Chapter 8: Freedom


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>As Studios <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>As Studios


    Although having only spent less than a day with this great great great great… great grandaughter, Reba had made quite an impression on Gawain. On several asions, Gawain had wondered if the child had ever gotten injured in the head…


    But how could it be? Putting aside the fact that she had gone through elite education which waspulsory for aristocratic children, her role as a spellcaster was pretty much enough to prove her intelligence. After all, to conjure arge fireball so easily was not something that just anyone could do…


    However, no one else was in the mood to think about how Reba did not think before she spoke. Even Heidi, who had always been very strict towards Reba, was preupied with worry. “You mean… these were the monsters that appeared in the Cecil territory seven hundred years ago?”


    Gawain sighed. “Seeing as these monsters seem so unfamiliar to you, I presume you haven’t encountered them over these hundreds of years.”


    “The years of war with the monsters after the pioneering era came to an end.” Heidi shook her head lightly. “Although there are records in the history books, the most recent records are at least six hundred years old… ording to what I’ve learned, the monsters that emerged from the ruins of the ancient empire did cause Anzu trouble for a long time, but ever since the elves helped humans to build the sentinel towers, those monsters were then relegated to stories and legends…”


    Gawain frowned slightly. “The sentinel towers… Elven buildings can’t have failed so easily.”


    “We must report this to the King,” Reba suddenly clenched her fist, her expression serious as she said, “The monsters that disappeared without a trace hundreds of years ago has suddenly reappeared within the kingdom. We must send someone back quickly with this information. The Cecil territory has suffered heavy losses from this unforeseen disaster. We… we must seek help from the royal family…”


    Gawain thought back to ‘his’ glorious achievements of old. He smiled with confidence and said, “Don’t worry, with Cecil n’s standing within Anzu and the impact I made, the city of St. Soniel will spare no effort in helping you to rebuild the territory.”


    Unexpectedly, Heidi and Reba did not seem reassured upon hearing that as odd expressions came over their faces.


    Gawain was puzzled. “Uh… What’s wrong?”


    Could it be that the reputation of the legendary pioneer Gawain Cecil was no longer relevant after these seven hundred years?


    “Ancestor…” Heidi looked unusually grim. After biting her lip several times, she seemed to have finally made up her mind. “Actually, back in the tomb, I’ve been meaning to tell you something… but I just couldn’t put it into words.”


    Gawain had vaguely anticipated what she was going to say, but he still nodded. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”


    “The Cecil n is no longer as glorious as before. Though you’re still considered to be the legendary Grand Duke who founded the country, but…” Heidi looked at Reba in a troubled manner. “But now, Reba, who inherited the title in the n, is only a Viscountess. This Cecil territory… is also thest piece of territory of the Cecil n.”


    Gawain was dumbstruck. “… Huh?! Why do I remember that I was already a duke back when I was ‘dead’, and it was a title that could be inherited continually down the generations? Our territory extended from the Cecil territory to the ins of the Holy Spirits… What the heck have the descendants of the Cecil n done? Did they kill the king or stage a rebellion?”


    Heidi bowed her head in embarrassment. “… Many things can happen in a span of seven hundred years within the n and within the country. Today, Anzu is no longer in its first dynasty but the second. Cecil n is no longer ying the major role of supporting the royal family. Instead, it has gained a bad reputation and was exiled by the royal family.”


    Reba added, “A hundred years ago, thest king of the First Dynasty of Anzu, Dallian III, died from a sudden attack of a serious illness. He didn’t leave an heir before he died. There were already oppositions within the royal house, and there was even a dispute about who should seed Dallian III. After his death, the empress and the chancellors failed to control the situation in time, and in the end, it led to the ‘Fog Month of Turmoil’.


    “The royal family members with the right to session fought for the throne in the Fog Month of year 635 of Anzu calendar. In the third week after the Month of Turmoil, the conflicts in the court escted into a civil war. The members of the royal family and the great aristocrats that supported them engaged in a military stand off. The Cecil n was also drawn into the fight…


    “The cause of the ruin was Marquis Grumman. The Grand Duke of the Cecil n was already in his old age although still very healthy. He had a strained rtionship with his eldest son Grumman Cecil. Marquis Grumman probably sensed that his session to the title might be threatened… so he secretly nned and participated in the civil war. As he had not inherited the authority in the n, he didn’t have the power to rally supporters. Thus, Marquis Grumman cast his eyes upon the legendary ancestor…”


    Gawain cupped his head. “I remember now. He was the one who took my shield, right?”


    Heidi nodded and continued after Reba. “Marquis Grumman first put the Cecil Grand Duke under house arrest, then he took your sacred object from the ancestral tomb. Subsequently, representing himself as the sessor to the Cecil n, he announced his support for Prince Tosh. Then, in March of the same year, Prince Tosh was assassinated. After that, Marquis Grumman quickly announced his support for Prince Fidick. In April that year, Prince Frederick lost the battle and killed himself…”


    Gawain was quiet.


