A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

As the stone hall shook violently, Garlan and his party quickly left the underground stone hall.

After returning to the ground, they did not dare to waste a minute and immediately ordered everyone to evacuate the place.

Shortly after everyone left the valley, huge roars were heard one after another. At this moment, the ground shook, and the earth shook as if it was about to crack.

The war horses neighed in terror and were held tightly by their respective owners before they ran away without going crazy.

Everyone just watched helplessly as the valley where they were staying not long ago collapsed and sank amidst the roar.

Most of the peaks around the valley also collapsed, huge boulders rolled down, the slopes cracked, and landslides along the valley fell into the collapsed valley.

In the end, the cracked mountain buried all the collapsed valley floor, and no one could step into the deep ancient stone temple underground.

The wind howled by, causing Heimos's forehead hair to flicker from the corners of his eyes.

He stared deeply at the ruins of the collapsed valley.

He couldn't explain why, but when the underground stone palace collapsed, he suddenly felt relieved.

It was as if some invisible existence that had been tightly entwining and restraining him suddenly dissipated, and his whole body became relaxed.

It was like a heavy chain that had been holding him down finally broke at this moment, giving him the illusion of being freed.

He closed his eyes, and the wind blew past him, bringing with it the cool breath of the night.

At this moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of lightness and comfort.

Garlan on the side glanced at Heimos, with a soft smile in his eyes.

He said nothing, just patted Hermos lightly on the arm, then turned and left with a smile.

…………

After the valley collapsed, Garlan did not set out to return immediately, but camped nearby for a few more days.

He ordered the soldiers to search around, and after confirming that there were no followers of the All Things Cult hiding in the ruins of the valley, he ordered to return to the royal city.

On the way back, everyone else was in good spirits, but the West Asian prince of Canal was out of tune with everyone. He lowered his head and hardly communicated with anyone, not even his knights. a few words.

As soon as he set up camp at night, he entered the tent early.

When he was on his way during the day, he followed Garlan without saying a word. Although he followed, he never took the initiative to say a word to Garlan. Unless Garlan talked to him, he would occasionally hum or say a few words.

It was already late at night, and the water-like moonlight was flowing over the earth.

The camp was very quiet. Except for the soldiers who were on duty outside the camp, most people had already fallen asleep in their tents.

A shallow lake reflects the moonlight in the night sky, and the stars shine on the clear water, making the waves sparkle.

Garlan sat on a rock by the lake and looked up at the night sky.

Heimos stood beside the boy, not looking at the night sky or the lake, but just looking at Garlan.

"You should know that I was abandoned by the Eya faction when I was very young, and I have been wandering in the slums."

"When I was about seven years old, I and other children in the slums were kidnapped by members of the All Things Cult and sent to the altar."

Heimos spoke in a calm tone, with little emotion evident.

He seemed to be just saying one thing calmly.

"The other children were killed, and I was the last one, but I didn't want to die. I was unwilling to die there, and I was even more unwilling to die for an unknown god."

From the day he could remember, he lived like a dirty and humble rat living in a stinking ditch.

He never believed in so-called gods.

"Although I don't know the reason, maybe it was because of the fear of death that I suddenly went crazy. I have no memory of when I went crazy. I only know that when I woke up, I saw corpses all over the ground..."

He said,

"That was my first time killing someone."

When he didn't know anything, he killed people, a lot of people.

At that time, when he was still very young, he looked at the pile of corpses in front of him and his mind went blank.

He knelt on the ground, looking at the blood on his hands, trembling, almost breathless, and almost collapsed.

In the end, he used strong self-control to force himself to get up and staggered away from the place that was like hell to him.

…

Later, killing became a habit.

In order to keep himself alive, killing others has long been a matter of course for him.

"That person told me that I was branded and destined to be a sacrifice to the gods. One day, I would come back..."

While Heymos was speaking, Garlan still looked up at the starry sky.

He held his chin in one hand, looked at the sky quietly, and listened to Heimos' words quietly.

Following Garlan's gaze, Heimos also looked toward the sky.

After watching for a while, he said: "When I was a child, I didn't like this kind of night... the stars were too bright. I wanted to steal something to eat, and it would be easy for others to find me."

Garlan turned his head and looked from the starry sky to the face of Heimos, who was looking up at the starry sky.

Fragments of starlight fell on Heimos's face, reflecting the honey-like honey-colored luster unique to brown skin.

Dots of starlight reflected in the golden-red eyes, the side cheeks were handsome, and the slightly raised corners of the eyes were like sharp swords, exuding an increasingly menacing edge.

When people look at it, they can't take their eyes away.

"What now?"

Garlan asked.

Heimos' eyes fell back on Garlan and did not answer.

"Does the starry sky look good now?"

Garlan asked him as he sat on the rock.

The young man put his hands behind his back, tilted his head slightly, looked up at him, his golden eyes curved like a crescent in the night sky.

The water surface sparkled, reflecting the figure of the young man covered in starlight.

"...beautiful."

Heimos answered.

He lowered his eyes and looked at Garlan with soft eyes.

