SHK CH 543: THE THREE WALLS (Patreon)

Once the salutations ended, Rose brought Lilin with her while her knights were sent to prepare their accommodation.

The Fortress was not just made with one big gate. But rather made out of three large walls. With each wall allowing one to go in further.

“The third and second circle are the places where Soldiers dwell. We made this system to make the conquest of the Fortress even harder.”

She explained with pride.

It wasn’t for nothing that this place was so expensive to create. Each of the large circular walls created was strong enough to make any attack stop.

But the most important was,

“Back then. Her Majesty Blaze blessed this place with the rune and blood of a Dragon. I do not remember his name. But from what she said, he was a golden dragon who represented the concept of absolute defense. A small part of his concept was placed on all the walls.”

She had every reason to be proud. How many people could say their walls were made with dragon blood?

The only structures in Lustburg that received such features were the walls of the Capital and the Tower of Babel which was created with the blood and concept of the Dragon King who had signed a contract with King Jupiter.

“Hum…Fafnir?”

“Oh. Indeed. This was his name. Forgive my failing memory. Do you know about him?”

Lilin nodded then shook her head, “This is the first time I heard this story and I never met him. But Sol… I mean, his highness Sol told me about this particular Dragon King. His name is Fafnir, the Golden Dragon and one of the first dragons. Even in the Astral realm, his reputation is stellar.”

“My. Such an interesting story. As I never had the necessary minimum quality, I was not able to enter the Astral realm back when I was 15. Though hearing of this story, I believe the Kingdom is blessed with a very talented Prince.”

Rose smiled happily. As a knight, like many humans, she had never managed to have a particular high Capacity much less enter the Astral realm. Thankfully, she was able to obtain a Nightmare Horse of the highest quality.

It wasn’t much. But Rose had never been dissatisfied with her horse. For her, it wasn’t just a horse. It was a friend. It was family and it was her most loyal companion.

“Sol is very talented indeed. You should see his power now. In the past, I could easily beat him but the moment he awakened, everything changed so fast.”

Rose nodded as Lilin started talking about how awesome and cool Sol was and the more she did so the larger her smile became.

She was not tired of listening and in fact, she loved it. On one hand, it gave her precious information about the elusive prince who had rarely if ever shown his face in the open in the past.

But more importantly…It made her feel warm.

‘So similar.’

She could vividly remember. More than 20 years ago.A purple-haired young girl with a sword and her group of knights talking to her excitedly about how awesome and talented her big brother was.

The way they acted. The way they moved. The intonations in their voices, the light that seemed to shine in their eyes whenever they mentioned the man they were talking about.

It was nothing but heartwarming and amusing.

“It seems like his Highness is an impressive person.”

“Right!? You should see him fight now. He is like a beast that never stops.”

Rose’s lips twitched. Calling the prince a beast in front of her was quite problematic. Thankfully, there was no one else close to an earshot.

“Still, Your Highness. You should not look down on yourself. Your mother may have not been as powerful as His Majesty the Hero King. But she was a beacon of hope for people like us. The proof that not having a high capacity did not mean the end of the world.”

She spoke quietly, her body was frail but her spirit was high, “Since you aim to surpass even the legend of her Majesty. I hope you will not debase yourself.”

They finally entered the Inner circle on those words and Lilin was surprised.

She thought she would see grim soldiers like in the previous circle. But here, all she could see were civilians.

Some soldiers were walking and patrolling around and the city was not particularly prosperous. But everything that should be here was present.

The routes were clean, the sewers were efficient and clean as well. Stores and inns of all kinds could be seen all around and she could even see women in skimpy outfits standing on balconies with sultry smiles on their faces as they waved at the men and women walking around, inviting them to enter a world of pleasure.

‘This is…’

“Quite shocking, right?”

Rose laughed and opened her arms wide, “Welcome to the city of adventurers. This place is not just a hell hole you know?”

The Fortress was one of the oldest and most developed ones in the entire kingdom. This place had everything from soldiers to sinners to adventurers.

In such places, crafters such as alchemists and smiths as well as tailors became a necessity.

Then Merchants, smelling the profits started to come.

Prostitute dens, Gambling dens, Opium Dens, and grey places of all kinds started to follow.

Finally, families of soldiers and sinners who were not beheaded as well as others flocked as well.

Slowly but surely. This dreary place that was filled with nothing but death and blood became alive in the truest sense.

“We are soldiers. We are protectors and this place is the firstmost place we need to protect.”

Her voice became steely.

They could not leave. They could not lose. Because doing so would mean the death of all the people present.

“Princess. I am not blind. I can see the movement of the army and clearly, the royal place is planning something big. But please. Do not play games with this place. We cannot retreat. We will not retreat. Because for many people here, this place is even more a home than Lustburg itself.”

Many young children were born and raised here all their lives. Never leaving the walls. They knew nothing of the world beyond and considered this place as their whole world.

Many soldiers had their friends and family in this place. They live in this place and want to die in this place.

One could say that in a way — This place was like a small partially independent country within Lustburg.

After speaking those words, Rose looked at Lilin, a certain nervousness between her brows.

She was not stupid and she knew her resistance might cause her death or her demotion. But she could not let the royal place order her to retreat further. This simply could not be done.

They had already lost much space in the eternal battlefield and though the demons had been weirdly inactive lately, one could never know what could happen in the future.

“Countess Rose.”

Lilin placed a hand on Rose’s shoulder before continuing to walk,

“Do not worry. Lustburg will retreat no longer. It’s time for counterattacking. We start tomorrow.”

Rose had never heard better words.