Magic Mech Wars Steel Torrent-Chapter 92 Vocecalm

The border between the two countries.

There is a city located slightly in the middle section of the border between the two sides, which is almost abandoned.

The ruins baptized by war still vaguely reveal the prosperous scene of the past. However, the remains of the buildings now covered with weeds and climbed over by vines also prove that it was a long time ago.

Here, there is still smoke rising from the kitchens.

With his spiritual power covering the area, it is not difficult to find that there are probably about a thousand people living in this small city.

For such a small city that should originally have a population of about ten thousand, it is already quite good that one-tenth of the people remain after being baptized by war.

The dilapidated city - Vocecalm.

...

Sulian stepped into the street. He had already returned the magical beast horse to the relevant business association in the previous city and came here on foot.

"Sure enough, a considerable number of the people still remaining here are adventurers and smuggling business associations. There may still be some original inhabitants, but there shouldn't be many," Sulian observed the surroundings roughly.

This place currently belongs to the Kingdom of Lanwu. If there is another war between the two sides in the future, Vocecalm, which is located in a relatively flat area, will basically be pushed down by the dominant side. The buildings here are not sufficient to construct a decent defense.

His appearance soon caught the attention of those with some strength here.

Sulian's target was not them. He directly turned around and headed for the urban area in the north.

Over there, he had clearly sensed that there were still about two hundred ordinary residents. Obviously, they were the real original inhabitants here, the original inhabitants who had not left.

And...

Most of them were old people.

Extending his spiritual power further north, there were some cultivated fields, which should be planted by them to make a living.

Sulian's arrival also caused confusion among the old people here. The younger people moved closer to the place where they placed their weapons. Obviously, they were quite vigilant towards this strange child dressed in excellent equipment.

Perhaps some spoiled young masters of nobles had come here and caused some unpleasant things in the past.

He found a location relatively close to the center of this area and sat down on the spot.

He didn't speak or take any additional actions, as if he was just looking for a place to rest temporarily.

After a long while.

Seeing that he didn't move, the younger people roughly thought that he just didn't like the place where those adventurers and smuggling business associations stayed, so he came here to rest for a while. Their vigilance relaxed a bit, but they still arranged someone to keep an eye on him.

Obviously, there is no trust in outsiders here.

...

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The sun overhead gradually set.

When he arrived, there was smoke from the lunch kitchens, and now the smoke from the dinner kitchens had risen.

He had been sitting still for an entire afternoon.

...

So, this is the land that has suffered from war.

Sulian sighed in his heart.

His spiritual power had been silently observing everything here.

Most of the people who survived and stayed were elderly people.

Their food was some dough, accompanied by wild vegetables dug from who knows where. Occasionally, if they were lucky, they might use the vegetables from those cultivated fields. It was extremely simple. They rarely used oil, and it seemed that not many people added salt.

He could even guess.

These old people ate dinner so early because when night came, they, who couldn't even use fuel, would fall into a long night.

The wind magic that had been spreading out also heard the discussions of the people around at this time.

...

"That child has been sitting there for an afternoon. Is he really all right?"

"Who cares? Looking at his weapons and protective gear, do we need to worry about him?"

"Let's still be careful of him. What if he's a spoiled young master who goes crazy? That would be terrible."

Those who had been paying attention to him from a slightly farther place were still talking like this.

The older people were more worried, and the younger ones were more vigilant.

Perhaps, if it weren't for his attire, they might have driven this stranger away at the beginning. Or perhaps, if he were dressed in rags, they might have come over to care about the down-and-out child at the beginning.

Is this the place that has been ravaged by war for years?

Sulian opened his eyes and looked at the two people in front of him, who were probably a grandfather and a grandson.

The grandfather, leaning on a crutch, slowly led a young boy, who was probably only about five years old, and came over with a piece of flatbread.

"Big brother, would you like to eat this?" The little boy asked timidly, holding the flatbread.

"Why are you giving it to me? Aren't you also not full?" Sulian asked calmly.

He knew that the food for this grandfather and grandson tonight was just this simple flatbread. And this piece of flatbread, which was about the size of a palm and very thin, the two of them had just shared one.

"Because you haven't eaten anything at all, big brother," the little boy answered naively.

"Aren't you afraid that I'm a bad person?" Sulian asked again.

"Are there bad people as old as you, big brother?" The little boy asked curiously.

