Chapter 395 Our Children
Darius led his army to the city lord's palace.
But Quelleta was not there. The servant told him that the Lady of Quelleta had gone to the port with her two children.
"Port?" Darius was surprised.
He thought that Quelleta had received the news that the anti-rebellion army was coming and wanted to run away with the child.
But when he led his troops to the port of Besilico, he saw this unexpected scene:
“Cody Schultz, who are Cody Schultz’s family?”
"Osa Lehman, is anyone from the Lehman family?!"
Countless citizens of Besilico gathered here with sad looks on their faces.
Several men who looked like officers were holding electric loudspeakers imported from Zaun and several lists that were so long that they almost dragged on the ground, reading out the names one by one.
These names are unfamiliar.
But Darius soon realized what they represented.
Because not far ahead, the empty spaces that were supposed to be used to store goods were now filled with countless urns with these names engraved on them.
Yes, these people are dead.
There were so many urns with names engraved on them that they formed a small hill.
At the same time, the ships arriving from afar were constantly unloading more dead bodies onto the docks.
"Next, Val Cross! Val Cross!" The officer was still mechanically calling out the name.
Perhaps because he had read too much, his expression seemed a little numb.
And every time he called out a name, one or more people in the crowd would come forward to receive the ashes of their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters.
Then, under the guidance of the officers, they will go to the side to collect their pensions.
Report your name, receive the urn, and get the money. Leave.
Report your name, receive the urn, get the money, and leave.
…
The scene was orderly, just like a factory assembly line.
The family members were calm and quiet, which was a little scary.
"You're here, Darius." Just as Darius was pondering this scene, Quilieta quietly appeared beside him.
Darius was awakened by this. He looked at his lover whom he had not seen for ten years... well, his former lover.
Quelleta was still as beautiful as ever, with her fair skin, graceful figure, and most importantly, her golden hair that was as bright as the sun, and her face that was as soft and moving as an angel.
The years have not left any traces of vicissitudes on her, but have only added a touch of mature charm to her beauty.
However, Darius was not in the mood to appreciate Quelleta's beauty at this time.
His attention was subconsciously drawn to the two children following behind Quelleta.
One of them is a blond little boy and the other is a black-haired little girl. They look no more than 8 or 9 years old, with tender skin and some cute baby fat on their faces.
Both children followed Quilieta timidly, and cautiously poked their heads out from behind her to look at Darius curiously.
"This is..." her child?
When Darius saw Quilieta's two children, his mood became inexplicably complicated.
If he hadn't broken up with her back then, and hadn't given up the chance to be with her in pursuit of military exploits, perhaps... their child would be this big now, right?
"No!" Wake up, now is not the time to talk about love!
"Quilleta." Darius's eyes became firm. Then, he looked at her warily and suspiciously: "You... knew I was coming?"
"Yeah." Quelleta shrugged noncommittally. "You made such a big noise when you came, I guess it's impossible for me not to know."
"Then do you know why I came here?" Darius asked again.
"Why?" Quiletta added calmly.
"Because the Immortal Fortress received intelligence that you were plotting a rebellion." Darius observed her expression with great concern.
"No, I am not plotting a rebellion. I have nothing against Swain."
Dreyers breathed a sigh of relief.
"But I did betray the Empire. Noxus is no longer worthy of my loyalty."
Darius: “…”
Quelleta's excessive frankness and calmness caught him off guard.
He couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Quelleta did not answer this time.
She just looked at the pile of urns on the dock and asked him, "Do you know who they are?"
"I... know." Darius could indeed guess where these urns in front of him came from.
A month ago, the Noxian Empire lost 100,000 elite troops in the Battle of Balue in a single battle.
Among these 100,000 people, only a few thousand are lucky enough to escape like Quilieta and return home from Ionia.
In addition, there were about 40,000 people who were caught up and captured by the leaders after the rout and became prisoners of war unable to return home.
As for the remaining 50,000 or so soldiers... unfortunately, they all became nourishment for Vladimir and Iris, sacrifices to the Bloody Pool and the Vicious Throat, and turned into monsters with twisted flesh and blood, and bones that were eaten by spiders.
The Noxian army was completely defeated in the Battle of Baruo, and no one even came to collect their bodies after the war.
It was the Leader who, in the spirit of humanitarianism, collected these bodies that were almost blown into meat paste, and according to the name tags they carried with them, he tried his best to match the ashes of these dead soldiers with their names and identities, and packed them up and sent them back to Noxus.
So, the scene before our eyes appeared.
"I am the mayor of Besilico," said Quelleta. "Many of my warbands are from Besilico."
