Act I: Awakening
A snowy war horse carrying a messenger galloped through the rebuilt port of Ampesel, causing quite a stir as it passed near the war memorial under construction in the square of St. White.
White doves flew up in the square, scaffolding workers looked back in disbelief, robed monks at the fountain stopped to watch, and the messenger's ribbon embroidered with the emblem of the crescent moon shone in the sunlight.
Messenger of the royal family.
This is the first time in this half a month.
Something big had happened, and everyone was suspicious. But only those who are truly in the know understand what is happening:
The man woke up.
The disturbance of the entire port for half a month has finally come to an end.
β¦β¦
"Really?" Her Royal Highness the Princess was talking to the female officer and turned around, she looked at the squire who gave the order, and her beautiful silver eyes showed irrepressible surprise, "You wait, I'm going to see him." β
"Your Royal Highness Princess, let's tidy up your appearance first." The female officer on the side immediately reminded.
"No need." Griffiin didn't look back, he was already hurrying out with his skirt in hand, "Timis, help me prepare the carriage." β
As if in the darkness, Brando felt like he had gone through a long dream. The dream was both real and vague, he remembered the sawmill where he practiced swords when he was a child, but there were many people he knew and didn't know in the sawmill, and his grandfather taught him swordsmanship under everyone's watchful eyes.
There will be a scene of high-rise buildings and a constant stream of cars. The senior sister wore a gray trench coat and a thick scarf. Reading something in the bookstore on the other side of the crosswalk. He desperately called her name, but she didn't hear it.
He rushed across the road. But the scene changed again.
As soon as the qiΔ went dark, it turned into a quiet lakeshore. A tall tower stands on the shore of the lake, and a black moon is reflected in the water. Dots of starlight float in the canopy. This bizarre dream seemed to indicate something.
Brando waded alone towards the tower, and he shuddered at the sight of the shadow of a wolf walking through the forest.
Suddenly, however, the whole world was in turmoil again, as if the dream had been pulled out of his mind, and the scenery began to collapse. The restrained light broke through the darkness, and then his eyelids moved, and his eyeballs could feel a faint light through the capillaries under his eyelids.
At that moment, the five senses, which had been silent for a long time, seemed to be restored to work, and he first heard the chirping of birds. It seemed like some delightful early morning. But he lay on the warm bed and pondered for a moment before he remembered what had happened before, and the memories gathered in his mind like bits and pieces, forming a complete line.
He opened his eyes suddenly.
The light behind the gauze curtain made him squint again.
Then he saw Roman sleeping soundly, and the merchant lady was lying on top of him halfway, her little face pressed against his chest, her mouth open. Saliva hung a silver thread on the quilt.
Seeing this scene, Brando finally calmed down. I'm still alive. But what is this place? What was the outcome of the battle? What about Her Royal Highness the Princess?
He soon found himself lying on a large soft bed, a work of art, with columns covered in gold leaf supporting a vault of almost unimaginable luxury, and countless light veils hanging from all sides. Such a scene immediately linked the word 'palace' to his mind.
He looked up. Immediately saw Antitina looking at her nervously. Miss Staff looked a little embarrassed, in her opinion, the lord's fiancΓ©e was really a little unsightly, but she couldn't convince Roman to leave Brando, and the merchant lady hugged Brando tightly, as if she was holding a treasure.
She could only sigh: "Lord Lord...... You're finally awake. The second half of the sentence was still unspoken, but Brando could already see the joy and joy in her eyes.
He knew very well why Antitina sighed, and he could only reluctantly accept the behavior of the merchant lady. He nodded lightly to Antitina, and his eyes saw Metiza, the silver elf princess, surrounded by two handsome and clean elven warriors in silver chain mail and long hair shawls.
The silver elf came, Brando thought to himself.
"Your Lord."
"Your Lord."
"Your Lord!" As soon as Medisa spoke, everyone followed. Mordface looked like he was about to burst into tears, and if he hadn't been glared at by Andreg on the side, Charles and Cagris gave him a thumbs up. Eventually, Brando sees Akane on the couch behind everyone.
The introverted-looking girl just glanced at him from a distance and then breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened to the battle? What about Her Royal Highness the Princess? "Even though everyone is here, it looks like the results are clear at a glance. But Brando still asked uneasily.
An old but bright voice replied in place of Antitina: "By the noble deeds of a valiant young man, Ampesel - nay, the whole of Eruin is saved. Don't worry, little friend. β
The unexpected sound made Brando turn around. Only then did he find that there was an old man with silver hair and silver eyebrows, dressed in a white robe, and a kind face sitting by the window.
"Master Tulaman, you're here too." This time Brando was really surprised. The Silver Elf had come at his request, but Tulaman was an unexpected guest.
But he had actually thought of the other party's origin.
Sure enough, Tulaman smiled and replied, "At the invitation of an old friend, anyway, there is a demon here, and I should come back too." Wood's thing, it looks like I have to apologize to you, forgetting that guy is so stubborn. β
Brando was silent, not to blame Wood, but to think of how the nobles were not so stubborn. If there is still a little room for maneuver, it will not make a fuss about the situation of the day, and pay for this indifference. It is countless lives and blood.
Tulaman continued: "You also know that the High Priest himself is very remorseful, and in fact he has given up the position of High Priest and the first qiΔ of the Temple. He was willing to spend the rest of his life atoning for it. β
"Oh?"
Brando was slightly stunned, in order to maximize the reputation of the Flame Temple, Wood actually did this. People of their status generally do not take an oath at will, and once they do, they do not change it lightly.
