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Chapter 6: Twenty Years Back

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A pair of adolescent eyes, opened.

A boy in white shirt and black trousers, stood still on top of a hill directly facing an enclosure.

A firm, round enclosure made of firm woods forming fences, supported by stones below them.

Sheep were within them, hundreds of sheep. Beside the enclosure, was a red-coloured barn. Nearby, he could see a green lake, filled with birds and small plants.

It was late morning.

A further distance away, on a plain, a shepherd was leading around a hundred or so sheep.

In opposite direction, closer to several wooden houses, were brown lines, dug out of the ground. On a much larger scales, remains of dry, brown plants were around it.

A farming village, in the last part of Autumn, when the harvest time had just passed. In these last few weeks before winter, the farmers would either collect the remains for the cattle, or burn them as natural fertilizer for the ground.

A strange, dome-like structure with pale blue roof was in the middle of the village, a church. Several more houses could be seen in the distance, enclosed by fences.

A rather small village, less than three hundred people.

“Lithia?"

Waves of nostalgia hit him. It was the very same village he stayed for five years. It was a village quite close to the ancient capital, where the empire’s army patrolled every so often. Beasts or bandits could not run rampage here, so it was relatively safe.

They moved here since he was ten.

Growing up looking at the disciplined company of soldiers or cavalry passing through day by day, he became inspired to be one or at least, just as disciplined. Inheriting his father’s passion, he trained day and night here, with the help of old village elder, a former soldier.

The ultimate goal back then, was to become a knight, the Elite Supersoldiers of Kharlussia.

This village held a lot of memories.

After his parents passed away, this was also the place where he had spent years together with—

“Krone!”

A faint voice, calling him from below.

Below the hill he was standing on, was a lady in simple red clothes and brown long skirt. She resembled a typical village girl, waving both hands at him, trying to catch his attention.

She put her hands together on her mouth again as she shouted;

“Get down. We’re going to Miss Anna’s—”

Krone blinked.

He thought he was ready for this, yet the feeling just overwhelmed him, rendering him immobile. His mind blanked out.

Hey—

Seemingly frustrated being ignored, the girl went and climbed the hill. It was less than ten metre high, yet quite steep. With grass and tree roots supporting her, she climbed up without a problem.

Pakk—

A gentle hit reached his head.

“Hey, you’re dreaming? At least say something when I call.”

Krone had a blank look, his eyes seemingly on her, yet his mind was running around in chaos.

‘Kristine,'

The name was running around his mind, wrestling his mental calmness to utter defeat.

“Sis…ter?”

“W-what? You looked like you’ve just seen a ghost?”

The girl looked around and examined her body, ensuring herself there was nothing latched on her. She was not superstitious, yet after listening to some ghost stories in the past, she had this habit of checking out things around her.

Confirming nothing was on her, she let out a sigh.

“Ura— Don’t scare me like that!”

Her tender, frail-looking hands pinched her brother’s cheeks.

She lived in a farming village, yet since she had only taken care of the sheep all this time and wore gloves for hard labor, her palms did not become rough. Krone remembered she would always dip her hands into a special mud after a hard day work.

Surprisingly, that had kept her hands soft and tender.

He grabbed her hands, feeling the warmth of her palms on his cheek. A single tear fell from his right eye as he kneeled and sniffed.

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“K-krone? Hey, I didn’t pinch so hard did I—?”

The sister was confused.

Was it her fault? She surely did not use much force.

Then a thought hit her.

“Yeah, I got it. You’re troubled cause of the test?”

She crouched, embracing him.

“…Sis?”

“You know Krone, we both know it’s going to be a tough test. It’s going to be difficult. No matter whether you passed it or not, it’s going to be difficult.”

Krone, still not quite catch what she was implying, calmed himself. He recalled his age, twenty years in the past.

The boy was fourteen, just before winter.

“But, you’re a growing man. You need to shake yourself off your boy-identity. You can’t be a boy forever, alright? You need to grow up, make us all proud. Dad and mom, especially.”

