A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

After the crown prince returned to the royal city, he did not show up for two days. It is said that he was tired from fighting abroad for several months, so he needed to rest quietly for a while.

No one has seen any trace of Gallan for two days, and according to palace news, Prince Heimos has been staying in Prince Gallan's palace for almost the past two days.

This scene can't help but make some people start to murmur.

Could it be that... Prince Heimos wants...

However, two days later, Garlan appeared in front of everyone.

Shermur, who represents the priestly power of Shamash, and Sage, the leader of the royal knights, are following him, accompanying him to meet with ministers and handle government affairs. As the guardian knight of the crown prince of Garlan, Kai Hoth also quickly began to take over the military forces in the royal city.

At the same time, Heimos had remained silent, not saying a word, but quietly following Garlan, acting like a knight guarding the opponent.

In this way, the suspicion that had just emerged in everyone's hearts immediately disappeared completely.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed in a hurry.

Thanks to the efforts of Garlan and everyone else, the severely damaged royal city and surrounding areas are recovering rapidly.

The blockade in the area around the Royal City has been lifted, and the once-blocked avenues in all directions are once again allowed to pass. The merchants who were anxious because the trade routes were cut off finally breathed a sigh of relief and rushed towards the Royal City with their caravans.

There were also some timid businessmen who wanted to wait and see for a while, but when they heard that the crown prince had issued an order to provide business tax concessions within six months, they immediately ignored them and swarmed in from all directions almost impatiently.

The bright spring sunshine shines on the land of Aaron Landis. On the roads extending in all directions with the Royal City as the intersection center, countless people and carriages begin to come and go, and the excitement is even more lively than before. Some roads were so crowded with caravans that they became jammed in some areas.

The 'blood' in those thick 'blood vessels' and countless small 'blood vessels' began to flow again.

This majestic city located in the center of the entire continent and known as the "Heart of the Continent" began to beat powerfully once again.

The royal city of Aaron Landis is more prosperous than ever.

…

The wide Ea River flows quietly, surrounding the gorgeous palace that shines golden in the sun, and then turns into a waterfall behind the high cliff behind the palace, falling into the vast sea.

On this day, the small court in the palace stood on a high platform, open on three sides, and countless huge stone pillars with lotus heads supported the court. While in the court, you can vaguely see the beautiful scenery of the waterfall falling into the sea in the distance.

In the small chamber, Garlan was listening to his subordinates report to him the matters handled during this period.

"Your Excellency Kaleni sent a message that the remnants of the Gastad people's defeated troops in the west have basically been wiped out. Now, he is stationed at the stronghold on the western border and is building a fortress."

Said Shermour, who received the message from Kalleni yesterday.

"Because our country has always had a friendly relationship with Kanal and has never engaged in war, it does not pay much attention to the defense of the west. But now Kanal has been controlled by our enemy Gastad, so Mr. Kaleni Considering future wars, it was deemed necessary to build military fortresses at key locations in the west.”

The Gastadids killed their king and destroyed both of their legions.

And they killed the prince of the Gastad people and destroyed his army of hundreds of thousands.

There has been a deadly feud between the two sides.

From then on, the western border was bound to be in constant war.

The priest continued: "In addition, Your Excellency Kaleni also asked me to report to you that in order to rebuild the Sixth Army, please allow him to recruit soldiers on the western border."

Garlan nodded.

"You reply on my behalf and agree to his request."

The young man looked at Shermer with bright eyes, a hint of apology in his eyes.

"In addition, I would like to express my apologies to Kalleni. He should have been living a long life in his own city, but now he has to bear the heavy responsibility of the western border. This is all because of my lack of ability."

He said,

"But under the current circumstances, he is the only person who can trust me to entrust the important task of the western border to me."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will convey your words to him."

Xie Muer bowed slightly.

"But Mr. Kalleni will definitely be very unhappy when he hears the apology you want to express."

The old man with a stubborn and upright temperament has always been a person who refuses to admit defeat.

‘My health is very good, what’s so hard about this? ’

After receiving the message, the old man must have said so unhappy.

However, Kaleni must be very satisfied in his heart without saying anything about Gallan's words that the only person he can entrust with important tasks is himself.

Probably imagining how the stubborn old man would react, Garlan smiled and then turned his eyes to the other side.

Sage, the leader of the Royal Knights, took a step forward after receiving Garlan's gaze.

"The royal city is currently stable, and none of the ministers or nobles behaved unusually."

The defense of the royal city has been taken over by Kayhos and the First Legion led by him. During this period, he led his troops to clear out all the bandits who took advantage of the war in the area around the royal city.

During this period, every move of the nobles and dignitaries in the royal city was closely monitored by the royal knights.

"Prince, those civilians have almost been repatriated!"

Before Garlan could ask, little fat boy Tarr couldn't wait to jump out, wagging his tail vigorously to ask for credit from his prince.

"I personally supervised everything, and absolutely no one can embezzle your money——"

In order to defend the royal city, Heimos used his pioneering tactic of "Strengthening the Wall and Clearing the Fields". Although this tactic was indeed very effective, it inevitably caused considerable harm to the people who were driven away.

