Border Guardian Hal Akircius

The abandoned city, with its silence in two names, was filled with timeless fighting.

The sound of a fierce meeting of the sword echoes, taking an intermission once after each of the two men releases a sharp slash.

The location is a martial arts field trail in the administrative district of Cilentium.

Again the two shadows meet hard, and leave.

'Hmm, that's quite skillful, but still sweet! Then you can't protect your people! New Neighborhood Guard Officer!!

"Damn... you're doing great for me when you're so retired!

"Of what! Working out juniors was my first job, and I couldn't do my job in my active life! Now it's time to do your job!!

"Hey...! Holy shit!!

It's an old-fashioned armor-head man who gets a sharp poke and chases a lagging hull.

Flipping a deep red cloak, the armor-headed man rolls out a swirling sharp poke again.

The armored helmet man stops his body and quickly draws his sword when he realizes Hal's intentions to pull him into his own pocket without a knife.

Hal pokes through a gap pulled by a man in his armor helmet and chases him for a flying leg.

Shake down from the upper level with all the weight of Hull on it.

The roaring blade approached the brain of the armor-held man, but the man slashed his sword obliquely and took it with a slight force.

The sword, sword, and knife meet each other, and the spark is scattered; it is imminent.

'Whoa! That's good, that's good now!! If I'd been caught shooting a poke like that, I'd have been slapped in the back of the neck and died!

"... what kind of guy are you already dead!! Just passed away!!

"You're not being smart with your flourishing predecessor, you worthy workout, let's plant him carefully from my courtesy!!

Hal pushes the knife up and creates a gap at the mercy of his thoughtful strength, letting the armor-headed man kick his foot and leave forcefully, poking at the cutting edge of the knife and screaming.

"If the hero Altrius finds out he's not called to heaven to wander, the children of the whole empire will be disillusioned!

"Wow haha! I'm dead and I'm not a ghost of a protector! The kids will be happy to cry!!!!

Altrius, a hero who wielded his sword in front of him and laughed off Hal's words in a lavish manner.

The feet are blurred and unclear, and the view behind them can be seen through its body.

Even the lashes are lit with three blue fireballs around them.

Strength builds on Altrius' clear body, and Hal tenses and forces himself into his arms.

'Then I'll be damned!!

"Damn! I'm in trouble!!

Depending on Altrius' mood, Hal set his sword in front of him.

It is after noon that Hal and Erreisia arrived at the waiting village of Almar in Arkiando.

Immediately Arkiando, the village chief and chief, greeted him and was invited to the Arkiando mansion with his guidance.

The villagers were equally surprised and bewildered that Hal was not alone and came to the village with Erlacia.

Hal, who was put through to the dining room at the mansion, received one additional order from Arkiando.

"I see... Harmonium, is it the quiet capital now?

Hal crushes when he sees an order from the Empire that he has received from Arkian to himself.

Alkiando also kept an additional order addressed to Hull apart from the request.

Letters and deliveries have transmission networks in place, including in the Empire and surrounding countries, and are still being used for their convenience in the territory of the Armar tribe where the state was once located.

Empires also have their own delivery organizations, but less sensitive diplomatic and internal documents often use the Western Postal Association.

The postal network using postmen, including early horses and messenger birds, worked quite well, and postmen also came directly to Arkiando's source to hand it over.

Also separate from this, use transmission stones for locations that take time to deliver.

Transmission stones can be divided and have the strange characteristic that when a document is copied into one transmission stone, the document is transmitted to the divided transmission stone.

Mutual communication is possible, and no matter how far away it is, this characteristic is not lost, and while convenience is issued for transmission to remote areas, confidentiality is lacking.

In order to maintain its confidentiality, a postal association was established that was separate from the national organization.

The postal association is also involved in delivery and transportation other than transmission stone transmission, and as in this case, there is not much confidentiality, but other documents to the extent that it is difficult to be known will be delivered directly by dedicated employees.

The additional order thus delivered had ordered the installation of bases in the Harmonium, once installed by the Empire as a preparation for the North, and the reconstruction of urban functions.

"Silent Capital... is it?

"Oh, that's what they call it now, but..."

Hal sighs heavily at Ellesia's inquiry.

Even though forty years have already passed, it is an ancient battlefield in which the Empire and the Cliffonams fought hard. And what about reviving a city that used to serve as the spire city of the empire, where the imperials were wiped out and no longer there, but where many Cliffonhams could be considered symbols of the scattering of their lives and pushing the empire back?

It can give the impression that the Empire does not respect the Cliffonams.

There was a battle, not a hundred years and a thousand years ago, but only forty years ago.

Many will remember the battle, and many will now join the battle and have survived.

