A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

The air froze for a moment.

Garlan's breathing paused for a moment.

Needles could be heard in the entire room, and no one spoke.

Moya lowered his head, clenched his fingers, and clenched his teeth in pain.

He was the only one who knew about it, and he kept it a secret for the prince all the time, but he never thought that the prince would tell it by himself.

At first, he thought that the prince just wanted to hand over the treasure to King Garlan in exchange for the help of Aaron Landis, but he never thought that the prince was actually...

It stands to reason that, as a knight loyal to Kanal, he should have stopped the prince.

But now, he could vaguely understand the prince's behavior.

Beside Moya, the young knight who wanted to stand up angrily a second ago but was firmly held down by him stayed on the spot. He looked blankly at the back of the prince in front of him with a look of despair.

Shemur and Keyhos glanced at each other, and they both saw the surprise in each other's eyes, as well as the pity hidden in their eyes.

But for more than a year, first the country was ruined and the family was destroyed, and then he was caught by the Gastads on the way to escape, and then he was imprisoned underground by the All Things Cult for more than a year, and now even his body...

What happened to this little prince who suffered so much when he was a child is really deplorable.

Although he felt sympathy for the prince of West Asia, the next moment, Shemuer's mind started to work quickly.

If it is true what Prince West Asia said, then it is not impossible for Prince West Asia to hand over the throne of Kanal to King Garlan under the premise that there is no way out and it is impossible to restore the country.

After all, although Prince West Asia is the last member of the Kanal royal family, he has completely lost his kingdom. He is not much different from the exiled nobles who lost their territories.

He has nothing but the treasure in his hand.

And the only one on this continent that can compete with the Gastadians is the iron cavalry of Aaron Landis.

It can be said that as long as Aaron Landis rejects him, it is impossible for the prince of West Asia to restore the country by his own strength in this life.

The prince of West Asia suffered such humiliation at the hands of the Gastadians, coupled with the hatred of subjugation, he must have hated the Gastadians to the bone.

He will stop at nothing to avenge the Gastadians.

Therefore, on the premise that he knew that he had no hope of restoring his country, he would rather give the name of righteousness to King Garlan in exchange for revenge against the Gastadians.

Even if there is no power around the Prince of West Asia, he is still the last descendant of the Kanal royal family and has the name of righteousness.

He is willing to hand over Kanal's throne to King Garlan, and from then on, Kanal's righteous name will fall on Garlan.

King Garlan will be the legitimacy of Karnar.

In other words, it will be a legitimate thing for Aaron Landis's army to go to Kanal in the future, and no country can raise objections.

When the Aaron Landis army drove away the Gastads who occupied Kanal, Kanal would become a part of Aaron Landis from now on.

The land of Aaron Landis will be twice as large as before, and will have the largest territory of all dynasties, making him the largest kingdom on the mainland.

In addition, Kanal is a rich place, with a lot of minerals, especially gold mines, fertile soil and water, a suitable climate, and a large population. Even if there is a war for a while, as long as you rest for a while, you will be able to recover soon...

Thinking of this, Xie Muer couldn't help but feel his heart beat.

Not only the High Priest, but Kaihos had already looked at Garlan with burning eyes.

Expand the territory and conquer the Quartet.

These few words are almost the dream of all soldiers.

No one can resist.

Even the scorching sun knight, who has always been calm, can't help feeling a faint heat in his chest when he thinks of that scene.

Under the scorching gazes of the two confidants behind him, the young king sitting on the golden seat lowered his eyes, as if meditating on something.

The light reflected on his side cheeks, and the reflected long golden hair flowed down his shoulders like flowing gold.

His lips were slightly pursed, which was his habit when he was thinking seriously.

After a while, Garlan raised his eyes and looked at Xia who was kneeling in front of him.

"Have you made up your mind?"

He said, looking at West Asia.

"Although you are still young, as the last member of the Kanal royal family, you must shoulder its responsibilities."

"So, I will not treat you as a child, but treat you as the royal family of Kanal who can talk to me."

"Every word you say, every decision you make determines the future of you and Kanal."

"Once you make a decision, you can never go back."

Garlan looked deeply at Xia, his expression was very serious at the moment.

"Now, answer me."

he asked again.

"Have you made up your mind?"

The land of Kanal.

The throne of Kanal.

The glory of Kanal Millennium.

Everything that is difficult to let go... If he is handed over to Garlan, then from now on he will even lose the identity of 'Prince of Kanal' that allowed him to grit his teeth and persist until now even though he endured all kinds of hardships.

Xi Ya, who was still kneeling, raised her head and stared into the eyes of the young king.

The golden pupils reflected the lights in the room, shining brightly, as bright as the sunlight he hadn't seen for a long time.

Just like the golden eyes of the statue of Shamash in the hall that he had seen before.

The boy king of Aaron Landis.

He guards Aaron Landis.

guard his people.

He put the lives of soldiers above wealth.

He allowed the people under his rule—even civilians and slaves in the slums to live with hope and vitality.

…………

Thinking of the first meeting with King Garlan and the little things he experienced, as well as everything he saw inside and outside the royal city in the past week or so, Xi Ya closed his eyes and showed a look of determination.

He said, "Yes, I..."

"prince!"

The young knight behind him interrupted Thea in a panic.

"Even...you don't have to do this!"

He desperately wanted to persuade Sia to give up that terrible idea.

"As long as you become the king of Kanal, when you grow up, you can choose a collateral bloodline of the royal family to inherit from you, and the royal family of Kanal can still be passed on, can't it?"

"Yes, Prince West Asia, as your subordinates said, you can do that and continue the Kanal royal family."

Shemur said.

At this time, he had calmed down, looking at Xia without blinking, noticing any slight changes on Xia's face.

"Presumably you also know that our country's King Kamos did not leave any descendants. King Garlan came from a collateral lineage and was selected by King Kamos as his younger brother before inheriting the throne."

The high priest said without hesitation.

If it were any other king, he would definitely be displeased with the fact that he said so bluntly that he is not directly in the royal blood.

But Ximuer knew that Garlan didn't care about it, so he said it outright.

"That's right, Prince, that's it, you can also..."

The young knight continued speaking eagerly.

Xia was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

That laughter was extremely weird.

"Choose a collateral?"

The young child squinted his eyes, but there was a mocking look on his face that didn't match his age at all.

Darkness surged in his eyes, and the bright light could not illuminate his pupils shrouded in darkness.

"Do you think that what happened to me was really caused by the Gastadians?"

At the beginning, he was betrayed by the city lord who had collateral royal blood, which could be said to be his distant relative, and fell into the hands of the Gastadians.

At that time, he only wanted to escape.

At that time, he still had hope for the nobles of Kanal and the city lords.

He wrote several distress letters, telling his knights to flee and ask for help from the nearby Canal nobles or city lords.

But one after another distress letter is gone forever.

The Gastadians led him through city after city, but no one came to rescue him.

The cavalry troops of the Gastadians took him carelessly to live in the passing cities. At first, he tried to secretly reveal his identity to the city lords for help, but he watched the city lords bow down in front of the Gastadians one by one. , Ingratiating and flattering appearance, he completely turned cold.

Later, the Gastadians intercepted one of his distress letters, became furious, and beat him severely.

In his half-consciousness, he vaguely heard Gastad's generals discussing what to do with him.

Although the Gastadians broke through the royal city of Kanal and conquered Kanal, many of the nobles of Kanal have surrendered, and those few recalcitrants will soon be resolved. Almost everything is under its control.

However, countless warriors from the people of Kanal rose up and gathered together to form a rebel army, desperately resisting the Gastadians.

Therefore, the Gastadians cannot kill West Asia, who is the royal family of Kanal, but also let him succeed as king, sit on the throne as a puppet, and appease the resisting Kanal people.

However, the Gastadians were worried that someone would come to rescue him. If the descendants of the Kanal royal family were rescued and fled to other countries out of their control, then no matter how long it had passed, as long as the Kanal orthodox royal family If the bloodline is still there, it will bring great trouble to the Gastadians.

At this moment, the distant relative who betrayed him came up with an idea in order to please the general of Gasdard.

——The idea of ​​letting him never recover from this.

…………

"I see."

After listening to Sia's words, Shemuer nodded slightly.

It seems that the Kanal city lord with collateral blood wanted to kill people with a knife, and cut off the direct blood of the Kanal royal family through the hands of the Gastadians.

And the purpose of the Kanal City Lord to do this...

Everyone present probably already knew it.

When the direct bloodline is cut off, the collateral royal bloodline has the hope of sitting on the throne.

There was a bit of sarcasm in Shemuer's eyes.

Even if it's just a puppet's throne, those guys will probably flock to it.

Thea slowly stood up, and he turned around, looking down at the two Kanal knights kneeling in front of him.

His eyes were extremely dark.

"The nobles of Kanal, the offshoots of the royal family... I will never forgive what those guys have done."

He said, his voice seemed to be quenched with venom.

"When the Gastadians invaded, surrendered without resistance, opened the city gate and let them break in..."

"Take the initiative to lead the way for the Gastadians... Take the initiative to become the lackeys of the Gastadians and massacre the same race..."

"They helped the Gastadians encircle my father's army and killed my father."

"Under the command of the Gastadians, they broke through the king's city, let the king's brother die in battle, forced the king's sister to death... Finally, let me suffer such insults... They shamelessly surrendered to the Gastadians, Like a mad dog, it bites and persecutes the Kanals who want to resist the Gastads."

"these people……"

The child smiled sullenly with a look that didn't match his age.

He turned his head and looked at Shemuer.

"Your Excellency, I know what you are worried about."

He said, "You're worried that I'm just using Kanal's throne as a bait to trick King Garlan into helping me restore the country, and then make another collateral bloodline as my successor."

He looked at Shemuer expressionlessly.

"You don't need to worry. Now I don't care about the responsibilities of the royal family at all."

...he thought he was going to die at that time...

After death, he no longer has to face his mutilated body, and the sad future with no hope in sight...

But he survived after all.

Because he is not reconciled.

It wasn't any royal duty that got him back from hell, it was hatred.

revenge.

Take revenge on the Gastadians.

To take revenge on those Kanal nobles who betrayed him and abandoned him.

This is the only purpose of his life until now.

"I will never let those who killed me and my loved ones get the throne."

Xi Ya's gaze was very calm, so calm that there was nothing left but a void.

So calm that it makes people feel chills when they see it.

"I'd rather have the Kanal royal family cut off completely than have them... no."

He paused and said,

"It should be said that even if I destroy the entire kingdom of Kanal, I will never hand it over to any of them."

After finishing speaking in a cold tone, he still held out his hand to Xie Muer with his expressionless face.

"Your High Priest, please lend me a dagger."

Thea and his knights came to see Garlan, so naturally they couldn't wear any sharp weapons.

Therefore, he could only ask Ximuer for it.

Shemuer glanced at Xia, and felt that he could not hurt Garlan in front of himself and Kaihus, so he drew the dagger from his waist and handed it to him.

Xi Ya took the dagger, and under Xie Muer's surprised eyes, stabbed directly at his thigh.

In an instant, blood spattered.

The severe pain made the corners of his eyes twitch. He almost gritted his teeth, but without making a sound, he forcefully used the tip of his sword to gouge out the scar on his inner thigh.

With the tip of his sword, he dug out a platinum badge the size of a fingertip from his own flesh.

Platinum, that is an extremely rare and precious thing that only Kanal can refine and make in the entire continent.

The heraldic ring of the royal family of Kanal is made of white gold.

In order to protect the badge from being taken away by everyone, Xia smashed it off the royal ring with a stone.

No one had ever thought that West Asia had hidden it in his thigh, and even his guardian knight, Moya, was astonished at this moment.

Throwing the dagger on the ground casually, Xia limped up to Garlan, and handed the bloody platinum badge to Garlan.

The key to the royal treasures of Kanal.

Symbol of the royal family of Kanal.

Also, the proof of King Kanal.

"King Garlan."

The child's dark blue pupils stared fixedly at Garlan,

"Kanal will henceforth belong to your throne."

He says,

"Please treat the people of Kanal justly, just like you treat the people of Aaron Landis."

This is the last thing he can do for the people of Kanal as the prince of Kanal.

Garlan didn't look at the platinum badge that had been stretched out in front of his eyes, symbolizing the throne of Kanal, but just looked into Xia's eyes.

Those dark blue eyes were bloodshot, gloomy, without a trace of light.

But Xi Ya looked at him with firm eyes, without wavering in the slightest.

Then, his gaze moved down slightly and landed on the hand stretched out in front of him. Perhaps even Xia himself didn't notice that the fingertips of the hand holding the badge were trembling slightly.

Garlan held out his hand.

Under the gaze of everyone, he picked up the bloody platinum badge in Xi Ya's palm.

The boy king sitting on the golden throne said: "I will treat the people of Kanal as the people of Aaron Landis."

Shea bent down and once again knelt in front of Garlan on one knee.

He let out a soft breath.

It was as if he had vomited out all the incomparably heavy burdens he had once carried in this breath.

He lowered his head, no one saw him, and the light in his eyes disappeared little by little.

Like ashes that are about to go out.

…………

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

The platinum badge was carefully taken away by Ximuer, and after cleaning the blood on it, it was embedded in a gold ring.

Then, this emblem ring, like Aaron Landis's lapis lazuli signet ring, was worn on Garlan's left hand.

The pattern printed on the Kanal Platinum Badge has many small lines. After zooming in, it is found that it is a map.

Apparently, a map of the royal treasures of Kanal.

Garlan has no plans to touch this treasure for the time being, because it is within the territory of Kanal, and he still has no shortage of property.

He continued to deal with the government documents accumulated during his absence, and took care of Aaron Landis' various affairs.

As for matters related to Kanal, High Priest Shemul will discuss carefully with Heymos and Kaihos who are in charge of the military, and report the proposal to him after considering all aspects of the situation.

But within two days, he received a bad news.

"Prince West Asia is seriously ill?"

Garlan frowned and looked at Shemuer.

"Two days ago he looked fine."

"Yes, I fell ill suddenly that night. I didn't inform you because it was just a little cold. I have sent the best court physician to treat Prince Xiya, but I didn't expect..."

The doctor said it was just a little wind and cold, not serious, and it would get better in two days.

Unexpectedly, Prince Xia fell into a coma the next day, with a persistent high fever.

Shimmer shook his head.

"Your Majesty, I think that the cause of his illness is not his physical illness, but his mental illness. The prince has completely collapsed."

He said, "The doctor told me that the patient himself had no desire to live, and he was really helpless."

Knowing Garlan's character, Ximuer didn't say that it would be best for Aaron Landis if Prince West Asia died of illness after entrusting Kanal to King Garlan result.

Prince West Asia is alive, and his identity will be extremely embarrassing, and maybe it will bring hidden dangers to Aaron Landis in the future.

After pondering for a while, he put down the quill pen that was still stained with ink, and Garlan stood up.

He turned to leave, and the flying light-colored cloak lightly brushed over the table the moment he turned around.

"Go get Keyhors."

He said.

…………

When Garlan came to Xia's room, the doctors and maids around Xia's bed knelt down to salute him.

