Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 340 The Miraculous Thran

At that moment, it was as if someone had stopped the pace of time, preventing it from continuing its journey in this dark, remote, and dilapidated corner of the Shield District.

The three stood silently facing each other, the stagnant atmosphere amplifying their unspoken feelings.

until--

"What are you doing?"

Thales shouted, questioning the other two incredulously, "Hickser, and you, what are you talking about?"

"Do you know my mother?"

Under the moonlight, the prince stared in astonishment at the old soldier trembling slightly in his wheelchair and the old man leaning on his cane, head bowed in dejection.

"When? How did you meet? Where?"

But they did not answer.

“Well, Drew,” Hexer sighed slowly.

Is this reason sufficient?

Griveaux finally calmed his trembling breathing.

As if an eternity had passed, the wheelchair, shrouded in darkness, shifted slightly, crushing a few scattered pebbles on the ground.

The person in the wheelchair exhaled with difficulty and strained to lift their head in the dim moonlight.

"you can not."

The veteran's voice was stiff, and his gaze shifted uncertainly between Thales and Hexer.

"You can't, you can't do this..."

At this point, Griveaux's unpredictable expression paused for a moment.

But Hicksser still looked at him calmly.

“For over twenty years, I have been Griveor. I live in Dragonsky City. I have my territory, my brothers, everything I have. They all depend on me. You can’t…”

His face contorted, gripping his wheelchair tightly as if he were about to rush to the battlefield: "You can't just pop up like this, and then, and then, and then bring out a bunch of dog shit 'touching stories' and ask me to do this and that... That's all in the past, old crow!"

Greaver waved his hand abruptly, seemingly getting more and more fluent as he spoke: "So what if she has a son? I don't care..."

He was answered by Hicksser's calm yet firm, aged voice.

“Precisely because those are all in the past, Drew.”

"That's why it will always exist."

Griveaux paused, as if he had choked on something.

“It cannot be changed,” Hicksser said, his gaze somber, “nor can it be escaped.”

Griveaux, in his wheelchair, trembled slightly.

The veteran slowly released his wheelchair, clasped his hands together, and gritted his teeth: "Shut up."

Thales looked at Hixer, then at Griveor, his mind filled with unresolved doubts.

More than twenty years ago?
past?

They all knew Seranjelana.

That... mysterious mother.

He pricked up his ears, wanting to hear more.

"Nobody wants to recall the nightmares of the past, whether before or after."

The weathered Hickser sighed softly, "But at least think about it, who was it that brought us, these desperate people at the end of our rope, and you, this heartless walking corpse, out of Caligre..."

"...Bring out of that bottomless dark prison, bring out of that bloody arena shrouded in shadow?"

“Caligri…”

The name seemed to remind Grevar of something; he closed his eyes, and his chest began to rise and fall.

Thales felt a sense of doubt.

Caligri?

What is that place?
“Yes, dear Drew,” Hexer said, looking at Griveor, who was lost in his memories and had an uncertain expression, “this is the debt we owe.”

Grevo opened his eyes and took a deep, difficult breath: "Shut up."

Thales could no longer hold back.

"Sorry to bother you, but..."

He stepped forward, his voice slightly anxious: "Who exactly is my mother...?"

Griveaux suddenly looked up!

"I told you to shut up!"

The old soldier was seen clenching his teeth, staring wide-eyed at the young prince with a distorted expression, as if he were being tortured.

His hair and beard stood on end, and his forced suppression of emotions forced Thales' words back down his throat.

There are always some things—cough cough—that you can't deny, much less forget.

Hexer coughed painfully, but he waved his hand, refusing Thales's offer to help him up.

"Isn't that so?" The old crow paused for a moment before slowly speaking, uttering a name that Thales found completely unfamiliar:
"Bloodthorn Lizard".

boom!
Griveo punched his wheelchair.

"Shut up, shut up!"

The veteran leaned forward, glaring fiercely at Hixer: "Go to hell, old man, you fucking never call me that again!"

"You know I fucking hate this the most!"

His voice was filled with hostility and pain as he slammed his hand on the wheelchair: "You know that!"

Thales stared at Griveo in surprise at his appearance.

The prince grew increasingly suspicious of Thran's relationship with them, and at the same time, he was filled with anxiety about his future.

But Hixser simply continued to lean on his cane, standing there indifferently: "Then send this child away, Drew."

"These are all the demands I've ever placed on you."

"Then you can go back and be your local tyrant with a clear conscience, flaunting your power as your gang leader."

Griveo leaned back in his chair and took a few deep breaths.

It was as if the conversation had just taken away most of his energy.

A gust of wind blew by, and the huge temperature difference between day and night in Dragon Sky City made Thales shiver and couldn't help but sneeze.

"Do not."

I heard Griveo's painful yet resolute voice in my ear.

"Don't think about it."

"I'm not taking this job."

Thales was startled.

what?
"that's it?"

"Not answering?" A cold glint flashed behind Hicksser's monocle. He said calmly, "Is this your answer, Greaver?"

Griveo's chest jerked noticeably.

"that's all!"

The veteran in the wheelchair raised his head again, gritting his teeth and angrily saying:

"you……"

"roll."

He forced out a few words through gritted teeth: "Get out of my territory!"

"Immediately, now!"

His rough voice rang out in this remote corner, echoing among the broken walls and ruins.

But Hixser said nothing, he just looked at Griveor silently.

Grivell, his expression twisted, and Heathcliff, his face cold and indifferent, stared at each other in the moonlight, locked in a fierce confrontation.

The atmosphere made Thales quite uneasy, momentarily overshadowing his curiosity about the mysterious mother and making him even more confused about his escape route.

After a long while, Hixser finally let out a slow sigh: "I see..."

The veteran in the wheelchair stared intently at the old man in front of him, his eyes filled with a meaning that Thales could not decipher.

"Boss?"

Hearing the shouts from afar, Kevin drove his truck closer and asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

Griveo took a few breaths, regulated his breathing, and composed himself.

“Kevin,” the veteran said stiffly to the young man in the carriage, “where did they come from…”

"You should send them back there."

Kevin was slightly taken aback: "Huh?"

Griveo closed his eyes, then opened them again.

"Damn it," the leader of the Shield District gritted his teeth and slammed his wheelchair down hard, "Get them out of here right now!"

His voice was rough, and his pronunciation was cold.

Thales sighed inwardly.

Kevin was startled by his boss's appearance. He trembled slightly at first, then immediately nodded, "Okay, okay..."

Griveaux snorted coldly.

He glared at the still silent Heathcliff without any politeness, as if Heathcliff were his mortal enemy.

The next moment, the veteran moved abruptly, turning his wheelchair in the opposite direction from Hexer. Along the way, he roughly pushed aside a corpse blocking his path, then glanced at Thales with a complex expression, only to abruptly look away just before their eyes met.

"Go to hell, you old crow."

Immediately afterwards, with the sound of wheels scraping against the ground, Griveaux's figure in his wheelchair disappeared into the night.

They left without hesitation.

It rolled over countless gravel along the way.

The sound of the wheelchair gradually faded, and Thales silently watched the direction he left in, his heart filled with doubt and disappointment.

“Um, sir, and this one…” After confirming that Greaver had left, Kevin rubbed his hands together with a headache, looked at the old raven and Thales with difficulty, and, remembering the boss’s attitude towards them just now, pointed to the carriage, pondering what tone he should use:
"Perhaps we should..."

Hixser tapped his cane and gave a friendly smile:

"It'll be over in a moment, young man. Please wait for me up ahead... We must say goodbye."

Under Hicksor's polite and friendly smile, Kevin drove the carriage away with some skepticism.

Thales looked at his teacher with a slightly dejected expression.

“You see, Thales,” Hixer turned to Thales, looking at him apologetically. “I’m so sorry.”

"I'm afraid I can't help you."

“And you can’t just come back to Axe District with me like this—it’s too dangerous.”

Thales watched him silently.

He shook his head, banishing the slight regret that had risen in his heart from his mind.

In fact, Thales found that his mood swings were not as great as he had imagined.

The concerns about their own safety were largely overshadowed by the information revealed in their conversation.

Seran.

There's that name again.

Thinking of this, Thales couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Hickser".

“Mr. Hicks,” the prince took a breath and stared intently at the old raven, “you are willing to travel a long and arduous journey to Exter to be my teacher…”

"Is it really just because of Putila and Gilbert's recommendations?"

The old crow paused slightly.

“Who knows,” Hicksser responded quickly, chuckling slightly. “Maybe it’s for the generous compensation?”

"Hickser!"

The prince could no longer suppress his doubts: "About my mother."

"Don't you have anything to say?"

Of course, his biggest doubts went far beyond that.

Hicksor's figure stopped in place.

There was a moment of silence between them.

After a long while, the old man slowly opened his wrinkled mouth.

“About her,” Hicksser said slowly, “shouldn’t you know her better than I do?”

Thales's breath hitched.

“I…I have never seen her,” he said somewhat awkwardly, recalling the few memories he had of Thran: “only descriptions I’ve heard from others.”

"Yes," Thales said quietly.

The abnormality that I was born with.

In the Hall of Mindis, the King and Gilbert told him with certainty the strange-sounding name.

There was also the stern and imposing High Priestess Li Xiya.

Queen Koya, who suffered a mental breakdown during a bloody year.

