“Greyhound.”
“I’ve already realized my biggest dream. At the end of the Months of the Demons, His Highness the 4th Prince will hold the canonization ceremony for me. But, I don’t want to sit on the bed waiting for my canonization. My wounds have already healed, so the city wall is the place where I should be. The Months of the Demons is near, and the demonic beasts may be strong, but they will have to go through the line of defense the militia established, and will no longer able to advance. I will also take over your part in defending the town, and brandish my sword in your name. All this will not be the end. Your murderer is still alive… But he will not live much longer, His Highness already promised this to me. The next time I come to you, I’ll bring good news.”
Brian bent down and placed a bouquet of flowers at the gravestone.
“So goodbye, my friend.”
“Sister Anna, are you scared?” Nana, who was lying on Anna’s bed, asked her this.
“Afraid of what?”
“The devil’s bite we have to face this winter. I became a witch during the autumn of this year, so it will be the first time I have to face it…”
“Well, the first time,” Anna thought, “will be very painful, and sometimes you think that you can’t wait any longer and wish that you could finally die.”
“Ah!” Nana began to shout out of shock, but she immediately covered her mouth.
“But you will survive, just like me.”
“I do not know…” whispered Nana, “I’m not like you, so strong, and afraid of nothing.”
“I’m not really that strong,” said Anna as she closed her eyes. The scene when she met Roland for the first time emerged in her mind. Down there in the cold and dark dungeon, Roland’s clothes were draped over her body. He softly said that he would hire her — until now, she still got goosebumps when remembering this. “Sometimes you will encounter situations or things that will give you the will to live on, even if you need to struggle hard to survive.”
“Such as…?”
“For example,meat marinated in soy paste,” Anna sighed, “How should I know what you dream of? — Ah”
Seeing that Nana was entirely staring at her, Anna wiped her face with her hand, “What are you looking at? Is there some dirt on my face?”
“No …” Nana shook her head, “I’m just a bit surprised, you’ve never talked to me so much … Sister Anna, the appearance you had when you just closed your eyes and thought about the past, you were so beautiful.”
Anna rolled her eyes, jumped out of the bed, and went to the window.
Nana followed directly behind her, “What are you looking at, do you want to flee into the forest?”
“The forest is in the West,” answered Anna snappily, “Here you can only see the Redwater River.”
“Sister Anna, look!” The little girl pointed at the sky.
Anna was startled, then opened her window. A surge of wind mixed with little snowflakes came into the room.
She held out her hand, catching the flower-like sparkling snow. She could feel a chill coming from her fingers.
“It’s snowing.”
“……”
After long silence, Nightingale opened her mouth and began to speak once more, “You actually didn’t lie.”
“Of course,” Roland laughed, “I had very little reason to lie.”
Nightingale said nothing. She only tilted her head, and an unknown look emerged in her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt something cold on her neck, and she couldn’t help herself from shrinking away. She looked up only to find that unbeknownst to her, the snow had begun to fall on the walls. Under the gray sky, there seemed to be an uncountable number of snowflakes. They danced in the wind, flying all over the place, accompanied by the shouts of the militia.
…The Months of the Demons had begun.
Part 2: Months of the Demon
Chapter 40 Letter
The firewood was burning violently, but Gerald Wimbledon didn’t feel much of the heat.
Although he was in a large tent made of stitched leather, and the ground was also completely sealed without any air leakage, he still felt cold. His toes were especially cold, they were almost frozen to the point that he couldn’t feel them any longer.
“This damn place, even the urine freezes when you take a piss.” he spat and stood up. He grabbed the table on both sides with his hands. When he used all his strength, so that even his hand became red from the effort, the six-foot square wooden table became lively and left the ground.
After he put the table at the edge of the fire pit, Gerald felt a lot more comfortable. He took off his shoes and put his feet next to the fire, warming them in the heat. He spread out the text scroll with his hands once more and continued to write the unfinished letter.
“Dear lovely Olivia.”
“It has been already a month since I came to Hermes, but of course, the Church prefers to call this place their new Holy City. If it wasn’t for the Months of the Demons, I wouldn’t want to stay here for even a moment. I just want to get back to you and share the warm bed with you once more.”
“Faithful to the convention, the church is monitoring us with their own forces instead of supporting us. It’s kind of ironic, isn’t it? Speaking about the church, I have to admit that what they were able to do is really amazing. I can still remember the time when I was here for the first time. It was around twenty years ago. In addition to the mountains and rocks around Hermes there was nothing here besides a little church at the bottom of the mountains. But now, they have not only opened up a road for a carriageway up the mountain peak, but they have also established a large-scale fortress city.”
“During the summer, you really should come and take a look at this city with me. The new Holy City is even grander than our Graycastle. Do you remember the theater in Graycastle? You and I had gone there to watch “The Revenge of the Prince”. You were so impressed with the theater’s architecture; the interior was so spacious that it was unbelievable.”
“But after you see the Holy City’s new Hall of Military Affairs, you will think that the theater in Graycastle was only a shack. It is hard to call it a building, I think it’s more like a piece of exquisite art. It’s so spacious that it could swallow five theaters. However, not a single pillar supports the exterior walls. The walls are held up by eight behemoth-like demonic beast bones. Between the curved bones are many smaller bones which are connected by hemp ropes, and the roof hovers in midair as if it were on a pole. How could they think off a building like this?”
“And those bones, if they were stripped from a demonic beast, I bet that guy’s size was certainly more than a hundred feet. Probably only in Hermes will you be able to encounter such a monster. But honey, please do not worry, even if the demonic beasts are massive, they are still the devil’s minions.
In the presence of God’s Eye of Retribution, no evil can escape God’s jurisdiction! Whether it is a demonic beast, a witch, or the devil himself, their only fate is to turn into ashes!”
When he had written until here, Gerald Wimbledon put down his pen and loosened up his tingling hands. This was really strange, normally he could hold his 15 lbs. heavy two-hand-sword all day, but while holding the pen he was only able to write a few sentence before he felt so tired. He smiled in a self-deprecating way and thought that he really was made for a yokel’s life.
“When speaking of demonic beasts, I suddenly think of my fourth brother. He was assigned to Border Town, such a miserable place. I’m afraid he has already turned tail and fled to Longsong Stronghold — even there, the demonic beasts will not be able to reach him and the stronghold’s defense is comparable to Hermes. But I think this is not his fault, even if I went to that place, I would only be able to take refuge in the stronghold. Here it can be seen how unfair my father is. Just because our younger brother performed exceptionally intelligently from an early age, he decided to let him inherit the throne. Father forgets that he himself didn’t win the throne with calculating means. Since our mother’s death, it has become more and more difficult for me to find out what father is thinking. “