How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 307: Real Luxury (Part )

Brother Abel, who was on duty at the door of the Mourning Hall in the Arax Angel Fortress today, reflexively clenched the ceremonial halberd in his hand in confusion.

"I don't understand, Miss - Your Excellency, Master...?" In the face of the throne envoy in front of him, who would be easily classified as a "child" by any battle brother from the appearance, Abel was unsure of how to address the other party and his tongue was a little tied. "According to the order of Lord Commander Dante, you certainly have the right to enter any non-confidential place in the Chapter Monastery, including this building. But what are you doing here?"

To be honest, if he hadn't known the noble status of the girl in front of him, he would have chased her away long ago. The Hall of Remembrance is where the dead battle brothers in the Chapter rest before being buried. It is a temporary shelter for the heroic souls that have not been completely rested in the ceremony. Obviously, it has special significance in the Chapter culture and emotions, and it is not a place that outsiders can visit casually with the mentality of tourists - but it does not have any intelligence or strategic confidentiality level, and it is not even a holy place. Therefore, when faced with the request of a "personally chosen by the Emperor", the guards really can't come up with any legitimate reason to drive the other party away.

Therefore, Abel's current confusion contained a large part of "being offended", and this part increased significantly when Fujimaru Ritsuka said the next sentence:
"Yeah, what am I doing here..." As the girl spoke, a look of "helplessness" that didn't match her age lingered between her brows. "I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was invited here by someone. If you feel uneasy in any sense, you can go in with me, but you have to promise not to tell anyone what happened in there."

No one would ask you to come here. Boss Abel complained in his heart reluctantly, but he didn't say it out loud because of the other party's identity. He glanced unhappily at the blood slave who led the other party here, and then realized that he was just taking his anger out on others, so he quickly retracted his gaze. Then, he looked at the battle brother on duty beside him, who also seemed unhappy about this request, and handed the ceremonial halberd in his hand to the other party. He habitually - or deterrently - adjusted the leaf hammer locked on his waist, and reluctantly agreed: "Okay, I'll go in with you. But please also respect the chapter culture of the Blood Angels."

There was actually a second half to the last sentence, but considering that the other party's status was enough to be a guest of honor of the Chapter Master and the Chief Think Tank, it would be a bit offensive to continue to mention etiquette. After the other party nodded in agreement, Abel finally realized that he had reached the end of his procrastination, and reluctantly turned around to open the door of the mourning hall and led Fujimaru Ritsuka into the Chapter's mourning place.

At least she remembered to wear a long black dress, the Blood Angel thought with amusement.

He did not take Fujimaru Ritsuka's previous warning seriously. He knew very well what was in this hall now - or rather, there would always be only those things in this hall: the bodies of fallen battle brothers placed in temporary coffins equipped with stasis fields. There was no doubt that they had been and would continue to be part of the chapter, but it was even more obvious that they could no longer speak or take any action. Abel knew that, at least today, Fujimaru Ritsuka was the first and only visitor in the mourning hall, and he did not think that anything worth telling could happen in this solemn occasion of resting the body.

Before the doubts in Abel's mind deviated towards heresy and blasphemy, the towering corridor leading to the main hall of the hall had already ended. Using architectural art to create atmosphere is not the exclusive domain of the Sons of Dorn. This corridor filled with pillars and religious murals that reach the sky always touches the artistic sensibilities of the brothers of the Chapter as they pass by. They will pass through countless bloody but glorious battlefields painted. The divine gaze of the Gene-Father and the Emperor on the huge murals will reaffirm their will and faith, reminding them to bear the sacrifices of their comrades, and then step by step towards the light at the end of the corridor. But - Abel glanced at Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression as inconspicuously as possible, and became even more unhappy after discovering that she had no obvious reaction when passing by or after leaving the corridor.

Fujimaru Ritsuka herself didn't seem to notice this. She certainly hadn't been in the mourning hall before, but after entering, she showed a considerable degree of familiarity with the place, and walked towards one of the coffins there with a clear goal. Abel was stunned, followed closely, and then realized that her target was Sergeant Ganon.

