In the north of the Empire, a remote nameless mountain village. It was one of the most remote areas of the empire, covered in snow all year round, and few people cared about it except that the tax collector would remember that there was such a place on the roll and routinely send someone to collect the tax. Like the countless villages in the Empire, it is constantly feeding the vast Empire, important but obscure

But today, what the villagers saw in the village chief's house was not a fierce tax collector, but two young soldiers of the Imperial Army, who did not enter the village to kick the door and rummage through the cabinets to find the last coin hidden by the villagers, as they usually did with the brother-in-law of the two tax collectors, but politely asked others about the village chief's residence, if it were not for the armor on their bodies indicating that it was the Imperial Army, the villagers would still think that the rumored revolutionary army had really won

"Is this from Tazmi?"

More than a dozen villagers gathered around the small table of the village chief's house, staring at the table with wide eyes and disbelief at the box brought by the two soldiers, the glittering gold coins in the box to be exact. The villagers had never even seen such a large amount of gold coins in their lives, let alone a whole box in front of them, and the soldiers told them that it was the young man from the village who had gone out, and that Tazmi had earned the money that Tazmi had commissioned to send back to subsidize the village

Compared to the gold coins, the news that the tax collector and his relatives had been arrested for abuse of power and that the village would be exempt from paying taxes for two years was less surprising

"Yes, Mr. Tazmi has instructed us to deliver the gold as soon as possible," said the soldier meticulously, "and he also told us about the difficulties of the village, so we hurried from the imperial capital as soon as possible."

"Great, it's really good" The old village chief wiped the corners of his eyes, but this time the tears were no longer because the food and gold coins in the village were all collected by the empire, and the people in the village had tears of grief when they starved to death without food in the winter, "There are the gold coins sent back by Iyeas and Sayo last time, plus the ones sent back by Tazmi, this winter, no one will starve to death again, great......"

"Village chief, there is still a lot of food left this year, and we can use these gold coins to buy a few cows to survive this winter."

"Yes, village chief, if you cultivate a little more fields, you will definitely have a bumper harvest next year."

"I don't have to pay taxes next year, as long as I work hard, I will definitely be able to fill the granary in the village!"

Listening to the happy discussions of the villagers behind him, the village chief bent down and sighed, for the first time in many years, he could see an expression of hope on the faces of the villagers who were oppressed by heavy taxes, "Alas, thanks to the three of them, now that the war is over, they should also come back to take a look, and when the time comes, they must make a grand welcome" As he spoke, the village chief looked up at the sky outside the window. It was snowing heavily, but the sky was cloudless, and the sunlight shone into the hut through the glass, giving people a warm feeling, as if the wind and snow were not so cold.......

At this time, the hero of the village, Tazmi, was sitting in the tent with a heavy face, and Qiuchen was sitting opposite him, compared to the vigor outside, the tent looked a little strangely dull

"You're sad, Tazmi, why" After a while, Qiuchen opened his mouth to break the silence, he didn't know where to take out a bottle of fruit wine, poured himself a glass, and also poured a glass for Tazmi "I'm curious, can you tell me why"

Tazmi glanced at the cup in front of Qiuchen without interest, and then lowered his head, "The revolutionary army has failed, Qiuchen, the empire is still that empire, I once dreamed of building a brand new country, and when I first met the boss, I found that I could work hard for my dreams and let the power be used in the right place, I once firmly believed that there would be no more wars, and there would be no more people who would let Sayo and Iyeas die!" ”

Tazmi's voice was tinged with a hint of weeping, "Why is this happening...... Are they all fake? What am I striving for? There is no new world at all, it is just a fairy tale, now it is all over, the dream is over, the revolutionary army has failed, the empire has triumphed. Iyeas, Sayo...... I can't change the world, I can't save the village, only the man-eating monster has taken away my two best friends......"

Looking at Tazmi, who couldn't stop crying, Qiuchen sighed, picked up the small cup, and drank the somewhat bitter fruit wine in it, "Tazmi, the revolutionary army has failed, but has the revolution really failed?" After you have taken a good look at the imperial capital with your own eyes in the past few days, do you really think so?"

"......" Tazmi was silent

"The revolution has succeeded, Tazmi" Qiuchen stood up, walked around the table to him, crouched down and patted him on the shoulder, "This is the new world, and new sprouts can only grow from the soil after the flames of war have burned the rotten and dead branches." It takes a lumberjack to cut down a giant tree with the swing of an axe, and it takes more than a few hundred years to plant a new giant tree. Faced with the same tree, I would rather repair the dead wood on the trunk that has died but is still devouring nutrients than cutting it down completely."

"Come with me, aren't you talking about fairy tales" Qiuchen put his arm around Tazmi's shoulders and walked to the door of the tent, he stretched out his hand to lift the curtain, the noon sun was a little dazzling, but it was the sun that shone brightly, and the seeds that survived the winter could break through the frozen soil and grow new green "I never believed in fairy tales, look over there"

Tazmi's reddened eyes looked in the direction of Qiuchen's finger, only to see two familiar figures standing not far away, and after seeing Tazmi come out, Iyeas and Sayu beckoned to him with a smile at the same time

"Long time no see! Tazmi! ”

"Hey, Tazmi, you just cried! Hahaha, how could Uncle Iyeas's friend cry his nose! ”

"Tazmi, what are you doing standing stupidly, come here, we still have to discuss when we will go back to the village to visit the village chief and them"

"Iy, Iyas, Sayo......" Tazmi opened his mouth, as if he doubted whether he was dazzled, he rubbed his eyes, and even more laughed at Iyas, "You, I thought this was ...... How could it be ......"

"I said, Tazmi," Autumn Dust whispered in Tazmi's ear, "I don't believe in fairy tales. But do you know how to make people stop thinking of fairy tales as stories, only when they turn fairy tales into reality...... Hurry up, I know you still have a lot of questions, go ask Iyeas and he will tell you everything"

Qiuchen smiled and pushed Tazmi, "Also, boy, don't take out that crying face again, remember!" ”