A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Once suspicion arises, it will become more and more serious, and this is the case with Opada. He didn't think about it at all before, so he thought everything was normal. Now he is suspicious, and he thinks something is wrong.

He began to look at Kehos without trace, paying attention to Kehos's every move, and felt more and more that something was wrong.

For example, as long as Garlan is within Kaihos' sight, Kaihos's eyes will fall on Garlan. Even when talking to others, he would pay some attention to Garlan.

Therefore, if Garlan makes any move, he will be the first to notice. Often, when Garlan looked over at him, Kaihos would go straight to Garlan without even having to call someone.

When he usually goes on the road, Kayhos always follows Garlan closely, never missing a step.

What Opada couldn't bear in particular was the way Keyhos looked at Garlan.

The Rider of the Sun, who looks quite dissolute and uninhibited, always looks like a smile no matter who he looks at. Although he has a smile on his face, he looks very close to him, but when you get really close, you will find that it is just an appearance.

Compared with people who behave indifferently, guys like Caijos who seem to be close but are cold at heart are even more difficult to get close to.

Opada knew because the eldest brother he once admired was also such a person.

However, for such an inaccessible guy, when he looked at Garlan, his eyes were unusually soft, with an indescribable warmth.

The remaining malachite-green eyes would glow slightly when looking at Garlan, as if they were seeing the only light in the world.

The same goes for Garlan. Kaihos is obviously his guardian knight and his subordinate. Logically speaking, there should be a distinction between princes and knights. But Garlan didn't seem to regard Caihos as a subordinate at all. He also behaved very close to Caihos. Whenever he faced Caihos, he would show a bright smile.

Just like now, Opada saw Garlan not far away raising his hand to help Kayhos smooth the blond hair that fell in front of his eyes. The one-eyed knight smiled and took the initiative to lean down and let Garlan's hand touch it. own face.

Garlan smiled happily while touching Kehos's face.

Such intimate gestures...and the glances that exchanged words from time to time...

Opada would never believe it if there was nothing between the two of them!

It seems right.

Garlan and his guardian knight are lovers.

He saw this with his own eyes.

The reason why the relationship is not made public is probably because Aaron Landis has never been very sympathetic and friendly to gay people, and he also has concerns about identity.

...Yes, that must be the case.

The Tasda man clutched his chest and felt as if his heart had been pierced by a sharp arrow, with bursts of cramping pain.

He had lived for more than twenty years, and fell into love once. In the end, within ten days, he completely fell out of love.

He looked at the intimate interaction between the two people not far away, and felt that his heart ached so much that he almost couldn't breathe.

…

On Garlan's side, that so-called intimate interaction...

"Kayjos, your blindfold seems to be crooked and has a little something on it."

Garlan stared at the conspicuous white mark on the black eye patch, pointed at it and said.

"Really? I probably wiped the sweat with my hands after eating something just now, and it stuck to it."

Kayhos raised his hand and wiped the eyepatch with his fingertips.

"No, it's not there." Seeing that Kaihos wiped the wrong place, Garlan simply said, "Lower your head."

The blond knight obediently obeyed his prince's command, bending down and bowing his head.

Then, the little prince came over, wiped off the white marks on the eye patch, and straightened the slightly crooked eye patch.

To fiddle with the blindfold, he naturally had to run his hands up and down the knight's face.

So, from the perspective of Opada over there...

"Hahaha, it's rice grains. Kejos, you actually got the rice grains on the eye patch."

Looking at the white rice grains on his fingers, Garlan was extremely happy.

If others knew that the famous Knight of the Burning Sun had rice on his face... Hahahaha, no, I would be so happy just thinking about it.

"If others see this, it's up to you what you will do."

Looking at the grains of rice on Garlan's fingers, Kayhos couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, thanks to His Highness for helping me maintain my handsome image."

He said with a smile and glanced at Opada not far away from the corner of his eye.

Seeing Opada staring straight at this side with the sorrow and anger in his eyes, he couldn't help but wonder.

What's going on with that Tastar guy lately? He's been watching his every move every day.

At first, Kayhos thought that the man had noticed something wrong and was spying on him, but later he realized that this was not the case. The Tasda man always looked at him with an indescribable sadness in his eyes... but he didn't. It was like the sad eyes of those aristocratic ladies when they couldn't keep him, and more like the eyes of the aristocratic young men who had lost the fight for the ladies' hearts staring at him...

