Chapter 154: Life is like a dream, how much joy can one have? [5k chapter]

November 1444th, 11 in the Imperial Calendar, was a rare sunny day.

The morning mist was blown away between the mountains by the bright red sun, and the sky was as blue as freshly dyed silk, smooth and clear.

The sky enveloped the circular mountain range of Blackbone Swamp, and below that was Fort Jeanne d'Arc.

Fort Joan of Arc is like a gray patch, sewn into the pale yellow grass by the white canal.

The refugee camp is the stitch of this patch.

In the open space outside the camp, Horn posed towards the sun and spit out a breath of mist dyed orange by the sun, and then he shuddered.

The weather is getting colder.

However, Jeanne, who always gets up early, did not come to supervise Horn practicing the Knight's Breathing Method this morning, which surprised him a little.

Did he sleep in because it was too cold? Was he mad because he forgot to announce his engagement to her yesterday?

Standing up from the grass, the stream crossed Horn's sight.

Large gray-white stones paved the path to the stream, and the clear blue stream water floated over the road like mist.

After wiping the sweat off his body with a hot towel, Horn walked to the stream, half-knelt on the soft sand, and immersed his face in the stream water.

The cold stream water brushed smoothly across Horn's cheeks, and the tip of his nose quickly turned red.

This also suppressed Horn's restless heart, as if only at this moment would he stop thinking about those nonsense things.

He didn't raise his head until his face began to feel hot and painful due to the stream water.

He looked at his reflection in the water. It was a young man with black hair and black eyes. However, he gradually found it difficult to recall the face from his previous life, and it even began to seem unfamiliar to him.

When the water calmed down, he realized that the reflection in the water was not just his own, there was also a black shadow.

"Jeanne?" Horn looked up blankly at Jeanne in front of him. If it weren't for the familiarity they had gained over this period of time, he would have thought he had recognized the wrong person.

The girl did not tie her long black hair up as usual. Her bright hair hung down her back with a hint of gold at the ends.

At this moment, Jeanne was wearing a black silk long dress. Her smooth shoulders and chest were covered with gauze, and a short cape with black and purple trim was tied below her collarbone above her elbows.

"How is it? Does it look good?" Jeanne looked down awkwardly, "This dress was given to me by Sister Sissi."

"Only a blind person would think it's ugly." Standing up and looking at the girl in front of him, Horn subconsciously said what was in his heart.

The morning light shone through her profile, seeming to penetrate her skin, making it glow like jade.

"We're leaving tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Ah."

"Can I take a leave? I've been staying in the camp these days and haven't been around here yet."

"Of course, some things can be done by those brats in the Boy Scouts."

"Well, brother, can you take me for a walk around here?"

Jeanne held out her hand to Horn, her face redder than the sun in the sky.

…………

Horses were running up and down the road in the wilderness, and sparse trees stood like sentinels on the yellow-green wilderness.

Birds flew up from the fields and landed on the scarecrow's head. In the ruins of the thatched and wooden houses, refugees and beggars slept or died on the door panels.

Horn and Jeanne both rose and fell with the horses.

Considering that there are now a large number of refugee mercenaries gathered in Jeanne d'Arc, as well as robbers hiding in the folds of the city.

Horn felt that it was safer in the wild, so he brought Jeanne here.

The two walked along the endless fields, crossed the stone bridge over the stream, and passed by the statues and abandoned churches on the roadside.

Further ahead, the road was almost covered with weeds, and rabbit holes and vole holes dotted the withered fields.

Horn and Jeanne sometimes rode their horses and ran, sometimes dismounted and led the horses through the church ruins, or chased low-flying sparrows.

At first, perhaps it was the black silk dress that restrained Jeanne, so she leaned sideways and just trotted on her horse.

Horn rode his horse, sometimes coming around from the left and patting her left shoulder, sometimes coming around from the right and tapping her on the head.

This finally annoyed Jeanne. She didn't care about her long skirt, and wielding the whip, she caught up with Horn and snatched his whip.

