In the forest shrouded in darkness, this man with short red hair led a horse through the forest in the mountains. There is no road here, he is purely based on the stars in the night sky to identify the general direction, and then move forward according to the feeling of the past.
Although it is easy to get lost, this method also avoids the level of the handle on the main road, and can enter the province in the middle and south of the empire.
After reading more than ten miles on the rugged mountain road, the man gradually found a familiar feeling, and the surrounding scenery gradually matched his memory.
Should be coming soon.
A thought flashed through his mind, and then he suddenly jumped away, avoiding the hidden arrows fired in the twilight.
Yes, there is actually a dark whistle. Facing the attack, he was not angry, but rather relieved. Then he jumped up and quickly shuttled between the tree canopies, and instantly found the figure hidden in the distance.
The dark sentry on duty was about to pull out his dagger when the man held him down.
"Shh, don't be nervous, it's me." He pulled the black cloth off his face.
"Uh, Mr. Rock." The dark whistle pressed under him made a young voice.
After that, the two slowly stood up and started talking.
"Why is the teacher back?" The young man in his early twenties moved his sore arms and looked at this figure in the night with a little surprise.
"I received a letter from an old friend, so come back and have a look." Rock walked ahead, scanning the hidden arrangement in the mountains, nodding from time to time.
"Very good, great progress."
"Thank you for your praise, hehe." The young man followed with small steps, leading the way for Rock.
"You come with me."
The two walked toward the depths of the forest. After passing through the dense bushes, a door shaded by trees was opened, and then the two entered the passage leading to the interior of the mountain.
The passage was dug well, and there were reinforced structures around it. After the two walked through the tortuous stairs, they gradually saw a warm yellow orange light in front of them, and some noisy noises came immediately.
The guard in the passage saw the two nod, then opened the door and let them in. Suddenly, a wide underground hall appeared in the field of vision. There were many people gathered here, and everyone was listening to the person standing on the high platform preaching.
"Why do we fight!" He looked at the hundreds of people below, holding a thick book, his voice was deafening.
"In order to survive, in order to eat clean bread and drink clean water, there is a warm house in winter, and a year's worth of grain is piled up in the cellar. You can play with your children on weekdays without worrying about those Vicious guards suddenly broke into our home."
"Isn't this kind of life worth looking forward to? Is it impossible to achieve?"
"Look at your own hands, how many calluses, scars, and streaks there are on your hands! How many days, how many days and nights you have worked so hard over the years, how many days and nights you have paid, why can they silently take away what you have created? wealth!"
"Those comfortable woods, beautiful furniture, fine bows and arrows, I don't know how much bread, warm cotton, and sweet honey can be exchanged for outside. And they don't give you a cent!"
"I tell you, don't be afraid of those noble masters. Yes, they are very strong, there are many extraordinary people, but! We can also accumulate strength, we have more brothers and friends, and we have an ocean of anger! "
"They are also human beings. They need to eat and drink all day long. How can they have unlimited energy? Burn their food, destroy their houses, harass them while they sleep, make them exhausted, make them regret, make them cry runny nose."
"How did the Crancias come here, don't they have hands, two eyes, and an extra arm, why can they do it, and we can't?"
"It doesn't matter if we can't beat it for the time being. We quietly develop and let more brothers and sisters join us. When this country is full of our comrades, what can't we do?"
"We are small, inconspicuous, weak, but! We are also glorious, proud, and great."
"A few years later, when your descendants recall the present, they will definitely not feel inferior because of their status, but will proudly and loudly say, look, this is my ancestor, so heroic and wise, it is because of them that With our present life."
The inspiring speeches echoed in the hall in this mountain, and a pair of piercing eyes appeared on the face reflected in the firelight, which reflected hope and excitement, like a lit flame.
It's amazing, Roque looked at the scene in front of him, even he was a little distracted by this speech, not to mention the local mountain people below.
Recalling the uprising of Crancia, it seems that it also started in the mines in the mountains, where a large number of miners gathered.
When the speech was over and the crowd gradually dispersed, the man on the high platform took a few sips of water, nodded after being told by others, and then walked slowly.
"Long time no see, Rock."
"Long time no see, Tocolin." The two walked side by side into the small room.
Rather than calling it a room, it was actually a small cavity dug out of the body, and the surrounding walls were all yellowed and compacted loess.
An oil lamp was lit on the table, and the two sat at the table. Rock looked at the gray-haired man, and saw that his face was full of traces of wind and frost, and he had a sense of vicissitudes.
Both are from Aike County in the western mountains of the Empire. Tocolin's father was a Viscount of the Empire. However, when he was young, his father was executed by the deprivation of the title due to the struggle, and he also spent a difficult time in his youth. .
