Chapter 318: A Lamp

General Oswin’s army wing finally relented withdrawing from the empty field plot in the early morning of the third day.

They withdrew completely quietly, neatly to the point the wet-behind-the-ears kids in the city exhaustingly climbing up the wall peering down only felt disappointed. The kids kept firmly believing withdrawing troops then at worst must also have noisy trumpets and drums!

Hauk’s contract expired four days after that, the guy also completely didn’t bother extending anymore. The three remaining mercenary squads originally already fed up with the scene of having to grit their teeth buying water at the price of two copper coins per bucket, now seeing the most crowded squad striking camp then also sequentially packed up following. Finishing striking camp, they even dragged each other sweeping the selling area, spending until completely clean their wage money, disastrously making the two aunties accepting hired washing in group seventeen having to stay awake the whole night.

Thus in barely twelve days, the mighty army of twelve thousand people just like that dissolved as fast as a sugar cube dropped into boiling water.

Cardinal Marcellus of course did not patiently wait until the end of thirty days. He also completely didn’t bother showing his face over. One day, two people of the Merchant Guild laboriously hugged a huge wooden chest arriving before the collection desk of Lyra Court. They said that settling on behalf of an "anonymous client", paying straight in one installment, asking to receive a receipt.

Brian exhaustingly counted money tiring out his hands completely losing a whole afternoon. Finishing counting, the kid recorded into the ledger, then carefully recorded adding a note line in the revenue category: This amount paid on behalf by a third party. However, the name of the person having to pay on the file then clearly still remained intact as the Church of Light!

That night, the broadcasting speaker loudly read the number.

At the tavern at the head of Dyer street, the old man often sitting in the innermost corner again won completely the porter crowd’s money for the third time. He had guessed exactly spot-on that whatever way ultimately they would also only vomit out adding a few pieces of paper. The losing gambling crowd angrily refused to pay, resolutely forcing him to gulp completely dry a fruit juice pitcher then finally let him return.

Armors along with one thousand two hundred swords were returned fully by the Court according to the wooden tags writing numbers, completely losing three days. The Holy Knight delegation finishing receiving back their tools then silently hit the road returning to the North. Passing by the checkpoint, by then the people inside the city absolutely no one bothered to poke their faces out watching anymore.

On the final afternoon, when the white camp on the hill patch had been cleared completely clean, only remaining bare several black burnt grass streaks, Kaelen and Sane were standing on the City Hall bell tower.

Kaelen lightly opened his palm.

Several faith threads transmitting back from the South now had changed radiantly. They no longer had the fragile, pale appearance, vibrating like about to break of the day the two people stood by the canal bank anymore. Now, they braided tightly into each other forming a dazzlingly bright bundle, coiling firmly inside his palm, warm like a blazing red hot coal.

Sixty thousand citizens inside the city, six newly merged villages, seven villages along the canal, several reclamation groups, adding additionally nearly four thousand people of the Maritime Fleet... People had stopped dreaming about a canal. Now, they began placing their faith into a receipt paper.

"Quite good." Sane stood behind his back, wrapping his arms hugging entirely Kaelen’s waist, his chin resting lightly on his shoulder: "You see, just thanks to a mud battle with several torn ledgers that the faith thread has thickened equally to the entire last year combined already over there."

Kaelen did not grunt anything. He lightly closed his hand, then opened it again, this time opening stretching completely all five fingers.

Inside his palm, the image of an entire Great World appeared completely clearly.

A dazzlingly bright bundle lay in the South, exactly the place the two people were standing. Going upstream toward the North about eleven days’ horse journey there was a faint blurred halo spreading - that was the Cathalan Royal Capital, where four hundred thousand human beings were crowding each other inside a dingy gray tiled roof sea. That halo was faint to the point of having to glue eyes looking carefully to finally see. Then that was all.

Besides those two bases, everything was pitch-black like a sealed jar!

Dark from the mountain range in the North of the kingdom reflecting up, dark along the Eastern coastline, pitch-dark the entire vast land on the other side of the bay where merchant ships every day went back and forth, endlessly dark all the way to several islands that the Maritime Fleet once docked carrying people. Nestling neatly inside the palm of a Nature Deity, an entire world sank into deadly silence, pitch-black like the bottom of a dry well.

Sane pondered for a long time, then dropped a completely light sentence:

"I know. I also counted already."

"How many places having courts did you count?" Kaelen asked.

"One."

"How many places citizens knowing letters?"

"One."

"How many places having people daring to slam tables suing lords without being hanged up onto city gates?"

