Daisy Richardson is dead.

Her body was dumped in a remote alley in the back of Elena, with a mat hastily covered to cover it. The people who disposed of her body were apparently in such a hurry that they didn't even have to find a better, hidden place to dispose of it, so that the people who had been looking for Daisy in the night could easily find her.

And with her, the bodies of two of her guards, BlackRock Neil and Anlogh Warren, were found with varying number of knife wounds, which at first glance had been killed in a fierce struggle. Daisy's wounds were only one, a knife wound from the lower edge of her back ribs, which killed her.

"Daisy......

Gastens sat on the ground and gently picked up Daisy's head and placed it in his arms. The girl who watched him smile in the library in the sun had closed her eyes forever. Her hair was disheveled, the front of her gray military uniform was stained with blood, and the corners of her mouth were half-dried with blood foam. Even though time had been frozen for her, she still frowned slightly, as if she had encountered some difficult problem that she couldn't solve.

"Daisy......

Gastens called her name softly, softly, as if she had just fallen asleep, and as long as she woke her up gently, she could be by her side as before, and give herself the greatest support and encouragement no matter what happened. It seemed that with such a gentle call, the girl he held in his arms would sit on the edge of the small bed in his office with a smile and look at him, as she had done countless mornings in the past.

"Gastens, it's time to get up."

"Daisy......

Gastens gently stroked the girl's face, the temperature of life had passed from her body, and the once delicate and moist skin had become stiff and cold, even on such a hot summer night, Gastens could not feel the temperature on her body. He shifted slightly, holding Daisy tighter in his arms.

"Chief......", Zink called out as he stood beside Gastens, looking at Daisy on the ground, and with some concern, "...... Daisy was killed. ”

Gastens didn't speak, he gently and thinly tried to smooth out a strand of hair at the corner of Daisy's hair, only to find that no matter how much he fiddled with it, the strand of hair had a natural stubbornness, and it was there unyieldingly. Finally, Gastens sighed softly, stood up, and picked up Daisy.

"Daisy, BlackRock, and Anrog all died for the revolution, and we're going to bury them. Now that the war has just passed, Elena has a lot to do, and the corpses of the summer can't be stored for long, so let's take them to the martyrs' cemetery and be buried with the rest of our soldiers. ”

Soon after arriving in Elena, Gastens arranged a plot of land on the south side of the town of Elena to bury the remains of the warriors. He called that place the Martyrs' Cemetery to pay homage to and remember those who died for the revolution. In the early days, when the situation was relatively smooth, the stone tablets standing in the middle of the martyrs' cemetery were not engraved with many names. But after this battle, those stone tablets are far from being able to contain the names of those sacrificed soldiers.

Even though it's the middle of the night, Lovely Lena is still brightly lit. In order to avoid causing a commotion among the people, Zink arranged for a carriage on which the three bodies were placed, and accompanied the carriage with Gastens to the martyrs' cemetery, where Daisy and his two soldiers were buried. Gastens stood by the tomb where they were buried for a long time before leaving in silence.

"Chief, there are two bodies found with them, whose identities have been clarified, both of them are new farmers who have fled from outside. Their wounds are the same as BlackRock's and Anlog's weapons, and we suspect—"

Gastens gently raised his finger and stopped Zink's words, "Let this matter go for a while, public before private, and we'll talk about it when Elena's affairs are arranged." ”

Gastens' voice was calm, but Zink could hear the anger hidden in his tone. The anger was so majestic and huge, but it was crushed by Gastens and hidden deep in his heart. It was a small but unusually heavy stone that hung in the young leader's heart, pulling every breath he took . But even so, he was trying not to let this affect the revolution.

"Boss," Zink's tone was equally heavy, "leave this matter to me, and I'll find out." ”

Gastens glanced at Zink, and the pain in his eyes stabbed him fiercely in the faint pyroxene light.

"I know, now, I want to take a break."

