Chapter 30 The Soldier's Last Wish

Aurora calmly raised her sword and stabbed the giant dog that was biting her.

Her swordsmanship is superb, better than the best swordsman in the kingdom, and everyone who sees her wielding a sword will praise it as the best swordsmanship.

These two dogs were bigger, stronger, and more ferocious than the first one, but Aurora, after training, was stronger than them.

The cold sword light flashed under the moon, and in a few moves, Aurora defeated the two terrifying monsters.

The two dogs fled away, their bodies gushing with blood.

The blood they shed dyed the entire street red, dyed the bakeries, alchemy workshops, luxurious hotels, and people's homes red; the blood flowed into the river, and the river also turned red.

From then on, Wangdu had a street full of red houses.

The soldiers ran and ran, galloping wildly on the streets under the moonlight.

"Huff, huff, I'm so tired. I ran away, right? I should have gotten rid of that monster, right?"

The soldier recalled what had just happened, it was just like a dream.

What a beautiful girl she is, why is she so scary? he thought.

Temporarily out of danger, the love and desire that had been forgotten due to fear surged up again, and the soldier suddenly felt that he shouldn't have run so fast and so far. He even had the urge to turn back.

"Maybe that girl can still be communicated? She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. It would be great if I could be with her."

Just when the soldier thought he was safe and slowly stopped walking, a hemp rope on the street suddenly came to life, pounced on him with a whoosh, and tied him up tightly.

The hemp rope seemed to be given life and twisted like a snake. No matter how hard the soldiers struggled, they could not break free.

…

"That was an outstanding performance. You are a capable warrior who can defeat those three dogs, Aurora!"

Rhine appeared from nowhere and applauded Aurora.

He did not capture the soldiers in advance because he wanted to witness Aurora's growth with his own eyes.

However, there was no joy of victory on Aurora's face.

"Teacher, is the story that the strange man just told true? Is the kingdom really cursed?" The blonde girl wiped the blood off her face.

Rhine nodded slightly:

"Yes."

This was something that Aurora would have to be told sooner or later.

What really worries Rhine is that the soldiers said that the hostile neighboring country, Ende, is preparing to make the truth about the curse public.

Fear is a more terrible weapon than a sword. If people knew that the country would be destroyed in a few years, the whole kingdom would surely be in chaos, order would no longer exist, farmers would give up farming, soldiers would not be willing to fight. Endeavour would then take the opportunity to plunder everything.

Aurora sighed with a hint of regret again, "What a pity that the murderer who almost killed Grandma Rosa got away."

"No, I arrested him and he will get the trial he deserves," Rhine said.

As he spoke, Rhine turned around and looked towards the hotel room.

On the floor, the wounded, wailing dog had disappeared—it was clearly still alive, but it had disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. It would only reappear when summoned by its master.

…

From Rhine, the king and queen learned how the soldiers had abducted their daughter.

They were extremely angry and arrested the soldier and put him in a cell.

The soldiers were imprisoned in the cell, which was dark and hot.

Other prisoners in the same cell said:

"My friend, you will be hanged tomorrow."

The soldier was terrified when he heard this. He searched his body for the life-saving tinderbox, but found that it was not on him.

"Oh my God, what a misfortune! I remember that when I was tied up with ropes, the tinderbox fell out. It rolled into the ditch on the side of the road!" The soldier was desperate.

The next morning, the sky was just getting light.

The soldiers saw through the small windows covered with iron bars that many people were pouring out of the city to see him being hanged.

He heard the thundering of drums, saw the king's guards marching, saw the king and queen sitting in a gorgeous carriage, and a large number of people were heading out of the city.

"Even the king is here, is it true that I kidnapped a princess?"

"No way? But the creature I saw didn't look like a human at all."

"Could it be that the king imprisoned the princess because he didn't want people to find out that she was actually a monster?"

The soldiers speculated.

At this point, he is increasingly confused about the truth of the matter.

At this time, the soldier saw through the iron window that among the people running out of the city, there was a boy wearing a hood and cloak who was running particularly fast, and the cloth hood covered the boy's face.

The soldier looked out from behind the iron bars: "Hey, little guy, why are you in such a hurry? There's nothing to see until I get there."

He turned to tempt the boy and said, "If you help me get something, I will give you four copper coins. But you must swear that you must run as fast as you can!"

The soldier told the hooded boy which street the tinderbox had fallen into and which gutter it was in. The hooded boy then ran to the street where the soldier had lived.

"Please protect me, the tinderbox has not been picked up by anyone." The soldier squatted in the dark and stuffy cell, kneeling on the ground and praying.

A moment later, the hooded boy came running back, much faster than the soldier had expected.