"You asking more then I also only have one answer." Sane lightly sighed.

Kaelen closed his hand. The world inside his palm extinguished.

"Fourteen months." He mumbled: "We have been down in this devilish world for fourteen months, Sane. Fourteen endless months just to finally light exactly one lamp."

Right at that moment, on the bell tower roof, a dazzlingly bright yellow illusionary image suddenly appeared. He sat cross-legged on the crossbar hanging the bell, his two legs swinging leisurely, his hand still holding half a baked pastry that this morning Kaelen turned the whole kitchen upside down but could not find!

"Four hundred and twenty years you know!" Heavenly Dao casually said, his tone gleeful to the point of being hateful: "I just counted on my fingers calculating helping you guys already. Keeping intact this crawling turtle speed then it will take exactly four hundred and twenty more years to finish lighting this continent. And by that time, the Beastman Continent people have already traveled out to the third constellation! Arriving at the time merging the two sides, one side then launches spaceships whizzing, one side still clatters pulling ox carts. Ha ha ha, I am so looking forward to that scene!"

Sane looked up his eyes, his deep purple eyes slightly turning cold a few parts.

"You stealthily ate my wife’s pastries for the umpteenth time huh?"

"The ninth time." Heavenly Dao answered deadpan, even conveniently bit adding a large bite: "And this time I ate is having a legitimate reason you know! Several kids of your family are holding back that continent over there too savagely, holding back to the point the Laws on my side are screaming noisily that the network is congested over there. I had to roll up my sleeves sitting coaxing him to the point of a sore throat throughout three nights. Exchanging one pastry taking three nights is too much of a bargain already!"

Hearing to here, Kaelen hurriedly snapped his head up.

"The children cannot hold back anymore?"

"Look yourself." Heavenly Dao snapped his fingers once into the air.

On Kaelen’s wrist, the communication bracelet lying silently for so long suddenly vibrated lightly, emitting a buzzing sound like a cicada stuck inside a box. Throughout over a whole month it was dead stiff like a scrap iron chunk. Ignis once sent a message through the mental path saying that the chatting application was blocked signal, the improving kid wanted to go bald yet still had not unblocked it.

Yet now it actually unblocked!

On the bracelet face vied with each other jumping up several tiny text lines, crowding each other, even typing wrongly completely messy spelling, clearly the sender was currently very frantic:

[Papa Papa unblocked already! I fixed it! Papa can you hear?]

[Papa we cannot hold back anymore! Over this side people just invented the atmospheric-powered air conditioner, I just painstakingly hid the blueprint away then three days later a woman on the East continent created another more premium one. Brother Edward said keeping this momentum then next year they will automatically grope out the way up to space!]

[Papa, Daddy, you two over that side have lit how many places already?]

Kaelen finishing reading the final line then collapsed, sitting flat directly down onto the bell tower steps.

[Damn it...] Kaelen thought.

He sat blankly there for a while, his hand tightly gripping the bracelet, his mind empty unable to squeeze out any sentence to comfort the kid bunch. Saying having lit one place then sounded too pathetic. Saying one and a half places then was no different from bragging, because the faint blurred halo in Cathalan was pale and tasteless, could not be counted as one place at all!

Sane bent down, removing the bracelet off his hand, personally typing text:

[Two places. Just leave intact your air conditioner, do not waste effort hiding it anymore, useless only. Let people make it. Over this side Father will take care of it.]

Finishing typing, he completely took the bracelet off, shoving it straight into his pocket, then slumped down sitting beside Kaelen.

"Two places?" Kaelen tilted his head asking.

"Cathalan is counted as one." Sane calmly answered: "And next month, it will light brightly up for you to see."

The yellow illusionary image currently sitting on the crossbar suddenly halted, stopped swinging his legs. He glued his eyes down at the two people, the "hi hi" joking appearance from earlier completely disappeared.

"What trick do you guys intend to play?"

"Not bothering to build anymore." Kaelen decisively answered, both speaking and springing up standing: "Building one city loses a fucking fourteen months. Four hundred cities then I die rotting my corpse here huh? Therefore starting tomorrow, close down resting, no more building stuff. I go copying!"

The next morning, the large meeting room of the City Hall was bustlingly crowded as never seen before.

Elric sat proudly at the head of the table, his face gleeful and radiant because having just hugged a large money chunk from the Church. In his head he was mentally calculating seeing whether should take the money repaving the Dyer street surface or straight away buy another collective dining hall. He just cleared his throat opening the ledger intending to talk endlessly when being ruthlessly brushed aside by Kaelen.