Well--

No way?

The knight who reacted was rarely a little confused.

That guy doesn't think he has anything to do with His Highness Garlan, does he?

Kayhos glanced at the Tasda man who was staring at him again, twitched the corner of his mouth, and then looked at the prince in front of him.

never mind.

he thought resignedly.

If you are misunderstood, let it be misunderstood. As long as you can protect the prince, you don't need image or anything else.

With this thought in mind, Keyhos turned and walked towards Opada.

"I heard that you are the successor of General Tastar?"

he said with a smile.

"How about, come and try?"

Opada was naturally eager for the sudden provocation from her 'love rival', especially since her sweetheart was still watching from the side. Opada immediately screamed in her heart that she wanted to teach this guy a lesson.

Moreover, on the first day when this famous 'Knight of the Burning Sun' came, Opada, who was born to challenge the strong, was already eager to try. He was only strong because he was the guardian knight of Garlan. Endured it.

When Keyhos provoked him so clearly, Opada naturally couldn't wait to jump on him.

As soon as the other Tastars heard that their son and the famous knight were going to spar, they immediately rushed over.

So, with a large number of Tastar people watching and heckling around them, the two of them found an open space, moved their bodies, and started.

…………

Ten minutes later, the brown-haired Tastar fell heavily to the ground.

The round shield had already flown far away, and the spear in his hand was broken in half.

Opada's face, which fell to the ground, was covered in bruises and bruises. He had obviously been hit many times, and it seemed that the blows were aimed specifically at his face.

The one-eyed knight stood in front of Opada, holding the sword in his hand against his forehead.

Opada was in a panic, but Kejos didn't look relaxed either. He was panting violently. His blond hair, which was wet with sweat, stuck to his cheeks. Sweat was dripping from the ends of his hair and down his cheeks. There were also a few spots on his clothes. Damaged by the spear.

"I lost, you are strong."

Opada said ruefully.

Although losing made him very depressed, Tastar people are always straightforward. If you lose, you will lose, and if you win, you will win. There will be no sophistry or evasion.

But what annoyed him the most was, why did Kehos always stare at his face and hit him?

Although it took a lot of effort, Caijos felt relieved after successfully taking care of the bear boy.

He took back his sword and said: "You are not bad, you are worthy of being the successor chosen by the general."

Looking up at Opada's face, which was somewhat similar to the person in his memory, the knight paused and then said: "...If my opponent is 'him', the outcome will probably be unpredictable. .”

After saying that, he took back his sword, turned and left.

On the way back to the camp, Garlan asked curiously.

"Who is the 'him' you are talking about?"

Cayjos smiled.

He said: "A good friend from long ago."

He raised his eyes to look at the endless sky, with a little nostalgia in his eyes.

"But it will probably be difficult to see him in the future."

Garlan still wanted to speak, but the black hawk that suddenly flew towards him interrupted him.

Anu grabbed an khaki object and circled it above his head, then dropped it, threw the object at his feet, then landed on his shoulder, and gave a short chirp.

He looked down and saw that what was thrown at his feet was a fat, yellow-haired rabbit.

"Desert Rabbit?"

Caijos said with a smile, "This little guy is very clever and can make holes. It is difficult to catch, but it tastes very good. We have barbecue for dinner."

Anu on the shoulder flapped its wings again and chirped, as if asking for credit.

Garlan smiled and touched its feathers, and it stopped barking with satisfaction.

…………

After Caihos left, the clearing did not quiet down.

After watching that fight, the Tasda people were so excited that they jumped in without hesitation, yelled at their opponents, and started this game again so that they would not get bored.

Opada stood nearby with a depressed look on his face, while his friend was applying medicine to him... most of the ointment was smeared on his face.

The originally quiet and desolate Gobi Desert became a bit lively because of this noisy camp.

The Tasda people sweated heartily, showing off their strong bodies under the light of the fire, showing off their martial prowess to their companions and lovers.

No one knew that in the Gobi Mountains a few miles away from this lively camp, someone was looking down from a distance at the camp with a bonfire that was extremely conspicuous in the night.

These strong men are all riding horses, and each of them looks quite tough, but that toughness is not the majesty and generosity of the army, but fierceness and evil, giving people a feeling of extreme evil.

