Chapter 1 Heroes

A group of city sculptures had just been unveiled in the Church Square in the outer city of the royal capital. The sculptures depicted the heroes who had died in the Dragonspine Mountains two months prior.

To stabilize the hearts of the people and strengthen the cohesion of the Goddess's faith, the Radiant Church described the events in the Dragonspine Mountains as a miracle. To give this miracle greater public appeal, the priests and soldiers who died or went missing in the "Holy Day War" were listed as martyred saints and heavily promoted. This of course included District Chief Gelton, who had transformed himself into divine power, as well as a group of Northern mercenaries who had shone brightly during the event. Hao Ren and his group had been very active in organizing the evacuation, especially Lily, whose massive size made it impossible to ignore her. Those who had escaped from the Beinz region remembered this group of "mercenaries" well. After learning about the situation from Aoufella, the upper echelons of the church discussed it and decided to bestow the title of martyr...

So, through the carriage window, Hao Ren saw a group sculpture erected in the square outside. On it, Gelton and he were fighting tentacle monsters together…

However, the person who designed the sculpture seemed to have taken into account the special characteristics of Hao Ren and the others. The figures on it had been somewhat modified. Apart from Gelton and a few archbishops who were lifelike, Hao Ren and the others had been drastically altered. Basically, they were so beautiful that they didn't resemble themselves at all.

"I say... couldn't you have gotten my consent before making this?" Hao Ren looked at Aoufella with a wry smile. "The sculpture is one thing, but why did you have to give me the glorious death title?"

"It was my suggestion," Aoufella explained with a smile. "Do you want to be bothered endlessly as a household hero?"

Hao Ren: "Uh..."

"Anyone who managed to survive that 'holy war' would inevitably become the focus of attention. The image of you leading the refugees and fighting a bloody path through the tentacles of the evil god is already well-known. If the official news said you were still alive, do you know how many people would come looking for you?" Aoufella shook her head with a smile. "But at that time, you 'ascended to heaven.' Where could the church find people to replace you and show their faces? So, we could only say that you died gloriously."

Nangong Wuyue stuck out her tongue: "That makes sense... but it sounds weird."

Hao Ren waved his hand: "It's fine, it's fine. Now that you mention it, I don't have any objections. And to be honest, this isn't the first time. The Irim elves gave me a sculpture that was even more extreme. It looked like I was about to die heroically. At least you guys gave me a standing pose..."

Although he knew that being portrayed as dead felt a bit strange, Hao Ren deeply agreed with Aoufella's explanation. He was here to do serious business, and avoiding trouble was the top priority. But Becky seemed a little dejected: this girl was especially realistic. Her biggest wishes in this life were two things, to get rich and to become famous. Now that the church had publicized her as a sacrificed hero, she had indeed become famous, but the problem was that she was "dead"—she didn't even have the chance to go to the tavern and show off. What was the point of fame that couldn't be enjoyed? So, Becky shamelessly discussed it with Aoufella: "Your Excellency Aoufella, let me discuss something with you... can you get the Pope to change his tune and say that the legendary mercenary Becky fought her way out of a sea of corpses and lived? She didn't actually die..."

Aoufella looked at Becky with a puzzled expression: "What's the point of that?"

Becky slapped her thigh: "Do you know how awesome it is to brag in the first person!"

Hao Ren pushed Becky hard: "If you want to talk, then talk. Why are you slapping my leg?"

"Oh, I was sitting too close and slapped the wrong one—I was wondering why I couldn't feel anything."

Aoufella stared blankly at this group of saviors whose style was all wrong. She had lived for hundreds of years and had seen all kinds of big shots. The relics of heroes, villains, tyrants, and good generals could fill a wall in her treasure room, but she had never seen this style. But after a while, she smiled comfortably: "Okay, I'll discuss it with the Pope and the King. You guys are really interesting."

"Don't bother, this guy is a bit of a show-off. She'll calm down after this episode," Hao Ren quickly persuaded. "You're so busy with everything..."

"It's no trouble," Aoufella looked at Becky with a smile. Her whole aura seemed to suddenly change, from the steel-like sternness and seriousness to a very close demeanor. "Really, you guys are really interesting—I remembered when I was an adventurer hundreds of years ago. It seems to be similar to this girl. Haha, after so many years, I've been holding my face all day and almost forgot the bad habits of mercenaries and adventurers. Now I can finally recall some of them."

