Cthulhu Gonfalon

In the Administration Hall of Garth City, a low-ranking official took an uneasy breath and encouraged himself to walk into the office with a pile of papers in his hand.

After a while, he came out with a pale face and slightly trembling legs.

“Jack, what’s wrong with you today? Your face is terribly pale! Did the Consul blame you for your bad behavior?” a maid close to him asked curiously.

He shook his head and whispered, “No. But the Consul seems to be in a bad mood today. He frowns all the time, unconsciously sending out a killing intent killing. Standing in front of him, I always worry about whether he will pull out his sword in the next second…”

“Why would he draw his sword? To make sashimi?” the maid asked with a smile.

“I am not as brave as you…” Jack grinned bitterly and shook his head. “Although I know he won’t cut me, I still can’t help but be afraid.”

Seeing his face full of fear, the maid named Rose looked around to make sure there was nobody else around. Then she gently hugged him, put her lips close to his ear and began to sing in a low voice.

Her voice was so light that no one except Jack could hear it. It was soft and quiet like the moonlight, and it helped Jack calm down. His pale face finally relaxed and returned to its normal color again.

After a while, Jack smiled and patted her arms, then pushed her away.

“That’s enough,” he said. “Thank you, I’m fine now.”

“No more singing for you?” Rose asked with a smile. She seemed reluctant to part from him.

“If you go on singing, I will do nothing today but sleep,” Jack smiled and said. “I’m fine now. When I get off duty tonight, I’ll accompany you to the beach for a walk. You can sing as much as you like then.”

Rose laughed and stepped back a couple steps. She picked up the broom she had just put down next to her and waved to him. Then she winked at him, turned around, and walked into the courtyard.

Jack had fully cheered himself up. He clapped his hands on his cheeks, and his eyes were full of fighting spirit again.

“Jack! Come on!” he said to himself. “You have to be successful as soon as possible! Lord Bena is only giving you twenty years! Hurry up!”

Looking at where Rose left, he firmly clenched his fist. He encouraged himself a bit, turned away and left.

…

Inside the Administration Hall, Leon—here, more people called him Ray—couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“The love story of the little mermaid and the young sailor…” he smiled and said to himself. “They are all good people! In pursuit of love, one leaves the sea, turns into a human and reluctantly gets accustomed to human work and life; the other goes to learn accounting. As a student in the entry-level class, he’s done a better job than those in the higher-level classes…”

“Love is really a wonderful power!” He was still young and not much older than Jack in looks. He picked up the cup and drank the tea like an old man, then laughed happily.

After that, he took out a document, gazed at it and frowned.

It was the new recruiting order issued by the Eagle Kingdom with the king’s seal. There was a little bit of magic floating on the seal, showing its undoubted authenticity.

The order roughly said that the current situation of the war had been urgent, and the kingdom was at a critical moment of life or death. The recruitment order was issued to all the races on the continent except Orcs and Semi-Orcs. All powerful adventurers were welcomed to join the army of the Eagle Kingdom and was promised a favorable pay in return. If they were able to repel the Orc troops, their military reputation would increase threefold. The royal family would not be stingy with property and fiefdoms.

That was roughly the content of the recruitment order. Some of the persuading words were ignored by him.

“Has the war been so fierce that it even needs to recruit adventurers?” murmured Leon with a frown. He was very anxious.

After thinking for a long time, he went to the bookcase where he kept his secret files and took out a document. The document was made of soft animal skin. He slowly unfolded it, but there was no text on it except for a magic array. It was a semi-magical prop used to communicate with someone far away. Compared to other simple communication magic, it could provide both sound and image, similar to video communication on earth.

Of course, it was of extraordinarily high value. A legendary magic ceremony was required just to make one set of this array. The animal skin was also extraordinary; it must have come from legendary creatures. Even if it had cost so much to make, it could only support a brief conversation. Afterwards, it would stop working and would need to have its magic replenished. This was the same for semi-magical props.

Of course, there were props that didn’t need to be replenished. For example, inside the Highest Tower of the Commonwealth of Mifata, there was a crystal ball used for communication called the Enlightened; it not only worked much better than the animal skin document, but it also had many different kinds of magic.

However, that was a demigod prop. It had cost Master Le-Peyroux a large sum of money and was even polished with divine light by the Master of Mystery himself. There was only one prop like it in the world.

Leon put his right hand on the magic array, hesitated for a moment, and infused magic into it.

