Chapter 58 History (2)

  In the room, one is speaking and the other is listening.

  "Although Joni was able to reach the amount I required, which exceeded his capacity, during his first training session, I had already taken a liking to him. But it wasn't until the day his parents were murdered that he truly caught my attention." Odara began with a somewhat heavy tone, after all, two innocent lives had been lost. "He sat alone for an entire night and was completely recovered by the next day. He said hatred should be hidden in one's heart, but at first, I didn't pay much attention to it. However, when he used torture to interrogate the accomplices of his parents' killer, I realized that his calmness wasn't a result of forgetting his hatred."

  Audrey described the means used in the torture chamber, and even this strong warrior who had killed many people felt a chill run down his spine. A calm expression was normal, and stripping flesh from bone wasn't excessive, but to have a calm expression while slicing into living flesh was indeed frightening.

  "Then won't his heart fall into evil?" Stephen frowned slightly.

  Audrey shook her head: "Shouldn't be. When that person was executed, I let him go to the execution, but he refused, because he thought hatred shouldn't be imposed on a small pawn. He said revenge is the goal, but hatred isn't. I think, he's not someone who would be dragged into the abyss by hatred."

  Stephen nodded thoughtfully: "Indeed, but we still need to observe for a while."

  "And then there were his stories," Odara continued, "some very interesting ones."

  Audrey picked up one of those little stories about Chiana's empire.

  "Is it to rescue Wei's capital from being surrounded by the enemy and counterattack against Zhao? This is indeed a good idea, much more effective than sending troops directly to the front line for reinforcement, and also doesn't require sacrificing too many soldiers." Stephen commented after listening to this. However, he wasn't overly surprised, as an old man who was confident in his own intelligence, if he really encountered a similar situation, he would have thought of it too.

  "There was also a man named Cao Gui, Cao Gui, Cao, who knew how to make these strange sounds. The one called Cao, who explained to his lord how to use the morale of both sides in war. Although our brave warriors of Othello always have high morale, but over the years, I observed from outside that morale indeed has such a changing rule."

  He roughly repeated what Cao Gui had said when discussing battle tactics.

  The old man nodded: "It's actually possible to understand the role of morale and the law of its rise and fall, it's really not easy."

  "But he didn't just know about these battle formations. Johnny also told a story about using two bags of gold to make three powerful generals who threatened the throne kill each other." This was what Johnny, who had never eaten peaches in this world, said at the time, and Odala repeated it: "A very brilliant scheme."

  Stephen thought for a moment and nodded: "Indeed brilliant. But is he really only sixteen years old?"

  "This is where it gets weird," Odara said, her voice tinged with excitement. "He's picking up martial skills quickly, but that might be because he has some foundation to begin with. But the things he knows in his head are just too many - according to Aisley, he told her a story about having adventures in a vast underground city and world, which could maybe be explained by him hearing some legendary tale from a traveling bard when he was young. And then there's another one about dark elves that he only got halfway through, but seemed to know the whole thing. All of this could still be attributed to his own stories about bards from his childhood. But then, a story about the western kingdom of Musata and its history of rivalry with the Roman Empire is just too much."

  Stephen leaned forward slightly, looking very interested: "Mussata I know, is that hot desert country fighting with Tannia? What's the deal with the Roman Empire?"

  Audley was indeed his father's son, with a good memory. He began to repeat slowly what Johnny had told him, and when he came to the crucial part, Stephenson would interrupt him, making some comment on points that interested him.

  "Is he a genius?" Steven exclaimed, "But it doesn't seem like it, and he doesn't look very smart. If no one told him about it, then he must have made it up himself."

  The old man pondered for a moment before speaking up and asking: "Is he really just the son of an ironworker?"

  Odala nodded: "Absolutely, after recruiting him as a vassal, I had someone investigate and it's indeed the child of that blacksmith. The neighbors all say that this kid doesn't usually go out, only listens to mercenaries bragging in the blacksmith shop. The kid's father also said that Joni is always either forging iron or practicing swordsmanship, or else randomly exercising his body."

  "Hmm..." Stefan stroked his chin, twirling a white whisker on his lip, and pondered for a moment, as if he had made some kind of decision. "Although it's a bit strange... but this Johnny kid does sound like a good seedling. Maybe one day he can be a famous general in the Othello army. The only problem is that his foundation is too poor now. Odara, how long have you been teaching him?"

  "Half a year."

  "Half a year?" Stefan shook his head, "I heard he's almost at the 8th level of power? Half a year with this kind of strength might be a good speed in the south, and it's also very fast in this village, but it's still not enough."

  Audrey rubbed her head, speechless.

  "Everyone around Osyth except the Second Empire of Velsa to the south is a formidable enemy. And whether it's Tanias in the southwest, even those brutal barbarians aren't something this little brat can handle. Let's do it like this: when he can beat Lancelot, I'll teach him myself. I see that Lancelot seems to be looking down on him; as long as no one dies, let her do what she wants. If he can't even pass this test, then let him go beg for scraps in Vichy!"

  When he finished speaking, the old man waved his hand to indicate that the conversation was over. Odara obediently stood up, bid him goodnight, recited a prayer, and turned back to his own room.

  Stephen was alone in the room, and he just muttered a sentence: "Johnny Smith?" as if to deepen his impression. Then he didn't say anything else, and went back to the house to rest.

  On the other hand, in Udis's room.

  Jony stared at the paper in front of him, staring at those familiar yet strange characters, his brain racing to try and etch them firmly into memory. He remembered when he was in school, it took a whole semester just to learn pinyin, and English letters took even longer. Although he had finished learning ahead of time, it still took much longer than the nearly 40 minutes now!

  Under the effect of magic, Joanie became smarter, but remembering these never-before-seen characters and corresponding to familiar-sounding syllables really took some time.

  The Udai opposite had already made plans for tomorrow, and when he looked up, Joni was still reading with his head down. He couldn't help but sigh and shake his head. What a pity that the effect of that spell can't be stacked, otherwise it would be great to add another one to him.

  Jonah, who had been thoroughly despised by the genius in front of him, finally lifted his head at this moment: "Alright."

  Udis took a piece of paper, then as usual lowered his head and scribbled a string of characters on another sheet of grass paper, glanced at it briefly, and handed it to Johnny: "Read in order."

  Joni looked at the slips of paper and read out the letters on them in a loud and fluent voice.

  Udis nodded and wrote another one, handing it to Johnny: "Read."

  Still fluent.

  "Alright, though it's a bit slower than expected. Let's stop here for today and take another look at the effects tomorrow morning," said Udis.

  Joni was initially perplexed, but after a moment's thought, he realized that he had to wait for the magic effect to wear off before testing again. So he didn't say much more, thanked and bid farewell, took the first piece of paper, walked towards his own room, and repeatedly reviewed in his mind the results of his intense memorization earlier.

  Astrid still slept with Lanselot, the two girls exchanging interesting things they knew, and gradually fell asleep in laughter.

  Night, complete stillness. The entire Vichy fell into silence.

  The next morning, the sky was slightly bright, and the church with regular working hours began to gradually wake up. Johnny, who was awakened by the movement outside the door, opened his eyes, sorted out his thoughts a bit, and the first thought in his mind was to recall the alphabet of the common language again.

  It seems like you've forgotten something.

  Jiang Yi hastily got out of bed, without even putting on his clothes, and picked up the paper from the desk to read.

  It's okay, I remembered.

  Johnny only felt a bit cold now. Although the house had a fireplace, it was not as warm as central heating. Johnny shivered and started putting on thick clothes, his mind still thinking about those nauseating letters.

  Speaking of heating, Joni started to think about other things. He remembered that someone mentioned heating online, which seemed to be a boiler and iron pipes? But in this world with spiritual techniques and magic, wouldn't there be similar spells? It seems that rubber sealing is also needed, damn it, I don't even know how to say rubber in the common language, it's probably not available here.

  Shaking his head, Johnny immersed himself in the alphabet again. The matter at hand was the most important thing.

  Muttering to himself, Joanie slowly walked up to Udis' door. The door was open, but there was no one inside.

  "Jonny!" Udis's voice came from behind Jonny, "Let's eat first."

  Breakfast was simple, bread and hot water. Quickly finishing the food in front of him, Johnny looked up at Udis. Udis had already finished eating and seeing Johnny looking at him said: "It's not hard for you, first memorize the alphabet."

  Jony loudly recited it again.

  Wudi nodded and suddenly said: "Recite from 'ai' downwards."

  Jony was taken aback for a moment, then reacted and moved his lips a few times before reciting smoothly.

  "Not bad." Stefan, who had been silent until now, spoke up, "Recite it backwards again."

  Are you kidding me? Old man, are you messing with me?

  Complaining is useless, the back still has to be carried. Johnny furrowed his brow, thinking hard, and stuttered as he began to recite from the last one to the front. Under Stephfen's savoring gaze, under Lancelot's occasional mocking laughter, Johnny finally managed to recite the entire alphabet backwards.

  "It seems you're really not a clever person." The old man shook his head, "However, for someone with mediocre talent, your performance is quite good."

  Janice didn't think this was bragging at all.

  After dinner, everyone did their own thing. Astra took her longbow to the target range from yesterday to practice shooting, while Johnny was ordered by Lancelot to continue practicing basic movements after only half a sentence.

  "I today..."

  "It's the same as yesterday."

  Forget it, anyway the action isn't particularly familiar. Jony comforted himself and went to practice with a huge sword. Jony wanted to vent his resentment on the thunderous shouts and physical exhaustion.

