"Your grandmother has written a letter. She wants you to go back."
Father's words rang out in the dormitory room, and the familiar tone made people sit upright.
"What?" he asked subconsciously.
Although he had gradually become familiar with weekly reporting matters and was accustomed to his father's business-like tone, he still couldn't help but be stunned when he unexpectedly heard such "unprofessional" words from his father after a routine report.
The guard's duty room is located on a remote side of Fuxing Palace. Compared with the noisy palace gate facing the King's Avenue and the breathtaking Hall of Stars, it is neither noisy nor quiet, and the atmosphere is just right.
Father spoke calmly, his tone hoarse:
"Your cousin is not in good health. In fact, he is very bad."
"He has a lot of trouble managing the fiefdom and needs help."
Grandmother, cousin.
These two terms that he had not heard for a long time echoed, making him dazed for a moment.
It's like going back to the distant past.
helper?
But he just instinctively changed his mind and spoke without hesitation:
"No, I won't go back."
Hearing his answer, the father behind the table folded his arms and leaned back on his chair amidst the sound of his armor. His eyes were glaring, showing the dignity he had cultivated over the years.
This made him a little uneasy. It had been a long time since he had been alone with his father without a third person to talk about housework.
But his father did not frown, nor did he show any hesitation. He seemed to have anticipated his answer.
"What your grandmother means is that if something happens to your cousin...the family's fiefdom and title need to be inherited by someone," his father said softly.
This made him frown.
Fiefs and titles...
Someone needs to inherit...
He frowned instinctively, then snorted softly, trying hard to suppress the disdain in his words:
"They won't be so kind. What are the conditions?"
My father's expression remained as usual. I don't know whether it was because his many years of career had made him moody or because he knew too much about himself.
I just heard my father say calmly:
"The condition is that you marry your cousin-in-law, who is your grandmother's grand-niece."
"Give birth to an heir with her to maintain the relationship between the two families."
Marrying...my cousin's widow?
Hearing this, he raised his brows slightly and found with satisfaction that he had found a reason for his disdain.
really.
"I understand," he also crossed his arms, with a slight contempt in his nasal voice:
"Tell them I won't go back."
In response to his rejection, his father nodded without surprise, as if what he had just rejected was not the inheritance of a noble title, but simply "not going home for dinner tonight."
The father's gaze shifted to his bandaged fingers.
This time, the former actually frowned:
"Are you still practicing that swordsmanship?"
He subconsciously lowered his arms, but before hiding them behind his back, he temporarily changed his movements and naturally assumed a posture of supporting the arms of the chair.
He nodded and tried to answer in the most nonchalant tone:
"Yes."
But instead of relaxing, my father’s brows became more and more wrinkled:
"Do you think you have a chance to defeat him in the next knight's joust, or at least be evenly matched and not fall behind?"
This sentence made his heart tighten.
Defeat him.
Defeat him.
he!
Yes, that's it, defeat him! Like the northerner, he wanted to say this, in a confident, relaxed and calm tone.
But for some reason, he changed his words temporarily before saying it, and his tone was slightly lower:
"We will know by then."
His father was silent for a while, but his eyes were still fixed on him.
This made him very uncomfortable.
"I think you should know that when it comes to selecting watchmen, skill is not the only criterion." Father said slowly, his eyebrows not relaxed.
An ominous premonition came over me.
He changed his sitting position unnaturally:
"I know."
His father still looked at him steadily:
"But even so, you're not optimistic about being on the contending roster for Watchmen."
There seemed to be a string in his heart that was tense.
"Sak'el is the best in martial arts and is deeply trusted by His Majesty. Nolan Noor has the entire northern territory and good popularity as his backing. Tony is the person Captain Cullen is optimistic about, and Cox's battlefield command and experience are deeply trusted by him.
Appreciation and recommendation from Prince Horace.”
"They are all favorites."
His father looked at him and told him things that everyone knew word for word, as if they were deeply engraved into his heart like a seal.
