Todd rubbed the silver moon on his palm with his fingers, rolled his eyes, and said to Sinclair with a smile: "Your Highness, don't worry, business will always continue, but my master cares more about this kind of cooperation.
Can it continue?”
Sinclair asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"
Todd shrugged: "One day, if you ascend the throne..."
Sinclair waved his hand impatiently: "I told him a long time ago that everything will be done according to tradition."
Todd asked: "Tradition?"
Sinclair gave him a strange look, frowned and said, "Didn't your master tell you about the traditions of the Holy Acropolis?"
Todd said vaguely: "The master once said something, but it was not specific."
Sinclair nodded: "Fairchild, you and I are old acquaintances. You have helped me a lot in the past. I don't intend to hide some things from you. The past monarchs and religious leaders of the Holy Acropolis
There is a long history of cooperation between the sects. To put it simply, we are more like a group of gardeners, and our main task is to help Heavenly Father ‘take care of’ his gardens on a regular basis.”
Todd looked confused: "Take care of the garden?"
Sinclair stretched out his palm, with the palm facing up, and his fingers spread out naturally: "In a beautiful and elegant garden, there will always be some plants with some forks or diseased branches. The mission of the monarch of the Holy Acropolis is to follow the laws of nature.
It is the will of the Father to regularly prune away those superfluous things that spoil your beauty.”
Todd's heart was filled with turmoil, but he pretended to be calm on the surface: "What do you mean...?"
“Remote small countries that are close to paganism, villages and towns that have not paid tribute for a long time, and of course those noble fiefdoms that are gradually drifting away from Heavenly Father, are all unsightly and useless vegetation in Heavenly Father’s garden.” Zink.
Lai slowly brought his five fingers together and clenched them tightly into a fist: "The mission of the Holy Acropolis is to cut off these unnecessary branches. By the way, these wastes are collected and sold to people in need."
Todd squeezed the silver moon in his hand tightly, but pretended to be relaxed and said: "Then while you are pruning the garden, aren't you worried about being discovered and hostile by others?"
"Of course not. No one cares about those small countries or fiefdoms that disappear completely in one night. Even if there are any circumstances, the church can always find suitable reasons to solve all unnecessary troubles." Sinclair said.
, with a bit of relief, but also a bit of helplessness: "Holy Acropolis is such a country that does not engage in production or business, but only uses sword and fire to survive from generation to generation."
Todd touched the tip of his nose: "It seems that your claim to fight for independence and freedom is just a pretense."
Sinclair puffed up his chest: "This heir fight is just a scam from beginning to end, and the outcome has already been determined - the final king will definitely be me."
Todd asked: "Then why bother to involve His Highness Matid?"
"The church did not act wisely in the previous Battle of the Silver Ring, and many nobles in the Holy Acropolis were extremely dissatisfied." Sinclair shook his head and said: "The king's serious illness has made this kind of dissatisfaction in the country no longer possible.
Due to the power of suppression, some nobles are beginning to make moves. They are increasingly unwilling to listen to the orders of the church, and even plan to mobilize the powerful military power of the Holy Acropolis, claiming that they will repeat the old path of Silver Ring City."
"On the one hand, the church wants to ease conflicts and stabilize people's hearts, and on the other hand, it also wants to identify those who are loyal to the church, those who are fishing in troubled waters, and those who sincerely demand independence, so they deliberately use a battle for succession to test the nobles' courage.
manner."
"So, this battle for the throne is more like a power shake-up." Todd added: "When you ascend the throne, you can help the church, overtly or covertly, start to clear out the opposition forces in the country, and at the same time,
Collect the military power in the hands of these nobles."
"That's right, in your master's words. The Holy Acropolis has won too many victories and honors, and some people in the country have gradually been blinded by arrogance and forgotten the foundation of this country."
There was a bit of sarcasm in Todd's tone: "In the final analysis, the Holy Acropolis is just a sword in my master's hand."
