C175

… …

In the center of the city, beside the palace, on the Hertonmart Square …

Today was the day when the central city was open to all the citizens of Hetonmar. The noblest glory of the duchy was being bestowed here, and the queen and princess would personally come here to bestow glory upon them. As for the reason for bestowing glory, it was clear to everyone that the short war would begin at the end of the seventh day and end on the eighth day.

This honor was awarded to them by the royal family, and all the citizens were equally clear about what they had done through the descriptions of the soldiers and students participating in the war. The greatswords that pierced the sky and the light that shone in the night sky represented true power, and the citizens were proud of their strength.

Everyone who participated in the battle had their own glory, of which there was no shortage. The first team of the garrison never stopped at the main line, they took off yesterday's armor that was full of wounds, changed into brand-new armor, and under the sunlight, the spearheads on their back displayed their bravery.

The mayor of Hedonmar stood on the stage, reading out everything that had happened over the years. The mayor was a middle-aged man, and upon hearing that he was related by blood to the royal family, he stepped down from the stage, hugged the leader of the troop with a smile, and patted his armor in fear.

After filtering the rays of the sun with the magic array above their heads, they would only feel the warmth and not the slightest bit of glare. The citizens' applause never stopped. They were truly proud of those people; this was their army.

Vito looked at his green second lieutenant uniform and the neat rows of people outside. Until now, he had not felt anything, and the ranks of the special forces of the Sword Arts Department had all been raised by several ranks. He and the other team leader had been promoted from sergeant to second lieutenant, and so had the rest of the team, and now they were here to receive their medals.

They were the first batch of students who had entered the academy. Although they were students, their ranks were incomparable to those of ordinary students, and as soon as his gaze fell on them, Vito raised his head slightly. He had never thought that there would be a day like this, in his plans, when he reached the rank of second lieutenant, he would need to be thirty years old. He had entered the academy at the age of seventeen.

This was something that a teacher in the academy had never taught before. He was willing to bet that even the strongest swordsman, Elder Zhang, would not be able to take a single move from Chief Liang Yue's sword.

"You guys are great!"

"Mr. Mayor, thank you for your praise!" He saluted the mayor in front of him.

The mayor returned his salute, which was much more than he had expected. It seemed like the mayor had been in the army before as well.

"This is your medal!" The mayor took a box from his secretary. The box was made of wood, but the lines on the surface of the box showed that it was special. On the front of the box were the seal of the Queen and the seal of the Duchy.

He respectfully received the box, carefully holding it in his hands. The students behind him were about to salute the mayor, but they were stopped by a gesture from him. The mayor smiled and pointed at the translucent gauze covering the stage behind him.

They obviously knew who was on the high platform. Although they had never seen the Queen and her appearance, they had heard about her from the other officers of the garrison and knew about her current situation without even thinking about it.

Through the gauze, he could faintly see two figures, presumably Princess Anna was inside too.

"Let's go …" The mayor smiled at them, his eyes full of relief.

The country's future is limitless.

After all, most of the members of the Magic division were women, and they were also extremely outstanding women. Although there were also girls in the sword arts department, only a small portion of the fifty students were sword arts, and not everyone was as strong as Xiyue and Xiyue.

Vito held the box in both hands and stood in a neat row next to the garrison. Seeing the students from the magic faculty appear, he smiled at their captain.

The other team leader poked his waist without leaving a trace. It seemed like the mage division's team leader had discovered him. Vito quickly moved his eyes away, but he only got a smile in response.

He had made up his mind that he would ask her out for the ceremony this afternoon.

The Order of the Clerics was at the end of the line, and to everyone's surprise, Golantz did not lead her team as a leader.

Now that all the teams were out, the real focus was on the next step.

The mayor took out the microphone on the stage. A complex array formation flashed by. This microphone was specially made for casting spells. Every word he said would be clearly heard by everyone present.

"Last night, we won. The creatures that attacked our city have returned to their forest and will never again attack us. We will now ask the Queen Skadi and Princess Anna to bestow glory to our heroes."

The square erupted with deafening cheers and applause. Even the army that was waiting started cheering. Today was not the time to give out awards, nor was it the time to spectate.

This didn't mean that the enthusiasm of the citizens had been extinguished, but instead increased. Her Majesty the Queen and Her Highness the Princess, in this kind of society, ordinary citizens would never have the chance to witness a ruler. Even if it was a celebration in the past, Her Majesty the Queen would always speak from behind the translucent gauze.

However, this did not affect her position in the hearts of the citizens at all. Everyone had seen the recent development of the Duchy, when the previous King had suffered a crushing defeat in the war with the Empire, the Duchy had always been in a state of economic depression, its political rights had also been divided among the Three Great Councilors, while the other members only cared about the development of their families. This situation had been reversed after the appointment of Queen Skadi, who had obtained the support of most of the nobles in the country with lightning speed and regained power.

Everyone in the square started to kneel down towards the high platform in a neat manner. Although this was the etiquette of commoners towards the royal family, Skacke had only seen this situation a few times, both when the previous king died and when his husband succeeded.

Anna stood silently at the edge of the throne, she was a princess.

"Rise …"

Skadive's stern voice echoed in the air above the square. Those brave citizens secretly raised their heads, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Queen's true appearance.

… …