"But you, all you have is a father like me."
Not sure if it was an illusion, but at the same time as he said this, he seemed to hear his father exhale gently from his nose.
He was a little annoyed, and his father's gaze forced him to look away and look elsewhere:
"I know."
But his father didn’t seem ready to let him go:
"In the Guard, people from the same family usually don't hold important positions at the same time, especially positions such as deputy guard captain and watchman."
There was an imperceptible sadness in his father's tone:
"You will most likely lose the election."
His breathing stopped for a moment, and he was able to recover after a few seconds:
"I know."
Father finally turned away his eyes and looked at the door of the duty dormitory.
"But you still want to be stubborn and give it a try?"
For some reason, facing such a father, although he frowned, he felt indescribably relaxed.
"Yes."
He put down his arms and remained still for a few seconds before finally taking a breath and replied:
"I have to give it a try after all."
This time, my father was silent for a long time, and the atmosphere in the duty room, which was not very relaxed, became serious.
It took so long that he frowned, wondering if it was time to interrupt and say goodbye...
"You know, the royal guard is not just a guard guarding the king, it is a contract, a concept, and a tradition."
Father slowly exhaled, but did not look at him, but at the wall of the duty dormitory.
There, the roster with the names of the Guards members was clearly visible: Cullen, Allard, Barney, Tardin, Garth, Tallon, Dastan, Norfolk, Godwin, Connie, Harvey.
Ya, Naki...
He didn't know why his father mentioned this, but his father's eyes seemed a little deep.
"Since the time of King Fuxing, powerful noble families have sent their descendants, whether the eldest son, second son, or branch of the main line, to protect the king, cultivate relationships with the royal family, and win the trust of Fuxing Palace. The king also uses this to maintain
The tacit understanding with the vassal family ensures one's influence on the subordinate fiefdoms."
The father sighed, his voice a little unusual, less tough and more helpless:
"In a sense, for hundreds of years, the royal guard has been the epitome of the kingdom's territory. From the six wealthy families to the thirteen famous families, from the Seven Shining Stars to the new nobles, the rise and fall of many families, large and small, is reflected in it."
He frowned fiercely, feeling that his father was a little unusual today.
Growing up, my father has always been very serious.
Never been like this...serious words?
"Sir," he frowned and looked at his father, subconsciously shouting the most accustomed title:
"What exactly do you want to say?"
As if being called back by the "sir", my father paused for a moment.
When he spoke again, he had returned to the tough commander he was accustomed to.
"I know you have a bad impression of your family and your relationship with your cousin is not good either."
His father looked at him again, sitting upright and speaking in a serious tone:
"However, if you go back home and get promises from your grandmother and cousin, so that His Majesty knows that you are very likely to inherit the title and fief from your cousin..."
He felt cold in his heart.
This again?
inherit?
The father continued to speak and told the whole story without expression:
"That way, at least when considering the candidate for the watchman, His Majesty will look at you differently: I think he would prefer that the person who takes charge of the kingdom's land for him is a loyal guard close to him day and night."
"I can even resign and retire, which may increase your chances."
Is it.
Just doing that, just accepting...my chances would go up dramatically.
He sighed silently,
A faint feeling of disappointment surged into my heart.
After all these years, he and his father are certainly not models of a loving father and a filial son...
But at least, he thought that his father's views on that land, those memories, and those people should be consistent with his.
But……
"Do you really want me to go back and inherit the family?"
He spoke silently, with a tone of alienation and hostility that even surprised him.
But he didn't want to take back this emotion, but allowed it to slowly ferment and turn into cold and biting words:
"Go back and inherit the so-called 'family' that forced our whole family to move away, caused my mother to die of illness midway through the hospital, and caused my sister to die young due to lack of medicine?"
His cold snort sounded like someone had opened a cold winter window.
Let the father opposite him suddenly turn into a terrifying ice sculpture.
Only a pair of eyes were left, which were menacing.
