Chapter 686: Do you still knock then?
Norwich, outside the Vault City.
Altoria, Matthew, Da Vinci, and Alberon had been following behind Reiger in silence the entire way out.
It was not until then that Altoria could no longer hold back and spoke out.
"What on earth is that guy thinking?"
With that one sentence, she made it clear just how poor her impression of Spurgen was.
Otherwise, she would not have referred to him directly as "that guy."
Of course, everyone else felt the same way.
"That Spurgen guy is definitely plotting some crooked schemes that can’t see the light of day," Alberon remarked with undisguised derision.
"He has no intention of repelling the ’Calamity,’ nor of letting us intervene. It’s as if he’s blatantly telling everyone that he has ulterior motives." Da Vinci sighed and said, "Are all the chiefs of the Fairy Country Britannia’s clans like that?"
"Most certainly not," Alberon stated candidly. "Although there are quite a few among them that I don’t see eye to eye with, compared to Spurgen, even Woodworth seems a lot more agreeable."
"What exactly is going on?" Matthew, probably the only one among those present who hadn’t developed too much animosity towards Spurgen, asked, somewhat puzzled, "I didn’t feel much malice coming from him, yet I also sense that he’s up to no good. Could it be just my imagination?"
"No, it’s not," Altoria shook her head and said, "At least, what he said was the truth, that much is certain."
In that respect, Spurgen was quite straightforward.
He hadn’t told a single lie from beginning to end; he was truly prepared to exchange the Pilgrimage Bell for the two conditions he proposed.
Although the others were unaware that Altoria had fairy eyes that could see through lies, they trusted Altoria’s judgment nonetheless.
"Did we outpace ourselves?" Da Vinci looked to Reiger and said, "We probably could have negotiated further with him."
To Da Vinci’s remark, Reiger offered a rather succinct response.
"There’s no need," Reiger said calmly, "If it’s just about ringing the Pilgrimage Bell, there’s absolutely no need for his consent."
"No need for consent?"
Everyone was momentarily taken aback.
Only Altoria suddenly widened her eyes.
"You can’t mean?" Altoria said to Reiger in surprise, "Are you thinking of doing what we did last time?"
Reiger didn’t answer, but instead turned to Matthew and the others.
"Wait here for us," he said.
Placing his hand on Altoria’s shoulder, Reiger still kept his expression calm as he spoke.
"We’ll be right back."
With that, Reiger activated his teleportation magic.
"Wait...!"
Altoria had just tried to shout, but it was already too late.
"Whoosh!"
The next second, Reiger and Altoria both disappeared from the spot, leaving no trace.
"This..."
Matthew and Da Vinci were both taken aback, at a loss for what to do.
"Not good!" Alberon finally realized what Reiger and Altoria were up to, and covered his face with his hand.
"How could I forget what those two did when ringing the Pilgrimage Bell in Salisbury last time?"
By then, Alberon was already envisioning.
Envisioning the scale of the uproar and trouble that would ensue afterward.
...
Top of the Vault City, Bell Tower.
There was no difference between the Bell Tower here and the one in the Grand Cathedral of Salisbury.
Perhaps due to some standardized format, the Bell Tower in Norwich Vault City was identical to the one in Salisbury, even in dimensions and layout.
In the mystical ambience of the Bell Tower, the hefty Pilgrimage Bell stood in silence.
"Whoosh!"
At a certain moment, two figures suddenly appeared in the Bell Tower, in front of the Pilgrimage Bell, breaking the silence.
"All right," Reiger said, removing his hand from Altoria’s shoulder, "You can go ring the Pilgrimage Bell now."
"..."
Altoria fell silent.
She didn’t want to speak anymore.
She also felt weary at heart.
This man... Why does he always have to act so impulsively?
"What’s wrong?" Reiger asked, as if he hadn’t noticed the powerlessness in Altoria’s heart, "Is there something amiss?"
"...I’m really curious, is there anything that’s right?" Altoria said weakly, "Is this really okay?"
"There’s nothing wrong with it," Reiger replied indifferently, "No matter what the chief of the Earth Clan plans to do, no matter his plots, as long as we take the reward directly, there’s nothing he can do."
That’s the situation.
Reiger was well aware of Spurgen’s intentions.
However, he had no obligation to cooperate with the other party.
If he wanted to use the Pilgrimage Bell as a condition to restrict him and his companions, then simply ringing the Pilgrimage Bell himself would settle everything, wouldn’t it?
This wasn’t the first time Reiger had done something like this; otherwise, Salisbury wouldn’t be half-destroyed and still not fully repaired even now.
