The news that Earl James died in his bedroom spread quickly and became the hottest topic on the streets in the past few days.
It is said that the murderer is still at large. The sentries of the Sheriff's Office are extremely busy. Even Her Majesty the Queen, who has not appeared in public for a long time, has paid attention to this matter and sent Commander Luther of the Royal Guard to personally supervise the case.
It's just that no matter who you are, no matter how prominent you were during your lifetime, after you die, you can only stay in the spit of others for a few days.
Soon it disappeared with the passage of time and was no longer remembered.
The long, bloody night of feasting and revelry passed, and the sun rose again.
In the wilderness far away from human settlements, vegetation grows wildly and the earth is full of vitality.
An airship slowly approached from the horizon.
The exquisite goddess statue at the front of the airship glowed with a cold radiance of special materials in the sun, and the oval-shaped hull could accommodate hundreds of people. The huge shadow of the airship was cast on the green clothes of the earth, startling a group of elk hiding in the forest.
Beautiful deer galloped in the green wilderness, accompanied by the roar of the airship.
Soon, the elks rushed into a ruin covered with vines, stirring up a few flying leaves, and disappeared into the depths of the old buildings that had been abandoned by humans for many years.
"Come and see, those are relics from the past." A young man on the airship pointed out the window and said.
He was wearing a white gown from the Guide Academy, with delicate lace trimmings on the cuffs, and his manners revealed a good manners that was ingrained in him.
She still looks very young.
Several guides dressed like him came over and stood at the window to watch.
It costs a lot to fly this luxurious airship left over from the past.
It requires expensive energy stones and is not a means of transportation for ordinary people.
At this moment, the airship was carrying more than a dozen young guides, guarded by a large number of sentinels, and was slowly heading towards the border.
Today, the situation on the border is becoming increasingly dangerous. The contaminated area is expanding and changing at any time, and powerful aberrations are appearing everywhere.
No guide would be willing to stay at those dangerous outposts where supplies are scarce for a long time. The few and weaker guides cannot withstand the attrition on the battlefield.
But in order to appease the emotions of the sentinels living in the bitter cold, the Empire would select some guides from the White Tower to patrol and stay at the border sentries for a few days every year.
The reason was to help heal those Sentinels with serious mental problems. After all, the Empire declared that it would not easily abandon any Sentinel.
But as the years went by, this matter has almost become a formality.
Every year, the Empire would send out guides as a symbol. Every time they arrived at a place, they would present flowers and flowers in abundance, and take videos and videos with great fanfare.
The guides would hurriedly stay in those places where the conditions were harsh for a day or two as a symbolic gesture, and then quickly return with complaints.
There is basically no real effort to eradicate the spiritual pollution for the humble and poor lower-level sentinels on the border.
There were so many sentinels in need of help, and the few young guides really couldn't do anything but go through the motions.
The young guides sat in the spacious and bright restaurant for their meal, and through the large glass portholes, they had a panoramic view of the endless beauty of the wilderness.
No matter how reluctant they were when they set out, after all, they were a group of young people who had never left the White Tower. Everything in the outside world was new and interesting to them.
Beneath the vibrant grass, there is a large area of buildings left behind by humans.
Most of the elevated roads and street lights that once spanned the entire city have collapsed, like a dead dragon, mostly buried under the yellow sand. A few broken sections are still frozen in time, looking up at the sunny sky.
Countless skyscrapers towering into the sky, their steel bodies corroded by time over hundreds of years, are like hundreds of huge tombstones, covered in green, standing silently in the wilderness.
"Wow, are those where ancient humans lived?"
"See those tall, tower-like buildings? The densely packed small black holes on top are said to be the houses where people lived in the past." The sentry who first greeted everyone explained.
"Wow, why did they build such tall houses and live in such a crowded space? The land is so large. I heard that there were no polluted areas at that time, right?"
"At that time, there were many humans on this planet, so many that you can't imagine. There was not enough land to live on. People could only build houses higher and higher, one layer on top of another, and live together like bees. Yes, it looks like what you see."
"As expected of Shu Jingtong, the top student in the academic year assessment. He even learned ancient history so well." His companions praised the boy, "Xiao Shu, you must have ranked first in every subject, right?"
Shu Jingtong, who was sitting in the airship restaurant, withdrew his gaze from the porthole, laid out his napkin elegantly and gracefully, and smiled modestly, "Not really, of course there are people who perform better than me."
"Jing Tong should have topped all the subjects, except for the mental strength test. That weirdo beats him every year."
"You, are you talking about that person?"
"Yeah, who else could it be. Her grades were terrible. She couldn't even do flower arrangement and she failed tea ceremony. I happened to be in the same classroom with her during cooking class, and I watched her burn the trash can."
"How could Jing Tong lose to someone like this? Could he have cheated?"
"That's right. Her grades in all subjects except for her mental strength are so poor. Why was she matched with such an excellent partner so early on?"
"He is the only son of the Jiang family. He is a sentinel who has passed the B-level test at a young age. His spiritual form is a very majestic cheetah. He is also very handsome in person, and I heard that he has a good personality."
Shu Jingtong raised his hand to stop his companions from making arrangements. "Don't say that. She is indeed stronger than me in terms of mental strength. We should obey the White Tower's arrangements."
As an excellent student who grew up in a guidance academy, he developed a self-disciplined, polite, humble and gentle character through the teachers' words and deeds since childhood, and became a dual benchmark in academic performance and morality among students of the same grade.
He knew that as a guide, humility and gentleness were the most important qualities, and he felt that he should not criticize others behind their backs.
Even in his heart, there were times of dissatisfaction and doubt.