"This has nothing to do with them." After a long while, my father replied stiffly.
"What's that for?"
He responded unceremoniously.
"If it has nothing to do with them, why do you still involve me? Why don't you just go back by yourself, inherit that title by yourself, marry that young and beautiful wife by yourself, and become a good son of your grandmother and a good minister of your majesty?"
boom!
There was a loud noise.
He silently looked at his father's fist hitting the arm of the chair.
The atmosphere became tense and depressing.
He found that both of them were breathing slightly.
And his father, just like thousands of times in the past, looked at him coldly with the eyes of an officer training new recruits, as if he was about to take out the whip at the next moment.
But this time, he held his head high and looked into the eyes of his superior without flinching.
It took a while before my father, whose cheeks twitched, forced out a sentence through his teeth:
"Because you are my blood."
The father exhaled.
For some reason, my father slowly softened his stiff expression, relaxed his tense tone, and rarely looked away.
"I think it should be your choice."
"My son." The father said stiffly.
He trembled slightly.
son?
really weird.
This is not him.
He looked at his father in front of him and said silently.
For many years, my father, who has a tough personality and a strict personality, has always called me by his first name or his position, whether in public or private life.
He hasn't called himself that for a long time since his mother passed away.
my son?
This made him not know how to face it for a moment: he was full of anger as prepared as before, but now he couldn't find an opponent to vent to.
In the end, he could only force himself to snort and turn his head disdainfully:
"So we still can't escape, right?"
"Even if you move out of the family fiefdom, come to the royal capital, join the royal guard, and be self-reliant for so many years," he glanced at the schedule on the wall and said contemptuously:
"But we are still like animals in the wilderness rushing to take shelter from the rain. No matter where we go, there is that dark cloud above our heads."
His father looked at him silently, sighed, and said in a tired tone:
"No, we can't escape."
The father and son were silent for a long time.
"You have two choices: accept the conditions of your grandmother and cousin. You can win a decent title and fief, and even become the next watchman or even the captain of the guard." Finally, the father breathed a sigh of relief and spoke again, perhaps because
Because he stayed up late, there was an inexorable fatigue in his voice:
"Or you can refuse..."
His father's words were interrupted by him.
"I refuse. I don't care about that title or title."
He was categorical and unquestionable, looking at his father without any sign of weakness.
"I won't go back."
"I don't even want to have anything to do with them."
That so-called family with a dark heart.
He thought coldly.
Father frowned: "Even if it means that you are likely to lose the watchman competition, you will just be a little one for the rest of your life..."
"Yes."
He answered without hesitation.
This time, his father looked at him for a long, long time.
My father's eyes changed several times, and his emotions were unclear.
And he looked at each other calmly, without wavering.
Finally, my father looked away.
"Very good," my father hummed, and his voice became much lighter:
"Then don't go back."
This surprised him quite a bit.
In my memory, when the two of them got angry, my father had never given up so quickly.
He could only cross his arms again and try to deal with the anger that had nowhere to vent. He felt that today's atmosphere was particularly unsuitable for him.
The two seemed a little embarrassed and were silent for a few seconds.
"alright."
Father cleared his throat.
"Well, today's report is over, you can go," my father sat upright and said calmly:
"Quell Barney Vanguard."
For a moment, my father's face returned to a cold expression.
He could hardly believe that the tired father who just claimed to be his son and the cold and serious commander now were actually the same person.
He stood up stiffly, feeling that the lingering disdain and anger in his body had an outlet again.
"Okay," he also returned to his most accustomed tone. Before leaving the dormitory, he took one last look at his father and coldly walked to the door:
"Sir, Deputy Captain Quil Barney."
Click.
The door to the duty dormitory slammed shut, awakening little Barney from his vague memories!
He gradually regained consciousness and felt himself moving.
"Thank you Sunset, you are feeling better. I thought we were going to lose you."
