A grand bonfire was burning, and melodious bells sounded from the bell tower in the distance. Amidst the fragrance of chrysanthemums permeating the city, Saint-Sunil began to be shrouded in a hazy and dreamy smoke. The flames all over the city seemed like Against the gradually deepening night, under the sky full of stars, a city of brilliance was created.
This makes one can't help but think of the dark age that has become a legend, and the second pioneering that determined the fate of mankind. In the dark and chaotic tide, did the ancestors light a huge bonfire like today, like erecting a bonfire in the dark? Set up a lighthouse to guide compatriots who are lost in the depths of the demon tide to draw closer to themselves
This may also be another hidden meaning of the bonfire that must be lit on the night of Remembrance Day.
Looking at the flickering flames in front of him, and listening to the lengthy requiem prayer read by the ceremonial officer, Welsh Moen remained expressionless and silent. The nominal ruler of Ansu stood here remembering Moen like an outsider In the courtyard of the ancestors, sparks rising from the bonfire fluctuated and jumped in front of him, riding the steaming hot wind and flying into the dark night, and gradually merged with the starry sky in late autumn. In that night sky, he could not see Charlie. The face of Moen's distant and strange bloodline ancestor.
A sound of gentle footsteps came from behind, and the middle-aged crown prince suddenly felt an unexplained sense of peace and tranquility enveloped his body and mind. He caught a glimpse of the brilliance emerging in the air, and turned his head Go, and saw Veronica Moen in a white dress standing beside her.
On the chest of this holy princess, a small white flower is blooming under the nourishment of the holy light, holy and beautiful.
"Brother, good evening." Veronica bowed slightly with a calm smile that seemed to never change on her face.
"Veronica..." Welsh Moen looked at his talented younger sister in surprise, "Shouldn't you pray in the cathedral?"
"Today is Remembrance Day, the first Remembrance Day after my father passed away," Veronica said flatly, "The Lord will be tolerant."
This is not something that a "saint princess" who is as devout as a textbook in the eyes of outsiders can say, but Welsh Moen knows that his sister has been an extraordinary person since she was a child. She always has her own ideas, and always There are countless ingenious reasons to make his behavior seem logical, so he just nodded slightly, without asking any more questions.
After an embarrassing moment of silence, Wales took the initiative to speak: "The Duchess Victoria came and she told me something."
"You're going to be king."
Wales was a little surprised: "How do you know?"
"It's not difficult to guess, the situation is like this, the Duke Regent can't make many choices, and today just happens to be Remembrance Day, in front of the ancestors, she told you these are just right," Veronica said calmly, and then slightly He bent over, "Brother, congratulations."
Wells frowned unobtrusively, this was not what he wanted to hear, he looked into Veronica's eyes, those eyes had a gentle and trustworthy smile as always, but in his eyes, those eyes were It was as magnificent and beautiful as a lifelike fake carved out of gemstones, but it was lifeless. It was a look that was neither malicious nor kind, which made him turn his head awkwardly.
It seems that no one has ever felt the slightest difference in the temperament of this virgin princess. Everyone regards her as a treasure from heaven, as a symbol of all the good spirits of Ansu, but Veronica always had He would feel a kind of unreasonable weirdness when getting along with this sister. Under the pressure of this weirdness, he would try his best to avoid being alone with Veronica. However, today is Remembrance Day, and he has no reason to leave the courtyard early.
So he can only stay here, and try to change the topic: "I heard that after the Crusaders went to the battlefield, the situation of the Kingdom Army is gradually improving..."
"It's only getting better to the point where we can stand in a stalemate with the Eastern Rebels," Veronica replied, "and a large part of the reason for the stalemate is that the weather is getting colder and fighting in winter is not good for both sides."
"...well, I didn't think of that," Wales smiled self-deprecatingly, "You see, I'm not fit to be a king, I didn't even think of that."
"No one is born fit to be a king, you've just been away from Silver Castle for too long," Veronica said while looking at the bonfire in the courtyard. After a few seconds of pause, she suddenly said something that seemed headless. If you don't think about it, "...the number of bonfires lit on Remembrance Day this year is double that of previous years."
Wales froze for a moment, then realized: "It must be because of the war."
"Dead believers will return to the kingdoms of the gods, and unbelievers will all fall into the mansion of the god of death. Souls have their own places, but people are willing to firmly believe that those lost souls will go home and live together on the petals of the death chrysanthemum. As soon as the souls gather... Brother, do you believe that those spirits will come back and look at us in the light of the fire?"
Wales couldn't help looking at the big fire in the courtyard. Those bright flames were jumping in the night sky. There was actually nothing in the hazy curtain formed by the flames and smoke, but he couldn't help thinking about it, thinking about the moment in those shaking curtains. The face of Francis II emerged, the old king leaning on a scepter, looking at himself indifferently, without any expectation in his sight.
"I hope they can rest in peace in the kingdom of God," Wales said, and looked at Veronica beside him, "What about you? As a living saint of the God of Light, you can see our The father and the ancestors?"
Veronica was silent for a moment, then turned and left: "I can't see anything."
I too Welsh Moen said in my heart.
Then he raised his head and watched the smoke rising from the bonfires drifting straight into the night sky, merging with more smoke at a high, far distance, the smoke from countless bonfires merged into a huge cloud of smoke, and the stars all gradually blurred.
In the night, on Pioneer Square, the largest square in Cecil City, a huge bonfire was burning blazingly.
