Perhaps Gwen's answer was so straightforward that the two senior agents were stunned for a few seconds. The first one to react was Melita. She blinked and asked uncertainly, "Do you mean 'not going'?"
"Yes, I'm not going," Gwen said casually. "Is there a problem with my answer?"
"… It's just a little unexpected," Melita said in a strange tone. "Your reaction is so unusual that we couldn't react for a while."
This answer made Gwen curious. "Oh? What should an ordinary person be like? "
"In the face of a god's invitation, an ordinary person should either be overjoyed or in awe. Of course, you may have a stronger mind than ordinary people, and you may be calmer. But your calmness is still beyond our expectations."
"That's because you told me that I can refuse," Gwen smiled and said casually. "To be honest, I'm really curious about Tarlonde. But as the ruler of this country, I can't just go on a casual trip. The empire is on the right track, and countless projects are waiting for me to choose. I still have a lot to do, and meeting a god is not in my plan. Please convey my apologies to your god. At least for now, I can't accept her invitation. "
What Gwen said was not an excuse. But it was only one of the reasons.
To be honest, this unexpected invitation really surprised him. He had thought about how he should promote the relationship with the Dragons, but he never thought that one day it would be in this way. There was a god in Tarlonde, and it seemed that the god had been in the world for many years before this era of civilization. Gwen did not know why such a god suddenly wanted to see him, a "mortal," but he was sure of one thing: he had to be careful about everything related to gods.
Judging from the reaction of Melita and Noretta, the relationship between the Dragons and their god seemed to be quite subtle. But at least the "Dragon God" was not crazy.
A crazy god was terrible, but a sane god did not mean that he was safe.
Did he know about the Disobedience Plan? Did he know that Cecil had restarted the Disobedience Plan? Did he experience the ancient times of the gods? Did he know about the Godslayer Fleet and the secrets behind it? Was he kind? Or was he malicious? All these were unknown, and Gwen … was not so blindly confident that he was not afraid of anything.
He had indeed stopped two divine disasters and defeated two "gods" directly or indirectly. But he knew very well how much luck and coincidence he had in the two divine disasters. Even though he, as a "satellite spirit," seemed to have the effect of suppressing and immunity to the power of some gods, it did not mean that he really had the power to fight against the gods. At least, it was not a power that could stably fight against the gods. If he felt that he was a "godslayer" because of the two divine catastrophes, then he would not be far from being buried again.
Therefore, with his guard up against the Dragon God, out of the most basic sense of vigilance, and the fact that he could not casually leave the Empire for a 'long journey' to the distant Tarronde, Gawain had no choice but to reject the dragon's' invitation '.
After rejecting the invitation that was actually very tempting to him, Gwen could not help but let out a long sigh of relief and felt that his thoughts were clear …
"You are really not an ordinary person," Melita took a deep look at Gwen. After two seconds of silence, she lowered her head and said solemnly, "Then, we will bring your response to our god."
Then Noretta said, "Also, I want to confirm — from what you said just now, you can't go to Tarlonde 'now,' but you didn't completely reject the invitation, right?"
Gwen looked at her, and after a few seconds of pondering, he nodded slightly, "If that 'god' is really so magnanimous that he can tolerate the willfulness of mortals, then I may accept his invitation one day in the future."
Noretta and Melita looked at each other, and the latter suddenly showed a bitter smile and said softly, "… Our god is very tolerant most of the time."
Gwen was just about to ask what she meant when Noretta suddenly took half a step forward and bowed to him, "Our mission has been completed, it's time to leave."
It seemed that this was a question that could not be answered.
Gwen understood and did not ask. He nodded gently and saw Noretta put away the large suitcase used to hold the 'Guardian's Shield' and bowed again, "Thank you for your cooperation with our work, the answer you just gave is very important to us."
"Wait a minute," Gwen suddenly remembered something and quickly said before the other party left, "About the signal last time …"
"It has nothing to do with Tarlonde," Melita shook her head, she seemed to want to say more, but after a short hesitation, she shook her head, "We can't find its source."
