Lagos is the main city of Duchess Josefina. Located more than 200 kilometers south of the royal capital, this city is known as a pearl on the southern plains. It is close to the waterway, connecting the southern city-states and the northern trading city of Suero, one in the south and the other in the north. It is one of the most important transportation hubs in the Iberian Kingdom.
The owner of this place, Josefina, and her mother, the previous Duchess, both loved literature, poetry and music. After more than 50 years of operation, they built concert halls, open-air theaters and theaters, adding a lot of humanistic atmosphere to this place. Gradually, this place has changed from a commercial capital to a cultural capital, and it is a place that many new-style aristocrats in the surrounding area yearn for.
But at this moment, the former prosperity of Lagos is no longer visible. The whole city is full of ruins and charred smoke marks. The city’s most proud Josefina Concert Hall has also turned into a pile of rubble. Most of these buildings were destroyed in the fire on the day the city was broken.
Josefina's army put up a strong resistance. Serinda besieged the city for half a month before she managed to open a gap in the wall. When she attacked the city, she promised her troops that they could loot for a day after breaking through the wall. Unexpectedly, Josefina had the courage to die with the enemy. After the city was breached, she secretly sent people to set fire everywhere, and finally the whole city was engulfed in fire. Several troops that entered the city were engulfed in flames, suffering heavy losses, and some troops were even wiped out.
Among these people were not only the team of berserker guards she relied on, but also those who dared to fight selected from the people she had brought along. After a series of battles, these people had already acquired some elite momentum. Just when she wanted to cultivate these people well, many of them were burned to death by Josefina.
What's worse is that the wealth and food in the city that she had been coveting were also burned.
Serinda was furious, so after capturing the Duke's Palace and capturing Josefina, she chopped off her head with her own hands.
Now this city of art has become a large military camp, and the original location of the concert hall has simply become a cesspool for dumping garbage and excrement. The remaining residents in the city were either incorporated into her army or turned into slaves, used as objects of venting for her troops.
Josefina's mansion was far from the fire source and was made of stone, so only half of it was burned by the fire, and the main buildings were still well preserved. Serinda, Li Jia, and a group of senior military officers all lived in the Duke's Mansion.
Li Jia and Serinda lived alone in a small building in the Duke's Palace. Although the building was small, it had five floors and was almost the highest point in the city. It was originally where Josefina's father lived. Her father liked astrology, so this place where people could live and watch the stars was built by the previous Duchess for her husband. Li Jia also liked this place very much. At least every night when he climbed up to the rooftop of this building and lay on the recliner where the Duke's father looked up at the stars, it was the only time he could temporarily forget the miserable situation of the city. At such a high place, the bloody smell and smoke that had not yet dissipated in the city could not be smelled for the time being. There would be no sight of those soldiers bullying slaves. The only drawback was that at this time of night, there would still be sporadic sounds coming from afar. However, the Duke's Palace was still a little far away from the area where the army was stationed, and Li Jia could no longer distinguish whether it was a triumphant shout or a miserable plea.
Under the same starry sky, I wonder what Xiao Chen and the others are doing now. I heard that they have recaptured Heimu Pass. I heard that they have consolidated the basic situation in the newly occupied territory. I heard that their realms have been improved. Moreover, there must have been a lot of legendary stories, right
Li Jia looked at the clear and brilliant starry sky and suddenly felt very lonely. He felt like a puppy who had strayed into a wolf pack. Although the wolves thought he was one of their kind, he himself could never truly understand their behavior and practices.
The wolf wanted to eat people, but he could never bring himself to do it.
Li Jia's thoughts drifted further and further away, and suddenly he felt a cold little hand touching his cheek. He was very familiar with that hand, and its owner was his only comfort in this terrible and chaotic world. Even though they often couldn't understand each other, it didn't change his attachment to her.
"Are you daydreaming here again?" Serinda asked. Li Jia turned around and saw that she was wearing light armor and had not even taken off the sword at her waist. Her face was obviously tired. It seemed that she had just finished her military affairs. Every day, countless documents and intelligence were sent to Serinda. She handled these affairs with all her heart and soul, so she looked more and more haggard day by day.
"Selinda. You..." Before Li Jia could say anything to comfort her, Serinda put a finger on her lips.
"I know what you're going to say, but there are things I have to do. Stop talking, okay?" Serinda sat on the chair next to him, and the armor plates on her body made a slight sound. She half-lay down and looked up at the sky with Li Jia.
After a while, Serinda asked, "Have you felt better these days?"
"Eh? What?"
"It's about what we have been doing. I still remember the look on your face when I chopped off Josefina's head with a sword. It was as if you didn't recognize me."
"You're overthinking it. I didn't..."
Serinda interrupted him. "Recently, in between reviewing official documents, I read some history books. I saw that these books only used a few simple sentences to describe the rise and fall of many dynasties, and many wars and battles. However, the details of the time are unknown. Did Alan I indulge his soldiers when he captured a certain city? Where did the wizard of the Spirit Tower create the ghost army? These questions are not recorded. Only the praise and compliments of the historians are left in the books. Even if there are some criticisms, they are just a few simple sentences. It is said that Alan I likes to rob famous paintings? It is said that Emperor Luca likes elf beauties? No one cares about or records the things that worry you."
"Yes, I understand this truth. The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit."
"So, you're just a little uncomfortable, because the world has always been like this." Serinda leaned over and patted Li Jia's face.
"But I keep hearing that sound, that scream of pain, do you understand?" Li Jia said, holding Serinda's hand. "Listen, someone is screaming again, the voice is so shrill."
Serinda's brows suddenly tightened and she stood up from her chair. "What are they shouting?"
"Hmm? It seems to be Miss Serinda, calling you!" (To be continued)