Warhammer: In the Name of the Emperor

Chapter 474 Rebirth from the Ashes: Report, Past World (Part 1) Marshal's Beginning

This was the third time that Petronilla Viva had reported to him. He thought he knew him well enough, but she found out that he was wrong. She didn't know him well enough.

As in the previous three times, their meeting was held in Vito's private hangar. He thought it was a place where no one was around and no one would disturb him, which was very suitable for those "secret" conversations.

As in the previous three times, he polished his armor while Petronilla sat in the back and told him about the new discoveries and progress in recent days. He was a good listener as always, and didn't speak until Petronilla finished speaking.

"Do you think he's lying?" he asked, and Petronilla nodded. "Yes, Constantine, I think so. I talked to three recorders, but all three gave very different contents." She continued to speak. Through the past few days, Petronilla knew that if he didn't do something immediately after speaking, or add something, it meant that she could continue to speak. "Paladin of Kovil, Grom of Redania, and Balamo of Soden, all three of them are high-level recorders, qualified, and have talked to Anthony." "But what he told them was all lies, at least now." Petronilla told him the news he had inquired about. Anthony told Paladin that he was from a noble family in Terra, but for Balamo of Soden, it became from a knight family. "This is different from the first time I talked to him. At that time, he said that he was from a family of the Ministry of Administration in the Pacific Star Region. He was chosen by Guilliman for his extraordinary talent and was given this important task."

Petronilla herself still remembered the first conversation with Anthony. He was a very annoying guy, arrogant and conceited. He kept talking about Guilliman and Terra, as if he was afraid that she didn't know her identity.

"You suspect he is a spy." He suddenly spoke while polishing his armor, which caught Petronilla off guard, but she quickly regained her composure.

"No, Constantine, I'm not sure yet, but I believe he is hiding something." "And your mission is to find out what is hidden."

There seemed to be a sense of blame in his tone, which made Petronilla a little annoyed, but she didn't show it.

"If you allow assassins or inquisitors to assist me, I think I will find out." She protested, but Vito did not even turn around, "And you also know why I would find you, right? Why don't I give this task to assassins or inquisitors." His question made Petronilla choke on the words that were about to come out of her mouth. She knew that when he first gathered intelligence for Vito, he had thought about why he would find her instead of other more professional people. She wanted to ask him at first, but soon realized that it would not produce any results. He would not tell her the answer. At best, she would get indirect hints or naked sarcasm. But it didn't take long for her to figure it out. It was at dinner one evening, when she ate vegetables from the same agricultural world and drank wine that might be produced from the same estate, and then she understood. He asked her to find out the situation in order to distance herself from the relationship and let the preacher who belonged to Guilliman investigate another subordinate. In this way, even if she was exposed, it could only be explained as a power dispute within the Guilliman Group, not the intention of the Supreme Marshal. "You should have found more news, more accurate news." He continued, but after a moment he noticed his harshness and changed his tone to a gentler one, "But you did bring back useful information, well done."

His words did not make him feel relieved, but Petronilla chose to conceal it. He might know it, but he also chose to change the subject.

"It's my turn now. Where did we leave off last time? Are you done?" he asked.

"I'm done, Constantine. You told me about the Randan War during the Great Crusade, Morvia, and the Battle of Daros." She said with a faint smile, "They are all wonderful stories, but I want to hear something different this time."

"What do you want to hear?" He asked without stopping his work and without turning his head.

"I want to know about your past, Constantine, a long time ago, from the time you were born." Petronilla spoke carefully. This plan had been in her mind for several days, and she finally said it now.

Vito was silent for a while, and he didn't speak for a while, which made Petronilla a little nervous, but finally he spoke, "Very good, I promised you that I would tell you any story, and I won't break my promise."

"But it's a boring story, are you sure you want to listen?" he asked, and she smiled, "Constantine, there are no boring stories, only bad storytellers, but don't worry, I will polish it later."

He also smiled, ignoring the complaints hidden in her words, and he continued to scrub his armored arms.

"Besides, I already know about the wars you have won, but I don't know the origin of these victories."

"Is it important?"

"Of course! Such heroic epics are full of loopholes. Anyone with a little bachelor can easily find the loopholes and poke them. It requires the growth of heroes and experience as condiments to cook a good dish." She protested.

But Vito stopped and glanced at her with his peripheral vision. The look in his eyes made Pezzolana instantly nervous: "I am not a dish, Pezzolana Viva. Even if I am, it is your turn to cook." , don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can say such arrogant things to me just because of my kindness.”

