Chapter 71
"Huff... huff..." Intermittent panting sounds rang out, barely noticeable amidst the clashing of armor and weapons.
The crimson sunset burned the distant, undulating mountains, and the obscure curves depicted the phantom of an ancient city. As the shimmering magical barrier shattered, the horns of Trosna blared across the sky above the army.
There was a slight commotion in the army, but it was just the soldiers adjusting their posture.
"Roar—" The dragon's roar shook the clouds, and the shockwaves trembled across the land.
The dragon's body, which blotted out the sky, and its black wings, which were more than ten meters long, swirled above the city. Its deep red vertical pupils stared at the humans who were fleeing in panic in the city.
With the fall of the last city of Butaia, the Lortheran army will have a three-month rest period.
Standing in the front row of the army, several thin figures stood out.
—But compared to the soldiers around them, these young men were too small and weak.
However, all of them looked radiant as they gazed up at the ancient city wall.
In the dim light and shadow, countless eyes blazed as they fixed intently on this city that would later become magnificent and prosperous.
This place can be described as being nestled against the Central Mountain Range and surrounded by the Central Forest, a region rich in resources. Further north, nearly a thousand miles away, lies the land where demons wreak havoc, and it is now known as the Demon Realm.
With the Central Mountain Range in place, the demons never ventured south to harass Butaya, but instead took a detour.
Dragons frequently fly over the continent of Icarus, and no one knows the layout of the northern part of the continent better than them. It is also because of the dragons that Lortheran is able to quickly determine the most suitable battle plan based on the terrain.
It took half a month for Butaya to finally fall, which was quite a long time for Lor'theran.
Conquering cities and seizing territories is easy, but how to recuperate and rebuild is the most troublesome thing.
Every war can set this city back by several years or even decades!
Especially in this era when plagues break out from time to time.
Putaya has a history of hundreds of years. The city gates were opened, and the residents were ordered to stay at home and not to wander around. The main force of the army slowly entered the city and set up camp at the designated location.
Lortheran was extremely busy, Veris was studying religious scriptures and doctrines, and Hill was taking stock of the army. The dragons couldn't be of much help, so they listened to Lortheran and brought along the few trial participants who wanted to join the army.
The meeting place was no longer the drab mud house, but the luxurious mansion of the city lord of Butaya.
Arnold and his companions, their faces serious, followed the light-footed dragon toward Lortheran's study.
The room was inlaid with crystals that glowed at night, and light shone through the windows. Arnold glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and saw a crowd of people inside. The study was quite large, but it was now packed with people.
The dragon told them to wait a moment, then peeked inside before turning back to them and saying, "I haven't finished yet. Do you want to go get something to eat?"
For the past two weeks, Long hadn't really interacted with these people from later generations. His current amiable demeanor was simply because he had conquered Butaya and now he treated everyone with a friendly attitude.
The group shook their heads and stood outside the hall waiting.
As night fell and it became pitch black outside, the conversation inside ended, and many people came out.
Those men were dressed no better than the soldiers; most of their clothes were patched, their cheeks were slightly sunken, and their complexions were sallow, but their eyes were sparkling and they were very excited.
When Arnold first met this group of military officers and civilians, he thought they had encountered something good, which was why they were so excited.
Later, they gradually discovered that these people had the same spirit every day, just like the soldiers they knew in the army.
The silent, bloody soldiers that Arnold witnessed on the city wall that day were merely a heavily filtered version of themselves due to his fear.
When the soldiers gripped their weapons and stepped onto the battlefield, they were silent.
This is a place of life and death, not a place for people to joke around.
They attacked with a sense of awe.
—For the peace of the continent of Icarus!
Fight for Lor'theran!
When it was time to rest, they finally smiled, their eyes shining brightly.
Arnold believed that in this terrible era, everyone lived like zombies.
But he was very wrong.
He only saw the soldiers' apathy, but he couldn't see the flame that never stopped burning in their hearts.
