tick.
A drop of water fell on the water surface, smashing a circle of ripples, rippling layer by layer.
Look up.
The sun was so dazzling that people couldn't see everything in front of them.
The only thing that caught my eye was the familiar stone statue of the star goddess Isdar.
The corners of the eyes of the stone statue's face gathered water droplets and slowly slipped from the side cheeks.
pat.
He stretched out his hand.
The fingertips touched not the cold stone statue, but the warm skin.
A wet touch came from the skin he touched.
In a trance, someone hugged him.
He couldn't open his eyes, his body was heavy, and deep tiredness enveloped him, preventing him from opening his eyes to see.
He could feel the embrace familiar, the strong arms that held him.
He tried to open his eyes a little, and he could vaguely see the scattered black hair.
Someone was talking, something was being said, but he couldn't hear anything.
All he knew was that the man kept talking.
pat.
Something dripped from the man holding him and landed in the corner of his eye.
bright red.
Thick.
Drop by drop, falling from the man one after another, seeping into the corners of his eyes, dyeing his blurred vision into blood—
…
In the twilight of the early morning, a hand suddenly reached out to the sky, as if trying to grab something.
The boy who was lying on the bed restlessly asleep opened his eyes the moment he stretched out his hand.
His golden pupils were slightly enlarged, and although he looked at the top of the tent, he was not focused, and his long golden hair was spread out slightly messy on the bed.
His hand in the air was still stiff, his breathing was rapid, and his chest was heaving.
Dream
Garland thought in a trance.
Tears of Goddess Isdar...
The voice that keeps saying something in my ear...
The bright red liquid that fell from that person...
…
"Your Majesty, it's time for you to get up."
A voice came from outside the camp, awakening Garlan from his trance.
The scattered eyes gathered, and finally became awake.
Garlan retracted his hand, sat up, and looked around.
The place where he was was a large tent.
More than a week ago, he had already left the royal city and headed to Kanal.
"His Majesty?"
The voice calling him came to mind again from outside the tent curtain.
It was the voice of Soga, the priest of Nanna.
After careful consideration, Gallan's final decision was to let Soga accompany him and follow him to the King City of Kanal.
Because the army left behind in the King City of Kanal was subordinate to the Third Army led by Heimos, and its general was also a subordinate of Heimos.
Soggar and he worked together for many years under Heimos, and they were familiar with each other and it was easier to work together.
"I'll be out soon."
Garland spoke.
As soon as he answered, the voices calling him from outside immediately stopped.
Even if it has been ten days, he is still not used to this practice of waking him up loudly outside.
Because in the past, when he was out on an expedition, either Kaihos or Heimos, and no matter how bad it was, there was Xie Muer, who would forcibly accompany him to sleep in a tent, saying that it was to protect his safety.
For this kind of overprotective behavior, Garlan was really helpless, and he couldn't bear them, so he had to go with them.
And every morning, they would walk to their bedside and wake themselves up in a low voice, instead of shouting outside like Soga.
It's just that Garland is unwilling to let someone like Suojia who he doesn't know very well share a room with him when he sleeps at night.
While changing clothes, Garlan thought.
However, this was indeed the first time that he led the army alone without the company of any of them.
It's no wonder that Kaihos is so worried.
To be honest, even he himself didn't sleep very well.
…
... It seems that he was indeed spoiled a bit by those people.
This kind of thinking really doesn't seem like a thought that a king should have.
Shaking his head and throwing away the messy things in his mind, Garlan quickly walked out of the tent.
Suojia, who had been waiting outside, greeted him and bowed.
"It's time to go, Your Majesty."
He said, "If there is no accident, you will be able to arrive at the royal city of Kanal after noon today, and everyone must be eagerly waiting for your arrival."
Garlan snorted, touched the white horse that was being led, and turned over.
The army of Aaron Landis, who had rested overnight, set off again, guarding their king all the way westward.
The long queue snaked like a long snake on the ground, moving forward slowly.
As Suojia said, after half a day, they arrived at the royal city of Kanal.
A majestic mountain stands above the earth, like the sky.
Below, a huge city in white dominates the horizon.
It was supposed to combine the grandeur of the towering mountains with the delicate and delicate beauty of the city, but it was completely destroyed by the large ruins at the foot of the mountain.
A straight and wide white avenue leads to the gate of the King City of Kanal.
The army of Aaron Landis, stationed here, was already lined up on both sides of the road to welcome the arrival of their king.
Through the open city gate, Garlan rode into the avenues of the royal city of Karnar.
