As early as six years ago, Tails, who had not yet become a prince, was told by Gilbert in Mindis Hall:

The history of the stars has never lacked blood.

Scarlet.

This is, the real color of blood?

Tails looked fixedly at the emotional Semir.

The other party reminded him of the almost hopeless roar of the former Duke of the North in the Fuxing Palace a long time ago.

The same hatred.

The same pain.

The same bleakness.

And the same...... Put all one’s eggs in one basket.

The atmosphere in the storage room reached the height of oppression, and even Beretti, who was standing in front of Tails, put down her weapon in a trance.

Semir's gasp carried a long-standing resentment, Naki bit his lower lip tightly, and little Barney looked up like a lost traveler in the fog.

As for Saker, he just clutched his forehead and hung his head deeply.

Silent and silent.

Even the fast rope, who tried his best to act like he didn't care about himself, inadvertently showed a deep thought and surprise that a low-level mercenary did not have, and looked at Tails.

What do you want to do?

But Tails ignored him and just stared firmly into the center of attention.

Finally, after the extreme noise and silence, the voice that had disappeared tremblingly reappeared:

"What are they talking about, Sakel?"

Tyers, who was in a complicated mood and couldn't say what he could say, turned his gaze.

I saw little Barney kneeling on the ground, staring at a pair of eyes as if they had been destroyed by a storm, and asked blankly:

"Father, Bright Star, they ......"

Sakel did not speak.

The knight shuddered and turned his head slightly.

He hid his face for a moment from his colleagues.

It wasn't what he wanted.

No.

Never.

But from Saker's silence, Barney Jr. had sensed something.

"Their allegiance...... Another star? Another ...... Your Highness?"

Barney Jr. repeated in a trance, ignoring the loss on Naki's face and the resentment in Samir's eyes.

"Answer me!"

The other party's unusual silence irritated Barney Jr., and his tone became more and more urgent.

Naki snorted.

Barney Jr. turned to him as if asking for help.

"Ask your father to go, ask our esteemed lieutenant captain," Naki said softly, the sarcasm and reproach lingering in his tone, "he is the one who secretly came forward and made promises to his superiors. ”

"It's a shame he didn't tell you. ”

Little Barney's eyes were focused.

On the other side, Nai sighed in resignation.

"Enough. ”

At last, Saker's dry, mechanical voice sounded hollowly, and he let go of his clenched forehead, leaving his face exposed to the light of the fire again, his pupils faintly reflecting the burning torches on the ground.

Dead to all feeling.

It's like a dead man.

"Why can't you let go," said the Knight of Punishment, "letting go of the past." ”

"Keep everything as it is, no more, no less, no more, no less. ”

Finally, there was still a hint of fluctuation in his steady, empty tone: "Let them end here." ”

"Why not. ”

These words made the faces of many colleagues change slightly.

Naki's shoulders twitched, and he looked at Barney Jr. with a sarcastic wry smile:

"yes, why not?"

Crash!

Little Barney jerks up from the ground!

The senses that were ravaged by the alchemy ball made him staggered for a second before he could stand still.

"Because...... Saqel, because if that's true......"

At that moment, the embarrassed little Barney flashed a rare excitement from his numb eyes:

"If the Year of Blood is really a ...... That means...... Means ......"

He looked eagerly and eagerly at his other colleagues: the sobbing Cannon, the whimpering Brie, the desolate Tardin, the exchanging glances of Belletti and Nai.

It seems that they want to get some support.

But none of his colleagues responded, only Samir sneered disdainfully.

Tails sighed softly.

He cleared his throat and spoke in the unbearable silence:

"That means, Barney, the people who swore allegiance to the Bright Star Royal back then, including your father, maybe they didn't commit treason. ”

The prince's words drifted through the dungeon, making little Barney's eyes shine brighter and brighter.

Tails felt the exhaustion and pain all over his body, and tried his best to make his voice sound steady and friendly, to soothe the poor man in front of him, who was so traumatized:

"At least not so categorical and thorough. ”

The prince's voice caused mixed reactions among the members of the guard, some bowed their heads and remained silent, some opened their mouths to speak, and some closed their eyes and sighed.

But Tails ignored them, he just spoke slowly, with the loneliness and sadness that the boy had never had:

"They are still loyal to the Bright Star, but they do what they are told......"

"In the infighting of the royal family, choose sides. ”

"To each his own. ”

Then fight to the death.

Tails buried the words in his heart.

Little Barney's expression relaxed slightly, as if he had been relieved of some kind.

The members of the guard were silent, whether they knew it or not, regardless of their rank.

The dungeon fell silent again, but the onlookers felt that this time the silence was no longer so uncomfortable.

"Yes, yes," Barney Jr. nodded faintly, repeating blindly:

"They're just...... They just ......"

On the other side, Sakel let out a long sigh.

"Don't blame them, Barney," the Knight of Punishment had a sad look in his eyes.

