The weather was getting colder by the day, and it was even more so in the outskirts of the city at night. However, for powerful extraordinary knights and dragon descendants, this bit of cold was nothing.
Asalena stood quietly on the hill illuminated by the stars. The Imperial Capital, illuminated by thousands of lights, was like a jewel embedded in the White River. In her eyes, it was far more brilliant than the stars in the sky. Several winding lights extended from the city into the depths of the dark plains, connecting to the more distant lights. Those were the busy roads and railways day and night. They were like arteries, carrying the blood of the Empire on this land.
After the topic of Tarlonde, she and Byron did not speak for a long time, allowing the silence to gradually surround them. After a long time, she heard a familiar and low voice coming from beside her. "… If only they could wait until this day comes …"
"If they are still alive, then you are most likely still the mercenary leader in the gray area. If you are still a mercenary leader, then when the old Cecil was attacked by the mutants, Madam Heti and Miss Rebecca would not have your combat power by their side. Without you, the last flame of Cecil would not have survived the disaster. Even if Gwen Cecil is resurrected, the fate of this land will be different from today …" Asalena looked back at Byron, her eyes glowing with a faint dark red luster in the night. "I know it sounds a little cold, but leader, fate is intertwined."
"… Yes, fate is intertwined." Byron sighed softly, and then looked at Asalena strangely. "But you would never say such … weird things before. My deepest impression of you is that you would brag with a wine barrel. If you couldn't win, you would take out a knife and continue to brag after the fight. You never lost an argument, and you never lost a fight. "
"It's not the style of a mature gentleman to mention these things in front of a woman, but it's quite in line with your style." Asalena smiled with a trace of reminiscence in her eyes. "So this is the impression I left on you back then … I can't remember it clearly, but it was indeed the most free and easy days of my life."
"In fact, I have always been curious." Byron could not help but look Asalena up and down. "What is the Dragon Mark Witch's job? It sounds like you have a very special identity in the Dukedom of Holy Dragon. You are not just an envoy for foreign exchange. "
Asalena did not expect that a careless guy like Byron would pay attention to such details. She blinked in surprise, and then the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. "Indeed, I am not only an envoy for foreign exchange. The Dragon Mark Witch has her own duties. In the Dukedom of Holy Dragon, everyone has such a natural 'duty.' Some are born craftsmen, some are born warriors, some have extraordinary memory, and some are born to perceive or understand the knowledge hidden in the Dragon Runes …
"Those things are engraved in our genes, in the depths of the soul and memory of every dragonkin. Among those 'duties', a considerable portion of them are actually useless in this era, but they are kept, waiting for the day when they would be put to use in the future. And this is the original meaning of the existence of the Dukedom of Holy Dragon: we are the 'disaster backup' of Tarlonde, the seed to rebuild the Giant Dragon civilization after the extinction of the pure-blood Dragons …
"As for me, the Dragon Mark Witch … my duty is to record and master the Dragon Language Magic. I am also born to recognize the blood of other Giant Dragon descendants, and use Psionic Resonance to establish communication with other Dragon Mark Witches in the distance. The Dragon Mark Witches are a bit like the 'directory' and 'node' of the 'disaster backup.' If the Giant Dragon civilization collapses, the number of surviving Dragon Mark Witches directly determines the speed and upper limit of the entire civilization's reconstruction."
Byron widened his eyes in surprise. He looked at Asalena with a calm expression as she said all this, and frowned subconsciously. "I didn't expect you to be such an amazing character … What you said, does every dragon descendant know?"
"Every dragon descendant? Of course not. "Asalena shook her head with a smile." Only the upper-class dragon descendants living in the Dragon's Arrival Castle know about these 'duties', and only after they have reached adulthood. Most of the dragon descendants don't know about their duties, and everyone just lives the ordinary life they are familiar with in the land they are familiar with. I know that the outside world has always thought that the Dukedom of Holy Dragon is a very mysterious place, but in fact … most of the dragon descendants live the same life as you humans. "
"Humans don't roll themselves down the mountainside in a barrel, and they don't play free-fall along the steep cliff." Byron immediately muttered with a strange expression. "In His Majesty's words, the life of the dragon descendants is too hardcore …"
"Haha …" Asalena was amused by Byron's words, and her cheerful laughter spread far and wide under the night sky. After a few seconds, she slowly stopped laughing, sighed softly, and said with a sigh, "In fact, it's meaningless to talk about this now. Things are not going according to the ancient plan. The Giant Dragon has passed the coming of age ceremony, but Tarlonde is not completely destroyed … The future seems to be better than expected, and the dragon descendants who are supposed to be 'disaster backup' now have the chance to choose their own path of survival.
