Free Web NovelChapter 1126: Chapter 1063: Patrick’s Funeral
The crimson sun dipped into the deep mountains, a time when traders should be sparse and travelers rare.
Today, however, was different from usual. Even though it was already seven or eight o’clock, large and small boats and carriages were arriving from all directions.
These boats and carriages often covered with black cloth, and the people stepping out looked mournful.
Among these people, familiar faces of quite a few prominent figures could be seen.
Including County Governor Louise of Northern Black Snake Bay County, Speaker Ottatila of Black Snake Bay Federation, not to mention the governors of several nearby counties.
Even some idle Battle Commanders and many Corps Commanders came as well.
Just looking at the people who have shown up, it was already a gathering of the Holy Alliance’s high-level officials.
Traveling merchants soon found out that the founding elder of the Holy Alliance, Patrick, had passed away due to illness.
On the day of his death, he stealthily bypassed the doctor, climbed over the wall of the retreat manor, stole a horse, and went to Horn Town to drink.
He even brawled in a tavern, only staggering back to the manor on horseback around three in the morning.
The next day, Patrick succumbed to heavy drinking and cold exposure, combined with years of severe and lingering injuries, reaching the end of his life.
However, the old man’s vitality was truly tenacious.
After waking from a coma, he stubbornly consumed a large piece of his beloved roast beef and drank a large jug of wine, only then sleeping peacefully in the embrace of Grandmother Vivian.
And he never woke up again.
For thirty years, he was a force to be reckoned in Black Snake Bay, topping the Thousand River Valley Demon Hunter bounty kill list for eight consecutive years.
The one who summoned mist during the Battle of Pavia, the one who had to tattoo the Sheep God on his lower back during the Battle of Shattered Stone Plain, Patrick/Chrispa died in his lover’s arms.
According to the doctors’ postmortem investigation, Patrick wouldn’t have lived to the end of the year even without those incidents.
After all, the old man spent his life fighting on the front lines, constantly dealing with Demon Hunters, Bishops, and Armed Monks.
Various lung diseases and old injuries had long been incurable. Back when Jia Li recommended Horn for the position of High Priest in the Ruo’an Faction, it was to succeed Patrick.
After all, Patrick had said at the time he would retire in five more years.
He indeed officially retired in 1450 and began slowly recuperating. freeweɓnøvel.com
Yet during the five years of the Thousand River Valley War, he roamed the battlefield daily, later even venturing to the bitterly cold Shattered Stone Plain.
A lifetime of accumulated internal injuries, coupled with Patrick’s refusal to accept treatment or Divine Art, ultimately proved too much to overcome.
Wizards generally don’t live long, and Patrick couldn’t surpass the age of eighty-four.
The old man despised pretentiousness and sobbing, always departing without a word.
Only after his death did the news spread.
Among the mourners, the most notable was certainly the condolence delegation formed by Saint’s Grandson Horn and two Saintesses.
However, compared to others, Horn and the rest were rather low-key and weren’t noticed at the scene.
Not until the funeral began the next day did people realize Horn appeared at the site, dressed in pure black monk’s attire.
The street was cleared, leaving only a path for the burial procession to pass.
A black wooden coffin lay open, Patrick’s fingers interlocked, fists on his chest, eyes tightly shut.
Horn wished this were another of Patrick’s pranks, that the next moment he would sit up from the coffin.
But unfortunately, Patrick was truly dead.
Horn, Jia Li, Jeska, and other old friends personally carried the coffin, and senior monks and high-ranking officers and elders of the Holy Alliance paid their respects.
Amidst the bustling Black Snake Bay funeral music, the coffin slowly moved toward the riverside.
Needless to say, Black Snake Bay funerals differ from those elsewhere.
Just from these short, quick, and jubilant tunes, those who understood knew it was a funeral; those who didn’t might think it a victory charge.
By the riverside was a cremation platform surrounded by pine wood. Last night, Jia Li and others had already made their farewells to Patrick.
Surrounding the cremation platform were straw huts, because Patrick’s will requested the funeral be held in the Black Snake Bay manner.
The Black Snake Bay manner meant cremation.
