Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 309 You're just a kind-hearted coward

After a long silence, Lu Mingfei looked at O'Neill and asked:
"How is my master?"

O'Neal was taken aback:
"What happened?"

"I'm not an idiot."

Lu Mingfei said softly:
"Although my age is probably less than a fraction of yours."

O'Neill's expression froze, his rugged brows furrowed deeply as he looked at Lu Mingfei:

"what do you mean?"

“Edgar has been finding all sorts of excuses to send me away on missions lately. I wanted to visit my master, but he kept saying that my master was in seclusion. This isn’t right.”

O'Neal remained silent, his grip on the battle flag tightening unconsciously.

"and."

Lu Mingfei continued:
“I know very well what kind of person that old man is, and you know very well too. He has a fiery temper and cannot tolerate the slightest injustice. If it were any other time, he would have been the first to rush out with his greatsword upon hearing that the Night Cavalry had appeared in Nymgfor.

But this time, it was you, the more composed and capable general who was better at commanding from the sidelines, who went out.

O'Neill remained silent in the face of Lu Mingfei's statement.

Lu Mingfei looked at O'Neill, his voice calm:

“I won’t press Edgar. He’s already overwhelmed with managing those soldiers from all sorts of backgrounds, and he wouldn’t dare disobey you two.”

"You have to tell me the truth. I'm not the naive young man I used to be. Don't worry, I'm much more receptive than you think."

The corridor was silent except for the crackling sound of the torches burning.

After a long silence, O'Neill finally let out a long sigh, his voice filled with weariness and heaviness: "You're much more perceptive than you appear, kid."

He raised his hand and rubbed his temples:

“Harald is indeed on the verge of decay. For thousands of years, he has shunned the Golden Law, burning too much of his life force while refusing to accept favors, and now…”

O'Neill didn't finish his sentence, but Lu Mingfei already understood what he meant.

The young ruler stood still, his hands unconsciously clenched.

"However, it's not as serious as you think."

O'Neal said bitterly:

"For a strong person like him, the process of aging is extremely long and painful."

"Before the Ring of Law was broken and the first dead man, Godwin, appeared, the proper death for those under the rule of the Golden Tree was 'returning to the tree'."

Lu Mingfei nodded:
“I already know that.”

“But after Godwin became the first to die, and the Ring of Law shattered,” O’Neill’s voice grew even lower, “everything changed. Now the bodies of the living decay, but their souls remain, and their spirits are painfully worn down over a long period of time.”

"And for powerful individuals like Harald, their souls are even stronger, and their spirits will be imprisoned for a longer period."

The old soldier's voice was filled with a deep sense of powerlessness:

"That old guy is too stubborn. He said you're too kind-hearted and weak, and if you heard about this, you'd definitely keep yourself trapped in Stoneville to keep him company, bringing your progress to a standstill."

Or, you might spend a lot of energy searching for those vague and unrealistic methods of salvation. Neither of these is what he wants to see.

Lu Mingfei fell silent.

That's right, the old man knows him too well.

If he had known this beforehand, he would have done exactly as Harald predicted—stopped everything, stayed by his master's side, and frantically searched for any way that might prolong his life.

After a long silence, Lu Mingfei finally spoke, his voice unusually calm: "Let me talk to him."

O'Neill looked at him intently:
"Are you sure you're ready?"

“I’m no longer the kid who needed his protection.”

A bitter smile appeared on Lu Mingfei's lips.
-
O'Neill led Lu Mingfei through the castle corridors and finally stopped in front of a heavy oak door.

The old general hesitated for a moment before slowly pushing open the door.

Inside the room, Harald sat back in a high-backed chair, covered with a thick blanket.

When Lu Mingfei saw his master's face clearly, he finally understood why his master refused to see him.

The old man before me was completely different from the majestic knight I remembered.

Harald's cheeks were deeply sunken, his once strong body was now emaciated, and his sparse silver hair clung to his scalp. His eyes, which were as sharp as those of a storm eagle, now appeared cloudy and weary.

He aged very quickly, much faster than Lu Mingfei had imagined.

It's as if he suddenly went from a robust fifty-year-old man to a decaying seventy or eighty-year-old.

But is it really just a moment?
Memories flooded back like a tide.

Perhaps it was two years ago, or maybe a year ago—he couldn't remember exactly—but because of his resurrection, his master first showed signs of weakness when instructing him in swordsmanship. Lu Mingfei was overjoyed at the time, believing that his skills had finally improved.

Six months ago, when teaching him advanced storm techniques, Harald's offensive noticeably slowed down, and his breathing became heavier. At the time, Lu Mingfei joked that his master had finally admitted to getting old.

Lu Mingfei was then shocked to realize that signs of aging had already quietly appeared, but he had always chosen to ignore them.

Just like the setting sun, the change of light and shadow is always gradual, until the last ray of afterglow disappears into the horizon, and people suddenly realize that night has fallen.

Harald slowly raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy eyes as he recognized the newcomer.

He tried to straighten his back, but this triggered a violent coughing fit.

"Smelly boy"

The old knight's voice was so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable, but his stubbornness remained undiminished, and he was utterly unyielding:
"Who asked you to come?"

Lu Mingfei, his neck stiff, initially wanted to retort as usual, but seeing his thin face, his tone softened considerably.

"I came by myself."

Harald's cloudy eyes suddenly widened and sharpened, revealing a hint of his former imposing manner.

He slammed his withered hand on the armrest of the chair with a "smack," his voice hoarse and filled with anger:

"What kind of look is that? Pity? Put it away! I'm not dead yet!"

He gasped for breath, his chest heaving, yet he stubbornly straightened his hunched back.

"Stop putting on that melodramatic act! I can beat you to a pulp right now!"

"Have you dealt with those miscellaneous forces? Haven't you found a way to get to the Altar yet? Why don't you go to Lienia and ask those mages?"
The old knight spat, his voice still stern:

"Haven't you already found your path? Aren't you going to become king? Why are you still wasting your time here with me?"

Lu Mingfei was speechless after being bombarded with a barrage of questions. He opened his mouth, but found that his throat felt like it was blocked by something.

He really wanted to stay, even if it was just to spend a little more time with them.

He looked into the old man's still sharp eyes, which held no fear of decay, no sorrow for death, only a stubborn hope—a hope that he could go further.

(End of this chapter)