But obviously, he was a little scared, and his little hand holding out the flatbread retracted a bit.

"Bad people don't care about their age," Sulian said.

"Then are you a bad person, big brother?" The little boy asked carefully.

"Yes, a very, very bad person," Sulian nodded.

A bad person who was about to bring war to this land.

"Then..." The little boy looked at his grandfather, not knowing what to do.

At this moment.

"Will you still give me the flatbread?" Sulian asked proactively.

...

The little boy hesitated, and the old grandfather just stood quietly by the side, looking at Sulian as if thinking about something.

"I... I don't really want to give it to you, big brother."

"But grandpa said that if..."

"If a bad person wants something, just give it all to him, as long as he won't hurt us," the little boy said a little scared, and at the same time, he held out the small piece of flatbread again.

Sulian's heart trembled slightly.

Give bad people whatever they want, just to beg for the safety that a little bit of kindness might bring.

"Here's the flatbread for you. Please don't hurt us, little brother, okay?" The little boy said, scared but also sincerely.

His little hand was trembling slightly, and he was also a bit reluctant.

Sulian shook his head slightly. The little boy was confused and also a bit scared, and he leaned closely against his grandfather. He didn't know what this meant.

Would a bad person not want his things?

...

In his heart, a certain strong desire was intensifying.

...

"Aren't you going to say something?" Sulian looked up and asked the old grandfather, who seemed to be about sixty years old.

"Don't worry, this little brother won't hurt us," the old grandfather said.

Older people sometimes see things more clearly.

"Sit down," Sulian motioned for the grandfather and grandson to sit beside him. "Little guy, you eat the flatbread yourself. Here's also a piece of roasted meat."

A piece of roasted meat was something he had bought but didn't finish. When needed, it could be heated with magic and eaten.

Although the little boy was very eager for it, he didn't dare to take it.

But before he could ask his grandfather, the piece of roasted meat had floated in front of him, and he could feel the temperature of the roasted meat.

"Eat it," the grandfather nodded with a faint smile.

"Okay!" The little boy immediately nodded happily.

Meat was a food that he didn't dare to hope for and also a food that a child could hardly refuse.

...

Sulian didn't speak any more. The old grandfather sat beside him, holding his crutch with both hands, and looked at his grandson eating the hard-won roasted meat with a kind smile.

The people in the corner who had been keeping an eye on Sulian finally relaxed.

It seemed that this strange child was not a spoiled young master.

"Little master, did you come here with something you want to ask? I can say that I'm probably the person who knows this place best," the old grandfather asked.

"I just wanted to take a look at this place that has experienced countless wars over the past few decades," Sulian answered simply.

"This place has indeed experienced a lot of battles," the old grandfather sighed and reminisced.

"Didn't you ever think about leaving this place?" Sulian asked.

"Leave? Where else can we go?" The old grandfather asked back with a helpless smile.

Sulian didn't answer.

"The city is not a place for us commoners to live. Other villages won't accept outsiders like us who have no labor force when they can't even feed themselves. Where else can we go except stay here?" The old grandfather sighed.

The scenes of the slums in the Kingdom of Sbai once again emerged in his mind.

Nowhere to go, and nowhere to escape.

"What about his parents?" Sulian asked. This was obviously a topic that was likely to be distressing.

"His father was forced to join the army the year before last and was killed in the war with the Kingdom of Yaminik last year. His mother was taken away by passing adventurers and there has been no news since," the old grandfather said. As he spoke, his tone became increasingly calm.

It was a kind of calmness filled with helplessness and despair.

The father died in the war, and the mother was abducted.

Sulian looked at the little boy beside the old grandfather, who was eating the roasted meat bit by bit, afraid of finishing it too quickly.

...

In his heart, that strong desire intensified again.

...

"Little master, if you have anything you want to ask, just ask. This piece of roasted meat is already the best reward," the old grandfather smiled.

Obviously, he was telling Sulian not to worry about whether these questions would hurt their feelings.

Under the glow of the setting sun, the old grandfather in front of him and the little boy who was eating the roasted meat seriously.

Somehow, it was a bit desolate.

So, is the way of asking for information so cheap?

"What do you think of your country?" Sulian asked simply.

"Which country?" The old grandfather asked back.

Sulian was slightly silent.

He quickly understood that they might not be considered people of any country because this place didn't even know who would occupy it when they woke up the next day.

Really...