"The road paving matter throw to next month." Kaelen said with a sharp voice: "Today I discuss another matter. Mr. Hollis, that document of the Royal Council summoning me returning to Cathalan, how many days more until it expires?"

The old man hurriedly flipped the dispatch ledger, flipping nimbly fast, because every morning throughout a month now the old man had counted down that day anyway.

"Sir, twenty-three days."

"I am going." Kaelen declared.

The entire meeting room immediately exploded. Elric sprang up standing, stammeringly saying that returning to Cathalan at this moment was no different from automatically sticking his head into a trap. The Royal Council had twenty-three old men, and one among them had just taken advantage of the obscure old document to deploy twelve thousand troops down oppressing them! Godfrey then frantically asked seeing needing to deploy how many troops going escorting. Mr. Hollis then kept dead silent, only quietly pulled out a blank paper piece, preparing to dance his pen.

"Do not need anyone escorting at all." Kaelen waved his hand: "And I also do not have spare time carrying my corpse going to clarify justifying anything."

He pulled a chair sitting down, sweeping his gaze exactly once around the long table.

"The past fourteen months we only managed to do exactly one matter, that is finishing erecting this city. Now I ask truthfully you all one sentence: If tomorrow I and the Divine Envoy carry our butts leaving here for half a year completely not bothering to return, then will this Lyra collapse?"

The whole room was deadly silent, completely no one dared to utter a sound.

A moment later, Brian - the twelve-year-old kid sitting all the way at the end of the table - timidly raised his arm up.

"Well... will not collapse." He muttered: "Money in money out all have fair ledgers, monthly salary I have already calculated ahead for three months. However, if over half a year and the two Lords still refuse to return, then I am forced to ask permission going pasting notices. Because according to the Covenant, a position left vacant for over ninety days is mandatorily required to re-elect a new person."

Elric snapped turning around glaring slicing him a sharp glance, but the boy still sat with his spine straight, his face bewildered as if completely not knowing what earth-shattering sentence he had just uttered.

Kaelen burst out laughing refreshingly.

"Standard!" He tapped his hand onto the table: "Then just feel free pasting notices. Sirs, this city now can automatically run smoothly without needing me, that is exactly the most valuable masterpiece that we managed to create in the past fourteen months, and not a few workshops or canal ditches. Therefore from today, Lyra will have adding a new mission, and this is exactly the survival mission."

He tapped the rhythm of his fingers.

"Lyra stop the soap selling business. From now on, Lyra sells people-knowing-the-job!"

Mr. Hollis hurriedly raised his head up from the paper piece.

"Every single personnel of this City Hall, from this minute onward, must personally train successfully two other people to do exactly identically one’s own job. Finishing teaching then kick the butts of those two people to another place." Kaelen loudly continued: "The Department of Education immediately opens adding one division. This division completely does not bother teaching the wet-behind-the-ears kids anymore, this division specializes in training adults! Teaching doing secretary, doing accountant, doing clerk, doing teacher. Finishing graduating then grant a certificate, stamping the huge seal of the City Hall on! Mr. Hollis, you summarize the Covenant for me into an extremely concise version. Concise to the point an illiterate old village head listening passing through ears three times then memorizing by heart immediately. Then print it out. Print enthusiastically!"

"Sir, printing to do what the hell?" Elric bewilderedly asked.

"To distribute for free!" Kaelen answered curtly: "Whichever guy likes it then takes it. Lords liking it just take it, Church satisfied then bring it back."

Elric gaped his mouth open, intending to argue glibly, but then shut his throat back. He suddenly remembered a matter making him both cry and laugh. That Covenant that he was hugging tightly the original copy inside that iron chest, the time newly promulgating it, exactly he was the kid jumping up opposing the most harshly. Yet now in group seventeen, there was a Badger clan beastman old man even reciting fluently by heart better than him!

"One more matter." Sane lazily spoke up, leaning casually against the chair back: "Director Godfrey, you went to sea for how many years already?"

"Lord, nineteen endless years."

"Then you enlighten for me to hear seeing, stepping foot out of this ragged kingdom then what places are left?"

Godfrey respectfully stood up, stepping quickly to the wall-hanging map - the map personally redrawn exhaustingly by his own hand the time newly taking office.

