"This is your home now."
Luther stopped outside a spacious house, then slightly turned and pointed to the next courtyard. "My house is next door. If you need anything, just ask."
"Fiona has also been wanting to thank you in person. If it's convenient, please come to our place for dinner tonight."
Lion suddenly asked, "In Aldurukh, can everyone live in a house like this?"
Luther shook his head, "No. Only knights and their families are entitled to live in the inner city."
Although the Order had always strived to break the monopoly of the traditional aristocratic orders and was the only order that recruited knights from commoners, class differences still existed in reality.
Knights received priority for larger houses, and daily supplies of fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat.
These privileges were often unattainable for ordinary commoners.
Reality had always been like this.
Those in power also controlled resources and naturally tilted distribution in their own favour.
Lion made no comment.
In his eyes, privilege wasn't the original sin; being unworthy of it was.
In an ideal society, privilege should be proportional to responsibility.
If someone entered the council through talent and merit, they deserved corresponding rights.
But if incompetent people occupied high positions, they would only form cliques for their own interests, deceiving superiors and subordinates, shielding each other.
Knights protected commoners with their lives. They paid a price and should receive something in return. They deserved special treatment.
Otherwise, it would be unfair to them.
Moreover, in the Order, commoners' children also had the chance to become knights, achieving class mobility.
Though it seemed merely giving commoners equal opportunity, it was also a form of preferential treatment.
In other orders, knighthood was hereditary among nobles, and commoners were exploited for life.
Compared to them, the Order was practically a saint on Caliban.
When monsters attacked, the Order placed their own bodies between the commoners and the beasts.
But in other orders, knights would use commoners' bodies as bait to save themselves.
The Order practised "more work, more gain". The other orders practised "more eating, more taking."
Luther suggested, "You could hire a few maids from the commoners to take care of your daily needs."
Before Caelan could respond, Lion frowned. "No need. My father and I don't need others to serve us. The strong should be self-reliant!"
Caelan said, "Luther, you go ahead. We'll visit on time tonight."
Luther nodded. He was just offering a suggestion, not interfering in a colleague's private affairs.
Caelan watched Luther leave, then looked down at the lion cub. "Can you cook?"
"I can grill meat."
"Then why did you always make me grill it?"
"I never asked you to."
"But we can't eat grilled meat every day, can we?"
"I can learn."
"I don't think you have that much free time. Better to hire a few maids."
Lion firmly objected. "No!"
Caelan raised his brow, "Why?"
Caelan had no mental cleanliness fetish. He wouldn't pretend to be noble and refuse maids' services.
And among the commoners, being a maid for a knight was a respectable job.
If a maid was favoured by a knight, even just as a concubine, she could rise high.
The knights and commoners of the Order had a good relationship. At least slavery had been abolished here.
The relationship between knights and maids was one of equal employment. Maids were not sold into servitude. Their wages were also better than many other commoner jobs.
"No reason."
Caelan said, "If you don't have a good reason, I'll hire them. This is my house."
"This is my house too. I oppose!"
"You can ask the Order to assign you a different house."
"No!"
"If you can't give a reason, that's it."
Lion's voice was dry and a little awkward. "I don't want strangers intruding on our home."
The corners of Caelan's mouth twitched slightly.
Lion frowned. "You're laughing at me!"
Caelan replied, "I remembered something funny."
"What funny thing?"
"Luther's wife is pregnant."
"What does his wife being pregnant have to do with you?"
"Can't I be happy for him?"
Lion turned his head with a snort. Caelan was clearly teasing him!
"Fine, I'll do the cooking!"
Caelan said, "Time is tight, tasks are heavy. Don't worry about the daily cooking."
Lion frowned. "You're still going to hire maids?"
"Since you don't want to, we won't. But we can eat at Luther's."
Lion fell silent. He stared at Caelan.
Caelan had saved Luther's wife and daughter. Eating one or two meals there was nothing. But could they just go there every day?
Even Lion, who didn't understand the human heart, felt that would be too embarrassing.
Caelan looked at the little green-robed figure in the corner. "If all else fails, you go and fry me a couple of dishes!"
The little green-robed dwarf was clearly stunned. A look of disbelief seemed to emanate from the shadow of his hood.
'Cook? Me?'
'But I'm a Watcher!'
The little green-robed dwarf doubted his own existence. Was this what he was meant for?
He shrank back and silently disappeared into the darkness of the corner.
Lion suddenly looked up. "You don't trust him?"
Caelan said, "It's not that I don't trust him. It's just that I can't trust him completely."
As long as humanity fought Chaos, the Watchers in the Dark were their steadfast allies. No doubt about that.
But the Watchers also had their own secrets and unknown purposes.
As soon as Caelan arrived on Caliban, the Watchers had pinpointed his location and guided him to Lion in the forest.
This meant the Watchers knew exactly why he was there, even the timing of his arrival.
The Watchers had no language, but they had telepathy. They could communicate with outsiders.
Yet they had never communicated with Caelan in any way, yet obeyed his every command.
Even when he told one to deliver a baby, it did so without hesitation.
This was very abnormal.
Was it that difficult to explain things to him?
The Watchers said nothing. Caelan knew nothing of their purpose. So he couldn't trust them 100%.
The Imperium of Man and the Aeldars were also natural allies against Chaos. Yet the Aeldars often betrayed the Imperium.
If they are not of our kind, their hearts must be different.
Even humans themselves might not be of one mind, let alone xenos?
Fighting Chaos was only one of the Watchers' purposes. They were also the jailers of the Ouroboros.
If humanity shared their goal, they would help humanity.
But what if humanity stood in their way?