"Especially your father. ”

"In those chaotic times, the family, the oath, the righteousness, the loyalty, the tradition, the kingship, the relatives, the kingdom, Your Majesty, Your Highness...... They're just, they just don't know ...... in so many objects."

Sakel paused for a moment, as if to organize his own language:

"What to be loyal to. ”

With that, the Knight of Punishment closed his eyes in a lonely manner and released his clenched fist.

Little Barney stared blankly at the floor tiles, filled with contradictions and abruptness, and seemed to be speechless anymore.

But at this moment, Naki let out a disdainful sneer again.

"Hum Hum Hum Hum ......"

The crowd raised their eyes.

"You're too optimistic, Saker. ”

Naki shook his head, a gloom flashing in his eyes:

"You left out some of it. ”

"The worst part for us. ”

Barney Jr. was stunned.

Tails' expression tightened.

What the?

Naki's voice was suffocating with pain:

"If this is the truth of the Year of Blood, it means ......"

"Means we ......"

Nakki paused, as if he couldn't say any more.

Sakel didn't speak, but his numb facial began to tremble.

Semir seemed to understand, too, and he took over.

"I see. ”

Semir's resentment disappeared, and with it, depression followed:

"If the Year of Blood is a bloody infighting in the family, where blood relatives kill each other......"

"Barney, even if I do everything possible to escape from captivity and tirelessly seek aid and revenge, even if you work hard to atone for your sins and send this prince surnamed Bright Star back to the royal capital......"

After a few seconds, Barney figured something out.

His face, which had been slightly bloody, froze again.

The slackness in his face disappeared, and with it, lingering fear.

The reactions of the members of the guard were mixed, some with relieved expressions, some numbly shaking their heads, and some frowning.

"Even if we find out who is the mastermind of the coup d'état and the internal ......"

"Even if we prove our innocence and loyalty and that of the rest of our colleagues......"

"Even if we ......"

Speaking of this, Semir choked up, hung his head, and spoke lonely:

"It doesn't make any sense anymore. ”

Little Barney's body shook as if it had been hammered.

"For the sake of the stability of the rule, for the sake of the prestige of the royal family, and for the sake of the authority of the Revival Palace, neither King Kessel nor his successor, nor the entire Kingdom of Stars, will never allow the ugly truth of the Year of Blood to be revealed, let alone to the public, in broad daylight. ”

Semir glanced at Tails from afar.

There were so many things in that eye: hatred, resentment, desolation, despair......

It made Tails feel heavier and heavier.

"On the contrary, those whom we have sworn allegiance to will do everything in their power to bury the truth, cover up the facts, and distort justice. ”

"Because people have the impression that the noble and wise Bright Star family cannot be the person responsible for the bloody year. ”

"The 'real murderer' of the year will always and can only be the mysterious 'sworn enemy' of the rumored Bright Star Royal Family, and 'it' will only hide deep in the curtain and never appear. ”

Little Barney listened to Samir like a walking corpse.

"And we...... The fallen colleagues will never wait for justice, the thirty-seven people who died will not be able to get Zhaoxue, and the survivors can only bear the stigma for the rest of their lives. ”

"As the royal guards of the Kingdom of Stars, we can only and must be traitors who collaborate with the enemy!"

Sakel shook violently, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.

His colleagues were all pale and had sad eyes, as if they were undergoing the final judgment.

Sémir's words grew more and more hurried, more and more ruthless:

"We can only be derelict sinners, incompetent cowards!"

"Never overturn the case, never stop until death. ”

Except for Sémir's voice, there was a terrible silence in the dungeon.

Semir gasped for a moment, slowly regaining his composure, but the desolation and despair in his tone could not be overstated:

"No matter how innocent and pitiful those who don't know, no matter how pure and loyal a lonely person like Barney is, no matter how unjust a unwilling person like me is. ”

"No matter how miserable and sad a pawn like your father is, he can't help himself. ”

"No matter how unfair it is to us. ”

Barney's hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Because ......"

Semir's eyes are obsessed:

"Because as royal guards, we are destined to be victims under the nine-pointed star emblem...... and scapegoats. ”

Tails listened silently.

He remembered the numb and frozen expression of Kessel V when he stood in front of the stone urns of the Bright Star family in the Tomb of the Bright Stars.

[I don't know how much you know about us, and I don't know what kind of imagination you have for the name of the bright star. 】

Tails took a deep breath.

He only felt that the air in his lungs was getting colder and denser.

Sakel turned his head, as if he couldn't bear to listen any more.

No one could see his face.

Semir looked up:

"That's why Saker prefers to keep silent and be scapegoated, why Naki doesn't want justice and just wants to leave silently, why is it that everyone is pretending to be deaf and dumb and numb when the prison is in ruins. ”

Semir said sadly:

"Because they know it doesn't make sense at all. ”

Barney Jr. looked at the rest of his colleagues in disbelief, and many looked down in shame at his gaze.

Sakel still didn't speak.