The two Kanal knights who had been guarding the hospital bed day and night for the past two days also knelt down and knelt down.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, if I don't have the desire to survive, we can only pray for Solga's mercy."

The kneeling doctor said this to Garlan.

Solga, the god of wisdom, is also the god who taught human medicine and guarded herbs in legends.

[Pray for Solga's mercy. 】

This is the words that doctors tactfully tell the patient's relatives that they are helpless after they have been helpless about the patient's condition.

"...You all back down."

Under Garlan's order, everyone retreated.

Only Siah, who was lying on the bed, was left in the room, as well as Garlan and the knight Kaihos behind him.

Xi Ya is awake at the moment, he is lying on the bed, his pale skin that has not seen the sun for a long time is almost translucent at this moment.

An unusual bright red appeared on his cheeks, like the last burning moment of a flame that was about to burn out its vitality.

He leaned against the head of the bed, although he looked at Garlan, his eyes were empty, like rootless duckweed, without the slightest expression.

At this moment, West Asia is like a puppet without a soul.

It was hatred that made Xia crawl back from the hell of dying, and what kept him alive until now.

Bitter hatred.

When Kanal was handed over to Garlan, Xia knew that he had completed his revenge.

Soon, the Gastadians will be driven from Karnal.

Nothing good will come of those Kanal nobles who deliver treason.

For him, everything is over.

His pride as the royal family of Kanal... does not allow him to live in this world with such a crippled body.

When Xia was lying on the bed with blank eyes, Garlan, who was standing by the bed watching him, suddenly spoke.

"Kayhors, get him off the bed."

The blond knight, who was absolutely obedient to his majesty, didn't care that his behavior was bullying. He went straight forward, picked up the thin child from the bed, and threw it to the ground.

The pain of falling to the ground made Xia who was in a trance wake up all of a sudden.

Enduring the pain, he raised his head and looked at Garlan in confusion.

"From now on, Kyhos will teach you martial arts and the tactics of formation."

"..."

"In your opinion, with the removal of the Gastadians from Kanal, is that the end? No, that's just the beginning."

Garlan looked down at Sia who was staring at him blankly.

"I won't forgive the Gastadians for what they did to Aaron Landis, and for making me lose the most important person."

he said, sharp-eyed.

With an unstoppable momentum.

"I will make them pay dearly for their actions."

"Pay...the price?"

"Yes, Kanal is just the beginning. I want to drive Gastad away from all the countries they occupy, and let them go back to where they came from--in the end, I will also have their kingdom Not going to let it go."

Xi Ya's eyes widened suddenly, and a sharp light flashed in the dark eyes.

"It will take a long time to drive the Gastadians back and break their kingdom, and this time is enough for you to grow up and become stronger."

The child looked straight at Garlan, as if he had already thought of something.

His breathing became rapid at this moment.

Garlan leaned over and squatted halfway in front of Xia, his golden pupils looked calmly at her.

"Sia, did you choose to die of illness here as Prince Kanal, or a few years later, as the general of Aaron Landis, you broke through the border of the Gastadians yourself?"

A second of silence.

The child's outstretched hand tightly grasped the corner of Garlan's clothes.

The knuckles of his fingertips were almost white due to excessive force.

"Please make me strong, teach me how to be strong enough!"

Xia looked at Garlan, her dark blue eyes flickering sharply.

It was like a dying wolf cub opening its eyes again, revealing its palpitating gaze and fangs.

"In return, I swear to the gods that one day, I will... dedicate the royal city of Gastad to you!"

…………

Kehos, who was standing aside with his arms folded and watching, twitched the corner of his mouth indistinctly.

It seems that he will have to allocate time to teach his disciples hard in the future.

he thought helplessly.

However, the grumbling knight looked at his Majesty with the usual soft and conniving eyes.

The teaching of all things, and the so-called god of all things may never understand.

In this world, the most powerful force is not destruction and destruction.

Truly unparalleled power...

is salvation.