Although the Empire and the Cliffonams are alienated, they are not willing to wage war on the present empire, so it should be better not to irritate their neighbours too much for the sake of border stability.

"Ugh, is this the left transition...

When Hull dropped his disappointed shoulder with the document in his hand, which I think puts him in his place again, Erlacia leaned in gently and held Hull's shoulder.

"The city of silence is our new home, I'm glad to live alone.

El Laicia with a sobering look.

His nose is subtly rough, too.

"... what time are you going to follow me?

Looking back at Hal's face, who looked up and stared half-eyed, Ellesia replied sarcastically.

"Huh? What are you talking about? It's always been.

"... give me a break.

Don't miss the gap that Hal has taken the young man by calling him inspecting and sourcing and going out to see the village, and Arkiando talks worryingly against Erreisia.

"Dear Cleric, why are you traveling with the Imperial?

"He helped me kidnapped by thieves along the way, even though it was the imperials who kidnapped me.

"... that the Imperials would save our lives scorning the Barbarians? Besides, he's a government official, right?

Arkiando, who turns around the villages when he says he is a patrol, and is partially disgusted by imperial soldiers and following officials who are demanding contributions, unbelievably refutes the words of Erlacia.

"No, it's true, you just got my load back, you got the knot.

He held the white water served with his hands and said that Ellesia, who was gracefully enjoying it, dyed her cheeks slightly red.

While also slightly surprised by the way it looked, Arkiando unwittingly raised his voice.

"!! What, the priest's knot!? So that yellow symbol wasn't a mistake!

"Yes."

El Laicia answers with pleasure.

"But... the king will be angry...

"This is fate, too.

To Arkiando's contemplative face, Erlacia answered with no sign of willingness.

Hal and Ellesia left the mansion after checking their travel schedules the following morning, having stayed for a while at the Alchiando mansion.

Hal carries a bow and arrow, a knife on his back, Ellesia has an oak tree wand, and on each back is a backpack with two days' worth of food and amenities.

"In the meantime, I want to go to the duty station and figure out what the state is.

Hal told Arkiando pale and left.

El Laicia is, of course, a directional guide.

Harmonia, the doomed capital of the north.

The abandoned city, now called Silentium, is nearly half a day's walk southwest of the village of Almar.

The majority of the ruins have been destroyed after the war, and the stone and building materials available have been taken away.

All that remains is a portion of the base where the 21st Regiment was stationed and only one corner that was the administrative district, within less than a tenth of the height of the hour.

However, the local Almar tribe is not even close because its surroundings are a dangerous zone where the dead of war are garrisoned and fierce demons and beasts roam.

No dead spirit appeared from within the high sun on the boulder, but demons and beasts appeared a little on Hal's path.

Hal chose to spend as much time hiding or changing course as he could, but when he couldn't avoid it, he eliminated it using a bow and a knife.

"If there's no Necromancer out there, I can't help you much.

That being said, El Laicia strikes down the demon flying with a sturdy oak wand and strikes down the demon bird with the ray magic unleashed after a short chant.

"... how did you get caught by a bandit with that skill?

"I was alarmed, I was tied up when I realized.

"... well.

Hal answered weakly as he retrieved the fallen demon bird.

The two men who arrived unexpectedly early at Cilentium began investigating the remains quickly, but nothing novel.

There are no ruined or burnt marks for doomed in the war, and the trenches themselves are undamaged, although cobblestone roads and dust accumulate in the drains in buildings preserved in clean conditions.

In addition, the internal walls that appear to have been built to defend the administrative district also remain to the extent of a person's tall height, and Hal has a strange impression.

"I've been here before, too... but it's still odd, it's kept clean whenever I see it.

Though the grass is growing, the street trees that were planted on the road would have only grown larger, it doesn't feel like they are growing out of everywhere unrestrained.

However, there were no signs of people entering, and I felt unnatural because I thought I had caught fire or camped and couldn't find any traces.

When he walked around the ruins for a while and was close to the corner of the Legion Base, all of a sudden, Hal felt people's signs behind him and looked back.

Erlacia also looked back in the same direction surprised by people's signs, not to Hull.

'Ooh, you're an imperial... I miss you, it's been over forty years.

There was the figure of a senior Imperial Army officer who solidified himself in a silver armor helmet.

Erlacia desperately pulls Hull's sleeve, but Hull raised his name when he smiles with more nostalgia than oddity.

"I'm Hal Akircius, Imperial Northern Border Officer and Border Guardian Officer.

"Hmm, high ranking civil servant which, gently painful, I am Gaius Altrius, commander of the Imperial Northern Guard and leader of the flourishing 21st Regiment.

Hal's smile froze.