Your Eternal Promise

66

Walking to the vault, Agape picked out four different small keys, inserted them into the keyhole, and opened the brass turntable first.

"Turn it away," he said.

The four soldiers pushed together, the noose and chains creaked in the mechanism, and the vault door slowly opened with a dull rumble.

There are no treasures that blind people's eyes, nor are there piles of gold and jewels piled up in hills. There are only rows of iron boxes of various colors, hung with copper locks, and cautiously silent.

The air was filled with the cold breath of metal. The marshal followed Agape and looked at this place curiously.

"I dare say, this place is more formal than the treasury of many small countries!"

Agape distributed the slave owner's small keys to the auditors who came to count the property, and asked them to try out which safe corresponded to each one. .

Everyone was busy until the evening, when the dusk was stained with blood-like sunset glow, and the wealth accumulated by the White Tower for generations was displayed in front of Agape.

Not to mention gold and silver coins weighing thousands of kilograms, boxes and boxes of gems and diamonds, just those figures carved from jade, statues of gods inlaid with amber, solid gold tableware embellished with rubies and turquoise, and huge crystal chandeliers , emerald-carved candlesticks...it is no longer possible to simply estimate their value. There are also ancient letters with the same ancient words written on them; records of the visits of dignitaries from various countries, and the secrets they inadvertently revealed; props related to obscene pleasures, all made of expensive jewelry and gold and jade; and armor Along with swords and shields - they were all decorative ritual vessels filled with gold and silver powder, pearls and tortoise shells.

There are so many treasures here.

Gold coins submerged the ivory, silver cups rolled with luxurious tiger and leopard furs, a huge sandalwood tree covered with diamonds like the Milky Way, humbly silent... For

several generations, the blood, sweat and tears of the slaves, in the Here they gather into a glorious sea of ​​blood. The treasures that dazzle the nation are painfully gestated from the youthful body of the humble.

Agape was silent as death, and the people who witnessed all this were trembling with excitement.

"Sir," Agape said softly, "I believe that those standing here at this moment are all your cronies and the country's malleable talents. Just lead them and choose what you need. The empire's navy cannot After traveling thousands of miles to come here, I can't let you return empty-handed."

The marshal took a deep breath. At this critical moment, he maintained his dignity and said uncharacteristically reservedly: "Me! I won't refuse your kindness. , but the purpose of my coming here is to serve my Majesty and the country. You can make your arrangements first! As for these things, they are here and will not suddenly run away." "

Okay. "Agape said, pointing to a smaller treasure mountain, "According to the promise I made to the emperor and the bishop before, I am obligated to be responsible for the subsequent life of the slaves. They have suffered greatly and deserve what they get. Compensation. These, together with the status of a free citizen, will be distributed to them. Gentlemen, do you have any objections?" His face

was so pale and his expression was so solemn. Under the shining of the setting sun, torches and golden light, Almost divine. The others were shocked by him and said in unison: "No, sir."

"Then," Agape nodded bitterly and calmly, "let's get this done first."

According to him Following his instructions, all the slaves on the island were gathered in the square in front of the White Tower. At this time, the blood stains on the ground had not yet been cleaned, and the remaining corpses of slave traders and militiamen were still looming in the darkness.

Although the slaves were trembling in fear, they were more accustomed to numbness and a morbid curiosity that drove them to look at the soldiers around them.

Facing this situation, a strange dizziness struck Agape between the eyebrows, like a thunderbolt.

——How similar this scene is to that day! About twelve years ago, he stood here ignorant and uneasy, with a beating heart that was too young, and he didn't know what twists and turns and bizarre drama fate would arrange for him.

Gerald Scott.

Inevitably, the name rang in his heart.

At that time, Gerald Scott was standing here, standing where I am now...

time and space created the illusion of overlapping, as if Agape could reach out and touch the clear-eyed person below. , cowardly, naive self. His breathing was rapid, his mind was agitated for a moment, and his expression was in a trance.

The general next to him saw his gaffe and thought he was overworked, so he couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Sir, do you want to go back and rest?" "

...No," Agape said hoarsely, "No! No, no, I ...I'm fine."

He steeled himself and asked the auditor to open the list of slave traders. As long as the slave's name was called, he distributed a treasure and an identity stamped with an official seal to the slave. prove.

Ten years have passed, and the once familiar faces have long disappeared without a trace. Agape looked at these still living people and didn't know whether he should cry or laugh.

"From now on, there will be no White Tower, my lord?" a slave asked in a low voice, the firelight reflecting his light eyes.

"Yes," Agape looked at him and replied, "From now on, there will be no more White Tower."

After the last identity certificate was issued, Agape stood up and announced that the White Tower will no longer exist. It ceased to exist, and everyone present has since been freed from their enslaved status.

He spoke only briefly amid the buzzing uproar.

"-No matter where you go, I hope you are free."

Three days later, the warship set sail. The marshal generously showed his remaining gentlemanly demeanor and brought on board the new citizens who were willing to leave the White Tower. . What's more, the cabin is filled with mountains of treasure.

The navy returned with a great victory. The emperor and the empress led the members of the Castilian Parliament to personally greet the victorious army at the port, and the bishop was among them.

After Agape, as a war supervisor, had fulfilled his duties and responsibilities to the emperor and empress, and after the cheers from all directions and the endless crowds of people who came to congratulate him had dispersed, the bishop slowly walked to Agape and said, Lowered his voice.

"Boy, how much did you catch?"

Agape smiled and raised a finger and shook it: "This is the number."

In an instant, the bishop was in high spirits, as if he had become more than ten years younger in the blink of an eye.

"Okay! Okay!" He laughed loudly, "This is mine... Hum, um! Well done!"

Once again, Agape brought a lot of wealth to Spain, and the accumulation of the White Tower, It not only alleviated the consumption pressure brought by the war to the country, but also made up for the losses of the Trade Bureau. Charles I beamed when he mentioned him, and many people began to believe that he was a person favored by the Holy Spirit.

To describe Agape's current situation as "fire cooking oil" seems modest. But in the center of the storm, only a peaceful silence enveloped him.

The knot in his heart has been untied, and fate has shown him strange cause and effect, completing a revenge from beginning to end.

Amidst all the noise and hustle and bustle, Agape felt vaguely satisfied.

Because the moment he stepped on Aiden's ship and left his hometown, he longed for a future in which good and evil would be rewarded. Now, his obsession has been resolved - he escaped from the White Tower with a bleeding heart and wounds, and returned there with an indestructible battleship and a blood-stained blade.

So far, I have done what I want to do, what I should do, and what I can do.

Through his heart, Agape raised his own questions towards that ethereal and ubiquitous thing.

So, can I find my own peace?