Knight and Wand

Chapter 321: Spiral of Fate
Using a branch to stir up the campfire surrounded by stone fences, Leon said calmly: "Don't worry, Your Highness. If I wanted to hurt you, why would I have saved you in the palace? We are friends."

Ines looked at the flickering campfire, staring at the sparks that occasionally flew up.

"But now I know your secret, Miss Olivia's secret."

Leon gently threw the branch into the fire and burned it: "So? After you know this, are you going to hurt Olivia?"

"Even if I say no, can you believe me?" Ines looked at his calm profile: "I am the daughter of Redwin, the daughter of the enemy who killed Miss Olivia's parents."

"You don't have to burden yourself like this." Leon turned to look at the girl and said, "When your father won the civil war and successfully usurped the throne, you were still a year away from being born. How much does the war between Redwin and Viren have to do with you? As long as you promise to keep this secret from others and not hurt Olivia, we can still be friends."

Leon sighed and said, “Besides, I don’t know what Olivia in this parallel world has experienced, and what fate has led her to this path.
But she who belongs to our time and space, the Olivia who is beside me, has never thought of seeking revenge on your father."

He paused and looked directly into Ines' eyes: "Your Highness, do you know what Olivia once said to me?"

The girl raised her eyes and listened silently.

As Leon recalled the noble character of his little lion, an expression of uncontrollable pride and longing appeared on his face.

".Olivia said that it was meaningless to sacrifice those brave soldiers and thousands of innocent people, and to use these precious lives to provoke a civil war for her own sake.

Unless your father becomes a cruel and tyrannical ruler who is unworthy of the throne, she will not start a civil war that is doomed to bring disaster to the people just for her own personal affairs."

Hearing about such great cause, Ines' eyes flickered and she remained silent for a long time.

Leon looked up at the bright starry sky above his head, and once again said calmly and solemnly: "The choice is now in your hands, Your Highness Ines. My Olivia does not want to fall into this spiral of hatred, so I will still ask the question just now.

What about you? .Will you hurt her? "

Ines curled up in the blanket, hugged her knees, and whispered, "No, I don't want to hurt Miss Olivia, and I don't want to be your enemy, but are you willing to trust me just based on one word?"

"It's not just a word." Leon retracted his gaze and looked at Ines with a gentle smile: "Remember the Battle of Fort Kilmerton?"

Ines nodded slightly as she recalled the terrible bloody battle of that year.

Leon still smiled faintly: "Your Highness had many opportunities to evacuate that night to save your own safety, but you held on and fought to the death, just to support my army so that the fortress would not fall and block my retreat when I withdrew. At that time, you didn't think that I would encounter reinforcements from the dwarves, right?
Even though the hope was so slim, you were willing to risk your life to believe that I could return, to save me and my companions and comrades from being isolated and desperate among the dead. For this reason alone, I will not betray your friendship.

"friendship."

Ines looked up at the bright moon, her bright eyes sparkling like stars.

".Thank you, Lord Leon, it is really reassuring to be your friend."

As she spoke, the girl lowered her head, lifted the blanket to cover her pretty face, and looked at Leon: “Especially now that I have nothing.”

"No need to thank me, but you are not without anything."

Leon pointed at himself and said with a hearty smile: “You still have a friend like me, don’t you?”

Under the moonlight, the girl's eyes flickered, and a reassuring smile appeared on the corner of her mouth hidden under the blanket.

".Yes, I still have you"

The night breeze blew gently around the campfire.

Tired, Ines completely put aside the thoughts that kept jumping in her mind and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, the warm rising sun caressed Ines' face.

The girl under the tree's long eyelashes trembled slightly.

When she woke up from the dream, for a moment, seeing the countryside bathed in the morning light, she thought she had just had another absurd dream.

Her eyes swept across the extinguished campfire, and when she saw the tall figure no longer visible, the girl panicked slightly, and her body instantly tensed up.

But then, a familiar voice came to my ears.

"Good morning, your highness."

Leon leaned against a tree trunk and glanced at Ines who had just woken up: "Do you need to rest for a while? Or should we set off right away?"

The girl looked up sideways.

Seeing the face that made her feel at ease, she finally relaxed from the slight panic in her heart.

Rubbing the corners of her eyes, Ines lifted the blanket covering her body and said, "No need, let's go. We have to find a way to get home as soon as possible."

Leon nodded and stood up neatly.

After a few days of rest and recovery, he only had to camp and keep watch for one sleepless night. Given his physical fitness, he was far from being exhausted.

