A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Tick ​​tock.

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

Look up.

The sun was so dazzling that people couldn't see clearly what was in front of them.

The only thing that caught his eye was the familiar stone statue of Isdar, the goddess of stars.

Water droplets gathered in the corners of the eyes of the stone statue's face and slowly slid down the side of his cheek.

Snap.

He held out his hand.

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

A wet feeling came from the skin he touched.

In a trance, someone was holding him.

He couldn't open his eyes, his body was heavy, and 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.

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

Someone was talking and kept saying something, but he couldn't hear anything clearly.

All he knew was that the man kept talking.

Snap.

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

Bright red.

Thick.

Drop after drop, one after another, fell from the man's body, seeping into the corners of his eyes, dyeing his blurred vision with blood——

………………

In the dim light 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 reached out his hand.

His golden pupils were slightly dilated. Although he was looking at the top of the tent, they were not focused. His long golden hair was spread slightly messily on the bed quilt.

The hands he stretched out into the air were still stiff, his breathing was rapid, and his chest was heaving.

Dream?

Garlan thought in a daze.

The tears of the goddess Isdal...

The voice keeps telling something in my ears...

The bright red liquid falling from that person...

…

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

A voice came from outside the camp, awakening Garlan from his trance.

His scattered eyes condensed and he finally became sober.

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

The place where he is is a large camp.

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

"His Majesty?"

The voice calling him came to mind again outside the tent curtain.

That was the voice of Soga, the priest of Nanna.

After careful consideration, Garlan finally decided to let Suojia accompany him to the King of Kanal.

Because the army remaining in the royal city of Karnar belonged to the third legion led by Heimos, and its generals were also subordinates of Heimos.

Suojia has worked with him under Heimos 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 from outside stopped immediately.

Even though it had been ten days, he was still not used to the practice of waking him up loudly outside.

Because in the past, when he was on an expedition, either Kehos or Heimos, or worse still, Shermer, would force him to sleep in a tent with him, saying that it was to protect his safety.

Garlan had no choice but to let them go because he was overly protective of himself and couldn't handle them.

And every morning, they would go to their beds and whisper to wake themselves up, instead of shouting outside like Suojia.

However, he was not used to it, and Garlan was not willing to let someone like Suojia, whom he was not very familiar with, sleep in the same room as him at night.

Garlan thought as he changed his clothes.

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

No wonder Kehos is so worried.

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

…………

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

This kind of thinking is really not what a king should have.

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

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

"It's time to set off, Your Majesty."

He said, "If there are no accidents, we will arrive at the royal city of Kanal after noon today. Everyone must be eagerly awaiting your arrival."

Garlan hummed, touched the white horse that was being led, and got on the horse.

After resting for a night, Aaron Landis's army set off again, guarding their king as he headed west.

The long team snaked along the ground like a long snake, moving forward slowly.

As Suojia said, half a day later, they arrived at the royal city of Kanal.

A majestic mountain peak stands above the earth, as if it is standing tall in the sky.

Below, a huge city dominated by white appears on the horizon.

It was supposed to be a combination of the majesty of the towering mountains and the exquisite 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 the royal city of Karnar.

The troops of Aaron Landis stationed here had already lined up on both sides of the road to welcome their king's arrival.

Through the open city gate, Garlan rode into the main road 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 also countless Canal people standing behind these soldiers.

The people of Karnar stared at their future king.

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

That was a young boy king.

The long sword is worn at the side of the waist, and the blond hair scattered behind him looks like flowing gold in the sunlight. .

He was riding on a divine white horse, wearing white leather armor and black boots on the stirrups.

There are no accessories on his body, only a golden crown shaped like a laurel branch is worn on top of his blond hair. His whole person is as clean and fresh as his young face.

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

Under the gaze of everyone, Garlan rode his horse slowly on the main road of Kanal King City.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on him.

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

The beauty of this young king's appearance makes it almost impossible to take your eyes away.

Even the people of Karnar, who are always very demanding about beauty, can't find any fault.

Originally, they were quite uneasy about the fact that the young king, who although he had a reputation but had never seen him in person, was about to become their new king.

But now they are less uneasy.

I can't explain the reason, but it's probably because the peaceful look on the young king's eyebrows gives people a sense of peace of mind.

However, no one noticed that when King Garlan's eyes fell on the ruins buried by the collapsed rocks, the fingers holding the reins tightened for a moment.

Then, he slowly let go.

…

Garlan was led by the general stationed here to the palace on the side of the royal city.

This is a large, spacious and secluded courtyard, with the exquisite white palace in the Karnal style in the middle surrounded by green trees.

It is the royal family's garden palace, and only royal family members and the nobles they invite can visit here.

This royal garden annex was far away from the palace, so it was not destroyed in the last disaster.

The general stationed here arranged this place as Garlan's temporary residence.

"Isn't Kaleni here yet?"

Garlan asked.

Although the Royal City of Kanal has been captured and the main force of the Gastad people has been destroyed, there are still residual forces of the Gastad people in other cities in Kanal.

After Kaleni led the Sixth Army into Karnar, he began to clean up the remaining forces and has been moving around the territory of Karnar.

However, before Garlan set out, he had informed Kalleni of the news that he was about to arrive at the royal city of Karnar.