This was Naji's voice, with a touch of joy, and it seemed hazy and came from afar, but it was not real.
Lose me?
Is he still dreaming?
Little Barney tried to open his eyes, but groaned in pain.
His eyes hurt, and they burst into tears when they were opened, and there was a strange buzzing sound in his ears.
what happened……
"Naki, put me down..."
He reluctantly opened his eyes, and could only see a blur of light and shadow, a vague team of several people, groping and stumbling forward in the firelight.
And he was among them, being supported by Najiji and staggering forward.
"No, I don't think you can stand firm now, sir." Naki's voice was a little tired, and his steps were not steady.
Little Barney shook his head vigorously. Although his tinnitus did not subside and his eyes still hurt, his consciousness recovered a little. He could vaguely see Belletti's back in layers, walking unsteadily in front of him.
He remembered something.
The Prison of Bones, Sarkel, and...
Alchemy ball.
"Where are we? Prison River?" Little Barney accidentally stepped on a piece of gravel and staggered.
A somewhat unfamiliar yet familiar young man's voice came weakly from behind:
"of course not."
"To go to Jinghe River, you need to take a boat..."
Little Barney frowned and retrieved a name from his slowly recovering memory.
It's him.
Before he could turn around, the owner of that voice staggered over.
It was a pitiful young man with blood all over his body and a frightening red and swollen cheek.
He put his left hand on the shoulder of a red-haired young man with an impatient face, and in his right hand held a smooth silver sword, limping:
"Is he okay?"
After listening to the boy's words, Naji frowned, turned to Barney, stretched out his hand and shook it:
"Can you see me clearly, Barney? Barney the Little Barney? Barney the Rabbit? How many fingers do I have now?"
Damn it.
This poor guy...
When I recover...
Little Barney blinked desperately, but he still couldn't blink away the blurry double image in his vision, but he saw Naki after all.
"Four."
He snorted softly and said angrily: "But..."
"Are you talking about the you on the left or the you on the right?"
Naki raised his eyebrows, put away his two fingers, and said "hmm" happily.
He patted Barney's arm, turned to the boy, and showed his teeth happily:
"It's okay, he's fine."
The young man also raised his eyebrows and turned back.
God is so "very good".
At this moment.
"Whoa oh oh!"
Ahead, the person being supported by Belletti suddenly spoke loudly, surprised and delighted:
"I thought I heard a voice!"
The sound was so loud that it shook the passage, irritated the eardrums, and shocked everyone.
There was a huge uproar in the passage, most of them were complaining dissatisfiedly, and for a while the whole place was filled with grief.
"Oh my god shut him up..."
"Knock this bastard out..."
"Woooooooo..."
"Chop him..."
However, Tardin, who was supported by Belletti, continued to shout cheerfully:
"Hey, Naki, great poet, say something quickly! I think my hearing is recovering!"
His voice became louder and louder.
The whole team staggered around for a while, as if they were hit by an earthquake.
Barney and Naki beside him both shook violently:
"Damn it, keep your voice down, Tardin! My ears hurt when you talk..."
But Tardin seems completely unaware:
"ah?"
He turned around with a puzzled look on his face and opened his mouth exaggeratedly:
"What did you say? What hurts? Can you speak louder?"
The lingering sound was deafening.
The crowd howled loudly again.
"Do not talk to me!"
Naji covered his ears in pain and his voice became louder:
"I still see double images when I see things, and I still bump into walls when I walk..."
Little Barney became more and more irritated as he listened, but he gradually became relieved.
They are all here.
"Quiet."
Little Barney found that his sense of balance was recovering, so he slowly stepped on his feet and took some of the weight off Naki's shoulders:
"what happens?"
Little Barney knew who to ask, so he turned directly to the boy beside him:
"Your Highness, that alchemy ball..."
"what's going on?"
Beside him, Thales Canxing, whose eyes were also blurred and grinned, yawned painfully, looked at the "Huaiya" next to him, and smiled at him rather awkwardly.
