CHAPTER 148
MEETING NOT SO SAD DEATH
The SpaceDoor prepared for their guests was outside the capital walls under heavy security. The city walls, fortified with ancient spells and guarded by knights clad in resplendent armour, loomed majestically before them. The gates, engraved with symbols of protection and prosperity, swung open to grant them entry.
They tagged along with Parvians, and as they passed beneath the arched entrance, the echoes of their footsteps reverberated through the cobblestone streets. The city greeted him, filled with a heady blend of magical aromas, from exotic herbs to alchemical concoctions. Market stalls lined the thoroughfares, showcasing rare spell components, enchanted artefacts, and mystical tomes. Street performers captivated passersby with dazzling displays of magic, and the city's residents, dressed in flowing robes and adorned with amulets, exuded a rich vibe that he had never seen in Edenberg County.
“They are rich,” Hans muttered, for him this was a moment of profound realisation. The royal capital was a place where the very essence of magic flowed through every stone and whispered in every breeze.
He sighed at how much the standard of living differed compared to the county. Not far from them, there were numerous carriages stationed. Each ready to carry them to their destinations. Hans sat on one and did not realise when they reached Concordia castle in the capital, all due to the buzz he was witnessing through the window.
“They all are rich.” His thoughts echoed loudly inside. On their way, Walter especially had warned Hans, his words still fresh; Avoid Dijkstra at all cost and he planned to do that. As he entered the grand-looking castle, he realised, that inside the castle, the interior was no less impressive. The foyer was a vast expanse, with a soaring ceiling adorned with magnificent chandeliers that cast a warm, golden light. Intricately woven works lined the walls, depicting scenes of epic battles, legendary mages, and knights.
His eyes fell on the grand staircase, adorned with a red carpet and flanked by marble statues of famous mages from Concordia, similar to what he had seen in Floatlands. It looked like they were leading them to the upper floors.
The castle was multilayered, with numerous wings and corridors sprawling in all directions. It was so expansive that each member of Hans's team would have their own separate room, a luxury that filled them with awe. The first floor was assigned to the Second years as they were told of their designated rooms.
When the allotment finished, all ran to check them out. Their rooms were spacious and elegantly furnished, each with a large canopy bed draped in luxurious fabrics, ornate wooden furniture, and windows that framed breathtaking views of the surrounding capital.
Hans’s sight led him to another place, “The security is no joke, most of them are in grade seventy.” He calculated, muttering, “I think I’ve underestimated Glory Wars. It's not just a competition to show who is superior but a grand festival. In which the whole world takes part.”
Walter called them down and seeing their excited faces, he briefly allowed them to enjoy themselves with a curfew on the clock. They had two hours on their hand, and it looked like someone made an appointment with Hans so when they went further away from the Lodgings he discarded himself from the group, telling Chris.
He found a corner street shop and sat, ordering whatever looked tasty. Another man, whom he recognised without looking sat beside him. “What took you so long, I was waiting,” Hans commented, sipping the long noodles with soup. “This is good.”
The man, none other than Dijkstra was a little confused, “You found me following you. That’s staining my reputation —”
“I couldn’t detect you, oddly. But I knew you’d be, it's in your eyes. They are the same as mine, once you are curious. You have to see it through to the end, don’t you?… And here I wanted to avoid this unavoidable.”
“Haa..” Gulping the water from the glass in one go, he said wiping his mouth, “I didn’t know little Sam was as smart as his father too.”
“Heard it before. Didn’t care back then. Don’t care now.” Hans said indifferently, asking further, “So why are we having this conversation, Commander Dijkstra.”
“But, You are different from your father, aren’t you?”Dijkstra prompted. This was the first time Someone had said this, so it made Hans curious and he ended up asking why. So Dijkstra responded, “You are… more fearless…If I have to put in the words.”
“Was my father not fearless?”
“No, he was a coward. A weakling.” Dijkstra glanced at Hans once more, his relaxed attitude and confidence in an unfamiliar place was boasting that he wasn’t afraid of anything. So he added, “He was far weaker than you think. He couldn’t even go out of the palace without checking several times. It is funny how the world depicts him.”
“Wow! You are uttering some bullshit mr.” Hans never took anything personally about Samson, even when people cursed him pointed their fingers, saying he was an evil spawn and all that. He was never bothered, but oddly Dijkstra’s words were rubbing him in the wrong way.
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“Did I strike a nerve?” Dijkstra asked expecting some rebuke and it was written all over his face. So Hans denied giving him what he wanted.
“Ask anyone,” he defended Samson’s name calmy, “All they would say he was the strongest —”
“Only those closest to you know the real thing, Little Sam.” Dijkstra stated, his voice oddly sombre, “Your father was not without faults. He was human after all, his weakness was that he never gave up on his own people.” He paused, recalling his former king, the young boy whom he cherished, and continued, “He didn’t had what it takes to judge his own. Once he trusted someone he went all-in for them, getting backstabbed once wouldn’t wake him up so he just had to backstabbed twice.” Dijkstra tone heated up like he was venting his disappointment, “That over-sympathetic bastard even justified why he was betrayed.”