  It's resentment, not hatred. Hatred doesn't need to be mentioned, it should be like a jar of old wine, quietly stored in the depths of one's heart, quietly stored until the day it is opened, refreshing the mind and soul.

  But not everyone can think so thoroughly. When Joanie vents her dissatisfaction with life, Astrid is constantly brewing her own hatred, from time to time making herself hate more and more, as if she would forget otherwise.

  "My father is the greatest man in the world." She said, shooting an arrow as she spoke to Lancelot beside her. "I still remember when I was a child, he wasn't even a knight yet, he would often make me fun things and bring home delicious food for our family. Later on, after becoming Sir Dalras' knight, he would always buy me interesting trinkets from the streets to amuse me."

  Lancelot thrust his great sword into the ground, rested his hands on the hilt, and leaned his head on them, gazing steadily at Aisling.

  "But then that detestable Sun God Church!" Astrid said, swiftly shooting out several arrows with great force, unfortunately one of them missed the mark. "If it weren't for them, my dad wouldn't have died either!"

  It's true when you think about it. And let's not mention that in the eyes of these three people, the entire incident was a conspiracy of the church. Even if the church could have presided over justice, no matter at what stage, they could have forced Count Ratzis to retreat. If Count Ratzis had retreated, there wouldn't have been so many tragedies afterwards.

  However, from another perspective, if Laissez retreats, Aini will have more opportunities and a more accurate understanding of the church, and it is uncertain how things will turn out.

  But these Astrid didn't know.

  Ais Wallenstein denounces the Church's crimes against her family, while Lanzelt recounts the atrocities of the Sun God's temple. Although these actions are justified in the eyes of Tanya's sun-worshipping followers, they are viewed differently by others, especially Osutin, a young girl who lost her grandmother to the invading forces after more than 20 years of war with Tanya.

  Expel heretics, judge heterodoxy, launch a "holy war", exclude other beliefs... Lancelot said that the news he got from his grandfather was enough to make the followers of the sun god Derinis be attacked by all the gods if there was no contract not to directly interfere with human affairs.

  The same hatred can quickly bring together two people who don't know each other. But this same hatred also implies differences. Lancelot had never seen his grandmother, but Astarte was the one who bid farewell to her father in the final moment of danger. The seeds of hatred had been sown long ago and took root in this snowy land. No one could have imagined how things would eventually turn out.

  But at this time, everything is normal. A boy who wants to get stronger, a girl who wants to get stronger. At this time they are so weak, and in the northern land filled with brave warriors, they seem so small.

  "Today we're going to learn about the prayer before sleep." After a day of training and dinner, Udis led Joni to his own room. "Odalra this guy... Ah, you should start fulfilling your duties as an Odin believer."

  As they spoke, Udis took out a book bound in sheepskin from the nearby bookcase. The cover of the book had silver characters on it. Pointing to the largest character in that row, Udis said to Gioni beside him: "This is the Sacred Canon."

  Joni looked in the direction of his fingers and silently memorized that string of silver characters.

  "This is 'The Prayer'." Udai's finger moved down to the slightly smaller characters below.

  Jonny looked at those words separated by spaces from each other, feeling a bit dizzy. But he still followed and recited them once, forcing himself to remember them in his heart.

  "Wait a minute, take your time to read and learn the prayer. Once you're familiar with it, you'll naturally gain more understanding." Udis said as he opened the book, found a page, and pointed to Joni, "Right here."

  Joni leaned in for a closer look, recognizing each letter but none of the words were familiar to him. He looked up at Udis with a puzzled expression.

  "You recite first, and then come back to read the text when you have memorized it," Udis said, starting to pray on his own, "May Your will guide me towards freedom; may Your protection make freedom eternal. When night falls, with You, I am no longer afraid; for You, I shall sleep peacefully. Thank You, Odin, when a new day comes, I shall strive harder for You and for myself. Freedom!"

  This is quite straightforward, Joni thought. Is this Stephen's perfected doctrine?

  It seems that Udis saw Joni's confusion and disdain, and said seriously: "Odin originated among the common people and protected the common people. The prayer is just a way for us humble people to express our gratitude, and it doesn't need beautiful words. You should be sincere and humble in your attitude, thanking Odin for his blessings."

  He paused for a moment and then said: "Of course, you are not an Asgardian. But you will be an Asgardian, and you are also a follower of Odin."

  Joni thought for a moment, although this form made him uncomfortable, but it seemed that the whole world was like this, and Odin was still a good god, and Asgard was also a good country. Anyway, the object of worship was indeed a true god, which was different from some regions in his previous life; the norms to be followed were also based on freedom, which was different from those annoying regions in his previous life. So be it, accept it calmly.

  "Only your will..." (I always feel that some places in this chapter are not clear, please take a look and give some suggestions, new and old book friends.)

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