Gwen quietly looked at the two humanoid dragons for a few seconds, and finally nodded slowly, "I understand."
The two senior agents nodded and then left. Their breath quickly faded away, and in just a few minutes, Gwen lost his perception of them.
Gwen stood there for a while, waiting for the various thoughts in his mind to gradually calm down. When the chaotic speculations and thoughts were no longer turbulent, he exhaled and returned to his spacious desk. He then placed the heavy and quaint Guardian's Shield on the table.
Under the sunlight outside the window, the surface of the ancient shield glowed faintly. The additional parts added on the surface of the shield had been rusted and tattered, but the metal plate as the main body of the shield shone under the rusty cover as always.
Gwen recalled that the blacksmiths in the expeditionary army had tried various methods but still could not smelt this piece of metal. In the extreme lack of materials and tools, they could not even drill a few holes on the surface of this piece of metal to install handles. So the craftsmen had to take the most direct and simplest way — using a large number of additional alloy castings to almost wrap the entire piece of metal.
Now that the wind and frost of several centuries had passed, the traces of countless people's efforts and carried the hopes of countless people had finally decayed to such an extent.
Gwen pressed the call bell beside the desk. A moment later, footsteps sounded from the corridor. Betty pushed the door open and walked in, "Your Majesty, you called for me?"
"Is Heti here?"
Betty thought for a moment and nodded, "She's here, but she's going to the government office in a while!"
"Let her come to me first."
…
Outside the city of Cecil, beside a deserted suburban forest, Melita and Noretta appeared in the open space with a gust of wind.
The two senior agents took a few steps forward and confirmed that there was no one around. Then Noretta loosened her hand and the gorgeous metal box in her hand fell to the ground. She then looked at Melita beside her. The two seemed to have completed a silent communication in a short moment. The next second, they staggered two steps forward at the same time and knelt on the ground weakly.
A tearing pain came from the depths of her soul. Even her tough body could not withstand it and quickly showed all kinds of abnormalities. A large number of burning lines suddenly appeared on Noretta's skin, and faint dragon scales instantly spread from her cheeks to her whole body. A layer of illusory shadow rose behind Melita, and huge illusory dragon wings covered the sky and the sun. A large number of shadows that did not belong to them and seemed to have self-consciousness quickly spread out from the two of them and rushed into the sky as if they were trying to break free.
This terrible process lasted for a full ten minutes before the backlash from the soul finally stopped. Noretta panted, fine beads of sweat dripping down from her cheeks. She finally managed to regain control of her body. She stood up slowly and reached out to support Melita, who seemed to be in a worse condition.
Melita lifted her head and glanced at her. Just as she was about to stand up, her body swayed and she vomited with a "wah".
Her internal organs were still spasming.
Noretta could not bear to see her best friend in so much pain. Thus, she took half a step to the side and turned her face away without saying a word.
Half a minute later, this more terrible process finally calmed down. Noretta turned back and looked at Melita from head to toe, "Are you okay?"
Melita, "... I don't feel like talking now."
Noretta looked at her friend sympathetically, "Are you still going to wear this stupid veil in the future?"
Melita, "... (Tarlonde swearing, profanity)"
Noretta was shocked by her friend's imposing manner. She helplessly took half a step back and raised her hands as if surrendering. Melita also took a breath at this time. After calming down a little, she lowered her head and frowned hard. She opened her mouth and spat out a dazzling flame — the burning dragon's breath instantly burned the indecent and elegant evidence left at the scene.
Then she looked up at Noretta, deeply regretting that she could not kill her friend.
Noretta did not seem to feel the substantial resentment from Melita. She just took a few deep breaths to further calm and repair the damage she had suffered. After a while, she said with lingering fear, "You often deal with that Gwen Cecil... Is it so dangerous to talk to him?"
