Knight and Wand

Chapter 320 King and King

Leon did not stay in Rolandar City any longer. He had no intention of participating in the subsequent celebrations. The next morning, he bought all the food and drinks needed for the journey and set off with Ines.

After passing through the outermost towering and majestic ancient city walls and suspension bridge and leaving the city of Rolandar, Leon and Ines were finally able to ride on horseback.

Gently urging their horses, the two men followed the road on the outskirts of the city and walked among the wheat fields in the autumn breeze.

Looking at the farmers busy in the fields outside the city, the memories left by the original owner, the young hunter, slowly floated into Leon's mind.

".You pinched me too hard, Lord Leon, this is no joke~, I'm still in pain now."

Ines, who was standing by, was holding the reins, her little hands still rubbing her face which was still in pain from the whole night, and she was muttering to herself.

From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever "taught" her a lesson like this.

Leon glanced sideways and raised his eyebrows, remembering how he pinched the girl's pretty face yesterday in revenge, stretching Ines's appearance into a funny frog-like shape, and he curled the corners of his mouth with satisfaction.

"Your Highness's joke was too much. If you were a prince, I would have pinched your face like a peach yesterday."

"Only Lord Leon would dare to offend the royal family so rudely." Ines snorted, turned her head and muttered to the side.

However, the girl secretly glanced at the tall figure leading the way, and she did not feel angry at all.
My cheeks felt slightly hot as if there was some residual warmth. My heartbeat, which had suddenly accelerated due to the bold contact yesterday, now seemed to linger in my heart.

However, when she saw Leon suddenly turn his horse onto a country road heading west, Ines was a little confused.

She picked up the thin veil hanging on one ear and covered her face again to avoid trouble. Then she urged the horse to get closer and asked in confusion, "Where are we going? Shouldn't we continue north along the road?"

Leon looked at the familiar yet strange environment around him according to his memory, and turned around and said, "I want to go back to my former 'home' to take a look. Maybe I am still living there in this world."

The so-called "home" is of course not his real home, but refers to the village in the forest on the outskirts of the city where the son of the original owner, a hunter, once lived.

When I was asking around for information in the Holy Land City yesterday, no one had ever heard of "Leon Pendragon" from Orland.

This could of course be because I have not "recaptured Rolandar" in this life, and my reputation is not well-known enough locally.

But Ines' joke yesterday also gave him a reminder.

Perhaps, the fate of the Son of Orion in this parallel world has also undergone tremendous changes.

Maybe the hunter and his family survived?

Maybe even in this parallel world, I have never traveled here before?

After all, he knew very well that he came from Earth. Who knew whether the "parallel time and space" of this alien world could match the time and space of the Earth in the different dimension?

When Ines heard that Leon was going back to his hometown and thought of his past, she thought that Leon couldn't let go of the past of his parents' death, so she calmed down and stopped talking.

The two of them rode on horseback, and before long, Leon followed his memory through the forest path and arrived at the place where the original owner was born and grew up.

What comes into view is a small settlement consisting of only a dozen households beside a stream in the forest.

The environment where things and people have changed a lot brought back memories of Leon's "childhood" that did not belong to him.

Several women were washing clothes by the river, and in the open space of the settlement, some young people were busy tanning leather, chopping wood, and smoking meat.

As soon as Leon and Ines entered the small settlement on horseback, they attracted the attention of the villagers.

Leon stopped his horse and looked around, but he didn't see any familiar faces.

Not to mention the original Hunter family from the parallel world, all the people in the entire small settlement are no longer the folks from the past.

But the wooden house where the young hunter had lived for more than ten years showed that this place was indeed the home in "Leon's" memory.

Leon got off his horse and walked to the wooden house where the original owner's family once lived. He asked the villagers who now lived in the house and were looking at him curiously in front of the door whether they had heard of the original owner's hunter family.

The answer I got was, as expected, a blank shake of the head.

They were all new residents who had moved in a few years after Serian recaptured the territory of Lumanthor.

When they came to settle down, there were only these deserted and looted wooden houses in this small settlement, and there were no original residents.

It was not disappointment. After understanding the situation, Leon turned around, mounted his horse and left without delaying his journey home.

No matter what the fate of "Leon" in this world is, it seems that the original owner's family and the original villagers here still suffered the misfortune of war during the eastward invasion of Kantadar six years ago, just like in the original time and space.

After returning to the main road, the two headed north, stopping and walking along the way.

Before dark, we found a village tavern near the main road and rested for the night. The next day, we crossed the border of Lumansol Territory and, judging from the road signs beside the highway, we finally arrived in the Holy Eagle County of Vilan Valley Territory.