Their identities were revealed by the lizard tattoos on their arms, the insignia of members of the Sivali bandit.

The bandits who had traveled dozens of miles to attack looked down at the camp at the foot of the Gobi Mountains with sinister eyes.

"Brothers, after finishing this job, it will be enough for us to be happy for a long time."

The leading horse thief urged the horses under him and shouted to his companions behind him.

"When the time comes, I want gems, gold, women, and fine wine—"

He shouted loudly, pointing the saber in his hand at the camp down the mountain.

"Just kill that mission of only a hundred people! Whatever you want, you'll have it!"

The encouragement of the horse thief leader made his companions cheer loudly. Their eyes were like jackals, greedily and fiercely staring at the prey in the distance.

Money incites their blood, making them boil, making them eager to lick the blood of their prey with their blades.

The boss of the Sivali bandits stared at the camp and licked his thick lower lip.

He looked at the people in the camp as if he were staring at piles of walking gold.

Although generally speaking, attacking missions is not only useless, but will also anger the two countries, and they may send troops to conquer them. It is really thankless and these bandits will not do it at all.

Therefore, so far, there has never been a group of thieves attacking a mission on the mainland.

However, this time, someone gave them enough money to attack Tasda's mission. And he was told that no one would be left alive.

The amount of property that was so huge that he was stunned was enough to make them take risks.

Besides, if no one is left alive, who will know that it was their Sivali bandit group that did it? They sneaked over and, after finishing their job, could blame the incident on the gangsters entrenched nearby.

He was looking forward to the arrival of night, and a feast of blood was about to begin.

…………

It was late at night, and the stars were shining in the clear night sky, flowing like the Milky Way in the night.

The crooked moon casts a layer of silver light on the row of tents on the sand, and the cool night wind whizzed by, rolling up the sand on the ground.

It was quiet at night. In the tent, listening to the snoring of his friends next to him, Opada turned over again.

He had tossed and turned countless times in the past half night. He couldn't fall asleep no matter what. His face was still aching, but his chest was even more stuffy.

The boy he fell in love with at first sight already had a lover, and that lover was stronger than him, braver than him, handsomer than him, and more famous than him. No matter from every aspect, he could not compare with others.

well……

Opada sighed. He couldn't lie down anymore, so he simply stood up and got out of the tent.

Go take a dip in the small lake behind the hill.

With this thought in mind, he said hello to the Tasda soldiers on duty, then left the camp alone and took a dip in a small lake not far away.

As soon as he dipped into the cold lake water, a chill penetrated his body, and Opada groaned comfortably.

He was a simple and straight-tempered person, and his anger came and went quickly. As soon as he felt comfortable, sleep came to his head. He actually soaked in water and fell asleep in a daze.

………………

What suddenly woke up the young Tastar man from his deep sleep was the smell of fire and blood blown by the night wind.

He opened his eyes suddenly, and the red firelight shone from behind, illuminating the calm lake surface.

As soon as he turned his head, he saw the blazing flames in the camp not far away, which reflected half of the sky and dyed his pupils red.

Opada jumped out of the lake.

He picked up the dagger pressed under the stone - fortunately, it was his habit to keep a weapon on him at all times - a habit he had developed under the guidance of that person since he was a child.

When he hurried back to the camp, what he saw made him blush instantly.

Countless horse thieves were wreaking havoc in the camp, galloping back and forth on their horses, slashing hard at the resisting Tasda soldiers with their sharp sabers.

The brave Tasda people resisted tenaciously in the light of the fire. In order to protect their companions who were fighting together, they fearlessly used their bodies to block the slashing blades.

They grabbed hold of the sabers that were cut into their bodies and forcefully dragged the enemy off their horses.

Some people still have fire burning on their bodies, but they seem to be unconscious, letting the flames burn themselves and still fiercely thrust towards the enemy.

The soldiers who had broken their arms and could no longer fight did not hesitate to bump into the running horses and use their living flesh and blood to stop the collision of the horses.

Brave and not afraid of death.

This is the warrior of Tastar.

It was precisely because of their extreme bravery that they were able to withstand the attack of horse thieves ten times their size with more than a hundred people.

However, no matter how brave the Tasda people were, they were still outnumbered in the face of endless enemies, especially the dominant cavalry.

The red flames rolled in the night sky, burning the sky red, making the battle extremely tragic.