The mechanical clock in the city center chimed eight times, and a huge evocation hand floated over the bonfire, sprinkled the powder made of black stone and pyrophosphate into the fire, and accompanied by a slight explosion, the flames of the bonfire suddenly burst into flames. The room became very bright and grand.
The crowd gathered around the fire cheered loudly, and along with the cheers that shook the city, the large magic net terminal installed in the square was activated, and a huge holographic projection appeared above the square.
It was activated together with the magic net terminals located in several other squares in the city, in several surrounding cities, and in every town square along the cross axis of the Principality of Cecil.
On this night, almost all the people gather around the bonfires, and almost all large bonfires are located in the squares of various towns.
The Cecilians were no strangers to this "miracle of magic". They didn't make a fuss or dodge in panic. People just raised their heads curiously and looked at the figure gradually emerging from the projection.
The figure of Gawain Cecil appeared on it.
"Good evening, citizens, I am your lord."
The crowd was a little surprised. Some people took off their hats and saluted the holographic image in the square immediately after reacting, while some innocent children shouted happily. Some bold children pointed at the holographic image: "Look! Lord!!"
The reckless child was immediately stopped by the adults, and the voice of the lord continued to come from the holographic projection:
"Today is Remembrance Day, the day we commemorate the dead. The origin of this festival is to commemorate a nobleman, but today, we use it to commemorate our parents and brothers, and commemorate our deceased relatives and friends...
On the Pioneer Square, Betty stared blankly at the big bonfire in front of her. She listened to the voice of the lord coming from the holographic image behind her, and she was silently in a daze.
"In the early spring of 375, a disaster befell Old Cecil, and countless people left this world on that day..."
The smoky night wind blew, awakening Betty from her daze. She watched the people around her start throwing branches into the fire, so she also picked up the twigs she had prepared and stepped forward a few steps, slightly Clumsily threw the branch into the fire.
The small branches were quickly engulfed by the flames, and the little maid stared blankly at the bright flames. In her dim mind, the beating of each beam of flames seemed to be turning into a face.
"Mrs. Hansen... Mrs. Morris... Uncle Taylor..."
Betty chanted softly, chanting those names that she had tried so hard to finally remember, then suddenly bent down, bowed vigorously, and bowed with that signature style, as if she was about to throw herself out. bowed.
"I survived!"
A figure crossed over Betty, it was Rebecca who was also holding a branch in her hand, the heir of the Cecil family also threw the branch into the fire, the flickering fire reflected on her face, this always reckless The girl at this moment was also rare to be quiet. She stood quietly for a while, and then said softly: "880 of us survived...Father, I tried my best."
At some point, Hetty came to Rebecca's side: "Everything is going well now, and Rebecca has grown a lot..."
Behind them, Gawain's holographic projection was still floating in the sky above the square, his voice vibrated the air and spread far, far away: "...to all civilians who unfortunately died, may your souls rest in peace, to all sacrificed soldiers, I salute you all... may the deceased rest in peace, rest assured that Cecil will move on, I assure you all...
"To all living and dead, good night."
The holographic projections on the square gradually disappeared, and people were silent in the solemnity. In the "studio" of the magic web control center, Gao Wen walked down the platform for collecting holographic images.
Amber leaned over from the side, and the half-elf had a smirk on his face: "Are you deviant again? It's always been commoners who commemorate the nobles. It's the first time you have a nobleman commemorate the commoners, and also' Tribute'…”
Gawain breathed a little: "From now on, at least in Cecil's land, Remembrance Day will be a thorough and ordinary anniversary... Even scholars who specialize in history will never Obsessed with the original origin and meaning of Remembrance Day."
"So your purpose is really to hope that everyone will stop singing and dancing to celebrate your death day in the future."
Gao Wen quietly glanced at Amber, who seemed to be begging for a beating again, but saw the unnaturalness in the depths of the half-elf's eyes.
He asked, "Do you have no relatives to commemorate?"
Amber turned her face away: "I don't even know what my parents' names are, and I'm not even sure if they are really dead. Who should I commemorate."
"What about your adoptive father?"
Amber didn't make a sound, and only whispered after a few seconds: "...he is a thief wanted by the nobles. When he died, he was purified by the Holy Light priest... There is no place for him in the bonfire on the Holy Spirit Day."
Gawain looked at Amber's profile, and he finally understood why this half-elf was so persistently hostile to all priests of the Holy Light.
"What crime did your adoptive father... commit?"
"I just wanted to find a book from the church, but I accidentally knocked over the candles enshrined in the church by the local lord. As I said earlier, he is a crappy thief..."
The room fell silent for a while, and after a moment of silence, Gawain broke the silence: "I can't reverse the purification, but as the ruler of the southern border, I can pardon your adoptive father. What's his name?"
Amber looked at Gao Wen in surprise, and then realized: "Surrey...his name is Sally Randolph..."
Gao Wen was a little surprised: "Does he have a surname?"
"Well, he has a surname. I asked him, but he didn't say anything... After that, I also investigated many family trees in the southern border, but I couldn't find this surname."
"That's right..." Gawain breathed out, "Maybe it's a vassal of a declining nobleman. In short, Surrey Randolph is innocent."
A sentence of pardon cannot bring the dead back to life, let alone recall the sunken souls from the bottom of the kingdom of the dead, but most of the time, what people want is not the actual meaning, but just peace of mind.
Gao Wen patted Amber's shoulder lightly: "Go while the bonfire is still burning."
In the next second, the figure of the half-elf had disappeared into the air.