Under the night, Sinclair's face changed slightly, and anger flashed in his eyes. After a moment, he said calmly: "Fairchild, your words are biased. You should say Saint Acropolis and the church.
They are all just swords in the hands of Heavenly Father."
Todd laughed dryly: "In this way, your brother, His Highness Matid, is a target for attracting firepower."
Sinclair snorted coldly: "A clown! A fool who starts dreaming of ascending to the throne after others just praise him a few words! Sooner or later, I will take off his head!"
After cursing in a low voice for a while, Sinclair said to Todd: "The nobles have made their own decisions, and the heir to the throne will be announced in the next few days. When the matter in the Holy Acropolis comes to an end, tell your master
, let him not forget the conditions he promised me before."
Todd bowed slightly and said respectfully: "Your Highness, don't worry, everything is ready."
Watching Sinclair's figure disappear into the night, Todd, who was full of anger and had nowhere to vent, threw the silver moon that had been squeezed into a round ball into the distance with all his strength.
On the way back to the banquet, Todd, who was in a depressed mood, walked through the corridor and saw a strange old man sitting in front of a stone table at the end.
He is tall, but so thin that there is not much fat on his body. The outline of his bones is exposed under the scarred skin, and his eye sockets are sunken. What is amazing is that a pair of bright eyes are like the light in the dark night.
Firelight, staring at a chessboard on the table.
The old man first played a chess move, then moved the chessboard with his hands, turned the other side to himself, and played another chess move. In this way, he played a chess game with himself.
Todd glanced at the other party for a few times, then remembered the complex environment of the Holy Acropolis, and based on the concept that doing more is worse than doing less, he planned to take a detour and leave.
"My child, can you come and stay with me?"
Looking at the old man not far away, looking up at himself, Todd looked around alertly and found that there was no one else nearby. After thinking twice, Todd walked over carefully.
Approaching the stone table and looking at the structure of the chessboard, Todd recognized that it was "backgammon" which was popular in the Middle Ages. Although he had not played it much, he at least knew the rules.
After sitting down, Todd rearranged the chess pieces and signaled to the old man to move first.
The old man was not polite. He played a chess piece first and said with emotion: "I can't remember the last time someone played chess with me."
Todd tried hard to remember how to play backgammon, and then made a move.
Seeing the position of the opponent's chess piece, the old man made a soft sound of doubt, slowed down his movements, and played another chess piece.
The two of them played back and forth a few more times, and the old man laughed and said: "I thought you were a veteran with eccentric swordsmanship, but I didn't expect you to be a novice who doesn't know anything!"
Sure enough, after a few more rounds, Todd lost.
The old man smiled and shook his head: "You have no rules when it comes to playing chess, but this is what makes it interesting... No matter what, if it is kept in a box for too long, it will become boring."
Todd took a look at the old man's appearance by the light of the fire, and guessed the identity of the other party with some confidence. He then placed the chess pieces and said, "Let's play another game!"
"Okay!" The old man picked up a chess piece with his hand, and just as he was about to drop it, a heartbreaking pain made him bend over and cough violently.
Todd quickly stood up and walked to the old man's side.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." The old man, who had regained his composure, stretched out his hand to stop Todd's movements, lowered his head and began to search for the fallen chess piece on the ground. After searching for a long time, he still couldn't find it.
Watching Todd pick up the lost chess piece, the old man laughed self-deprecatingly and said to the former: "Child, there are many things you can try in this world. But there is only one thing you should not touch... and that is
Getting older."
"Your body is getting worse day by day, and your spirit is getting worse and worse. During the day, people look at you as if they were looking at a rotting and smelly corpse; at night, when you toss and turn in bed, the whisper of death always keeps you awake."
The old man looked at his trembling hands and began to wave his arms vigorously. He said helplessly and painfully: "This feeling can drive people crazy!"
The old man stood up tremblingly, declined Todd's support, tried his best to maintain the dignity he deserved, and stepped into the darkness at the end of the corridor.