When the group returned to the barracks, the solemn and solemn atmosphere was as solid as a grave, so tense that even the Byrne knights who came to greet them could not see any smile on their faces.

Because today is the day of the funeral.

Three days of rest, three days of cleaning, three days of searching... It took ten days to finally find all the bones of the dead that could be found and confirmed.

The knights were better, even the poorest knights had their coat of arms and elaborate armor, which could be confirmed as long as they were not burned and the people they knew were still alive, and the vast majority of illiterate soldiers... The only thing that can determine their identity is the roster.

Counting the seriously wounded and incurable, the total number of confirmed dead soldiers was 8,000, which was far less than the actual number of killed dozens of times, and the overseers swore that the number of deserters who died at their hands alone would not be less than 8,000.

When the frontal legion composed of the elite of the empire returned to the inventory, only a little more than 60,000 of the 100,000 legions remained.

The total number of casualties of the rear reserve army, which was killed by the Azorean elves, was at least three times that number.

But in the end, all of them were found, with names and surnames... Only eight thousand people.

There were nobles, there were soldiers, there were sorcerers, there were clergy, there were young men, there were old men, there were those who died valiantly, and there were cowardly deserters......

Now, they are all lying together as equals without any gaps.

Ten times as many as their dead, along with the enemy on the battlefield, were reduced to ashes by the breath of the three-headed dragon.

Many veterans in the Sackland countryside, after hearing that Brandon ordered the dragon to burn the battlefield, sighed that there would be a good harvest in this land in the coming year.

The only thing to be thankful for is that in the end, there was no outbreak of plague to burn the battlefield, dredge the waterways, drain the flooded area, and relocate the legion station...... All the means imaginable by all means ensured hygiene and the living conditions of the wounded soldiers, and minimized the possibility of disease outbreaks.

There were also a lot of contradictions in between: the Sakran Legion was fine, the rest of the army from all over the empire almost had their own way of life, and they were not very comfortable with the mandatory "sanitation campaign", and the small-scale commotion continued, which gave Brandon a headache for a while.

However, thanks to the victory over the Azorean elves and the very cooperative bullet pressure of the dukes, the commotion did not turn into a riot, and Brandon even took the opportunity to delegate the military orders of many of the Sakran legions to the armies of the various principalities.

What was originally just a troublesome unified action eventually evolved into a military reform.

On the twelfth day after the end of the Azorean invasion, after a night of negotiations, negotiations, communication and quarrels, Brandon and the Grand Dukes, led by the Grand Dukes, and the counts of the various duchies finally came up with a military system that would pass through all the armies of the empire.

From now on, after fourteen generations, all the armies of the empire will finally be reorganized and reorganized according to the same military system, and will follow the same set of military orders, and will no longer distinguish between them.

Of course, it will take a long time, if not years, to accomplish this, but the seeds of change have been planted, and all that remains is to wait for them to sprout.

..............................

Turning over and dismounting, Loren and his party walked towards the center of the barracks, where the dragon had stayed, and the surrounding soldiers turned around one after another after seeing the figure of the comer, respectfully getting out of the way.

They gaze at the figure of the black-haired wizard, silently paying tribute to the man who ended the war.

The plan to lurk in the city of Eberden was a secret that only a few people knew, but all the soldiers on the battlefield that day saw the dragon rising into the sky, and also saw the nine-pointed star rising in the city of Eboden.

They don't know what's going on, but anyone can guess this and Duke Byrne... Or maybe the wizards of Byrne had to do with it, and the war wouldn't have ended without them destroying the city of Ebolden.

In the open space, surrounded by legionnaires and knights, hundreds of stacks of wood of various sizes had already been piled up, and eight thousand fallen warriors lay silently on them, regardless of each other.

Sackland, Byrne, Ellemont...... Nobles and knights from all over the world gathered around, standing under their banners, guarding the pile of wood in the center of the clearing like a six-pointed star.

Brandon, who had returned early, was dragged by Yuli Wirts, and the two with serious expressions whispered something about something;

Nolan Elder kept talking to the Archduke of the Scimitar beside him, but looking at the impatient expression on Sallykayona's face, he knew that he was just talking to himself;

Leah, the one-armed elf leaned against the pile of wood, bowing her head to see something.

Charlotte and Loren glanced at each other in tacit understanding, and turned to leave with Lena in the direction of the Byrne Battle Banner.

The female elf, who noticed the footsteps of a certain black-haired wizard, subconsciously raised her head, her eyes were red, and her expression was a little lonely.

"Did you find it?"

Although he could guess the moment he saw her expression, Loren couldn't help but ask.

Really... The lost elf shook her head and threw the thing in her hand to Loren, which was a pendant of the Holy Cross, silver-plated and delicate.

"Only it... Only this one. The elf spoke quietly, "I dug it up in the place where their battle was fiercest, and the knights of Lothair swore that this was the relic of the Knight Captain Aaron. ”

"Then there is no ...... for the others"

"No, except for this, the surrounding wreckage has been burned to ashes and charcoal, and it is impossible to distinguish at all. The red-eyed female elf stared at the pendant in Loren's hand:

"And... I've never seen Aaron carry this. ”

Loren could hear a hint of sourness in her voice, a complex and indescribable sourness.

She blames herself very much, she can't do anything about herself, she can only watch her friends die one by one.

"I was... I've heard this about the understanding of 'death'. ”

Loren, who suddenly spoke, made the female elf open her eyes slightly in astonishment.

"The first time you die, when you are killed, the living life withers and becomes a cold, rotting shell. Word by word, Loren played with the Holy Cross pendant in his hand, looked at the female elf and said:

"The second time, at your funeral, the weeping of relatives and friends, the sorrow, the prayers of the priests, the ascension of your soul into the heavenly kingdom of the Holy Cross... Uh, of course, those who don't believe in the Holy Cross will go somewhere else, to... The way they think. ”

The black-haired wizard's expression of explanation made the female elf can't help but curl the corners of her mouth slightly.

"And the last death is when you are forgotten by the last person who remembers you. Loren stared at the elf's eyes, and approached step by step:

"When you forget what Aaron was like, when you forget what you know about him, when you forget everything he's done, then... He is to you, when the last traces of your memory are faded away......"

"He's really dead. ”

The female elf looked at the black-haired wizard who walked in front of her in a daze, and looked at the eyes that suddenly became serious.

In the next second, those eyes softened again.

"What's more... Even if you haven't seen it, it doesn't prove that it's not something that is the head of Aaron's knight. Loren shrugged, grabbed the elf's hand and tucked the pendant in:

"Just like I didn't know you were still living there until I arrived at Fort Deepwood, I hadn't seen the Morning Star Forest, I hadn't seen a wall of trees, and I didn't know that there was a group of brave warriors who fought ogres with spears......"

"But that's just because I don't know, is it just because I don't know that you don't exist?"

"Of course not... Just like this pendant, everyone knows that Knight Aaron is a devout believer of the Holy Cross, so there is nothing strange about the small pendant hidden on his body. ”

The black-haired wizard was seductive: "The most important thing, isn't it that we should always remember him?"

The stunned Liya slowly raised her head, glanced at the pendant in her hand, and then let out a long sigh.

"Loren Turin, you ......" The female elf raised her gaze and looked at Loren:

"It's boring. ”

Well?

The black-haired wizard was stunned for a moment, and a smile froze on his face.

This was a big surprise to him.

"Next time you want to comfort someone, don't go around in such a big circle. The female elf who snorted softly glanced at him with disdain: "Not everyone likes to listen to your nonsense, and your trick is only useful for Ain alone." ”

The words fell, and the female elf turned around in a dashing manner, leaving only the black-haired wizard with a back... There is also a pendant that is tightly held in the palm of the hand.

"The Lady of Lothair is right, Loren likes to go around in circles sometimes. ”

Brandon, who suddenly spoke, walked to the center of the crowd, and his crimson gaze moved to Loren: "But you're right... The soldiers, the knights, the warriors who died for the Empire, when we forget them, is when they really die. ”

"So everybody... We can never forget them, ever!"

When the words fell, the grand dukes bowed their heads and bowed.

"In order to achieve this, I think it's time to change the old rules, no longer just to build monuments and statues for the knights who died in battle, but for everyone... All those who have sacrificed their lives for the empire deserve this honor. ”

"Even if we don't know their names, ages and families, we have to engrave the battle flag of his army on a stone tablet so that those who come after us will know... They have been here and have stayed here forever. ”

"We need to make them understand that there is such a group of people... In order for them to live in this world, we chose to sacrifice ourselves, and we... All of us who are alive will always owe them inexhaustible kindness!"

Brandon's voice echoed in the middle of the clearing, not big, but loud enough for people to hear.

The whispering crowd fell silent, nervously holding their breath, and their eyes converged on Brandon... Their emperor.

For the first time, the voice of the "disgraced prince" gained power.

"I want them to know that the troll hunters of Arles are heroically in the forefront, and how the Grand Duke of Arles braved the arrows to fight the most ferocious Azorean elves in the flames;"

At that moment, Loren "inadvertently" noticed that the expression of Nolanade, Grand Duke of Arles, became very interesting.

"I want them to know that the archers of Lothair fought side by side with the elves of the Woods, the warriors who had single-handedly held off the armies of tens of thousands of ogres and Azorean elves, and that they did not need to say anything, but whose actions and sacrifices proved their promises, that they were the true guardians of the western frontier of the Empire;"

The elf bowed her head and stared motionlessly at the pendant clenched in her hand.

"I want them to know how brave and fearless the Elemish are, they are small, but they are the only swordsmen in the Empire who can go head-to-head with the Azorean elves. ”

Yuli Wirtz, who was silent, clenched the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"We want to let the fame of the Boi hussars resounding throughout the empire on the great green sea, and let the empire know that there is such a group of brave horseback people, and their brave archduchess. ”

Holding the "Iron Rider" long knife in her arms, Sallyka Jonah snorted softly and cocked her chin proudly.

"We're going to let the Empire know that there is such a group of Sakrans... They have lived half their lives in the mud and farmland of the country, and yet they have accomplished feats that the nobles of the city and the palace have not been able to accomplish, and let them know that Byrne is not just a land of knights, but that their peasants are just as brave and good at war as their knights!"

"Finally, we're going to let them know, and we're going to let the entire empire know, it's a bunch of wizards... It is the wizards who have been oppressed, ostracized, despised and oppressed in the past hundreds of years who have saved the Sakran Empire, which has not brought them any benefit!"

Brandon, who looked back suddenly, looked at the black-haired wizard with red eyes:

"I want to let them know that the era of heroism will end here, and that from this day forward, everybody... Everyone who fought for the Empire, sacrificed and dedicated for the Empire... They're all heroes!"

"Whether he is a commoner, a nobleman, a knight, a soldier, a servant of the Holy Cross, or a wizard of the Sakran Empire, they will be treated equally. ”

"Your deeds will be remembered by the empire, and your existence will be left in the books; ”

"This is the first decree issued by I, Brandon II, your Emperor, and it is the promise that I, Brandon de Salion, have made to you, that the empire will no longer be just the empire of the nobles, but that you and us, the empire of all!"

"The old era, which has been wiped out by the invasion of the Azorean elves, is before us all, today, now, under the rule of the fourteenth generation. ”

As the words fell, the Grand Duke raised the blazing torch in their hands and lit the nearest pile of firewood beside them.

"Long live the Emperor!!!"

"Long live the Dragon Rider!!!"

The mourning funeral turned into a sea of cheers at the moment of the flames, and the weeping warriors roared their loyalty to their new emperor and officially announced the arrival of the fourteenth generation.

Amid the thunderous cheers that rolled up and down, the expressionless female elf threw the pendant in her hand into the fire, and quietly watched it melt and burn.

The reluctant look is like seeing off a friend.