Chapter 142 Chapter 142 Do you want to jump with me...
"So, 'Elliot Smith'?" Giotto joked. "You chose to be a blacksmith?"
Elio smiled too. He extended his wrist, displaying his Hidden Blade. "Don't underestimate the blacksmiths! They are the ones who determine our lives."
"And metal engravers!" Cozart added.
It was the summer of 1866. Cozart hadn't yet sailed, and Elio hadn't left Italy. Although they had agreed to do so, there was still a long process of follow-up and preparation. The Simon family planned to hand over their inland business to the Vongola family, which had also sent personnel to northern Italy. As for how they negotiated and divided the profits, Elio didn't care.
Unlike the Mafia families, which had physical scale and controlled actual land, the Assassin Brotherhood was much more flexible. Centuries ago, they had been deeply rooted among the people. Elio had simply allowed them to return to their former selves, continuing to operate low-key businesses like inns and bars that attracted people.
Just as Giotto had talked to him many years ago - although Giotto's original intention was to let him not use himself as a tool - but from the perspective of the entire society, and even the entire world history, the role that the assassin has to play is still a sharp knife.
A knife that tears through the fog and points to tomorrow.
And when the fog clears and tomorrow arrives... when Italy finally shakes off the dark clouds above its head and can continue to step onto the world stage on its own, this knife should also be retired and put aside.
Whatever promises the Italian monarchs had made to the sword.
After all, he is the monarch!
Elio, believing his love for this land wasn't as deep as Giotto and Garibaldi's, decided to retreat decisively. After all, an Assassin wasn't meant to be in the spotlight. When he returned the medal and title, he'd expected to feel a certain attachment to the noble title, but instead, he found himself simply relieved.
The Assassins had no objection. Elio had once hung the Order of the Annunciation in the Assassin's base, telling them it was a mark of honor for all Assassins. When he decided to return it, Elio felt rather embarrassed, but the Assassins didn't care. Their only concern was, "Who will we follow after you leave?"
"We once gathered under the same flag, symbolizing the same ideals and principles," Elio replied. "I believe it was the resistance to war and aggression that brought us together, and the desire for peace. When peace arrives today, the Assassins should consider their mission accomplished."
"In the midst of war, I led you into battle. It was my duty. But in times of peace, what leaders do you need? What do you need to follow? Mentor Ezio Auditore once said, 'Choose your own path! Not me, not anyone else.' Today, I say the same to you."
He was no longer their mentor. But Elio didn't leave them immediately, as that would be tantamount to abandonment! Instead, Elio spent a great deal of time with the Assassins, discussing the Creed, its principles, and its future. The most important point, he revealed, was to follow wisdom.
Luigi wrote furiously, recording the discussions of those nights and days and binding them into a book.
On the title page, the assassin wrote:
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness."
Historical records end here.
However, their story is not there yet.
It was still the summer of 1866, and it was still that beautiful, prosperous and vibrant Italy.
During the battle that had just ended, Giotto was visited by a mysterious person at night and given a batch of strange gem rings. It was these magical gem rings that helped him maximize his combat effectiveness on the battlefield. Although Giotto did not have time to ask or figure out what this magical power was at the time, he remembered to study it as soon as the war was over.
"You have similar rings, right?" Giotto finally realized this and asked curiously.
On the battlefield, Cozart, who manipulated gravity and created black holes like a god, scratched his hair and said, "Haha, yes!"
Elio, who was on the battlefield with thunder and lightning, and casualties everywhere, scratched his cheek like a god, and said, "Haha, yes!"
Giotto also laughed through his teeth. Then he quickly made a move, hooking the necks of the two men on the left and right. "How did it come about?"
Cozart was caught off guard by the shortest Giotto, and his fuzzy red hair struggled weakly on Giotto's shoulder for a few times. "It's a long story..."
Giotto looked at Elio. Elio also struggled a few times symbolically, and replied awkwardly, "It's a long story..."
Giotto took a deep breath, "I'll count to three."
"My miners dug too deep and went all the way to the underworld, where they were captured by Hades. I went to rescue them and bargained with him for this!" Cozart said in one breath.
Giotto stared at him in shock. Elio also looked up, stunned at the leader Simon's shocking words. He finally freed himself from Giotto's arms, stretched his shoulders, and smiled at his two stunned friends. "Or, you could just pretend it grew from the ground."
"So that's how it is." Giotto accepted it.
Then he looked at Elio. The held assassin came to his senses and said, "Uh... I stole it from the Templars."
It was Cozart's turn to look at him with a puzzled expression. Giotto, remembering that Simon still didn't know about the Templars, silently released Elio's neck. "It fell from the sky, didn't it?"