    But that was not all as Heidi continued saying, “After that, Marquis Grumman found an uncle of Dallian III. He used his exceptional eloquence to help form the alliance, but on the second month after that, the Grand Duke of the North, Bulon Wilder, who hadn’t intervened in the internal conflict, suddenly pushed a youngster into the limelight, and announced that the boy was the illegitimate son of the king two generations before. Then, the Grand Duke of the North used that as his chip to participate in the civil war and ended the civil war in the Fog Month of year 635 of Anzu calendar. On the day before the civil war ended, Marquis Grumman wanted to make the same move again, dering his allegiance to the new king, but before he could make his statement, he was attacked by both the enemy and allies on the battlefield, he died in the melee…


    “The Second Dynasty of Anzu then took over. Of course, calling it the ‘Second Dynasty’… is still a sensitive topic up to this day.”


    Just then, Amber, who had been quietly listening, said musingly, “The whole farce onlysted for a year, but it caused such a big change to the whole kingdom… who wouldn’t have heard about this?”


    “Since the bastard child took on the throne, people have been calling it ‘The Bastard War’ in private circles,” Heidi said, “There were arge number ofrge aristocrats involved in the civil war, so quite a few ns have been implicated, but this is after all part and parcel of aristocracy. Moreover, the kingdom was in extreme chaos at the start of the Second Dynasty, and the new king needed to reinstate order, and this required the power of the old aristocrats. Thus, most of the ns have not been brought to ruin except…”


    “Except for those that have been switching sides like crazy?” Gawain could not help but twitch at his mouth. As someone who had spent more than a hundred thousand years in the sky watching over the world, even he did not feel well hearing this whole history. He could onlyment at how life was indeed more dramatic than they appeared in novels. At least novels had some basic logic. It was a wonder how Marquis Grumman could be so gifted in such a peculiar way. “I don’t think anyone could have switched sides more than Grumman Cecil, right?”


    “After that, the Cecil n could never recover from that stumble,” Heidi lowered her head. “The fate of the n could have been even worse, but because of your reputation and the efforts of the old Grand Duke, the n’s legacy was protected. It was just that the name ‘Cecil’ could no longer y a central role in the kingdom, just like what you see…”


    Gawain looked in the direction of Heidi’s gaze, at Miss Reba Cecil, whose brain had been damaged.


    Reba noticed Gawain’s gaze and turned to look at him. “Lord Ancestor?”


    “How unfortunate, how unfortunate…” Gawain held his forehead. Though he was not really the Cecil n’s ancestor, Marquis Grumman’s glorious achievement and the bizarre deeds had reached an extent that it would bring a shock to those who heard of it and tears to those who witnessed it. He was rueful just hearing about it. “And that wastrel still lost my shield…”


    Heidi and Reba: “…”


    Their Lord Ancestor once again scolded their grandfather. As juniors, it was indeed better that they just keep their mouths shut.


    Fortunately, Gawain was not really the one involved in the incident, so he quickly adjusted his mentality, which impressed upon Heidi as astonishingly magnanimous, as he shook his head slightly and said, “Forget it. Pursuing these matters of the past is not going to help our present situation. In any case, these monsters that have reappeared is a huge threat to humanity. The king in the city of St. Soniel may pay no attention to the declining Cecil n, but he can’t ignore those monsters. Thus, he must give us the attention as we were the ones who escaped this disaster.”


    Heidi nodded vigorously. “You’re right.”


    After that, Gawain had lost interest in chatting. The dim and cramped underground passageway had eroded their desire to talk. They could only continue down the road and pick up their speed.


    Fortunately, the straight underground passageway cut across the entire Cecil territory. The nearest exit was not too far away from the castle. After a quick, long walk, Gawain determined, from his memory, that they had arrived at a suitable exit.


    With the earth elementals’ blessing, the ancient stairs in the passageway showed no signs of copse at all. It was quite fortunate that the exit was notpletely covered by dirt and rocks. After removing some roots, vines and soil that were blocking the exit, the fresh breeze caressed their faces.


    Freedom.


    Knight Byron led the soldiers to leap out of the hole first. After they sent signal that it was safe, the others followed after. Reba took a deep breath immediately after climbing up to the surface, and she eximed cheerfully, “We’re out!”


    Gawain followed after Reba. and went to the ground. His excitement was no less than Reba. In fact, he was even more excited than her.


    A vast world.


    His first reaction was to look up at the sky.


    Unfortunately, it was night time.


    But he was also thankful that it allowed him to see the night sky of this otherworld.


    There was already a faint light in the horizon. The approaching dawn made the starlight in the sky dimmer. The sparse stars seemed to be covered with ayer of fog. They were hazy and far away.


    They were stars he did not know about.


    The white light in the horizon was getting brighter. Night was ending, and dawn was approaching. The escapees from the underground tunnel were all absorbed in the joy of their new lease on life. And Gawain was filled with even greater excitement as he faced the direction of the rising sun. He opened his arms as though he was going to embrace the sun of this new world.


    Then he saw a never before seen, huge, misty, glowing curved surface that gradually rose up the horizon, lighting up this world with its brilliance.


    That was not the sun.