In order to qualify for Emenas, Roque once competed with Tocorin in the general election in Aike County, and the result was because Roque was familiar with Tocorin's unique trick and won. Since then, the two have left a deep impression on each other.
Compared with Roque, who entered Emenas to study, Tocolin's experience was much more bumpy. In the following year's competition, he still did not get a recommendation letter from Emenas, because there were new talents emerging locally.
Hopeless, he set off for the southern part of the empire to join the army directly. However, after losing his noble status, he did not receive preferential treatment. He was neither liked by noble-born officers in the army nor approached by those lower-level soldiers.
Being isolated and excluded, he spent a long time like this. It was not until the emperor launched an expedition that the time came. With his extraordinary strength, he became a logistics officer and was gradually promoted.
Years of blows and ups and downs have smoothed out the arrogant edges and corners of his past, and he has become silent and low-key, and his heart has gradually become numb.
All this until entering Crancia, ushered in new changes.
"War is really a cruel mirror, exposing the ugliest and true part of the human heart." Recalling those years, he later said to Rock with emotion.
"In an enemy country without legal and moral constraints, you will not be accused of doing bad things, and any attack or abuse will be covered with a sacred cloak. Because we are on a 'great' expedition." He said with a self-deprecating laugh the situation at the time.
Unlike ordinary soldiers, he had a noble birth, received a good education, and had seen the life of the upper class. And in his formative years, he was knocked out of the dust and survived in the dirt and mud.
"I hate this disgusting country."
Years later, when the two met on the street by chance, they went to a bar for a drink together, Tocolin told Roque drunkenly.
"Actually, I used to dream a lot. If I won that day and went to Emenas, it would be a good future. I have hated you for a long time for this."
"This situation didn't slowly change until I joined the army in the south."
"Do you know what kind of people went to join the army before the Great Crusade?" Tocolin said that day, putting his arms around Rock's shoulder.
"Everyone has it, haha. Some are thieves, thieves, those who have committed crimes, those who can't live, those who are dying of starvation, and those who have been tricked in. Anyway, officers don't care what your background is. After entering, they will be trained according to the rules of death. , Disobedient? Directly kill, anyway, there are often dead people in the military camp, no one will care."
"I also looked down on those people at first, and felt that it was an insult to be comrades with such people."
"But later, I don't think so." Tokolin put down the glass and said slowly.
"As long as those people have a good way out and a warm home, are they going to embark on this path of life and death?"
"There's no other way. You can hardly find a decent job except for farming, running errands, and doing work for those nobles."
"The fields belong to them, the mountains belong to them, the rivers belong to them, and there are big bosses behind the shops and workshops. How could you want to get involved? But the money they give is extraordinarily stingy, and they often deduct and delay."
"They don't care, because some are people, and there are too many people in the empire... You don't do it, some people do it, it's all like this."
"The world seems to be born sad, and the bottom layer of all beautiful paints is dark and dark." Tokolin sighed, drinking glass after glass of wine.
"Thinking about it this way, my luck is pretty good. Although my family is in a downturn, I have some savings, and I can ask a few relatives of the uncles and uncles I know for help. I won't go down the same path as them."
"But there is a sense of pressure in my heart, why the world is like this, I can't figure it out."
"In this way, I joined the army of the expedition, and kept going west. I finally saw the new country in the west..."
"Crancia is an unfamiliar word. Many imperial people didn't know this country existed before. If we say West Wind, they may have a bit of an image."
"But when those soldiers were lined up straight in front of the formation, the blades were like a forest, I felt a shock and aura for the first time."
"It turns out that there are really people in the world who live in my ideal and dream country."
"They're so fearless, they're steel-willed, and while they're nowhere near as many as us, they often have the upper hand in battle."
"From then on, I became interested in everything about this country. Why can they face death so calmly, because of their fanatical beliefs? Because of ignorance? Or because of some noble ideals?"
"Finally, I also found the answer I was looking for."
"In World War I I captured an officer in the mountains. Of course, instead of killing him, I helped him with his wounds and asked him many questions."
"Finally, before he left, he gave me a pamphlet and told me that many things and things cannot be conveyed in words. If I want to know and understand more, I will look at Crancia after the war. Bar."
"Why are you so sure that Crancia is still around after the war. I asked him then."
"He smiled, pointed to his heart, then turned and walked away."
"So, have you started promoting these ideas within the Empire since then?" Rock asked him at the time.
"Yes, I want more people to know about it, and I want more people to join in."
"However, such behavior is dangerous. And I'm worried about its success." Rock drank and said his opinion.
