"I don't understand why his helmet is also painted red."
Do the Emperor's Children also, like us Ultramarines, paint the helmets of those who have been censured for wrongdoing red?
But in that case, how could he hold the great responsibility of a First Lord Commander?
What Thiel didn't know was that the reason Kasjia wore a red helmet was precisely the reason he had become the First Lord Commander.
"And he was even valued by the Emperor and was invited to the banquet."
The Emperor inviting him meant he had his merits. Thiel could understand that.
But what he couldn't understand was why, under these circumstances, he would also be wearing a red helmet!
A competitive spirit from an unknown source suddenly filled Thiel's heart.
His helmet is redder than mine!
How can someone with a redder helmet than me still be a First Lord Commander and lead a legion!
"Interesting. My lord, I request to go and talk to him."
"Go ahead."
Guilliman nodded and stood at the front of the funeral, preparing to give a speech for the upcoming ceremony for Cicero.
"Actually, we can... look..."
"Oh! It can do that?"
"Isn't that a bit... not right?"
"What's not right about it? Thiel, you're just too conservative. Listen to me..."
Guilliman could hear the whispers between Kasjia and Thiel.
It seemed Kasjia was showing the Ultramarine some of his ideas and insights, and his own adjutant was listening carefully at the side, and from time to time, expressing some opinions.
But it seemed that Thiel, who was known for his radical tactical thinking in the legion, and who even Guilliman sometimes felt was a bit too utilitarian, had received an evaluation of conservative thinking in front of Kasjia.
But in front of Kasjia, he was like a new recruit.
It was almost time.
Although he was curious about what kind of tactic could make even Thiel exclaim that it was too much, it was now his time to give a speech.
In the battle on the main planet of Gardiner, not only had Chapter Master Cicero died in battle, but about half of the Ultramarines had also charged at the forefront of the enemy's artillery fire as a vanguard, suffering heavy casualties.
After DuCaine had given a speech for the dead warriors of the Iron Hands, Guilliman stepped onto the stage.
He, with his words full of the charisma of an orator, moved everyone present.
It had to be admitted that even the ambitious Guilliman's public speaking ability and charisma were still unparalleled by non-Primarchs.
With heavy steps, Guilliman walked off the stage.
"Look, when I press this button on the spear shaft, it can do this—"
"Oh, oh!"
Like two mischievous children, while Guilliman was speaking, Kasjia was showing off his superb skills to Thiel like a show-off.
From time to time, he would also receive an exclamation of admiration from Thiel.
Guilliman: "..."
What on earth are they playing at?
The funeral ended with Ferris's final speech.
For Gardiner, the Iron Hands did not seem to have much attachment.
After completing the conquest of the sector, they had thrown the task of governance to Guilliman and were then preparing to leave the Gardiner system with their warship.
Leaving Guilliman to preside over the post-war restoration and reconstruction work on the main planet of Gardiner.
According to Ferris, he, Guilliman, was the one for this job.
Indeed.
Although he really wanted to refute it, Guilliman couldn't find a reason to do so for a moment.
Under his governance, countless worlds had flourished and prospered.
Instead of letting a Primarch who was not good at governance mess up the internal affairs, it would be more harmonious to hand it over to him, Guilliman, to handle.
—But!
Why is everything being thrown to me!
Sitting in front of a mountain of documents, Guilliman closed his eyes in pain.
He was piloting the Twelfth Expeditionary Fleet to fight wars, not to farm.
The tired Guilliman, the corner of his eye swept over the chuckling Thiel beside him.
"Aeonid, you seem very happy."
"Ah," he recovered from his daze. "My lord, I am very sorry."
"Is it the result of your exchange with that commander of the Emperor's Children that makes you happy?"
"What did he say to you?"
"Interesting..."
"This way of thinking is unique, and it will also greatly help us to improve the increasingly rigid thinking of the Ultramarines."
"If it can be integrated into the Codex..."
Guilliman murmured to himself as he listened to Thiel's report.
Alright.
But now it's still more important to complete the task of reforming the Gardiner system.
Guilliman, after a half-second of hesitation, pulled out a piece of paper from the mountain of documents beside him.
Read, fill in the content, sign.
