Can Arknights dream about the Knights of the Round Table?

When I entered the cellar and huddled up with the leash in hand, I suddenly heard a sound - it was the sound of the door to the house being torn open like a large piece of wall, like leaves!

I was scared because I had never encountered such a situation in the past two years of living in the village, and the more senior people had never mentioned it.It's not like I haven't encountered 'Ear' on a normal night, but he basically just wanders outside the house, or even hides under the bed and doesn't make a sound, and nothing happens.But this is the first time someone has broken open the door and entered the house... Could it be that the 'ears' have become more cruel as time goes by?

But now I have no time to answer my questions, because the being who broke into my home has dragged his feet and walked straight to my bed - as if he knew I was hiding in the cellar under the bed.

"Anai..."

"------"

The voice sounded, with the same weird tone.But this time, it called my name.

How is this possible...how is this possible? How does 'ear' know my name?

Unable to comprehend the situation, only fear grew in my mind.The 'ears' outside the cellar repeated my name over and over again, but I could only cower in the cellar with fear, not even daring to breathe.

But soon, I suddenly understood.

Because I remembered the encounter with the 'Ear' in the forest... At that time, my voice calling Lars was heard by the 'Ear', and it suddenly repeated my words.

The reason why 'Ear' knows my name is because it can only repeat other people's words. This means that someone has said my name in front of it, and this person is definitely not someone else. The answer has long been in my heart. .

"..."

————It’s Lars.

My friend must have been calling my name constantly while being consumed by the 'ears'.At that time, I had given up all thoughts and ran away just to keep myself alive.

I can't imagine Lars' fear at that time, nor can I imagine his despair when he knew I was running away... The body was eaten away, which is definitely not the way a person should die, and my friend was alone, in the I experienced this way of dying in my last moments of life.

The hand holding the leash began to tremble...I felt despair.Just like the despair of a wild deer facing the hunters surrounding it, knowing that it is about to die.At this moment, I began to recall everything I had experienced in this life.

I was originally a low-class young man living in the city, but because I couldn't stand the persecution of the country's upper-class system, I fled my hometown and followed the wanderers to this ice field.

I will only feel aggrieved by the injustice of everything, but will not resist.Because I know how much I weigh, I can’t resist the oppression from the upper class at all, so I like to read Casimir’s knight stories. The protagonist faces a desperate situation without compromising, which calms my aggrieved emotions. Only in that fantasy Only then can I feel a little satisfied.

But after coming to the ice field, I felt oppression again—oppression from fate and God.Old people often talk about 'bad luck', but if people are born to die because of these bad lucks, then what's the point of trying my best to survive?

Is it to suffer?Do people live just to feel the pain and suffering that the world brings to you?Maybe, otherwise, how could Lars die tragically, and how could I feel such fear and despair?

Thinking of this, I let go of the leash, picked up the spear, and pointed the tip of the spear at myself.

Outside the cellar, 'Ears' repeated my name again and again.

In the cellar, I pointed the tip of the spear at my beating heart.

Once people have such thoughts, they will inexplicably lose their fear of death.The fantasy of chivalry is no longer a hotbed of my yearning, because I already know something better than fantasy.

At this moment, I feel that the memory is no longer real, and I am no longer obsessed with living.Grievance and resistance, fear and despair...maybe it's just a nightmare...What I've experienced in this life is just a nightmare.And since it is a nightmare, all the feelings are no longer important.

Yes, that's right...

————Now, it’s time for me to wake up from this nightmare.

With three hundred evil hearts, even Wuhuang is at a loss: 17 An isolated village on the ice field

After crossing the polar line representing civilization and entering the ice field where demons were active, after more than two days of searching, Ozwald and Metatron finally found the village.

After walking into the village in the dim light of dawn, Ozwald only felt that the village had an annoying silence.

But at least someone is alive.

