“Uncle Cobilio, you mean… you agree?”
Roye was not a man of deep calculation; his emotions were written plainly on his face.
Seeing that the matter was about to be settled, he could not help but beam with joy, his body leaning forward toward Cobilio.
Cobilio gave an extremely light, shallow nod, so subtle that Roye almost thought it was an illusion.
However, he did not continue discussing the matter, instead shifting the topic.
“Since I was a child, my mother always exhorted me on one thing.”
His expression was difficult to read, carrying a hint of sentimentality as he looked at Roye.
His calloused index finger tapped lightly on the military map laid out between them.
Cobilio lowered his head and chuckled.
“She told me to stay away from the Dust People.”
The tapping finger stopped, resting exactly on the location of the Gate of the Abyss.
Roye’s smile froze, his joy dissipating as a new wave of fear took hold—the fear of failing his father, and especially the fear of failing the expectations of Big Brother Jon.
Even so, he summoned his courage.
He stood up and spoke to Cobilio with urgent persuasion.
“Uncle Cobilio… you are the senior in the military whom Jon respects the most. Jon has been waiting for you!”
“Don’t be in such a hurry, don’t be in such a hurry.”
Cobilio waved his hand at him, signaling for him to sit down, sit steady, and not get agitated.
Roye had no choice but to sit back down, but he pursed his lips tightly, clearly unwilling to give up.
“Naturally, I was quite indignant.”
Cobilio kept his head half-lowered, his tone slightly self-mocking as he spoke slowly.
“To be honest, after all… haha, in their eyes, what is the difference between the Dust People and me? A mere actor, a performer, a bastard son crawled out from the womb of a woman who couldn’t even be presented in public?”
“Actually, I quite enjoy spending time with the Dust People in the Imperial Capital. Because when I show off in front of them, they truly look up to me. That envy, sourness, and jealousy in their eyes… wow! To use an appropriate metaphor—it is exactly how I feel when I look at my half-brothers.”
Cobilio narrowed his eyes and smiled.
Roye listened blankly, suddenly feeling a sense of shared sorrow.
“So, I asked my mother, why?”
“This was her explanation.”
Cobilio raised his head again.
The ripples in his eyes were no longer clear, stained with the turbidity gathered from the grime and dust.
“The old lady said—there are all kinds of suffering in this world, and someone must be born to endure them. Even if a god descends to the world, that cannot be changed. For someone to be high, someone must be low. For someone to be noble, someone must be base.”
“If I am always looking at the Dust People, I will inevitably feel heartache and pity. But that pity is useless; it only tortures oneself. Perhaps, if I look for too long, I might even give birth to some ideas I shouldn’t have. Such ideas would only turn my life upside down and cause me to fall into hell. So… I must be like her. I must learn to close my eyes. Learn not to look,” Cobilio said slowly.
Roye’s heart instantly went half-cold, feeling that today’s mission was destined to fail.
In the end, he had failed everyone’s trust in him.
His heart was heavy beyond words.
He forced himself to give Cobilio a junior’s salute, his face pale as he withdrew in disappointment.
“I apologize, Lord Cobilio. I have disturbed you.”
“Stay seated.”
Cobilio tapped the table again, looking at him with amusement.
“Look at you, getting impatient again. I only said she made me learn it; did I tell you I actually succeeded?”
Roye looked up in shock, overcome with joy.
“You mean…”
“I learned it.”
Cobilio nodded.
Roye’s smile got stuck halfway again.
“But that brat Jon kicked the patch right off for me.Dammit, we’re all men—how can he be so fired up? As expected, Heroes specialized in the War Sequence can never escape the word ‘madness’.”
Cobilio stood up while cursing.
As he quickly donned his armor, he haphazardly used Wind Magic, turning the room into a complete mess.
Roye was stunned and asked stutteringly, “Uncle Cobilio, what are you…”
The sound of the bed being smashed drew the attention of the patrolling guards.
Hurried footsteps gradually approached the door.
“Boy, remember, you came here with Jon today. Jon and I had a great battle; I lost by a narrow margin of three moves and was abducted by him. Do you understand?”
Cobilio was fully armored now.
He stepped onto the windowsill and suddenly turned back to give instructions.
Roye stood with his mouth agape for a long time before coming to his senses and nodding vigorously.
“When my adjutant comes in later, I don’t need to teach you what to say, do I?”
Roye quickly nodded again.
Only then did Cobilio show a gratified expression of “a student worth teaching.”
He jumped out of the window and left.
Almost the next second, the anxious patrol soldiers kicked the door open and entered.
They were all stunned to see only Roye in the room.
Roye’s heart tightened, but he quickly mustered his momentum, standing tall to lie to the guards.
“Your commander has been abducted by the Hero! If you don’t want anything to happen to him, then reorganize the troops tonight and go to the disaster area after dawn to follow the Hero’s orders. Remember, bring the Dragon.”
The patrol soldiers were indecisive and quickly brought in the Vice Adjutant.
The Vice Adjutant entered, took a casual glance, and laughed.
Then he leaned in close to Roye’s ear and whispered, “This room… was trashed by my boss himself, wasn’t it?”
Roye’s heart instantly seized.
His eyes widened as he stared at the Vice Adjutant in disbelief.
“Fine, you don’t have to answer. I know.”
The Vice Adjutant clicked his tongue.
“How strange. Would the Hero really need to make such a big commotion just to beat our boss? The boss is really something, quite good at putting a gold leaf on his own face… Leave the rest to me.”
The Vice Adjutant gave Roye a military salute.
His tone was serious and his voice loud.
“Tomorrow morning, at dawn, at least this unit of ours will assemble before the Hero. Please say one thing to the Hero on our behalf—”
“The Red Swallow Regiment of the 377th Route of the Imperial Guard is willing to fight by your side once more!”
Roye stared blankly at the Vice Adjutant, his lips trembling, unable to speak for a long time.
A breath, both hot and choking, was stuck in his throat.
At first, he felt he had many words to say, but when they were about to leave his mouth, those thousand words ultimately turned into one:
“Yes!”
The wind swept up his voice and carried it to another room in the City Lord’s Manor.
At that time, Yuna had been woken up.
Her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she quietly looked at the middle-aged man before her, who appeared casual and uninhibited but was actually acting so pretentiously it was almost greasy.
Rocky held a gold-rimmed pipe bought from the black market, posing in what he thought was a high-class, elegant posture.
“Miss Yuna, that painting on the wall is quite nice. It has a lot of style.”
Yuna said coldly, “I bought that out of pity for a destitute artist on the street. It cost a total of thirty copper coins.”
Rocky’s movement as he smoked stiffened slightly, but he quickly regained his smooth composure.
“Then your luck is quite good.”
He worked harder to mimic the movements of a noble, being even more meticulous and serious than a true noble like Yuna.
“Say what you have to say; I am very busy. What exactly did Jon send you here to tell me?”
Yuna was somewhat impatient.
Rocky felt no internal fluctuation regarding this; he had long since grown accustomed to being treated with cold words or even mockery and disdain by these noble ladies.
His dignity was not worth a few measly cents.
For money, he could sell his dignity without hesitation.
“Oh, alright, Saintess. Then let’s get straight to the point. Please, Saintess, reorganize the Holy Army tonight and bring them to meet the Hero tomorrow morning to follow his command.”
“Impossible!”
Yuna became even more impatient.
She didn’t even bother to feign politeness anymore—after all, she was truly busy and lacked the mood to deal with a vulgar and pretentious Dust Person in a private setting.
“I have already explained to Jon that this matter is very disadvantageous for me. I cannot do as he says!”
She refused sternly.