The Trial Game of Life – Chapter 156

Table of Contents | Character Guide

Chapter 156: Sword of Judgment (3)

Roger Reeds came back through a teleportation formation. The formation was engraved in his study and usually in a hidden state. The teleportation formation wasn’t a commodity easily found on the street, and the magic crystals and ink used to draw the patterns weren’t ordinary either. As such, there weren’t a lot of such teleportation formations in the entire capital of the Kingdom of Hundred Flowers.

The above was what Roger Reeds, his newly appointed teacher, told Tang Cuo.

But Roger Reeds wasn’t in a hurry to let Tang Cuo start his studies. When Old William came back from his shopping, he brought back not only a basket of meat and vegetables but also three exquisite pieces of cake.

The moment he saw Roger Reeds’ stiff expression and Old William’s dexterous movements as he placed the cakes on those intricate plates and put down the tiny silver forks, Tang Cuo quietly understood.

The honourable Watchman Roger Reeds not only loved cats but also had a sweet tooth.

Since there were three pieces of cake, Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng naturally had their share. The two were lucky enough to taste this ‘Internet-famous’ delicacy of the Kingdom of Hundred Flowers, which required waiting in line for a long time. The cakes were really good.

Jin Cheng looked at Roger Reeds and then at Tang Cuo, thinking now that the two of them had become master and disciple, they actually carried the vibe of master and disciple. He perfunctorily took two more bites of the cake and pushed it in front of Tang Cuo: “You eat it. I don’t like sweets. Don’t waste such a good cake.”

Tang Cuo reluctantly accepted.

Their dinner was mushroom pancakes, foie gras, beef stew, lily soup and a seasonal vegetable dish, which was a leafy vegetable unique to the Kingdom of Hundred Flowers. There weren’t many courses, but they were all exceptional in both colour and taste.

Old William even placed a vase of freshly cut flowers harvested from the backyard on the dining table and tied a special napkin for Charles II before serving it a very fragrant dried fish.

Without a doubt, this was the best and most caring meal Tang Cuo had ever had since he entered Yong Ye City. It was so good that he thought they were actually on vacation.

But when the moon was high up in the sky, Roger Reeds shattered this illusion.

“You still need a trial. Theodore, you’re already a knight. Integrity, bravery and loyalty are the fundamental qualities of a knight. For the past year, I’ve been very happy to see those qualities in you, but you still need one more fundamental quality — strength. Combat is the best teacher. As my student, a member of the Greenvines Alliance, and the future Arbitrator, you should also know what exactly you are protecting.”

The three of them were on the balcony on the second floor. Roger Reeds folded both hands on his cane and looked calmly at the brightly lit capital.

Finishing his words, he gently lifted the cane and pressed it down again. From the tip of his cane, the light of magic spread out from its center, which was No. 14 Walling Street, to the entire city.

Wherever the light reached, the houses turned into ruins, the glass lamps went off, and all the laughter abruptly came to a stop. In just an instant, the fairytale-like Kingdom of Hundred Flowers turned into a wasteland.

Only No. 14 Walling Street was intact. The light at the door was still on, and it didn’t sway at all amidst the evening wind.

“When The Rose was still here, there were no other flowers in the world. A thousand years ago, this place was abandoned because it was far away from the Tucha Empire. It was poor and lagging far behind the rest. Whenever the sun set, not a single lamp would light up in this land, because the people here couldn’t afford even the most basic fish oil lamp. Every day, people starved to death, and most of the young adults were dispatched to the Locke Kingdom to build Louis XIV’s tomb. ”

As he spoke, Roger Reeds’ voice became lower: “The golden coffin inside the tomb is the coffin of all people. Louis XIV gave an order that every household must hand over a gold coin so that they could be melted down to build a golden coffin.”

Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng didn’t disturb him at all, simply listening in silence.

