As the winter moon came to an end, the skies of the Tirisfard glades grew hazy. Thin gray clouds began to accumulate over this woodland, and the drizzle fell silently on the land, making everyone's thoughts very melancholy.

In the cemetery halfway up the hill of the monastery, dozens of brand-new cemeteries have appeared around the grave of Archbishop Fao of the Holy Light. Led by Locke, who had recovered from his wounds, the senior officers of the Scarlet Crusaders who remained here laid flowers to each of the probationary paladins and clerics who had died in the last battle.

Locke looked at the names he was familiar with or unfamiliar with, and there was no other thought in his heart.

They fell into battle with the demons for their ideals and beliefs, and as their commander, supreme commander, and high lord, Locke lamented their untimely death, but also developed a sense of disgust at this constant change.

Over the years, I seem to be in a hurry for everything, and I want to set up a game in advance before something happens. From entering the Crusaders to becoming the commander of the Fifth Legion, from entering the Silver Pine Forest to the Southern Theater of Operations, from the Southern Theater to the present .... This successive major event is always overwhelmed and carried out in an orderly manner.

It seems that this is good, it seems that everything is going according to plan, everyone sees himself as a hero, the savior of Lordaeron, the patron of the Light, the future king of Lordaeron, etc., all these glamorous titles are put on his head. But in the dead of night, Locke's indescribable loss and complicated feelings that no one can confide in him keep him awake at night.

Especially recently, Locke has always thought about this, and the goals he has been holding on to for a long time have been loosened. Locke knew it wasn't right, but he didn't want to change.

It felt like he was too tired, and he wanted to take a vacation and find a place to vent away from all these things.

But this is clearly not possible ...

The rows of newly carved semi-circular tombstones finally came to an end, and a new cemetery appeared next to Archbishop Fao. Withdrawing from all the people around him, Locke crouched alone in front of the tombstone.

"Uncle Ethanlien, now you know that what I said is true, right?" Looking at Ethanlyon's name on the tombstone, Locke couldn't help but sigh, "But what's the point?" You're gone. ”

"Your departure makes me suddenly feel that I have one less relative. It's as bad as the Grand Lord Mograini has left us. As he spoke, Locke turned his head to look at everyone who stopped in the distance, and he saw Sally looking at him with concern, and Locke smiled at her slightly, but his mouth was not closed.

"You see, now I have everything that none of you have. I have power, I have status, I have money, and even Ronin of Dalaran, the Prodmoor family of Coultiras, and their daughter Gianna have come to me. But what's the point? ”

"I suddenly felt that I shouldn't have been hiding anything from you in the first place, so that now I don't even have anyone to share my joy with..."

Locke's tears continued to flow down the corners of his eyes, and the exhaustion and remorse that had been suppressed in his heart seemed to suddenly well-up at this time. Looking at the tombstone in front of him, Locke realized what he had gained and lost over the years.

"I regret my own selfishness, and I was thinking about exculpating myself and hiding my greed and desire for status."

"If I had taken the initiative to tell you the news that Dassault Khan had been bowed down by the devil, I would not have taken care of anything else. Renault may not be fooled by Banazal, and the Grand Lord Mograini will not die. Maybe the Crusaders won't be divided, and you won't die in this battle against the devil. ”

"It's all happening! It's also because I'm afraid of being changed in history, not the one I'm familiar with. Locke wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, he looked down at the flowers under the tombstone and said, "I'm afraid of being changed in history.... I'm afraid to stumble forward in the unknown..."

"All this is because of my desire to make it all go according to history.... But what about the end result? Locke rubbed his nose and laughed self-deprecatingly, "I'm still on this path, is this a discovery of my conscience?" ”

"I've been thinking about this every night these days, and yet I'm living with the fact that I don't want you to die. Because when I think of it, I feel like I'm an executioner with your blood on my hands! ”

"What I have done has made me suffer from the condemnation of conscience for a long time. Now, I can't ignore what I've done, and that's retribution..."

In front of the distant tombstone, Locke's rare gaffe puzzled Sally and the others, and in the end, they could only attribute it to his deep bond with Ethanlien.

"Miss Whitemayne, go and get Lord Harvey back." Demitea touched Sally with her shoulder at her side, "This state is not conducive to his condition...."