The sky is full of stars, boundless, shining like gems on the dark night, like a dreamlike beauty.

Thousands of stars can't match the smile of the blond boy in front of him.

"Heimos."

"Um?"

"When you are controlled by someone again in the future, think of me more."

"..."

"Don't think about those messy things in the past. Just think about, I said, I will protect you until the end."

Gallan said,

"If you encounter something similar again, just keep thinking about this sentence. Do you understand?"

It was quiet for a moment under the starry sky.

Then, Heimos smiled and hummed lowly.

…………

……………………

After several days, at a lively noon, Garlan and his party quietly returned to the palace.

Under the careful arrangements of High Priest Xemuel, no one noticed that the young king left the royal city for more than ten days.

Although Garlan really didn't want Shemurr to know what happened in the stone palace, there were so many knights following him, so it was impossible for him to silence everyone.

So Shermour quickly learned from the knight commander who followed Garlan what had happened, as well as the extremely thrilling process.

Of course, the high priest of Shamash immediately rushed to Gallan with an ugly face, who had just returned to the palace and had not had time to take a breath, and in the name of asking the king to listen to his advice, in fact, he mercilessly treated Gallan. Lan scolded him severely.

From noon to evening, he 'admonished' Garlan for four hours without even taking a sip of water.

But Garlan, who knew he was in the wrong, could only listen to the "admonitions" of his high priest, and he had to nod obediently to admit his mistakes from time to time, so as to give Shemuer a smile.

It wasn't until the evening that the female official Tapti came over to interrupt Shermuer with the excuse of dinner, and then Gallan was relieved of the siege.

In order to reward and comfort himself who was so dizzy after being lectured by Shermer, Garlan ate a big meal without ceremony, then lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

After a good sleep, Garlan, who just felt that he had been resurrected with full blood the next day, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he saw the pile of government documents.

Then, under the watchful eye of his high priest, he began a miserable life of burying himself in paperwork from morning to night except for eating and resting.

The Prince of Canal, Thea, who was rescued by Garlan, stayed in the palace as a distinguished guest, and Shermer was responsible for receiving him.

Sia still looks cold and silent, and rarely talks to anyone except for necessary conversations.

Moya, the knight of the Kanal royal family who had stayed in the palace to recuperate, has improved a lot. When he saw the prince of West Asia being rescued, he was very excited. Since then, he and another young knight have been following West Asia every step of the way.

After Siya arrived at the palace of Aaron Landis, she locked herself in the room for two days without seeing or talking to anyone.

Even the meals were brought into the room by his knights and brought out after they were finished.

Shermer reported the matter to Garlan. Garlan pondered for a while and then replied that there was no need to do anything specifically, just follow the wishes of the prince of West Asia.

After saying that, he continued to bury himself in the piles of paperwork.

After shutting herself in the room for two full days, Sia came out on her own.

Then he directly made a request to Shermer, saying that he wanted to take a look inside the royal city.

Xie Muer agreed, but said that in order to protect his safety, he would send someone to accompany him - of course, it also meant surveillance.

Sia agreed without any hesitation.

For the next whole week, accompanied by the knight commander sent by Shermer, Sia and his two knights kept walking around the royal city.

After the knight commander accompanying Sia goes back in the evening, he will report Sia's behavior today to Shermer.

What surprised Shermer was that although Siya kept walking around the royal city, she just looked and did nothing.

He looked around every corner of the royal city, whether it was near the palace, the market, or the poor gathering areas on the edge of the royal city, including the Trade and Commerce Office, which was now crowded with people and customers came in like clouds. He also went in and quietly I watched it for a long time.

After looking at the inside of the royal city, I ran outside the royal city to see nearby towns, villages, and even the road construction site under construction.

However, he wisely avoided any place related to the military and did not approach it.

This strange behavior of the West Asian prince made Shermer completely confused as to what the purpose of this little prince was.

After more than a week passed like this, Xia, who had visited the royal city and its surroundings, stopped doing this.

Then, he locked himself in the room for another day and night.

When she came out the next day, Xia's eyes were red and bloodshot.

Apparently, he stayed up all day and night in the house without resting.

Looking at Moya who had been guarding the door, Siya said: "Tell the High Priest, as Prince Kanal, I request an audience with King Gallan of Aaron Landis."

He added,

"Secret interview."

Moya's breath paused, and he looked at Sia solemnly.

"Prince, have you... made up your mind?"

Xia nodded slightly.

Moya didn't say anything else. He knelt down, saluted Xia, then stood up and left.

Xia took a deep breath. He stood in the courtyard and closed his eyes. The bright sunlight shone on his body, which was a little hot and scalding.

His skin was abnormally pale from staying underground for a long time without seeing the sun.

He closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly. His hands hanging by his sides were clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white.

This decision I made...

Sister Wang, you can understand, right?

I will never forgive those guys.

There's no way I'm going to let those guys get what they want.

at all costs.

…………

Late night soon fell again, and the entire palace became quiet.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Kehos secretly brought Sia and the two Kanal knights to Gallan's palace without being noticed.

