Alien Knights

Todd stroked the silver moon in his palm with his fingers, rolled his eyes, and said to Sinclair with a smile: "Your Highness, don't worry, business will always continue, but my master is more concerned about whether this cooperation can continue?"

Sinclair asked puzzledly, "What do you mean by that?"

Todd shrugged: "Someday, if you take the throne..."

Sinclair waved his hand impatiently: "I told him long ago that everything will be done according to tradition."

Todd asked, "Tradition?"

Sinclair gave him a strange look, frowned and said, "Your master, didn't you tell you about the traditions of the Holy Acropolis?"

Todd said vaguely: "The master once said something, but it was not specific."

Sinclair nodded: "Ferrychild, you and I are old acquaintances. You have helped me a lot in the past. I don't intend to hide some things from you. There is a long history of cooperation between the monarchs of the Holy Acropolis and the Pope. To put it simply, we are more like a group of gardeners. The main task is to help the Heavenly Father to "care" his garden on a regular basis."

Todd looked puzzled: "Take care of the garden?"

Sinclair stretched out his palm, with the palm facing up, and his five fingers spread naturally: "In a beautiful and elegant garden, there will always be some plants with forked or diseased branches. The mission of the monarch of the Holy Acropolis is to regularly prune those excesses that damage the beauty according to the will of the heavenly father."

Todd's heart was full of turmoil, and he pretended to have a flat expression on the surface: "You mean...?"

"Remote small countries that are close to paganism, villages and small towns that have not paid tribute for a long time, and of course those noble fiefdoms that are drifting away from the Heavenly Father are all useless vegetation that hinders the view of the Heavenly Father." Sinclair slowly put his five fingers together and clenched into fists: "The mission of the Holy Acropolis is to cut off these redundant branches. By the way, collect these wastes and sell them to people in need."

Todd squeezed Yinyue tightly in his hand, but said in a relaxed manner: "Then when you are pruning the garden, don't you worry about being discovered and hostile by others?"

"Of course not. No one cares about those small countries or fiefs that disappear completely overnight. Even if there are any situations, the church can always find a suitable reason to solve all unnecessary troubles." Sinclair's words were somewhat relaxed and somewhat helpless: "The Holy Acropolis is such a country that does not engage in production or business, and only uses swords and fire to survive from generation to generation."

Todd touched the tip of his nose: "It seems that your claim to fight for independence and freedom is just a cover."

Sinclair puffed up his chest: "This battle for succession is nothing more than a scam from beginning to end, and the outcome has already been determined-the final king will definitely be me."

Todd asked: "Then why bother to involve His Majesty Matide?"

"The church acted unwisely in the previous Battle of the Silver Ring. Many nobles in the Holy Acropolis were extremely dissatisfied with this." Sinclair shook his head and said, "The king's serious illness has made this dissatisfaction in the country no longer suppressed.

"On the one hand, the church wants to ease conflicts and stabilize people's hearts. On the other hand, it also wants to identify those who are loyal to the church, who are fishing in troubled waters, and who are sincerely demanding independence. Therefore, a battle for successors is specially used to test the attitude of the nobles."

"So, this battle for the throne is more like a power wash." Todd added: "When you ascend the throne, you can help the church, openly or secretly, start to clear the opposition forces in the country, and at the same time gather the military power in the hands of these nobles."

"That's right, in the words of your master. The Holy Acropolis has won too many victories and honors. Some people in the country have gradually been blinded by their arrogance and have forgotten the foundation of this country."

There was a bit of sarcasm in Todd's tone: "After all, the Holy Acropolis is just a sword in my master's hand."

Under the night, Sinclair's face changed slightly, and anger flashed in his eyes. After a while, he said nonchalantly, "Fetrichard, what you said is biased. It should be said that the Holy Acropolis and the church are just a sword in the hands of the heavenly father."

Todd laughed twice dryly: "Speaking of which, your brother, His Majesty Matide is an attractive target."

Sinclair snorted coldly: "A clown who jumps on the beam! Others only praise him a few words, and then start dreaming of a fool who is on the throne! One day, sooner or later, I will take his head off!"

Cursing in a low voice for a while, Sinclair turned to Todd and said, "The nobles have already made their own decisions, and the heir to the throne will be announced in the past few days. When the matter of the Holy Acropolis comes to an end, tell your master that he will not forget the conditions he promised me earlier."

Todd bowed slightly, and said respectfully: "Your Highness, don't worry, everything is ready."

Seeing Sinclair's figure disappear into the night, Todd, who was full of resentment and had nowhere to vent, threw the silver moon that had been squeezed into a ball into the distance.

On the way back to the banquet, Todd walked through the corridor in a depressed mood, and saw a strange old man sitting at a stone table at the end.

He was tall, but his body was so thin that he couldn't see much fat. The outline of his bones was exposed under the skin full of scars, and his eye sockets were deeply sunken. What is amazing is that a pair of bright eyes stared at a chessboard on the table like a faint fire in the dark night.

The old man first played a chess move, then moved the chessboard with his hands, turned the other side to himself, and played another chess move. In this way, he and himself played a chess game.

Todd glanced at the other party, remembering the current complex environment in the Holy Acropolis, and with the idea that more things are worse than less things, he planned to take a detour and leave.

"Son, can you come and stay with me?"

Looking at the old man not far away, looking up at himself, Todd looked around vigilantly, and found that there was no one else nearby. After thinking twice, he walked over carefully.

Approaching the stone table and looking at the structure of the chessboard, Todd recognized that it was a popular "backgammon" in the Middle Ages. Although he hadn't played it much, he knew the rules anyway.

After sitting down, Todd rearranged the chess pieces and signaled the old man to move first.

The old man was not too polite, he played a chess piece first, and said with emotion: "I can't remember the last time someone played chess with me."

Todd tried his best to remember how to play backgammon, and then made a move.

Seeing the position of the opponent's chess piece, the old man made a slightly suspicious voice, slowed down his movements, and played another chess piece.

The two of you came and went and made several moves. The old man laughed and said, "At first I thought you were a seasoned veteran, but I didn't expect you to be a novice who didn't know anything!"

Sure enough, after a few more rounds, Todd lost.

The old man smiled and shook his head: "You have no rules in playing chess, but it's interesting in this way... No matter what, if it is closed for too long, it will become boring and uninteresting."

Todd took a look at the old man's appearance by the light of the fire, guessing the identity of the old man in his heart, and he was already somewhat sure. He immediately set up the chess pieces and said, "Let's play another game!"

"Okay!" The old man picked up a chess piece with his hand, and just about to drop it, a heart-piercing pain made him bend down and cough violently.

Todd stood up quickly and walked to the old man.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." The old man regained his strength, stretched out his hand to stop Todd's movements, lowered his head and started looking for the fallen chess piece on the ground, but he couldn't find it after a long search.

Watching Todd pick up the lost chess piece, the old man laughed at himself, and said to the former: "My child, there are many things in this world that you can try. There is only one thing that you should not touch...that is getting old."

"Your body is getting worse every day, and your spirit is getting worse. During the day, people look at you as if they are looking at a rotten and smelly corpse; at night, tossing and turning in bed, the whisper of death always keeps you from falling asleep." The old man looked at his trembling hands and began to wave his arms vigorously. He said helplessly and painfully: "This feeling can drive people crazy!"

The old man stood up tremblingly, declined Todd's support, tried his best to maintain his due dignity, and stepped into the darkness at the end of the corridor.