“Sympathy, is a virtue, isn’t it? Hans interjected, hoping for some retaliation from the world-renowned lunatic but the response he received was oddly calm.
"As a human, it is a very good quality to have, but as a monarch gathering his broken nation. It's a curse. He left so many enemies alive. Saying the world has use for them. He was an idiot who fuckin’ trusted everyone.”
“But” Hans tried changing the topic, “I’ve heard he killed everyone opposing him —”
“Yeah, that was good times. He had everyone around, and somehow all ended up following the script he had written.” Dijkstra ordered another bowl of noodle soup and gulping he continued, “He came to our lands, promising to unite the thirty or so states and rebuild Parv. He was talking big and all he had was Arat supporting him. I joined because… I was just bored if you must ask.” He paused, chugging down the water and wiping his mouth, he continued, “Then the boy, still wet behind the ears, started taking big steps and states began to fall on his feet. We saw hope, those who opposed, died horribly. And those who surrendered died at the forefront of the Elven war —”
“What, why in Elven War.” Hans was enjoying the tale but the sudden confusion arose in his mind, so he couldn’t help but interrupt Dijkstra’s flow. However, the old knight engrossed in the past explained it happily, “You see, Arat said if one can surrender once he would surrender twice. The ones who fell fighting for their beliefs were the ones honourable.” Dijkstra imitated the muffled tone of Arat, “Not these cowards who waged war when there was a benefit, later surrendered realising they couldn’t win. They were cancer to the true nation. So Samson accepted their surrender on condition they would be at the forefront if the war happened with another country. Then we had the Elven war. Not a single true Parvian lost in that war only traitors and cowards… Except for the king himself.”
“That’s brutal. And you said he was we…soft.” Hans remarked.
“That was his condition before he stabilised the nation. He changed after uniting the kingdom. He kept giving others second chances. I can’t believe, he once said that a person who is driven by a sense of duty won’t last long, beliefs and the will to see them through at any cost makes you last longer. And in the end, he ended up following the first part of his own quote.”
Hans was listening with an open mind, this was the first time someone was not singing praise for Samson. He was being criticised by someone who truly knew him. He could see how disappointed Dijkstra was since it was quite easy to read him, he never hid anything behind the mask like everyone.
Suddenly Dijkstra exploded in laughter startling Hans, and added, “Do you know when I asked him why he became so cautious, taking a step only after checking twice? Do you know what he said?”
Hans shook his head, eagerly wanting to know the answer himself, and finally, Dijkstra told him, “He said, the last generation of Parv must survive at all cost, that is goddess Aadya’s decree. So he could only be free after you were born.”
“That’s anticlimactic!” Hans answered baffling.
“I know right? But he never said nonsense. Even the old bastard, Arat believes it to be true.” Dijkstra turned serious like he had to know at all the cost, “Do you know anything about it?”
“Yeah,” Hans put the bait and Dijkstra, curious, got caught hook line and sinker. Raising his brow, he suggested to the old knight, “But you have to answer something for me. This is our family secret, I can’t just disclose it.”
“Ha, so you were a fucking schemer too, guess blood doesn’t betray.”
“So, You still want to know?” Hans rubbed in.
“Yeah, spill it.”
“Not so fast, Commander Dijkstra. Promise me first that whatever we say will stay in this street shop.”
“Yeah, yeah, just tell me if the goddess decree is true. And how much you know about that decree.”
“First tell me about my father’s sword.” Hans has to make sure this wouldn’t come biting his ass. And Dijkstra was the one who was willing to spill everything. It was a godsend opportunity.
Dijkstra asked, startled, “What? Rebellion. Its just a cursed sword. Useless without an owner. All it could amount to now is just a relic of the past. Anyone wielding other than the king would die a horrifying death.”
“So what if Xandor gets the hold of it.”
“Why would that inhuman bastard go for the sword, he is a fucking mage, he should stay a mage…well he could unite the scattered Eclipse member with it. I guess.”
“How?”
“That is a symbol of unity, The King’s hard work. He could claim that his possessing the sword is something that Samson wanted, or Samson is helping him from the skies to avenge him.”
“And people will just move…” Hans asked, curious.
“You don’t have a fucking clue what the name Samson means to us Parvians do you? If Arat hadn’t pulled a stunt a few months back, many more would have joined Eclipse.”
“What stunt?”
“The one where you asked the Parvians to wait for you to graduate. And you coming back, resuming Samson’s work.”
“When the hell did I say that —”
“That’s why I called it a STUNT, little Sam.” He shrugged off the details and stressed, “Now tell me about the decree.”
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