All in one go.
The efficiency was very fast, but compared to the amount of documents he had to deal with, it was far from enough.
I really hope that after the Great Crusade is over, I can abandon these boring tasks and go back to farming on Ultramar.
Guilliman thought.
In any case, he, Guilliman, wouldn't be doing paperwork for the rest of his life.
"My lord! Look at the sky!"
"We have a new guest."
In front of the main planet of Gardiner, it seemed that the Primarch who had come at this time was not only him, Roboute Guilliman.
[Completing Warp jump.]
The Pride of the Emperor of the 28th Expeditionary Fleet was now appearing in the orbit of the main planet of Gardiner as the jump was completed.
Fulgrim had arrived.
The reason she had come here was also very simple—to pick up Kasjia.
After all, it had been agreed at that time that he would only complete the Gardiner campaign on the Iron Hands' ship.
Therefore, as soon as the time came, the Emperor's Children's fleet, which was not far from their system at all, had rushed here impatiently, preparing to ask Ferris for him.
The Fist of Iron, the bridge.
"Your speed in arriving here surprises me, sister," Ferris said with a smile, looking at the Primarch who had rushed in.
"Logically, the astropathic communication should have been delayed for at least a few days. But judging by your speed, it seems you had already planned the jump time."
"Of course. Or rather, I had already prepared for this."
"How has Kasjia been here?" Fulgrim's eyes swept back and forth, and finally found Kasjia's figure on one side of the bridge.
However... the latter seemed to be a little timid and did not dare to come forward?
As if he was hiding from her.
"What? Shy?"
Fulgrim smiled and rushed forward, taking his hand.
"Your relationship is really surprisingly good."
For a rare moment, Ferris showed a mischievous smile.
"How about this, Fulgrim? It just so happens that I also commissioned an outstanding artist who was with our 52nd Expeditionary Fleet to paint a masterpiece recording our battle on the main planet of Gardiner, as a gift for the two of you."
"Please, have a look—"
She pulled off the red cloth covering the picture frame.
It was an exquisite oil painting, depicting the broken city walls of the Gardinerians and the exploding shield generator.
And at the very front of the picture was the high-leaping Kasjia, holding the injured Sword Saint Arcur in his arms.
"I call this painting Fulgrim in the Great Crusade."
"...What does that mean? Who is this?"
"Kasjia."
"Then who is in his arms?"
"The Second Company Captain of the Emperor's Children, Arcur Tona."
"Where is this?"
"The Gardiner main planet campaign."
"Then what does this have to do with the name of this painting?"
"Fulgrim in the Great Crusade," Ferris said with a smile.
As a Primarch, she seemed to enjoy seeing Fulgrim get angry over Kasjia, as her source of amusement.
Really strange.
"Hmph, then I'll take it."
With the relationship between Fulgrim and Ferris, it was natural to see that the other was joking.
If it weren't for that abstract name, this painting could have been hung on the Pride of the Emperor as a part of the legion's path of glory.
After all, Kasjia had been in danger and had saved the Second Company Captain of the Emperor's Children, Arcur Tona, who was on the verge of death, in a crisis.
This was of course a heroic act.
Even if Fulgrim was possessive, she could not have any objection to Kasjia's act of desperately saving Arcur Tona, who was known as the First Sword of the Phoenix.
"Be careful next time. Don't push yourself too hard."
Fulgrim took off Kasjia's helmet, stroked his hair, and said gently.
She's so good to me.
"In that case, then let's go back—"
"Wait! Don't be in such a hurry to leave. I still have something I haven't gotten yet," Ferris said with a smile.
"And that is—him."
Ferris stretched out her hand with a wicked smile and hooked Kasjia's shoulder.
"Ka-s-jia—?"
"Can you explain to me what you mean by losing yourself or the sword in your hand to the other party in a duel?"
"I... I..."
A cold finger slid across Kasjia's neck.
Although the other's stunningly beautiful face was still smiling at this moment, it seemed her heart was not smiling.
Help... help...
Kasjia's eyes looked at Amal in despair.
The other's eyes were dodging.
And then Santar.
He lowered his head.
Finally, he swept over Ferris.
