It had been several days since they returned to Valdosta, and the surviving soldiers of Ogden and Dayton had been well rested in the barracks on the edge of town, and most of the soldiers' injuries had been healed by several mages, but a significant number of soldiers were still too badly injured to heal completely, leaving them with lifelong disabilities. Botarus left a thousand Altuna soldiers behind at Fort Glory, and the king returned to Valdosta with the rest of his soldiers.

Fern and Stan wandered around the barracks boredly, the bustling barracks before the war was now deserted, quite a few cabins and tents were empty, the soldiers were honestly staying in the houses and roasting the fires, and only a few were still outside chopping wood.

Fern's gaze swept over the sizable barracks. "I really missed a big battle, and I don't know what the hedging between the two armies is like. ”

Stan smiles helplessly. "It's better to miss out, whether it's Sarah's time or this time, the most I've seen is death, and countless people have been left on the battlefield forever. ”

"But we're victorious, aren't we? It's cruel to say that to the dead soldiers, but for Wallis, we've kept it, at least temporarily. Fern stopped in front of a wooden house, where a young Altuna soldier was chopping firewood with a sharp axe.

When the soldier saw the two of them, he quickly dropped his axe, ran over, panted and asked, "Are you Stan, the knight who walked through the twilight forest?"

Stan raises an eyebrow in surprise. "That's right, I'm Stan, who are you?"

The young soldier's eyes widened in excitement. "Sure enough, it's you, I'm an Altuna soldier in the same formation as Quinton and Vlad, you can call me Les. The soldier waited for Stan to nod slightly before continuing. "Quinton once told me about your deeds by pointing to you, and that time it was so far away that I only saw a vague shadow of you, but Quinton can tell you very much. ”

Stan is embarrassed, but straightens up. "Thank you for the compliment, young man, I wonder how Quinton and Vlad are doing, are they ...... survived. ”

The look of excitement on Les' face vanished. "They were all dead, Quinton died not long after the battle began, he was shot through the throat by a stray arrow, Vlad, though he was lucky, didn't survive the cavalry's charge, a ghoul killed him, and they all died beside me. ”

Stan's left hand rests on his breastplate. "I'm sorry, Les, they have all done me a great favor, and may glory shine on them forever. ”

"Glory...... They sleep in the ground forever, and the glory will still shine on them?" Les looked up, puzzled.

"Of course, Les, glory favors every warrior who fights bravely, whether they are buried in the earth or alive in this world. Stan looked the young warrior in the eye firmly.

"Yes, I understand, yes. Les nodded to himself. "It's just that all my friends in the army have died, and now that I'm assigned to another team, and I'm going to get to know new partners again, I can't help but miss those comrades who died. ”

Stan pats Les the shoulder. "You're going to make new friends, as brave as Quinton and Vlad. ”

The smile returned to Les's face. "I see, thanks, Stan. With that, the young warrior stood up straight, gave a solemn military salute to the knight, and then turned and ran back.

A cold wind blew through Fern and Stan's already long hair, and the sea in front of his forehead obscured Fern's eyes, forcing him to pull the ends of his hair. "Did you mean what you just said, Stan?"

Stan looked at Fern in confusion. "Which one do you mean?"

"Every sentence. Seeing Stan's expression growing more and more confused, Fern smiled and patted him. "Glory shines on everyone, do you believe it?"

"As a knight, glory is my life, I can only ask myself to pursue glory, hoping that glory will be with me, but I cannot guarantee that glory will come. Stan looks back at Les, who is chopping wood again. "But I believe that as long as we do what is right, glory will come to us eventually. ”

Fern shrugged unobtrusively. "Well, you're a knight, and this topic doesn't mean anything to you, so I'll change the question. Fern thought for a few seconds. "Do you think we won this battle?"

Stan turns to Fern again. "I thought we were undoubtedly victorious, and we held off the Dark Tide's attempt to storm Artuna and drove them back to the far north, but when I saw the corpses of the dead soldiers and the deserted barracks, I began to wonder if that was really the case. ”

Fern nodded approvingly. "That's right, the number of Dark Tides who have been driven back to the Far North is much greater than our surviving soldiers, they have just lost their fighting spirit and have been forced to retreat, no one knows how many Dark Tides are still in the north, they seem to be endless, and our warriors, when they die, can never stand up again. ”

Stan seems to have thought of something, and his expression suddenly becomes serious. "According to what you say, could it be that the Dark Tide is just consuming the strength of the human race, they didn't want to capture the entire Wallis in one fell swoop, they just need to slowly consume it like this, and the human race will be gradually wiped out. ”

"I don't know, Stan, Adeline might know something, but even if it were, she wouldn't admit it. Fern sighed and looked feebly at the sky. "Even so, we were all almost defeated by the Darktide, and we can't imagine how long we could hold out if they did take Glory Castle. ”

Stan pulls his sword from his belt and thrusts it into the ground, then bracing his hands on the hilt. "What the hell are we supposed to do? Why didn't anyone tell us, we had to go to Adeline and ask for clarification. ”

"If she doesn't want to say it, you tie her up and torture her, and she won't say it. Fern's left hand rested easily on the hilt of his sword, and his right hand rested on his waist. "During this time, I learned that what should come will always come, because from the beginning, you have been swept up in and become part of the axle. ”

Stan blinked, looking at the mercenary in confusion. "How do you talk like those mages who are playing tricks? I don't like you talking like that. ”

Fern laughed. "You have to get used to it, Stan, and don't forget, Nerfi is a mage too. ”

"Hell, must it be Ray, or Ness, what did they say to you?" Stan's face turned red.

"They didn't say anything, and it would be unusual to say that I can't see anything in the way you two look at each other. As I said in Canrito, Nerfi is so beautiful, don't let her slip away. The corners of Fern's mouth curled.

Stan coughs twice to make himself less embarrassed. "By the way, Enoch told me about Quiai. ”

Fern's face turned serious. "Yes? I should have thought of it, but it doesn't matter now. ”

"Fern, I don't blame you, I can understand your situation, and in a way, it was Ness who gave Queai a chance...... Of course, you know, I'm not blaming Ness, she's helpless. Stan scratches the back of his head and begins to speak incoherently. "And, I'm sure, Quiai really has feelings for you, she's not a bad person. ”

"I understand, Stan, I'm fine. Fern stared at Mount Blackridge at the end of the horizon. "I just hope that no matter where she is now, she will be safe. ”

"She will, we will. Stan muttered to himself.

The cold wind blew the snow on the ground, brushing the two lonely figures standing in the snow, blowing their hair and cloaks, but it could not blow away the melancholy and anxiety in their hearts.