By the same token, if the Watchers' existence threatened humanity's interests, the Emperor would also wipe them out without mercy.
Even if Caelan might feel some pity for them in the future, he wouldn't plead for them.
This was a matter of principle, right and wrong, a bottom line not open to negotiation.
When it came to humanity's interests, everything else had to give way.
Humanity could trust the Watchers, but not completely.
.....
Amadis followed Lord Cypher into the darkness.
They were descending into the true heart of the fortress-monastery: the tomb buried deep underground.
The spirits of the Order's fallen rested here, but only in the tomb's outermost reaches.
Buried deeper within this tomb was Caliban's history.
The knight held a burning torch. The dancing flames cast flickering shadows on the tunnel walls.
The carvings on the walls were intricate, depicting grand scenes of ancient wars and heroic epics from millennia ago.
These masterpieces by unknown artisans, though eroded by millennia, still retained astonishing artistry.
A pity, no one stopped to appreciate them anymore.
The Calibanites had forgotten their history, even forgotten the meaning of this tomb.
They entered a vaulted stone chamber. The echo of dripping water lingered under the dome.
Orange-red firelight flickered between enamel wall tiles, refracting the light of hundreds of spiral-arranged candles into thousands of halos.
Lord Cypher stood at the centre of the spiral. The shadow of his black robe shrouded his solemn face.
The gleam of a golden sword was visible beneath his robe, held tightly in both hands.
That sword symbolised the ancient rituals passed down through generations of the Order.
Lord Cypher asked, "Brother Amadis, do you remember when I assumed the name 'Cypher'?"
Amadis's eyes held reminiscence. "Twelve years ago. I had just passed my knight's trial and joined the Order. You presided over my induction ceremony."
Cypher was not a name, but a title bestowed upon the one responsible for guarding the Order's traditions.
Whoever was appointed Lord Cypher, once they inherited the title, they were forbidden to be addressed by their real name.
Lord Cypher held no real power, but he possessed unparalleled symbolic significance.
He was the guardian of tradition.
He was living tradition.
Amadi asked, "Lord Cypher, why have you brought me here?"
Lord Cypher replied, "The world holds many secrets. For instance, the tomb beneath our feet."
He tapped the mottled stone slab with his sword tip, his eyes sorrowful. "Heroes from millennia past lie buried here. This was once a sacred place of pilgrimage, a hallowed site sung by bards."
"But that history has long been forgotten by Calibanites. Until the Order built Aldurukh atop this tomb."
Amadis asked, "Do you know this history?"
Lord Cypher shook his head. "No, even I do not know the truth of millennia ago."
"But I can tell you that the Watchers guided our ancestors to build a refuge here."
Amadis was taken aback. "So the rumours about the Order's origin are true?"
Though Caliban had long been rumoured that the Order was secretly supported by the Watchers, there had never been solid evidence.
Amadis had been doubtful. But Lord Cypher's words were an open admission!
Lord Cypher didn't shy away. "It's true. The first members of the Order were just a band of homeless refugees. Without the Watchers' protection, how could we have become knights?"
On Caliban, knighthood wasn't just a title; it was a symbol of military power.
They needed boltguns, warhorses, and power armour to fight monsters. Producing these required factories. Factories were monopolised by nobles.
How could commoners acquire them?
Even if they chanced upon a few sets of knightly equipment, how could they have survived the other orders' encirclement?
"What are the Watchers?" Lord Cypher asked.
Amadis fell silent.
The Watchers appeared in almost all ancient Calibanite legends, throughout the entirety of human civilisation.
For example, Calibanites commonly believed that the souls of the dead travel along a spiral path to the underworld. Depending on their deeds in life, they either enter hell or are reborn.
Thus, people often held funeral rites for the dead, asking the Watchers of the spirit world to care for their souls.
The Watchers were Caliban's most ancient and mysterious beings. They were Watchers of the underworld, and Watchers of the mortal world.
But no one could say exactly what they watched over.
The world? Or people?
Lord Cypher said, "That is one of the secrets I guard."
Amadis asked, "Am I qualified to know this now?"
"Originally, no."
"Because of Caelan and Lion?"
Lord Cypher nodded. The arrival of this father and son had completely surprised him, shaking him more than the news of monster-taming.
Amadis was confused. "But why?"
Lord Cypher answered, "The Watchers are watching them."
The Watchers were called 'Watchers' because they always watched from afar.
They usually didn't interfere, only observed.
But even so, no one dared disrespect the Watchers.
People believed their watching had a special purpose. They also prayed that the Watchers would protect the souls of the dead from harm.
"Because our ancestors were also watched by the Watchers?"
"It's different. Strictly speaking, the Watchers only led us to the tomb and helped us establish the Order. They never truly 'watched' us."
"What is the special significance of the Watchers' watching?"
"I don't know. But according to ancient legends, those who are watched carry a divine mandate."
"What is the divine mandate?"
"I don't know."
"If they are destined ones, is it good or bad that they have joined the Order?"
"I don't know."
Lord Cypher didn't know the answers to three questions. Amadis fell silent too.
"Brother Amadis, do you know the meaning of Aldurukh?"
"Eternal Stone. Some call it 'the Rock'."
Lord Cypher's voice was low. "One who carried the divine mandate is buried in this tomb."
Amadis's pupils contracted. "Where?"
"I don't know. But according to these ancient carvings, he lies here."
"In Caliban's oldest legends, he was reverently called the Lord of the Rock."
The destined one was the Lord of the Rock?
Amadis found it hard to believe. And now, new destined ones had come to the Rock.
This was probably some kind of metaphor. The Watchers watching them was likely related.
But why had Lord Cypher told him these secrets?
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu