Gallinalo, Golia.

As the capital of Gaulnalo, Goli is the most prosperous place in all of Gaulnalo, and although the steam technology cannot be compared to that of the old Dunling, the power of the country can be seen in the towering buildings.

The countless minarets, like spears piercing into the sky, converged into mountains with raised blades, like mountains raised from the ground.

The royal abode of the Garrell royal family was located in the middle of the mountains, on the highest peak, from which their king could easily look down on all of Golia, and beyond, as if everything were in his hands, like a sand table.

After the night of tribulation, Cornell did not stop much at the port of Maruri, he simply bandaged his wounds, and then returned to Goli, where he walked back and forth in the days that followed, unable to sleep at night, thinking bitterly about certain things.

Many ministers who saw Cornell had the same consensus, Cornele had changed, and they couldn't say exactly where it had changed, they could just feel that the successor of the kingdom was much more complicated than their previous selves, and the previous Cornele couldn't hide his inner thoughts, he was like a naïve child, his thoughts and actions could be easily seen through, and now the ministers couldn't see him clearly.

Cornell seemed to be shrouded in an unknown fog, his head bowed, his eyes cold, like a dead reaper, looking indifferently at this world that had nothing to do with him.

"Hasn't my father's illness improved?"

Cornell stood in the dimly lit corridor and asked the doctor beside him.

The doctor swallowed, Cornell usually gave people a very easy-going feeling, and now he was like a cold sword, overwhelming the doctor.

"No, and it's getting worse. ”

"Is that so?"

Cornell rubbed his head in pain, his father became king after the defeat in the Glorious War, when Gaulinaro was devastated and the people were extremely angry with the royal family, in order to calm it down and get Gaulinaro back on his feet? His father worked very hard.

Good thing he did it in the end? The kingdom is revitalized, and he is tired from the dark illness and exhaustion of his early years? Lying in a hospital bed like this for many years? It's like a corpse that breathes.

"Is he still awake?" asked Corneel.

"There's still a little bit of consciousness......," the doctor said.

"Okay, I got it. ”

Cornell waved his hand? Motioned for the doctor to leave.

At this time, he was the only one left in the dimly lit corridor, and at the end of this corridor? Behind that door was his father? Now the king of Gaulinaro.

Cornell thought for a long time, and seemed to have made up his mind, and he walked towards the door, his steps firm and heavy.

Slowly pushing open the door? Not having a lot of light in the room? The curtains were closed, and not a single ray of light could be revealed, except for a faint glimmer in the corners, so that the room would not be completely engulfed in darkness.

There is a person lying on the big bed in the middle, and his breathing is very steady? The body also rises and falls slowly with the breathing.

Cornell walked to the edge of the bed and sat down on a low chair? After a long time, the person in the bed seems to finally realize that someone is coming? He turned his head with difficulty, his old face revealing death.

"Father. ”

Cornell reaches out his hand? Hold the palm of the king's aged and withered hand? Chilly on it? There is no temperature for a living person.

"Cornell?"

The king blinked vigorously, trying to get a good eye on Cornell's face, and reached out to try to caress his face, but it touched the scar that had not yet healed.

"I'm starting to look like a man. ”

The king stroked the scar on Corneer's face, the last of Ivar's remains, and felt the faint pain, Cornell whispered.

"There's a lot going on, and I feel like there's something I should talk to you about. ”

The ghostly figure in his mind reappeared, the deformed dying creature holding the twisted steel towards him, and such images would always come to Cornell's mind, dominating his dreams.

"Oh, Marurie? I've heard about it. ”

The king tried to sit up, but his tired body had no strength to speak of, and after a few attempts he gave up, and lay on his bed looking out into the darkness.

"How do you think the situation will play out after that? Corneer. The king asked.

"War is inevitable, Invig needs to destroy our position to secure power, and the Vikings need to raid to overtake others, this is a war that cannot be refused, and I suspect that their fleet will be assembled long ago, and perhaps tomorrow it will appear in our seas. ”

Cornell frowned, war was coming, and no one could stop it.

"Then what do you think we should do?" asked the king again.

"The Rhine League, once Gaulnalo falls, the countries bordering us will be completely exposed to Invig's vision, especially Lebber, if they can, they will never let go of the cypress iron produced by Léber, this important resource is enough to make Invig's steam technology advance by leaps and bounds, with these, our alliance will only be closer. ”

The king looked at Cornele approvingly.

"Isn't that great? They have their spears, we have our shields. ”

"But...... But these are too idealistic, the human heart is unpredictable, and we may be able to trust our allies, but we can't trust them absolutely, and ...... The interior of Gaulnalo is not a monolithic plate either. ”

Cornell spoke his sorrow completely.

"The believers of the Evangelical Church are not worried, under the pressure of the Orthodox Church, their voices will only become quieter, but the other ministers and dukes do not see it that way, they have huge industries in all walks of life, and war will only shrink their wealth, maybe they will refuse war, and then these discordant voices will slow us down, and you have the power to rule over them, but now you are trapped in a hospital bed......"

Cornell's voice gradually lowered.

The king did not speak, but after a long time, he slowly talked about the past.

"Did I tell you anything about your grandfather?"

"No, his name is a taboo, and when I was a child, I would be scolded by you even if I was curious. ”

Cornell remembered his grandfather, the closest to the Mad King, who threw a banquet and poisoned all the royal family until only Cornell was left in the empty palace.

"Then let's tell it now, if I die, no one really knows this story...... He is a hero, heroes should not die in obscurity, someone should always remember his deeds. ”

The king struggled to recall, his mind in a state of confusion, and his memories were a little blurry.

"I was about the same age as you at that time, and the whole royal family was a loyal believer, but your grandfather was not, and he always wanted to break free from the shackles, so he created the Iron Law Bureau, and did a lot of strange things, until one day he was targeted by the Evangelical Church, and his actions angered the gods, and maybe in a few days he would be condemned as a heretic and be eradicated.

Your grandfather also thought about how to resist, he tried to unite all the royal family members to resist, but he found that everyone is pursuing different things, everyone else is quite fond of being believers, as long as they pray, they can enjoy glory and wealth, why should they resist?"

The king tilted his head and looked at Cornell with a smile.

"I remember it was a not-so-cold night, and your grandfather came to my room, and he was not like a king, but like an alcoholic drunkard, and he cried as he spoke...... I have never seen him like this, and he says that the honor he insists on is to those people like filth in the cesspool, and that if he does not break free from it, Gaulna Lo will always be bound by the Evangelical Church. ”

"At the end of the day he seemed to have made a decision, and he told me that he was going to do something big. ”

Cornell's heart suddenly froze, and he thought about what that big deal was.

"And then as you know, he held a banquet and poisoned all the discordant voices, purified the will of the royal family, hollowed out all power, and under the operation of the Iron Law Bureau, one nobleman after another became beggars.

But this was all later, when I rushed to the banquet with the minister and the guards, and among the corpses, he sat on a throne of corpses and drank like a madman. ”

As if he had gone back to the old days, the king's heart beat faster, and the scene resurfaced before his eyes.

"It's hard for me to describe my emotions at the time, I was flirting with the maid yesterday and was going to have a drink in the tavern, but suddenly my father went crazy, he killed everyone, the ministers and nobles were eyeing me, and I was the only one left in the whole royal family. ”

The door was pushed open, and instead of a corridor, there was a bloody feast, and on the throne of corpses, the Mad King looked at the king, smiling with satisfaction across time and space.

"Your grandfather was looking at me like that, and people said he was crazy and was going to rush up and kill him, but I saw it, and it was a pair of extremely clear eyes...... You have the same look in his eyes. ”

The king looked at Cornere.

"He's not crazy at all, he knows what he's doing. ”

The air was filled with the sweet smell of blood, and Cornele gripped the king's hand as if to squeeze the last of his warmth out of it.

"Do you know the transformation? Sometimes at a certain moment, a person suddenly transforms, and becomes another person with all his heart, from a confused child to a warrior, knowing what he should do and what kind of battle he should fight. ”

The cruel memories grew clear, and the king continued.

"It was that time for me, and I knew for a moment what he was going to do, what I was going to do, and then, under the watchful eye of your grandfather, I drew the sword of the guard, and ordered everyone to capture him alive.

In the following days I tried him for his crimes, blamed him for all his wrongs, and in order to appease his anger I executed him with my own hands in front of the people, destroying all evidence of his existence except this memory in my mind.

I became the new king, and since then there has only one voice left in the royal family. ”

The king's description was so true that Cornell felt the king's emotions in the trembling palms.

"I killed my father with my own hands, Corneel Garrel. ”

He let out a low roar, and then asked as if he had lost all his strength, his eyes blank.

"Father-killing, this is probably the curse of our royal family of Garrel. ”

The empty gaze turned to Corneer's face, and Cornele did not evade, and his calm gaze met that of the king.

"So you're here to kill me? ”

Cornell nodded in the affirmative.

"May I hear the reason?" asked the king.

"War is coming, the slightest mistake and we will be destroyed by the enemy, and as I said before, Gaul Nalone is not united, everyone has their own interests, all we can do is to reach as much consensus as possible and let them reluctantly unite.

But I can't, I'm not a king, I don't have the power to command them. ”

Cornell's voice was cold, he had already made all the decisions, nothing could shake him.

"Father, you are now the king of Gaulnalo, and you are now suffering from illness, and if you continue to delay like this, it will only slow down the efficiency of our war, and you may also be coerced by the ministers and nobles to make decisions that are not in our favor.

All I can do is formalize the king's authority before the war breaks out, otherwise your death during the war will be a major blow to our morale, and maybe a power struggle.

Even if you give way to me, your presence may become a banner for those who oppose me, who may rebel against me in your name, or even say that in the near future you will think that I am wrong and stop me. ”

Countless conjectures had already been conceived in his mind, and Cornell had returned to the capital to kill the king and his father.

"Who are you?"

The king asked.

"Gallo Nalo. ”

Cornell replied.

"I'm curious, you were just a normal kid not long ago, what changed you? ”

The king had no fear, as if death were a very ordinary thing for him, not to be feared or to look forward to.

"A Viking. ”

Mr. Cornell said he looked a little confused.

"I haven't known him for long, maybe only a few hours? He's a deformity, he doesn't like war, he just wants to find a place to spend his life casually, but he ended up being drawn into this strife, it stands to reason that a guy like him should resist fighting, but at the end of his life, this deformed died like a warrior, interpreting his life as worth.

I didn't understand at first why he did it, he did what he hated the most, and gave his life for it, and he was miserable until he died, but he was willing to do it for the greater good.

I think I now understand that there are things that have to be done for the sake of ideals and purposes that are not noble or dirty. ”

"Have you thought about the price? For whatever reason, you will do evil and make mistakes, and such people will be punished, whether there are gods in this world or not, are you ready?"

The king asked.

"My grandfather sacrificed himself for what he is now in Gaulinaro, and now I sacrifice myself, what is it?"

Cornell said expressionlessly.

"Gaulna will live forever, father. ”

The king was stunned for a long time, then burst out laughing, and patted Cornell on the shoulder as if admiring him, and this went on for a long time before he stopped.

"No, it's not necessary, kid, if you do that, your throne will be disputed, someone will attack you, spit on you, and maybe you will be the next mad king. ”

"Are you begging for mercy? wish I could let you live?" asked Cornell.

The king shook his head with a smile, and the next moment his sickly face showed anger.

"No, I just wanted to say that you don't have to be a sacrifice. ”

Little by little, the king sat up from the deep bed, and his withered and shriveled arms burst out with incredible strength, he was like a dying man, but the fire of life burned tenaciously, and slowly, he got out of bed, and stood up for the first time in a long time, his figure swayed a little, but at last he was strong and steady.

"My father, your grandfather, he made the way for me, so now let me make the way for you, Corneel Garrel. ”

The king put on his dusty robe and put the noble crown on his head.

The hallucinations in his eyes seemed to have finally dissipated, and the king saw the creature standing behind the door, and Currie, with his broken arm, smiled at him.

"Let me survive for a while, kid. ”

Everything seemed to go back to a long time ago, reminding him of the night before the bloody feast, and he turned to Cornell and said.

"Now, I'm going to do something big. ”