Rising from the Ashes (Andrew) novel Chapter 2619

Reginald walked alone, silently making his way through the forest. Then, he stopped, turned around, and said flatly, "Alright, you've been following me for a while now. Come on out."

Behind a tree, branches and leaves rustled, and a pale, beardless man emerged. Just looking at his face, the man appeared to be somewhere in his mid-40s. He was not particularly handsome, but he had an exceptionally refined and scholarly appearance.

However, his eyes were deep and carried an indescribable weariness. They betrayed that his actual age was far more than just 40.

In fact, Guillermo was already 96 years old this year. He had been playing chess with the world as his board for 50 years. As soon as he appeared, he smiled and approached Reginald.

Seeing this, Reginald frowned. "Speak. If it's the same old talk, urging me to get lost… Then, rest assured, after I give the sword to Andrew, I'll leave Holtrien."

Guillermo clasped his hands behind his back and smiled. "No rush. How about we have a chat?"

Reginald hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Fine."

The two walked side by side through the forest, neither speaking for a while.

After a long pause, Guillermo asked, "Why didn't you just kill Alfredo?"

Reginald shot back, "Why would I kill him?"

Guillermo smiled. "If you hadn't rushed back to Holtrien, the Lloyd family's royal hopes, two of them, in fact, would have been snuffed out in despair. Even so, you still won't kill him?"

Reginald snorted. "Do you realize I'm doing it for the country, too? The Lloyd family has done nothing to deserve to be erased. If you want to share some of their fate with others, fine. But you should know that the Lloyds can give back some of what you've taken."

Guillermo nodded in agreement. "Reginald, you were once my most promising student, but in the end, you were fate's joke on me. I did want to kill you and Andrew because you two can step off my chessboard at any moment and ruin my plans."

He said, "A chess piece should be docile and obedient, not biting the hand that moves it. Yet, my games have been long and error-prone. After decades of maneuvers, mistakes happen, and so some pieces escape my board."

Reginald answered calmly, "If you know I'm no longer on your board, then you should know you can't control me anymore. In fact, I've started playing the same game as you, making moves of my own."

At that, his smile darkened and turned sharp, giving his expression a colder, harder edge.