Abel remembered every brother sleeping in the hall, and of course he remembered him. Sergeant Ganon was a hero who had fought for seven years on Skelos. He was the only comrade whose body was successfully collected among the half company of Blood Angels that disappeared under the bloody mouth of Tyranid tentacles. According to the remaining dozen survivors, he died under the brilliant glory of Sanguinor, and he was blessed.

However, due to some complicated reasons that suddenly appeared in the Cathedral of the Holy Blood, the priests and clerics in the Chapter Monastery have been busy with other work recently and have no time to deal with the afterlife of these heroic comrades. Even so, the Blood Angels still do not allow them to bury their blood brothers hastily, so before the priests can free up their hands, the number of coffins in the mourning hall has accumulated to a sad level as the Blood Angels ships that have returned have gradually completed the battle damage inventory in the past few days.

Abel didn't understand how Fujimaru Ritsuka had accurately picked Sergeant Cannon's coffin from more than 30 temporary stasis coffins that looked exactly the same. He was a little curious about this question, but he was not sure if he should really ask it. During the time he hesitated, Fujimaru Ritsuka had already approached the transparent window on the temporary coffin for his comrades to pay their respects to the deceased, overlooking the peaceful and tranquil face of the deceased, and sighed slightly:

"You know, there's really no need for us to have this conversation here," she said. "It's quite offensive for an outsider like me to come into a place like this."

For a moment, Abel thought she was talking to him, but the content of the words and her behavior were too inconsistent for the palace guard. Driven by the dissatisfaction accumulated in his heart, Abel instinctively wanted to find something to say back, but then, the scene in front of him made him throw away all his prepared words and even his original thoughts:

A golden light as bright as the rising sun appeared uninvited beside Fujimaru Ritsuka, accompanied by a hymn that seemed to come from afar. A solid body made of light condensed in the empty space: He was wearing golden armor and wings, holding a holy grail in one hand and a broadsword in the other. His face was covered with a statue of Sanguinius carved from adamantium and gold. He floated weightlessly in the air like a sacred sculpture. The legend of the chapter appeared in glory in this peaceful place. Sanguinius' arrival here without any warning really caught Abel off guard.

Before he could react rationally to what was happening, his emotions had already urged him to kneel down. The knees of the MK10 power armor slammed onto the solid black marble floor with a thud, scaring Fujimaru Ritsuka so much that he turned his head reflexively and then quickly made way for the straight line between him and Sanguino.

However, Sanguino did not pay attention to Abel first. His voice did not come from behind the mask, but from all directions, as if the air was required by some will to vibrate in this way: "Anyway, I don't think you are an outsider. Besides, when discussing some topics, I think we all need some sense of ritual."

This sentence was obviously in response to Fujimaru Ritsuka's previous complaint, but the person being responded to was still paying attention to the person who suddenly knelt down. Therefore, Sanguino had to spend a minute before the conversation began to ask the emotional Abel to stand up again.

After confirming that the poor and innocent battle brother had not suffered any kind of psychological trauma, this little episode was finally over. Trying to get the topic back on track, Sanguino complained: "It's really difficult to pinpoint the rest time of a busy man like you. You haven't slept much these days."

"Who's calling who a 'busy man'? He's either on the battlefield, on the way to the battlefield, or a living saint helping people navigate." The helpless melancholy that had appeared on Fujimaru Ritsuka's face at the beginning of this incident reappeared, "I still don't think this issue is important enough for us to choose a ceremonial place in the real universe, or even set aside a special time for a special discussion." "But you still agreed and came," Sanguino pointed out.

"Because it may be so important to you?" Fujimaru Ritsuka said, "Why else would you make such a request? I don't think you would be so bored that you need to torment an ordinary human for fun."

"What if I'm really just tormenting you?" The sacred symbol of the Blood Angels Chapter asked an equally unholy question in a rather unholy manner.