Descending from the heavens, the incomparably majestic Queen of the Sky.

Every piece of information he gleaned about his mother only deepened his confusion: Who exactly was Seranjana? What kind of being was she?
"That's right."

Looking at him, Hicksor sighed slowly, "What a pity."

Thales gave him a questioning look: "So?"

Heathcliff stared at him for a long time before finally smiling slightly.

"When I wasn't this old, nor that young, there was a period when I was really unlucky..."

Hicksher recalled the past with a sigh: "The process was too complicated, but in the end, I was robbed of everything and sold into slavery in the desert."

Thales was taken aback: "The Great Desert?"

Hicksher smiled and nodded.

"Yes, that's the place you're about to go."

“The Great Desert,” the old crow sighed softly, his gaze passing over Thales as if looking elsewhere. “What a vast place.”

“There, only three things remain in the whole world: you, and the sand…”

The old crow squinted: "And sand."

Thales frowned.

"No matter how far you go, how long you go, or how fast you go, you will never reach the end."

"All the rules, morality, order, fairness, strength and weakness, and even time of the world lose their meaning there."

“As for slaves,” Hickser patted the back of his hand and sighed, “it’s hard to imagine that such a system, which disappeared after the ancient empire, still exists in the Great Desert.”

"You can exaggerate my miserable state back then," Hixser recalled the past with a calm gaze, but his tone was intriguing:

"A group of people who had lost all hope, all dignity, and most of their selves: prisoners of war, criminals, alcoholics, cripples, prostitutes, beggars, madmen, exiles... just like that, like wild beasts and livestock, they were locked in filthy, cruel, desperate, and painful cages, given all sorts of slave codes, and subjected to every imaginable hell..."

"Waiting for death."

Thales listened attentively, suppressing his urge to ask questions, and mentally searching for any matching information.

Hicksor coughed softly, a strange light gleaming in his eyes: "And that's where I first met your mother."

"Seranjelana".

Hicksher's voice was very soft, as if he were coaxing a cute child.

Thales watched him silently.

The old raven sighed, "I still remember Thran's fiery red, waist-length hair, her delicate, radiant skin, her beautifully curved lips, and her light gray eyes just like yours."

Fiery red long hair.

Thales frowned: This was the only description of Thran's appearance he had obtained in years.

"But that's not what's most impressive about her."

Hicksor smiled helplessly: "I still can't forget Thran: the way she turned her head to look at people was full of mist and mystery, but the way she grinned and smirked was both playful and annoying."

"The girl was sometimes passionate and quirky, and at other times calm and wise."

Thales paused, then asked in surprise, "What?"

“Yes, I know it’s contradictory,” Hickser said with a wave of his hand and a laugh, seemingly aware of Thales’s doubts.
"But I just had this feeling: in her rare gray eyes, there was both madness and rationality, yet they were perfectly blended together, like a kindred spirit similar to us, yet also like a being above us—that was Thran, the charming, mysterious, and elusive Thran."

Hixer shook his head helplessly and dejectedly: "I am quite confident in my choice of words, but I have to admit that when it comes to that girl, my vocabulary is pitifully poor and cannot even begin to describe her."

Thales was stunned.

Madness or rationality?
They are like our kind...

It's like an existence above us...

What are you doing?
Seran is...

The more the old crow spoke, the more ethereal his gaze became, as if he were illuminating a corner unseen by ordinary people.

“‘The Magical Thran’—that’s the nickname the cage owners gave her. She’s the only slave who can still keep her real name.”

Thales' heart skipped a beat.

"slave?"

Thales' eyes widened in surprise: "You mean, my mother was a slave in the desert?"

How can it be?

A doubt arose in his mind: if what the Sky Queen said was true...

“She used to be,” Hixser raised his voice, seemingly unwilling to let Thales continue thinking that way, “until she proved she wasn’t.”

slave.

The magical Thran.

Thales pondered for a moment, then subconsciously replied, "How so?"

At this point, the old crow let out a sigh of relief and paused slightly.

He gently closed his eyes, a warm smile spreading across his face: "Your mother... she was very intelligent and persuasive. That girl spent two or three years pulling one hopeless slave after another, living like walking corpses, out of the abyss, out of hell, out of the mire, out of despair..."

"It brought us all together..."

Thales listened attentively, sensing the countless memories hidden within the simple words from the old crow's slowly fluctuating emotions.

A few seconds later, Hixser, lost in his memories, opened his eyes, sighed deeply, and ended his sentence with a few words:
"In the end, we managed to survive."

"They escaped."

There's one more chapter, still under revision.

Forget it, I'm not going to fix it anymore. I'll go to sleep now and write more tomorrow.
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(End of this chapter)