The villagers here said that this is the westernmost end of the Serrian Griffin Mountains, and it is said that occasionally people can see the sacred griffin flying across the sky.

According to local legend, anyone who is lucky enough to witness the griffin will be blessed by the holy prophet and have good luck.

Leon couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. If seeing a griffin could bring good luck, then wouldn't he be extremely lucky since he used to be close to griffins in Avalon every day?

It's a pity that he was bombed into this time and space without Deathclaw by his side. Otherwise, riding a griffin, it would only take a few minutes to fly back to Avalon Castle or Orlando City.

Riding a horse in the countryside, Leon looked sideways at the silhouette of the Griffin Mountains in the distance.

I don't know whether the Death Claws in this world were hunted by the Kantadars and the Atias wizards, or whether they were rescued.

After a day of riding, the two arrived at the northwest border of Serian.

The sky gradually darkened, and there was no village or shop nearby. Leon had to look for a suitable place to camp overnight. Soon, he found a good spot under a huge oak tree on the side of the road. So he took Ines, tied up the horses, and camped on the spot to make a fire.

Although the little princess was not a pampered child, she had never had any experience in cooking and was really unable to help. She could only sit with her legs crossed in the shade of the oak tree, watching Leon busy himself with the pot and stewing the oatmeal porridge and meat soup.

After finishing their work, the two were about to have dinner when Leon suddenly saw a carriage loaded with goods leaving the road and approaching slowly in the distance.

A middle-aged man with a mustache and a young man came down from the carriage. Judging from their dress, they seemed to be traveling merchants.

The middle-aged man with a mustache complained to the young man, untied the sword at his waist and threw it to the young man, asking him to watch the carriage, then ran quickly towards the oak tree.

Ines cautiously hid behind Leon, and Leon looked at the person warily.

But he soon relaxed.

Judging from his steps and postures, although the opponent can be described as agile and powerful, he is just an ordinary man, with no signs of long-term martial arts training.

The middle-aged merchant with a mustache came under the tree, took off his hat to reveal his shiny Mediterranean bald head, and bowed slightly to Leon. "May the Holy Sun and the Prophet bless your journey. I am Basank from Nayo Town. I am really unlucky that I was delayed today and didn't make it to the border town in time. Can you allow me to drive the carriage over and park it under this oak tree? My son and I can camp somewhere else, but with the recent weather, I am really afraid that it will rain in the middle of the night. If the goods on the carriage get wet, it will be troublesome."

Although the shady areas in the wilderness are unowned, the unwritten rule for travelers is that camping spots are always on a first-come, first-served basis, and even if strangers meet, they will keep a safe distance unless it is absolutely necessary.

So the merchants had to lower their posture and come to make requests.

Leon could see that the father and son merchants posed no threat to him. Moreover, their willingness to park their valuable goods and carriage next to them was a signal of goodwill, so he did not make things difficult for them.

After getting permission, Basangke bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude and quickly drove the truck over.

He called out to his son who had been drinking and neglecting his work to find a place to light a fire not far away. Then, while untying the horses pulling the cart, he turned back and chatted with a smile: "Are you going to Orlando as well? Perhaps we will go the same way and we can look after each other."

Leon scooped up the meat porridge and handed it to Ines, whose stomach had been rumbling for a long time. Hearing what the merchant said, she asked in confusion, "Further west is Mamor County. Why do you think I want to go to the Northern Kingdom? And not Kantadar?"

You know, from the border of Holy Eagle County, around the Galak Mountains to the Dragon Claw Fortress on the border of Deyatuk, you have to pass through a short and vague border area where three kingdoms meet.

Basank tied the reins of his horse, turned around and shrugged, saying, "Mamor County has been occupied by the Kingdom of Orland for more than two years. If you want to go to Kantadar, isn't it a waste of time to take this road? Don't you know?"

Ines paused as she sipped her oatmeal and pricked up her ears.

Leon was slightly stunned when he heard this. It turned out that Orland in this world also launched a southern expedition against the Kingdom of Kantadar?
"We are from a county farther east, so we really don't know what has happened on the border in recent years. But I do want to take my sister to the Northern Kingdom to live with relatives. Now, the journey may be safer." Leon took the bread dipped in the soup and devoured it, responding simply without changing his expression.

Hearing the word "sister", Ines couldn't help but glance at Leon.

"It's a good thing you two didn't set out two years earlier, otherwise you would have run into the war when the 'Golden Lion Queen' of Orland attacked Mamor County. The world was not peaceful at that time, and even merchants were not allowed to pass through. If you had come earlier, you would have made a wasted trip." Basank smiled as he fed the horse.

