Chapter 103: Chapter 103
Since he didn’t even trust the other man himself, what right did he have to offer a reason for the man to trust him?
To this, Ron could only respond with silence. They had already been silent the entire way, so he didn’t mind staying quiet a bit longer. In Ron’s view, Meredith was the one who had sought him out, not the other way around.
If he had something to say, he should just say it. What was the point of uttering something like, “Can I trust you?” Was this a veiled threat? Or moral blackmail?
Ron’s silence seemed to be well within Meredith’s expectations, as he continued:
“Actually, judging from the Captain’s final decision, I should trust you. Don’t you want to know the real cause of the Captain’s death?”
With these words, Meredith essentially confirmed his identity. Seeing the man bring up Morris, even mentioning the true cause of his death, sent a jolt through Ron’s heart.
“The Captain’s true cause of death? Was the Captain not killed in battle?” Ron asked in return.
He didn’t trust the seemingly sincere Meredith before him, even with the rescue from earlier today. Since that was the case, how could he possibly reveal his true thoughts!
However, the true cause of Morris’s death that Meredith brought up did pique Ron’s deep interest. This was indeed a question he should be concerned about, even if only as a cover.
By this time, night had fallen, leaving only a sliver of afterglow on the western horizon. The two stood beside a statue at the edge of Bell Tower Square. Shielded by the statue, they were enveloped in complete darkness.
Nevertheless, Ron’s keen vision clearly caught a fleeting expression of terror on Meredith’s face, followed by the man lowering his voice and saying:
“Although the Captain never said it explicitly while he was alive, thinking back on it now, he actually hinted at it many times. He had already achieved the Senior Knight rank, but how could a Senior Knight possibly die within a Battle Formation?”
“Instructor Morris had achieved the Senior Knight rank? How is that possible?” Ron cast a doubtful gaze at him.
“Even if he hadn’t achieved the Senior Knight rank, given the Captain’s strength and our coordination, there’s no way it should have ended up like this!”
Meredith didn’t dwell on the Senior Knight issue, instead repeatedly emphasizing that there were suspicious points regarding Morris’s death in action. Hearing this, Ron couldn’t help but ask:
“What exactly happened then? Why are you telling me all this?”
“Telling you this, is of course because you are the inheritor of the Captain’s Transcendent Weapon, and the one he ultimately trusted and even placed his hopes in. As for what exactly happened then…”
At this point, a trace of terror and disbelief once again flashed across Meredith’s face as he told Ron:
“That day, the Captain suddenly left for a while. When he returned, we could all tell that he was in an excellent mood. But shortly after, we received orders to assemble somewhere outside the territory.
“It was precisely there that we encountered the cultists’ ambush. At the time, when those two Senior Knight enemies suddenly appeared, we did panic for a moment. But under the Captain’s command, we still managed to block their first wave of assault.
“You’ve also undergone a month of recruit training, so you should understand that the most dangerous moment for a Battle Formation is at the very beginning of an encounter. Once you stabilize, you either fall into a stalemate or overwhelm the opponent. There is almost no possibility of the Battle Formation losing.
“However, this situation, which should have at least held out until the Source of Order arrived, took a sharp turn for the worse shortly after the encounter began. Even though those two cultists hadn’t done anything, the Captain began to make frequent mistakes.
“The most crucial thing was that before the Captain had even died, those two cultists were already preparing to flee. Perhaps they felt the Captain was intentionally using this method to stall for time.
“As a result, no one expected that right after those two cultists left, the Captain collapsed and never stood up again. Otherwise, how do you think the few of us survived?
“It wasn’t that we were incredibly skilled or lucky, but that the enemy had already left! They left before the Source of Order even arrived!”
At this point, Meredith’s voice had grown slightly hoarse from forcibly suppressing his emotions. Yet Ron remained calm as he asked him:
“Then why is it that what I heard was that Instructor Morris died at the hands of the cultists?”
In reality, Ron hadn’t inquired about such detailed specifics, but that didn’t stop him from playing along. To this, Meredith’s explanation was:
“Afterward, we checked the inside of the Captain’s armor. The Kingdom Gold Coins used as amulets inside were all twisted and deformed. The territory’s leadership concluded that he had suffered an extremely powerful evil attack.
“The only ones capable of such an attack would be the cultists who ambushed us.”
“What about the Kingdom Gold Coins on your bodies?” Ron asked again.
“That’s exactly what’s bizarre. The Kingdom Gold Coins on us were practically undamaged. Are you saying the enemy’s attack only targeted the strongest, the Captain, while deliberately sparing us?”
Meredith’s answer plunged Ron into deep thought. Even though he didn’t trust the man, he didn’t believe Meredith would fabricate lies on information that was so easily verifiable, either.
In other words, Instructor Morris had indeed suffered an extremely powerful evil attack that targeted him alone!
“And so? Why are you telling me all this?”
“You…”
Ron’s indifference made it somewhat difficult for Meredith to accept. The expression on his face instantly stiffened before he said coldly: “I indeed shouldn’t be telling you all this, but I will never forget the Captain’s dying wish!
“He hoped you could inherit his sword and walk the Knight’s path in his stead, the path he himself failed to complete. Once you advance to Knight, go find the Captain’s wife, Nina. She will give you the Captain’s sword.
“Additionally, there are ten Ignition Potions and five Kingdom Gold Coins here that the Captain specifically instructed me to leave for you. You don’t need to wait until you advance to Knight for these; I’ve brought them to you directly.”
After speaking, Meredith pulled out a small leather pouch from his embrace and casually tossed it over to Ron. Amidst a clinking and clattering sound, Ron caught the pouch containing the potions and gold coins.
After a moment of silence, Ron ultimately said, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, I am just carrying out the Captain’s dying wish. If you really want to thank someone, thank the Captain! Also, a word of warning: watch out for Marlin. If you don’t want to get tangled up with him, don’t hesitate to refuse outright when he comes to borrow potions from you.”
“I understand, thank you.”
Ron expressed his gratitude once more. This time, Meredith didn’t say anything else; he merely threw Ron a cold glance and walked away.
Watching Meredith’s departing figure, Ron muttered to himself in his heart: “Don’t blame me for being so cold, it’s just that you have no way of making me trust you!”
Regardless of what was said, the fact remained: Morris, who had already become a Senior Knight, had gone on a mission with his squad members, yet only a few people below the Senior Knight rank returned alive. The strongest among them had paradoxically died during the mission.
Setting everything else aside, this point alone made it impossible for Ron to fully trust Meredith and the others.