Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1877 1849. The Golden Family Lineage
On the city avenue of Rodel, the brilliant and beautiful fallen leaves of the golden trees shone even more brightly as night approached, like a never-ending rain of light.

Velvet Ball and Qilin, after all, followed the Faded Ones of the Round Table Hall. There weren't many Faded Ones in the Round Table Hall; they were all directly under Two Fingers. In Rodel's defense system, no one would mistake someone else for someone else.

Therefore, even if Lan En is not there, as long as the calico kitten stands on the Qilin's head with its head held high, the gates of Rodel will still be open to them without any hindrance.

The sound of Qilin's hooves was even crisper on Rodel's neatly paved avenue, all the way to the gate of the Round Table Hall, an independent fortress in the royal city.

Rodel's city defense forces could recognize them, and the people in the Round Table Hall were even more familiar with the 'qualification to become king' of these two suddenly appearing faded individuals.

The tense atmosphere in the Round Table Hall during this period, where Torisha was unable to enter, was completely absent in front of Velvet Ball and Kirin.

The unicorn's hooves clattered as it entered the city gate, and the velvet ball immediately jumped off its head.

The little armor wobbled and, on all fours, dashed into the inner part of the round table hall.

The faded ones were responsible for important and urgent matters assigned by the two fingers, and the guards were used to this style.

The velvet ball is the "wise beast" chosen by Lan En, and it represents Lan En. This has been a long-standing and natural rule among the people of the borderlands. Therefore, it's impossible to stop them.

The velvet ball had stayed in the round table hall with Lan En for several days. Its petite figure darted quickly through the winding buildings, startling the mixed-breed blacksmith who was striking metal at the stairwell.

But the velvet ball just stuck out its tongue at Xiu Gu shyly before continuing straight to Sir Bai Zhi's private library.

"Sir Hundred Wisdom! Sir Hundred Wisdom!" The kitten knocked on the door as soon as it arrived, then pushed it open and went inside, pulling books and parchment out of its little paw-shaped backpack as it went. "My boss and I have discovered something big, meow!"

A thick prayer book and pages containing the words "The Flame of the Evil God" were slammed onto the table where Gideon Ophniel was engrossed in reading.

Sir Bai Zhi raised his helmet, which was decorated with stacked ears on the edge and had a dark interior, and looked at the calico cat across the table, which was clinging to the edge of the table with only its small head showing.
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Night was falling, and a moon, not particularly noticeable against the backdrop of the golden trees, began to rise from the horizon above the treetops.

The border is a strange place. The sun here seems to be completely obscured by the brilliance of the golden trees during the day, and it is hardly visible at all, let alone dazzling.

Although the moon was obscured by the grandeur of the golden tree, it was still quite visible at night and could be seen when you looked up.

Because the Alpine Plateau is closest to the Golden Tree, most parts of the plateau receive ample sunlight even at night. People facing the Golden Tree may even experience glare.

Lan En and Torisha trekked together across the golden grasslands of the Yatan Plateau, heading towards the bountiful forest that Torisha had mentioned earlier.

While traveling along the main roads of the Alpine Plateau, one could occasionally see groups of pilgrims, led by a minor nobleman carrying the banner of the Golden Dynasty, heading towards Rodel in small groups.

Although perfumers are healers and physicians in the royal city of Rodel, their physical condition should not be very good.

However, perfumers' skills are often intertwined with supernatural elements, and they also study the strange plants and animals that grow in various places in the borderlands as raw materials for perfumery.

In addition, Torisha herself often travels around in the wild in pursuit of her ambition to 'heal' the hybrid and the son of the ominous.

Therefore, it did not significantly slow down the journey.

"Where did you get this information, Torisha?" Lann asked casually as they moved forward. "The Faded Ones are all veterans and heroes, and they always take orders directly from the two fingers. There's usually no word about it."

At this moment, the two of them were walking on a large bridge. On the railings on both sides of the bridge, in the style of the Golden Dynasty, stood many huge statues of knights and sages.

This bridge does not span the water, but rather passes through a forest located in a depression, connecting the two sides of the forest.

Walking on the bridge, even though we were in the shade of the golden trees, the lighting conditions were still quite good.

Because in the depression under this bridge, there also exists a lush tree with golden leaves.

This tree was naturally far smaller than the golden tree that blocked out the sky, and apart from its glowing leaves, it was entirely composed of a material trunk and branches.

However, the thickness of the tree trunk's cross-section is more than enough to be comparable to the area of ​​a palace hall.

These are small golden trees that are found in various parts of the border area. Legend has it that they are the seeds that the golden tree scattered in ancient times, and what they look like when they grow up.

