Temple Sword

Chapter 86 Withered Heart
1310, Saint Andrew's Month (November)
Buda, Hungary
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Two hundred well-disciplined soldiers trained in the simple inner courtyard without any superfluous movements.As the orders they had known were called, they moved as one, taking formation in a split second, thrusting with their spears, changing formation again, and thrusting again with deadly precision and lightning speed.

Their commander stood beside them, watching with satisfaction as the soldiers changed from matrix to wedge to double ranks in the evening twilight.Their performance was flawless, with each unified thrust rushing out with held breath and accompanied by a thunderous short sip, wisps of mist from their mouths.

"Take a break!" Laszlo ordered, and the formation in front of him collapsed in an instant, and the expressionless stone-heart people turned back into boys with flesh and blood. "Good job, boys! Now you can go eat!"

The attendant looked up at Antar who was standing on the stage, he still didn't say anything, just looked at his subordinates with arms crossed.

"Everyone's got a double tonight!" Laszlo added, walking up the wooden steps himself.

"What do you think?" he asked his friend, who nodded.

"good."

"That's all? Not bad?" Laszlo smiled. "Among all the king's armies, you will never find such a team! As long as you give an order, they will destroy any army for you without hesitation." Defense, whether it is a stone wall or a shield wall!"

"I told you, these people are led by you," Antar began to walk towards the west side of his room, "they listen to you like your brothers or children."

"You are so blind," Laszlo followed the knight, "do you know how I gathered so many people in such a short period of time? All I need to do is tell them that Lily Knight is forming an army, people Then there will be swarms, let alone 200 people, even 1000, [-] people will willingly listen to your command."

"You're exaggerating," Antal said deadpan, but Laszlo stood his ground.

"Your word is mightier than a thousand spears," he went on. "I may be the one who shouts the orders to them, but you are the one who makes them obey them... They did not come for me, But for you!"

"As you wish." The knight reluctantly gave up the argument, turned and walked into a dark corridor.But no matter how much he wanted to be alone, Laszlo didn't let him go.

"As I wish?" Laszlo asked back after him, "How can you be so indifferent?"

Antar stopped, turned to face his squire.

"Tell me, what exactly do you want from me?" he asked impatiently. "Would you like me to dance for you?"

"No!" Laszlo grabbed his black cloak, "I want you to understand what you mean to these soldiers. In their eyes, you are not an ordinary person, but a lily knight, an example they look up to. Because With your existence, they will not be afraid on the battlefield, they will not miss their mother's arms, and their hearts will be full of courage, all because of you. I hope you will remember what all this means, and cheer up!" Anta Err ripped the clothes from his friend's hands and tried to stay calm.

"Am I worth all the nonsense you're talking about here?" He asked with self-deprecating and helpless tone, "What do you think I should do?"

Laszlo also had a hard time forcing himself to calm down, and his pity for his childhood friend finally turned into anger at this self-punishing man.He's sick of Antal's behavior over the past year and worries that this endless mourning will soon turn into something worse.So he had no choice but to say it as frankly as possible.

"First," he said softly, "make peace with yourself! That's the most important thing."

"You don't know how I feel." Antal interrupted, and turned to leave, but Laszlo held him back, and the attendant was determined to speak his mind.

"Yeah, by God, I don't know how you feel." Laszlo said frankly, "I don't know what it's like to lose a child and a friend at the same time, a faithful companion. I can only imagine how it is." Painful thing. But you are a man... a warrior! And a warrior must not only wield weapons, his heart and soul must be as strong as his arms and body! Then he is a real warrior, able to Withstand all kinds of blows from inside and outside!"

In pain, Antal ran his hands through his greasy, messy hair.

"Who told you these things?"

"William Barto," Laszlo looked him in the eye. "The Lion of the East. The one who never feared even though he lost almost everything in the Holy Land, the one who raised you into a man!"

Antal couldn't answer, he leaned against the cold wall, trying to cool his hot head.And Laszlo became bolder and continued more decisively.

"If necessary, I will kneel down and beg you to take off this black robe!" said the page excitedly, "put the crucifix back on the wall, appear in the church, and then put on your old clothes, wearing lily White robes of flower knights, mount your horse, and walk through the city in all eyes! Do you think they can't see what you're doing to yourself? Do you think they're not whispering behind your back? If you go on like this, They won't trust you anymore. People... all of us... hope you can get rid of the demons, put on your white clothes again, and let your old self come back! Most importantly..." He lowered his voice, "return Come home and forgive your wife!"

Laszlo suddenly realized that he had said something that shouldn't be said, and his face turned pale.He knew he should have phrased it differently, but he couldn't control his tongue in his fever.

"I'm sorry!" He hurriedly brought his apology to his lips, and took a few steps back, "God, I didn't mean that, please forgive me!"

Antal did not hit him, nor did he approach him.He didn't yell at the squire, he didn't even look at Laszlo angrily, the sadness in his eyes overshadowed all emotions.

"Say something!" said Laszlo after a while. "If you want to send me to hell, say it!"

"I have nothing to say." The black knight whispered hoarsely, got up from the wall, and continued to walk towards his room.

His night cloak quickly melted into the darkness of the corridor, and this time his squire did not pursue him again.

(End of this chapter)