With that, Gastens leaned back on the carriage and closed his eyes. In just a few minutes, he fell asleep, breathing long and even. It was only then that Zink realized that the leader had been mentally exhausted after nearly ten days of fleeing and fighting. He looked at Gastens, who was already asleep, and reached out to remove the gold-burning contacts that were placed on the pyroxene.

The carriage gradually dimmed.

————————————

When the carriage returned to Elena's factory, Zink woke Gastens up. Together, they went to the council room and met all the members of the council who were still alive.

Gastens, Ivan Warren, Zinker Warren, Bimbo Bobroughf, Eddie Warren, Thomas Gurakos, Charlie Harry Warren. Less than a year after the founding of the party, the eight comrades who founded the Communist Movement Party were able to gather together to fight for a common ideal. However, the woman who was heroic at the beginning could never appear again.

"It's getting late, everyone has been fighting for so long, we're all tired, we'll talk about the specific things tomorrow, now, let's discuss the general direction of Elena next", Gastens has recovered, and the whole person is full of high morale, if it weren't for Zink and Ivan to know what just happened, they would have thought that Daisy's death was just a nightmare.

"Your Excellency, you can say it, and we promise to carry it out."

Charlie Harry was the first to speak, his agricultural bureau had little influence in this battle, and he himself was more doing rear work, and his spirit was okay. However, he was also one of those who witnessed the stormstorm of Gastens thunderclouds up close, and when he spoke, he could hear his respect and a hint of fear.

"It's not an execution, it's a discussion," said Gastens, who had realized that because of the magic he had unleashed, almost everyone now suspected that he was the Grand Magus. And communicating with an archmage on an equal footing is still a very difficult thing for these people in front of him.

"Again, I want to stress to you that I, Gastens Warren, am not an archmage, and I cannot unleash magic again. The thundercloud storm just now was an opportunity I got by chance, and it is impossible to repeat it. The purpose of our party has always been collective decision-making and joint implementation. So, don't feel any psychological pressure because of that thundercloud storm, I am me, Gastens Warren, a small serf, an ordinary person fighting for the cause of communism. Please remember this! In the future, I will see anyone who shows me that kind of deference to the Magister, and don't blame me for criticizing him in public! ”

"Got it, boss!" , Ivan was the first to agree. After the conflict with Gastens, he and Zink came to accept Gastens more quickly than the others. So, he's really trying to see Gastens as an ordinary person.

"Very well," Gastens nodded at Ivan, "Let's talk about the situation briefly." ”

"Everyone", Ivan nodded at Gastens and stood up, "This time Elena defensive battle, we fought very hard, heavy losses, the specific details, I will discuss it in the military group later, now I will briefly report to you the results of our battle this time." Since the Neglo Republic broke through the defensive line of the Western Military District, we have completely destroyed the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd armies of the Neglo Republic, totaling 120,000 people. At the same time, we inflicted heavy losses on the 17th and 18th armies, wounding and killing about 5,000 of the enemy. On the Eliot side, thanks to the magic of Comrade Gastens, we completely annihilated the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the Guards Army, a total of 60,000 men. In total, about 190,000 people were killed. ”

"I add," Gastens raised his hand, "I saw that there were a large number of Ankenrein soldiers on the periphery of our Elena when I was casting my magic, and I should have planned to attack the Negru Imperial army on the march. Those soldiers are about 300,000 people, all of them are new soldiers, and they are not far from Elena, and they need our attention. ”

The information provided by Gastens caused a low discussion. After that, Charlie Harry reported on the agricultural situation, the overall damage was limited, and the impact of the war on farmland and this year's grain harvest has not yet been counted. And Bimpo Bobruv reported on the situation of Elena's livelihood, because the war situation was very bad for a while, and Elena had some saboteurs, although they were severely suppressed by Zinke, but they also caused some losses. Gurakos reported on the situation at the factory, which had been fundamentally damaged due to the decision to evacuate, and that it would take time to repair the core components of many large equipment. The most devastated of these was the Elena No. 1 Factory, which mainly produced weapons. Several other factories have been preserved intact because they produce essential products for life without technical thresholds.