Roger Reeds’ voice lacked emotion because of its coldness, but it seemed very fitting for a narrator of ancient history, especially when they were seeing the wasteland with their own eyes.

The gold coin might be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Louis XIV’s pursuit of immortality triggered a lot of anger, but the destruction of the Tucha Empire didn’t happen overnight. The rebels were born here and finally returned here. What you see now is the ground of the final battle, where Louis XIV eventually met his end.”

Suddenly, a phrase came to Tang Cuo’s mind: ‘the wrath of the people’.

But Jin Cheng felt that there was somehow a sense of emotionalism to this. Hundreds of flowers blooming in the wasteland sounded both harsh and beautiful.

Tang Cuo asked: “Where is Louis XIV’s body?”

Roger Reeds shook his head: “According to historical records, Louis XIV was defeated and later faced his punishment while trying to retreat, then eventually buried in the golden coffin. We all believed that the body remained in his tomb, however, Louis XIV never publicly announced the exact location of the tomb, even though he had summoned many people to build it. None of the craftsmen who built it returned either. The Greenvines Alliance only recently discovered that the tomb was in the Locke Kingdom.”

Since a thousand years had passed since the incident, it was extremely difficult for the Greenvines Alliance to restore the real history. In the early days following the fall of the empire, as though they had gone mad, the people desperately tried to erase all traces of the Tucha Empire, resulting in very few things left behind.

But Louis XIV died, and the Rose Sect was born. Their ambition was to resurrect The Undead Rose and restore the ruthless ruling of the Tucha Empire, which truly bothered the Greenvines Alliance.

After regaining his composure, Roger Reeds raised his cane to point at the wasteland before him and said to Tang Cuo: “What you see at the moment is a secret realm that your brother and I built together using magic, based on the fragments recorded in historical books. Every day from seven in the evening to seven in the morning of the next day, the battle of that time will be reconstructed here. You’ll suffer injuries, but you won’t die. I’ll give you seven days to kill The Rose.”

Kill The Rose.

Tang Cuo was slightly taken aback. The current Duke and Roger Reeds really had high hopes for Theodore. They put so much effort into training him, probably so that when The Rose was resurrected in the future, someone would be able to wield the sword to kill this enemy.

But why Theodore?

Tang Cuo thought of the title of this round and couldn’t help but glance at the sword at his waist.

Seeing his gesture, Roger Reeds’ tone slowed down a little, even carrying a hint of encouragement: “This is the sword of His Excellency The First White Knight, the [Sword of Judgment]. Theodore, your brother has bestowed it upon you. This is a great honour, but also a heavy burden.”

Tang Cuo nodded: “Yes, Your Excellency Roger Reeds.”

Perhaps it was because he had gone a tad dizzy that Tang Cuo seemed to have seen Roger Reeds’ smile, which was extremely rare for The unemotional Watchman. But Tang Cuo didn’t delve into this further, because the time was up.

“Go ahead. I’ll show up at the right time. You just need to remember — no matter what, you must always have an unyielding heart.”

At Roger Reeds’ urging, Tang Cuo walked out of No. 14 Walling Street.

Jin Cheng remained silent at the side. After the other had left, he looked at Roger Reeds with a smile and asked: “Is there anything you want to say to me, Your Excellency The Watchman?”

Lancelot was just a bard. Not only did Roger Reeds keep him here, but he also let him hear so many secrets. This wasn’t logical.

Sure enough, Roger Reeds said: “Celtic said you refused to join the Greenvines Alliances.”

Oh, what a deceitful Celtic. Jin Cheng thought of that man, a member of the Greenvines Alliance office in the Principality of Flange and a very enthusiastic young knight. Based on what Roger Reeds said, Lancelot refused to join them, so Jin Cheng knew he mustn’t act OOC and nodded in agreement.

Roger Reeds: “The Rose Sect won’t let this pass.”

