Chat group, if you have anything to say to my Holy Sword,

Penglai Temple Jiuxiao stiffened, lowered her hand that was supporting her chin, and blinked. "Teacher, you misunderstood... Just now, my arm felt a little... um, cramped, and wasn't feeling well, so I moved it around a bit."

Penglai Temple's Jiuxiao even symbolically turned his wrist, attempting to increase credibility.

The teacher was clearly not completely convinced, letting out a cold snort that carried a strong warning: "Hmph! If I see you behaving disrespectfully in class again, you'll be standing for the rest of the lesson! Do you hear me?"

"Okay~" Jiu Xiao dragged out the last syllable, his voice lazy and nonchalant, as if he didn't care at all, and slumped back onto the table, as if the previous interlude was just an insignificant breeze.

However, her "it doesn't matter" attitude was like a spark falling into a haystack.

"Tch!" A female voice, clearly filled with disgust, rang out without any attempt to hide it. The volume was just loud enough for those around to hear clearly. "The teacher is too lenient. This kind of chuunibyou should be made to stand outside as punishment! So as not to disturb others."

“Who says otherwise?” someone immediately chimed in quietly, their tone full of disdain. “All he does is spout nonsense, this ‘savior’ and ‘mission,’ it’s so annoying. It’s unbearable to be in the same classroom as this guy, the air feels weird.”

"Hey, don't talk so loudly..." a slightly timid voice tried to stop them, tinged with worry, "What if that guy hears us?"

"Heard?"

The girl who had initially mocked Jiu Xiao scoffed, raising her voice slightly to a deliberate provocation. "So what if she heard it? What can she do? Use her 'savior power' to kick us out of the classroom?" With that, she waved her hand defiantly, completely disregarding Jiu Xiao.

These harsh words, like fine ice needles, pierced precisely into Penglai Temple's ears, but her face remained expressionless, devoid of anger, resentment, or even the slightest ripple.

She silently turned her gaze back to the blackboard, as if the people talking about her hadn't even mentioned her. The pen in her hand began to spin nimbly between her fingers, once, twice… the spinning motion possessing a peculiar rhythm.

Just then, a message popped up in the chat group.

[I Don't Want to Be a Hero Anymore]: "By the way, Jiuxiao, I've hired a teacher for you sometime. Don't complain that he's too strict!"

As her gaze swept over the words, Penglaiji Jiuxiao's tightly pursed lips involuntarily curved upwards, outlining a faint yet incredibly clear arc filled with pure joy and anticipation. That arc appeared exceptionally bright on her otherwise calm face.

With a "snap," the twirling pen in her hand was firmly grasped.

[I Am the Savior]: "Never underestimate a hero."

......

Kevin sighed as he watched the chat group conversation. He thought to himself, "Let's look at him too."

Kevin's gaze swept around him. The enthusiastic, trusting crowd stared eagerly at the cement shovel in his hand. The plastic edge of his hard hat made his forehead itch slightly, and his worn-out clothes were covered in dusty cement powder. He stood alone in the middle of the ruins of the royal city of Rodel, like a modern foreman thrown into a medieval construction site, scrambling around in disarray.

Three days have passed since Xiling ascended the throne, and many things have happened in those three days.

The first thing.

After declaring himself king, Xiling left behind three imperial decrees.

The first imperial decree: Rebuild.

“Give them something to do.” — These are Xiling’s exact words.

The target was the royal city of Rodel itself. This once glorious capital is now mostly ruins and crumbling architectural skeletons.

Inside the houses that were fortunate enough not to have completely collapsed, only thick layers of dust accumulated over the years remained, like a tomb of time, empty and lifeless.

Cleaning, repairing, rebuilding... getting these people, who have just awakened from numbness and whose limbs are still stiff, moving, using heavy physical labor to fill their empty bodies and minds, and at the same time restoring the rudiments of their homes.

Kevin, now the "Chief Cement Mixing Instructor," is the frontline executor of this imperial decree.

The second imperial decree: Food.

"Their organs are recovering and need nutrition." — This is the harsh reality.

The remaining granaries of the royal city, eroded by the long years and the curse of immortality, had long since decayed and become inedible. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of people who had just "come back to life" were slowly recovering their digestive systems and metabolisms, and their need for food was rigid and urgent. Without a stable food source, the enthusiasm for reconstruction and the vitality of their revived lives would quickly wither in the face of hunger.

Finding new, stable food sources is a more urgent survival task than rebuilding.

The third imperial decree: Law, Value, and Blessing.

"The law will watch over and respond to your actions." — This is the declaration of the Silver King Xiling, and it gives people purpose and motivation.