After entering the room, Siya saw Garlan sitting on a golden chair, and the high priest Shermour standing beside him.

The Burning Sun Knight who brought him over walked forward, quickly walked to the side behind Garlan, and then stood there quietly.

Xia glanced around and confirmed the people in the room, then her eyes fell on Garlan.

The Young King of Aaron Landis looked at him with an expression of indifference and calmness.

Garlan sat calmly, waiting for him to speak.

Withdrawing his gaze, Xia leaned over and landed on one knee.

He lowered his head and saluted Garlan.

"King Garlan, thank you for rescuing me from the hands of the All Things Cult. I will remember your kindness to me."

He said,

"Although it's very presumptuous, I have something very important to ask of you, and I hope you can agree."

The high priest standing behind Garlan frowned.

"Prince of West Asia, I can guess what your request is."

He refused without any courtesy.

"But I'm sorry, our country has just ended the war, so I'm afraid I can't help you."

The prince of Kanal came to Aaron Landis with the purpose of asking Aaron Landis to help him restore his country.

Everyone present knew this.

However, not to mention that Aaron Landis, who had just ended the war, needed to recuperate. Even if Aaron Landis had not experienced the war, he would not have sacrificed his soldiers to help the princes of other countries recover.

Both West Asia and the two knights behind him had already expected Shermer's rejection and did not feel embarrassed.

The two knights lowered their heads, waiting for their prince to continue.

"The reason why the Cult of All Things imprisoned me is to get the treasure of the Karnar royal family from me."

Thea continued.

"In this world, I am the only one who knows the location of the treasure and has the key to unlock it."

Xie Mu'er was startled, and then immediately reacted.

I see.

He was still thinking just now that it was extremely stupid for him to be a prince of a country and ask the king of another country to help him restore his country so recklessly.

It turned out that the prince planned to exchange property for Aaron Landis' help.

This time, he said nothing and turned his attention to Garlan.

Like him, both Xia and the two knights behind Xia looked at the young king who was sitting quietly with anxious eyes.

Under everyone's gaze, Garlan simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Prince of Kanal, your treasure may contain huge wealth, but I don't need it."

If Aaron Landis's finances were quite stretched before, especially after he began to build roads on a large scale, now, the Trade Department chaired by Tarr can be said to be making money every day, and the daily business tax is almost straight. rise.

What's more, he has already started working on promoting the Trade and Commerce Department to other cities directly under the control of Aaron Landis.

Once trade and commerce offices are established in cities across the country, he will never be short of money again.

Therefore, Garlan does not intend to let his soldiers sacrifice for other countries for the so-called treasure of the Karnar royal family.

Garlan's flat refusal made the two knights behind Siya look very unhappy. They looked at each other with a look of dejection in their eyes.

If even this huge wealth cannot impress King Garlan, then they will no longer be able to find any leverage to let Aaron Landis help them restore their country.

Compared to the disappointment of the knights, the young children remained calm.

"No, King Garlan, what I want to dedicate to you is not just the royal treasure."

He said,

"Please send Aaron Landis's powerful iron cavalry to Karnar and drive away the Gasdad people who occupy Karnar, because that will be your responsibility."

"It will be your responsibility to protect Kanal and protect the people of Kanal."

This time, not only Shermer frowned again, but even Caihos stared at Xia with sharp eyes.

They couldn't understand how the little prince could say such shameless words.

However, Sia ignored the two people's piercing gazes and still knelt on the ground, looking up at Garlan.

He said, "For Karnal will be your kingdom."

He looked at Garlan and said, "As the last descendant of the royal family of Karnar, I give you the throne of Karnar."

"King Garlan, Karnal will return to your throne."

Suddenly there was dead silence.

At this moment, almost everyone's breathing stopped.

Prince Xia's words made everyone in the room look shocked.

Especially the two knights behind him had expressions of disbelief on their faces. The young knight even looked sad and angry. Thinking that his master was being persecuted, he stood up desperately——

However, he was pressed hard by Moya Knight.

Moya, who was also in disbelief at first, glanced at the young prince in front of him, with a sad look in his eyes. He lowered his head sadly and remained silent.

There was silence in the room for a while, and after a while, Garlan's voice broke the silence.

"Why?"

He said, "Prince of West Asia, although I have a life-saving favor for you, I don't think this favor is great enough for you to give up your throne."

"I can understand your eagerness for us to help Karnar restore the country, but you are actually willing to give up the throne for this. This is too... false."

Thea smiled.

Rather than saying it was a laugh, it was more like a chuckle forced from his throat.

"Restore the country?"

He said with a smile, his eyes full of darkness.

His eyes seemed to sink endlessly into the abyss.

"It's impossible."

He said, "The descendants of the Karnal royal family have been cut off and it will never be possible to return to the country."

Behind him, Knight Moya lowered his head deeply, with a look of extreme pain on his face.

"When the Gastad people caught me, they couldn't kill me, and they were worried that I would be rescued."

Her eyes were slightly blank at this moment, and Xia continued in a terrifyingly calm tone.

He said,

"In order to completely solve the future problems, they took direct action and cut off the possibility of me having children."