Somehow, Brando felt that he had seen this forest somewhere before. But it was not surprising. The dream of the Lost Names was fused with his memory fragments, and the dream itself was full of his personal imprint.
He stayed by the river for a while and suddenly remembered. He remembered that when he was a child, there was a park near his home, and the pine trees in the park grew so tall and straight.
Brando's heart suddenly pounded.
He thought of his childhood, and his parents. They were still young and proud of him. When he was young, he was like all children, full of confidence, thinking that he could carry this burden.
But he let them down after all.
Brando used to think that such disappointment was because of his own failure. In order to escape, he became addicted to games; but it was not until he met the Blademaster of Erouine in the dream of the Golden Tree — "his" grandfather — that he realized how wrong he was.
But did he still have a chance to ask for forgiveness?
Was Lady Martha willing to give him this chance?
Brando looked at the light outside the forest and could not help but press his hand to his heart. He still remembered that every holiday, there would be various celebrations in the park, and his parents would take him as a child to participate in the park activities.
He knew that it was just a dream.
But standing by the river, it felt like there was a weight of a thousand pounds under his feet. The evening wind blew, and the trees rustled. At this moment, there was a sudden sound of footsteps in the forest. Brando turned his head slightly, and his heart jumped.
"Is there someone else?"
Brando looked back and saw an unexpected person stumbling out of the forest — Prince Haruz. The little prince gasped sharply and looked up at his teacher in surprise, but his eyes soon turned red and glistened with tears, "Teacher Brando … I, I thought I would never find you again."
Brando was stunned.
Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that this little boy would barge into his dreams. Although the guide said that the dreams of the Lost Names themselves reflected the fragmentation of their memories, the dream world was filled with the memories of others — in Amber, this was determined based on the player's experience — and sometimes other players would enter another player's dream.
But the problem was — this was modern times! Modern times! Modern times!
Brando's mind was in a mess. What should he do? It would be terrible if the little prince saw his dream. Although his family did not live in a bustling urban area when he was a child, this small county was not a backward area. How would he explain to Haruz if he saw those reinforced concrete buildings, high-rise buildings, cars, and other messy things?
How about knocking Haruz out?
He shook his head at once. That was not likely, unless he wanted to murder the little prince here. Since Haruz had entered his dream, it meant that the two of them had the same mission. If the little prince could not save himself, then he could only stay in the dream forever.
When Brando thought of this, he froze on the spot.
"What should we do …?"
That was the only question left in his mind.
"Teacher?" Haruz saw Brando standing motionless by the river, staring straight at him. He could not help but feel a little scared and shrank back slightly. He had never seen Brendel act like this before. Brendel was usually very gentle, and he had never seen him like this before.
Although Brando's requirements were a bit strict, Haruz was even stricter under his sister's requirements. On the contrary, most of the time, he was very fond of the gentle Count.
"Uh … Haruz," Brando whispered, deciding to give the little prince a heads-up first. After all, Haruz was young and might be able to get away with it.
"Hmm?" Haruz responded in a low voice, blushing, panting softly.
"You know, we are in a dream-"
"I know, teacher. I heard what you said just now. You said that we were in the dreams of the Lost Names, and these dreams are filled with our own memories, "the little prince replied seriously like a well-behaved student.
He was frightened to be alone in the dark, but when he saw his teacher, he calmed down again. Brando was the hero who saved Ampere Seale, but in his heart, Brando was the hero who saved his sister.
This, more than any other reason, was enough to make him trust him.
"No, please, please forget the last sentence –" Brando could not help but groan in his heart.
He smiled and said gently, "Yes, Haruz, but you know, dreams are very weird, so no matter what you see later, don't make a fuss. Don't forget, we are still in a dangerous environment. "
Brando's smile was uglier than crying in his heart, and he wanted to pull out Halran Gaia and stab himself to death.
Haruz blinked, and the half-elf's pointed ears moved slightly. His silver eyes reflected the moonlight, shining brightly, and he nodded seriously, "I understand, teacher. In fact, I used to have strange dreams when I was a child. "
There seemed to be no one else, and the little prince was not as shy as usual. He and Brando had been together for several months, and he was naturally not as shy as he was at the beginning.
Brendel heaved a sigh of relief.
"Come with me."
He nodded, turned around, crossed the river, and walked in the direction of the light source in the distant woodland. Haruz held the Lion's Fang and followed suit. The two passed through a large black pine forest, and the light source ahead was getting brighter and brighter, but it was at this time that Brando suddenly narrowed his eyes and made a slight sound of surprise.
He stopped and saw a carriage with its door open not far from the woodland.
He glanced back at Haruz, wondering if it was the little prince's dream projection. But the little prince was also looking in that direction in a daze, as if he did not understand what had happened.
But Brendel didn't expect the boy to be able to see any clues. He was skilled and daring, so he walked over alone and found that there was no one in the carriage. But there was a pool of glaring blood on the seat, and the smell of blood permeated the woodland, slightly pungent.
"Teacher?" The little prince soon noticed the abnormality in the carriage.
Brando raised his hand to signal his student to be quiet. Every detail in the dream was not generated out of thin air. This scene was either a memory of him, or the little prince, or part of the lost dream of the Lost Ones.
It looked like the scene of an assassination, and at the little prince's age, he would certainly remember such a scene and would never fail to recognize it. And he himself did not seem to have similar memories. He thought for a moment, and the only possibility left was that it was part of the lost dream of the Lost Ones.
Brando could not help but pay attention. In this dream, the mission was redemption. Therefore, the lost dream was a very important clue — the legendary Lost Ones wandered in the Black Forest in order to find their lost selves. Most of them did it because of regret, so the missions in the dream were mostly to make up for regret.
He lowered his head and soon found specks of blood around the carriage.
Brando immediately followed the bloodstains, and before long, he found his target beside a black pine. It was a dead young man with a dagger in his back. He was stooped and his head hung low, almost resting on his knees. He had long lost his breath of life.
When Haruz saw this scene, he could not help but let out a soft "Ah" sound.
"Do you know him?" Brando looked back and asked.
"No." The little prince shook his head.
"Then leave the right to examine the body to me." Brando walked over and lifted the young man's body. The young man still looked very delicate, and the clothes he wore showed his aristocratic status, presumably the heir of a noble family.
He first picked up the other party's money bag, but as soon as the bag was in his hand, it turned into dust and passed away. Brendel was slightly taken aback. The walkthrough had mentioned this phenomenon before. Everything in the dream was a remnant memory, and other than the most profound part, most of the other details did not exist. So when he came into contact with it, it turned into nothingness.
But it was at this moment that a thin piece of paper fell from the dusty money bag.
Brando picked up the piece of paper, but found it blank.
He pondered for a moment and understood why. In this scene, the most profound memory of the Lost Names should be this piece of paper. He firmly remembered this piece of paper, but he could not even remember what was written on it.
Brendel checked the young man's body again and found that there were no other valuable clues. But he glanced at the seal ring on the young man's hand and memorized what it looked like.
"Teacher Brando?" The little prince stared at the piece of paper in his hand, somewhat puzzled.
"This is a clue. But it's not enough for it to remember more. We need to go to the next scene. In this dream, we'll help it trace everything back and let it remember who it really is- "Brando also looked at the piece of paper in his hand and then replied.
Haruze seemed to understand something. "We're going to help it find its name, aren't we, teacher?"
"Something like that." Brando was still very satisfied with his student's comprehension.
"But since it has already forgotten everything, how can we help it remember everything? It must have wandered in this forest for many years, and even that history has disappeared under the dust. Can we really find the memories it wants from nothing? "Haruze frowned, looking a little curious.
"You remember, it's not a complete memory here, right? There are also memories of you and me- "Brando suddenly stopped, wishing he could slap himself. But the words had already been said, and he could only continue with great annoyance, "We're examining its dreams, and it's examining our dreams. People's experiences are always similar, and the same scene might be able to evoke its recollection-"
Only then did Haruz nod and look at his teacher with some admiration.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Brando felt a little awkward facing a little boy with a flushed face and bright big eyes looking at him.
"Before Master Fleetwood died, he often told me stories. I, I don't know if it's disrespectful to think so, but I don't think the master knows as much as you, teacher. "
This was a good flattery. Brando felt a little light-headed, especially when he knew that the little prince was actually very simple and would not lie at all. He patted Haruze's head. "Everyone has their own specialty-"
Then he straightened up and breathed a sigh of relief. Once he entered the mission state, those messy thoughts from before faded a lot, and he calmed down.
"The brightly lit place over there looks like a small town. I think we should be able to find some clues. Let's go together." He looked at the edge of the woodland and asked knowingly.
"Okay!"
Haruze nodded heavily with the Lion's Fang in his arms.
Brando put the young man's body away. Although he knew that this was just a dream, he still did so out of respect for the dead. People who had lost their names wandered in the forest all day because of their regret. Legend had it that most of these people were spurned when they were alive. But Brando believed that if a person knew regret, then there was at least a place of purity in his heart.
Just for this self-redeeming heart, it was worthy of equal respect.
Then the two crossed over here and continued forward. It was only a short distance from the edge of the woodland. If it were in the real world, the young man's body and carriage would have been found soon. But this was a dream, and as Brando said, in the dream, only the existence of memory was pursued. Rationality did not exist here.
Light flowed into the forest like milk, outlining long shadows at the edge of the forest. Brando moved in the opposite direction of the light and shadow. He passed through the edge of the forest and suddenly opened up in front of him.
But he was slightly stunned.
Outside the forest was not the park he had imagined. There were no reinforced concrete buildings, no cars, and no high-rise buildings as he had expected.
A classical city lay outside the forest, with a moat and scattered small towns outside the city. The city was brightly lit, and a towering wall cut across it, surrounding the city from far and near.
A little closer, a road passed through the forest and led straight to the city gate in the distance. Many tents were set up on both sides of the road. The tents were brightly lit, and outside, there were fruits, vegetables, and wine barrels. There was even a stage set up not far away, and he saw clowns performing on it. The actors sang and danced, and the music was cheerful.
It looked like a festival celebration in any part of Erouine's countryside.
But because the contrast was too great, Brando could not help but be stunned for a moment. Until Haruz walked out from behind him, saw the city in the distance, and exclaimed in a daze. "Ah!"
Brando knew the meaning of this short exclamation.
It was as if he recognized the city.
Monsteros.
The capital of Erouine.
(PS: There is one more chapter. Wait a moment.) (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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