A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Amidst the violent shaking of the stone hall, Garlan and his party quickly left the underground stone hall.

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

Not long after everyone left the valley, they heard huge roars coming one after another. At this moment, the earth shook and the mountains shook, and the earth shook as if it was about to split open.

The war horses neighed in terror and were held tightly by their masters, so they didn't run away madly.

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

Most of the mountain peaks around the valley also collapsed, boulders rolled down, the hillside cracked, landslide along the valley, and fell into the collapsed valley.

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

The wind whizzed past, causing Heymos' forehead hair to brush against 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 entangled and bound him had suddenly dissipated, and the whole person felt relaxed.

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

He closed his eyes, and the wind passed by his side, bringing the cool breath of the night.

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

Garlan at the side glanced at Heymos with a gentle smile in his eyes.

He didn't say anything, just patted Heymos' arm lightly, then turned away with a smile.

…………

After the valley collapsed, Garlan did not set off to return immediately, but camped nearby for several days.

He ordered the soldiers to search around, and after confirming that there were no followers of the All Things Cult hidden 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 Kanal was out of tune with everyone. He kept his head down and hardly communicated with anyone, not even his knight. a few words.

When camping at night, he entered the tent early.

When he was on the road 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 was talking to him, he only occasionally hummed or jumped out a few words.

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

The camp was very quiet, except for the soldiers who were on duty outside the camp, most of the 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, sparkling.

Garlan sat on a rock by the lake, looking up at the night sky.

Heymos 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 Oya 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 taken away by the believers of the All Things Cult and sent to the altar."

Heymos spoke in a very calm tone, without much emotion.

He seemed to be talking about one thing plainly.

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

From the day he can remember, he has lived no different from a dirty and humble mouse living in a stinking ditch.

He never believed in the so-called gods.

"Although I don't know the reason, it may be because of the fear of death that I suddenly went crazy. I don't have any memory of when I went crazy. I only know that when I woke up, I saw corpses all over the place..."

He says,

"That was the first time I killed someone."

When he didn't know anything, he killed people, many 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 out of breath, almost collapsed.

In the end, with strong self-control, he forced himself to get up, and staggered away from the place that seemed 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.

"The man told me that I was branded and destined to become a sacrifice to the gods. One day, I will come back..."

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

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

Following Garlan's gaze, Heymos also looked towards the sky.

After looking at it for a while, he said: "When I was young, I didn't like this kind of night...the stars are too bright, I want to steal something to eat, it's easy to be spotted."

Garlan turned his head sideways, his eyes fell from the starry sky to the face of Heymos who was looking up at the starry sky.

The fine starlight fell on Heymos's face, reflecting the honey-colored luster unique to brown skin.

A little bit of starlight is reflected in the golden-red eyes, the side cheek is handsome, and the corners of the slightly raised eyes are like sharp swords, showing a more compelling edge.

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

"now what?"

Garland asked.

Heymos' eyes fell back on Garlan, but he didn't answer.

"The current starry sky, does it look good?"

Garlan who was sitting on the rock asked him.

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

The surface of the water was shimmering, reflecting the figure of a young man dressed in starlight.

"...beautiful."

Heymos replied.

He looked down 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 are nothing compared to the smile of the blond boy in front of him.

"Heymos."

"Ok?"

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

"..."

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

Garland said,

"In case you encounter similar things again, just keep thinking about this sentence, you understand?"

There was a moment of silence under the stars.

Then, Heymos smiled and gave a low hum.

…………

........................

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

Under the careful arrangement of the high priest Xie Muer, no one noticed that the young king had left the royal city for more than ten days.

Although Garlan really didn't want Ximuer to know what happened in the stone palace, but with so many knights following him, it was impossible for him to keep everyone's mouths shut.

That's why Shemuer quickly learned all about the incident and the thrilling process from the knight commander who was following Garlan.

As a matter of course, the high priest of Shamash immediately rushed to Gallan who had just returned to the palace and had not had time to catch his breath with an ugly face. He pretended to ask the king to listen to his advice, but in fact he mercilessly sent Gallan to the palace. Lan gave a severe reprimand.