Wood cut himself off. Gave up the opportunity to advance to the core of the temple. Originally, the threshold was only a step away from him.
Although he felt that the old fellow was a little excessive, Brando still regained some respect for the high priest. If a person has such principles and pursuits, at least he will not be a shameless person.
The previous qiΔ can only be attributed to the different pursuits of each one. Brando sighed and asked, "...... So, the High Priest is going to stay in Eruin? β
Tulaman gave him an approving look.
"My old friend had wanted to live in seclusion in Eruin, to become a district magistrate, to see if he could contribute a little to Ampesel's reconstruction. However, the temple assigned him another position. β
"Huh?" Brando hears the word temple. Sharply pricked up his ears.
"My lord, the Temple of Fire has asked Priest Wood to act as a liaison between the princess and the nobles of the north, and Priest Wood has accepted." Antitina replied.
"Liaison?"
Brando's heart was slightly stunned, this is interesting, he has not heard of this position in the temple. But what is the Flame Sanctuary up to the question, does it want Wood to make amends, or does it have other intentions?
Let's be honest. Of course, it is best to be able to reconcile the incident with the Temple. The Sanctuary of Fire is a behemoth after all, and even if it is inevitable that it will clash with the Cruz Empire in the future, Brando at least does not want it to be now.
However, it seems that the temple still does not give up.
He frowned, "So, does the temple still want to mediate between the north and the south?" "The rigidity of the Cruz people was really beyond his expectations. He also thought that the other party should have learned his lesson.
"Little friend, otherwise what are you going to do? Expelled all the nobles of the north, or killed them all? Tulaman looked at Brando with a look full of sagacity.
Tulaman woke up Brando with a single word, and he suddenly reacted, as if he had thought the problem too simply. It was true that he could not kill all the nobles or expel them, no matter how bad their reputation was, but at least he did not want to tear Eruin apart at once.
His brow furrowed deeply.
Moreover, there were many excellent talents among the nobles, and he had to admit that due to the difference in education, the chances of producing talents among the nobles were much greater than among the commoners. Of course, he could find a way to give the commoners the right to education, but it didn't happen overnight, and the kingdom couldn't be left ungoverned for a day.
Her Royal Highness has already started to do the same thing, but it will take at least a generation to see results. Until then, he does need the nobility to help build the future of Eruin.
But the crux of the matter is that most of the nobles are interested in their own interests, and there are too few people like Eco and Count Outin.
"But we can't let them go, not to mention that the cultists have already infiltrated among these nobles, and the Flame Temple itself may not be at ease." Brando thought about it for a moment and decided to start with the simple aspects first.
"But they have no reason to believe you," replied Turaman slowly, "and you have to believe that man does not make the same mistake over and over again, and that my old friend is a shrewd man, otherwise do you think that with his character, he would blindly obey the orders of the Temple?" β
Brando thought for a moment, and Wood, as a doer of the temple, did not seem to be a blind believer. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Does he want to stay and help Eruin, is there anything he can do?" What is his purpose? β
"Hey, it seems that you know my old friend very well." Tulaman raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Actually, the reason is very simple, it can be seen that my old friend is very optimistic about you, otherwise he would not have invited me here." β
"Wood presides over ......him," Brando heard in Tulaman's voiceover a message that struck him as incredible. Wood actually made peace with him, and he suddenly realized that Wood must have realized some of the shortcomings of the Flame Sanctuary from this disaster.
Could it be that this guy wants to change the way the Flame Sanctuary behaves?
He shook his head and threw the terrible thought out of his mind: "So, what is he going to do with the nobles of the north?" β
"I don't know, but you'll find out when you meet the man." Wood replied.
"Who?"
"You'll understand then," the lord of Castle Mithril smiled mysteriously, "Let's talk about your physical condition first, I'm curious that you can survive with your injuries like the one you had at the beginning." The people of the silver are afraid that they don't have the ability to do so. β
"This ......"
Brando was slightly stunned.
He suddenly remembered that he seemed to be going head-to-head with the Titans that day. At that time, life had fallen to less than a few thousand - negative, of course. It can be said that even if there were ten priests surrounding him to treat him after he fell unconscious, I am afraid it would not be too late to bring his health back to the positive number.
Because after all, at that time, the indomitable talent only lasted for half a minute at most.
And now he is alive and well, and he doesn't seem to be in any well. Tulaman asks him how he survived, and to be honest, it's a mystery to himself.
He suddenly thought of a possibility.
"Thank you for saving me, Master Tulaman."
Tulaman laughed, "I didn't save you, you have to thank this young lady." β
"Huh?" Brando was stunned for a moment, and immediately heard a grunt of dissatisfaction. "Humph!" He turned his head and immediately met the golden eyes.
There was a hint of dissatisfaction in the golden eyes.
It was a crystal-like color, with a bright flame burning inside, which looked moving, but it was full of confidence. These clear, transparent eyes belonged to a young girl - her owner could be described as short, with long curly hair playfully hanging down and hanging over her shoulders.
She was still wearing the same leather armor outfit as last time, but with a different look. The sword was not seen, but a book was in his hand.
Brando saw that the name of the book was called "Eruin's Culinary Anthology" in dragon language, and he was able to read it.
If ordinary people see this qiΔ, they will definitely think that this is a little girl who is full of vitality and has a love for cooking. But if you think so, you would be very wrong.
Because the little girl who glared at Brando viciously was actually a dragon.
And it was a very angry and very dissatisfied little female dragon.
It's about to burst out of his mouth......