"Come on." Jeanne waved the whip in her hand, "Catch me and I'll give it to you."

Horn drove his horse clumsily and followed behind Jeanne.

His riding skills were far inferior to Jeanne's. The felt hat was right at his hand, but it flew away at a high speed.

On the long golden plain, Horn and Jeanne chased each other on the riverbank and the path.

Only when Jeanne realized that her dress would get wrinkled did she slow down her horse and let Horn grab her hand.

"Got you."

"Goo~"

Horn looked at Jeanna's belly, and Jeanna's originally reserved face instantly turned red.

To be honest, this was not the first time that the two of them had their stomachs growling with hunger since they were little, but when Jeanna was in front of Horn, she felt indescribably shy.

"What are you looking at? No looking, no listening, cover your ears!" Jeanne said angrily.

Only then did Horn realize that it was already past noon.

"Okay, you stay here and I'll go get something to eat."

After tying the two horses to the side of the road, Jeanne got some dead branches and dry wood to start a fire, while Horn picked up a stick, sharpened his sword, and ran towards the stream.

Jeanne's stomach growled for the third time before Horn returned with two large fat fish on a straw rope.

He rolled up his trousers and there were traces of river water on his calves and wrists.

"The fish are really fat in autumn." Horn grinned.

Looking at the fat fish roasting on the fire, Jeanna looked at Horn and said, "When will you learn how to fish?"

"When I was little, I often went fishing with my friends..."

"When?" Jeanne asked blankly, "You haven't paid the creek tax, so why would Barnett allow you to fish?"

"Oh, I remembered it wrong." Horn, who accidentally let the cat out of the bag, quickly made up for it, "Just now I met a villager who asked me if I had paid the river and forest tax. I thought I was going to be in trouble.

I wanted to lie to him and tell him I was a noble, but when he saw the ring Halkin gave me, he just left without me having to say anything.

Jeanne did not reply. She looked at the blazing firewood. Horn could not see her expression through the smoke.

Maybe I’m too hungry, so I’d better eat first.

As Horn expected, Jeanna was just too hungry before, and after eating the grilled fish, she was obviously in a much better mood.

After spitting out the fish bone, the two men touched their bloated bellies and fell down on the man-high weeds by the roadside at the same time. The grass was soft and warmed by the sun.

"Do you remember? When we were in the Red Mill Village, we would lie down on the haystacks after farm work, just like this."

Jeanne turned her head and looked at Horn.

Horn lay on the grass, looking at the sky with his eyes open, but Jeanna could feel that he had fallen asleep.

All the noisy sounds faded away, leaving only the clear and distant sky.

It was not until this time that Horn realized that he had not taken a vacation for a long time, from the Moulin Rouge Village to Jeanne d'Arc.

Horn and Jeanne did not continue playing, but lay on the grass at the same time, watching the white clouds in the sky pass by, recede, and pass by again like the tide.

As the sunlight gradually turned red, Horn suddenly woke up and sat up from the weeds.

"It's time to go back."

Jeanne also sat up, her silk dress stained with mud and weeds, which she picked off one by one in distress.

After hearing Horn's words, Jeanne took out something that looked like a pendant from the pocket of her cloak.

Jeanna pulled out the half-sword from Horn's waist. Horn did not resist at all and let her tie the pendant-like thing to the hilt.

"What is this?" Horn flicked the hardwood flying saucer-shaped black bead hanging from the base of the hilt.

Jeanne placed the beads between her index and middle fingers, and the string went around her palm and wrapped around the back of her hand:
"This is called a sword bead. When you hold the sword with the sword bead wrapped around it, firstly, it will be more stable when you hold the sword with one hand, and secondly, it will prevent the sword from slipping out of your hand and you won't be able to pick it up again."

Following Jeanna's instructions, Horn wrapped the sword bead around the back of his hand and tried to chop the air. It was indeed much steadier than before.

Stroking the rough sword bead, Horn looked at Jeanne, who was lying on the haystack with a silly smile, and pondered for half a second.

Finally, he sheathed his sword, turned around, and pulled Jeanne out of the weeds: "Come on, I'm going to take you to the last place."

"Didn't you say you were leaving? It's almost evening now, is it too late?" "It's still in time, let's go, get on the horse."

In the forest, which had been quiet for who knows how many years, the sudden sound of horse hooves was heard again.

Passing through the intersecting branches, the remaining sunlight drew spots of light on the ground.

The horse's hooves stepped on the light spot, making it ripple like water, and the spotted horse under the seat neighed with pride.

Jeanne sat sideways in the saddle, resting her head on Horn's chest, her long skirt around her ankles rippled in the grass-scented wind.

"Where are we going?"

Jeanna looked ahead. The dark forest in front of her looked like where a witch lived. It was so cold and dark that it seemed like another world.

"Our destination." Horn's hand holding the reins was a little stiff. "I heard from Halkin that this is the only place near Zhendark Castle worth visiting in late autumn."

Gathering the hair that fell on her cheeks behind her ears, Jeanna put her ear against Horn's chest again. She could hear the clear and chaotic heartbeat.

Rumbling, it was as if there were two hearts beating at the same time, just like when he hugged her and said, "I believe you."

Horn was dressed in coarse peasant clothes, while Jeanne looked like an aristocrat who had just escaped from a dinner party.

It's just like the peasant in the chivalric novel who eloped with the noble lady.

Jeanne's face felt slightly hot again.

Horn silently urged his horse to speed up again, as if the darkness was chasing him from behind.

In the gaps between the dark pine and beech trees, the war horses swept the deep fog to both sides.

The moss-covered trees approached them rapidly and became blurred before their eyes, while the light spots under the horses' hooves became increasingly intense.

"arrive."

The sunlight returned to Jeanne's world and she squinted her eyes, but when she saw what was in front of her, her eyes widened involuntarily.

The world almost completely quieted down at this moment.

The red light of the setting sun shakes the maple leaves all over the mountain, the fresh and cold fragrance waves drift in the wind, and the whole mountain is swaying with the evening.

Billions of maple leaves rustled in unison, surrounded by the green river water printed with purple-red sunset glow, and the whole mountain was burning with red.

Under the branches and maple leaves, the green grass is painted noisily. The boundary between the red maple and the green grass cannot be seen clearly, they are blurred together.

Sitting sideways on the horse, hugging Horn's waist, Jeanna's posture was the best viewing position. She sat there blankly, unable to say a word.

The evening breeze lifted her skirt, and red leaves swirled around her ankles.

She looked up and discovered that the dark green pine and beech trees on both sides of the road had turned into rustling red maple trees at some point.

The half-yellow and half-red maple leaves fell like golden rain, falling into Horn and Jeanne's collars in the wind.

Horn reined in the naughty horse, jumped off its back, and tied the horse to a tree beside the road.

He held Jeanne's waist and tried to lift her off the horse.

But Jeanne jumped off the horse by herself. She walked towards the mountain made of red maples, stepped on the grass covered with maple leaves, and stared blankly at everything in front of her.

The sea of ​​maple leaves swayed slowly, as if greeting Jeanne.

"Brother, is there such scenery in that little paradise you mentioned?"

"Yes, but generally speaking, it's hard to watch it alone. You'll only see internet celebrities and old men and women walking around in strange postures on the thick maple leaves."

"Do you miss that place?"

"I hated it there." Horn paused for five seconds, "But when I left, I missed it."

"So do you like it here? Do you like Jeanne d'Arc and Chateau Jeanne d'Arc?"

Pretending not to hear, Horn just looked up at the setting sun on the maple leaves, which was unknowingly hiding behind the mountain.

The setting sun sank behind the mountain. The red light halfway up the mountain gradually faded away, and one third of the sky was covered with stars.

Standing next to Jeanne, Horn did not continue looking at the red leaves all over the mountain, but turned his head and looked at Jeanne's profile.

Her face sank in the rosy glow, painted into a black silhouette by the light, her long eyelashes trembled, and no expression of sadness or joy could be seen on her face.