"Overall, our losses are manageable," Gastens summed up briefly, "now I'll talk about what I think, and then I'll hear from you." ”

Several people in the audience nodded, and they were also curious about how Gastens planned Elena's future after the release of the thundercloud storm.

"First, I want to make full use of this forbidden spell magic and the suspicion of the outside world to quickly control the whole province of Ensten Province, and control the northern province of Siloa as soon as possible, so as to stabilize our power within the two provinces. Abolish serfdom, promote the agrarian revolution, improve the conditions of the workers, build the grassroots organizations of the Communist Party, and draw the peasants and the working class to rally around us in these two provinces. I will ask Ankenrein to open up the movement of people to us, allow serfs from other provinces to enter our sphere of influence, and expand the ranks as soon as possible. ”

With the aftermath of a thundercloud storm, Gastens has a high degree of credibility in his words. The councillors listened attentively and kept taking notes. Gastens waited for everyone to remember almost and continued.

"Second, it is the reorganization and expansion of the military system. Previous battles have shown that our military lacks an effective and stable command system and relies too much on the prestige and experience of individual individuals. We will discuss the specific content of the reorganization later, and you can think about it and make suggestions after the meeting in light of the situation of this battle. ”

The council members nodded, and Ivan and Eddie, who came from the military system, were the most excited. They quickly jotted down what Gastens had to say and waited for his next focus.

"Thirdly, it is also a problem that everyone will encounter in the near future. After this thundercloud storm, the eyes of the world will be on us, and everyone will try to find an answer, trying to figure out if I am a Magister or not. So, here, I give you a unified voice, I am not a magister, I can only cast magic once. You tell anyone who tries to get close to you to know the information, and let them go back and guess for themselves if what I said is true. At the same time, there will be many forces that want to enter Elena and want to connect with us during this time. Do you have any comments on my suggestion that Bimpo Bobruv be the head of Elena's foreign affairs at the same time? ”

Several councillors shook their heads. Ivan and Eddie are going to war, and the task of reforming the military system is heavy, and they don't have the heart to engage in diplomacy. Charlie Harry was a serf, he had just learned to write, and he had a lot to do in agriculture, and the future land reform in the two provinces was also a tricky matter, and he couldn't get out of it. As for Gurakos, the factory has always been Elena's lifeblood, and Gastens will not allow him to focus elsewhere. Zinke is in charge of intelligence and law and order, and it is not easy to show his head, and no one else can take over this job except for Bimbo Bobruf, who is in charge of people's livelihood.

"In addition", Gastens seemed to suddenly remember something, "the matter of internal affairs, Binpo Bobruff, you also do it first, Daisy is sacrificed, we are short of manpower, you should be busy, work hard." ”

Daisy sacrificed?!

Not all of the councillors in the room were aware of the situation, and they looked at Gastens with some surprise, unable to believe that Daisy had just left. Gastens saw that everyone was worried, so he had to briefly reassure everyone.

"Daisy was killed by an enemy hiding in the shadows, and I will equip you with guards during this time, so everyone should be safe. Is there anything else you want to discuss? ”

The councillors asked for details about what Gastens had just arranged, and then ended the meeting. By the end of the meeting, the sky was already a pale white, and it was the next day's sun, which was rising. Gastens returned to his office and fell headlong into the bed, trying to sleep, but he couldn't. His eyes were closed, but his mind was full of Daisy's shadow, her smile, her words, her hugs, kisses, and love. Those memories rolled in his mind, making his heart like a knife.

Daisy......

Gradually, the office fell silent. Gastens Warren frowned and lost consciousness. Outside the window, a new sun is slowly rising.

The longest day in Elena's history has come to an end before she knows it.