Chapter 129 Chapter 129 "It's still the same as before."...

In the summer of 1863, Elio rode into the Vongola territory.

Just as before, he slowly led the reins and circled the mountain castle. This majestic and magnificent castle had been captured by the Vongola just the previous year, from a mafia family that had originally intended to challenge the Vongola's authority. Giotto had undoubtedly accepted his tribute with a smile.

As usual, as soon as Giotto heard of his arrival, he was waiting on the gate tower early.

They simply glanced at each other from a distance and laughed. Giotto's figure flashed by, evidently hurrying down the stairs; Elio spurred his horse forward and galloped across the drawbridge. When they met inside the castle, and the footman took the reins, Giotto, too, opened his arms and greeted Elio with a broad smile, "Ah, 'respected' Duke!"

Elio stifled a laugh, "Your Majesty, the First Vongola!"

They hugged each other tightly, looked at each other and soon burst into laughter.

"You haven't been here for a while, Elio," Giotto asked, after he had finished laughing. "And I haven't heard anything from the Brotherhood either. Is everything alright?"

"That's right, Giotto," Elio said simply, "the point of a brotherhood is that no one hears about it."

He didn't answer the question about "Is everything all right?" Giotto's eyes flickered, but as if he hadn't noticed anything, he put his arm around Elio's shoulders and walked inside.

"Your room is cleaned every day," Giotto said with a wink, "but the person who is supposed to sleep in it is never there!"

Elio was amused by his expression. "I didn't realize I was wasting a room!"

"You must stay," said Giotto, "at least for one night, and we will catch up."

"So this is your purpose."

"Of course, you can imagine how much I miss you!"

Even if Elio hadn't originally intended to stay, Giotto's strong push would have made it hard for him to change his mind. Furthermore, Elio had originally planned to stay for one night. So Giotto took advantage of the situation and began to bargain with him. As they entered the castle's interior, where the cool shade enveloped them, Elio realized he had inadvertently agreed to stay for two more days.

"Ugetsu received a letter from home and returned by boat not long ago," Giotto told him. "Gatlin is with Garibaldi. They are discussing the liberation of Venice."

"I knew Rome's defeat wouldn't stop them," Elio said.

Giotto smiled patiently, "Of course."

But that didn't explain why the Vongola Castle looked so empty. Elio looked around. Although he saw many people bustling in and out, he didn't see a single golden target to mark his companions. If Alaudi and Spedo weren't there, Elio would have thought it was normal (he knew they'd recently gone to Prussia), and if Knuckle wasn't there either (he was on a diplomatic mission to the Papal States), but why wasn't Lambo there?

"I sent Lan Bao to America to do business." Giotto said lightly.

"At this time?" Elio wondered. There was a war going on.

"Just right, isn't it?"

Well, it was a great business opportunity, but Giotto spoke as if he hadn't been left alone in the Vongola. Elio didn't want to question his friend's decision, but he was a little puzzled, especially since—

"I thought you had someone with you," Elio said gloomily, "because I was planning to go to London."

Giotto was also stunned when he heard this. He uttered an "Oh..." sound and blinked, "So you're here to say goodbye."

Elio scratched his face in embarrassment after being exposed by his words.

"About the Brotherhood?" Giotto asked.

"It's about the Brotherhood." Elio wanted to explain, "In London..."

"No," but Giotto suddenly smiled and stopped Elio with a single hand. "You don't have to tell me, Elio. That's an internal matter between you and your brotherhood, isn't it?"

Elio couldn't deny it. Last year, the London Brotherhood had lost a Piece of Eden that was on the verge of their acquisition, a fact unknown to Elio at first. The British, clearly mortified, had kept the incident a secret, but the Templars' fierce attacks had overwhelmed them. With London on the brink of losing it, a situation even more difficult to conceal than the Piece of Eden itself, London had no choice but to send a call for help to the neighboring Italian Brotherhood.

(“Neighboring” means that there is an “insignificant” France between them.)

After all, in 1848, the London Brotherhood had provided considerable assistance to Sicily. However, the person communicating with them at the time was another Assassin sent by Master Virgil. Upon learning of Master Virgil's passing, London was clearly disappointed, believing no further results would be achieved. However, considering the British had indeed provided considerable international assistance back then (regardless of whether they were motivated by profiting from this), Elio replied, expressing his willingness to investigate the situation and offer whatever assistance he could.

But then again, the Italians were advancing with great momentum, while the British were being defeated and fleeing in panic. Even Elio himself didn't believe it.

"There's something else I need to tell you," Elio said, changing the subject. "The Templars in Europe are still trying to study our flame. We've mostly eliminated the Templars in Italy, but some outsiders are still coming in. Be careful."

"Don't worry," said Giotto, smiling, "I know what I'm doing."