“And they…” She looked up at the pile of urns: “They are all here now.”
Darius was silent for a moment.
He heard the disgust, disgust, and even resentment towards Noxus in Quelleta's words.
"But this is all the fault of the Black Rose." Finally , Darius said, "It was the Black Rose who used you as cannon fodder and betrayed you on the battlefield."
"Now that Grand Commander Swain has overthrown the Black Rose, Noxus will surely be fine with him leading us."
"Really?" Quelleta looked him straight in the eye. "Do you really think Noxus is different now than it was before?"
"..." Darius hesitated subconsciously.
“No, it makes no difference,” Quirieta said. “Noxus’s expansion will never stop, and cannot stop, no matter who rules the empire.”
“There will be more children like them, who will be sent to the battlefield by you amidst the high-pitched slogans of ‘For Noxus’, and then return quietly as ashes.”
"This is a necessary price to pay," Darius said solemnly, "Noxus must expand, or it will collapse. There are only these two paths to take, no other options."
"Quelleta, that's what you believed, isn't it?"
“Yes.” Quelleta nodded. “I used to believe it—but that was because, at that time, Noxus, as you said, had only two options: expansion or collapse.”
"I can't find a better third way except to support the war."
“But now, I’ve found it.”
As soon as these words came out, Darius's expression suddenly changed.
In addition to disintegration and expansion, does Noxus have a third way?
Needless to say, the only person who can say such a thing is...
"Are you the leader?!" Darius quietly clenched the giant axe in his hand.
"That's right." Quelleta raised his hand, and a whirlwind condensed in his complicated eyes: "In fact, I didn't escape from the Province of Barue at all."
"I experienced a lot and saw a lot in the Province of Barue. It was that experience that made me identify with the concept of the Leader and officially become a member of the Leader."
"Then, I returned to the Noxus Empire."
"You..." Darius knew what this meant: "Are you the spy sent back by the Leader?!"
"You can say that," Quelleta replied calmly, "I came back this time for only two purposes."
"One, take my child away." She looked behind her tenderly and saw two little kids holding onto her thighs and refusing to let go.
Then, she looked at Darius with a serious expression: "Second, assist the organization in inciting you to defect."
"Turn me over?" Darius seemed to have heard something outrageous.
Who does the leader think he is?
He is not a speculator like Amistan, nor a naive idealist like Mel Midalda.
He is the Hand of Noxus, the spiritual symbol of the new generation of the Noxian Empire!
To exaggerate, even if Swain voted for the Leader , he would never betray Noxus.
Even under the impact of the Leader's philosophy, Noxus's past national philosophy of the survival of the fittest has revealed its shortcomings and deficiencies...
Darius's position will never be shaken by this.
Even if he died, jumping off this pier and drowning, he would never betray the Noxian Empire!
Uh... Darkwill doesn't count.
That time was to purge the court of corrupt officials, not to betray Noxus.
"Quilleta, it seems you don't know me well enough." Darius said in a complicated tone: "I can't betray the Empire because of you, I will only..."
"Why?" This time it was Quelleta's turn to question him: "You know Noxus has a better choice."
"Then why do you still take this road?!" Quelleta pointed at the pile of urns in front of him and asked him in a serious tone.
"I..." Darius was speechless for a moment.
In theory, Noxus's simple and crude law of natural selection is completely unable to compete with the Leader.
The leader's system of sage politics has demonstrated in practice a purity and efficiency that far surpasses all previous systems.
Darius couldn't win the argument with her.
If he continued to talk like this, he himself would not be able to figure out why he was so loyal to the Noxian Empire.
"Enough!" Darius tried hard to ignore the scene in front of him, and ignore the soldiers' families who walked past him with urns in their hands with sad expressions.
"Look at them, Darius. Do you still think they are a necessary price?"
Darius did not want to argue any further.
So he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"
“……”Quelleta’s eyes were full of disappointment.
"You guys go play over there first." She motioned for the children beside her to leave.
The two children nodded obediently, then looked back at their mother every step, and reluctantly moved aside.
“Darius.” After the children had gone far away, Quelleta said, “You just asked me why I betrayed the Empire.”
"My answer is simple—"
"Because I don't want our children to become like them in the future and become what you call a 'necessary price'."
"But these costs are necessary!" Darius said stubbornly, "Even for the Wind Leader, someone needs to sacrifice for their path, right?"
"Noxus' development and stability are based on..."
Um, wait…
Is he missing the point?
"Our children?" Darius was stunned for a moment, recalling what Quilieta had just said.
He looked at Quelleta, who was still as beautiful as ever, and then at the two little kids standing in the distance whose facial features looked a little familiar.
"us??"