There were also small golden trees in Lienia, and Lann had originally wanted to go and see them. But unfortunately, he soon discovered that the Flame Watchers had betrayed their faith, and then he didn't have time.

Having a small golden tree is like having a small sun or moon in this forest located in a depression; of course, it won't be too dark.

Although most of the people of the Golden Dynasty have become insensitive to time due to the existence of immortality and reincarnation, there were hardly any people crossing the bridge at the moment, except for Lann and Torisha.

Two solitary figures walked across the wide, magnificent bridge. Lan En passed a sudden, stark shadow, looked up, and saw a massive rock pillar jutting out from the ground in the distance, like a sword piercing the earth. His shadow was cast upon it.

The terrain at the border is always very rugged.

Not only are there huge stone pillars everywhere, but the forest that the bridge beneath their feet crosses is also filled with them.

The entire grove of trees was enclosed in an irregular depression, with steep cliffs at the edges, making it appear abrupt and precipitous.

In Lan En's estimation, the entire border area's terrain must have been affected by a violent and rapid geological movement to become what it is today.

According to the theological and historical records of the border region, it was perhaps the golden meteor that descended from the supreme will upon the Elden Ring that sculpted the terrain into this state.

“You Faded Ones will naturally avoid people when you do things,” Torisha said with a smile. “But how many people will actually avoid the mixed-race? After all, they’re not smart and they all hide in secluded corners.”

The people of the Golden Tree hold mixed-race people in many ways, despising not only their filthy, deformed bodies unblessed by the Golden Law, but also their intelligence.

Who would bother guarding against a bunch of idiots?

The faded ones are too busy to bother with this. The hybrids' deformed speech makes it difficult for them to even speak clearly, let alone reveal their whereabouts.

But there are always exceptions. Torisha, who often cares about and hopes to 'cure' the hybrids, can patiently ask them a lot of questions.

After all, she would patiently teach the babbling hybrids who struggled to survive in the wild to speak, and that way she could ask them questions.

When it came to the hybrids struggling to survive in the remote corners of the wild, the perfumer's voice, coming from behind her veil, became somewhat melancholic.

Lan En turned to look at Torisha, knowing full well that if no one cared about those bastards and children of ominous signs, no one would set such a fantastical goal as to 'cure' them.

But what need is there for 'healing' for the bodies of hybrids and children of ominous signs?
They were originally normal beings born from the power of the original Golden Tree, but in this era of the Golden Law that governs everything, including death, they are regarded as heretics and ominous signs.

This is a mismatch between life itself and the development of the times.

Human resources. Especially the efforts of a mere perfumer, in the face of such a mismatched conflict, cannot seem to be of much importance.

Tolissa may have known this herself, but she still persisted in her ideals.

So she swung her shoulders and arms and took several large strides forward, as if trying to dispel her confusion and discouragement with these sweeping movements.

The perfumer's thick apron and cloak swung open with her arms.

Lan En glanced at it sideways and suddenly said, "I didn't realize it last time, but this little knife of yours... so you're from the Golden Royal Family, Torisha?"

"Golden Royal Family?" The perfumer was taken aback by Lan En's words, then laughed. "Haha! You really know how to get things mixed up. What Golden Royal Family am I? This knife is just proof of being a member of the Golden Royal Family, nothing more."

As Torisha spoke, she patted the short sword hanging on her left belt.

It was a beautifully crafted short knife with a single, curved blade and a round handguard. Made of brass, the blade was engraved with many plant and floral patterns.

Lan En could smell complex herbal aromas on it, some fresh, some bitter, some spicy. It seems that perfumers use it daily to process herbs.

The concept Torisha was referring to concerns the lineage of the current rulers of the Golden Dynasty.

The ruling family of the Golden Dynasty was known as the Golden Family.

Its concept is limited to the narrow scope of 'the relatives and demigods of the First King Gophry'.

Therefore, the Grek who was at the tribute ceremony earlier, and his father who was stationed in Nymgford, were strictly speaking also members of the Golden Family.

As for Queen Marika's second husband, Radagan? Again, his prestige was somewhat lacking.

Beyond the narrow confines of the 'Golden Clan,' there lies the 'Golden Royal Family,' whose bloodline has begun to branch out, and the 'Golden Royal Family,' whose blood ties are now very distant but still count as members.

The difference in closeness or distance between the terms 'royal family' and 'royal clan', as well as the scope they encompass, is immediately apparent.

Anyway, patting her brass dagger, Torisa, a member of the Golden Clan, didn't seem to care much about her bloodline. Her family lineage was probably very distant from the ruling Golden Clan.

(End of this chapter)