"It is said that His Majesty Balogel is trying to solve the genetic imprint on the dragon descendants. My father is also active in this matter, but I don't care much about it … The natural 'duty' may be a restraint for many dragon descendants, but on the other hand, having a natural talent is not a bad thing in my opinion."
Listening to Asalena's narration, Byron did not make any comments. This was a matter of the dragon descendants' way of life, and each race had its own way of living. He could not judge Asalena and her people from a human's perspective, so keeping silent was the best choice.
Asalena was a little surprised by Byron's silence, but soon she smiled, shook her head, and put it aside. The dragon descendant withdrew her gaze from the distance and turned to look at the bare hill behind her. The symbolic tombstone and the lonely bouquet were silent under the starlight, and a trail extended from the tombstone to the foot of the hill. After a long time, she whispered, "What's in the tomb?"
"Empty thoughts of the living, two rusty broken swords, and a lame eulogy," Byron said in a low voice. "In fact, I had buried a few people at the entrance of the Hanlin Road outside the old Cecil City, but in that disaster, the place where they were buried was the main passage for the mutants to attack. Coupled with the dragon's breath later, there was nothing left in that place. I went back later, dug out some things from the ruins, and reluctantly built a tomb here … But His Majesty is right. The best way to commemorate the dead is not a gorgeous funeral and coffin, but to remember that they were alive. I think that's right. "
"It sounds like you trust His Majesty a lot."
"Of course, everyone who has fought side by side with him will trust him. And when it comes to matters of life and death, I especially trust his judgment," Byron said with a smile. "He's experienced."
The corner of Asalena's mouth seemed to twitch, but it was hard to see it clearly in the dark. Then, as if to change the topic, she said, "Old Cecil … I remember that I loved the roasted wild boar legs and honey wine there. By the way, is it still a ruin today? "
"It has begun to be rebuilt. The ruin I mentioned was a few years ago." Byron nodded. "The place was badly corrupted by the demonic tide. Even after being purified by the dragon's breath, the harmful elements in the soil are still seeping out. It's not suitable for growing crops. So we don't plan to build a town there. The government office plans to use it as an industrial zone and move some of the heavy factories on the south bank of Baishui there."
Then he fell silent, enjoying the moment of silence in the cold autumn wind. It was not until a night patrol of dragoons flew over the distant sky that he was awakened from his memories. He glanced at the brightly lit city and said to Asalena, "Let's go back. It's late. Pea will be worried if we don't go back."
Asalena nodded and followed Byron to the path not far away. When she passed by the tomb on the hill, she could not help but stop and reach out to pat the cold tombstone.
"Let's go."
…
In the central district of the imperial city, in a big house on Knight Street, bright magic crystal lamps illuminated the spacious dining room. Steaming hot food had been served on the table. Pea sat at the table, blinking her big eyes at her father who had just returned home and her "sister" Asalena who was beside him.
Compared with her gray-haired father, the beautiful red-haired lady looked really young. But Pea knew that many, many years ago, the two people who looked so different in age were actually comrades who fought side by side.
"Uh … Aunt Asalena is having dinner at home tonight." Byron was embarrassed by his daughter's gaze. He could not help but scratch his messy hair and explain awkwardly. "We just went to the suburbs, so we came back late —"
Before he could finish, Asalena kicked him under the table and said, "Not auntie, it's sister."
Byron looked at Asalena in surprise. "No, you have already —"
"It's sister." The Dragon Seal Witch was expressionless, but her tone was firm.
Byron gave in helplessly. "… Okay, do as you please. As long as Pea has no objections."
