Although the soldiers in the barracks had roughly controlled the assassin, they were still surprised that he was someone the general knew.
What happened next was somewhat unexpected. Isaiah brought in a large tent to block the view from outside, and then several mages set up a safe isolation barrier before the two began to talk inside the tent.
"Okay, now we can talk quietly for a few minutes."
Isaiah, wearing a coat, sat on a valuable wooden chair, looking at the assassin standing on the other side of the barrier. A small sound transmission device was placed in front of each of them to transmit the sounds on both sides of the barrier.
"Aren't you afraid of being suspected by the upper echelons of the Western Empire by talking to me, an assassin?" Rock replied indifferently.
"You're still so considerate of others, Rock. It's unbelievable that someone like you could embark on the path of an assassin." Isaiah shook his head.
"My position in the Western Empire is more stable than you think. Never mind, this isn't something worth mentioning. As for you, I have so many questions I want to ask and understand."
"In exchange, I can answer some less important questions for you." He leaned back in his chair, folded his legs, and waited for the assassin opposite him to think.
Soon, a response came from the other side.
"Go ahead."
"That's how it is." Isaiah smiled the same smile he had when he was a teenager. Although he has matured a lot, it can be seen that he still retains many of his past habits.
"Did you take Princess Evelyn away and make her queen?"
"Yes." The answer was simple, and there was no further explanation.
"Very good, it's your turn to ask."
"Are you absolutely loyal to the Western Empire?" Rock asked
"No." Isaiah also did not explain the reason.
Isaiah: "Do you wish the Western Empire to fall?"
Rock: “Yes.”
Rock: "Do you hope that the Western Empire will unify the entire country?"
Isaiah: “Yes.”
Isaiah: "Do you hope that the Eastern Empire will unify the entire country?"
Rock: "Negative."
Isaiah: "That's interesting. Since you don't have this idea, you still support that queen to ascend the throne."
Rock: "What will it take for you to give up your allegiance to the Western Empire?"
Isaiah: "This question is really complicated. I can only say that pledging loyalty to the Western Empire is my only choice. Rock, you and I are different."
Isaiah: "Even though you're here to kill me, I still want to ask you one last question: Have you still not forgotten your thoughts as a teenager?"
Rock: “Yes.”
After this sentence, Rock stopped asking questions, and Isaiah had to continue asking.
"I don't know why you still hold on to that kind of thinking, but I still want to ask you, what do you think fairness and justice are? You cared a lot about this when you were young. Actually, I cared a little bit about it back then, too, because of the influence of all those stories and legends."
"But things like this should change as you get older. As an assassin, you should understand better than I do that so-called fairness and justice are just false slogans. Who will judge, who will take the lead, etc., there are a series of problems."
"So, I'm very curious about how you can maintain the logical consistency in your mind and be so firm." Isaiah was a little puzzled.
"You are not the kind of person who can be bullied, nor are you a fool who can be easily fooled. You should know that such slogans and goals are actually very empty." Isaiah chose his words carefully, trying to be as tactful as possible.
Rock: "Because someone died in front of me, I don't think he had any regrets at the time."
Suddenly, Rock's voice changed from its previous cold tone and became slightly more emotional.
"Just like when you are cared for by your family and want to protect them, someone has passed that warmth on to me."
Isaiah: "I understand."
Isaiah: "It seems we can no longer go back to when we were friends."
Having said that, Isaiah patted his hat with a bit of disappointment, then put it on and stood up.
In an instant, the sound of countless musket fire rang out outside, dense holes appeared on the thick cloth of the tent, and the place where Rock had originally stood was engulfed in flames and smoke.
Soon, one soldier after another rushed into the tent and protected Isaiah. When they checked again where Rock had stood before, there was no one there and no body of the other party.
"He escaped, General."
"Never mind. It's within expectations. An assassin like him won't be easily fooled or die." Isaiah took off the small metal object inside his hat and threw it to the technical officer beside him.
“We will continue to improve it.”
"Yes, General."
In the military camp, the chaos caused by the enemy cavalry's charge had long since disappeared. After resisting the attack, the soldiers were on alert everywhere, searching for assassins and suspicious persons one by one.
The war continued. In the following six months, the Eastern and Western Empires fought various battles on the border. In order to cope with the pressure brought by this white-robed general, the Eastern Empire also mobilized a number of officers with strong military capabilities to the front line.
Faced with the Eastern Empire's abundant personnel configuration, even Isaiah gradually lost his ease and composure as before, and the situation slowly changed from an advantage to a balance.
In the following year, the two sides continued to fight for power until the situation in the empire changed again.
A rebellion broke out within the Western Empire, and Jellann took away many of his loyalists. The Eastern Empire also began to face a series of internal problems due to the interference of the elves.
————
June of the following year, Gaodan Plain.
The newly built station was full of busy figures. Soldiers were anxious to unload supplies from the train and then load other things. One by one, staff members were counting the supplies piled up at the station, and then marking each box with chalk and writing numbers.
"The train is about to depart, Lord Isaiah." A female adjutant came behind the general.
"knew."
He looked at the fortress and the fields in the distance again, and then boarded the train to the west to quell the rebellion with the soldiers around him.
The steam roared, the wheels creaked slowly to life, and the rhythmic clatter of cylinders and pistons set the train into motion. White steam billowed from the locomotive's front, filling the air. Accompanied by the crowd's shouts and farewells, the train gradually accelerated, dragging the scenery behind it further and further away until it became an invisible, blurry dot.
Goodbye, my old friend.
Isaiah stopped looking out the window and leaned back, closing his eyes. The afternoon sun streamed through the windows, casting slowly shifting streaks of light and shadow across the carriage, like a grid, slowly crossing the young general's face.
I don’t know when, but there are more and more young faces like this on the battlefield.
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