After the courtiers had dispersed, Earl Walker turned expressionlessly, and he stared at the fireplace burning with wood behind the earl's silver chair in the main castle, and the flames rising from the fireplace crackled and released the last energy of the tree.

"What have I done in the territory of Yafenburg all these years!" Earl Walker's eyes twinkled with the glow of the fireplace, which seemed to leap with his sigh, perhaps it was the fireplace that baptized the Trian Count who was watching it.

"Your Excellency, at your command, I have brought you Mr. Lawrence Gade." Spichett led the guards at the door to help Lawrence and walked in, and he retreated after the report was finished, leaving only the guard who was supporting Lawrence in the main hall of the castle.

"Lord." Lawrence's voice was very weak, there was no trace of blood on his pale face, and his pale hair was even more thin on his wrinkled forehead.

Earl Walker turned, and he hurried over to his teacher, Lawrence, and personally helped the trembling old man into his silver chair.

"My dear teacher, forgive me, an abominable student, who has been blinded by arrogance in the past! Let you suffer so much. Walker's cheeks burned like the flames of a fireplace, and his hands trembled with Lawrence's trembling, "The fiasco of Entle, the coercion of the foreign ministers, and the betrayal of the seemingly loyal courtiers have made me realize how ridiculous and pathetic my past is. ”

"Our goddess Arcana said in her holy text, the Book of Arcana: "Hold up the turbulent waves, and there is hope ahead. Now you are like a dream, and that is naturally the well-being of the Istertam family's Yafen fiefdom and subjects. Lawrence's words were staccato as he stared hard and insisted on finishing, then covered his mouth and began to cough and gasp.

"Teacher, I have gone further and further away from your guidance, and now I have almost nothing. Even the most important territory of his family was forced to give up by his foreign ministers. The crushing defeat of Entle, the persecution of the foreign ministers, made me return alone, leaving behind the endless anger of the people, and I heard the real voices of the people outside the castle, which were as fierce as fire; In addition, he left behind a great joke among all the nobles of the kingdom of Rinston, as if their malicious laughter penetrated my ears and penetrated into the depths of my heart. Walker got down on one knee, he didn't cry, he just had tears in his eyes.

"My child, I have always treated you as my child. It's just a pity that you don't agree with what I once said. Lawrence said slowly, coughing as he spoke, as if the dampness in the dungeon had invaded his lungs, and he was struggling to breathe, "You're finally willing to listen to my advice now." I dragged the stump, heavy as a mountain rock, waiting for the moment when you would truly listen to my advice, before I failed to fulfill your father's commission. But what can be done? Deep down in your heart, you never understand your father's protection and unspoken love for you. Perhaps, what he did in your psyche is a lifetime."

"I beg you not to talk about my cruel father. He was willing to let me stay in a strange and malicious court for ten years, and I later learned that the name of that kind of person was called: hostage. Just to keep the land of Yafen. Earl Walker interrupted his teacher Lawrence excitedly, and tears welled up in his eyes at that moment, and he began to tear the rings of the chainmail coat in excitement.

"As you mature, you will understand your father's painstaking feelings, even if he would rather be a sinner in your psyche for the rest of his life!" Lawrence was slightly agitated, and he took a deep breath, as if breathing was a very difficult action for him right now, "I think my soul is receiving the call of Arcana. I'm running out of time. I just want to give you my last words of counsel to fulfill my last duty as your mentor, the one who wants to love you in the place of your father. ”

"Mentor!" Earl Walker shuddered and buried his head in Lawrence's lap, and he burst into tears.

"Walker, you have to remember what I said, our holy goddess Arcana once said that as long as there is the spark of life, there will always be hope for tomorrow in Tark. My child, this is absolutely true. Lawrence gasped as he spoke, like an incapable parent restraining a disobedient child, "I actually knew that your rash attack this time would definitely be a loss, because the person you trust the most is indeed a greedy rat in my eyes, and you are deceived by this rat's rhetoric, he has ulterior motives to encourage you and me, although I tried my best to stop your impulse, I didn't expect my failure to be replaced by your own body, but I don't think it's too late." ”

"I finally admit my impulsiveness, and I should take full responsibility. Teacher, you impulsive and shameless student has drunk the icy water of the Raif, which has cleansed my soul and sealed my own abominable cruelty and shameless arrogance. After realizing how stupid and ignorant he was in the past, he suddenly realized that his blind self-confidence had almost destroyed the property that our family had worked so hard to manage. What am I left of this seemingly impregnable castle and a battered court? "Walker is sincere to his teacher about the philosophy of life that he finally realized not long ago." I am now just the owner of the fortress of Yafenburg, leading 120 old and weak soldiers who stayed in the castle, I have lost all the pastures in the southeast of Yafen, which are the 4 most fertile pastures on the Tarke continent, Hoth, Knight, and the Eastern and Western Cavalry Ranches have all changed banners, and the family's brown striped flag has become a ruby flag with a white background. ”

"But you didn't lose everything! Ahem, your title of earl is still retained, and your title can also temporarily act as your protector, with this title, you can regain all that belongs to our Yafenburg, and pick up the glory of the former Yafen, what we need is not soldiers but the help of recuperation time and virtuous courtiers. Lawrence's face finally showed a satisfied smile, if yesterday's Walker was still the impulsive and brutal devil student in his mind, today's Walker is already a new life escaping from hell, and now Walker has ignited a long-lost fire in the heart of the old Lawrence, the flame is so bright in the darkness, he thought that he would never be able to see the flame of Yafen's hope again, but today he saw, "Wise child, your mind was as smart as your mind is now, It's just that I once lacked the calmness I should have, and don't use force impulsively, because force is the first weapon that the incompetent will use. This is my first piece of advice. And you have to pay attention to your king, you may just be a pawn of him."