"You could say that." Elio finally stood up straight.
"Really? That's a coincidence!" Cozart said. He smiled and put his arm around Giotto's shoulders, hugging him. It was Giotto's turn to smile awkwardly and point forward, "We're almost there."
They had come to visit the metal engraver Talpo. He had created the special pocket watches that Giotto had given Elio and all his family members. Something had happened suddenly, and Giotto hadn't had time to distribute the rings to the family members. Now that the war was over, he had come to ask Talpo to examine the rings and, by the way, to engrave the Vongola crest.
Talbo's workshop is located in Florence, where Leonardo da Vinci apprenticed and established his world-renowned workshop. For centuries, Florence has been a cultural and artistic center for Italy, and indeed for Europe. Although this wasn't Elio's first visit, he still viewed this beautiful city with admiration—or perhaps, it was the first time he had cast off his burdens and viewed "Florence" with such ease.
After Giotto and Cozzate handed their rings to Talbo, Elio quietly left. The Assassin wandered, unnoticed, from the secluded and quiet Oltrarno district to the bustling Piazza del Duomo.
Back then, Ezio Auditore, with his pigtails tied with a red ribbon, might have overlooked the entire Florence from here.
With an indescribable feeling in his heart, Elio climbed all the way to Giotto's Bell Tower instead of the stairs. When he finally reached the overlooking point, he was surprised to find that he was actually a little out of breath. "I thought the years had left no trace on me," he thought.
Elio looked down.
The first thing he saw was the beautiful red dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. The elegant "primrose of the Renaissance" rose almost to eye level, and Elio was amazed to see its white ribs and every detail of the nave at the top—white, graceful, and gleaming in the bright Florentine light. Beyond that, a sea of terracotta roofs undulated, dotted with church bell towers, palace towers, and deep green gardens. The Arno River meandered like a ribbon through the city, its visitors and citizens dotting the landscape like moving specks of color.
"She's so beautiful," Elio murmured. He heard a gasp behind him.
"Of course I know how beautiful she is," muttered Giotto, who had climbed all four hundred and fourteen steps. "I'm a local. Seriously, wouldn't you prefer something shorter..."
Giotto's complaints were suddenly cut short. Elio curled his lips, and heard Giotto sigh absentmindedly behind him, "How beautiful..."
"Now you understand why I like to run to high places," said Elio.
He stood up and turned around. Giotto leaned over the railing, looked hesitantly at where Elio was standing, looked down hesitantly, and finally retreated, covering his eyes, obviously a little dizzy.
"I still can't understand..." Giotto said weakly.
But Elio held out his hand. "Do you want to jump with me?"
Giotto removed his hand from his eyes. He saw Elio's eyes gleaming at him, with Florence, as vibrant as a painting, behind them. He would be lying if he said Giotto wasn't tempted by the offer, even for a moment. But in the end, Giotto smiled and sighed, "Have you forgotten the King is looking for you?"
"He'll never find me," Elio said, withdrawing his hand. "How can anyone find an assassin if he doesn't want to?"
But Giotto was quick to grab his wrist. Elio didn't try to dodge, but blinked in surprise. But what surprised him even more was that Giotto also looked confused and hesitant, as if he hadn't figured out why he had grabbed Elio's wrist.
"Giotto?" Elio gestured. "This is dangerous."
But Giotto held his wrist firmly and didn't move, just looking at Elio for a moment. Then he said frankly, "For a moment, I thought you would disappear."
Elio was speechless for a moment.
Giotto looked at Elio for a moment, then smiled and released Elio's hand, as if the person who had just held Elio tightly was not him.
"What was it like in the era you came from?" Giotto exclaimed cheerfully. "I really want to see it with my own eyes!"
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The author has something to say: Oreo: Huh? ? ? (Shocked)
And I never understood where Cozart's Simon Ring came from. It can actually compete with the cornerstone of the world, the Vongola Ring... So here it is set to be given by Hades in Greek mythology, but don't worry too much, it's just a setting
*By the way, here are Ezio's words at the time: "We don't need others to tell us what to do. It's not Savonarola, not the Pazzi, not even the Medici we have to listen to. We are free to follow our own path. There are those who would take that freedom from us, and sadly, too many of you—of us—have given it to them. But we have the power to choose—the power to choose what we believe is true—and it is in exercising that power that we become who we are. No book or teacher will give us the answers, will show us the way. So—choose your own path! Don't follow me, and don't follow anyone else!" from "Assassin's Creed: Renaissance".
**“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.” From 2 Timothy 4:7-8 in the New Testament of the Bible.
I personally feel like Oreo has officially been upgraded to a gold card! Let's congratulate Master Elio! [Cat Head]
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