When she was a child, her mother always placed the boy in her home in the imperial capital, where she was cared for by her grandmother, while she herself followed her father to the front and never returned.

The boy didn't know what his father was doing, and he didn't understand it, but every time he came back, he was scarred all over his body, and even seriously injured enough to need professional doctors and sublimators to go for treatment.

And his mother would always be by his side, and sometimes he would be injured, sometimes even worse than his father.

When he was a child, the boy was always incomprehensible, he would shed tears, he would beg his father and mother not to leave him, and he could not remember where his father's constant words were about 'home'.

All he knew was that every time his father wanted to reclaim his hometown, he would come close to death.

will be close to a farewell.

"Ayles, my child...... For you, who were born in the imperial capital, the Grant Territory north of Deep Yarn Harbor is a foreign word, but for me, for your mother, it was our childhood, the homeland of our birth, where our fortress and people once lived. ”

"Your grandfather, great-grandfather, and many more ancestors are buried there...... We have failed and fled in embarrassment, but one failure does not mean every failure, and we will one day succeed and reclaim our homeland! ”

Before leaving, the man left such words, he did not expect his children to understand, he only repeated his determination to himself.

Hometown, what exactly is hometown?

Young Ayers didn't understand the word, he didn't know what Grant Collar looked like, what the wind tasted like, whether the water was sweet, and whether the people's songs were melodious and gentle, like the tunes that grandma hummed.

It wasn't his hometown.

And what about the imperial capital? He was born in a city he was born in, he knew every street, he knew the smell of the air, and even had his own friends and memories.

But it doesn't seem to be his hometown either.

Grandma was a strict old woman, and every time his parents left for the front, she trained the boy strictly—she would not say anything about the glory of nobility, nor would she ask the boy to always remember to take back his homeland, the old lady had only one request, and that was to make the boy as strong as possible.

"Someday, we're all gone. At that time, you must already have its wisdom, and you will have your own friends and relatives. Ayres...... Even if you don't take back what your parents want to take back, just to keep what you have, you have to be stronger. ”

"Human society has morality, interests, and rules – but humans are also beasts, and beasts will compare their strength, no matter when."

Therefore, whenever there was a festival, whenever other aristocratic families, and even the commoner families and parents of the imperial capital gathered together to laugh and play, the boy could only exercise day after day in the family's training ground, under the guidance of the old woman.

The boy's talent is not good, he is not a genius, he cannot draw inferences from one case and understand the essence of swordsmanship; It is also not possible to smoothly mobilize essentia, and it is easy to condense the source species and build a essentia cycle in the body.

But he can do it, through hard work, through perseverance, through determination.

Every time she was almost dizzy after a hard training, Grandma would hold the boy in her arms and softly sing a gentle song, a folk song from the homeland of the North, on the border of the Empire.

A song about people going to other lands, expanding territories, building homes, and marrying their beloved.

It's just that the boy rarely listens to the whole song, because he always falls asleep halfway through.

He thought that he could accept such a day, such a day was already very happy, although it was hard, but he was also full of anticipation for the arrival of a new day.

But that day finally came, and my grandmother, who had entered the twilight of her life, was too old to move alone and was bedridden, so my parents, who had been fighting on the northern front, also returned to the imperial capital early.

The grandmother walked peacefully, but ordered her father to promise her that she would give the boy the right to choose.

At the time of the burial, the mother held the boy in her arms, and she shed more tears than the boy, but this does not mean that the boy is not sad.

He was just thinking about a question.

- In his future, will there be such a place, a person, or a thing, that will allow him to face death as calmly as his grandmother?

Or is it like a father and mother, even if he leaves his children behind and is in danger, he will never waver in moving forward?

The parents did not leave the Imperial Capital in the first place, they completed the formalities for the boy to enter the Imperial Capital Academy, and were honored by Emperor Inaga II, and although the front-line fortresses have not been recaptured so far, their bravery and loyalty have been recognized.

However, after the award, my mother quarreled with my father, and their arguments were about 'giving up' and 'new goals', about 'sacrifice' and 'glory'.

