"Good friend! Here I come!" When Alfred, dressed in a pure white ceremonial robe with blonde hair and blue eyes, opened the door of Amber Avenue 53, Laine gave him a warm hug: "Happy Winter Festival! Afu!"
"Happy Winter Festival!" Alfred laughed heartily, giving Laine a big hug in return, then playfully punched him on the chest: "Good friend! Look at the big trouble you've caused, I've been pestered to death recently!"
"Come, come! Have a seat inside!" Laine led Alfred to sit down.
Laine's home had completely transformed under his and Amelia's efforts; colorful ribbons and stickers adorned the luxurious living room, with a fir tree placed in the center, festooned with flowers, cookies, candles, little balls, candies, ribbons, and paper chains, surrounded by many gifts.
The two sat in the living room as Laine made Alfred a cup of coffee: "What's up, Afu? What's been bothering you so much?"
The handsome blonde took it casually, drinking a big gulp, and teasingly pointed at Laine: "Ah, it's all caused by you, acting innocent now? It's about the Aesthetic Society! The Aesthetic Society!"
"Hahaha! I'm killing two birds with one stone." Laine kept laughing.
In the matter of eradicating the Aesthetic Society, the Justice Church was used by him, but the honest Paladins were happy to eliminate this Chaos Sect. Especially as compensation, the Justice Church got a lot of healthy orphans from the Ocean Church, and the quality of orphans in the Aesthetic Society Orphanage was quite good. Plus, the Marinburg Upper House secretly handed over a sum of money, so the Justice Church no longer minded being used.
So sometimes these lawful good Paladins are truly good people; even if they know they've been used, if the process destroys evil and purifies corruption, they sometimes don't mind, their goal being to spread justice and righteousness to every corner of the world.
"There's still a while before dinner, let's take a bath first and talk slowly about this," Laine already prepared the bathwater, and Alfred had no objections.
So the two men, with arms around each other, went to the bathroom.
The steamy bathwater had filled the tub, mist enveloping the bathroom, while outside, snow fluttered down; Alfred's muscular physique and Laine's sleek muscles both immersed in the hot water one after another.
"Awoo~" Alfred let out a strange noise: "So refreshing! Taking a nice bath on a cold winter's day and then having a turkey feast, maybe this is what my Lord would call paradise?"
"Your standards for paradise are so low, Afu." Laine immersed himself in the tub, delightfully saying, "It's like going back to our childhood; we used to bathe together often as little rascals back then."
"Yeah, thinking about childhood now, a big wooden tub we squeezed into, it's like a dream." Alfred reminisced, looking thoughtfully at Laine, then at himself before scooping up some hot water, splashing it on Laine's face: "Check this out! Haha~"
"Hey, you guy!" Laine also scooped up water to splash back at Alfred's face.
"Hahahahahaha~!" The source of this content ɪs novel·fıre·net
The two men played around for a while before calming down.
"So what have you been up to recently?" Laine wiped the water off his face and casually asked: "I haven't been able to find you lately."
"I joined the Underground Expeditionary Army." Alfred shrugged, looking relaxed: "Though the nobles here in Marinburg can be annoying, I must say they offer a fair price. We fought multiple battles in the Deep Mine District, killing many Ratmen and monsters, especially since there are quite a few Vampire Bats and Undead there, and Paladins excel at dealing with those."
The battles of the Underground Expeditionary Army had ended, eliminating many Ratmen and Undead, reaping some rewards.
"Alright~" Laine rolled his eyes, changing his position: "I've also been doing a bit of other work lately."
Paladins have a trait; they aren't entirely disassociated from society, and many Paladins also engage in other activities like blacksmithing, tailoring, or farming, taking on tasks during idle times to earn an income.
"Other work?" Alfred seemed to think of something, hesitating before speaking: "Recently, several wealthy merchants and nobles in town suddenly died, yet the Marinburg Upper House seemed unconcerned. I checked the scenes and discovered..."
"I did it." Laine responded directly, chuckling: "As the Guardian of Marinburg, I have to do some proper work."
"Can you tell me the reason?" Alfred believed Laine wouldn't kill randomly, but he wanted to know why.
"They were all Vampires." Laine said calmly: "Vampires lurking in Marinburg, these Vampires were tricky, so I simply made them disappear."
"Was there no way for a public trial?" Alfred understood.
The Vampires able to hide in human society were High-Rank Vampires, possessing a strong capacity for concealment, and being tough to kill, but such issues didn't concern Laine. With the Goddess of Revenge in hand, each slashed down, few Vampires, if any, could withstand her, certainly not those in Marinburg.