"That is……"
Thales paused.
"You saw it," Thales shrugged. The sudden movement shook the fast rope and him, and he scrambled to hold on to the wall to prevent him from falling:
"That alchemy ball is..."
Thales searched his guts and racked his brains, and finally found a word that was almost understandable:
"How do you say...flash bomb?"
flash……
Little Barney was silent and chewed on the word for a while.
"Flash bomb?"
Thales frowned, looked at it and shook his head, just like a group of drunkards helping each other to go home. Royal guards, chattering:
"More than just flash."
"Maybe there are some shocking sound effects... It took me a few minutes to regain my hearing, and now it's still buzzing...
And that light...
Thales closed his eyes in frustration.
Even though I covered my eyes in advance, it still hurts...
Little Barney pondered for a while and then asked the question he was most concerned about:
"What about him?"
The team fell silent.
They knew what he was going to ask.
Thales glanced at Barney gently, seeing anxiety and desire on his face.
Little Barney had a premonition that something was wrong.
"Tell me, where is he?"
The vanguard officer frowned: "Have you killed him?"
"Barney, that..."
Naki said in embarrassment: "Well, Sak'el..."
Little Barney hurriedly asked:
"What's up with him?"
The team was silent for a while, and finally Belletti spoke.
"Let's put it this way," the punishment officer's calm words sounded, louder and smaller, and it seemed that he had not recovered from the shock of the alchemy ball:
"Sak'el's perception and attention are more sensitive and focused than ours..."
"After he lost his vision and hearing, he was affected more than anyone else. He yelled into the air..."
Little Barney felt something was wrong, so he put aside these details and asked directly:
"Did you kill him?"
The entire team was stunned by his question.
Samir at the front coughed and said calmly:
"He went crazy but his fighting instinct continued unabated and he became more aggressive, slashing wildly with his weapon."
Samir took a breath, seeming to relieve his painful eardrums:
"You should have seen what he looked like at that time, desperately searching for every living thing, trying to chop everything within two meters into pieces. Naki tried to get close, and he almost had his head chopped off, and I..."
Samir patted the bloody bandage on his left arm and sighed.
Little Barney paused and gritted his teeth:
"Remotely?"
Belletti shook his head and said softly:
"Tried it."
"That guy, Tardin's fake nephew, remember? He tried to shoot an arrow from a distance, towards the head, but for some reason he missed and only hit the shoulder."
Thales felt Barney's gaze directed towards him, and the fast rope that was supporting him forward cringed and lowered his head, as if he wanted to put his entire head into Thales's arms.
Belletti sighed:
"Sakel felt the pain, felt the direction of the arrow, and fled into the darkness in the opposite direction."
Little Barney's expression froze.
"Tell me," after a while, little Barney looked steadily at the darkness under his feet and said in a daze:
"You killed him."
No one spoke, and Thales subconsciously fell one step behind him.
Many members of the Guard also lowered their heads.
Little Barney exhaled heavily and gritted his teeth:
"Why?"
He chopped his feet so hard that Naji staggered on one side:
"Why...why don't you chase him and kill him!"
The tone was hateful and the voice was quite loud.
The shock caused another burst of pain to everyone's fragile eardrums.
"Barney!"
Belletti spoke calmly:
"The power of that alchemy ball is extraordinary, and we were also greatly affected by it."
Many people, including Quick Rope, subconsciously stared at Thales, causing the prince to raise his eyebrows.
It's not my business?
"For several minutes, all of us were deaf. It was like someone was blowing conches in our heads. We had problems with our balance. When we stood up and took three steps, we would tilt..."
Belletti sighed:
"Even though our situation was better than that of Sak'el, it still took us a long time to stand up and escape down here."
Barney looked at Belletti in disbelief, and then at the others, but many people turned their heads under his gaze.
"Don't worry," Samir said softly:
"Sak'el's perception is more sensitive than ours and is more affected. I guess he needs more time to recover than us, and he may not be able to fully recover."