The lines that made up the magic array were lit up one after another, and finally, the whole array was shimmering. Then the animal skin gradually became transparent and turned into the form of a mirror. In the mirror, an old, frail man was reflected instead of Leon’s face.

“Leon, you are finally willing to contact me,” the old man smiled and said softly. “When I sent you this communication prop, I was afraid that I would not live long enough for you to use it. So I am glad to be able to receive your message while I’m still alive.”

Leon sighed and asked, “Is the situation of the war really that bad?”

“Have you seen the recruiting order? Haha, it is actually worse than that.” The old man laughed, but there were no worries in his words. On the contrary, he showed some pleasure in the misfortune. “Woods, the bastard, shouldn’t have killed so many descendants of the Eagle race. Human beings were not giant eagles or griffons, and they can’t lay several eggs at a time. Even though he has been encouraging childbearing all these years, it takes a lot of time for people to grow up and reproduce.”

“Your Majesty, the present situation of the war is indeed very dangerous!”

Just then, an ordinary-looking, seemingly honest but dull teenager appeared in the mirror.

“If nothing happens,” the teen said with a frown, “the air force of both sides will fight a decisive battle in the near future, and our army will surely lose it! Without the air force, the Orcs can throw stones all the way down, and no fortress can withstand it. Perhaps the end of the kingdom is coming.”

“Who are you…?” Leon asked.

“I’m Rhine, a secret successor to the Archbishop,” the teenager answered. “The Archbishop told me to collect some important magic props and go through the transmission array to find you when the news of the complete defeat of the kingdom’s army came back.”

Leon was shocked and opened his eyes wide. “Has it been so terrible?!”

“Yes, it’s almost impossible to win.” The old man’s face appeared again in the mirror. He smiled kindly and sighed softly. “There are no flowers that will never wither, no dramas that will never end, and no kingdoms that will never die. even gods will fall down eventually. What is eternity? The Eagle Kingdom has existed for too long, just like an unwelcomed character that refuses to get off the stage, it’s time to leave.”

Leon frowned deeply and he listened to him quietly. Then he asked, “What’s the difference in high-end fighting power between us?”

The old man was a bit surprised and asked a question instead of answering. “What do you want to do? Don’t be stupid! The Orcs have brought the Staff of Imprisonment this time. No matter how powerful you are, can you win against that?”

“If it’s just the Staff of Imprisonment…”

Before Leon finished his words, the old man interrupted him and said sternly, “It’s the Presbyter of the Divine Temple of the Orc Empire that holds the Staff of Imprisonment. He is a master who has reached the highest level of the Legendary Realm and may enter the Field of Immortality at any time!”

“So am I.” Leon smiled with confidence. “The highest level of the Legendary Realm is not a big deal! I’ve been combating with a friend who recently became a god.”

In the mirror, the old man was startled. He opened his eyes wide and couldn’t believe that.

“What?! Didn’t you just get healed before entering the Legendary Realm? How can you be so fast to…?”

“I am a genius.” Leon laughed. “Don’t forget that I touched the legendary door when I was only fifteen years old. Now…I’m almost fifty years old. Is it weird for me to reach the highest level?”

“Then you can’t take risks!” The old man was surprised at first and then became more and more serious. “You are the last hope of the kingdom’s revival, and you can’t die a meaningless death on the battlefield!”

“Hey, my old sir, don’t you trust my power? The Presbyters of the Divine Temple of the Orc Empire are almost as old as you. They seem to stop breathing when the wind blows. I am much younger than them… I think there is a great chance for me to win. As for the Staff of Imprisonment, I have powerful equipment too. Recently, His Majesty sent me a magic prop.”

“They also invited the King of Animals to help. How about that?” The old man ignored Leon’s slander and interrupted him.

“My uncle will do something to help.”

“What can he do?” the old man sneered and asked. “Send himself to be killed on the battlefield so as to cheer the Orcs up?”

“My old sir, that’s too ironic…”

“I never believed in him. He never worked hard in practicing his swordsmanship. Instead he spent his time doing unspeakable things!” The old man brutally scolded His Majesty, the King of the Eagle Kingdom. “If I raised a dog, it would still help me watch my door. As for that bastard, you can count the number of times he’s come here on one hand!”

“Sir, six times altogether.” There came the teenager’s voice next to him.

“What’s so strange about a hand with six fingers? His Majesty has dozens of fingers.”

“Those are tentacles, not fingers.”

During the conversation, the magic array exhausted all its power, and the light gradually dimmed.

Before the light disappeared, Leon heard the old man’s exhortation.

“Remember! Don’t come!”