If they were truly just walking corpses, how could they possess such an indomitable and invincible spirit?
A light, airy voice came from inside the hall: "Come in."
Arnold turned around and walked into the large study with his companions.
Sitting in the middle, Lortheran was still wearing his military uniform. He put down his cup, looked at the young men, and without any preamble, said, "You'll be leaving tomorrow, so take care of anything that needs to be done tonight."
For the past two weeks, he hadn't asked anyone to give these people any special treatment. After all, they still had the mark on them that allowed them to be teleported away at any time if danger was detected. Veris had studied that mark; it was created by his future self and was almost like an "eye," something that ordinary magic spells couldn't compare to.
Having been in this era for almost a month, Arnold and the others have seen Lortheran less than two times in total.
Arnold was overjoyed and expressed his gratitude. No one would turn a cold shoulder to sweet words, and now that they had conquered Butaya, Lortheran's expression softened.
He looked at these people and felt they were no match for his companions, but he still said, "Orlando sent you here, perhaps by chance, or perhaps he planned all this all along. But the fact that he cares about you so much means he has high hopes for you. Don't let him down."
Orlando?
Arnold was stunned for a moment before realizing that the "Orlando" mentioned by the founding king must be the highly respected Pope.
A look of surprise flashed across his somewhat tanned face. After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but ask, "I've admired Pope Orlando for a long time. I wonder where he is now?"
It is said that Pope Orlando and King Lortheran were friends, and King Lortheran must have known where Pope Orlando was.
When Arnold mentioned this, Lortheran wasn't angry, but just sighed slightly: "He's traveling around, studying the scriptures of other religions, and soon he plans to close himself off and formally begin compiling his own scriptures and doctrines. You want to see him? No way."
Arnold pretended not to hear the last sentence, but after hearing what Rotheran said before, he was deeply moved and sighed, "If I had known, I would have memorized more scriptures, so that Pope Orlando wouldn't have had to work so hard."
Meanwhile, Veris, who was searching through the scriptures of the Celestial Church in a small town, looked up in surprise. Why were there pale golden spots emanating from his body again? Although he guessed that it was related to faith, he had not yet taken the first step in founding his church.
Those few heroes from later generations?
Indeed, by then he had already spread his church throughout Icarus, so it's not surprising that those few people offered him faith.
Veris pondered this and began to bury himself in the scriptures again, frowning as he flipped through them. Looking at the words, he felt as if he knew he was presented with a plate of rotten, stinky salted fish, yet he had to suppress his nausea and try to appreciate it.
Searching for useful things in a pile of garbage is indeed painful.
Although Arnold was disappointed not to see His Holiness the Pope, he was already very happy to have met the founding king. He had benefited greatly from this adventure in the secret realm, and his strength had increased significantly. He couldn't be more satisfied.
The only minor regret was that on that day at the altar in the ruins of Ambrose, he was manipulated by the remnant soul in his mind and actually tried to assassinate his own father. This was unacceptable to Arnold. Many times, during the intervals between digesting the divine power, he couldn't help but think that he might as well just be overwhelmed by the divine power and die.
However, he hadn't even had a proper look at his father.
I haven't apologized to my father yet.
My father said that his current youthful appearance was achieved using a special spell. He was originally in his thirties or forties, but he changed his appearance to look like this in order to enter the secret realm.
Arnold had already envisioned a father figure who was both dignified and gentle.
Although his father looked exactly like King Lortheran, there must have been a reason for it.
When he left the secret realm, his father came to see him and said he would wait for him outside.
With just one sentence, Arnold understood what his father meant.
He wanted to stay in this place that would never be found again in later generations and train himself well!
And his companions.
-
The queen's death should have been a time of national mourning, but she had committed such a heinous crime that she deserved to die ten thousand times over.
The death of all the princes has already shaken the very foundation of the Lortheran Kingdom's rule!
People didn't know what kind of character the only surviving prince was, or whether he could govern Lortheran well, but news of the papal palanquin being carried into the palace had already spread.