"My life coach, I hope it won't seem too late for me to wake up." Walker looked earnestly at the old man in front of him, who was as simple and seductive as his deceased father, and he kept holding his teacher's cold and trembling palms and backs of his hands. Lawrence enjoyed the first time he had such a tender exchange with his once unruly student who regarded him as a son. He closed his eyes comfortably and leaned his back against the silver chair. seems to be thinking about Yafen's survival strategy and way out.

"Teacher, what's wrong with you?" Earl Walker looked at everything that was happening in front of him in pain, Lawrence's expression suddenly became painful, and then he coughed violently, a stream of blood gushed out of his mouth, and his body twitched involuntarily.

"Son, I have to make a long story short, I don't seem to be able to do it anymore, open your treasury and comfort the families and relatives of the soldiers who died in battle, the recent fiasco has discredited your prestige, and therefore you must settle your subjects; Second, reward farming, encourage the subjects of Jarfenburg to reclaim the vast barren taiga around Jarfin, and the farms are owned by the reclaimers, you can carve out a large area of fertile farmland around Lake Raifhu as the granary of Jarfin, your continuous conscription has almost made the farmland in the Jarfen area barren and the food is exhausted, so it must be restored as soon as possible!" Lawrence trembled and touched his chest, and the pain aggrieved, "Akana, please give me a little more time, is it such a painful thing to die?" Yes!! Walker! Hold my hand tightly! Third, to exempt military service to the greatest extent, from the previous two per household to one per household, so that more subjects can have spare energy to devote themselves to reclamation, and special training is carried out for soldiers serving in the military, so that every soldier is the elite of soldiers; Fourth, change the strict agricultural taxation system that had been established in the past to a minimum agricultural tax, so that its subjects gradually became richer; Fifth, to show goodwill to King Segal II in the northwest, and secretly form an alliance with the town of White under the command of Earl Hengerson in the west and the Iron Fist Fort of the Ain Dynasty outside the mountain rock pass in the northeast, and send peace envoys to the city of Entle under the command of the victorious Earl of the Red Boar, and make a reparation to satisfy his appetite on the basis of not damaging the sovereignty of Yafen's territory. ”

"No, I think the flame of my life is about to be extinguished!" Lawrence grabbed Walker's hand with almost all his strength. His face grew paler and even blue. His lips had long since turned a dark red color.

"Listen, hold steady Earl of the Red Boar, so that we can gradually gain support in the Kingdom of Lynston and the Al Ain Dynasty outside the Mountain Rock Pass, and show our positive attitude." Lawrence's head was oozing with sweat from the continuous speech, and he gasped, accompanied by a violent cough, of course, "This is the last cough, appointing a competent courtier as an assistant to you, and among the courtiers I can recommend George Landmark of the Landmark family, the eldest son of Nicolas Landmark, the treasurer of your deceased father, who once studied in the royal city of Parma, and he has traveled around the Iron Fist Fort in the mountain rock pass, the distant royal city of Parma, to the town of White, and visited the White Mountain in the magnificent town of White. Oh no, oh no, who did I see with the Sharps? The divine goddess Arcana beckoned to me again. Salina, my departed relative, wait until I'm done, and then take me away. Lawrence was in a state of confusion, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Teacher! Teacher! Walker called out to his teacher eagerly, expecting a miracle.

"Human life will eventually come to an end," Lawrence suddenly opened his eyes and gently patted Walker's shoulder with his right hand, Walker felt that such a slap seemed to be a loving father's blessing and encouragement to his child, "My child, I am about to leave this world, Walker, travel through this world, go through the trials that Arcana has given you, I will be forever and forever" Lawrence sighed and collapsed on the earl's silver chair, and a large piece of blood almost congealed from his mouth spat out, His right hand slid weakly off Walker's shoulder, and Walker's tightly held left hand gradually disappeared in temperature, and his rapid breathing finally stopped, and his eyes were like a layer of white sand that was no longer shining. The miracle of the call disappeared in a hurry.

"Teacher" Walker had red eyes, he didn't cry like a woman, he slapped himself three times, the first slap represented the atonement for the teacher, and the second slap represented repentance for the past sins. The third slap in the face is the determination to make good efforts.

"Clerk! Scrivener! George was appointed, and Landmark succeeded Jones Green as my second treasurer. Walker choked back tears and gently brushed Lawrence's open eyes with his hand, and Lawrence finally stared, and he went peacefully.