At this time, in addition to the soldiers of Aaron Landis who were listed on both sides of the avenue, behind these soldiers, there were countless people of Kanal standing.
The Kanars watched their future king.
Although they had heard a lot of rumors about this King Garlan, it was the first time they saw him in person.
It was a young boy king.
The long sword was worn on the waist, and the golden hair scattered behind him reflected the sunlight like flowing gold.
He rode on the divine horse's white horse, wearing white leather armor, and his jet-black boots stepped on the stirrups.
There are no ornaments on his body, only a golden crown in the shape of laurel branches and leaves is worn on the blond hair, and the whole person is as clean and fresh as his youthful face.
The light-colored cloak on his side shoulders fluttered behind him as he rode on.
Amidst everyone's attention, Garlan slowly rode on the avenues of the King City of Kanal on horseback.
At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on him.
At first glance, the Kanal people are quite fond of him.
The beauty of this young king's face is almost impossible to look away from.
Even the Kanars, who are used to being extremely demanding of beauty, can't pick out any faults.
Originally, they were quite apprehensive about the fact that this young king who was famous but had never seen with his own eyes was about to become their new king.
But now they are less disturbed.
I can't tell the reason, probably because the quiet and steady color of the young king's eyebrows inexplicably gives people a feeling of peace of mind.
But no one noticed that when King Garlan's eyes fell on the ruins buried by the collapsed rocks, the fingers holding the reins tightened for a moment.
…
Garlan was led by the generals stationed here to the palace on the side of the royal city.
This is a large, spacious and secluded courtyard, with a delicate white palace in the middle of the Canal style surrounded by greenery.
It is the garden hall of the royal family, and only members of the royal family and the nobles they invite can come here to play.
This palace of the Royal Garden was not destroyed in the last disaster because it was far from the palace.
The generals stationed here arranged it as a temporary residence for Garland.
"Karenyi hasn't arrived yet?"
Garland asked.
Although the King City of Canal has been captured and the main force of the Gasdadians has been destroyed, there are still remnants of the Gasdadians in other cities in the territory of Canal.
After Kareni led the Sixth Army into Canal, he began to clean up those remnants and has been tossing around the territory of Canal.
However, Garlan had passed the news to Karenni that he was about to arrive at the King City of Kanal long before he set off.
It stands to reason that Kareni should immediately lead the army to the royal city to meet him. But in the lineup that greeted him today, he saw neither Kareni nor the Sixth Army.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, something went wrong."
The general standing in front of Garlan bowed to answer.
"Your Excellency Kareni was attacked by the remnants of the Gasdad on his way to lead his army here, but please don't worry, Lord Kareni received news the day before yesterday that the matter has been resolved, but the trip has been dragged down for a few days. . Therefore, His Excellency Kareni will arrive here about two days later."
I see.
Garlan nodded and let the general retreat.
It was just past noon when I came to the King City of Kanal, and after a lot of tossing, it was already evening.
The red clouds on the horizon have dyed this city, which is dominated by pure white tones.
The scenery of the red glow against the white curtain would have been extremely beautiful—if it hadn’t been for the massive collapsed ruins in the distance.
The huge ruins were isolated as a dangerous area and became a forbidden area that no one dared to step into.
The city is no longer fit to be the central city of Canal.
Staring at the ruins, Garlan thought.
If in the future, someone imitates the Gastadians and does another larger man-made mudslide than this time, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Therefore, he must allocate manpower and materials to choose a place to build a new city as soon as possible, and move all the Kanars here to there.
The red glow of the evening dyed the ruins red, reflecting the place as if it was enveloped by a layer of blood.
The boy looked at the ruins.
It was the burial place of countless Aaron Landis soldiers.
Also, the place where that person died.
They died in a foreign land.
And their corpses will never return home.
Standing in front of the window, clenching the window sill with both hands, Garlan closed his eyes.
His eyelashes fell down and moved slightly, shaking a little.
Heimos.
You died here for your promise to me, and I can't do anything for you.
Not even your body can bring back Aaron Landis.
… will you regret it
When the boy opened his eyes again, the sun had already sunk into the horizon, the fire was gone, and the earth sank into darkness little by little.
Like dark but not dark, like light but not bright.
It is said that evening is the time of the devil.
Day and night alternate, light and dark melt in one place.
According to legend, when the goddess in charge of life and the goddess in charge of death pass by, occasionally they will shake hands at this moment, so that the interval between life and death is chaotic in an instant.
They will let the dead souls who are obsessed and cannot be reborn return to the world and fulfill their wishes.