"At least we're alive."
Little Barney fell silent, lowered his head silently, and the whole team continued to move forward slowly.
"Where did that come from?"
Just when Thales thought everything was over, Barney Jr. suddenly spoke:
"Alchemy ball?"
Thales' eyelids twitched and he looked at the fast rope.
this……
How to say?
"The Bright Star Royal Family always has some inventory..." Thales hesitated...
Little Barney frowned:
"Why not use it sooner? Or just give it to us?"
Thales frowned, then relaxed his brows again, and said confidently:
"Isn't it the best time to release it when he is fully focused?"
"If I wait until Sak'el sees it and then throw it out, I don't think it will be so effective."
Am I telling you because I forgot before?
Fortunately, Barney pondered for a while and stopped asking.
Thales withdrew his resentful gaze,
Moreover, everyone, including Sak'el and Quick Rope, had always thought that this was a powerful explosive alchemy ball, just like the one Raphael used in the secret passage of Longxiao City.
But actually……
"Hey, how do you know this alchemy ball only has flash and sound?"
Sure enough, Kuai Rope poked his ribs restlessly and asked quietly:
"When I took out the drill, I clearly said..."
Thales sighed silently in his heart.
See, this is his biggest concern.
"I just know," Taylor said with a smile, as if "I have seen a lot", and shrugged:
"I know this thing isn't deadly."
Kuaisheng frowned when he saw this.
"But what if it explodes? Please note that there are no obvious marks on the alchemy ball, and only a few people..."
The rookie mercenary looked at him dissatisfied:
"Years ago, I saw one..."
Thales coughed lightly and decisively stopped the topic:
"It is not."
"The Bright Star royal family has a long history and has a method for identifying alchemy balls."
He smiled mysteriously:
"Like our blood is golden..."
Kuaisheng showed a disgusted expression of "If you don't tell me, forget it" and turned back boredly.
Thales breathed a sigh of relief.
That's right, when the drill was used to threaten him and Sak'el's alchemy ball, he was also trembling with fear at first.
But all the mysteries were revealed after he found the anchor point and entered a state of control rationally.
In that magical state, Thales saw clearly the inner layer of the alchemy ball:
It was a ball of spinning energy.
At that time, he knew secretly: the energy rotating inside was actually very empty. Even if it were released entirely, it would only blow away a few feet of dust around it...
more importantly……
No obvious mark?
In fact, when Thales looked through the covering and mezzanine, he found that in the inner circle covered with metal shell that could not be seen from the mysterious alchemy ball, there were a few lines of modern imperial writing that he was not familiar with engraved:
[Blinding bright light + tablet]
[Tower of Alchemy, produced with honor by Battle Mage, No. ee09-8-7, Producer: First Class Master, D·E·Sariton]
[Used to suppress perception, suppression, etc.]
[Unified, only for use in the tower, export and export are strictly prohibited. The prohibited scope includes but is not limited to the Tower of Soul, Myojin Church, the Third Ring, the Gate of Hell, the Knights Temple, the Empire and so on]
This strange line of text contains a huge amount of information, such as the last name of its creator.
There are a lot of unfamiliar words in it, but it's enough for Thales to understand its function.
Ever since, when I thought of something to contain Sakel, who had excellent perception, it came in handy.
Kuaisheng frowned and said thoughtfully:
"So, the drill just threatened you with a fake chip and threw us around?"
"It seems so."
When Thales thought of that cunning drill, he shook his head in annoyance:
"Actually, that's right. I should have thought of it a long time ago."
"How could someone like him have the courage to die together..."
At this moment.
Step, step...
Thales was the first to be surprised.
Under the poison of that mysterious "piece", everyone's consciousness recovered at different speeds, and they staggered forward while supporting each other.
But at this moment, almost everyone was nervous!
Step, step, step...
Behind the team, a series of undisguised footsteps suddenly sounded in the dark passage.