"You are the one who talks about your hometown, and you are the one who gives up your hometown; You're the one who fights desperately, and it's you who is afraid of death and cowardice now - Harrison, what are you thinking?! ”

"There are priorities, there is no possibility of reclaiming the homeland in the next thirty years, the center of gravity of the empire is not in the north, and it is impossible to return to the homeland with our own strength...... But His Majesty gave us a chance.

As long as we can open up a South China Sea port in Nanling and build an exploration base, then in the future, when Your Majesty clears the north of Shensha Port, we will have the credit and can return to our hometown. ”

The conversation between the parents, Ayers did not understand.

All he knew was that his parents were leaving for a new battlefield.

"Don't hate me, kid."

The father's scarred face, rough hands and stinging stubble were hateful, and the gentle embrace of the mother prevented the boy from feeling that emotion.

Until now, Viscount Grant had never hated even one of his parents—even though they had almost never spent their childhoods with him, even if they had died one by one without leaving him time to prepare.

Even if they die, they are only failures who will cause trouble.

But it doesn't matter.

Because he already understood.

Because he has already found it.

Found the place, those people.

That kind of thing and purpose that can make him calmly face death and not waver in the face of danger.

He has found his hometown, his lover and children, his own ambitions and the future he is looking forward to.

It's right here in Harrison Harbor.

- And what about you, Patrick, my friend?

Many years later, the boy has grown up and is even about to become a father.

The middle-aged nobleman, with a blank face, typed in the inscription that only he and his best friend knew, and they had agreed on when they were young.

He opened the small box that lay in front of him.

The box that was sent out after his death seemed to have known his fate for a long time, and Patrick, who knew that it was okay to say nothing, had to leave an explanation to his friend at the last moment.

"Let me see what you want to say to me."

- Let me see what you are doing in this country for what you have the opportunity to live in peace, which I envy so much, and who I will never get in my life, have lost your life in this country place.

Whispering to herself, Ayrs Grant read the dense letterhead.

[My friend Ayrs Grant, when you can see this letter, I am already dead, maybe it was you who killed me, but it doesn't matter, I'm already dead anyway, so I don't have any scruples about many things]

But I am anxious for you, my friend. I never wanted to draw you into this vortex from the beginning, so I didn't ask you to join forces with me in my plan, just accidentally one after another, since you can receive this letter, it means that my hunch is correct, I may die because of soft-heartedness, underestimating my opponent or encountering a strong enemy, such as you]

[These are all details, in short, I have to tell you something that you should know]

[This time, my target is my nephew, Isengard Ellen, a child whom I consider my own.] He's such a good kid with the empathy and real courage that our group lacks, but because of some royal reasons, he has to die.]

[The specific reason is that you should be as dangerous as taking the heir, this is what I decided with my eldest brother, you must not go deeper, just treat it as a succession]

[It's just maybe, as long as its potential is cut off, it is also a solution to let him be the first energy level all his life, to be honest, this idea stinks, when I wrote this, I thought of the thing that traces the source of Dettol, there is a whole bottle in Avrina, Ethan took the wrong way ten times and she saved it back, this idea is impossible to succeed, he still has to die]

[That's so, but the appraiser under you is a bit outrageous.] Where did you find such a genius? It's the work of Master Bavar! You can't control him, let him go as soon as possible, delay you and delay him, and it will get in my way]

[This time I will try to kill him, I don't know if I can succeed, it can be regarded as cutting off a future threat for you, he gives me a sense of danger even more than my brother back then, I still have a good eye for the identification of this kind of genius, he is definitely not a level that a person like you can handle - don't say that I underestimate you, if you are really that powerful, you will already be at the third energy level]

[Maybe you don't want to, so I'll say I'm sorry first]

[Ayles, I know you're wondering, why would I get involved in such a thing? I didn't even bother to compete with the head of the family back then, let alone involve such a troublesome thing as the royal family? It's ridiculous to say, I didn't plan to get involved in the first place, but everything has a price.]

[Claire Ellen, this name must be familiar to you, is the child of Wild's eldest brother and Ellie, and the eldest son of the family]

[He is my child]