He once quietly asked his tutor why he always lost to that person in this subject.
"Teacher, I just want to know how big the difference is between her and me in terms of mental strength. I want to practice hard and try to catch up with her."
At that time, the teacher just sighed and reached out to touch his head.
Although the teacher didn't say anything, the look of pity he showed at the time aroused his rebellious heart for a time.
A guide shouldn't have such a desire to win, it's very wrong.
"That's not what a guide should be concerned about." The teacher's earnest words are still ringing in my ears. "The most important thing for a guide is to learn to control your mental power gently and meticulously, so that you can channel negative emotions into the partner that the empire will match you with in the future. That's enough. It's not a good thing for a guide to be too strong."
He took the teacher's words to heart and let go of the inappropriate thoughts he had.
The most important qualities of a guide are tranquility, gentleness and beauty. The virtue of a guide is to devote one's life selflessly to one's partner. This is a universal value, and everyone thinks so, isn't it
Shu Jingtong also did the same, being careful and strict with his words and deeds year after year, making himself a perfect guide.
Several guides who were traveling with the group heard the gossip and leaned over to start talking about it.
"You're talking about Lin Yuan, right?"
"Does she have any background? She's quite mysterious, not sociable at all, and is cold and alone every day. I don't think any sentinel can stand her."
"That's right. I think they will be finished sooner or later. Who would like a guide who can't even cook properly?"
"Don't you know? Lin Yuan and the guy from the Jiang family have broken off their engagement." A girl sitting at the dining table put down her golden fork and wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. "It happened not long ago. I heard that Jiang Yangshuo was with another guide when he was bumped into by Lin Yuan."
"Really? And then what? Tell me in detail, Nicole."
Everyone has a gossipy heart, even gentle and dignified guides are not immune.
Countless ears pricked up, and even Shu Jingtong, the best student in the school, couldn't help but turn slightly to the side.
Nicole is a girl with explosive curly hair. The weird hairstyle looks out of place with the dignified college dress.
But she was born into a distinguished family, her family was a hereditary noble family, her father was the royal spokesperson and held the title of baron, so the girl lived much more freely than ordinary guides, and no one dared to control her.
"They caught him red-handed. There's no need to explain. Lin Yuan was pretty tough. She took off her wedding ring and threw it into the sewer right in front of the two whistlers." Nicole said, "It's been spread around the circle for a long time, but you guys didn't know about it yet."
"Really? Did she really throw that ring into the sewer?" someone asked in disbelief. "I heard that it was a piece of jewelry passed down from the Jiang family and is worth a lot of imperial coins."
"Of course it's true. The dinner a few days ago was the day James died. I saw Lin Yuan, and she no longer had the ring on her hand." Nicole pouted, "To be honest, I quite like her personality. It's better than crying and whining when something like this happens, and clamoring for her life by the dog sentry."
"By the way, isn't Lin Yuan here too? She seems to have joined the Special Research Division. She took the same airship as us to the sentry post. Wouldn't it be clear if we ask her?"
Nicole looked up and searched the crowd. Soon she saw the person she was looking for and waved in that direction.
"Lin Yuan, come. Sit here."
Before the group could stop her, they saw the legendary weirdo, who had studied in the academy for so many years but was unfamiliar to everyone, walking towards them with a plate of food and a confused look on her face.
"Call me?" the other one asked.
Like all guides, she had slender limbs and fair skin because she rarely spent time in the sun.
But she didn't wear the elaborately patterned dress of the Guidance Academy. Instead, she wore a dark blue sportswear that was suitable for activities.
The material of the clothes is quite high-end, but it looks a little ill-fitting.
She tied a belt over her loose clothes, and her long legs were wearing hard-soled high-top shoes. Her sleeves were folded to her elbows, revealing her white forearms. She was twirling two fingers on the tray full of food.
She had just experienced betrayal by her partner, and she didn't seem to have any special emotions.
He stood in front of everyone calmly and asked with his expressionless face: "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"
"Nothing?" Nicole smiled at her and made room for her. "My classmates haven't spoken to you in all these years. I heard that you applied for an expatriate job at the Special Research Department, so I asked you to have dinner with us."
Lin Yuan took the plate and sat down beside her.
In fact, she didn't remember Nicole's name, although the girl looked very familiar with her.
She couldn't even call out the names of most of the people at the table. She only vaguely recognized the male guide sitting by the window as her classmate.
That was several years ago, probably after the semester exam, this person suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stopped me.
He stared at her with a pair of eyes that looked like they had been crying. "Can you show me your spiritual body?"
Lin Yuan was puzzled: “?”
"I just want to see how big the gap between us is." The boy seemed to have mustered up all his courage to say this.
Then, a furry purebred Chinchilla appeared beside the male guide.
The furry kitten tried its best to make its body huge, about the size of a husky, which is rare among guides.
The "giant" Chinchilla meowed fiercely at Lin Yuan in a baby voice and stretched out its fleshy paws.
Lin Yuan suppressed all his emotions, trying hard to suppress all the tentacles that were stirring in the darkness. He completely ignored the guide and walked past the snow-white kitten with a cool look on his face.
Walk faster, walk faster.
The tentacles couldn't contain their restlessness.
I don’t know if the little cat guide behind me who was ignored was crying because of anger.
In front of a table full of college classmates, Lin Yuan was too embarrassed to ask everyone's name.
At least she knew that not remembering someone's name was not a very polite thing to do.
I had to put on a cool look, saying, "Oh, I know who you are, I'm just too lazy to talk."
The table, which was chattering a moment ago, suddenly fell into an awkward silence.
(End of this chapter)