Her smile seemed to be getting harder and harder to hold back after seeing Kasjia's despair.
Big Sister Fei, stop it!
Stop fanning the flames!
"Alright, just kidding."
"If it weren't for Kasjia protecting me, he would never have proposed a fight with me."
"He had to do it to save me. How could I bear to be the third wheel, sister?"
Ferris was always stone-faced in front of others, but in front of Fulgrim, she was very lively.
Watching these two flirt and bicker seemed to have a special magic for her, one that could make her laugh out loud.
"Alright."
"Kasjia, you were able to help the Iron Hands to be free from the threat in such a short time, and to save the Tenth Legion. You have indeed done a great job."
"As for the remaining problems... we'll talk about them when we get back to the flagship."
Fulgrim's tone was very light.
There was a gentle killing intent in it.
Just like the very relieved smile she had when she had been fighting the greenskins and had come back to find her home had been raided by the Eldar.
"Wait!"
Seeing that Kasjia was about to be carried away by the Primarch like a little chick, the Thousand Sons Librarian, Amal, anxiously came forward to stop them.
Looking at this Thousand Son who was blocking her way, Fulgrim's expression turned to—confusion.
Huh?
Kasjia, you don't even let men off?
"No! That's not what I mean!"
Amal repeatedly explained, "How about this? Let's go to Arcur's room to talk in detail. She can be our witness!"
Arcur was sitting on her bed, drawing, and had no intention of looking at the other three uninvited guests.
After being seriously injured at that time, the wounds on her body had almost completely healed under the influence of Kasjia's flame.
And in this room, Fulgrim also, with Amal's explanation, gradually understood the truth of Ferris's influence.
"Just like what we encountered on Byzas last time."
Kasjia explained, "These Warp creatures will subtly influence a person's thinking, thereby making their thoughts go to extremes."
"And for now, only the flame in my hand can dispel it to a certain extent."
As for Fulgrim, with the protection of the Eldar Corsairs led by Princess Yriel, he was not very worried about the influence of Chaos.
After all, in terms of seniority and experience, the Craftworld Eldar's anti-Chaos level was far above his, Kasjia's.
"But Thousand Son, what did you mean when you said he was going with you before?"
"Let me explain this matter," Kasjia stepped forward and explained. "Currently, the Thousand Sons legion seems to be having some difficulties in this area as well."
"And at that time, to save Ferris from the influence of the Warp creatures, I agreed to the Thousand Sons' request for help, and it was with their assistance that I was able to successfully rescue Ferris."
As he spoke, Kasjia's confidence also grew weaker.
He looked at Fulgrim with a guilty look.
He had just come out of the Iron Hands legion, and now he was going to the Thousand Sons legion.
"Pfft."
"Kasjia, do you think I'll be very angry? That I'll be disappointed that you can't be with me again?"
Kasjia nodded repeatedly.
"A little bit," she said, a little reproachfully.
"But have you forgotten? To go to the sea of stars to save more people and lives has always been our common ideal."
"Since you've already promised Magnus... then after we've said goodbye to Ferris, we'll go to Prospero together."
She smiled and embraced Kasjia.
She's so good to me.
Kasjia thought, feeling the softness from the bottom of his heart.
(At this time, there were still four standard Terran hours until Kasjia's pelvis shattered.)
"And you? Arcur?"
"The Second Company and I will stay with the Iron Hands."
She smiled at Fulgrim.
"After all, we are one of the few who know the dangers of Warp creatures. If the same problem occurs again, I can also apply for your assistance."
"Alright."
"By the way, what have you been drawing all this time?"
Fulgrim nodded lightly, and then curiously poked her head out.
For Arcur's artistic cells, Fulgrim had already made the worst preparations.
But when she saw the thing, she couldn't help but her eyes lit up.
"You've drawn very well, Arcur!"
Fulgrim's eyes lit up.
She had not expected that after having suffered a great defeat in almost all aspects of art, such as cooking, literature, sculpture, music, and so on, she would actually have such a high talent in drawing.
"The portrait of me and Kasjia that you drew is really great!"
—It was two mating Grox.
That's what Arcur had wanted to say.
But this sentence, it seemed, could never be said.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it