"No, Great Sage." Sally, who knew Locke well, shook her head a little distressed, "I know him, just let him vent." There were so many things in his heart that he couldn't say to us. He needed someone to talk to. ”

"His physical condition has long been cured, and his current illness is in his heart."

In Sally's sight, the lonely Locke was so conspicuous. He always seems to be like that, when you think you are one with him, but you can clearly feel that he is out of place with everyone around him.

When he is not expecting, he is always looking at everything around him with a look that is difficult to describe. It seems that at that time, he was like a god on high, detached from everyone.

This secret conversation ended quickly, and when he appeared in front of everyone again, his face was gone.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Go back," Locke wiped the rain from his face, looked back at Ethanlion's tombstone again, and after giving him a solemn military salute, Locke resolutely left the place.

※※※

"Today is our first plenary meeting, and many of you are getting to know each other for the first time. I hope you can live in harmony in the future. "Locke's office, sitting, standing, and leaning against the wall, is full of people who can speak in every area.

There is the Speaker of the Council of Nobles; There are Sally, Demytia, and Farbanks, who represent the Church of the Light; There were Baron Berg and Hilo, who represented the local administration; There were some officers such as Hudson, who represented the military, as well as some other military branches.

Locke sat behind a large desk, and on the table in front of him lay a stack of stationery.

Glancing at everyone in the room, Locke pondered in his heart that it seemed that Shiloh had suggested that a new council hall or a castle of his own would be necessary.

His office in the abbey cathedral was already large, but now it was full. I can't go on like this, and I'm not short of money anyway.

Thinking of this, Locke directly said first, "Before the meeting, I need to make one thing clear. No, it's explicit...."

Locke pondered for a moment, then looked up at the people in the room and said, "Iva will exist as our administrative center in the future. And here! ”

Locke pointed to the undulating courtyard and tall cathedral spire outside, "This is the center of our religion, and everything that has to do with religion and the Light in the future will be dealt with here. This includes our local branch of the Church of Light..."

Locke's words made some in the room happy, while others were disappointed. Others looked in the direction of the former royal city, and then in the direction of Eva, silently pondering something.

In fact, for some time there was a heated debate among the congregations between the abbey cathedral and the Iva about the clarity of the administrative center under Locke.

Because of Locke's dual identity, the Church of the Light, which represents the abbey cathedral, and the two groups of people who relied on Locke's rise in Iva never stopped. Both sides also believed that Locke would choose them as the new administrative center.

There are also people who have raised their own objections, and of course, there are some people who have their own ideas.

"Why don't we get rid of the undead in the ruins of our royal city first?" Attending this high-level meeting for the first time, the speaker of the noble council, Viscount Quette, voiced his doubts.

He sat on the few chairs in the room and looked strangely at the others present.

"Gentlemen, ladies, and kings have long been the spiritual symbols of our Lordaeron, and isn't it obvious that it will become our administrative center?"

Those who knew Locke about this question were silent. People who don't know also want to know why this is.

Locke glanced at Viscount Queen, the speaker of the noble council who hugged his thigh. He has been doing very well lately, and the noble councils headed by him have not dragged themselves back for a long time. Even the minor nobles who had been left behind by Lordaeron no longer asked for their inheritance of their domains.

All of them are cooperating with themselves.

Strictly speaking, these people's fiefdoms have become their own territory, and it is estimated that they are also dead. Who allowed them to flee their territory in the war? But any nobles who resisted the actions of the undead, Locke did not take their territory. They will even hand over the land they have beaten down to them again.

This was the case with some of the Gilneth lords led by Baron Hardin Wellington of the Silver Pine Forest in the south. Locke also made him the military commander of his southern Silver Pine Forest, as a kind of example of wooing the old aristocracy.

The benefits of this were gradually revealed, and many of the minor nobles were no longer hostile to Locke. They began to find a way to enter Locke's administrative system, hoping that in this way, they could regain their own territory, or obtain a better one.

Locke could only do that, and in fact he also found problems in his own system. In the administration of the place, without the support of the previous nobles, it is difficult to achieve the same good results as in the past by relying only on the non-aristocratic affairs officials arranged by Eva.

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is:. Nine Heavenly God Emperor mobile version reading website: