Law of the Devil

Hearing this, Du Wei abruptly bolted off from the floorboard with a somersault, his expression not discernable to be happy or angry as he laughed with his finger pointed to the sacred beast: “Alright! What a good Aragon! What a good Mayuba! What a good QQ! You’ve won, I submit! Tell me then; what sensational story do you have for me now? Be sure to say everything, I rather you not come around every couple of days and give me a big fright!”

To be honest, Du Wei was a little angry now… Damn it! Looking back, he can say his own psychological endurance has been very strong up till now! Back when a white and green Gandalf suddenly popped up, he endured it. Back when he found out the founding emperor Aragon was a world traveler like him, he endured it. Even when this blasted bird QQ said something like “an iron rod will be grinded into a needle pin if the harem’s three thousand strong”, he also endured it!

(Cough cough, the iron rod idiom means even a strong manhood will become a weak manhood if there are too many girls to go around)

But now?

You just have to say that the greatest man in the history of the Light Temple, the first Pope, was… was a damn bird!

This kind of news, anyone would go crazy after learning the truth!

By now QQ’s calm demeanor has returned to him. Smiling at Du Wei, this self-proclaimed graceful bird blinked and blinked, then asked: “Well then, have you calmed down yet? If you are, can I begin my story?”

“Say it, say it…” Du Wei held his head in agony: “I am mentally prepared now. Even if you suddenly pull out a cross and proclaim yourself to be Jesus Christ, I won’t be surprised anymore… SAY IT!”

“Jesus Christ… Hmm, in that case I will. I don’t know what that means, but Master Aragon once mentioned something similar too.” QQ dazed out for a moment like just recalled something hilarious, then began his version.

“What Maximos and his followers said were mostly true; it’s just that there aren’t many that know about my origin.

About a thousand years ago on the Roland Continent, oh, I forgot to mention, at that time this land wasn’t called the Roland Continent. The name you know of today was only established after the founding of the Roland Empire….. Back then, the name of the continent is…..”

Up to here, Du Wei impatiently interrupted: “There’s no need to elaborate on these needless details, focus on the main subject.”

“Okay.” QQ seems to disapprove of Du Wei’s impatient attitude; nevertheless, he follows through with the request and jumped across the “unimportant details” by speeding up.

“Aragon’s home is located in the southern central part of the mainland, a place once known as the Rosset Kingdom. By today’s geography, it’s approximately six hundred kilometers south of the imperial capital in the area of the Rona Valley. The Kingdom of Rosset isn’t big by any standard. Compared to the dozens of countries at the time, it can only be regarded as medium in terms of size with a mediocre military strength…. Unlike the dominant countries, Rosset Kingdom isn’t famed for their knights or warriors, they are known for producing quality wine. As you can imagine, a weak state like that would no doubt be bullied on a regular basis.

Aragon and I were both born in a small town to the south of the Rosset kingdom. There’s no lie in that, but regarding the part where Maximos said I’m a priest of the local church, haha, that’s what the official records say anyways. Truth is…. In my entire life, I’ve never once believed in that whatever goddess of light.”

Du Wei firmly believes it. If the last part just now gets out, it will make the entire Temple of Light go mad!

One of the creators of the Temple of Light, the great founder, the first Pope, actually opened his mouth and said he never once believed in the goddess of light.

In that case … Hehe!

“Back then the town and its surrounding lands all belonged to Aragon’s family, whose father was also a nobleman. To survive, the family relied on the production of wine from the surrounding villages and towns under their name. Master Aragon was the youngest son of that family, and I, was the son of a farmer for one of their vineyards. If everything hadn’t changed and followed the normal trajectory, I would have followed in my father’s footstep and became a grape farmer too.

My age was two years younger than Master Aragon, and even at that tender age, Aragon was the boss of all the kids around the manor. He’s not only smart; he’s also strong, decisive, and a natural born leader. Oh, of course, he had one big problem too, he’s very perverted. I still remember it clearly. When we were but ten years old, he would often bring me out at night to peep at the daughter of the farm’s housekeeper during her bath sessions. Ugh, it was just outside the house. I’m squatting down on the ground and Master Aragon would step on my shoulders to peer over the window. Afterwards, he would say to me while looking inside, My good brother, you will certainly like these lovely women in the future.’ At that time I was still young so I didn’t know what he meant by those words, but it didn’t matter, he liked me very much and trusted me the most.

Then the day came where my father passed away. At that period I was still very young, incapable of doing the heavy farm work around the manor. In that age, if one cannot work then they will starve to death. I worked very hard every day, I really did, but I simply couldn’t finish any of the work handed to me. It was Aragon who saved me back then. Every night he would sneak out with some bread he stole from the kitchen and let me eat it. If not for his generosity, I wouldn’t have lasted. Later, when things got really tough, Aragon feared that I would eventually die from starvation, so to save me, he pleaded with his family to have me repositioned as his personal servant. From then on, I stopped calling him by his name and would call him ‘master’.