Now that the war is over, if the forced displaced people remain crowded in the Royal City or other large cities like now, it will cause a lot of trouble.

Therefore, after Garlan took over the royal city, he immediately started escorting the refugees back to their original homes.

He allocated funds to provide them with necessary financial subsidies and helped them rebuild their homes if they had been burned down.

In order to prevent officials from getting involved in this considerable amount of money, Garlan gave Tarr full responsibility for the matter.

With Tal, who was extremely sensitive to numbers and property, and a dozen tall, burly and unkind Shamash priests sent to assist, the possibility of corruption among officials in this matter was almost eliminated.

No one can take away from him the property given to him by the prince!

Don't even think about it!

The little fat man, who was determined to save his property for his little prince, thought angrily.

Kayhos also said: "Your Highness, Tasda and Elson have decided to let the army return home the next day, leaving only a few representatives of the two countries here."

"Understood. A banquet will be held tomorrow night to entertain the generals of the two countries."

After Gallan finished speaking, he paused and mentioned something to his subordinates.

"Both the First and Sixth Legions have been rebuilt, leaving only the Third Legion."

King Camos led all the members of the First Legion and the cavalry of the Third Legion to the Western Territory, but later they were all destroyed.

In the subsequent battle to defend the Royal City, more than half of the infantry units of the Third Army left behind to guard the Royal City were killed or wounded, so the Third Army was almost destroyed.

"Are you going to rebuild the Third Legion?"

Caihos asked, "But, Your Highness, who do you plan to put in charge of the Third Army?"

The commander-in-chief of the six legions cannot be appointed randomly. That person must have sufficient merit and reputation and be recognized by all the soldiers.

Almost by default, only those who have established great military exploits and are famous among soldiers and are named cavalry commanders are qualified to command the army.

However, there are very few people who can be promoted to cavalry commanders by Aaron Landis, and nearly half of them died in the battle of Rudas City. Now the few remaining cavalry commanders have commanders' legions under their command. Even the rebuilt Sixth Army could only reluctantly be commanded by Kalleni at this moment.

After all, this veteran had been on the battlefield for many years, served the king of two dynasties, and had made many achievements, so he barely qualified for this.

Now the prince wants to rebuild the Third Army, but if he can't find a general who can command it, how can he start rebuilding it?

"Your Highness, if you don't have such great military honors and reputation, even if you force the appointment, the soldiers will not recognize it. I am afraid that there is no such general among Aaron Landis today. Therefore, it is best to rebuild the Third Army first. Suspended..."

"No, there is one person that everyone will recognize."

Garlan interrupted Shemuer's words.

He turned his head and looked to the other side.

He said,

"Heimos, I'll leave the third legion to you, okay?"

Heimos, who had been sitting quietly on the chair, raised his eyes and looked at Garlan with his golden-red eyes.

After a moment, he nodded.

"good."

he said simply.

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Only then did they realize that although Heimos was not known as a cavalry commander, that was because he was a prince himself. In terms of battle honors and reputation, he was definitely not inferior to any cavalry commander.

If he serves as the commander-in-chief of the legion, he will definitely be recognized by all the soldiers.

only……

Shermur and Sage looked at each other silently.

…………

……………………

Taking into account the habits of the Tasda and Elson people, the banquet for them was not held in a gorgeous hall, but was chosen in an open-air courtyard.

Tall palm trees stand upright around the courtyard, and their dense branches and leaves look more and more green in the dark night lights.

Different from the previous open-air banquets, this time, the entire spacious courtyard was uniquely divided into two large parts by a long dining table and a column wrapped with green vines.

The purpose of the separation... was to prevent the Tasda male warriors and the Elson female warriors from fighting during the banquet.

Although they have fought side by side for such a long time, the two countries are still very difficult to deal with each other, and they always have a fight almost every few days.

In general, both sides have their own victories and defeats, and no one can defeat the other.

It was precisely because she knew this that the female official Tapti who was in charge of the banquet specifically ordered the generals on both sides to be separated in this way.

Perhaps it was because of the arrangement of the banquet hall that the female official had worked hard, or perhaps because of the presence of Crown Prince Garlan, both parties were relatively restrained. Although they still had no good feelings towards each other, there was no friction at all.

The two sides ignored each other, each in his own half, eating delicious food comfortably, chatting and laughing leisurely with his companions.

Shulos didn't need to attend this banquet, but in order to blend in with the female warriors of Elson, the bard shamelessly followed.

At the banquet, he gave full play to his advantages as a bard, playing the lute and singing ballads.

On Airson Island, among the Airson people who are mainly warriors, the profession of bard does not exist at all.

Therefore, many Aersun female warriors gathered around and listened to Shulos singing ballads with great curiosity.

Surrounded by these female warriors with rare wild beauty, the bard immediately became excited. He simply sang the courtship song that was widely circulated on the mainland.

"That's an old legend."

“The pages of immortal love live on the land of Aaron Landis.”

…

“Where the sun shines, she descends by the clear stream.”

"The wind sang her beauty, the water kissed her toes, and her face reflected in the water."

"The goddess of love and beauty...her presence eclipses everything in heaven and earth."