To receive what is called "blessing," one must prove one's worth. The most direct way to prove one's worth is to participate in reconstruction (the first imperial decree) and ensure survival (the second imperial decree).

The law is the framework, values ​​are the measure, and blessings are the rewards. It clearly tells everyone: stagnation will not bring the favor of the law.

This imperial decree is like an invisible lighthouse, illuminating people's path forward and inspiring a yearning for the realization of "value" in their eyes.

Hearing people calling for him, Kevin had no choice but to steel himself and head there.

Even as people in the border region slowly began to recover, they had forgotten most of what had happened. Fortunately, perhaps the people in the border region were geniuses at bricklaying, and before long, they were even better than Kevin.

And so Kevin really did become a contractor who was only responsible for watching.

......

"Sigh, I should have known better than to go so far..." Xiling slumped in her wheelchair like a salted fish that had been dried out by the sun.

Xiling slumped limply in the wheelchair that Remian had once sat in, her face as pale as a vampire who had just crawled out of a grave, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, as if she had been beaten up for three days and three nights straight.

Remien pushed the wheelchair, a smug smile playing on her lips: "Serves you right for not knowing your place."

"The atmosphere has reached that point, what can I do?" Xiling waved her hand weakly.

"They'll definitely have to intensify their efforts!"

"Deserved it"

Xiling gave a forced, unsmiling twitch, her expression more painful than tears. She truly deserved it.

When he transformed the state of hunger in everyone in the royal city into a state of fullness, his magic power was excessively depleted.

The magic of a hero should be as boundless as the ocean; it has always been there and will naturally grow with one's will.

But “creating things out of thin air” is completely different – ​​it is using will to directly distort the laws of reality and transform pure energy into an abstract concept like “being full”!

Xiling's idea at the time was to make sure these people had enough to eat.

Behind this simple command lies the hero's will to rewrite the rules of reality in the most brutal and direct way! The price is... the deficit of magical will that he is currently suffering!

"What a tragedy!"

Listening to Xiling's mournful voice, Remi'an smiled and continued pushing the wheelchair.

They are now on their way to a place to welcome an upcoming guest, or perhaps more than one.

With his iron boots landing on the ground, Ratan looked towards the royal city of Rodel not far away. Behind him, nearly a thousand soldiers of the Red Lion Legion followed closely, their steps synchronized, clearly indicating their high level of training.

They saw their general stop, so they stopped too. Just then, a man walked up to Ratan and asked, his voice filled with doubt.

"What's wrong, General?"

Rataen gazed at the distant outline of the royal city, his tone wistful: "Was the royal city... once like this?"

As Rataen saw, the road leading to the royal city was lined with endless blooming flowers—red, yellow, purple… as if someone had spilled a palette of colors, turning the entire road into a rainbow.

Actually, there shouldn't have been so many flowers here originally, but because of a certain Miss Luo, who said "bloom," the area around the royal city was filled with flowers, and a certain king thought it was very good.

Ratan's rough fingers traced the petals of a bright red flower. Dew still clung to the stem, glistening in the sunlight.

After a long while, Ratahn put down the petals and stood up again.

"keep going"

The Red Lion Legion continued their march toward the capital, their iron boots clattering dully on the petal-strewn road.

The soldiers' faces were tense, but their eyes couldn't help but dart towards the exceptionally beautiful flowers.

When they arrived at the gates of the royal city, a tall figure was already waiting there.

Montgomery closed his eyes as if deep in thought, and soon heavy footsteps reached his ears, while at the same time two horns sounded from the city wall.

Mongot opened his eyes and saw Rataen in the distance; their eyes met.

"Long time no see"

Monga nodded and then said, "Follow me, the king is waiting."

Ratahn nodded.

The moment the Red Lion Legion stepped through the city gates, horns suddenly sounded.

“Woo—”

The deep, resonant sound of horns echoed in every corner of the royal city. This was followed by the synchronized clanging of clashing metal—the royal knights lined up on both sides, their longswords drawn, their tips pointing diagonally to the sky, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

This is not a stance of fighting, but a welcoming ceremony.

Ratan paused slightly. Before the War of Shattering, this was the scene that greeted them whenever they returned victorious.

Memories flooded back—the cheering crowds, the fluttering flags, and... that figure standing at the highest point.

Things are wrong.

Rataen took a deep breath and looked up at the grand hall at the highest point of the royal city.

There, a silver-white figure was silently watching him.

Chapter 44 The Joining of Ratahn

Xiling quietly looked at Rataen's enormous body, while Rataen silently observed Xiling's tiny body, which contained terrifying power.