Pea, who was sitting opposite the table, did not say a word from beginning to end. She just watched the two 'adults' in front of her with her big eyes. She did not mind that her father came back late. Every year, on this day, her father would go to a small mountain in the suburbs to visit those uncles and aunts who had fought side by side with him. On this day, his mood would not be too good …
However, the situation today seemed to be a little different. Her father's mood after returning home seemed to be much better than before.
Pea, who had grown up, was deep in thought.
The insensitive Byron obviously did not notice these things. He was in a good mood. The fragrance of dinner, the company of his family, and the return of the friends who had fought side by side with him made him feel that today was an extremely special day. He looked at the hot dishes on the table and suddenly stood up as if he remembered something. "Right, wait for me for a while. I will go to the cellar and take out a few bottles of good wine from my collection. Asalena, you have to try it. I brought it back from Saint Sunil …"
As his voice fell, he had already stood up and walked out of the dining room. Only the red-haired Dragon Seal Witch and the obedient-looking Pea were left at the table. Asalena suddenly felt that the atmosphere was weird. This was not the first time she had interacted with this little girl, but this was the first time she had encountered such a 'private' occasion. She hesitated for a moment and was finally about to take the initiative to speak. However, before she could break the silence, a pleasant mechanical voice came from the speaker near Pea's spine.
"Sister, are you planning to hit on my father?"
All the words that Asalena had not yet prepared could not come out of her mouth. All that was left was a stunned expression and a short exclamation. "… Huh?"
Pea still did not have any expression, and her mouth did not open, but the voice in the speaker had already started to blabber. "I can see that you are planning to hit on my father. Maybe you have been thinking about it for decades. I am very familiar with this kind of plot. A man and a woman who fought side by side many years ago and came together many years later. It has appeared many times in Mr. Firm's scripts, and in Sister Kiplee's stories and the Knight hidden by Madam Heti …"
Asalena, a high-grade dragonkin who had seen her fair share of storms, panicked this time. She hurriedly waved her hand and said, "Wait, I'm not, I'm not, don't —"
However, the speed of her speech was not as fast as the speaker, not to mention that no one could control Pea who had already spoken. The little girl's blabber continued. "Hey, don't be so quick to deny it, sister. This is not a bad thing. After all, my father has been single for so many years …"
"But let me tell you, you have to work hard. It is difficult for my father to hit on you, mainly because he is slow to react and lacks the nerve to do so. In fact, there are usually other ladies who are interested in my father. After all, he is a general of the Empire and has been single for so long. But in the past few years, none of them have succeeded. It's fine if they don't succeed, but my father doesn't even know about it …"
"If you want to do it, you have to be more obvious. If you really can't do it, you can just ask him directly. My father's resistance in this aspect is actually quite low. Don't be fooled by his bragging about how popular he was when he was young. I have asked Uncle Philip about it, there is no such thing …"
"Oh right, there's one more thing you have to pay attention to. If you really want to woo my father, then you can't let me call you sister. It's better if you let me call you auntie. This way, it'll be easier for my father to accept you. Of course, this is actually a small problem. After all, His Majesty said that when the long-lived race and the short-lived race are together, it's best not to be calculative about age and seniority. Everyone just needs to have a general discussion. Otherwise, just researching who's who's uncle is will require dozens of calculations, and it may not be settled …
"By the way, why is my father taking so long to get the wine? Is he secretly drinking downstairs again? Let me tell you, he often drinks like this because he promised me that every …"
The synthesized voice from the speaker kept ringing, but Pea still maintained her indifferent expression. Even though Asalena had seen this strange scene several times, she still felt a little overwhelmed. What was even more unbearable was what the girl was saying. Her ears were buzzing, and the incessant blabbering was like a rain of arrows. But finally, she caught a brief gap in Pea's thoughts and waved her hand repeatedly. "Stop, stop, stop. Stop. What did you just say? You said that there are people who usually chase after Byron, that slow-witted blockhead? "
"Yes, there are many. Although my father doesn't know, the middle-aged and old women in the Imperial Capital …"
Pea started blabbering again. Byron, who was coming out of the cellar with two bottles of red wine, suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine …
(End of Chapter)
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