When the soldier saw the tinderbox in the boy's hand, he almost jumped for joy.

"Here, here is your tinderbox. Give me your coppers."

The soldier happily took out the copper coins and stuffed them into the boy's pocket.

"Ha, ha, ha! I still have my tinderbox! I still have it! As long as I have my tinderbox and my three dogs, the king can't kill me."

However, what the soldier did not see was that when the boy walked away from the iron window bars and turned his back to him, a strange curve suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile.

"Your wish has been granted."

A few strands of silver hair appeared under the hood, swaying gently in the morning breeze.

…

Outside the city, a huge gallows had been erected, with the king's guards and many ordinary people standing around it.

The king and queen sat facing the jury on two magnificent thrones, the best places to watch the execution.

The judge loudly pronounced the soldier's two charges:

One was attacking an innocent person with a sword, and the other was kidnapping and attempting to molest an underage girl. The former seemed to refer to the attack on the old witch - although the soldier had no idea how he was discovered.

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The soldiers were already standing on the execution ladder.

When the executioner was about to put the noose around his neck, the soldier suddenly shouted:

"I heard that there is such a tradition in the kingdom that a criminal sentenced to death can make a request before accepting the punishment. If it is a reasonable request, his wish should be granted."

"That's true." said the old king in the stands.

"I really, really want to smoke a cigarette now. Please, your kind and just Majesty, I really want to smoke a cigarette! And this is the last cigarette I will smoke in the world. Your Majesty will not even refuse this request."

The king agreed to the soldiers' request.

So the soldier reached into his pocket, took out the tinderbox, and quickly struck it several times.

His face was filled with an unstoppable smile.

The soldier saw the future, yes, an extremely bright future:

All three would jump out to save him, one with eyes as big as tea bowls, another with eyes as big as mill wheels, and a third with eyes bigger than the other two put together. They might be wounded, or they might be magically healed. But wounded or not, they were terrible, powerful monsters.

The dogs would pounce on the judge, the jury, and the king's guards, bite off their legs, bite off their noses, and throw them into the air, throwing them a dozen feet high and smashing them all into a pulp.

The king and queen will also meet the same fate. He can choose to let the dogs eat the king and queen, or he can choose to spare the king and queen's life if he wants to show his mercy. People will praise his mercy.

The surviving guards and the surrounding common people will fear him, embrace him, and take him to the king's carriage, with three dogs guarding him. He will become the new king of the country.

As for the blonde girl who was not sure if she was a princess ("She is such a terrible monster, but I swear, she is also the most beautiful girl I have ever seen!" the soldier thought), God knows where she is now. If possible, the soldier hopes to reestablish a good relationship with the girl. After all, he is now a noble king, and no one is more suitable to be his queen than the girl. They will hold a grand wedding for eight days and eight nights, and the three dogs will also attend their wedding, their eyes will be bigger than ever.

After becoming the new king, he would enjoy himself for two or three years, and then flee the kingdom with his queen before the cursed disaster broke out. He had three magical dogs, and they would live well in any country they went to.

The fantasy is over.

The soldier's mouth opened, and this momentary beautiful dream almost made him drool.

His eyes were fixed on the tinderbox in his hand.

Wipe, wipe, wipe.

He wiped it again and again.

But, nothing happened.

Not a single dog showed up.

"Why?"

"how so?"

"Why doesn't my tinderbox work?"

The soldier trembled violently with fear.

He even suspected that everything he had encountered in the past month, including the magic tinderbox and the three dogs, was just a morning dream, an unrealistic fantasy - just like the fantasy he had just had.

"Your tinderbox looks like it's soaked in water. It won't light. Let me light your cigarette for you."

The executioner smiled. He took out a tinderbox - the most common, non-magical kind - and lit the cigarette for the soldier.

The cigarette in his mouth lit up, but the soldier's legs went weak and he fell to the ground with a thump.

It was rare for him to say something really true - this was indeed the last cigarette he would ever smoke in his life.

The execution went on as usual.

The executioner put the noose around the soldier's neck and hung him in the air.

The onlookers cheered and praised the king and queen, the judge and the jury for allowing a deserved villain in the kingdom to receive the punishment he deserved.

The soldier hanging in the air saw it, and among the people watching and cheering nearby, there were a few friends he had met in the hotel when he was a rich man.

A few days ago, these "friends" were praising the soldier's generosity in exchange for an extra silver coin as a reward from the upstart.

Apparently, now, his friends didn't feel their behavior was inappropriate at all - because they no longer had to flatter the soldiers.

The rope around his neck was so tight that the soldier was flapping his legs in the air.

His eyes were indeed wider than ever—almost as big as teacups.

(End of this chapter)