Aside from his initial surprise, Giotto quickly accepted Elio's impending departure for London. They entered the office and began by discussing Venice, desperate to reconquer, Napoleon III's grip on Rome, the impending war between Prussia and Austria, and the American Civil War. Giotto paced back and forth in front of the sofa, while Elio sat with his legs crossed. Both of them were practically dancing, their eyes following each other's movements intently, their conversation sparking as much as the conversation itself.

They continued to debate over the crisp clash of wine and lemonade until dinner time.

But when they talked late into the night and Giotto followed Elio into his room to continue the conversation, they rarely talked about business anymore.

"Can you drink it now?" Giotto teased him. "I still remember the look on your face the first day you drank my wine!"

"I remember the first time I saw you, too," Elio shot back. "You were only that tall."

But Elio gestured at Giotto's shoulders. The fact was that Giotto hadn't grown much since then.

"And you were like a stray cat at that time," Giotto said to him, "bewildered and wary, trying to pretend that you weren't very picky about your food."

"Come on, at that time you--" Elio was speechless for a moment.

Giotto raised an eyebrow, "At that time of mine?"

Elio wanted to say something, but after searching his memory for a long time, he fell silent. If Giotto hadn't generously welcomed him, Elio didn't know where he would be now. After all, he didn't understand the language or the culture, and he couldn't even explain how he had arrived in Italy.

"When you walked in through the church door that time," Elio said finally, his tone softening, "you didn't look anything special."

Giotto raised his eyebrows in shock. But Elio quickly continued, "What makes you special is the way others look at you, the way they reach out to you with trust and dependence. And you respond to every one of them."

Giotto's eyebrows fell back. He hesitated to speak, scratching his hair a little embarrassedly.

"I was wondering what kind of man you would become," Elio said, looking at him. "You know, you were so young then. But now... just as I thought, you've become an unparalleled leader."

Even Giotto, under Elio's heartfelt praise, was speechless for a moment. He couldn't even look Elio in the eye, silently covering his face and then laughing softly. Elio laughed too.

"It's been so many years, Elio," Giotto said. "I'm glad you've been here all this time."

They talked about some things in the past, and some "unsolved mysteries" were solved ("So it was you who kicked him down?!" Giotto shouted, "Gatlin always thought it was me!" "This only shows that you have always had a bad sleeping posture," Elio argued, "So he didn't think it was me!"), and some unsolved mysteries still remained ("So why do cats and dogs like to stay close to you?" Elio was puzzled. "I also want to ask why eagles fly over when you climb to a high place." Giotto was also confused); these random topics passed quickly, so quickly that they didn't realize the passage of time, until the light of dawn streamed in from the top of the curtains, and they realized that a whole night had passed.

"You don't look any older," Giotto muttered. "I'm afraid anyone would believe you were under thirty..."

Elio was so sleepy that he couldn't hear what he was saying. He could only catch one or two key words and just pulled the quilt over his head. "Don't worry... you still don't have any white hair..."

When Elio woke up at noon the next day, Giotto had already disappeared. By the time the assassin had finished cleaning himself up and was yawning and checking his hidden blade, a Vongola member knocked on the door at just the right moment and told him, "I'll treat you to a meal."

"Got it," Elio said loudly. "Tell him I'll be there in a minute."

Elio spent three days in this idle state. During this time, Gatlin came back once, probably because he had heard from Giotto that Gatlin was going to London and wanted to say goodbye to him. However, Elio mistakenly thought that Giotto had sold him out, and he apologized guiltily for kicking him out many years ago. This confused Gatlin: he had long forgotten such an incident.

Of course Giotto burst into laughter when he learned about this.

Three days later, Elio bid farewell to the Vongola. Giotto escorted him all the way to the port of Palermo. The waves were rolling, seagulls were crying, and the wooden planks connecting the steamer to the shore were crowded with people.

"It's still the same as it was back then." Giotto sighed.

Elio laughed, knowing he was referring to his diplomatic mission to France. "Back then, there were salutes!"

Giotto asked half-seriously, "Do you want me to fire a salute?"

"Forget it then!"

At high tide, Elio boarded the boat. They watched each other gradually shrink until the harbor where Giotto stood became a tiny line on the horizon, and Elio's boat became a tiny dot on the seashore, and the sunset finally set.

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The author has something to say: Play bgm again: "bella ciao"

And the background at this time: there are still several cities in Italy that have not been recovered, the French army is in the Papal States (Garibaldi fought once and failed), Venice is in the hands of the Austrians, Prussia and Austria are fighting for the rule of Germany, the United States is fighting the Civil War, and in the history of Assassin's Creed, Ethan Frye (the father of the Frye twins) is still alive, and the first half of the plot in "Underworld" has just ended.