"The Cathedral of the Holy Blood is only three kilometers away. I didn't have to work hard. It took me twenty minutes to run there." Fujimaru Ritsuka replied calmly, "And you know what kind of Azkaelon you will meet the next time you are reborn in the Astronomican without me telling you."

The wings behind Sanguinor fluttered softly. He paused for a moment, and then the psychic voice that echoed around him said, "Okay."

Amid Abel's shock, the air was silent for two seconds. After two seconds, the topic that should have shocked everyone was finally brought up by Sanguino: "The reason I insisted on inviting you to come here to talk is that I think after you see these coffins with your own eyes, you will have a more realistic understanding of the views I put forward."

He floated a little upward, indicating the thirty-odd makeshift coffins neatly arranged in the mourning hall. For a small mortal, the thirty-odd victims laid out were already quite a shocking scene - but this was just the tip of the iceberg. Almost every battle that the Blood Angels participated in would have casualties, but unfortunately not all the brothers who died on the battlefield were lucky enough to have their remains returned relatively intact. These were only the victims brought back by an expeditionary team that had returned to Baal for supplies and repairs in recent days, and the blood shed by the Chapter in the uninterrupted battles on the dark side of the Empire was many times this number.

"Just think," Sanguinor said, "if only the brothers lying in this hall could stand up again—"

"——There's nothing to talk about." Fujimaru Ritsuka interrupted him hastily with a rude attitude, "I've already told you before in the communication based on the consciousness of the subspace, I am a summoner, not a necromancer."

Sanguinius's golden mask could not express any expression, but even Abel could see that the Sanguinius, hovering in the air, looked very confused: "But you can do it. You have even done it many times. Many dead souls in the Cursed Legion regained their bodies and minds in their lifetime because of you. I don't understand what the difference is between that and this: these martyrs in front of you are at least veterans who have experienced many battles and are highly skilled, just like Brother Ganon."

The last sentence brought Fujimaru Ritsuka's attention back to what was in front of her. A subtle feeling diverted her thoughts from the original topic: "Although I know that human power is limited, I have also thought about whether Sergeant Ganon could have survived if I had used the Sheba lens to scan once more after landing on Skelos."

"What's the saying? 'It's never too late to mend a broken fence,'" Sanguinor advised. "Brother Ganon simply returned to the Golden Throne. I saw this with my own eyes, so I can assure you that his soul is intact. You are fully capable of making up for this regret for yourself."

"It doesn't count like that." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed heavily. "To be honest, if I didn't know exactly how your spirit-based model worked, based on what you just said, I could have killed you on the spot on the grounds that I suspected you were a changeling sent by Tzeentch to persuade a conspiracy. Sanguinius wouldn't say anything about it, and Azkaelon would even applaud - let me say again, I'm a summoner, not a necromancer. This is not a question of 'can I do it', but 'can I do it'. I'm just an ordinary person, and I'm not qualified to manipulate the life and death of others."

Sanguinor looked even more confused. "But both you and the Blood Angels Chapter really need more qualified and excellent soldiers. In essence, many of the dead souls in the Bound Legion were also recast and promoted by you, including Azkaelon and the Primarch. You have undoubtedly done similar things many times. I don't see how this is different from what I am proposing now."

"Very different, Sanguino. Although you look like you were derived from a member of the Blood Angels Astartes, you have never been 'born' as a human in reality. It's normal that you can't understand it all at once." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed. This sentence sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than explaining it to the other party.

"I don't understand." Sanguino lowered his voice slightly. "Is this really such a bad idea?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka covered his face and asked muffledly behind his palm: "Did you ask Captain Amit the same question before you came here?"

"I did ask him." Sanguino calmly stated the man's words. "He told me to 'eat shit.'"

"Look." Fujimaru Ritsuka reappeared his head, as if he had grasped a decisive argument, "Even Captain Amit thinks this matter is not negotiable. Don't you realize that this idea is a terrible one?"

(End of this chapter)