Even the young and middle-aged people with enough leg strength have fled in groups, leaving only the weaker ones with insufficient mobility to wait for death... But at least these old and weak people are still alive at this moment.

At this point, it is enough to say that the risky actions taken by Ozwald and others were not in vain.

However, the arrival of the two people inevitably caused some commotion in the originally silent village.

He probably thought they were Carters monsters... So he followed the life fluctuations detected by witchcraft, opened the door of a house with ridiculously high windows, and knocked on the hidden cellar. When the lid tried to strike up a conversation, the person inside made a rather desperate sound.

Until they saw clearly that the thing above Oswald's head was a huge horn instead of long ears, and that neither he nor Metatron had the ability to awaken the most primitive fear deep in the soul. , the commotion gradually subsided.

It was also after that that Ozwald and the others learned more detailed things about those crazy Carters from the mouths of these escapees who originally lived in Ursus.

It's not just their village living in the ice sheet. In fact, people living here in the entire extreme line to escape from the Ursus Inspectorate always tell similar stories from word to mouth - be careful of guys with "long ears" .Once you see long ears from the window of your home, you should immediately hide in a cellar or the like as quietly and quickly as possible.

After all, this is also because the average per capita of Crazy Carters starts at two meters, and in rare cases even three meters; the windows of the house are no longer for lighting the room, but become something like a warning device.Use tall walls to block Carters' discovery and at the same time make it easier for you to see the ears in the reflection of the window... But even these old people who have lived for more than ten years do not know the true identity of "ears" Why.

Just like ordinary people will feel uncomfortable with the sight that stares at them from behind for a long time and therefore notice it; Crazy Carters with more keen senses only need a little bit of sight to fall directly on them, which is enough to make them The location of the prey was found.

And being discovered will only mean one result.

Therefore, people living in this village usually wait until three o'clock in the morning before leaving their hiding houses to perform the necessary labor for the day.Then return to the house before the sun sets, waiting for the sun to arrive the next day...and so on.

However, because the Crazy Carters have become more and more serious in the past two years, since last year they can only dare to come out in the mid-afternoon when the sun is strong enough. As for why it is considered safe when the sun is strong, it is obviously in accordance with the While searching for the village, the two of them met Crazy Carters during the day, which shows that these monsters do not distinguish between day and night...

Although I can't tell you the specific principle, in short, the village is safe during this period; even if one or two wandering Carters monsters enter the village, as long as you don't come into contact with them, close your eyes and hold your breath and squat down The feces will not be eaten.

It is precisely because of this that Ozwald is even more worried.

"In this case, why do you still stay in such a dangerous place like the ice sheet even though you know there are monsters that can eat people?"

While Metatron, who was more proficient in the Ursus language, was distributing the food that the two had killed and prepared along the way, Ozwald couldn't hold back and asked the oldest old man here relevant questions.

Yes, he could probably guess that these people might not be able to stand the unification of monarchy after the death of the late Ursus Emperor, and the excessive chaos and harsh behavior of the old aristocrats of the military sect and the new aristocrats of the wealth sect who obeyed the orders of the current emperor and violated the orders of the current emperor. policy, so they escaped from the jurisdiction of the empire.

But no matter how you talk about the environment of the ice field... it cannot be described as harsh.Compared to the crazy Carters and the more dangerous demons, the problem of resources is no longer a problem, right?

In this regard, when Ozwald and the others asked why they still lived here despite knowing the rabbit, the old man from the Tripoli tribe just smiled.

"No matter where we are in Ursus, it's the same; there are always pickets from the Empire to find us.

If we are caught by the imperial pickets, then we will [definitely] be treated as slaves or miners because we did not follow His Majesty the Emperor's policies; there was such an example a few years ago, where a young couple who had just been married had Because the couple had opposed His Majesty's policies, and because the bottom two lines of the arrest list were blank at that time, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the search casually copied the names on the house plate.He lost his name without trial, moved from a warm small town to the cold north, and served in a labor force that lasted for hundreds of years until he died;

Or maybe they were infected with ore disease in the early stage and were dealt with based on black cards or other random reasons... Those guys just wanted to use our death for fun.