Suddenly, this legend appeared in Garlan's mind.
"… Heimos."
For some reason, with an inexplicable thought in his arms, Garlan opened his mouth and called out that person's name.
"If... I said, if..."
He lifted his head and looked around.
"As long as you can appear in front of my eyes now..."
He looked at the blurred scenery around him because of the dim light. Everything was extremely quiet. The blurry environment seemed to make space and time stop at this moment, so that this place was separated from the normal world, and this place was transformed into another Weird space.
"...I'll agree to any request you make."
The room was silent.
After a while, there was still only the sound of the boy's own breathing.
Garland shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Stupid.
He pursed his lips in thought.
How could he do such a naive thing like him at all.
However, not reconciled.
He himself didn't know why.
Just feel very unhappy.
"Only one chance."
He said, gritted his teeth, with some indescribable stubbornness.
"Heimos, if you don't show up now, then in the future, I swear, I will never promise you—"
pat.
There was a sudden sound of footsteps in the silent room.
Garland was startled.
He looked up, and in the vision that was not clear at dusk, there was a tall, fuzzy figure walking towards him slowly.
In the dim light, the edge of the tall figure could be seen faintly passing the luster of the black gauntlet.
Garland was lost for a moment.
The next second, he smiled slightly.
With a bit of loss, quite self-deprecating.
Then, he looked up and looked at the man in black armor who was walking towards him.
The moment he raised his head, the private emotion in Garlan's eyes disappeared without a trace, and his eyes were still calm and flexible.
Standing here at the moment, is still a calm and calm king who is not disturbed by any personal feelings.
"Mitaas."
Garland shouted.
"It's me, Your Majesty."
The knight commander in black armor walked to Garlan and bowed to him.
"I'm very sorry for entering your room without your permission, because you've been here for a long time and there's no movement. I'm a little worried and can only offend."
"It's nothing, I just thought about something, and I forgot the time accidentally."
"As long as you are safe and sound, please allow me to help you light the wall lamp in the room."
The knight commander straightened up after speaking, and lit the wall lamp in the room with the torch in his hand.
The light of the flames illuminated the formerly dark room, as well as the angular face of the knight commander.
His face was rather rough due to the wind and sun from the long-term battlefield, but it gave a more and more determined feeling.
Mitayas, one of the knight commanders under Kaihos, is also one of his most trusted confidants.
Since he was unable to accompany Garlan this time, Kaihos sent the strongest knight commander among his subordinates to Garlan's side to protect him.
"It's getting late, please rest as soon as possible."
Mitayas said, looking serious.
"I will arrange for people to go to the mountain area to check the situation tonight."
"Well, thanks for your hard work, Mitayas."
…
The night passed.
Early in the morning, Garlan got up and went to the ruins.
However, Mitayas insisted, he just stood on the edge of the ruins and did not go in.
Because Mitayas is worried that there will be some wicked people doing things halfway up the mountain.
Standing on the edge of the ruins, under the auspices of the priest Sogar of Nanna, the funeral ceremony of the dead was held here in accordance with the custom of Aaron Landis.
Under the early morning sun, the ethereal and long singing of the priestess in jet-black robes echoed in the ruins and spread to all directions.
The singing is everywhere, even people under the rocks can hear it.
It was a sacrificial song handed down from ancient times by Aaron Landis, known as the Requiem.
Aaron Landis believe that Requiem can send people's souls to the underworld, so that souls wandering in the world can be reincarnated and reborn.
Mitayas led thousands of knights, guarding Garlan, and guarding this place tightly.
The reason why he was so vigilant was that before leaving the royal city, Lord Kaihos had secretly told him that some nobles in the royal city were acting restlessly, so he must stay by His Majesty’s side.
Therefore, during this journey, Mitayas has been paying attention to King Garlan's every move almost all the time.
When the sun rose high in the sky, the memorial ceremony finally ended.
No rolling stones fell from the mountain, and no accident happened, which made Mitayas relieved.
However, not long after this breath of relief, on the way back from the ruins, an accident happened.
When Garlan rode on the road, there were a few swooshing sounds, and three sharp arrows suddenly shot straight down from the sky above the tower on the side of the road.
"His Majesty!"
Suojia, who was startled by the arrow, shouted.
The knight commander who followed Garlan along the way rushed forward almost before everyone could react, blocking Garlan.
I saw the spear swinging in his hand.
There were two ding dings in succession, and the two sharp arrows were knocked aside heavily by the long spear he wielded.
With a puff.
He groaned.
The third arrow that followed went deep into his chest—