"Puff--cough cough" Leon suddenly spat out a mouthful of wheat.

He wiped his mouth, swallowed the food, turned around in astonishment and asked the merchant, his voice couldn't help but rise a few degrees: "What? What queen?"

"The Queen of the Golden Lion." Basank, who was feeding the horse, turned around. Although he was puzzled by the strange reaction and tone of the tall young man, he still couldn't resist the urge to brag about his knowledge and proudly showed off his knowledge:

"Oh, I forgot. You are from the east, so you must not have heard about it. The Northern Kingdom changed a few years ago. The Orlanders had a civil war three years ago. I heard that many people died. In the end, it seemed that the orphan of the previous generation of the Northern King killed the usurper King Ledwin and regained the throne. The most surprising thing is that she is a woman. Nowadays, women can become kings. Don't you think it's strange?"

Shocked, Leon didn't say anything. He just turned around and quickly looked at Ines, who was holding the wooden bowl with her body frozen there.

Leon opened his mouth, many complicated and confusing excuses flashed through his mind, and he was thinking hard about how to get away with it.

However, the conclusion is that it is impossible to deceive anymore.

The title of Golden Lion, the girl, the one who killed the usurper, the blonde and the blue eyes. With Ines's clever little head, there was no way she would not realize who this could be connected to.

Ines raised her eyes and looked at the border merchant, and asked quietly, "Mr. Basank, the 'Golden Lion Queen' of Orland, is her name Olivia?"

Night falls on the wilds of the Thraian Marches.

The moon appeared and disappeared among the clouds at night, and occasionally the faint howl of a wolf could be heard from the distant mountains.

Under the huge crown of the oak tree, a burning campfire crackled, and only sporadic insects chirped in the surrounding grass.

Ines was wrapped in a blanket, curled up under the tree trunk, with her eyes closed as if she was sleeping.

Leon, who was sitting by the campfire to keep watch, looked at the girl. He could tell from Ines' breathing rhythm that she was not really asleep.

He turned his head and looked at the merchant father and son who were camping not far from the oak tree and sighed helplessly.

Should we blame that old man Basank? Of course not.

For such a big event, even if she didn't meet this merchant uncle, Ines would know it sooner or later after entering Orland.

If he had to say it was a mistake, Leon admitted that he really didn't expect that his little lion would be so powerful in this world.

She actually launched a civil war, overthrew Ledwin III, took back her father's throne, and became the Queen of Orland.

If he had known this would happen earlier, he would have kept Ines in the Holy City no matter what, or even sent her to a place further east, away from Orland, to prevent her from knowing the truth.

It is enough for me to find a way to return to the original time and space by myself.

No, thinking of this, Leon shook his head again. It’s still useless.

Even if she did that, Ines would still have a chance to know the title of the Golden Lion Queen.

What's more, if the two's method of returning home is really to activate the ancient magic in the Orlando Palace again.

So unless he left Ines alone in this time and space, she would still know everything in the city of Orlando in this world.

The more Leon thought about it, the more confused he became. He had finally used Corvis' identity to cover up Olivia's background so perfectly that no one had any unnecessary associations.

As a result,
Olivia. Olivia.

Although I always thought you were awesome, you are still too awesome, girl.
It turns out that she doesn't have to worry about it at all. In fact, if it weren't for her, she wouldn't have to hide and conceal her identity in her life.

When Leon thought of this, he inexplicably felt that Azerien and Olivia seemed to be dragged down by him?
Could it be that Rohak has also become a king? And Corvis, could it be that the Vilania of this time and space has not perished, and Akao has also become the king of Vilania?

My goodness, including your wife and buddies, you are the most embarrassing one among them, right?

Putting aside his chaotic thoughts, Leon stared at the swaying campfire, feeling distressed for a moment.

If I could go back to the original time and space, how would I deal with the relationship between Avalon Castle and Ines in the future?

He was thinking, and at some point, Ines slowly opened her eyes.

The emerald eyes reflected the dim light of the campfire. The girl looked at the figure she had trusted so much, and suddenly, she felt a sense of strangeness.

She couldn't help but tighten the blanket around her body, as if trying to dispel the helplessness in her heart.

".Leon"

Hearing the call, Leon turned his head and met Ines' gaze.

".I'm here, your highness, what can I do for you?" he asked calmly.

Ines smiled bitterly under her veil.

".Will you kill me?
Or, will you abandon me? Leave me in this ‘parallel world’ forever.”

(End of this chapter)