Patrick never believed in gods; even in death, he refused to believe in any Celestial Fire Prison.
He wouldn’t say see you in the Celestial Kingdom but wanted to burn everything of the earthly realm, leaving ashes behind.
Therefore, during the cremation, attendees were not only to throw wood onto the platform but also say a few words at the funeral.
Good words, bad words, sometimes even leading to fights.
His friends and family also take the stage to perform stories and amusing anecdotes from the deceased’s youth, accompanied by hearty drinking.
It’s often seen, "People at Patrick’s funeral are singing and dancing again."
According to the order, his friends and family each went up to speak.
Horn said: He was a respectable old bastard.
Jia Li said: Compared to a grandfather, he was more like an uncle who played with me, and I will always miss him.
Brock said: If I could, I would bestow upon him the honorary title of Dwarf...
Jeanne also stepped up to speak, but her relationship with Patrick was not as close as with Horn and Jia Li, only mentioning some past amusing stories.
When the speaking concluded, the cremation began, with fierce flames engulfing Patrick’s body amid swirling black smoke.
Jia Li unusually lost her composure, gulping down beer, her face drenched with wet beverage.
Horn held up his glass, accepting all comers, drinking merrily. When in high spirits, he loudly revised the minstrel’s lyrics to mock the deeds of Patrick under the alias Chrispa.
Jeanne looked at Horn and Jia Li, both drunk over the same incident, and felt a tumult of emotions.
She stood up, intending to get some fresh air outside, but after only a few steps was called by a senior voice.
"...Grandmother Vivian?"
Without seeing each other for a year, Vivian seemed drained of vitality.
The grandmother who could still walk briskly last year now leaned on a cane, walking awkwardly.
Her silver hair was as dry as autumn grass, stuck to her scalp, her eye wrinkles deep enough to trap a mosquito.
Even her usually sparkling eyes were dulled by a grey mist.
Jeanne’s heart sank as she quickly stepped forward to support her, "Grandmother Vivian, what do you need me for?"
Vivian’s hand rested on her arm, "Child Jeanne, I heard you’re going to Dawn Island?"
"Yes, setting off next week."
"I’ll accompany you there and also bring along our knights from Jinhe Town."
Jeanne was stunned; Dawn Island was now a mess with the Five Cities Alliance and Leia’s army in a stalemate.
With Vivian at this age...
"Why are you going there?"
Looking up at the rolling black smoke by the riverbank, Vivian suddenly laughed, "They all think Patrick was a Black Snake Bay person, or say he came from Falan.
But actually, he was born in Sand Dune Village on Leia Dawn Island."
Jeanne paused her breathing, having heard countless stories from Patrick.
From Black Snake Bay’s vipers to Falan’s taverns, from Codfish Castle’s fried fish to Fat Cow Castle’s roast cow breast, but never mentioned Dawn Island.
"When he was just learning to walk, local tax collectors took away his family’s fishing boats.
His family had to flee overnight.
First fled to Falan, couldn’t stand firm, then sold as refugees.
Finally, they settled in Black Snake Bay." She patted Jeanne’s hand, "He spent his life treating Black Snake Bay as home, but in the last years of life, he always dreamt of Dawn Island."
"Then you going to Dawn Island is for?"
With her cane, Vivian gestured to the front of the platform, suggesting Jeanne listen to Patrick’s will, then fell silent.
"I am dead, no need to mourn."
"No clergy hosting my funeral, no hymns, no Divine Art, but you may use Fireball Technique for fireworks."
"My assets, excluding the portion left for Jia Li as dowry, the remainder is to be sold as a fund."
"Its interest sets up an award called the Patrick Prize, specifically rewarding those who tread"
"No burial, use Black Snake Bay’s traditional cremation."
"Ashes divided into three parts."
"The first part is buried at the ry Court Barracks, which is the crystallization of my lifetime efforts."
"The second part is buried in Long Embankment City, where I have fought most of my life and have all my family and friends."
"The third part is buried in my hometown, where I was born, so I can hear the sound of river waves hitting the embankment from childhood."
"But I don’t want to be buried on church land, so the Holy Alliance must eventually annex my homeland."
"What else can I say?"
"Children, I am gone."
