Atwood fell asleep at an unknown time and was only awakened by the neighing of a horse at noon.
Maybe he had poured out his sorrow before going to bed, or maybe every Teutonic person who abides by the motto of "just, fearless, and never give up" is used to facing the hardships and ups and downs of life calmly, and he seemed very calm when he woke up.
, I was still in the mood to go to the small stream in the valley and tidy up my appearance.
Even when he saw his reflection in the water, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.
When he was hiding in the city of Gardinanlas, he knew that his family and family attendants were all killed in the valley. But yesterday he did not see any new graves outside the valley, nor did he after entering the valley.
When he saw the bones, he didn't know where the family members of the Griffin Legion who later moved in here had thrown the bones of his parents and brothers and sisters.
Alas, that’s all.
If you can't find it, you can't find it.
Rather than collecting the bones and burying them, I believe my father and brothers are more looking forward to the Teutonic flag flying over the northern land again.
Helplessly relieved himself, Atwood went to drink his horse, taking out the dry food from the leather bag and eating it slowly.
He is thinking about the future.
In order to achieve the agreement reached with the Centaur Khan Julius, to bring the Centaur tribe and the Griffin Legion into a deadly conflict, and to regain control of the north in the future, he needed the help of his old Teutonic ministers.
What's difficult now is that he doesn't know which family he can trust.
After all, it has been more than twenty years since his family was destroyed.
Time has the power to change everything.
Not to mention that he didn't know how many old ministers still remembered the glory of Teutonia and abided by their oath of loyalty to Teutonia; he didn't even know how to prove to his old ministers that he was a Teutonic.
Is it okay just because he looks very similar to his father?
This idea popped into his mind.
Immediately, he laughed at himself again.
No family will determine their family's future destiny simply by having a similar face.
well....
It would have been nice if my father had given me one or two tokens when he asked my old retainer to send me to Middle-earth.
He couldn't help but sigh.
He stood up and fed the uneaten wheat cake to the horse, patted the horse's shoulder and let it search for weeds in the valley to feed itself, while he walked slowly and aimlessly among the dilapidated houses.
Not trying to find anything valuable.
No need to think too much, the Mills royal family and the traitorous Hughes family must have plundered this place.
He just simply wants to get back the good old days.
The meeting hall was in a mess, the kitchen had become a nest of snakes and rats, the warehouse had many birds nesting, the stables had collapsed, and the room was filled with rotten bed cabinets... Going around and around, he finally
Stop at the promenade.
Because I saw a wooden sword that was mostly corroded.
This is the wooden sword that all Teutons used to practice swordsmanship after they turned six years old. The last owner was him.
He bent down to pick it up, gently wiped off the dirt on it, and waved it a few times, and Atwood laughed.
He remembered that when he was young, he disdained the use of wooden swords. After asking his brother John, his sparring partner, for an iron sword to no avail, he naughtily stuffed mud into John's boots and hid horse dung under his saddle as revenge.
For this reason, he was imprisoned by his father for a day - he stayed in a cellar cemetery for a day and a night without food.
But Atwood wasn't hungry.
His brother John, who was teased by him, was not angry at his younger brother's prank. Instead, he ignored his past grudges and secretly hid the food in front of the tombstone of the first Teutonic ancestor without telling his father.
There is a loose floor tile there. If you put the food in it and then cover it, no one will notice.
According to John, this is what his mother told him.
Because my father was also imprisoned when he was a child, there were brothers who sent food like this.
Looking back now, it's not surprising that Atwood smiled.
Because this secret was open to the public in the family, and his father's punishment of starving him to reflect was just a show.
Oh, when I was a kid, it was so good...
Atwood breathed a sigh of relief, threw the wooden sword on the ground, and lost interest in walking around.
Don’t miss the time you can’t get back too much.
Bravely accepting the reality and moving forward is the last Teutonic thing to do.
"I gotta go."
"Hope... I hope I still have time to come back."
He took one last look around and murmured to the whining cold wind.
Then, he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled to call back the horse, then jumped up and rode away.
The pale sunlight in the afternoon fell on a man and a horse, stretching his shadow very long, as if the silent valley in the surrounding fields had stretched out an invisible hand, trying hard to pull him back.
It’s just that the thick clouds covered too much of the sky. When Atwood rode his horse into the mountain road without sunlight, the shadow disappeared, and the invisible influence of the valley was cut off, so that the faint sound of horse hooves gradually became distant and distant.
silent.
The valley forgotten by the world has restored its loneliness and loneliness.
But for some reason, after a while, the sound of horse hooves became increasingly clearer from far to near.
Atwood, who was riding back at a gallop, had an eager look on his face. He jumped off the horse before the horse could stand firm, rushed into the cellar-style cemetery, and stopped in front of the tombstone of the first Teutonic ancestor.
"May the ancestors protect you."
With a face full of piety, he knelt on one knee in the knightly manner.
With hands that were trembling slightly with excitement, he gently wiped away the dust and lint on the loose floor tile.
His father knew the tile was loose!
This secret is an open secret in the Teutonic family!
If his father and brother wanted to leave him a few words of advice before they were killed, the most likely and safest place would be here.
Huh...huh...
Holding the edge of the floor tile with both hands, Atwood's eyes became fierce, his breathing became rough, and after a few hesitations, he suddenly lifted the floor tile.
He guessed correctly.
There is something under the floor tiles.
It was wrapped in a piece of linen with bits of black and red.
The linen was very irregular, and you could tell at a glance that it had been torn from the underwear in a hurry, and the black and red dots were traces of dried blood.
Putting the floor tiles down gently, Atwood took out the linen and unfolded it.
A long bronze block is revealed.
The bronze block is not big, and there is a protrusion on the surface, which is carved with the head of the snow monster.
The roaring snow monster head is the coat of arms of the Teutonic family.
When the last Teutonic king took off his crown, he melted the crown into a bronze block and engraved the family coat of arms as the symbol of the Teutonic Duke, which became the mark of the Teutonic family.
When he saw the bronze block, Atwood burst into tears again.
"So you didn't abandon me..."
"It turns out you have been waiting for me to come back..."
"I'm sorry, I kept you waiting for so long...I shouldn't have questioned you..."
After a long time.
He stopped crying, wiped the tears from his dim vision, picked up the linen and looked at it carefully.
There are some words on it, written in blood. I don’t know if it’s been too long, or if the blood hasn’t dried yet, but it’s been wrapped up, making the writing a little blurry and difficult to read.
He recognized it for a long time and finally realized that these were his father's last words to him.
The last words were very short, just one sentence.
But the content made him unable to understand and couldn't believe it.
"My son Atwood, the fate of the Teutons is over. Please destroy this coat of arms and don't think about revenge. Leave the north and let the Teutons usher in a new life."