CH 193

The brief meeting quickly came to an end, and Jon and Green Feather led the elite combat group to quickly join the remaining battle.

This battle, triggered by the Abyssal Rift, was coming to an end.

The old city of Baila stabilized, and Laisuo City was restored. The monsters released from the Abyssal Rift were slaughtered, and the rift itself was destroyed. Only the nearby strongholds near the Iron Armor Fortress remained, but they no longer posed a threat.

The expedition team, composed of Thalorian's most elite fighters, quickly cleared up this last remaining threat.

With everyone's efforts and the heavy price paid, the battle named "Giant" by the Military War Department finally came to a victorious end.

But the Dark Tide was not over yet.

The battle between light and darkness, fire and mist, humans and monsters would continue.

---

That night, Rode returned to the royal city with Soren.

The mission of the elite combat group was completed, and they quickly returned to their respective areas. They were all key figures in various regions, squads, battalions, and strongholds. They couldn't stay away from their territories for too long. This operation was a risky forced mobilization, but because the operation to recapture Laisuo City went much smoother than expected, they had time to assist the Iron Armor Fortress.

The rapid recovery of the Iron Armor Fortress further stabilized the situation in various regions.

And a more stable situation allowed the Military War Department to have more available forces, which in turn led to further stability in various regions.

This was a virtuous cycle.

On the contrary, it could become a vicious cycle.

Once such a situation occurred, the royal city would have to fight for survival.

In that case, the losses suffered by the entire Thalorian human race would be far greater than what they were facing now.

The key to forming a virtuous cycle was that they quickly found the entrance to the Abyssal Rift and successfully killed the giant monsters that supported the rift's existence.

Therefore, someone in the Military War Department had already proposed giving Rode the first credit for the "Giant" battle.

Of course, this was currently just a draft proposal.

Rode was just a new student who had just entered the academy. At the age of sixteen, being credited with such a great achievement was already enough to be awarded the "Great Medal" and recorded in the "Great People Chronicles" of Thalorian, alongside those who had long been famous.

This was a bit excessive.

Therefore, the commendation was temporarily postponed until the investigation team clarified the causes and consequences of the entire incident and understood all the details of Theodore's death before discussing rewards.

Rode did not return to the academy but was directly taken to the royal district located in the deepest part of the upper city.

This was his second time coming here.

The royal district was the most core area of Thalorian. Less than a hundred thousand people lived here, all of them were the most prominent and important figures in the royal city, as well as the immediate family members who sacrificed themselves for humanity.

From a bird's-eye view, the royal district was simple, majestic, and magnificent. Every building in the residential area was exquisite, luxurious, and well-arranged. They were always under the protection of the Sacred Flame and would not be invaded by the Black Mist or attacked by monsters.

Being able to live here was the ultimate dream of everyone, but only a few could actually achieve it.

And Rode briefly realized this dream.

He was placed in a villa near the castle of the Military War Department, waiting to be interrogated by the investigation team.

However, Soren told him that this "interrogation" was neutral and told him not to worry. He just needed to recount the whole incident.

Rode was happy. He was finally not considered guilty and brought here.

The villa had all the necessary living facilities, and the Royal City Service Department even specially arranged a group of maids to take care of his daily life.

"The Green Gourd Immortal Sword"

This made Rode slightly troubled.

These maids were too professional. It was fine to feed him and give him water, but did they have to check if he had anything hidden in his body while bathing and wiping his butt?

The most troublesome thing was that they clearly came with a certain surveillance purpose. They would come up with various excuses to strip him of his clothes.

Naturally, nothing was left in his clothes. They were all exposed.

During the bath, a maid would come in under the pretext of something, trying to see if he had anything hidden inside his body.

What was even more outrageous was that when he wanted to sleep, he found someone under the bed.

Rode finally managed to drive them out, but something was off when he lay on the bed. When he lifted the blanket, he found a row of maids underneath.

They claimed that they were providing Rode, the esteemed lord, with a floor heating service that had the natural temperature of a human body. This made Rode so angry that his nose almost twisted.

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"If you suspect me, just drag me out and burn me. Why bother with these tricks? I can't believe I fell for Soren's nonsense!"

"Get out, all of you! Get out!"

Seeing that Rode was truly angry, the maids had no choice but to leave the bedroom with their heads down, coming out from the wardrobe, the dressing mirror, the wall panel, and the ceiling. They left the room one by one.

The last maid bowed deeply to Rode before leaving.

"I'm sorry, Lord Rode. Please don't be angry. We just wanted to understand your preferences and habits in order to provide you with more comfortable services, to prevent you from developing psychological problems during long battles, and to avoid extreme actions or soul corruption. But our techniques were too clumsy, which caused your displeasure. We are truly sorry."

She bowed deeply again.

"We will return to the nursing academy for further training. Next time, we will definitely provide you with better services.""Good night, Lord Rode, please have a good rest."

She closed the door and walked out gently.

Rode scratched his head, feeling as if he had misunderstood them. He hadn't expected such services in the royal city.

But he wasn't really angry, it was just that he couldn't relax and enter his dreams with these people around.

"Well... I'll tell the service department tomorrow that I'm very satisfied with their service."

With that thought flashing through his mind, Rode's mood surged. He quickly jumped onto the bed, made a gesture, and entered the long-awaited dream.

A faint mist surrounded him, and the silent dreamland remained unchanged.

But the headmaster's spirit was gone.

A sense of loss rose in Rode's heart. He had hoped for a miracle, that he could still see the headmaster's figure when he entered the dream.

But unfortunately, it was just a dream.

The headmaster had left forever.

In his place, in the northernmost part of the dream, on a white marble square, stood a pure white statue.

He was tall, dressed in a standard headmaster's robe, holding a staff high in one hand, his eyes gentle, his face smiling, as if encouraging his juniors.

This was the statue of Theodore.

Below it, five lines were written in the language of dreams:

May fire purify my thoughts.

May goodness surround you like a fire.

May justice gather like moths to your light.

May all monsters turn to ashes.

May the sun illuminate all smiles on earth.

—Theodore Klemang, the greatest holder of the natural talent for curse magic, the noblest teacher, the most affectionate person.