From noon to night, he gave Garlan 'remonstrance' for four hours without taking a sip of water in between.

And Garlan, who knew he was wrong, could only listen to the 'advice' of his high priest honestly, and had to obediently nod from time to time to admit his mistakes, and give Shemuer a smile.

It wasn't until the evening that the female officer Taputi came over to interrupt Shemuer with the reason of dinner, and only then did Garlan get out of the siege.

In order to reward and comfort himself who was dizzy from being trained by Ximuer, Garlan unceremoniously ate a big meal, then lay down on the bed, and fell asleep.

After a good night's sleep, the corner of Garlan's mouth twitched involuntarily when he saw the mountain of government documents that had just felt that he had been revived the next day.

Then, under the watchful eye of his own high priest, he began a miserable life buried in paperwork from morning to night except for meals and rest.

The Kanal prince Xia, who was rescued by Garlan, stayed in the palace as a distinguished guest, and Ximuer was in charge of receiving him.

Xia still had that cold and silent look, and hardly talked to anyone except for necessary conversations.

The Kanal royal knight Moya, who had stayed in the palace to recuperate before, has recovered a lot. When he saw that the prince of West Asia was rescued, he was very excited.Since then, he and another young knight have been by Sia's side every step of the way.

After Xia came to the palace of Aaron Landis, she locked herself in the room for two full days, without seeing anyone or talking to anyone.

Even the food was brought into the room by his knights, and brought out after eating.

Ximuer reported the matter to Garlan, and after pondering for a while, Garlan replied that there is no need to do anything specially, just follow the wishes of the Prince of West Asia.

After speaking, he continued to bury his head in the piles of documents.

After shutting herself in the room for two full days, Thea came out by herself.

Then he directly made a request to Xie Muer, saying that he wanted to take a look around the royal city and have a look.

Ximuer agreed, but said that in order to protect his safety, he would send someone to accompany him—of course, it also meant monitoring.

Sia agreed without hesitation.

For the next whole week, accompanied by the knight commander sent by Ximuer, Xi Ya took his two knights around the royal city.

After the knight commander who accompanied Xia went back at night, he would go to Shemuer to report Xia's behavior today.

What surprised Ximuer was that although Xiya kept walking around in the royal city, she just watched and did nothing.

He looked at every corner of the royal city, whether it was near the royal palace, or the market, or the poor gathering place on the edge of the royal city, including the Commerce and Trade Department, which is already crowded with people and customers come like a cloud. He also went in quietly I watched for a long time.

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

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

The strange behavior of Prince West Asia made Shemuer completely unclear what the little prince's purpose was.

After more than a week like this, Xi Ya, who had seen Wangcheng and its vicinity, stopped this behavior.

Immediately afterwards, he locked himself in the room for a day and a night.

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

Apparently, he didn't rest in the house, but stayed up all day and night.

Looking at Moya, who had been guarding the door, Xia said, "Tell Your Excellency the High Priest that I, as Prince Kanal, request an audience with King Garlan of Aaron Landis."

He added,

"Secret audience."

Moya's breath stopped, and he looked at West Asia solemnly.

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

Sia nodded slightly.

Moya didn't say anything more, he bent down and knelt down, bowed to Xi Ya, then got up and left.

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

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

He closed his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering slightly.He clenched the hand hanging by his side so hard that his knuckles turned white.

The decision I made...

Sister Wang, you can understand, can't you?

I will never forgive those guys.

I also would never let those guys get what they want.

at all costs.

…………

The night soon fell again, and the whole palace fell silent.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Kaihos secretly brought Sia and the two Kanal knights to Garlan's palace while avoiding people's eyes and ears.

After entering the room, Xia saw Garlan sitting on the golden seat, and the high priest Shemuer standing aside.

The scorching sun knight who brought him walked forward, quickly walked to the side behind Garlan, and then stood there quietly.

