"My lord, it is true, it is this child who has harmed the other knights."
The painters of medieval Europe, especially those who depicted the pursuit of criminals, were not very good. It was difficult to track down criminals based on their paintings, and often scapegoats were needed.
But if the painting was of Fang Ming, it would be entirely different.
Whether it was the luxurious, smooth, and snow-white sword in Fang Ming's hand, the exquisite clothing he wore, his distinctly foreign black hair, or his delicate face and build.
Such a unique and prominent individual, no matter how poor the painter's skills, could be easily identified.
Anyone who saw Fang Ming would find something suspicious about him.
And with the wanted poster, he could be matched with Fang Ming.
Clearly, this knight and his attendant already knew of Fang Ming, recognizing him as the one rumored to have killed several knights, caused the warring factions to flee in terror, and subsequently led to a joint pursuit order from the noble lords and the local church.
Capture this person, or apprehend him, and there would be a great reward.
This was directly stated by the noble lord, who also claimed the child was possessed by a demon king from hell.
Neither the knight nor his attendant believed this.
Where in the world could demons exist?
It was more likely that humans harmed humans than demons.
This child might be a scapegoat, used by the noble lord to cover up certain crimes.
The knight himself had seen through these people.
If the lower classes believed in demons.
Then the knight, a member of the ruling class with a noble title, did not believe in demons at all. He knew the truth about them.
Therefore, even though the child was rumored to have harmed several knights, the knight was not afraid of Fang Ming in his heart.
Because he knew that the so-called azure light that could instantly pierce armor, the light that could drag one's soul to hell, was surely fake!
How could such a sword fly, turn into an azure light, and pierce armor?
The priest had made up too outlandish a lie, who could be fooled by such exaggeration?
And possessed by a demon king from hell.
Wouldn't such a deception be more credible if directed at hardened criminals?
A child, described as demon-possessed, was a joke!
The church's training in deception was clearly lacking, for the priest to come up with such a reason, and for the noble lord to have such a waterlogged brain as to actually issue the arrest order.
While musing on the priest's unreliability, the knight said to an attendant, "Go and capture that child and hand him over to the church for judgment."
The knight felt his order was perfectly reasonable.
But the attendant seemed unwilling, a hint of fear on his face. "My lord, that child is no ordinary child, he is demon-possessed!"
"The sword in his hand is a demonic sword from hell, forged over eighty-one years by many high-ranking demons in hell into an ultimate demonic sword."
"With a mere flick, it can transform into an azure light, and we mortals would die upon contact!"
"My lord, we must immediately report this to other noble lords and summon a large army to destroy this demon-possessed individual."
The attendant refused the knight's order.
This was unprecedented. Could a knight's attendant refuse his lord's command?
Yet, it actually happened.
The knight himself was stunned for a moment before saying, "Nonsense! Go and bring him back at once!"
The attendant's face remained panicked. "My lord, the demon king is invincible!"
Hearing the attendant's reply, the knight took a deep breath, calmed himself, and saw the attendant's panicked expression.
Clearly, the attendant was afraid of confronting the child.
Fearing that he was demon-possessed and that the demon king had bestowed upon him an ultimate demonic sword, he dared not step forward to capture him.
This immense fear was the reason the attendant defied his orders for the first time.
Recognizing this, the knight found it utterly absurd. He never expected that the excuse of demonic possession, used by the upper class to deceive the lower class, would actually become an obstacle to the pursuit.
Yes.
He knew that demons were fake, demon kings were fake, and hell was fake.
But the attendant did not know that demons were fake, nor that hell was fake!
They were truly deceived by the priest's lies, truly believing that witches existed and demons existed.
And now, encountering this child, they were too afraid to capture him.
The knight, having realized this, desperately wanted to tell the attendant that there were no demons or devils in this world, it was all lies, and that they shouldn't believe the priest, who was deceiving them.
And to go and capture him immediately.
To stop being afraid.
The knight desperately wanted to say this.
But unfortunately, bound by his status, he truly could not say it. This was, after all, a lie created by the upper class to instill fear in the lower class, and it would be impossible for him, an upper-class person, to expose it.
Furthermore, given the priest's prestige, to instantly debunk his lies and make his attendant believe him within a few seconds, abandoning twenty years of the priest's teachings, was simply not feasible.
Caught in a dilemma.
The knight was contemplating a solution, and then, he thought of a good idea.
A good idea that could resolve this situation.
Didn't the priest give him something good back then?
He could use that.
As long as that was brought out, the attendant would obey him.
"Do not fear this demon-possessed child."
The knight, with a solemn expression, took out a bottle of water and placed it on the attendant.
"This is holy water bestowed by the priest. Drinking it will allow you to fight demons."
"If you don't believe me, you must believe the priest."
Drinking it would allow him to fight demons?
Was this true or false?
The attendant saw the church's mark on the bottle of holy water.
This mark instantly filled him with renewed confidence.
It was the church's mark.
Then this must be holy water, true holy water.
Holy water bathed in divine glory.
Indeed, as my lord said.
Even if I don't believe my lord, I must believe the priest.
Since it came from the church, there must be no problem!
The attendant drank the holy water.
He felt as if the holy water contained infinite power, cleansing his body and filling his arms with strength.
This power was so immense that he believed he could now fight dragons.