In the afternoon, the weather was already very cool and the streets were deserted.
Jess came out of the basement. After staying by the bonfire for a few hours and suddenly walking onto the street, a cold wind blew over, making him quickly put on his cloak and wrap himself tightly.
After saying goodbye to Ursula and Erlan who came out together, Jess specifically looked at Erlan's expression when looking at him to see if he still remembered what happened that night.
On the surface, there seemed to be a bit of estrangement, but as for whether this counted as holding a grudge, Jess couldn't say for sure.
Having had the experience of being suddenly blocked in an alley by Gargim last time, he was no longer willing to come to any definite conclusion.
Strolling all the way home, when passing by the canal, he thought it would be great if there was something like headphones here so he could listen to music.
Even if there were no smartphones, mp3 players or anything like that, it would be good to have something like a portable music box. He wondered if there was any magic that could play music in his mind.
In the cloudless sky, watching the setting sun slowly descend into the sea. The masts of the sails stood upright, dividing the sun into indistinct pieces, like a randomly cut pumpkin pie cake.
The surface of the canal at his feet reflected gold and shimmered.
At this time, if there was some light music playing in the background, he might think of himself as the male lead in a TV drama, walking in the end credits montage. However, listening to the sound of the water stirred up by the oars as the small boats passed by, and the high-pitched and abrupt chirping of the cold-resistant birds flying from the gardens in the Mage Quarter had a unique charm.
For some reason, Jess felt a bit lonely in his heart, as if something was missing.
Perhaps it was because he had just left the bonfire party, or perhaps it was this night scene that reminded him of something.
Just when he was about to find something fun to get rid of this discomfort, he saw a chubby figure sitting on the edge of the canal in front of his house, also staring blankly at the reddening sunset in the distance.
"Gerred?"
Hearing the voice from here, that figure suddenly turned around.
"You're finally here. Don't you usually not work in the afternoon?"
"There was a gathering in the afternoon." Jess explained as he sat down next to Gerred and said, "Why are you here?"
Gerred asked, "We haven't seen each other for almost a week or so, right? It seems that since we separated after coming back from Redridge Mountains, we haven't gotten together again. I've been staying at home these two days and haven't gone to the Warrior's Guild either. I feel like my hands and feet have become soft and flabby!"
"Could it be that you've found another job?!" Jess felt a tightness in his neck.
Now whenever he heard Gerred say things like he had nothing to do and planned to move his body, oh, this job is very simple and there's money to be divided, he started to feel scared.
"Are you sure your body has recovered?" he asked.
"It should be fine." Gerred said. "So I want to find a job to see if I'm really recovered. Actual combat can ultimately test my recovery level!"
"Forget it. I'm not up to it." Jess said. "I'm currently preparing for the exam in the Mage Quarter. If I pass, I can probably get my travel expenses reimbursed. Now I'm extremely poor. If I don't pass, I probably won't be able to afford the boat ticket."
Gerred turned his head and asked, "You made so much money from gathering herbs last time. Have you spent it all? And hunting wolves and so on..."
"Keep talking." Jess said. "Then what happened?"
Gerred also understood what Jess was referring to. He cleared his throat and said, "Okay, then I can only find someone else."
"By the way." Jess asked. "You said last time that you wanted to go to the church. How is it? Will the church accept you?"
"Don't mention it." Gerred said. "They don't want to accept me. I said I wanted to join the Knights of the Silver Hand. They said they only accept priests or warriors worthy of the church's trust. I said I wanted to become a priest, but then they also said there needed to be some kind of test. They said I didn't believe in the Holy Light and didn't have the qualifications to become a priest."
Jess said, "You're not familiar with them. As soon as you say you want to become a priest, they're definitely not willing. By the way, taking a step back, do you believe in the Holy Light or not?"
"So, what counts as believing in the Holy Light?" Gerred asked. This question stumped Jess. What counts as believing in the Holy Light?
"You seem to know quite a bit about the Church of the Holy Light. Last time you told me something. The church makes torches with sacred power for the cemetery in Raven Hill. I've never heard that the Church of the Holy Light makes torches for graves."
Gerred explained, "That's all hearsay. I only got to know the Church of the Holy Light in Southshore. There are some graves in Southshore that have similar brightness to those torches in Raven Hill. There are few people who believe in the Holy Light on Aerie Peak. Even for many dwarves who never leave Hinterlands, the Holy Light is a new thing that only appeared after the Orc War."
Jess hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you believe that the Holy Light can guide your life... For example, if you do evil deeds, the Holy Light will punish you. If you do good deeds, the Holy Light will respond to your call when you are in trouble and so on."
"I don't know which ones count and which ones don't." Gerred said. "For example, does that count as the Holy Light descending at Sentinel Hill? That carriage was full of people from the church. Since someone in Southshore told me what the Holy Light is, I've never felt the Holy Light so vividly."
Jess asked, "Isn't that great? Didn't you tell the people from the church about this?"
"I did." Gerred said. "But that priest said that believing only when the Holy Light brings benefits is using the Holy Light, not true piety. This way one cannot become a priest."
"It's so troublesome." Jess scratched his head and said. "It's probably that the people from that church are prejudiced against you Wildhammer dwarves."
"Why..." Gerred muttered in a low voice.
Jess also knew that before the Scourge invasion, it was indeed quite difficult to join the Knights of the Silver Hand.
All members of the Knights of the Silver Hand were either valiant priests or devout warriors or noble knights.
It wasn't until the outbreak of the Scourge War that the Knights of the Silver Hand began to recruit ordinary soldiers and knights on a large scale, allowing them to join the church and become paladins to fight in the name of the Holy Light against the undead army that was about to sweep across the entire Lordaeron. Only then did the number of paladins in the entire Alliance experience a huge explosion.
At that time, it was actually not difficult for a warrior who had no feeling for the Holy Light before to convert to the Holy Light faith.
Facing mountains and seas of skeletons and zombies, facing a moment of deathly despair, a true paladin stands between you and absolute terror with a shining golden blade and warhammer, shouting 'For the Holy Light!' and clearing countless evils with a powerful blow. No matter how much you once disliked the Holy Light, you would have to believe.
For a fighter like Gerred, if he joined the Knights of the Silver Hand during the Scourge invasion, there was almost no possibility of being rejected. Now, it's much more difficult.