Silver Oak City, the capital of the Kingdom of Orem, is backed by the Ösk Mountains that stretch eastward, in the northern part of the Eloline continent, in the heart of the Konderbach family's White Oak Province.

The capital, built on a hill, is shaped like a semicircle, covering the plains that stretch out from the foot of the mountain. The towering walls encircled like the arms of a giant, defending the city. At the apex of the semicircular wall, a wide promenade extends from the gates, lined with undulating houses, ending in Oak City's famous Place of Order. In the center of the square stands a huge statue of Somu, the god of order, holding a spear high and facing the promenade, staring majestically into the distance.

The terrain rises gently at the end of the square, and the area up the hillside is the residence of the nobles and the administrative office of the capital. At its peak, there is the seat of the pinnacle of power in the Kingdom of Orem, the Oak Palace.

It is such a city that has experienced dynastic changes and countless wars, and still shows its greatness and majesty to the world after thousands of years. Because of this, Silver Oak City is known to the world along with the city of Aranok in the eastern world, the city of the moon crown in the forest of the moon, and the stone mason mountain city in the mountains of steel rocks.

The hustle and bustle of the day gradually fell into silence as night fell, and the moon looked down from the middle sky, and its warm silver glow was like a transparent veil, gently covering the great city.

A string of horses' hooves sounded in the square in front of the Oak Palace, and the palace guards on night saw the identity of the comer, Sirian Savarandi, Duke of Junhe, by the light of the torches, and bowed to salute.

Sirian nodded, then jumped off his horse and walked up the steps.

Beneath the thick columns in front of the palace stood the Minister of the Interior, Knut Douai, an old butler who had served in the palace for more than forty years. The dark gray hair is neatly combed back to the head, a pair of eyes are always lowered, the slightly pursed lips are resolute, and the somewhat thin figure looks firm and powerful because of the straight waist.

"Good night, Lord Duke. "It's been a long time since Canute has greeted anyone in person, with the exception of Cillian, for for decades he has seen in the duke a quality that runs throughout, as well as a noble personality.

"Good night!" Cyrian followed the voice and immediately saw Cnut waiting for him, "I've been waiting for you. "Cyrian has always had the utmost respect for the old steward.

"Don't care about me, old man, come on, His Majesty is waiting for you in the study hall. Canute smiled and waved his hand, turning to lead Sirian deeper into the palace.

In 1593 of the new calendar, the Third Sardinia War broke out suddenly. The rebels set out from the town of Ponte in the southern part of the province of Sardinia, and soon marched north to capture the provincial town of Sardinia. When the news of the battle reached Silver Oak, King Mulham Mahes Konderbach immediately summoned Cilian Savarandi, Duke of Junhe, from his territory to the capital, and appointed him as the general of the legion, and recruited troops from all over the country to put down the rebellion. On the eve of the legion's departure, Sirian received an order from His Majesty to summon him to the palace in the middle of the night.

Following Canute through the winding corridors, it wasn't long before a large and delicate study hall appeared in front of Cillian. The whole study hall is covered with a thick carpet, and when you step on it, you will feel a slight sinking feeling, the tall bookshelves are neatly arranged against the wall, the exposed walls above the bookshelves are half gray and half red, and further up, the ceiling is painted with statues of gods and angels, and there is a chandelier that radiates soft light.

In the middle of the study hall was a quaint long table, on which were placed a few books and some parchment, and by the light of the candlestick in the corner of the table, a silver-haired old man was sitting behind the long table, reading the letters carefully.

The old man's high forehead was covered with the wrinkles left by the years, locks of silver hair covered his sideburns and ears, and under the bulging brow bones were a pair of calm blue eyes, which shone with the brilliance of wisdom, keen and kind. His face was a little emaciated, and the straight lines outlined a determined majesty in the candlelight.

This old man is Mahes Kunderbach, the king of the kingdom of Orem, who has ruled for more than sixty years and has given everything to this kingdom, and of course, in exchange for the most powerful kingdom on the continent of Eloline. The wise, kind, just, learned, and the subjects of Olem gave this king all the good words, for it was the praise he deserved.

"Your Majesty, Duke Junhe has arrived. Knut said, bowing down.

The old man withdrew his gaze from the letter, looked up and smiled, and said, "Come here, Sirian, come over here." Then he nodded to Knut, who bowed and quietly withdrew.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Sirian bowed in answer and walked briskly to Maheth.