He is no longer the teenager who dreamed of being a hero in the past. The world is not so simple, and fairness and justice are quite vague concepts, and there is no standard that everyone agrees with. Moreover, he also has a little doubt and caution about human nature.
After graduating, he met many classmates. From the smugness of the year, he became secular and beneficial. Even Prince Edren, who has too ambitious goals, is now more and more concerned about power and gradually deviates from the original idea.
"There's always someone to do it, isn't it, then why can't it be me."
The scene from a few years ago reappeared in Roque's mind. He compared the past and the current Tokolin. Although his appearance was a bit vicissitudes, his pupils were even more divine. He seems to be very down-to-earth and determined to walk on the path he wants.
With the guilt of winning opportunities from Tokolin in the past, Roque agreed to help him, so he later helped Tokolin train a group of people. These people are proficient in scouting, reconnaissance, and they are perfect for intelligence work.
At first, he didn't expect that this boy's opponent would go so far on this road, and in just two years, he has developed in this Zishan Province. Maybe this time he was wrong.
Biquge
The memories of the past were briefly passed through in consciousness, and Roque and Tocolin sat at the table and talked about recent events.
"Since the death of His Majesty the Emperor, the interior of the empire has become more and more unstable. There is a rebellion in the south, and the real power aristocrats in various places gradually have the idea of self-reliance. The other grand dukes also have an ambiguous attitude and have not made a statement." Roque told Tocorin outsiders some situations.
"If so, I feel that the opportunity is coming." There seemed to be a fire of excitement burning in Tokolin's eyes.
"Don't be in such a hurry, now the great nobles still retain their powerful strength, you can't defeat them." Rock shook his head.
"I know, I'll wait until they both lose."
"But it's not enough, Tocolin, the Purple Shirt Province is still too small to raise a big storm. If any one of the three dukes is fully mobilized, they can call up an army of nearly one million, and there are many elites among them. ."
"You don't know the background of those great nobles. They have been operating in their respective fiefs for hundreds of years, and their bloodline and interests are very broad."
"The west wind that Crancia faced back then did not have such a large country. Besides, the witch of the stars has long since disappeared in the battle between the sun and the moon."
"If it weren't for that fate-changing starlight fall, the direction of everything is still unknown."
"It's easy to start a war, but do you know how to end it? After all, the empire is different from the west wind. People live in different places, with different cultures, customs, and there are great differences between the north and the south. People in other regions may not agree with your ideas. and ideas."
"Or maybe in their hearts, you are the devil and evil that brought disaster."
"Faced with such a country, you are far from enough." The young man calmly analyzed.
"I know, but it's all going in the right direction right now, isn't it? Also, when are you going to join us. I know you, Rock, as I know my enemies. I know you in the past. ambitions and ideas.”
"Although it was a childish thought in childhood, it still shows that you have a similar desire in your heart." Tokolin looked into Roque's eyes and issued his own invitation.
"Me? Huh." Rock wanted to say that he wasn't that great, and he didn't have too much hope for the plan.
But when it came to his mouth, he became silent again. Perhaps there was still a little bit of the arrogant words in his youth, buried in a hidden corner of his heart, so that he could not completely deny it.
How to be good...
Rock looked at the shaking oil lamp and candle on the table, and in a trance, he slowly remembered the time on campus.
There seems to be one such night, when he was sitting in the study room of the library, feeling confused about the future and not knowing where he should go.
""I don't know what kind of hero you want to be, but if there's something you want to do that makes everyone happy and better, then do it."
"If you are tired in the middle, you can take a break. The praise of heroes is attractive, but your own life is also very important. I hope this praise can become an embellishment of your life, rather than a heavy burden."
The words of the girl in memory slowly tasted in his heart, and Rock found that he had not gotten rid of the traces left by his youth, or maybe that romantic ideal had been flowing in his dreams.
"What a boring thing." Rock shook his head, and then held the outstretched hand again.
"Just treat me as repaying the recommendation letter that took you away in the past. But after all, I will only give you limited help, don't expect me to give you all your life."
"In addition, I have quite a lot of identities. Sometimes I help the regent to run errands. Don't let me know about some secret things."
"Hahaha, what's the harm." Tocolin and Rock stood up, hugged briefly, and then patted Rock's shoulder hard.
"I will trouble you in the future, dear brother."
In the underground room with flickering candles, the two opponents when they were teenagers are now standing together, looking at the map hanging on the wall, telling a beautiful and grand dream.
Time has worn away a lot of edges and corners, but it has also gradually revealed the crystals and gold in the sand. There are always some things that are not noticed on weekdays, but still appear in dreams, making people yearn for them and imagine their realization. that day comes.