Chapter 426

Chapter 49: The Turning of Days and Moons – The Queen Returns

Under the night sky, by the seaside.

Splash—

Foamy waves surged onto the beach, submerging a running crab. The crab curled up in the wave, motionless. When the tide receded, it shook its legs and scurried into a sand hole nearby.

Immediately after, figures rose from the coast not far away.

One, two, three, five…

They emerged from the sea, wiping water from their faces, moving towards the shore. Silent moonlight cast down, illuminating the silver sheen of the unsheathed long knives at their waists.

“…So, I hate the sea. More than I hate the snakes and rodents in Sand Valley, ten thousand times more…”

The man leading them had dark red hair and a pale face, as if powdered with thick lead.

He walked while complaining, then bent to wring out his soaking clothes. The fabric clung tightly to his body; water dripped down, and his hair was drenched, sticking to his scalp with sand.

The man scratched his head vigorously, then examined his hand, bringing it close to his nose to sniff. His expression changed instantly: “Ugh… What’s this stench? Could it be that these knights have urinated all over this coastline… Damn it… It must be the smell of urine…”

His mood soured, he stopped and turned around, looking back at the others behind him.

“I told you we shouldn’t come from this side. This place looks like a giant outhouse… There’s even feces! No way can I stand this. Anyone who has anything—hold it in. We need to take revenge later, we definitely need to take revenge… What’s the name of their captain? I’m going to give him a hot bath… Anyone holding it in?”

“…”

No one responded.

The man grew displeased.

“None of you?”

After a moment of silence, someone hesitantly spoke up.

“Sorry, J sir, I just released it into the sea…”

As soon as he finished, others chimed in.

“Me too.”

“We’ve all taken care of it in the sea…”

The man named J opened his mouth, extended a finger to his ear, paced back and forth, scratched his head, and sniffed his hand, his face turning angry.

“Damn, so it’s you guys.”

“Hehehe…”

A few laughed.

“J sir, are we still giving the knight captain a bath?”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s hurry, patrols will be coming soon…”

Soon, they crossed the beach, using the dense green forest to climb a sand dune, crouching down to gaze at the brightly lit camp in the distance.

“Look, those foolish knights…”

“Are there many?”

“A lot.”

“Oh, they didn’t fall for it…”

“That means fewer knights chased out to sea than expected. Fog Hiders have something to play with…”

“But there might be Papal Knights as well…”

“Just one wouldn’t be a problem…”

“The cowardly knight who escaped must have told them the truth.”

“Of course, he would tell the truth… They saw that tragic fratricide. You enjoyed it, right? They should at least have a chance to warn the captain. It doesn’t matter, as long as the messenger can return alive, telling the captain I’m here, startling them, making them suspicious. That’s enough… They must be feeling uneasy now, unable to determine where I’ll appear, fearing I might really send the Goddess Tear back to the Eastern Continent.”

“So, how do we proceed?”

“How many knights are in the beachside camp?”

“Two… No, three thousand… At least three thousand.”

“And us?”

“Nine.”

“Oh, that’s enough.”

In the darkness, the man’s smile was sinister and mysterious.

“Let’s go down and greet them.”

He said this as if preparing to visit an old neighbor he hadn’t seen in years.

………………

At the same time.

Far away in the prosperous green city of Ethenbel, a little-known funeral had just concluded.

Under the starlit sky, a petite figure clad in silver armor stood by the Zaber River, removing her helmet to watch a small boat drifting away. Her black hair fluttered in the wind, and the flames on the boat reflected in her dark eyes, flickering.

Beside the girl stood Melville, Reckert, Luciella, Master Edan, Knight Hosler, and other renowned warriors of Ethenbel, along with Pope Angel, who was chanting a hymn ahead.

Behind the girl, scattered people stood with hands clasped together in prayer. An emaciated old man in plain clothes gazed ahead, quietly watching the fire on the lake grow brighter, tears welling up in his eyes.

That was the lover of Fat Grandma.

Above the night sky, countless stars twinkled.

After many days, I put on the hated armor again to bid farewell to the departing hero.

Bertha’s funeral ceremony was far from grand, as it was her final request.

No announcements, no fanfare, simple and quiet.

She did not want the church to publish news of her death in the Gazette, nor did she want the palace to inform the public to see her off, saying it would let the sword saint grandfather in the Eastern Continent know. Grandma didn’t want him to know, fearing it would interfere with important matters.

Grandma said, when she passed, she only wanted a few children to send her off. As for Leon… When he felt ready to let go, leave the Eastern Continent, and return to the capital, then she would tell him.

He asked him to come and see me.

Grandma’s words naturally went unchallenged.