He pointed his finger up the North of the mountain range, reporting that on the other side of the mountain range were three scattered lands, every day dragging each other out brawling just to fight for a river. Every land also claimed king claimed general, yet every king also wore ragged loincloths torn clothes. He slid his hand over the East coast, explaining that along the coastline there were fully seven autonomous cities specializing in the trading profession. These seven cities completely did not need kings, only having merchant councils baring teeth governing, and the laws then were like a tangled mess, every city one different way. Ultimately, he rubbed his finger down the vast immense land on the other side of the bay, then unconsciously lowered his voice mumbling.

"This place then I do not dare to utter a sound before the face of the Maritime Fleet’s people Lord." He cautiously said: "The four thousand human beings on my side were painstakingly transported returning from there. And four thousand people then means nothing, not equaling one percent of the human lives still stuck over that side."

The meeting room sank into silence.

Kaelen stared intently at the map for a long time, then snapped turning to Hollis.

"Can you print the Covenant out using the language on the other side of the bay?"

"Sir, small matter." The old man answered immediately, his hand had already begun darting the pen rustlingly: "Over group twelve has a few individuals fluent in that language, I borrow them over translating and it is done. However you give me permission to ask one sentence: We print a whole pile out then intend to send to what ghost?"

"Not yet sending to any guy at all." Kaelen smirked: "Just print it the hell out. Then we will personally carry our corpses going finding the receiving guy!"

That night, when Lyra had gotten into bed sinking into sleep, lamps and torches almost completely extinguished, on the City Hall bell tower still remained the silhouettes of two people.

"You want to go to Cathalan paving the road first or our husband and wife go together?" Sane gently asked.

"Go together." Kaelen pouted: "I completely am not foolish enough to carry my corpse into that city alone, rumors saying swarming crowdedly, even acting unculturedly, completely no guy bothers knowing what queuing is!"

Sane burst out laughing aloud, bent down placing a ’smack’ kiss onto his forehead.

"Then we go immediately."

"Go immediately huh? I still completely haven’t bothered packing luggage!"

"Packing doing what the hell." Sane pulled him sliding into close to his sturdy chest: "Just peering over a glance to clearly understand first, tomorrow finally calculating further. You just standing here guessing wildly guessing blindly then better fly straight into its center seeing to please the eyes."

The two people’s silhouettes flashed up once then disappeared completely, abandoning the bare bell tower along with the flickering lantern swinging at the rope end.

Blinking an eye one second later, at a place eleven days’ horse journey away toward the North, two human silhouettes suddenly appeared on the roof of a three-story building, looking down covering the Cathalan Royal Capital.

Under their feet was an entire dingy gray tiled roof sea stretching endlessly, chimneys sprouting jaggedly like a dead forest. This hour then almost completely no house dared to light lamps, because lighting oil in this land was excruciatingly expensive, four times as much as in Lyra! Inside several cramped twisting winding alleys leading out to the river bank, people slept randomly anywhere right on the doorsteps, cowering shrinking into trembling lumps under several torn ragged burlap sacks.

Far far away toward the West, behind a soaring high city wall strip, there was a mansion complex brightly lit with lamps and torches from the beginning to the end of the row. That was exactly the Royal Palace.

Kaelen stood on the roof, his cold eyes looking down at the four hundred thousand human beings sleeping languidly in the darkness, then again opened his palm checking one more time.

This time, he completely did not see even a single faith thread strand.

"Four hundred thousand." Kaelen mumbled, his voice going completely hoarse: "You try saying seeing, among the four hundred thousand human beings currently hiding burrowing here, are there exactly how many lives managing to automatically spell out their own very names?"

Sane did not answer back that question. He only silently stepped arriving close beside Kaelen, wrapping entirely his opened hand then gently closing it, exactly like the way people folded a pure white notebook not yet stained with a single ink drop.

"Then we start right from that alley." He said in a deep voice.

Kaelen closed his eyes, saying in a hoarse voice: "Too slow. Knowing when finally catching up to that side here..."

Sane kissed his forehead, saying: "Baby, we lost nearly ten years to finally bring the Beastman World to become a modern civilized society. After that, during the ten years we were absent, our children used cheating methods to make them develop to a super technology World, inside your heart you are currently losing balance therefore you finally feel the gap is too large.

In this place we have to start again from the beginning, even the difficulty level is even harder than when in the Beastman World. Because at least over that side there was still faith, while this place, completely nothing remains left."

Kaelen did not say anything more, only rested his head on Sane’s chest. The Great World had up to several hundred countries, all were equally rotten and decaying. The number of living beings believing in the existence of Deities could be counted on the fingers.

Looking at time passing by every moment, while the humans in this place even their own names completely could not read, how could Kaelen not be impatient here?