A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Tick.

A drop of water fell on the surface of the water, creating a circle of ripples, which rippled layer by layer.

looked up.

The sun was dazzling, making it hard to see everything in front of you.

The only thing that catches my eyes is the familiar stone statue of the star goddess Isdar.

Water droplets gathered at the corners of the eyes of the stone statue's face, and slowly slid down from the side cheeks.

pat.

He stretched out his hand.

What the fingertips touched was not the cold stone statue, but the warm skin.

The wet touch came from the skin he touched.

In a trance, someone hugged him.

He couldn't open his eyes, his body was heavy, and a deep tiredness enveloped him, preventing him from opening his eyes to see.

He could feel that the embrace was very familiar, and the strong arms holding him were also very familiar.

Trying to open his eyes a little, he could vaguely see the scattered black hair.

Someone was talking, talking constantly, but he couldn't hear anything.

All he knew was that the man was talking non-stop.

pat.

Something dripped from the man holding him and landed in the corner of his eye.

bright red.

Thick.

One drop after another, it fell from that person one after another, seeped into the corner of his eyes, and dyed his blurred vision into blood——

………………

In the twilight of the early morning, a hand suddenly stretched out to the sky, as if trying to grab something.

The boy who was sleeping restlessly on the bed opened his eyes the moment he stretched out his hand.

His golden pupils dilated slightly, although he was looking at the top of the camp, but they were not focused, and his long golden hair was spread out in a mess on the bed quilt.

His hands stretched into the air were still stiff, his breathing was rapid, and his chest was constantly heaving.

Dream?

Garlan thought in a daze.

Tears of Goddess Ishdar...

A voice that keeps whispering something in my ear...

The bright red liquid that fell from that person...

……

"Your Majesty, it's time for you to get up."

A voice came from outside the tent, waking Garlan out of his trance.

The slack eyes gathered together, and finally became sober.

Garlan withdrew his hand, sat up, and looked around.

Where he was was a large camp.

More than a week ago, he had already left the royal city and headed for Kanal.

"His Majesty?"

The voice calling to him was heard outside the tent curtain again.

It was the voice of Sogar, the priest of Nannar.

After careful consideration, Garlan made the final decision to let Suo Jia accompany him and follow him to the Kanal King City.

Because the army staying in Kanal King City belongs to the third army led by Heymos, and its generals are also Heymos' subordinates.

Suo Jia has worked with Heymos for many years, and they are familiar with each other, making it easier to cooperate.

"I'll be out soon."

Garlan spoke.

As soon as he answered, the voice calling him outside stopped immediately.

For this method of waking him up loudly outside, even after ten days had passed, he was still not used to it.

Because in the past, when he was away on an expedition, either Kaihuos or Heymos, or even Shemur, would forcibly accompany him to sleep in a tent, saying that it was to protect his safety.

Regarding this kind of behavior of overprotecting himself, Garlan was really helpless, and he couldn't bear them, so he had to let them go.

And every morning, they would walk to their bed and wake themselves up in a low voice instead of shouting outside like Suo Jia.

It's just that if you are not used to it, you are not used to it, and Garlan is unwilling to let someone like Suo Jia, who he is not very familiar with, share the same room with him when he sleeps at night.

While changing clothes, Garlan thought.

However, this was indeed the first time that he led the army alone without the company of any of them.

No wonder Keyhors was so worried.

To be honest, even he himself didn't sleep well.

…………

...It seems that he was indeed favored by those people a little too much.

This kind of thinking is really not like the thinking that a king should have.

Shaking his head, throwing away the messy things in his mind, Garlan quickly walked out of the tent.

Suo Jia, who had been waiting outside for a long time, came up and bowed to salute.

"It's time to go, Your Majesty."

He said, "If there are no accidents, you will be able to arrive at the royal city of Kanal after noon today. Everyone must be eagerly waiting for your arrival."

Garlan hummed, touched the white steed that had been brought in, and got on the horse.

Aaron Landis' army, who had rested overnight, set off again, guarding their king all the way westward.

The long line snaked across the ground like a long snake, moving forward slowly.

As Suo Jia said, half a day later, they arrived at Kanal's royal city.

A majestic mountain peak stands above the earth, as if standing upright.

Below, a huge white city appeared on the horizon.

It was supposed to combine the grandeur of the towering mountains with the exquisite and delicate beauty of the city, but it was completely destroyed by the large ruins at the foot of the mountain.

A straight and wide white avenue leads to the gate of Kanal King City.

The army of Aaron Landis stationed here has already lined up on both sides of the avenue to welcome the arrival of their king.

Through the open city gate, Garlan rode his horse into the avenue in King Kanal's city.

At this time, in addition to the Aaron Landis soldiers who lined up on both sides of the avenue, there were countless Kanal people standing behind these soldiers.

The Kanals eyed their future king.

Although they had heard many rumors about this King Garlan, this was the first time they had seen him in person.

It was a young boy king.

The long sword was worn at the waist, and the blond hair scattered behind her was like flowing gold reflecting the sunlight.

He was riding on the white horse of Shen Jun, wearing white leather armor, and black boots stepped on the stirrups.

There are no ornaments on his body, only a golden crown in the shape of laurel branches and leaves is worn on the blond hair, and his whole person is as clean and fresh as his youthful face.

As he galloped forward, the light-colored cloak from his side shoulders flew behind him.

While everyone was watching, Garlan rode his horse slowly on the avenue of Kanal King City.

At this moment, all eyes were on him.

At first impression, the Kanal people have a good impression of it.

The beauty of this young king's appearance makes it almost impossible to take his eyes off him.

Even the Kanals, who are used to being extremely demanding on beauty, can't find any faults.

Originally, they were quite nervous about the fact that this young king, who had never seen it with his own eyes, was about to become their new king despite his reputation.

But now they are less disturbed.

I can't tell the reason, but it's probably because the peaceful and steady expression on the young king's eyebrows gives people a feeling of peace of mind.

But no one noticed that when King Garlan's eyes fell on the ruins buried by the collapsed rocks from afar, his fingers holding the rein tightened for a moment.

……

Led by the generals stationed here, Garlan came to the palace on the side of the royal city.

This is a large, wide and secluded courtyard, in the center of which is an exquisite white palace in Kanal style surrounded by greenery.

It is the garden hall of the royal family, and only members of the royal family and the nobles they invite can come here to play.

This royal garden villa was not destroyed in the last disaster because it was far away from the royal palace.

The generals stationed here arranged it as Garlan's temporary residence.

"Calleni hasn't arrived yet?"

Garland asked.

Although the royal city of Kanal has been captured and the main force of the Gastads have been destroyed, there are still remnants of the Gastads in other cities in Kanal.

After Kareni led the Sixth Army into Kanal, he began to clean up those remnants, and has been moving around in Kanal.

However, Garlan had passed the news to Kareni that he was going to arrive at Kanal King City long before his departure.

It stands to reason that Kareni should immediately lead the army to the king's city to meet him.But in the lineup that greeted him today, he saw neither Kareni nor the Sixth Army.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, there was an accident."

The general standing in front of Garlan bowed and answered.

"Your Excellency Kareni was attacked by the remnants of the Gastads on the way to lead the army here, but please don't worry. Your Excellency Kareni sent news the day before yesterday that the matter has been resolved, but the itinerary has been delayed for a few days. Therefore, His Majesty Kareni will probably arrive here two days later."

It turned out to be the case.

Garlan nodded and told the general to retreat.

It was just after noon when I arrived at the King City of Kanal, and after a lot of tossing, it was already evening.

The red clouds in the sky dyed the city which is dominated by pure white tones.

The scenery of the red clouds reflecting the white curtain would have been extremely beautiful—if there were no large collapsed ruins in the distance.

The huge ruined land was isolated as a dangerous area and became a forbidden area that no one dared to step into.

The city is no longer suitable as the central city of Kanal.

Gazing at the ruins, Garlan thought.

In the future, if someone follows the example of the Gastadians and causes a larger man-made mudslide than this time, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, he must allocate manpower and materials to choose a place to build a new city as soon as possible, and move all the Kanals here to there.

The red glow in the evening dyed the ruins red, reflecting it as if it was covered by a layer of blood.

The boy looked at the ruins.

It is the burial place of countless Aaron Landis soldiers.

Similarly, it is also the place where that person died.

They died in foreign lands.

And their corpses can never return to their hometown.

Standing in front of the window, holding the window sill tightly with both hands, Garlan closed his eyes.

His eyelashes drooped down, moved slightly, and shook a little.

Heymos.

You died here for your promise to me, but I can't do anything for you.

Even your body can't bring back Aaron Landis.

...Will you regret it?

When the young man opened his eyes again, the sun had already sunk into the horizon, the flames were gone, and the earth was sinking into darkness little by little.

Seemingly dark but not dark, seemingly bright but not bright.

It is said that the evening is the time of encountering magic.

Day and night alternate, light and dark melt together.

According to legend, when the goddess of life and the goddess of death pass by each other, they will occasionally hold hands at this moment, causing the gap between life and death to be confused for a moment.

They will bring the undead who are obsessed with obsession and cannot be reborn back to the world, and their wishes will be fulfilled.

