Exiled from the Start and Dominating the Wasteland with an Intelligence System Chapter 119 : Chapter 119

Chapter 119. Clark’s Departure

Following the guard, Eli hurried through the fortress’s winding internal corridors and quickly exited through a side door.

The afternoon sunlight over Thorne City was sowhat glaring, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

At a glance, he saw that familiar figure standing on the open ground outside.

That dazzling short golden hair shone like gold in the sunlight, and even after being tempered by wind and hardship, his upright bearing still retained a trace of the unique grace belonging to the nobility of the Royal Domain.

It was Clark Graham.

“Clark!” Eli called out and strode toward him.

Clark saw Eli as well. A smile appeared on his face, and he waved forcefully. “Eli!”

When Eli reached him, his gaze swiftly swept over Clark and the few knights following behind him.

He recognized all of them. They were the most loyal vassal knights Clark had brought from his family, the very foundation of his earliest following.

A foreboding instantly rose in Eli’s heart.

“What is it, Clark?” Eli’s voice unconsciously carried a trace of urgency.

“Did sothing happen in Obsidian Territory? What about Old John and the others?”

After more than a month of pioneering life in the wasteland, much of the frivolity had already been washed from Clark, leaving him far steadier than before.

He shook his head, his tone fairly calm. “Nothing major has happened in Obsidian Territory. Everything is on track.

Old John and Brandon have been managing the territory well. Here—these are letters they asked to bring you while I was at it.”

As he spoke, he took two sealed letters from his breast and handed them to Eli.

Eli accepted them and, without even taking a proper look, tucked them straight into his coat.

His eyes remained fixed on Clark as he pressed on, “Obsidian Territory is fine...

Then is it you? Did sothing happen to you? Or... to House Graham?”

A complicated bitter smile appeared on Clark’s face.

“Yes...” He sighed. “You’re still as sharp as ever. Nothing can be hidden from you.”

He tried to lighten his tone a little. “You probably don’t know yet, do you?

My grandfather is the Pri Minister of the Kingdom now!

Well? This great is now the Pri Minister’s own grandson!

From now on, I can openly look after you! Hahaha!”

He laughed and slapped Eli hard on the shoulder.

But Eli saw clearly that there was not the slightest trace of laughter in Clark’s blue eyes—only deeply buried worry.

Eli said nothing. He rely looked at him in silence, waiting for the real answer.

Under Eli’s calm gaze, the ease on Clark’s face gradually beca impossible to maintain.

He sighed again, his shoulders drooping slightly as his voice sank low.

“My grandfather... sent an encrypted letter.

It said that he and the family had already beco unavoidably entangled in the political vortex of the royal capital.

The situation... is very complicated, and very dangerous. He ordered not to return to the royal capital without his explicit command.

He told to stay in the Western Frontier in peace, to remain in Obsidian Territory...”

Eli listened quietly, understanding at once.

The old Marquess Graham was preparing for the worst, preserving a spark for the family and hoping Clark would stay far from the center of the storm.

“But...” Clark changed tone, and his voice suddenly beca firm.

He lifted his head and looked straight at Eli, his eyes blazing. “I can’t do that.”

Eli looked into the familiar light in his friend’s eyes.

Then he suddenly laughed softly, his tone full of knowing amusent.

“So you’re going to go on maintaining that image of being a willful child who was never obedient in the first place?”

Clark burst out laughing at Eli’s words, as though the two of them had returned to those carefree days in the royal capital.

Laughing, he punched Eli in the chest. “Sa to you! You’ve got no right to say that about !”

After the laughter faded, both of their expressions turned serious once more.

Clark drew a deep breath and said earnestly, “So I’m going back to the royal capital.

Back to my family, back to my loved ones.

There are no cowards in House Graham who hide in the rear. Whatever we face, we should face it together.”

Eli looked at the resolve in his friend’s eyes and knew there was no point in trying to dissuade him.

He nodded, showing his understanding and support.

But then sothing occurred to him, and his tone carried a trace of regret.

“What a pity... I originally...

had sothing that might have broken your Golden Barrier. I ant to give it to you once things had settled down.”

He was referring to the Moonlight Spring, but that was obviously not sothing suitable for open discussion here.

Hearing this, however, Clark only smiled with easy boldness.

He straightened his back, and the pride of the Graham Family shone across his face as he declared loudly, “Thanks, brother!

But the Graham Family’s motto is this—My Blade Is Still Sharp!

The n of House Graham trust only the swords they have honed with their own hands! External help... is still only external help.”

Those words were filled with the pride and conviction of an ancient knightly house.

Eli respected his choice and said no more. He only answered solemnly, “Good.

But I’ll keep it for you. In the future... I will place it in your hands myself.”

Naturally, Clark understood the aning beneath Eli’s words.

Whether Clark returned safely, or Eli one day set foot in the royal capital himself, there would surely co another eting.

“Good!” Clark nodded heavily, emotion flickering in his eyes.

“I’ll wait for that! Farewell, my good brother!”

With that, he opened his arms. Eli stepped forward as well.

The two embraced tightly, thumping each other hard on the back.

Everything that needed saying was already understood without words. The Twin Stars of the Royal Domain, who had once supported each other in the royal capital and then endured hardship together in the Western Frontier wasteland,

had now been forced to part once more and head toward their own unknown roads.

After the embrace, Clark turned around crisply and waved a hand toward the knights behind him. “We’re leaving!”

He swung himself onto his horse, looked back at Eli one last ti, and gave a firm nod.

Then he tugged the reins and rode off with his vassal knights, galloping away from Thorne City.

Eli stood there alone, watching that line of golden figures grow smaller and smaller in the dust until, at last, they vanished at the end of the distant road.

His heart was full of blessings for his friend, along with a thread of worry he could not quite shake away.

The vortex of the royal capital was far more perilous and unpredictable than the clash of blades in the Western Frontier.

At that mont, a calm voice quietly sounded from not far behind him.

“Parting is a common thing, Eli Pendragon.”

Eli was slightly startled. He turned around and saw that Sir Lucius had appeared in the shadow of the side door at so unknown point.

He was quietly watching the direction in which Clark had left. Clearly, he had been there for so ti.

Lucius’s gaze was deep as he continued in a tone devoid of obvious emotion.

“Especially... for people like us.

Even those closest to you will leave. Even those you trust most will betray you. Even the strongest alliances will one day break apart... but such things are necessary lessons in life...

What you can do is not drown yourself in sorrow.

It is to make yourself strong enough—strong enough to face any change.

Strong enough that... perhaps one day, you may reduce the number of such unavoidable partings.

Rember this: life itself is an unending cultivation...”

When he had finished speaking, he gave Eli a deep look. Without further explanation, he turned and slowly walked back into the fortress.

He left Eli standing there alone, savoring the weight of those words.

Just as Eli was imrsed in emotion and reflection, Lucius’s voice ca drifting back from the distance and shattered the mood at once.

“And one more thing, Eli.

You knowingly defied orders and privately let go of such a valuable bargaining chip. I will not pretend I did not see it.”

“Oh.”