Logically speaking, Kalleni should immediately lead an army to the royal city to greet him. But in the lineup that greeted him today, he saw neither Kalleni 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 Kaleni was attacked by the remaining forces of the Gastad people on his way here, but please don't worry. Your Excellency Kaleni sent news the day before yesterday that the matter has been resolved, but the trip was delayed for a few days. . Therefore, Mr. Kalleni will arrive here about two days late."

I see.

Garlan nodded and asked the general to retreat.

It was just after noon when we arrived at Karnal Royal City. After a lot of trouble, it was already evening.

The red clouds on the horizon dyed this city, which is mainly pure white, red.

The scenery of the red clouds reflecting the white curtain would have been extremely beautiful - if not for the large crumbling ruins in the distance.

The huge ruins were isolated as a dangerous area and became a forbidden area where no one dared to enter.

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

Garlan thought as he stared at the ruins.

If in the future, someone follows the example of the Gastad people and creates a larger man-made mudslide than this one, the consequences will be really 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 Kanar people there.

The red clouds in the evening dyed the ruins red, reflecting the place as if it were shrouded in a layer of blood.

The boy looked at the ruins.

It is the burial place of countless Aaron Landis soldiers.

Likewise, it is also the place of death for that person.

They died in foreign lands.

And their bodies can never return to their hometowns.

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

His eyelashes drooped and moved slightly, as if they couldn't bear any weight.

Heimos.

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

Even your body cannot bring Aaron Landis back.

...Will you regret it?

When the boy opened his eyes again, the sun had already sunk below the horizon, the color of fire had faded away, and the earth was sinking into darkness little by little.

It seems dark but not dark, it seems bright but not bright.

It is said that evening is the time to encounter evil spirits.

Day and night alternate, light and darkness melt into one place.

According to legend, when the goddess in charge of life and the goddess in charge of death pass each other, they will occasionally hold hands at this moment, causing the gap between life and death to become chaotic in an instant.

They will make the souls of the dead who are obsessed with being unable to be reborn return to the world and fulfill their wishes.

Suddenly, this legend appeared in Garlan's mind.

"...Heimos."

For some reason, with an inexplicable thought in mind, Garlan opened his mouth 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 scenery around him that had become blurry due to the dim light. Everything was extremely quiet. The blurred environment seemed to make space and time pause at this moment, separating this place from the normal world and transforming it into another world. Strange space.

"...I will agree to whatever you ask for."

The room was silent.

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

Garlan shook his head and smiled bitterly.

How stupid.

He pursed his lips and thought.

How could he do something so childish and completely unlike him?

But, don't give in.

He himself didn't know why.

I just feel very unwilling.

"There's only one chance."

He said, gritting his teeth with some indescribable stubbornness.

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

Snap.

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

Garlan was startled.

He looked up, and in his field of vision, which was unclear at dusk, there was a tall, vague figure on the opposite side slowly walking towards him.

In the dim light, the sheen of black gauntlets was faintly visible on the edge of the tall figure.

Garlan was lost for a moment.

The next second, he smiled softly.

A little disappointed and quite self-deprecating.

Then, he raised his head and looked at the man in black armor walking towards him.

"Mitaas."

Garlan shouted.

"It's me, Your Majesty."

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

"I'm very sorry for entering your Majesty's room without your permission. Because you stayed here for a long time and there was no movement, I was a little worried and could only take offense."

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something and accidentally forgot the time."

"As long as you're okay, please allow me to help you light the wall lamp in the room."

After the knight commander finished speaking, he straightened up and lit the wall lamp in the room with the fire stick in his hand.

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

His face looked rough due to exposure to the wind and sun on the battlefield for a long time, but it gave people a more determined look.

Mitayas is one of the knight captains under Caixus and one of his most trusted subordinates.

Since he was unable to accompany Garlan this time, Kayhos sent the strongest knight commander among his subordinates to Garlan to protect him.

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

said Mitayas, looking serious.

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

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

…………

The night passed.

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

However, due to Mitayas's insistence, he just stood on the edge of the ruins and did not enter.

Because Mitayas was worried that someone with evil intentions would do something on the mountainside.

Standing on the edge of the ruins, under the auspices of Soga, the priest of Nanna, a memorial ceremony for the dead was held here according to the custom of Aaron Landis.

Under the early morning sunshine, the long and ethereal singing voice of the priestess wearing 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 a requiem passed down from ancient times by Aaron Landis.

Aaron Landis believe that the requiem can transport a person's soul to the underworld, allowing souls wandering in the world to be reincarnated.

Mitayas led thousands of knights to guard Garlan's side, and they were ready to guard this place airtight.

The reason why he was so vigilant was because Lord Kaihos had secretly told him before leaving the royal city that some nobles in the royal city were acting restlessly, so he must stay by his majesty's side.

Therefore, along the way, Mitayas paid attention to King Garlan's every move almost all the time.

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

No rocks fell from the mountain, and no accidents occurred, which made Mitayas relieved.

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

While Garlan was riding his horse on the road, there were suddenly a few whooshing sounds in the air, and three sharp arrows suddenly shot down from the high tower on the side of the road.

"His Majesty!"

Suojia, who was surprised by the arrow, shouted.

The knight commander who followed Garlan along the way rushed up on his horse and stood in front of Garlan before anyone could react.

I saw him waving the spear in his hand.

There were two ding-ding sounds in succession, and the two sharp arrows were knocked aside by the spear he wielded.

Poof.

He groaned.

The third arrow that followed pierced his chest deeply——