Suddenly, this legend appeared in Garlan's mind.

"...Heymos."

For some reason, with an inexplicable thought in his arms, Garlan spoke and called out that person's name.

"If... I said, if..."

He raised his head and looked around.

"As long as you can appear in front of me now..."

He looked at the blurred scenery around him due to the dim light. Everything was extremely quiet. The blurred environment seemed to stop space and time at this moment, separating this place from the normal world and turning it into another world. Weird space.

"...I will agree to any request you have."

The room was silent.

After a while, there was still only the boy's own breathing.

Garlan shook his head and smiled wryly.

Stupid.

He pursed his lips in thought.

How could he do such a childish thing that is completely unlike him.

However, not reconciled.

He himself didn't know why.

I just feel very dissatisfied.

"Only one chance."

he said, gritting his teeth, with some indescribably stubborn emotion.

"Heymos, if you don't show up now, then in the future, I swear, I will never promise you—"

pat.

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps in the silent room.

Garlan was taken aback.

He looked up, and in the field of vision that could not be seen clearly at dusk, there was a tall blurry figure walking towards him slowly.

In the dim light, the edge of the tall figure could be vaguely seen brushing the luster of the black gauntlet.

Garlan lost his mind for a moment.

The next second, he smiled slightly.

With a little lost, quite self-deprecating.

Then, he looked up and looked at the man in black armor who was walking towards him.

The moment he raised his head, the private emotion in Garlan's eyes disappeared without a trace, and his eyes were still calm and flexible.

Standing here at this moment is still a calm and calm king who is not disturbed by any personal feelings.

"Mittayas."

Garlan shouted.

"It's me, Your Majesty."

The knight commander in black armor walked up to Garlan and bowed to salute him.

"I'm very sorry that I entered Your Majesty's room without your permission. Because you have been here for a long time without any movement, I am a little worried and can only offend you."

"It's nothing, I just thought of something, and accidentally forgot the time."

"As long as you are safe and sound, please allow me to help you light the wall lamp in the room."

The knight commander straightened up after speaking, and lit the wall lamp in the room with the torch in his hand.

The flame's light illuminated the previously dark room, and also illuminated the knight's angular face.

His face was rather rough due to the wind and sun on the battlefield for a long time, but it gave off a more resolute feeling.

Mittayas is one of the knight commanders under Kaihos and one of his most trusted confidantes.

Because he couldn't accompany Garlan this time, Kyhos sent the strongest knight commander among his subordinates to Garlan's side to protect him.

"It's getting late, please rest as soon as possible."

said Mittayas, looking serious.

"I will arrange for people to go to the mountain area to check the situation tonight."

"Well, thank you for your hard work, Mitaias."

…………

The night passed.

Early in the morning, Garlan got up and went to the ruins.

However, Mittayas insisted that he just stood on the edge of the ruins and did not go in.

Because Mittayas was worried that there would be malicious people doing something on the mountainside.

Standing on the edge of the ruins, under the auspices of Nanna's priest Suojia, a memorial ceremony for the dead was held here in accordance with the customs of Aaron Landis.

Under the early morning sun, the ethereal and long singing of the priestess in pitch-black robes echoed in the ruins and spread in all directions.

The singing is everywhere, even people under the rocks can hear it.

It was a sacrificial song called the Requiem that Aaron Landis had passed down since ancient times.

The Aaron Landis people believe that the Requiem can send people's souls to the underworld, so that the souls wandering in the world can be reincarnated.

Mittayas led thousands of knights to guard Garlan's side, waiting in full force, keeping this place airtight.

The reason why he was so vigilant was that before he left the royal city, Lord Kayhors had secretly told him that some nobles in the royal city had behaved restlessly, so he had to stay by His Majesty's side every step of the way.

Therefore, during this journey, Mityas paid close attention to King Garlan's every move almost all the time.

When the sun rose high in the sky, the memorial ceremony was finally over.

No rolling stones fell from the mountain, and no accidents happened, which made Mitaias heave a sigh of relief.

However, not long after the relief, on the way back from the ruins, an accident happened.

When Garlan was riding his horse forward on the avenue, there were a few swishing sounds that pierced through the air, and three sharp arrows suddenly shot down from the sky above the high tower on the side of the road.

"His Majesty!"

Surprised by the arrow, Suoga shouted.

The knight commander who followed closely beside Garlan along the way charged up on his horse and blocked Garlan almost before everyone could react.

I saw him waving a spear in his hand.

There were two ding dings in succession, and the two sharp arrows were knocked aside heavily by the spear he swung.

With a puff.

He groaned.

The third arrow that followed went deep into his chest——