With a crooked scar hanging on his face, Ackerman sat with his legs crossed in front of Casper's ashes, quietly looking at the palm-sized jar in front of him, with no sign of joy or sadness on his face.
The mournful sounds of men, women, and children coming from beside him made him turn around and look.
In the wide wooden shed, there are more or less several citizens of Froststone standing in front of each jar of ashes.
Some are family members of the deceased, some are friends of the deceased, and some are simply favored by the deceased.
Ackerman touched the cap of the urn and said softly: "I have long advised you to find a woman in the city and have a child as soon as possible. But you tell me every time that you have a wife and children, but they are already dead.
In the middle of the war...did you see it? Without me, you wouldn't even have the last person to see you off..."
A shaman apprentice with colorful ink on his face walked into the wooden shed and said to everyone: "The time has come. Everyone present, please take the ashes of the heroic spirits to the pilgrimage square."
Holding Casper's urn with both hands, Ackerman cast his eyes outside the door and said to himself: "It's time to hit the road, my old friend. They say that the pilgrimage is the door to the realm of the gods. Once you
If your soul passes through there, you will officially become a member of the gods and heroes... I hope the days there will be better than this world..."
Pushing open the door, Ackerman saw all those from the Red Branch Chapter who were qualified to enter the temple, arriving at the square of the pilgrimage site.
Nodding to his comrades in the battle group, Ackerman hugged Casper's ashes tightly and walked towards the small gray building in the center of the square under the guidance of the shaman apprentice.
From the outside, this building, called a pilgrimage house, looks much more low-key compared to the magnificent and luxurious temple in front of it.
It is made entirely of a giant piece of rhyolite. It has no windows, no ceiling, and only a heavy stone door that can be entered and exited by a single person. Therefore, once the door is closed, the pilgrimage becomes a fully enclosed room.
.
The exterior of the building was painted with lily of the valley juice, giving it a light gray color. When you get closer, you can smell a calming smell.
The four cornices of the building are each carved with a giant dragon with different expressions. Their design, on the one hand, refers to the appearance of the tyrant, and on the other hand, it has some characteristics of the myths of gods; on the four walls, there are gold and silver powder.
, either written with runes or rubbings of paintings and sketches, all recording the words and deeds of the sons of the gods.
Walking to the bottom of the stairs of the sanctuary, Ackerman found that all the members of the shaman assembly in Froststone City were gathered in front of the stone door of the sanctuary.
The leader Minnie said to everyone: "Residents of Froststone City, believers of the Sons of Gods! Today, we are gathered here not for sad memorials or declarations of revenge... We are here for
Witness, witness the great moment when the heroic spirits enter the sanctuary!"
Knocking on the stone door behind her with her cane, Minnie said loudly: "The Son of the Gods ordered the construction of this pilgrimage place. After obtaining his permission, the soul of the deceased can directly enter the holy domain of the gods once it passes through here.
, and become an immortal existence!”
Seeing the uncontrollable excitement of the believers in the audience, Minnie continued: "Since opening the passage to the sanctuary requires a lot of divine power from the sons of gods. Therefore, the number of heroic spirits who are eligible to enter the pilgrimage this time is tentatively
The limit is one hundred people. These one hundred heroic spirits are all dead in this war, and the list is determined by the shaman gathering. And we will determine whether he has a chance to be able to do it based on what he has done in his life, his performance on the battlefield, and his level of belief.
selected."
Seeing the thousands of people in the square starting to whisper, Shaman Minnie added: "The ashes of the heroic spirits who are not selected for this list will be placed in the burial ground behind the pilgrimage site, waiting for the passage of the sanctuary.
When it is opened once, they will be arranged to enter the channel again."
"Only a hundred people can enter here?"
Ackerman looked at the urn in his hand and said with some uncertainty: "With the personal relationship between the two of us and the sons of gods... you should be able to be in line, right?"
Amid people's expectant gazes, Shaman Minnie read out the name of the first chosen person.
"Tim Lotage!"
Among the people present, some had never heard of this name at all, while others immediately loudly praised the fairness and impartiality of the shaman assembly as soon as they heard the name.
Most of the people who don't know this name are residents of the city; and most of the people who know this name are participants in this battle.
Tim Lotach is not a chapter leader, nor is he a warrior of any chapter. Strictly speaking, he is not even a member of the chapter, he is just a cook in the Froststone Army.
But it was this cook who was a slave in Froststone City who became a well-deserved hero in the Ulster siege.
What happened is roughly this.
The failure of the Ulster Encirclement and Suppression Battle prompted the chapter leaders to decide to retreat in batches. During the army's withdrawal, Tim belonged to a little-known small chapter - Sober. The mission of this chapter was,
It was also something that was not taken seriously before the war - guarding the main retreat route of the Froststone Army - Bansi Father Bridge.
While covering the injured troops on the front line to cross the wooden bridge, while sniping at the enemy with a huge disparity in strength, the Sober Chapter persisted for three hours, and its morale collapsed. Everyone, including the Chapter Leader, gave up their position and began to flee backwards.
.
And as a slave, Tim, a loyal and honest cook in his forties, if he had fled back to Froststone City with the battle group at that time, in the worst case scenario, he would have just continued to be a slave... But he
He happened to do something that made everyone look at him.
Alone, facing the surging Ulster people, he did not choose to escape, but stayed on the position. He used the linseed oil in the logistics baggage to make a fire bottle, and used carriages, falling rocks and other obstacles to escape.
The enemy was held back for more than ten hours.
Finally, he was caught by the enemy after running out of kerosene, tied to the back of a horse and dragged to death.
"I have seen that short and fat man. Who would have thought that a slave whose hometown is Ulster would be braver than most Froststone people when facing the Ulster army?"
Keman sighed softly: "If he is the first heroic spirit to step into the realm of the gods, I have no objection."
Shaman Minni read out the name again, and a thin young man with patched clothes and muddy straw sandals walked tremblingly up the stairs under everyone's gaze.
Minnie looked at the boy and asked softly: "Tell me, child, what is your name?"
"Chuck...Chuck Lotach...Tim is my father."
Minnie nodded and signaled the shaman apprentices to open the heavy stone door of the pilgrimage place.
Pointing at the dark door with her cane, Minnie whispered to Chuck: "Go and send your father's soul into the sanctuary of the gods with your own hands. You will witness this great miracle with your own eyes!"