‘Grow up, proud? That’s right, the apprentice knight’s test.'

He had actually forgotten the whole deal.

It was his first test, the one he failed and was ashamed of for some years. Afterward, when the war started looking bad, he realized how trivial it was.

“Well, let’s just treat this test as a try-out. Dad said even some famous knights passed their test on their third try. Don’t worry, kay?”

She took a handkerchief, wiping away his tears.

While she did so, she hummed.

Soft, caring voice.

Her act was natural, so natural that it took her no effort to think of it. Yet to Krone, it was something he had yearned for.

For so many years.

In the first year of the war, when he joined the draft and underwent training, a rift appeared.

A small rift opened near their village.

That small event, possibly not even mentioned in history, devastated him. His closest family member, the last of them, lost among the hundred or so villagers.

‘Patrols did not make it in time.’

He thought to himself.

Being on edge, the Empire stationed much of the troops to the border, thus lessening the amount of ground patrols within itself.

Air patrols by Air Cruisers were increased. The time taken by these patrols to warn the nearby guards, plus the time taken for the Internal Guards to reach the location was two hours. Fifty kilometer from the Ancient Capital, from the time of warning to actually reaching here, two hours could very well be considered swift.

Yet to the villagers, it was a long two-hours.

Barricaded within the barn-house, they could only save half the villagers. He could only imagine the faces of the villagers as the beasts tore them apart.

The memory flashed within him, all while he was within her embrace.

“That’s long enough, yes?”

His sister said, releasing her hold. Putting her hands to the back of his head, she lightly put her forehead onto his.

“Be strong, be brave. May the Creator’s blessing be with you, dearest brother.”

He stopped his reminiscence, and put his full attention to the present. Her white, tender face was so close to him. Her pink cheeks and closed eyes quivered, her mouth spread a smile. He could even see moist near her eyes.

“Hmm,"

Her sweet voice leaked.

From her hands he could smell wonderful fragrant he so yearned for. Such a sweet aroma mixed with the smell of sheep’s milk, with his heightened senses, it was so soothing.

Sunlight hit his face. He closed his eyes as well, savouring the present. Warmth filled his chest.

Emulating her, he placed his hands to the back of her head. He could not change what happened then, but now;

“…May the Creator’s blessing be with you too, dearest sister.”

...

'Thank you, O' Creator.'

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Two days had passed.

Six horse wagons were moving along the paved road.

Two sturdy horses were pulling each wagon, with cattle’s skin as its roof. It was a large passenger wagon enough for twelve passengers and their luggage. They were escorted by six riders armed with spears, lances and crossbows. Two had shiny gloves on their hands; magicians.

They were the internal guards that came along for a short time, since recently some areas had wild beasts wandering into the main road.

Soon, houses and buildings several stories high appeared along the road. Trees of similar design lined up, clearly well-maintained.

After travelling for a good two hours, they finally arrived at the edge of the city of their destination. The area was an elevated land a mere kilometre before the city gate. Stopping for a good look out of the wagons, some young ones gasped at the wonder for the eyes. Silvery wall and golden-like structures filled the city, along with houses with green and red roof.

There were towers erected outside the city; monitoring the whole wide area and acted as a part of a warning system.

One of the riders approached the leading rider.

“Sir, this place is already beyond safe.”

Nodding, the senior rider turned to the coach drivers.

“Well then, it’s short, but our escort ends here. Please enjoy your stay in the city.”

“Thank you, officer, for your generosity.”

“Thanks~”

“Goodbye~”

Since the area was already safe, the riders excused themselves. Children within the wagons waved their hands towards the kind riders. Their armors and equipment seemed cool to the eyes of these young ones, but most importantly, the riders were imposing yet friendly.

Their young eyes simply glittered with pure admiration.

They were a bit regretful parting from the riders, yet the sight of the city simply took it away.