…

"That look made her fall in love..."

"...The crazy fire of love ignited and burned her up..."

…………

When Garlan finished chatting with Tastar's generals and came to Elson's side, he saw the bard showing off his colorful feathers and singing voice like a peacock courting a mate.

The young man suddenly laughed.

He didn't bother him and stood aside, drinking the juice in his hand and listening to Shulos playing and singing with great interest.

The long and penetrating song of the bard echoed in the night sky along with the sound of the piano.

"The beautiful goddess knelt down in front of her beloved and expressed her love to the boy in the most beautiful voice in the world."

"...If I can't be by your side, to me, it's the same as death."

"My beloved..."

"Do you know...my heart beats because of you...can you feel...my soul exists because of you..."

Garlan choked on the sip of juice he just drank and coughed for a long time before he could catch his breath.

"Your Highness?"

The maid who was following him was startled and quickly wiped the juice that spilled on his hands with a towel.

"Are you okay?"

"Cough, cough, cough, it's okay."

Finally regaining his breath, Garlan handed the juice to the maid.

He hesitated for a while, and finally couldn't help but ask.

"Ahem, um... what was he singing just now?"

"Huh? Don't you know? That is a courtship song that is widely circulated on the mainland."

Most people knew it, but she, a believer in Avdmir, knew it even better.

“Legend has it that when Avdormir came to the world, she met the most beautiful boy in the world and fell in love at first sight. She pursued the beautiful boy desperately and begged him for his love. "

"This is the song in which the goddess woos the beautiful young man."

The maid squinted her eyes with an intoxicated expression.

"There are still many people who use the words in songs to woo their loved ones...ah, 'my heart beats because of you'~~ Don't you think these words are particularly heartwarming?"

"Cough cough cough - cough!"

"Your Highness, do you think you have a cold?"

Seeing Garlan's face turning red from coughing, the maid panicked.

"Cough - no, I'm fine, I just choked."

"But……"

The maid's words were interrupted by a voice coming from the side.

"Your Highness, are you free now?"

After finally regaining his breath, Garlan turned his head and saw the brown-haired priest who had already walked to his side.

"Shemer, is something wrong?"

"Yes, please come with me, I have something to tell you."

Garlan nodded, turned around and told the maid to wait where she was, and then walked with Shemuer to a secluded area next to the courtyard.

Tall palm trees shrouded this place, and the light shining from a short distance was blocked by the dense canopy, making this place a bit darker.

Gallan followed Shemuer here, only to find that Sage was also here, standing under a tree waiting for them.

Seeing Garlan coming, Sage walked out from the shadow of the tree and bowed slightly to salute him.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

The leader of the Royal Knights, who never knew how to beat around the bush, said straight to the point,

"As for the commander of the Third Army, please reconsider."

Garlan paused.

"...Do you think Heimos is not qualified to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Third Army?"

he asks.

"No, to be fair, if His Highness Heymos was not a prince and had already been promoted to cavalry commander based on his merits, he would still be the commander-in-chief of the First Army."

Sage said,

"But, Your Highness, just because of his status as a prince, I don't think he is suitable to control the Third Army."

"No legion is suitable to be handed over to someone who has the right to inherit the throne - for the stability of the throne - you should consider this."

The young man was silent for a while.

Then, he turned his head and looked at Shermer who was standing next to him.

"You think so too?"

The priest of Shamash stood on the grass, the shadow of the tree swayed on his face, and his angular face still had the usual solemn expression.

"Your Highness, according to the practice of the Aaron Landis royal family in the past, when the crown prince succeeds to the throne, other princes must go to the city where they are canonized. Without the king's summons, they are not allowed to enter the royal city."

He said,

"After you succeed to the throne, His Highness Heimos should go to the city of Meneste and succeed as the city lord."

Although Shermer did not speak directly, his words clearly expressed his meaning.

Sa Ge continued: "Moreover, perhaps His Highness Heimos is more interested in the Lord of a City than the Commander of the Legion..."

After all, the city lord is the complete controller of a city and is not under the jurisdiction of anyone except the king. He has a higher status than the commander of the army.

"No."

Garlan interrupted Sage.

He said, "I will not let him leave the royal city."

Shermer frowned. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what he thought of, so he shut up again and tightened his mouth without speaking.

Sage continued speaking without giving in.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, please understand one thing - letting a prince who has the right to inherit the throne stay in the royal city has been a very dangerous thing since ancient times."

As the leader of the Royal Knights, his duty is to protect the stability of the throne.

"You should no longer be so emotional when you are about to ascend the throne! You should order His Highness Heymos to go to the city of Menestre as soon as possible——"

The black tree shadows swayed gently on his face, and the young man was silent for a while.

Then he shook his head again.

"No."

Garlan said, in an extremely firm tone.

He doesn't want to.

That was not because he was worried that the order would anger Heimos.

But...

He raised his eyes and looked at the two of them with golden pupils.

"I need him."

He said,

"I need him by my side."

…………

The person who once frightened him had suddenly become a person who gave him great courage and support.

A presence that reassures him.

Heimos said he wanted to be around him.

But Heimers didn't know that.

He also needs him.

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