The Pope's intervention suggests that things haven't gotten too bad yet.
After so many years of peace, both commoners and nobles felt a sense of unease, as if a storm was about to break and heavy, leaden-gray clouds were pressing down on the capital.
But in springtime, the capital of Lortheran is bathed in warm sunshine, with flowers in full bloom, a scene brimming with life.
The court assembly was suspended for half a month, during which time all government affairs were handled in the king's study.
It was publicly stated that Prince Ethan was handling the matter, but any minister with a brain could see that Prince Ethan simply did not have the necessary authority.
The style of those replies was also completely different from Prince Ethan's previous gentle approach.
Who truly holds the reins of power in the country? The ministers were filled with apprehension.
The prime minister, who oversees all officials, neither commented nor denied this.
Now that there are no more court assemblies, the only time one can see colleagues is on the way to the king's study, and those who are more familiar with them will come up to ask about him.
Is Prince Garcia currently handling government affairs?
However, Prince Garcia has been so busy with royal affairs that he has no time to deal with these political matters.
The Prime Minister is over fifty years old this year, a bit younger than King Charles, but he looks quite energetic and could live for several more decades.
Hearing this, he stroked his beard and asked in return, "Do you think that person handled it poorly?"
The other ministers were speechless for a moment.
It wasn't that it was bad, but rather that it was handled too well, which led them to conclude that the person in charge of government affairs was definitely not the inexperienced young prince Ethan.
His shrewd and decisive methods are quite different from those of King Charles. To put it bluntly, the mysterious person who is now handling political affairs has more courage and more unwavering confidence than King Charles.
At least, at least their cautious suggestions for minor reforms were approved. Not only were they approved, but the person also circled the unreasonable parts and told them to go back and think it over before submitting another report, or else they would be sent to feed the cattle.
Behind those sharp, powerful characters, they seemed to see a wise and powerful, mature emperor who would be remembered for generations.
Where did King Charles find such an extraordinary person?
The prime minister said nothing more and just kept walking forward with his head down.
Upon reaching the outside of the study, he handed the document to the attendant, who then carried it to the study. The journey was only a few steps, and he could see it at a glance as the study door opened.
Then a young man roared, "Requesting 100,000 silver coins to celebrate his mother's birthday?! Tell him to go to his ancestors' tombstones and see if I look like his mother—!!"
Prime Minister: "!?"
"You think he can sit on the throne just because there are hardly any royals left, huh?"
"Get Garcia over here!"
The old prime minister shuddered, his face contorted in a kaleidoscope of colors.
He was momentarily at a loss for words: should he criticize the prince inside for being so petty about 100,000 silver coins, or should he investigate the unruly members of the royal family? Or, even more alarming, should he consider that the person inside dared to address the prince by his name?
The old man swayed, turned around and hurried away, afraid of being caught if he was too late.
After all, he was one of those who were told to go back and "feed the cows."
Furthermore, this prince is far too stingy. He only spends 100,000 silver coins on a family banquet... The old prime minister shuddered again when he thought of the clothes his wife bought the day before yesterday, which cost 70,000 silver coins.
No, no, I must go back and warn everyone in my family that they must be thrifty and manage their household well!
We absolutely cannot let them catch us red-handed!
As he walked out of the study into the corridor, the old prime minister hurried along, then suddenly stopped as if startled awake.
wrong.
Is the prince inside really only after money?
I recalled the document I had previously submitted, cautiously proposing that a portion of the currency could be recovered.
Did he really overhear the study door opening by accident?
The old prime minister slapped his forehead, took a deep breath, and continued walking forward in a daze.
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Author's Note: These two chapters are difficult to combine, so I've published them separately.
Lortheran is a real tightwad [empty bowl]. Of course, the current oversupply of currency is also a problem. King Charles hoped for a gradual approach, but Lortheran swiftly and decisively cut down the excess.
Because of the Golden Merchant Guild chicken.
*
The main theme of this article is not becoming a god, but becoming an adult.
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