"Barney, in the past eighteen years, the things that have sustained us in life—whether it is to clear our grievances, to be righteous, or even to the ridiculous so-called revenge, are all false. ”

"All the struggles we have made, all the hopes we have, all the wishes we have placed on us, all the answers we seek: justice, justice, truth, innocence, freedom, ......"

Semir's words were accompanied by panting, intermittent, with pain in them that could not be resolved:

"It's all in vain. ”

Little Barney turned his head mechanically, the look in his eyes becoming more and more stiff and numb.

Semir took a deep breath, looked at the bottomless dark corridor, and ended his words with a miserable laugh:

"In the corners of history, we, the former royal guards, are destined to be buried in the dust and not see the light of day. ”

Thump!

A few fluttering words, but with an unprecedented force, the little Barney who had just stood up knocked him to the ground again.

Nai let out a soft breath, and Belletti remained motionless.

Tardin, Curry, and Cannon seem to fall into eternal stiffness and silence.

Silence returns to the dungeon.

Naki stared at a torch beside him with a smirk, unaccustomed to his cheek in its glow, and snorted from his throat.

"Do you know what I'm most jealous of, and what I hate you the most, Barney?"

Naki said in a deep voice.

"Eighteen years, though you have lived foolishly in lies. ”

"But at least, you're still living in the hope you've weaved. ”

"In this dark and bottomless dungeon, you live in the only ...... Where the light shines. ”

With a soft muffled sound, the torches on the ground were extinguished.

Naki's figure is once again absorbed into the terrible darkness.

Tails closed his eyes slightly, not looking at Barney's bloodless expression.

[The history of the stars has never lacked blood. 】

At one time, Tails' understanding of "blood" was still scratching the surface, and the most suitable scenario he could think of was the beggar ecology of the abandoned houses in the lower city and the gangster struggle in the underworld.

As his identity changes, his journey widens, and he sees more and more (whether he wants it or not), Tails gradually touches the pulse of the Scarlet Year from different angles:

The dead silence in the Tomb of the Bright Stars, the desperate roar of the Duke of the North in the Fuxing Palace, the wordless suspense of the Lyman Pass, the nostalgia for the old days in the eyes of the veteran Jenard, the cheerful and heavy eyes of the flowers of the fortress, the lonely back of the little soldier Willow when he talks about the lost soul of his dead sister, the lonely back of the kingdom's anger under the remnant sun, the cold and lonely solitude of the Ghost Prince's Tower, and the pale trembling when Marina pleads her feelings.

There are too many people, trapped in it, and they can't extricate themselves.

Tails thought he was beginning to understand the cruelty of the Scarlet Years.

Until now.

Until the members of the royal guards who met again in the Prison of Bones in front of them, there was a ruthless suspicion and confrontation between them.

This is the year of blood.

An eternal nightmare that envelops all and never seems to wake up.

"Hahahaha......"

Little Barney's bleak laughter broke Tails' heavy thoughts.

Unexpectedly, Barney Jr.'s face was no longer gloomy and sad.

Only smiles remain.

"Hahahahaha......"

A numb, stagnant, false and indifferent smile.

It's like a clown in a circus.

It's like the smiling faces they paint up.

A faintly unsettling smile.

No one knows what is hidden under the arc of that smile.

Tails' heart tingled.

"I see!"

Barney Jr. laughed and said loudly and desolately.

"Allen, Walker, Bobby, Morian, Larley, King, 'Skeleton', Rogo, ......"

He nervously muttered names that made Tails feel unfamiliar, and without looking at the people around him, he just stretched out his arms to the dark ceiling, and laughed maniacally:

"Eighteen years in prison, so much bloodshed, so long persistence...... It turned out that there was no meaning at all. ”

Little Barney laughed so hard that the imprints on his face curled up a little:

"We, what are we fighting for, what are we living for, what are we dying for?"

No one could answer him.

Naki stared at him coldly, while Semir snorted softly in his nose.

Sakel seems to have become a statue, silent in Naki's accusations, Samir's confessions, and Barney's questioning.

Tarding and the others had a gloomy expression, losing hope.

Tails shook his head, replying negatively to Fastrope's inquiring look.

Barney's laughter slowly became sluggish, and the whole person fell back on his stomach.

"For what?"

Belletti looked at the former Chief Pioneer Officer in a daze.

"Barney ......"

He opened his mouth in embarrassment, as if he wanted to comfort little Barney, who seemed to be completely out of shape, but the words came to his lips and he finally found it difficult to speak.

But the next moment, Barney's movements made his heart tremble!

Click!

I saw that little Barney, who had laughed enough, put away his arc and grabbed the long sword he had fallen to the ground!

Everyone was shocked.

Even Saqel looked up.

I saw little Barney's eyes red and trembling all over.

He placed the blade in his palm.

He stared fixedly at the blade of the sword, which had been through several battles, with a curly mouth and a missing blade.

Then he turned the blade of his sword to ......

own neck.

At that moment, Tails, who realized what he was going to do, changed color!

(End of chapter)