Ines tried to stand up, but she felt a little weak because her whole body was numb after sleeping outdoors all night. The girl couldn't help but frowned in distress.

".Hmm. Pull me up, my legs seem to be numb~"

Ines gave Leon a pitiful smile.

When she saw Leon approaching and reaching out his hand to try to help her up, Ines relaxed her brows, smiled and held the other's big hand tightly.

Leon, who wanted to hold the girl's shoulders, couldn't help but twitch his brows.

Not daring to think too much about the delicate touch in his palm, he gently pulled Ines up.

The girl stood up, loosened her hands with a little regret, and lowered her head to straighten the hem of her clothes.

For a moment, the girl had a strange impulse.

like
Even if there's no way back.
There doesn't seem to be anything wrong.
Leon quickly packed up his travel gear, untied the reins, took Ines to lead the horses, and went to the nearby stream to let the two horses drink enough water before setting off.

The two of them took the opportunity to wash in the clear mountain spring.

The shape of the toothbrush bought from the Rolandal market is closer to the appearance of the earth in the previous life than the common toothbrush in the Kingdom of Orland.

I heard the shop owner bragging that this is a very old traditional style, and it even existed before the establishment of the Holy Sun Church.

Leon estimated that this was probably one of the legacies passed down from ancient civilizations. Some reasonable and efficient designs would have certain similarities even if they were moved to another world as long as the general environmental conditions were the same.

After cleaning themselves, the two men mounted their horses again and rode back to the big oak tree.

When they were about to set off on the road, the traveling merchant Basank and his son also started the carriage again and set off.

Since it happened to be on the way, Leon took Ines with him and the merchant father and son to travel together.

During this time, he also inquired about the latest situation in Mamor County from the traveling merchants. After arriving at the western border town of Holy Eagle County, they took a short rest and then set off again. They traveled together for two full days before finally parting ways at a fork in the road near the Dragon Claw Fortress on the border of Orland.

After discussing with Ines, Leon changed his original plan to return to Orland via "Deyatuk County".

Olivia in this world has already successfully overthrown the Hecha Dynasty of Ledwin III and restored the orthodoxy.

So right now, the identity of Princess Ines beside him is too sensitive for the "Queen of the Golden Lion" sitting in the palace.

It would be unwise to rashly take Ines back to the royal capital, Orlandon, without sufficient preparation.

Besides, Leon didn't dare to bet on what Olivia's attitude towards him would be in this time and space.

After discussing with Ines, he planned to go west, first to Kossos County, to visit Selva Village, at least to understand the situation in Orland, as well as the current state and past experiences of Olivia, who had become the queen. Leon was confused.

Myself in this time and space. To be more precise, in this time and space, has it ever happened that "Leon" traveled through time and space to the body of "Leon", the son of Orion?

If in this world, there is no equivalent to me, the time traveler.

The body of Leon, the son of the hunter, had died in a slave cage six years ago and was thrown into the wilderness by the Kantadar mercenaries.

Then to other people in this world, you are obviously a stranger.

And the little lion in this time and space, oh no, it’s a “big lion” with completely different experiences, and I’m afraid he won’t have any special attitude towards me.

Although he was very reluctant to accept this, Leon's reason told him that he could not rule out the reality that the two of them might become strangers in this time and space.

Thinking rationally, this is a risk that cannot be taken lightly.

If, in order to protect Ines, Olivia in this time and space identifies him as a remnant of Redwin and regards him as an enemy, then
Well, it is difficult for him to defeat a little lion between the ages of sixteen to eighteen or nineteen. And with Olivia's terrifying growth rate, and now there are three more years of changes. She is already twenty-two years old. Does he still have a chance of winning?

Especially as a spellcaster, 30% of his strength is in magic, which makes him naturally weaker than Olivia.

This is not to mention that Olivia is now the Queen of Orland, with a huge army and countless knights under her command. She can easily capture herself and Ines without having to do anything.

Ledwin, who has been killed in this world, once had at least a hundred thousand troops, thousands of knights, outstanding generals like Trosa, and two great knights, Kailan and Masques, but he was unable to save his life.

If he were to become hostile towards them, he would not be able to survive holding Ines, this little burden, even if he was possessed by Zhao Zilong of Changshan.

Walking in the countryside, thinking on horseback, Leon inexplicably developed a sense of powerlessness.

I never thought that if the little lion who was clinging to my arms and doing everything for me became my "enemy", it would be so despairing.

Leon shook his head and made up his mind to avoid hostility with Olivia in this life at all costs.

On the way westward to Kossos County, we passed through towns and villages in Mamor County. Although we inevitably encountered some minor troubles during the journey, fortunately, everything was within our control.

However, after passing the central and western parts of Mamore County, Leon discovered another somewhat unexpected fact.

The power that rules most of the land in Mamor County in this world, judging from the flag, is actually the Farolis family.

Surprised, he asked the soldiers of the Thorn Flower family in the town tavern and learned that the head of the Thorn Flower family, "Eliver", who had not encountered the Undead War in this world, was alive and well.

And Elifer, relying on his "dragon-following merit" of supporting the Golden Lion Queen Olivia in her uprising in her early years, has now become the "Duke of Thorn Flower" who rules over Kossos County, Brink County, Glade County, and the central and western parts of Mamore County.

Leon couldn't help but sigh at the rise of this world boss.

In love, I really don’t care about myself anymore, everyone is successful.

Well, to be honest, this situation where I feel like I'm redundant is really a bit uncomfortable.

It took Leon ten days to finally bring Ines into the territory of Kossos County after he and the merchant father and son parted ways near Dragon Claw Fortress.

They rode non-stop to the village of Selva, and Leon reined in his horse to stop at the hill at the entrance of the village.

Looking at the deja vu place in front of him which still maintained its village state and was desolate and quiet, he felt an inexplicable feeling that everything had changed.

The village before him had not developed into a prosperous town with thousands of people like in his own time and space.

This place still retains the general appearance of the time when I first arrived in Selva Village. It is a small village with only a few hundred villagers.

Leon looked up and sideways, and saw the abandoned windmill on the north cliff. It was like an observer, still quietly overlooking this land that seemed to be frozen in time.

If we have to say something different, it might be that the houses in the village have been renovated, the environment has become smoother and cleaner, and not far from Selva village, there seems to be a small-scale barracks guarding the small mountain village where the "Golden Lion Queen" once grew up.

On the way here, Leon had already asked in the tavern in Farolis.

The Olivia in this world was also born and raised in Selva.

However, the locals in the taverns of Farolis had never heard of the name of Leon Pendragon the Snake Slayer, and the story of the Knight of Selva compiled by Goliad was not circulated among the people.

The village of Selva was certainly not saved by the three fleeing Serrian boys.

According to locals, the village where Her Majesty the Queen grew up in seclusion was indeed massacred by the fleeing soldiers of Kantadar six years ago.

This happened just the same.

The difference is that the village was not saved.

It is said that there was only Olivia who escaped from the siege.

All the women and children who stayed in the village of Selva were killed.
None were spared.

Leading the horse slowly into the village of Selva, Leon asked Ines to wait in the tavern in the village. He followed his memory and found the woodland cemetery where his mother-in-law, Lelia, was buried.

In front of the carefully repaired cemetery stood a team of guards from the Thorn Flower family.

Apparently, in this life, the identities of those buried here have long been made public.

When Leon explained his intention to pay tribute to Princess Lelia to the cemetery guards, he was not stopped by them. Instead, two soldiers followed him into the cemetery to monitor him.

Leon went deep into the woods in an orderly manner and saw the tombstone of his mother-in-law in the parallel world.

The base that originally had no name engraved on it, in this time and space, had Lelia's name and identity engraved on it.

On the left corner of the tomb, there is another tombstone that seems like a guardian.

It is engraved with:

Here lies Brian of Selva, Baron Roland of Fort Von Nosk.

May my father, who raised me, rest in peace in the kingdom of God Vinolis.

A loving father and a loyal royal knight.

621-672.

After a moment of respectful silence, Leon stood up and sighed.

Sure enough
He had a premonition because he didn't hear any rumors about Olivia's adoptive father Brian in the city of Farolis.

Died in 672. That is to say, in this time and space, Brian had already died in the disaster when a group of defeated soldiers massacred Selva.

This is probably the reason why Olivia was able to break out of the siege without any worries in this life and was not captured.

In this time and space, Selva was not saved, and no griffin descended.

According to folklore, it was after Olivia broke out alone and fled to the city of Farolis that she asked Lord Elliver to send out his army. With the help of the Thorn Flower Army, Olivia followed the army to hunt down and kill all the defeated Kantadar soldiers, thus completing her revenge for the disaster on Selva.

Neither he, Azerien, nor Lohak appeared in the local folk tales.

From the current intelligence, none of the three people in this world have ever been here.
(End of this chapter)