And if we live here, we [only] have to worry about being eaten by monsters. "

"..."Osward.

"So, although I'm a little scared here every day, there's nothing wrong with it; the pickets don't dare to come here anyway, so just stock up on food regularly and don't waste it... Besides, the big guys here all escaped because they couldn't stand it. Yes, they will also take care of each other..."

Looking at his companions who were all smiles because they got food that could last for several days from Sakota, Lao Tripoli also had a smile on his face.

He took off the dry pipe gun that was a treasure on his waist, stuffed it with a few plant leaves that could be used as tobacco, and then the silent red dragon lit the fire. He took two puffs happily and continued.

"...If anyone is eaten, it can only be said that God really doesn't love him and it's just bad luck...In fact, there is nothing sad. It's just like when a natural disaster comes, it will always sweep away a few people. It's normal. . But there are no natural disasters on this ice sheet, probably because natural disasters are also afraid of those ear monsters, hahaha!"

The old man smiled, and white smoke clouds rolled over the snow and rose into the sky with his breath.

“Besides, it’s here that we have the opportunity to meet kind-hearted noble people like you two, isn’t it?

Although he had already met 'Ear', he still crossed the northern border for us worthless old bones, entered the ice field, prepared food... and even wanted to take us out.Isn't this proof that we old bones are lucky? "

"So, it's okay; kid, we've been living like this for so many years, you don't have to worry too much about us."

Stretching out his calloused hand, he touched the head of Oswald, who had been lowering his head and said nothing. The old man comforted softly:

"It just so happens that you brought us a lot of meat and can make a good pot of stew to keep you and your friends warm, little Oz. Then, sleep in my cellar tonight, and when the sun is nice tomorrow, You two, just leave quickly before our ears are on you...

Anyway, we old bones are all worthless lives, and half a penny is not enough, so it’s not worth your efforts to fight for us..."

"........."

Really uncomfortable words.

Red Dragon thought in silence.

With three hundred evil hearts, even Wuhuang is at a loss: 18 The battlefield outside civilization [-]

It has been like this since more than ten years ago.

Victoria, Letania, Casimir, and now Ursus... You can see this everywhere, people who are unable to live peacefully, and whose lives are becoming increasingly difficult to summarize in the face of a desperate reality. .

When it is no longer possible to have the kind of stable life where the sun rises and the sun goes down, even the ore disease, which is one of Terra's fundamental problems, has no meaning... because people who have reached this point are no longer able to say anything. The explosion of late-stage ore disease or the hammer of reality...which one will come first tomorrow and kill you.

And things like this, which were common in Terra, would still make him feel quite irritated no matter how many times he saw them.

His cognition as a [human] made him criticize this reality; just as the limit of being a [human] prevented him from changing this common sense, so he became increasingly unhappy.

But rather than spending time complaining, Red Dragon still likes to do something.

Precisely because of the unhappiness caused by this [dislike], I would subconsciously reach out and do something...

Therefore, with such an unhappy mood, and taking advantage of the fact that there was still some time before sunset, Ozwald began to move around the village, detecting and looking for this mountain that stood on the ice sheet and was quite deep. The reason why the village has been able to exist for more than ten years is to hope to find a way out of it.

Because it was a relatively meticulous operation, the time it took was by no means short; even after Metatron had finished distributing the food and helping some old people have dinner at the last moment of sunset, Ozwald could It’s time to return from work.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Sakota asked the red dragon as he handed over a bowl of stew made from starch-rich tubers and meat.

"So, have you found the reason? Ozwald."

"Yes, I probably know the reason why this village can survive."

"What should I say? Is there any power that can fight against evil spirits?"

With some anticipation, Metatron watched whatever words the red dragon might say next.

But the reality is not ideal, at least it cannot be regarded as submissive.

"No, it's a pity. It's just a simple cover-up;

The principle of effectiveness and operation is to rely on the combination of two different Origin Stone techniques to be driven by receiving sunlight as energy, thus achieving a result that those rabbit monsters can selectively ignore - of course, if it directly hits the face and causes physical contact It's still useless. "

When he said this, Red Dragon paused, and then continued with slightly hesitant words:

"Then, there should be two 'warlocks' who made them. Maybe... Sorry, please forgive me for using this uncertain tone... But judging from my test results, it is really difficult to use [Spellcaster] ] to describe them.

Just, you know what?Meta, those two were probably just practicing on their own... without any guide... The technique was so rough that it couldn't be considered a skill at all. It's so fucking stupid that even when I was seven years old, my spellcasting ability was better than the two of them... ...Well, to put it bluntly, they are guys who have no talent at all and should not take the time-wasting path of warlocks...If I were to recommend it, I even think they might be farming and weaving handicrafts. Talent is better than casting spells..."

No matter how you look at it, it is a mean and accusatory comment.

However, as the second-generation Witch King who succeeded after receiving a complete education and integrating the genealogy, if Ozwald is not qualified to identify the sorcerer's spell-casting skills, then there will probably be no one else in the world who has this qualification. .

Moreover, it is precisely because this is not worth mentioning in the eyes of those who are relatively at the peak of technology that it makes people appreciate the shock of achieving something with this.

"...But, it's such a [waste], but they used all their efforts to accomplish such incredible things."

They may be the first batch of refugees who came to this village, or they may be subsequent batches; they may even be half-grown children who grew up in this village...

Maybe it was because I watched people around me die at the mouth of monsters; I savored the departure of those familiar uncles, aunts, grandparents, and friends that I became enlightened...

Of course, this does not rule out naive fantasies, imagining that if these companions are not in danger of Crazy Carters, they can survive on this ice sheet that the pickets cannot catch up with, and create this as a small, relatively Dream paradise.

Interfering with the senses and playing with the light of nature; two talentless people with such Originium skills started their own actions.

It would be more accurate to say dedication.

"Life gives birth to thoughts, and thoughts guide the will. In the end, this will leads the spirit... I gave everything I had just for that little thought... Then, this is what you and I see. A village that has been based on the ice sheet for more than ten years is such a small miracle."

With a complicated expression, Ozwald let out a long sigh.

"After all, the so-called Origin Stone skills are everyone's spiritual self-extension."

"...That's it."

Metatron was silent.

I don’t know if it’s the helplessness that the village really has no way to fight against the evil power, or the two people who have accomplished such an unimaginable miracle...

The bullets in the corresponding magazine of his natal gun were constantly being pulled out and pushed in again with his thumb; he didn't know what he was thinking.

"damn it!"

When Metatron was silent, Ozwald, who looked irritated, scratched his head hard and made his hair as messy as a chicken coop: "After seeing such a thing, how can anyone do it?" I had a good sleep at night... I’m so annoyed.”

"So I'm not going to sleep tonight, is that what you mean?" Metatron looked sideways: "Obviously, that old man from Tripoli is planning to entertain you."

"But that grandpa also asked me to leave early tomorrow..."

He sat down casually regardless of the dust on the ground. Looking at the too quiet appearance of the village in front of him, Ozwald puffed up his face in an extremely unyielding manner and blew hard into the hair hanging down from his forehead.

"Well, there's no other way. We can't let those annoying big rabbits eat up all the grandparents here in this village that we've managed to protect with so much effort, right? I can't bear to see something like this happen..."

So we can only choose to fight, right?For those who cannot fight.

"...Such a choice is often called a hero by the world; Ozwald."

Metatron stared at the red dragon and said solemnly: "And wanting to become a hero is a very dangerous thing."

"But if it's fate that they're going to die here..."

The red dragon licked the corners of his dry mouth.