Opada rushed in.

His eyes were burning red with rage that ignited the blood in his entire body.

He waved the dagger in his hand and penetrated a horse thief's chest with the sword.

Then, he snatched the long knife from the dead horse thief and once again rushed towards the horse thieves not far away.

One of the horse thieves flicked the horse's head and rushed towards him.

Just as he was about to hit Opada, he ducked sideways.

The heavy long knife was swung in the air and slashed down hard, cutting off the entire horse's head at once.

Blood spurted out, dyeing half of Opada's body red. He cut off the fallen horse thief's head with a knife.

The dozen or so horse thieves looking here were startled, and they rushed over together, hoping to rely on the crowd to kill the Tasda man who suddenly appeared under their horses.

But they underestimated the Tasda man's bravery. When they rushed over, they only stabbed a few wounds on Opada's body, but they were killed one by one by Opada.

After killing a dozen enemies in one breath, Opada stood next to the pile of corpses, breathing heavily.

His whole body was stained red with the enemy's blood, and the wounds on his arms and body were also bleeding. But he didn't bother to deal with the wound, and turned around to rush towards his companions.

The appearance of Opada indeed made the Tasda people look surprised. With a surge of momentum, they desperately resisted the attack of the horse thieves and broke out a bloody path towards Opada.

The emergence of the future leader they recognized gave the Tasda people great morale.

Just when Opada turned around and was about to run towards his companions, a sudden chill hit him from behind, and the sense of crisis surging from inside his body made the hairs all over his body stand up.

He didn't even have time to think. Prompted by this sense of crisis, his body instinctively lowered his head and rolled forward awkwardly.

A jet-black iron spear from Cheng Liang pierced out of the night, and the sharp tip penetrated the shadow on the back of Opada's head.

Half a second later, and he would be shot in the head.

Rolling in embarrassment to avoid the shot, Opada saw the dark horse's hooves behind him from the corner of his eye. He simply did not stand up, but rolled on the spot, directly to the side of the horse's hoof.

He raised his hand and slashed the horse's leg with the saber in his hand——

A sonorous sound.

The jet black iron spear stabbed down from top to bottom, blocking the long knife he was slashing towards the horse's leg.

The sharp blade scraped against the hard black iron gun shaft, making a sharp and harsh sound.

Then, the black iron gun was swung, and the head of the gun was stabbed towards Opada.

Opada quickly jumped back to avoid the attack range of the black iron gun.

This is a strong enemy.

His intuition, body feeling, and the strong sense of oppression coming from the other party all told Opada this.

He took a deep breath to steady himself.

Don't rush.

He warned himself in his heart.

The more powerful enemies you encounter, the more calm you must be. Only by calming down can you seize the opportunity to win.

Holding the long knife in his hand, Opada raised his head and looked at the powerful enemy on the horse.

At this sight, his pupils suddenly dilated.

The long knife that was originally held tightly in his hand fell to the ground with a snap.

"...brother?"

The pupils that were dilated to the limit reflected the figure of the man on the horse.

Opada made a sleepy sound, and his whole body froze in place.

The man riding on the horse and holding a jet-black iron gun also has short brown hair and a face that is very similar to Opada, except that the facial contours are sharper and colder.

He looked down at Opada, his gray eyes cold and condescending.

"Opada, my brother."

His low and deep voice rang out under the night sky that was red with flames.

"After all these years, you still haven't made any progress."

He said, "So, use your death to open up a way forward for Tastar—"

As soon as the man finished speaking, he shot out the spear in his hand and stabbed Opada again like a strong wind.

Opada stood motionless.

His empty pupils reflected the pitch-black iron spear thrust towards him by the brother he once admired and respected the most.

At this moment, he could think of nothing and feel nothing.

His mind was just blank.

He stood motionless.

Seeing that the sharp spear point was about to pierce his forehead——

Keng!

There was a sharp metallic sound as a sharp blade struck.

The silver-white sword blade pierced out from the slanting ground blocked the spear point that was thrust down.

In the dark night, a small spark exploded into a little light.

Like a beam of sunlight piercing the darkness, bright blond hair appeared from the darkness and flew up in front of Opada's eyes.

A familiar figure appeared in his sight.

A raging fire burned in the dark night.

The blond prince holds a sword.

Protect Opada behind him.