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I take back what I said." She said respectfully, and he said nothing more and continued with what he was doing.

He polished the relief on the armor, and after a few seconds of silence that made Petronilla nervous, he spoke, "I was born in the Greek area of ​​ancient Terra, around 600 BC, if I remember correctly."

"But I was born further north. I don't know what that place is called or where it is. When my parents fled there, I was just flesh and blood in my mother's belly, so I don't remember anything."

He said, seeming to be trying hard to recall, "My memory really belongs to Crete, although I don't remember much. I only remember a sea, a mountain, and my home."

"What's that like?" Petronilla asked longingly, imagining it in her mind.

"I remember it was a house with a red painted door and a garden full of flowers. You can see a pear tree from my room." He said, changing the polishing position of the armor to the side.

"You said, what did your parents escape from and then went to Crete? Do you know what it was?" Petronila continued to ask, waiting for his answer.

He quickly answered, "No, I don't know. Father never mentioned it. He only said that we had escaped far enough, so far that the enemy could no longer find us."

He sighed softly and paused his polishing hand, "I can't even remember what he looked like. His name. I remember my mother's name was Melissa. If I remember correctly, she had red hair. , and father. No, I don’t remember it at all.”

She did not disturb him, but listened quietly.

"I had a happy childhood in Crete, although I have no memory of the children I played with or where we went."

"Don't you remember any of them? Your Excellency."

He was silent for a moment, "No, there is a girl, I can't remember her name, but in my impression she has light golden hair, like molten gold."

He fell silent again for a long time, just polishing his armor, and finally spoke again after a long time, "I don't have much impression of that place."

"Did you leave somewhere? When?" she asked again, knowing she had to follow him or he would hear it in his memory.

"I can't remember clearly, but it shouldn't be big. It was one evening. I still remember it. When I got home, I found that the enemies my father had promised not to see were chasing me. My father fought with them to protect my mother. Several of those guys died. , but my father eventually fell into a pool of blood."

"My mother died in front of me. They slit her throat and blocked my face."

"I'm sorry if this brings back any bad memories for you."

"No, you don't have to apologize. They all died after that, and besides, I already remembered it." He said it calmly, but Pedroneela could still see the clenched fingers.

"Did you kill them?"

"Some of them, I still remember their faces. One of them, the first person I killed, was a pale-skinned man with a big beard. I slit his throat and then killed him with my power. There were quite a few left, and that was the first time I realized who I was.”

He wiped the sword as if he was holding it at that time, "There were not many of them left, and then I fainted. Uncle Bunyan, ah, he was not my uncle, but my father's business partner who found me." , killed the remaining few and took me away."

"In the days that followed, I followed Uncle Bunyan. For my safety, he took me away from Crete and began to wander around, doing business and trading."

"I believe it was a happy time." Pedronila said with a smile, and he also smiled, "It was indeed a good time. We went to many places, the grasslands of Crimea, the mountains of Asia Minor, And the fiery deserts as far away as the Cape of Heracles.”

He continued to laugh and reminisce about the good old days.

"Have you been with him all this time? Bunyan?" She once again led Vito back from his memory.

He shook his head and wiped the cold sword on his lap, "No, Bunyan later died of an illness in Alexandria, although it was not called this name at that time, God knows what it was called."

As he wiped it, he continued, "I buried Bunyan and then left alone. I was about fifteen? Or thirteen? Damn it, I don't remember."

"What happened to you after that?"

"Oh, that's a lot. I participated in the Persian wars, cooperated with the Spartans at Thermopylae, cooperated with the Greeks against the Persians, and later joined the army of Alexander the Great, expeditions to the end I never imagined, That’s when you realize how big the world is.”

He recalled and paused his hand for a moment, "Can you imagine? Miss Petronilla, can you imagine the night in Baghdad, the candlelit vaults, the golden sand sea and the tall mountains?"

"I'm working hard." She said this and recorded those words into the memory spiral implant in her brain.

"I started traveling around after Alexander's death. That expedition aroused my curiosity about the world, and I went to many places." He continued what he was doing, but the memories did not stop.

"From grasslands to deserts, from mountains to oceans, I met and got to know many people, and finally on Mount Moses"

He stopped, and Petronilla looked at him a little angry. She didn't like the feeling of the story being interrupted, and said with a little complaint, "What? Did you see something somewhere?"

"Nothing, just a person who is called the Emperor."