She didn’t even notify the学员们 from the Royal Academy. In the past, when the headmaster of the academy passed away, there would be a three-day break for mourning, but Grandma abolished this rule because she felt that it was an extremely arrogant and foolish thing to make so many young people waste their precious time just to accompany someone in death.

So it was only me who had the break.

It was just for one afternoon.

Although the funeral ceremony was simple and not many people attended, almost everyone Grandma hoped to see was here.

Except for her little Vicky.

Victoria couldn’t return in time.

I think this was also the greatest regret in Grandma’s heart.

After the funeral ceremony, I returned to the manor, put the notebook Grandma gave me—two and a half in total—into Captain Gray’s leather suitcase, treating the last two as important mementos. I then carried the first book with me and practiced diligently.

The progress was evident.

Later, I fought Reckt twice more, once outside the city and once at the manor.

Outside the city, we ran deep into the forest, declaring that we would fight to the end, using almost everything except lethal moves. I won rather easily. When Frost Order was nearly fully activated, Reckt couldn’t even get close to me, and thus he was thoroughly beaten.

Later, he refused to accept it and came to the manor to challenge me to a skill competition without using Order power. I happened to be studying the book, thinking it would be nice to have a free training partner, so I agreed.

Of course, I lost to him.

But unlike Reckt’s expectation of an easy win, he was hit by me three times, two punches in the abdomen and one in the eye, and kicked in the buttocks. According to Schalman, he still had a black eye and walked like a duck when he went to the palace the next day.

I laughed about it for two days.

Afterwards, I realized even more how exquisite and practical a Sword Saint’s skills truly were.

This was just the surface… perhaps not even that, just mastering some of the most basic techniques, steps, force application methods, and combat strategies in the book… using them proficiently, nothing more.

Above that, I could roughly remember the more advanced content, but remembering is one thing, actually applying it in battle might require some more practice. As for those named techniques, such as “Empty Slash,” which both Carlos and Victoria used, a profound sword technique where a single slash can cut down distant enemies with a blade of air, I am still clueless, let alone being able to use it.

But it is said that even if the old Sword Saint casually broke off a soft twig and lightly swung it, the “Empty Slash” could sever a river, which is the ultimate goal of human physical refinement.

And “Empty Slash” is merely a basic technique among advanced moves, or perhaps a fundamental technique.

If one day I could master around seventy to eighty percent of the content in the book, perhaps I could take on ten Reckts—of course, without using Order power. By then, I would be much stronger than now and capable of doing more things.

I hope that day comes soon.

I hope to turn what Grandma left me into reality and engrave it deeply in my heart.

…………

Time flows like a river, and before I knew it, July was near.

The renovation of the manor was almost complete.

The courtyards of houses 2 and 3 were completely merged. After the old gate was removed, Schalman directly changed the house number, hanging a new sign reading “Londor Street, Villa Viola” at the new entrance. From then on, Londor Street no longer had houses 2 and 3.

As for the ridiculous name “Villa Viola,” I didn’t care much about its meaning anymore. In fact, I couldn’t care since Schalman quietly arranged everything while I was still at the academy, and only casually told me upon my return, “Oh, by the way… I changed the address, Miss Hilvija, pay attention.”

There was nothing I could do about it.

After all, it was impossible for me to handle these matters myself, and I certainly couldn’t beat Schalman out of frustration—no one would believe that Schalman did this without Victoria’s behind-the-scenes instruction.

After nearly a month, she had already transformed the manor into a completely different place.

The courtyard of the former house 3 had become a garden. All the small paths were removed, and a five-meter-wide avenue led directly from the main entrance to the inner part of the house, turning 90 degrees to either side near the inner courtyard, leading to the doors of the two inner houses. On the left side of the avenue was the garden, and on the right side were the pavilion, lawn, and fruit trees. The fountains were symmetrical, located at the center of the garden and the fruit trees.

The large courtyard was full of life, filled with birdsong and floral fragrance, invigorating.

Schalman said that some details still needed improvement, and some ideas hadn’t been implemented yet. For example, at the position where the avenue meets the main entrance, she wanted to erect a stone sculpture, but she hadn’t decided what to put there yet and needed to discuss it with Victoria upon her return. She planned to plant roses inside the walls, and the seeds had been ordered but hadn’t arrived yet… and so on, these things would gradually be realized.

She also mentioned simply connecting the living rooms of the two houses, building a grand hall in the middle to truly connect the two rooms, making one entrance, so that future matters would be more convenient—I firmly rejected this idea.

Just kidding…

Who knows what you mean by “future matters.”

Anyway, I’m afraid…

On July 2, 1187 AD, Her Majesty returned triumphantly.