At this time, the carriage suddenly shook, and Hao Ren noticed that the noise from the streets outside had long since faded away. Obviously, the car had come to a relatively quiet place. After a while, the coachman in front gently knocked on the partition of the carriage: "Your Excellency, we have arrived."

Hao Ren and his party pushed open the door and got out of the car, and found that the car was parked in front of a large villa. The surrounding area was quite large and quiet, and high-end residences of the same scale could be seen everywhere. The cloths embroidered with family crests echoed each other on the side walls of the houses, which obviously belonged to prominent families. There was no doubt that this was the noble district of the royal capital, and the territory of the great nobles: being able to hang the family crest on the outer wall with huge silk was a privilege only granted to those with royal blood or old-fashioned nobles who had been hereditary for more than six generations.

High-ranking nobles all had their own manors and estates in various places, and even castle fiefdoms. The places where their families lived were basically outside the royal capital. However, the Horletta royal family had a regulation that the current heads of these nobles and the next generation of heirs must live in the noble district of the royal capital for a period of time each year. These noble districts were luxurious and high-end and were close to the palace. On the surface, living here was a kind of honor, but in fact, this was a kind of monitoring and deterrence by the royal family against the nobles—the several large-scale rebellions and suppressions since the founding of Horletta promoted the establishment and consolidation of this system.

Aoufella, who lived here, was the only exception: no one in the entire kingdom was more qualified or prestigious than her. Her position in Horletta had even surpassed the concept of "noble" and was almost a symbolic symbol. The royal family had no need to monitor this veteran who had almost single-handedly created the current situation, and in fact, there was no way to monitor her: from the king and the pope to the princes and ministers, who hadn't been beaten by Aoufella when they were young...

The only reason Aoufella lived in this place was that it was closer to the palace, making it easier to clock in for work.

Of course, Hao Ren didn't know these interwoven details. He just thought that the houses here were quite grand: anyway, they were better than his own...

A servant came forward to greet them, and Aoufella nodded to a middle-aged man who looked like a butler: "These are my distinguished guests, prepare the best rooms for them to rest. Also, arrange for Posem to go to the cathedral and tell Cardinal John a word: the foreign guests have come to visit, please have the banquet that the two adults ordered prepared."

Hao Ren followed Aoufella into the marshal's residence. This magnificent building was in the typical upper-class Horletta style, with a spacious front garden and a stone road that stretched from the main building to the gate. A long rain-sheltered corridor covered the stone road. On both sides of the corridor, you could see carefully manicured flower beds, but the style of the flowers in the flower beds was very simple, only a kind of light purple, simple little flower.

"I heard that Lord Aoufella likes the purple cross star flower the most," Becky never thought that she would actually be walking on the corridor of Aoufella's residence one day. At this time, every step she took carried an expression of pilgrimage, muttering to herself as she walked, "So it's true."

"The purple cross star flower is the best flower in the world," Aoufella said with a smile. "It is cold-resistant, drought-resistant, and not afraid of wind and rain. Unless it is cut off, it will bloom on time for thirty days every year, as punctual as a soldier. More importantly, this flower can not only be eaten, but also relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Hundreds of years ago, mercenaries and adventurers regarded it as a lucky flower. This thing grows near the wilderness and ruins, and I don’t know how many lives it has saved."

The servant stepped forward and opened the door, and Aoufella led everyone into the hall on the first floor of the villa: "Sit down wherever you like, I'll have someone prepare tea and snacks, but don't eat too much, the opportunity to freeload off the king and pope is not common."

Hao Ren curiously looked at the magnificent but not luxurious furnishings in the hall, and suddenly saw a row of portraits hanging on the wall not far away: "Who are they?"

"The kings of Horletta in the past," Aoufella pointed to the portraits with her chin, "From Gadon III to the current king's father."

Hearing the name "Gadon III", Becky suddenly realized that she finally had the opportunity to unravel a mystery that had been lingering in the mercenary gossip circle for a long time. The truth of the story that had been talked about by countless playwrights and single female mercenaries was laid out in front of her, and the person involved was standing right in front of her!

Becky's eyes shone with excitement: "Lord Aoufella! How did you and Prince Gadon meet? And why did you promise to help him guard this kingdom for more than four hundred years?"

Aoufella was silent for a moment, then her face suddenly softened: "Because Horletta pays well..."