"This is really big," Xiling thought to himself. Although he had seen the other party through the chat group live broadcast system, seeing its huge body in real life was still very intimidating.

"This is... the Silver King? The new King of Elden?" Ratahn's thoughts were heavy and unfocused. The image of that pure white light that tore through the gloom of the borderlands a few days ago resurfaced in his mind. It was not a light of destruction, but a light that pierced through despair, cleansed filth, and ignited the flame of hope.

This hope was being passed on throughout the border region, and he was no exception.

Silence flowed through the throne room.

Xiling, in her wheelchair, chuckled softly. The laughter was not loud, but it pierced through the heavy atmosphere with exceptional clarity.

“General Shattered Star, Lord Rataen,” Xiling’s voice was gentle yet clear, “did you travel thousands of miles to this golden city just to stand here, silently glance at me, and then immediately turn and leave?”

"……No"

As Ratan's deep, resonant voice rang out, the air in the entire space seemed to freeze. A terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from his massive body! Invisible shockwaves stirred up the dust on the ground, forming tiny vortices. Even the heavy armor on his body seemed to emit a low hum, a sign that his power was unintentionally leaking out.

His massive head was slightly raised, his eyes fixed firmly on Xiling's seemingly calm pupils. His voice, like thunder rumbling across the Gobi Desert, was filled with power and unprecedented solemnity:

"The Silver King—"

"—What is it that you seek," he paused, his chest heaving as if gathering his final resolve, "that is?"

Some questions must be asked face-to-face; some answers must be seen in the other person's expression; some beliefs must be spoken by that person personally.

The Silver King, the ruler of the Silver Law, what exactly does he want to do? On his journey from Red Lion City to the Royal City, he encountered the Borderlands, a place he hadn't seen in a long time.

The dilapidated village resembled abandoned skeletons, with only broken walls and ruins wailing in the wind. In the barren fields, twisted, withered trees stretched out their branches in despair. The refugees encountered on the road had empty, numb eyes, or bore signs of unnatural madness. The air was thick with the stench of despair and decay.

However, as they approached the royal city of Rodel, the scene began to change slowly but steadily. New wooden beams appeared under construction beside the collapsed houses, and the sparse smoke from the chimneys was no longer the acrid smoke of burning, but rather the warm aroma of food.

Those once chaotic and frenzied knights—they laid down their blood-stained spears and raised their shields to protect the village.

Order... a word that had once been completely extinct in the borderlands, but now, like a tender sprout stubbornly emerging from the frozen earth of winter, it is struggling but clearly reviving around the royal city under the will of the Silver King.

Upon witnessing this scene, even though he had already submitted to the Silver Laws, Ratahn still wanted to ask the Silver King in person what he truly desired.

Facing the terrifying pressure of Ratahn, which was like a real mountain collapsing, Xiling remained seated in her wheelchair, her figure unwavering. The aura that would terrify any ordinary warrior crashed into the invisible barrier surrounding her small body, creating only silent ripples.

Xiling still had that calm, gentle smile, as if the breeze that brushed against her cheek was just a gentle breeze.

He didn't even rush to answer; instead, he seemed to be seriously considering the general's heavy question. Under Rataen's gaze, Xiling raised his hand and began to count his fingers one by one.

"Well…"

"What do you want? Perhaps... it's to enable people to live a good life."

The first finger bends slightly: "No longer need to fear the chaos of war, you can sleep peacefully at night."

The second finger bends down: "Everyone... at least everyone should be able to have enough to eat; that's the most basic thing."

As they rounded the **** bend, Xiling paused, then said, "If possible, I also hope... everyone can have the opportunity to do what they love—planting flowers? Forging iron? Singing? Studying the stars? As long as it doesn't hurt others."

Xiling then added with a persuasive smile, "Of course, I don't support laziness. The world needs everyone's efforts to become a better place."

As if she had said the most important thing, Xiling withdrew her hand and placed it naturally on the armrest of her wheelchair. She looked up to meet the complex and unreadable expression on Ratahn's huge face, her smile clear and open: "That's about it. Sounds simple, right? But we have to take things one step at a time. If we find anything lacking later, we can make up for it then. After all—" Xiling's eyes were bright, filled with undeniable determination, "We will keep moving forward."

This simple, even somewhat "ordinary" list of wishes came from the mouth of the Silver King who ignited the flame of hope in the borderlands, but even such ordinary words instantly pierced through the heavy doubts in Ratahn's heart.

Looking at Xiling's pure and open smile, a strange emotion arose in Rataen's heart: trust, peace of mind, and longing.

This is the essence of a "brave person".