Altoria could understand this, yet she still felt it wasn’t right.
"That man is different from Aurora. Although he hasn’t lied to our faces, I can assert that he is definitely not a good person," Altoria said with worry, "By ignoring his existence and ringing the Pilgrimage Bell directly, we’re almost pushing the Tusk Clan towards becoming our adversaries."
According to Alberon and Aurora’s statements, their hope was for Reiger’s group to achieve their objective of ringing the Pilgrimage Bell, as well as to gain Spurgen’s cooperation, turning the Tusk Clan into assistants for overthrowing the queen and joining their ranks.
The adversary was that witch who had conquered the whole of Britain through military force; her subordinates included several Elf Knights and numerous fairy soldiers. To overthrow her, it was necessary to expand their own camp and strength as much as possible and win over as many fairies as possible to join them.
Therefore, coming to Norwich, everyone’s first goal was to ring the Pilgrimage Bell, followed by a second objective: to persuade Spurgen and gain the Tusk Clan as allies.
However, Reiger’s forceful approach easily accomplished the first objective, but the second goal was almost impossible to achieve.
That was why Altoria was apprehensive.
Reiger, on the other hand, was not apprehensive at all and directed his gaze towards Altoria.
"I won’t say much, just one question," Reiger said frankly, "Can you truly trust him when fighting side by side with such a person?"
Altoria was at a loss for words.
Reiger continued.
"Don’t forget, although Aurora and Alberon have chosen to assist us, they’re not entirely trustworthy either," Reiger analyzed calmly, "Right now, the only ones we can truly trust are from Chaldea; they are sincerely willing to fight alongside us."
"And Spurgen? Just by looking at him, I can tell that he doesn’t care about Norwich or the fairies of the Tusk Clan who follow him. He’s completely motivated by self-interest."
"Such a person; even if he truly joins us, we’ll probably have to doubt whether he’ll cause trouble behind our backs, right?"
At least with Aurora and Alberon, they had very clear objectives, and they could be temporarily trusted before those objectives were met, without fear that they would act recklessly.
Spurgen was different.
If he thought it necessary and profitable, he would undoubtedly choose betrayal without hesitation.
This was evident from the fact that he was sometimes loyal to Morgan while at other times he secretly acted against her.
His trusted aides were fairies from the Tusk Clan, not even from the Tusk Clan he commanded, indicating that he did not trust the abilities of the Tusk Clan.
"If he can disregard even his own people, let alone us, he will certainly abandon us without a second thought," Reiger said quietly.
"Considering his secretive schemes, I’m sure that man isn’t on the same side as us."
"With that being the case, why should we bother trying to recruit such a person as a companion?"
"There’s no need for that."
Upon hearing this, Altoria was speechless.
"...You’re right."
After a moment, Altoria finally sighed.
"Indeed, not everyone can be persuaded to become a companion."
Altoria adjusted her mind-set and stopped overthinking.
"Are you still going to ring it? The Pilgrimage Bell!" Reiger asked with a slight smile.
"Ring it!"
Altoria nodded firmly, took a few deep breaths to prepare herself mentally, and then walked towards the direction of the Pilgrimage Bell.
When she arrived in front of the Pilgrimage Bell, she closed her eyes, raised the chosen staff, and began to chant.
"[Hymn of Paradise, Song of the Inner Sea]."
Just like that time in Salisbury, starlight blossomed on the chosen staff.
"[For the beings born to be called, judged, and corrected]."
"[The primeval bell of bone, guiding the lost children back to the path]."
"[———forgive their sins]."
The solemn and sacred chant echoed throughout the entire bell tower, making the blossoming starlight shine brighter and brighter.
"Dang—— Dang—— Dang—— Dang—— Dang——"
Soon, a distant bell sound arose from the Pilgrimage Bell, turning into echoes that swiftly spread in all directions.
"Dang—— Dang—— Dang—— Dang—— Dang——"
The bell’s sound traveled beyond the Vault City, beyond Norwich, even beyond the south of Britain, reverberating endlessly in the skies of Fairy Country Britain.
Just like that incident a month ago, all fairies and humans within Fairy Country Britain heard this bell sound that filled the sky and the earth. They stopped what they were doing, looked up, and turned their eyes towards Norwich.
Naturally, the sound of the bell also reached Camelot and the royal palace.
The witch sitting on the throne slowly opened her eyes, then closed them again.
However, at some point, a scepter-like black spear appeared in the witch’s hand.
A surge of Magic Power began to rise from the witch’s body, likewise resonating outwards.