Du Wei, you are the smartest person I’ve ever met … But, in my opinion, Aragon is just as clever as you. You got your hot air balloons that can fly in the sky. You also organized soccer games in the military for the soldiers as an exercise game. Hmm, you might be very surprised by this, but a thousand years ago Master Aragon had already thought of the same thing as you.

When I was still his servant and by his side, he once drew a bunch of pictures and the contents were exactly like your hot air balloon. He told me it can fly in the sky so I became exceptionally excited. However, once Master Aragon finished his drawings, he promptly burned the sheets to erase any traces of their existence. I asked him why, but he didn’t reply to me, he only looked at me and muttered to himself: ‘what meaning is there to do it again… You won’t understand, everything is but a repeating cycle’.

He is a person like that, often spouting some inscrutable thing and confusing his peers.

Hmm, Du Wei, those characters that you had me look at a while back, it was also Aragon who taught them to me. I don’t know what those texts mean, but I adored him for being capable of creating his own language. But now it seems… It wasn’t created by Aragon, but rather, the language had always been around, right?

I may be his servant, but he is more like my teacher, teaching me all sorts of things. Later, many would call me the ‘wise Mayuba’, the ‘scholarly Mayuba’, but almost everything that I know is taught to me by Aragon.

He was that clever. Unlike his two brothers, he never once tried to compete for the right to the family’s wealth when he was at home. Because he had never attempted to win his father’s favor, Aragon’s two brothers never made things difficult for him, so our days went by very peacefully and enjoyable.

Things continued like that until Master Aragon reached sixteen years old. That year he decided to leave home and what he told me was: ‘the world outside is very, very big, and the world is about to change’…. Oh, I’ve seem to have forgotten the next part. He said a lot of things to me back then, but my memories are a blur now. It has been way too long since then.

That year, he was sixteen years old and I was fourteen when I followed him out of the manor. I asked him many questions back then, like why now, and why choose now. His only answer to me was because the ‘time’s upon us’.

I never really understood his heart, but I can tell that Aragorn was lonely all his life because there seems to be a lot of secrets buried underneath. He trusted me, took me as his closest friend and taught me all sorts of things; this way, he can sort of elevate the loneliness in his heart by having me to talk to. I still remember those words he used to say to me: ‘thanks to you, I now at least have one person to talk to.’

For what came next, you can go refer to the founding Emperor’s life record. We both went adventuring afterwards. When he joined a mercenary Corps as a knight, I acted as his squire, helping him scrub his weapons and feed the horses. When he was in business, I was his valet and helped him calculate the sale and profit margins of the goods. Then on the last adventure out at sea, I stayed ashore because I was seasick.

As a result, his boat capsized not long after his departure. I was very sad when I got the news because I thought Master Aragon had perished out at sea. I waited and waited at the port, then a month passed and my wishes were granted, he returned.

Upon seeing me, the first words he said to me were this: ‘Alright, remember today for the legend begins on this day!’

On that shipwreck, he almost lost all of his property, including the accumulated wealth we saved from our mercenary days. Everything sank to the bottom of the seafloor. Even so, Aragon didn’t seem sad nor discouraged, instead, he gleefully returned home to his family.

Then, his father soon passed away, and as the youngest son, he didn’t have the right to inherit the title and could only make a claim on a small portion of the family’s wealth.

And then … Du Wei, as you probably know from the history of the mainland chronicles, Master Aragon used his inheritance to organize a small private army. This move was greatly ridiculed by those around us, but Aragon didn’t mind. We contacted all of our friends from our adventuring days and gathered them up for our venture.

Sure enough, Aragon’s approach was right. In less than two years, war broke out across the continent, and the kingdom of Rosset soon became involved in the turmoil. As you know, a small kingdom in the bliss of war would most certain face destruction. Grasping onto the opportunity from the chaos, Aragon slowly made his fortune from the battles and eventually stepped onto the grand stage of history.

At the beginning the first few years went by very smoothly. I was always by his side as his trusted assistant… Oh, just like you and Philip working together. He would discuss a lot of things with me and seek advice from me; however, he didn’t have me take up any post in the public, merely a personal advisor in the background. Among many of those that followed him, they didn’t even know of my existence. Regardless, I didn’t care. In my opinion, as long as I can be of help to Master Aragon, I don’t mind dedicating my entire life to him.

And…… Reality has proven. He had already made bigger plans for me so I’m not fit to be in the limelight.”

“Wait a minute!” Du Wei listened attentively throughout, but he suddenly interjected with a shout: “This isn’t right! Wait, no! According to Maximos’s story, and historical records, Mayuba should’ve been a priest of a small village. But according to your version, you’ve been following Aragon since you were fourteen when he left home?”

“That’s right.” QQ shot Du Wei a glance: “Didn’t you say so yourself? Books are often deceiving. The story isn’t as simple as that.”