"... Almost every time he showed the attitude of 'wanting to talk', he was risking his life," Melita said with a dull look, "Do you know how nervous I was every time he said he had a question? I've even sketched out my own tomb in my mind … "
"It's very scary, really." Noretta sighed with firsthand experience. She could not help but think of what happened at the headquarters of the Mithril Vault in Tarlonde not long ago. At that time, even Speaker Andal who was present at the scene was under the gaze of the gods, and that terrifying gaze... seemed to be caused by a signal sent back from Gwen Cecil.
"I suddenly have a hunch," the White Dragon lady said with a sad face, "If I continue to follow you around this human empire, sooner or later I will be 'killed' by the careless words of the pioneering hero. It's really hard to imagine that I would be bold enough to casually talk about the gods with outsiders, and even take the initiative to approach forbidden knowledge... "
"Keep your worries to yourself. After this, you'll be able to return to your post as backup." Melita glanced at her friend before her eyes shifted to the box made of various precious magical materials that her friend had thrown on the ground. "As for now, it's time for us to collect some rewards for this extremely risky mission …"
As she spoke, she came to the box and began to dismantle the gems and crystals directly from the box with her fingers. As she dismantled the box, she called out, "Come and help me. Later, melt the skeleton. Tsk, it's a pity that this thing is too conspicuous and can't be sold directly. Otherwise, selling the whole thing will definitely be more valuable than dismantling it... "
White Dragon Noretta hesitantly came to her friend with a hint of hesitation, "Is this really okay? This box was originally going to be... "
"Hey, if you don't say it, who knows? I also sold the box last time. Let me tell you, being on duty outside is not the same as being a support staff in Tarlonde. The risk is high, the environment is harsh, and you can't rest well. If you don't think of a way to get some money for yourself, you can't survive... "
White Dragon Noretta's eyes twitched twice. She wanted to scold them loudly (the rest is omitted)... but she came to Melita's side and began to wallow in the mire.
...
"Ancestor, are you looking for me?"
Heti came to Gwen's study and asked curiously. The next second, her eyes were attracted by the conspicuous thing on the desk.
"Ancestor, this is..."
Heti's eyes widened. She pointed at the Guardian's Shield on the desk, and finally, even her voice was trembling a little.
As a member of the Cecil family, she would never mistake what it was. She had seen it countless times in the family's inherited books and portraits passed down by the elders. This Guardian's Shield, which was lost a century ago, was once regarded as the beginning of the family's shame. It was even a heavy burden for every Cecil's successor. Generations after generations of Cecil's descendants had vowed to find this treasure, but no one had succeeded. She had never dreamed that one day, this shield would suddenly appear in front of her — on the ancestor's desk.
"Ansu, the Guardian's Shield of the Kingdom." Gwen was very satisfied with Heti's surprised expression. He smiled and said faintly, "Today is a day worth celebrating. This shield has been found. The Dragons helped to find it."
"Dragons..." Heti felt that she had finally recovered from the dizziness. She took a breath and could not help but take two steps forward. She carefully looked at the shield on the table and said, "It's really it... It's really it?"
"Of course it is. I can't mistake something that belongs to me," Gwen said with a smile. "Why do you look more excited than me?"
"Ancestor, I'm afraid you don't understand... This lost shield has an extraordinary meaning to us descendants," Heti said, unable to hide her excitement. "The Cecil family's dust began from the loss of this shield. Generations of descendants have wanted to restore the glory of our ancestors. Rebecca and I have also vowed before your portrait to find this shield..."
"Ahem." Gwen suddenly coughed twice. "You have such a rule?"
Heti quickly calmed down a little from her excitement. She also felt the strange atmosphere at this moment. She glanced at her ancestor, who had come out of the portrait into reality, and lowered her head awkwardly. "This... this is a very normal aristocratic habit. We ask you to be a witness before your portrait for many things, including important family decisions, adult vows, major changes in the family... "
"Okay, you don't have to say anymore." Gwen felt that this topic was too strange, so he quickly interrupted Heti. "I guess when Grumman took the shield from my grave, he must have said hello to me. He may have even knocked on my coffin lid. Although it's not appropriate for me to say this, it's completely fooling the dead. So let's stop talking about this. "
Heti said, "... Yes, ancestor."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