When the sunset completely disappeared, Jeanna's face also fell into darkness.

An inexplicable feeling of suffocation occupied Horn's mind.

"Brother, we should go."

…………

On the way back from the forest, Jeanne seemed to be asleep and didn't say a word.

She buried her head in Horn's arms, her body rising and falling with the horse.

When they returned to the camp, they woke up again and the sky was already covered with stars.

"Your Majesty, you are finally back." Sissi took the reins from Horn's hand and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Horn. "I thought you were captured by the bandits."

"Haha, sorry for being late." Horn smiled, scratched his head and dismounted.

Armand came over and said, "Your Majesty, we found some clues in the previous account books..."

"We'll talk about this later." Horn interrupted Armand and walked towards Madeleine who came to greet him.

"During this period, I will rely on you." Horne shook Madeleine's hand and said, "Tonight, you and Bourville will go to the Duke and discuss everything. Remember, the Duke cannot be relied on, but can only be used. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Madeleine nodded heavily, "I will definitely hold on until you come to pick us up."

"Does everyone in the camp know where I've been?"

"Everyone knows that you are going to the Holy See City, but they are a little scared that you will forget about them after you go to the Holy See City."

"There's nothing we can do about it," Horn sighed.

Turning his head, Horn looked at the twenty-eight people present, including Cosset, Grandpven, Jeska, Sissi, René, Duvalon, Armand...

The old people who had followed Horn the longest and were the most loyal were all here.

"Are you all ready?"

Xixi nodded: "The luggage is packed and we can leave at any time."

"There is no time to lose." Horn looked up at the moonlight, "Let's go now."

Looking at this camp that was completely renovated from scratch, Horn felt quite emotional, but he immediately frowned again.

At the edge of the camp gate, he saw Jeanne, still wearing her black dress.

"Jeanne, why don't you change your clothes? You like this skirt, but you can't wear it all the time. It's very cold sailing at night."

“Your Majesty.” Jeanna stood at the edge of the camp, her body still covered in mud, like a chamomile that had just emerged from the soil. “Please go first. I have something to do.”

Horn was immediately confused: "Something's going on? What's the matter? It's almost time to leave. Let's talk about it later."

"I can't wait until later. I don't want to go to Pond Town."

"Why? When we get to Swamp Town, we won't care about Carrie and the others. We'll get married right away, you know..."

"Your Majesty, please stop lying to me." Jeanne smiled as if she was crying, "You are the Holy Grandson, my brother, his name is Horn, he has been killed by Barnett.

You are a good person. You always consider my feelings and try your best to play him, fearing that I will be sad.

But I have to understand that my brother is dead. After all, I am not your real sister, not the one you love, right?"

"I can," Horn said hastily, "We can go to Swamp Town, and our children will inherit a great empire."

"You are the grandson of the saint, and your mission is to create a small heaven. You see very far, too far, too far..." Jeanne looked at Horn's face in the moonlight, but Horn could not see her clearly.

“And I, and we, we are just ordinary people, we have nothing, our vision is too narrow, we can’t see the future, we can only see the present.

The little paradise tomorrow that you talk about is good, but what’s the use if they can’t make it to tomorrow?
I have been following you and doing what you asked me to do, but it seems that I am always useless. My lightning cannot penetrate the armor, my strength is not as good as Carrie, my insight is not as good as Sissi, and my wisdom is not as good as yours.

As for the lightning smelting you mentioned, you actually don't need me. I think there are many wizards with lightning-related shaping abilities in Black Snake Bay. With your status and connections, it won't be difficult to ask them for help.

Stay here. Those believers will know that I am your sister, a saint. They will know that you have not given up on them, and they will not hesitate or worry.

Fighting the church's army in my own way was the only thing I could do.

As for your engagement, I know it’s a white lie, because, because…”

After a long silence, Jeanna slowly spoke:

"Your Majesty, you see, from the beginning till now, you still don't want to call me sister, right?"

(End of this chapter)