Half-elf Notebook

Chapter 170 Prologue

Church in the slums.

Priest Boer, who was dressed in a nun's uniform, paused the reading of the scriptures, slowly walked down from the pulpit, walked through the rows of benches where the children were sitting, as if she wanted to confirm something, walked to the door of the church and looked out.

She had already heard the ringing of bells and the sound of artillery fire outside the church - the slums were just below the city wall, and the South District was further inland, closer to the core area of ​​the city.

If you look up on any street in the slums, you can see the majestic black walls. The church is located in the slums, not too far from the wall, so any big noise coming from it can be heard immediately.

As a senior nun in the church, although Boer had never seen a war, she was different from most ordinary citizens who ignored the city announcement.

At least she knew what this seemingly chaotic but actually orderly bell sound meant.

Priest Bor looked at the people on the street. They were walking hurriedly, as if they were deliberately staying away from the city walls, yet it seemed that there was no big difference from usual.

At this moment, a doubtful voice came from behind her.

"What's the matter, Father Bol?"

Winnie was standing next to the praying children. The children could no longer sit still. Some stood up and left their seats, while others turned around and looked at Boll.

It was rare for a priest to stop praying suddenly, and she also heard the roar from the explosion of gunpowder.

"Winnie, go to the bedroom and get those gold coins and silver coins, and then go to the church in the central district."

"Let Father Velocco vacate a house and send a few nuns or priests to pick up the children. It's not safe for the two of us to carry them through the slums. Money is not a problem..."

Boll instructed Winnie, who was also wearing a nun's uniform, and she had a bad feeling in her heart.

After watching Winnie's hurried figure gradually disappear into the crowd and around the corner, Boll withdrew his gaze, closed the church door, and came to the side of the many children.

"It's fine."

Bor gently comforted the somewhat uneasy children and waved his hand for them to gather around him.

"Sister Winnie is just going to do some work. She will take us to a new residence in a while. There will be a warm stove and quilts, and white bread... I will buy a new set of clothes for each of you at that time. Everyone will have one."

"Everything will pass, the goddess will protect us, let's pray together now, okay?"

Bor gently stroked the hair of a young child, then drew the sacred symbol of the Morning Goddess on his chest and clasped his hands together.

She was comforting her child and herself.

This was not the first time she had had this ominous feeling in her life as a believer, which lasted for most of her life.

When she was transferred to this slum to serve as a nun, and when she saw the child who had been with her day and night, dead in the alley...

Bor didn't ask for much.

She just hoped that suffering would not befall the children around her again. Their lives were already shattered, and the future would surely be extremely difficult. At least...

Ten minutes later, suddenly, Bol heard an unusually noisy noise outside, like a riot, or screaming, mixed with an incongruous and creepy laugh.

Bol's eyes widened; she hadn't noticed that she had stopped praying.

She listened carefully to any sounds coming from outside, hoping to find out what was happening.

However, as if by coincidence or fate, the church door was knocked at this moment.

"Touch! Touch! Touch!"

Heavy banging sounds continued to be heard from the church door, which had been ravaged by time and could no longer bear the weight.

Every impact caused the door to shake and the door hinges to tremble on the wall, as if they would fall off at any moment.

In the middle of the two doors, the bolt with obvious signs of corrosion on its surface is trying its best to perform its duties, but the tiny protruding wood splinters and the emerging cracks indicate that it will not last long.

The person outside was not knocking on the door so much as smashing it with a huge hammer.

The other person was obviously not Winnie who had just returned from an outing, nor was she a civilian who came to listen to prayers.

Bol did not stand there waiting for the other party to really break down the door.

While trying to comfort the crying child, she lowered her voice and said to the older and calmer children:

"Elena, Wei'er, Fapura, be brave, my children, take them out through the back door and out through the gap in the backyard."

"Go to the center of the city, find Sister Winnie, and don't look back."

But it was still too late.

There was a sound of breaking wood, ahead of Bol and the last child who had not yet walked out the back door.

In an instant, wood chips flew everywhere.

Bol looked towards the door in horror and despair.

A figure over two meters tall, covered in blood, holding a steel sword, blocked the sunlight that should have entered the church.

The undried blood plasma dripped onto the ground and flowed onto his feet. Behind him, one bloody footprint after another was left on the steps in front of the church.

He looked into the depths with a grim smile, and saw several prey preparing to escape.

As if he had discovered something interesting.