though I only fought for two minutes, I could feel that even an hour would be fine, or even longer. But! ”

Emphasized, the silver-haired divine machine had a serious face: "Even so, it is very difficult to contract two divine machines at the same time, the load is superimposed, not one plus one, this is a qualitative difference, so far, there is no master who can contract two divine machines at the same time, if it is really easy to contract two, there will not be so many sealed old divine machines in the sealing room." ”

"Master, your physique can be said to be the best one since the founding of the family, but even so, there is still a distance from contracting the two divine machines."

After listening, Qiao Shuya's face was expressionless, he nodded slightly, and said seriously: "In this way, it is feasible to contract two at the same time, but the quality of me and the previous family heads is not enough, right?" ”

"I don't know, master, maybe I'll just wait for your strength to go further, but it's really not right now."

"I see, I see."

Nodding, Joshua didn't say much, he looked at the still snowy sky, sighed slightly, and then started and continued to walk forward.

But then the warrior immediately stopped.

Joshua looked back, but Hotaru was still standing in place, his expression was dumbfounded, not knowing what he was thinking, so he called out, "What's wrong?" ”

“…… It's okay. ”

As if awakened, the silver-haired Shenji shook his head, and then quickly followed, and the two continued to walk towards the west of the city.

After three more streets, Hotaru looked a little impatient, and she asked softly, "Master?" ”

"What's the matter?"

"Am I doing it somewhere...... Not good? ”

(I was worried about that...... ）

Joshua now understands why Hotaru was in a daze before, think about it carefully, what he said...... It's really too direct, and it's normal for Hotaru to misunderstand.

Since it's your own fault, you naturally have to explain it.

"Don't worry, you're doing a good job, I'm satisfied." Joshua said in an encouraging tone, and by the way, he also rubbed the little little head that was not as big as the human form and the weapon form: "I didn't ask this matter to find someone to replace you, I just wanted to know if it was possible to ......"

Speaking of this, he paused, then shook his head and said, "Anyway, it's enough to have you now." ”

"Hmm!"

got the reply he wanted, and Hotaru naturally didn't care about what Joshua didn't say in the second half.

The warrior, on the other hand, touched his chest in silence, where an ordinary letter was placed.