"Talinam, you have always been curious about why every time danger comes, I can always stand at the front without fear, just like this time."
"If there are times when I don't want to stand up, it must be because I'm not interested."
"But no matter what, you have always been curious about why I can do it like a real knight. Every time, I can stand up without fear."
Essek was riding on a tall gray war horse, looking sideways as he had the last conversation before the battle with Talinnam.
"Yes, I'm curious...why you can all..."
Tarynham returned in a low voice.
"you?"
Essek narrowed his eyes, showing a surprised expression.
"Well, it seems that the old guy has also talked to you."
Essek turned around, was silent for a moment, and continued—
"Herrus, I know him. I have known him since I was young. He is a living legend, a devout Knight of the Holy Grail."
When Essek said this, Talinnam turned his head and looked at him in surprise. Obviously, the old knight still hides many secrets. Even though he has known this old man for almost a year, Talinam still cannot truly understand him.
Every time, the more I try to understand him, the less I understand him.
It’s unimaginable that Essek and Herrus actually knew each other. And from Essek’s tone, their previous relationship was even pretty good. Thinking that Essek was also a Knight of the Holy Grail before, Talinnam even boldly doubted these two old men.
They were probably still comrades in arms when they were young.
However, one firmly practiced the knight's creed and firmly chose to believe in the Lady of the Lake. The other took a completely opposite path. They didn't say hello to each other in the camp, and Talinnam estimated that it was also for this reason...
…
"But I'm not, I'm a corrupt person."
"To a certain extent, the rest of my life is just a living corpse."
Essek's tragic words interrupted Talinnam's thoughts and brought him back to reality from his imagination.
"I have seen a lot in my life and lost a lot."
Essek continued to talk, Talinnam rarely saw the old knight looking so sad. If so, it was whenever he was recalling some past events. Just like now, at this moment, he is like a sad person.
An old man, instead of a brave knight.
"Herrus is very pure. He is brave because of his firm belief. But I am not. I am brave because I have lost too much."
"Lost too much? So you become brave?"
Talinnam was very surprised. He overcame his fear because of loss? What kind of logic is this? He stared at the old knight beside him with a surprised look on his face.
"Yes, it's easy to understand, Talinnam, you have experienced it too, haven't you?"
Essek smiled bitterly——
"When a person has too much, he will look forward and backward, fearing loss, and thus lose courage. However, when a person has nothing, he can face the facts that he did not dare to face before."
As Essek said, the expression on his face gradually became painful.
"In the first half of my life, like most people, I had my lover and pursued wealth and glorious status. However, I lost them in the end. And, after that, I also saw some terrible facts. Some were shocking.
The soul-breaking fact. The lives of most of us are actually meaningless, and the world is originally a false lie."
Essek hesitated to speak.
"You may not understand it now, that's okay, maybe one day you will understand it. In short, people who have seen that terrible fact will eventually go crazy or commit suicide. The reason why I am still alive is because I don't care anymore, my body is here
Have fun, but your soul is already dead.”
"I am a dead man, so I can stand up bravely when darkness comes."
"You've been like this before, haven't you?"
"Talinam, think about your bravest time, when was it?"
Talinnam was silenced by the old knight's questions.
"There is no need to escape, Talinnam, your bravest years were the days after the Battle of Death Valley. When you climbed out of the pile of dead people, when you returned to Gray Tree Castle, you found that your territory had changed hands.
, when you have nothing, you will have no fear. The dying person is the bravest, because he has nothing. This is how I spent the rest of my life. Life is meaningless to me. So.
I can overcome my fears, or rather, those horrible things are nothing compared to the truth I have seen."
"So, what is the truth of this world? What is it that you see?"
Essek spoke lightly, but when Talinnam mentioned that issue, he shook his head and smiled -
"Now is not the time."
"Talinam, your spirit is not strong enough to support you in understanding the terrible truth."
"Believe me, sometimes, knowing is better than not knowing. When you don't know, you can fight and struggle. You can believe that the world is beautiful and that everything around you is worth your struggle and hard work. But when
After you know some facts, you may lose your faith and all motivation."
"It is a good thing to struggle like Hercules."
Essek said meaningfully, with a helpless smile on his lips.
Talinam wanted to ask further, but Essek waved him away.
In the distant sky, a dark red streak appeared...
I saw Essek, who had become the deputy commander of the coalition forces, drew his sword and started galloping on his horse.
Talinnam could only trot behind him.
They crossed the rows of human walls and queues.
Finally, right in front of the large army, Essek rode his horse to a stop, and the horse raised its front hooves and screamed.
The knight rode a tall gray war horse in front of the coalition forces.
Everyone was staring at the old commander, and some experienced veterans thought that the old knight would give a pre-war mobilization speech.
However, Essek just glanced at the dark crowd, and then shouted——
"attack!"
In everyone's astonished eyes, the old knight rode straight ahead and rushed to the front!
No one expected that the battle would start in such a way. They originally thought that the old general who had temporarily returned to duty would stand at the back of the team and command the frontline soldiers to charge and kill.
However, no one thought that he would actually go into battle in person and rush to the front.
The coalition soldiers reacted in shock and followed the knight in the charge.
Ahead is the city of Duncanhof that has been dyed red by the fire!