"What a ridiculous question. I'm sorry for asking like this," Sulian shook his head and apologized self-deprecatingly.

"It doesn't matter," the old grandfather smiled.

"Then I'll ask a more direct question."

Sulian looked at the scenery in front of him.

This city that had been ravaged by war, destroyed until only ruins remained, under the shroud of the glow of the setting sun, with only a few wisps of smoke rising from the kitchens.

Vocecalm.

...

"What do you think war is?"

...

"War..."

The old grandfather repeated it.

His tone seemed to be in thought, but also as if he was sighing, and there was a bit of sadness.

This was a direct but also heavy topic.

"I'm just an ordinary person. The only thing related to war in my life is my entire life," the old grandfather answered softly.

He answered calmly.

It was also a heavy answer.

With one's entire life being related to war, what else was left?

"But I don't have much education either. It's hard for me to describe it clearly. Let me just briefly tell you about my ordinary life," the old grandfather smiled.

The setting sun shone on him, and the old man in his twilight years echoed with it.

"Okay," Sulian nodded slightly.

...

"Little master, you asked me what war is?"

"Heh..."

"I was born in the Empire of Kenrimei. My mother was captured when she was young, and my father was disabled because of that."

"I went to school in the Kingdom of Vinor. They wanted to educate us, but soon the people from Finkan attacked here."

"I got married in the Military Dominion of Finkan. It was a runaway slave girl, even though we didn't understand each other's languages."

"I strived in the Kingdom of Sbai, wanting to give my child and wife a better future. Unfortunately, it was all in vain."

"Now... I'm sort of living out my old age, in this Kingdom of Lanwu, with my young grandson," the old grandfather gently stroked the little boy's head and smiled, a bit bitterly.

"Even now."

"I'm not even sure in which country I will die, and where this little guy will go."

"Are you going to ask if I've traveled to many places because of the war?"

"No."

"Because from the day I was born until now, I have never left my hometown, this dilapidated city - Vocecalm," the old grandfather calmly and simply described his ordinary life.

That life in which he had never left his hometown, this small city ravaged by war, but this city had been "traveling" among various countries all the time.

This was what war was like in his eyes.

...

In his heart, the strong desire that he had never felt before intensified to the extreme!

...

Born in Kenrimei;

Went to school in Vinor;

Got married in Finkan;

Strived in Sbai;

Spent his later years in Lanwu;

In his entire life, he had never left his hometown, Vocecalm, this small city ravaged by war.

...

"What's your name?" Sulian asked calmly.

In that calm tone, there was an unknown and terrifying emotion that made anyone tremble with fear.

"Me? Wafael Friedman," the old grandfather was slightly taken aback, as if he hadn't introduced himself to others for a long time.

Wafael Friedman.

Sulian silently remembered this name in his heart.

A name related to war.

...

Sulian slowly stood up, turned his back to the setting sun, and looked at the grandfather and grandson in front of him while bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

"Throughout your life, you have never recognized any country, and you have also lost trust in the dirty war groups hidden under the guise of the country."

"But if one day."

"A country that can give everyone basic rights to survive, basic protection of dignity, and has no exploitation or oppression appears in front of you, would you be willing to try to accept it and let your child try to love that country?" Sulian asked seriously.

The old man stared at him blankly, as if he had witnessed something inexplicable.

Even the little boy looked at this big brother in front of him curiously.

"If such a country really exists..."

The old man answered with a slight sigh.

Dare not trust, dare not dream, dare not hope.

But perhaps, in his heart, he could have a little bit of expectation.

"Take this flag."

Suddenly, a rolled-up piece of red cloth appeared in Sulian's hand.

"What is this..." The old man asked in confusion.

"When war breaks out around you again, when the miserable and soldiers run away in front of the war chariots, and when the high and mighty knight mechas are blasted into pieces!"

"Take it and fly it on the highest place!"

"The country that doesn't exist yet will come personally to welcome you!"

Sulian took off his mask. His delicate face carried the most determined and aloof expression as he spoke words that seemed like a delusion.

The old man looked at the young man in the glow of the setting sun.

It seemed that what he saw was not the return to silence as the sun set in the west, but the rise as the sun rose in the east!

...

The moment his hand took the flag.

The young man disappeared in front of him.

The only thing left in his ear was a single sentence.

"I, Sulian, will definitely not let down any intelligent being who waves this flag!"

...