Jin Cheng: “Indeed. Theodore and I have stopped them from doing many things, and they’ll definitely attack me. But a bard loves freedom. I believe that even if I don’t join, I can still be with the Greenvines Alliance. After all, I am Theodore’s friend.”

Hearing this, Roger Reeds gave him a deep look, and Jin Cheng also generously looked back. For a long time, neither of the two men said a word, until the loud sound of a cavalry suddenly pierced the sky and descended on the land.

The two turned their heads together and saw that the battle had already begun.

Clad in dark-gold armours and clutching round shields and long swords, those men were the royal guards of Louis XIV. This was a very well-equipped team. The armour covered almost their whole body and even their face, with only a pair of eyes exposed. The black-armoured knights of the Rose Sect followed this style.

In addition to these elites, there were also heavy-armoured foot soldiers who carried large shields and lightly armed archers on the periphery. Right at the center, guarded by layers and layers of protection were wizards clad in red and black robes.

In comparison, the rebels were just a messy ragtag.

Most of the people in this group didn’t even have decent armour. Parts were missing here and there, and the weapons they carried were all too random. The wizards who should be protected even charged straight into the trap like knights, waving a stick-like staff that could be used to hit people when necessary. Their formation was completely diorgsanised. All in all, it could be concluded with just one word: chaos.

But Jin Cheng, who was born in the military, could spot the ‘tightness’ in this chaos with one glance.

There was obviously no chance for this ragtag to win against an elite army. In an environment like the Dark Ages, it was impossible for the rebels to conduct large-scale training. Moreover, when the entire Empire’s resources were under the control of the aristocrats, the common people might not even be able to learn writing, let alone sword fighting and magic skills.

In that case, they could break into groups and engage in smaller street fights.

They first intentionally exposed their weakness to the enemy, then confused the enemy with their chaos, and finally used the complicated network of streets in the city to forcibly break up the enemy’s orderly team and pull them into street fights. Most of the rebels should be civilians who had been blending in these dark streets since young, hence this kind of terrain was very familiar to them. Working in groups of three to five people, they wouldn’t hesitate to fire sneak shots, attack from behind or block the enemy’s vision by throwing dust. They singly focused on the enemy’s shortcomings and used all sorts of underhanded tricks to amplify their own advantages. Even if they had no way to narrow the gap in equipment and strength, they could bet on this.

Jin Cheng himself was an expert in street fighting, even nicknamed “Backstreet King”, but let’s not talk about it now.

At this point, Roger Reeds spoke again: “It’s okay if you don’t join us. As long as you don’t succumb to the darkness, the door of the Greenvines Alliance will always be open to you. But I hope you can do one thing.”

Jin Cheng: “What is that?”

Roger Reed: “Write poems for the heroes of the past and sing them throughout the entire continent of Sicilit.”

“Ding!”

“Congratulations to the player for triggering the System of Faith!”

The sudden prompt stunned Jin Cheng. Immediately, he properly maintained his doubtful state and continued conversing with Roger Reeds while blinking very quickly to bring up the system panel.

“It’s an honour for me to write poems for heroes. I’ll do my best to spread them as soon as possible. But could Your Excellency please tell me: does the intention behind this have anything to do with the Rose Sect?”

“Yes. The Rose Sect has continued to grow its followers in secret, but the common people know very little about them and aren’t even aware of the existence of The Rose. We need to prepare in advance to expose The Rose’s evil deeds.”

Jin Cheng understood that directly exposing evil deeds would inevitably cause panic, but singing the deeds of heroes wouldn’t. It could not only earn the people’s tears but also make everyone wary of The Rose, ensuring that they wouldn’t be easily deceived.

While thinking, Jin Cheng also saw that system of Faith. It has been added under the Character column and was called ‘Power of Faith’. The value was currently 0.

The main mission had also been updated.

[Kingdom Hidden In The Moonlight]

Fifth round: [Sword of Judgment]

Main mission: Within seven days, collect 10,000 points for Power of Faith. Current progress: 0/10000.