High Above

When she was a child, her mother always placed the boy in her home in the imperial capital and was taken care of by her grandmother, while she followed her father to the front line and never returned for a long time.

What the father was doing, the boy didn't know at all, and he didn't understand, but every time he came back, he was covered in scars, and even seriously injured to the point where professional doctors and sublimators needed to go to treat him.

And his mother will always be by his side, and sometimes she will be injured, and sometimes even hurt more than his father.

The boy always couldn't understand when he was a child. He would cry and beg his father and mother not to abandon him. He didn't remember where the "hometown" his father always talked about was.

All he knew was that every time his father tried to take back his homeland, he was on the verge of death.

will be close to a farewell.

"Ayers, my child... For you who were born in the imperial capital, the Grant Territory north of Shensha Harbor is an unfamiliar word, but for me and your mother, it was our childhood, It is where we were born, where our fortress and people once lived."

"Your grandpa, great-grandpa, and more ancestors are buried there... We have failed and fled in embarrassment, but one failure does not mean every failure. One day we will succeed and regain our hometown! "

Before leaving, the man left such words, he didn't expect his children to understand, he just repeated his determination to himself.

Hometown, what is hometown?

The young Ayers didn't understand this term. He didn't know what Grant Collar looked like, what the wind smelled like there, whether the water was sweet, whether the people's songs were melodious and gentle, just like the tunes sung by grandma.

It's not his hometown.

What about the imperial capital? The city he was born in and is familiar with, he is familiar with every street, the smell of the air, and even has his own friends and memories.

But that didn't seem to be his hometown either.

Grandma is a strict old woman. Every time her parents leave for the front, she will strictly train the boy - she will not say anything about the glory of the nobility, and she will not ask the boy to always remember to take back his hometown. This old lady There is only one requirement, and that is to make the boy as strong as possible.

"One day, we will all leave. At that time, you must already have your wisdom, and your own friends and relatives. Ailes... Even if you don't take back the things your parents want to take back, just want to Hold on to what you have, and you have to get stronger."

"Human society has morality, interests, and rules—but humans are also beasts, and beasts will compare their strengths, no matter what time they are."

So whenever there are festivals, whenever other noble families, and even commoner families in the imperial capital gather together with their parents to laugh and have fun, the boy can only be in the family's training ground, under the guidance of the old woman, day after day. to exercise.

The boy's talent is not good, he is not a genius, he can't draw inferences from one instance, and understand the essence of swordsmanship; he can't mobilize the source quality smoothly, easily condense the source seed, and build the source quality cycle in the body.

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

Every time when she was almost dizzy after hard training, grandma would hold the boy in her arms and sing a gentle song softly, which originated from the homeland of the Northland, a folk song on the border of the empire.

A song about people traveling to other lands, colonizing territories, building homes, and marrying the ones they love.

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

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

But that day finally came. Grandma, who was in her twilight years, was so old that she couldn't move alone and was bedridden. For this reason, her parents who had been fighting on the northern front line also rarely returned to the imperial capital early.

Grandma left very calmly, but ordered her father to promise her that she would give the boy the right to choose.

During the burial, the mother held the boy, and she shed more tears than the boy, but that didn't mean the boy wasn't sad.

He was just thinking about a question.

——In his future, will there be such a place, a person, or a thing that allows him to face death as calmly as grandma?

——Or like father and mother, even if they leave their children behind and they are in danger, they will never waver and move forward?

The parents did not leave the imperial capital immediately. They went through the formalities for the boy to enter the Imperial Capital Academy and were honored by Emperor Inaiga II. Although the front fortress has not been recaptured so far, their bravery and loyalty have been recognized.

However, after the honor was awarded, the mother had a quarrel with the father. Their arguments were about 'giving up' and 'new goals', about 'sacrifice' and 'glory'.

"It was you who talked about your hometown, and you who gave up your hometown; you were the one who fought desperately, and you are the one who is afraid of death and cowardly now—Harrison, what are you thinking?!"

"There are priorities. There will be no possibility of retaking our hometown in the next thirty years. The center of gravity of the empire is not in the north. With our own strength alone, it is impossible to return to our hometown...but His Majesty gave us a chance.

As long as we can open up a South Sea port in Nanling and build an exploration base, then in the future, when His Majesty wipes out the north of Shensha Port, we will have merit and can return home with honor. "

Ailes didn't understand the parents' conversation.

All he knew was that his parents were leaving again to go to a new battlefield.

"Don't hate me, child."

The father's bruised face, rough hands and stinging stubble made it hard to hate, and the mother's gentle embrace made the boy unable to feel that emotion.

Until now, Viscount Grant still hasn't hated his parents even once—even if they almost never spent his childhood with him, even if they died one by one without leaving him any time to prepare.

Even if they die, they are just losers who cause trouble to others.

But it doesn't matter.

Because he already understood.

Because he has found it.

Found that place, those people.

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

He has found his hometown, has his own lover and children, has his own ambition and expected future.

Right here in Port Harrison.

—And you, Patrick, my friend?

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

The expressionless middle-aged nobleman entered the inscription code that only he and his best friend knew, and the inscription they had agreed upon when they were young.

He opened the small box in front of him.

The box was sent out after his death, as if he knew his ending long ago, Patrick, who obviously didn't say anything, insisted on leaving an explanation to his friend at the last moment.

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

——Let me see, you, a guy who obviously has the chance to live in peace and stability that I envy, and I pursue the fame and wealth that I can never get in my life, what is it for you to lose yourself in this rural place? life.

Talking softly to himself, Ayers Grant read the dense letter paper.

[My friend Ayers Grant, when you can read this letter, I will be dead, maybe you killed me with your own hands, but it doesn’t matter, I’m already dead anyway, so many things I don’t know no scruples]

[It's just that I worry about you, my friend. I never thought of involving you in this vortex from the very beginning, so I didn't ask you to join hands with me to carry out my plan, but accidents happened one after another. Since you can receive this letter, it means that my hunch is correct , I may die because of a soft heart, underestimating my opponent, or encountering a strong enemy, such as you]

【These are details, in short, I have to tell you something you should know】

【This time, my target is my nephew, Isengard Ellen, a child I regard as my own. He is really a good boy with empathy and real courage that our group lacks, but for some royal reasons, he has to die]

[The specific reason is that it is as dangerous as seizing the heir. This is decided by me and the elder brother. You must not go deep into it, just treat it as seizing the heirloom]

[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 is quite stinky. When I wrote this, I thought of the thing of traceability , there is a whole bottle at Aphrina's place, and she can save Yisen from going the wrong way ten times. This idea is impossible to succeed, he still has to die]

[That's true, but the appraiser under you is somewhat outrageous. Where do you find such geniuses? That is the masterpiece of Master Bawar! You can't control him, let him go early, delay you, delay him, and get in my way]

【I will try to kill him this time. I don’t know if I can succeed. It can be regarded as cutting off a future threat for you. The sense of danger he gives me is even higher than that of my brother back then. I still have a very good appraisal of this kind of genius In terms of vision, he is definitely not a level that someone like you can handle—don’t say I underestimate you, if you are really that good, you will already be at the third level]

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

【Ayers, I know you will be wondering, why should I get involved in this kind of thing? I don't even bother to compete with the head of the family back then, let alone such a troublesome matter involving the royal family? It's ridiculous to say, I didn't plan to get involved in the beginning, but everything has a price]

[Claire Ellen, you must be familiar with this name, he is the child of Big Brother Wilder and Ellie, and the eldest son of the family]

【He is my child】

There is no mention in this chapter recently, and it will be restored after the 5th!