Xia glanced around, and after confirming the people in the room, her eyes fell on Garlan.

The young king of Aaron Landis looked at him with a calm and calm expression.

Garlan sat calmly, waiting for him to speak.

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

He bowed his head and saluted Garlan.

"King Garlan, thank you for saving me from the sect of all things. I will always remember your kindness to me."

He says,

"Although it's presumptuous, I have a very important request for you, and I hope you can agree."

The high priest standing behind Garlan frowned.

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

He bluntly refused directly.

"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 for the purpose of asking Aaron Landis to help him restore his country.

Everyone present knew this.

However, not to mention that Aaron Landis, who just ended the war, needs to recuperate, even if Aaron Landis has not experienced the war, it is impossible to sacrifice his soldiers to help the prince of another country to restore his country.

Regarding Ximuer's rejection, both Xi Ya and the two knights behind him had already expected it, and did not feel embarrassed.

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

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

Sia continued.

"In this world, only I know the location of the treasure and have the key to open it."

Shemuer was startled for a moment, and then reacted immediately.

It turned out to be the case.

He was still thinking just now, at least he is a prince of one country, and it is extremely stupid to 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 the help of Aaron Landis.

This time, he didn't say anything, and turned his gaze to Garlan.

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

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

"Sorry, Prince Kanal, maybe your treasure has huge wealth, but I don't need it."

If it is said that Aaron Landis’s property was quite stretched before, especially after he started to build roads on a large scale, but now, the Trade and Commerce Bureau presided over by Tal can be said to be making money every day, and the daily business tax is almost a straight line. rise.

What's more, he has already started working on the promotion of the Commerce and Trade Department to other Zhili cities in Aaron Landis.

Once the trade bureau is established in cities across the country, by that time, he will never be short of money again.

Therefore, Garlan did not intend to let his soldiers sacrifice for other countries for the so-called treasures of the Kanal royal family.

Garlan's categorical refusal made the two knights behind Xia look unattractive. They looked at each other with a bit of despondency in their eyes.

If even this huge amount of wealth could not impress King Garlan, then they would no longer be able to find any bargaining chips to ask Aaron Landis to help them restore their country.

Compared with the disappointment of the knights, the young children are still very calm.

"No, King Garlan, what I want to offer you is not just the royal family's treasure."

He says,

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

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

This time, not only Ximuer frowned again, but even Kaihos stared at Sia with sharp eyes.

They could not understand how the little prince could utter such impudent words.

However, Xia ignored the piercing gazes of the two, and still knelt on the ground, looking up at Garlan.

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

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

"King Garlan, Kanal will belong to your throne."

Suddenly there was a dead silence.

At this moment, almost everyone's breathing was still.

The words of Prince West Asia caused everyone in the room to look astonished.

Especially the two knights behind him were full of disbelief, and the young knight showed even more grief and indignation, thinking that his master was being persecuted, he desperately wanted to get up——

However, he was pressed down forcefully by the Moya knight.

Moya, who was equally unbelievable at the beginning, glanced at the young prince in front of him, with a look of sadness in his eyes, lowered his head in pain, and kept silent.

The room was silent for a long time, and after a while, Garlan's voice broke the silence.

"why?"

He said, "Prince West Asia, although I have saved your life, I don't think this kindness is so great that you are willing to give away your throne."

"I can understand your eagerness to want us to help Kanal restore the country, but you are willing to give the throne for this, which is too...false."

Sia smiled.

It was not so much a laugh as it was a click forced out of his throat.

"Recovery?"

He smiled and said, his eyes were full of darkness.

His eyes seemed to sink endlessly into the abyss.

"Impossible."

He said, "The descendants of the Kanal royal family have been cut off, and it is impossible to restore the country."

Behind him, the Moya knight bowed his head deeply, with an extremely painful expression on his face.

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

At this moment, his eyes were slightly blank, and Xi Ya continued in a calm to scary tone.

He says,

"In order to completely solve future troubles, they took direct action and cut off the possibility of my childbirth."