In front of them, filled with silvery light, was the Kharlussian Ancient Capital, Saint Aurenburg. The special stones within its walls reflected sunlight, causing lights seemingly blinking from afar. At night, the stones would give out dim light from the sunlight it absorbed before.

“Uwoow,"

Some children from the countryside, seeing the city for the first time, could not help but gasped in awe.

Saint Aurenburg was called the Ancient Capital since it had been the centre of the Empire for many years, specifically during the thousand-year reigns of their emperors.

That ended almost two hundred years ago. Now, though without an Emperor, Kharlussia still retained the name empire. It sounded ironic to many, but that was the way it was agreed.

Back then, it was agreed that “Empire” simply meant a force way stronger than any single nation, being a direct patron to many nations.

An ideology that the “Imperial Power” lied with the people spread. As sweet as that sound, the practice was far from perfect. Afterwards, the empire had terrible cases of corruptions, and the people suffered tremendously due to power struggle and iron-clad laws.

Fortunately, after more than a hundred fifty years in the dark, it slowly changed. Within the few decades, it embraced a new age of excellence. The Empire soon embraced democracy, where the will of the people counted.

Problems were abundant during the change, yet it was evident the change led to the better.

Of course, that in itself could not prevent corruption, but those stories would be left for later.

From one of the wagon, Krone took in the wonderful sight.

“Saint Aurenburg, long time no see.”

He whispered.

He was excited to finally visit his birthplace again. For four months, this city was the place he stayed for his conscript training. Later, he requested to be stationed here as the city’s guard, and was admitted immediately.

When the war became dire, he had been assigned to the 17th Mobile Infantry unit, parting away from the city for some years.

Never to return, for it was finally conquered by the invaders.

The city was large.

With as many as nine million inhabitants, it was the second largest in the empire. In an area over 600 square km, it was based in a lowland area, encompassing the whole delta of Ilusian river and connected itself to the northwest of Lithargian Sea.

Within the city were several large islands with historical building and fort. Large buildings were common here, and the road was wide, paved well with red stone way superior to any town’s road.

Being in one of the most important sea route in the northwest, the city was an important commercial city, bringing in tonnes of imports and shipping out a lot more of local produce to other nations.

“The Apprentice Knight Test should be in the Antolich Naval Base,”

Antolich Naval Base, the foremost important base for the Northwestern Imperial Navy.

His memory of the place was a bit hazy, but he did remember his impression of it.

Large, ancient yet magnificent training complex for marines and navy. Due to restriction, he did not enter most of the area, only the testing ground.

In this occasion, the Knights Council had the place readied for their annual Knight Apprentice test.

There were many other cities where the test were conducted, yet many agreed the most grandiose testing grounds would be in three cities; The Imperial Capital, the Far Eastern Capital and here, the Ancient Capital.

He turned to his sister. She smiled, giggling at her brother’s excitement.

“Yes, it’s near the Saint Aurenburg Cathedral.”

“You still remember the place, Sis?”

“We used to go there back then. You still remember the road? Forget it, I’ll accompany you there anyway. Oh yeah, it’s been two years since we last see Uncle Rivon and Aunt Amy. You ought to show them proper manner, or you’ll embarrassed me plenty.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to show them how mature I am,”

“Yeah, so mature. I remembered two days ago someone cried,”

“Would you stop that? It was just that particular spur of the moment thingy!”

They suppressed their own laughter.

The large wagon had others coming to the city beside them, so it was not proper.

The group stopped just before the gate.

Hundreds of people were lining up to get in as well as out, so they had to wait for a while. There were many gates around the city, so similar situation was normal.

Soon, Krone and his sister showed the guards their identity bracelet; a bracelet with a low-level crystal storing their personal information.

They entered without a hitch.

Since the wagons had to go to other destination, they had to switch transport. Along with other people, they took a passenger cart.

As soon as the cart was filled, it headed north.

“The test is tomorrow, I need to decide by then.”

Krone murmured, in deep deliberation as the cart moved towards the city’s resort area.

===== Chapter 6 End =====