"Look at the text that has just been sent from the province of Sardinia. Maheth handed the letter to Sirian and rubbed his forehead a little tiredly, "The rebels killed the governor of Sardinia, Tarquin, and hung his head on the wall. At the time of writing, the rebels were besieging the Fort of Terra, north of Sardinia, and I am afraid that by the time we read the letter, the Fort of Traal had already been captured. ”

Sirian quickly swept the entire letter, his brow tightly knit together as Maharith's words followed. Obviously, the battle in the province of Sardinia was far beyond expectations, even to the point of complete defeat.

"For the sake of the Lord God, there is a standing army of at least four thousand men from Tellar Fort to Sardinia City, is it possible that the rebels are so powerful?"

Maheth shook his head lightly and whispered, "Is that really the case? No, the rebels are not strong by force but by determination. As for us, our nobles and army in the province of Sardinia have long been drained of all courage and faith by the greedy **. With that, Maheth casually threw the text on the long table.

Sirian was slightly stunned, but he didn't know how to answer. As we all know, the purple phosphorite of Sardinia Province is exported to all corners of the Eloline Continent, in addition to the official mining, the ore smuggling business is repeatedly prohibited, even a fool will not believe that there are no major noble lords and the shadow of the governor of Sardinia.

"Come with me, Sirian. Sitting at the table for a long time made Maheth's body ache, and Sirian untied his cloak and draped it over the old king's body, and then gently took his arm.

Maheth smiled and patted Sirian, for this Duke of Junhe who he watched grow up, the old king pinned almost a nephew-like emotion on his body.

Passing through the porch, outside the study hall is a spacious terrace that looks down on the entire Silver Oak City.

The early summer night breeze blew Mahos's silver hair a little unkempt, and the old man spread his arms on the stone platform at the edge of the terrace, as if thinking about something, and cast his eyes into the thick night.

"Tell me, Cyrian, what is the cornerstone of a kingdom's strength?" asked Maheth as if to himself, and before Sillian could reply, he patted the stone platform in front of him lightly and continued, "Believe me, that cornerstone will never be a majestic castle, a lofty nobleman, or even a mountain of gold coins. It's the most ordinary, the thousands of people. ”

Maheth turned his head to look at Cyrian, his voice a little lonely, and a hint of unspeakable frustration. "And even more ironically, I am going to send my army and point my sword at the people of my own mouth. ”

"That's not your fault, Your Majesty. Sirian replied with some excitement.

"Sometimes, no one cares about right or wrong...... Faith gives courage, **breeds madness. When the two are entangled in a small province, nothing can come as a surprise. Maheth smiled wryly and waved his hand, scanning the city with his gaze, then pointed to a place that was still somewhat shiny and said, "There, Sirian, do you know where it is?"

"There's ...... Oak Pride Tavern?" Because the Oak Pride Tavern is so famous, every new Knights of Order will go there for a celebration, not to mention that their vanilla fruit wine is famous far and wide, known as the No. 1 wine in Orem, so Sirian replied without thinking.

"Yes, the pride of the oak tree. There, I met your father for the first time, and then we fought with old Ian in Black Rock City, and I'm sure that guy must have known who I was at the time. "That's fast, isn't it?" Mahers recalled with a pleasant smile, "they're all gone, and I'm the only one left." ”

Sirian listened, his eyes slightly reddened. He suddenly realized that the familiar father-like king in front of him had really grown old, and time had quietly taken away everything, and when he realized it, only gloomy sadness remained.

"Cyrion, after I'm gone, I want you to help Aiden as much as possible, he needs you, this kingdom needs you. ”

"Your Majesty......"

Before Sirian could finish, Maheth interrupted him. "Don't be sad, I know my body all too well, the Lord God has been generous to me as an old man, hasn't he?" and paused, "Also, after the end of the Sardinia War, I will remove the Knights of the Frostwood Heart of Donis." ”

Ciri tightened his mind and immediately realized what the old king meant. Mahes had two sons, the eldest being Eden Kanderbach and the other Donnis Kanderbach. Strictly speaking, both sons were very good, in contrast, Aiden was more focused on politics, and Donis was more military.

In many cases, the issue of the inheritance of the throne is not prominent when the qualifications of the heir are obvious, but if both parties are excellent, it becomes a matter that has to be carefully arranged.

"I won't be attending the departure ceremony the day after tomorrow, it's time for Aiden to take some responsibility. Maheth looked at Cyrion, "Promise me, Cyrian, to bring back as many of these lads as you can, I can't stop the war, but that cold battlefield shouldn't be their end." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty......"

"May the god of order protect you, child......"

The night grew darker and thicker, and it was the last time Sirian spoke to his beloved king.

No one could have imagined that on the eve of the end of the war, Maheth left the kingdom he loved, and finally did not wait for the triumphant song from Sardinia.