Chapter 1090: Intervention III
Leon’s return to Artorion was marked by solemnity; the remains of those fallen in the first battle with the pirates had largely been collected, save for those too far buried beneath ark wrecks or whose bodies were too torn apart and scattered in other ways. The final count had come to five hundred and thirty-four dead, one thousand and twelve wounded, and two hundred and thirteen more missing. After about a week, the chances of the missing turning up again were low, though Leon refrained from declaring them dead just yet. Instead, the funeral procession for the confirmed dead proceeded without them.
It was a largely grim affair, yet also filled with some cheer. In Leon’s mind, death was solemn and painful, but for many others in his Kingdom, it was to be celebrated, especially if one fell in battle. The Lions in particular threw an enormous party for the dead and the wounded, contrasting with the particularly sober and serious way the Ancestral Harts handled their dead.
The procession brought each of the dead to the mausoleum that Leon had ordered constructed, though some like the Ancestral Harts took care of their own dead, leaving only symbolic caskets or urns to be interred within the mausoleum. The bodies of the giants who participated in the battle and fell were likewise given over to the giants, who would repair the frames and reuse them when the time came for them to reproduce again.
The engineers and earth mages had already broken ground on the mausoleum upon the nine-peaked mountain and had cleared and leveled a lot of land, allowing a significant portion of Artorion to assemble upon the mountain for the procession. Leon and his family, after leading the procession through the small city and up the mountain, took their places upon a large rostrum that had been built in front of the mausoleum, and which would become the centerpiece of a large courtyard in the future.
For the moment, the rostrum was bare and stood as little more than a raised platform from which eulogies could be given, but Leon had plans for it. Already, pieces of the wrecked pirate arks were being salvaged, and particularly eye-catching pieces would be taken to be displayed on the rostrum as trophies of victory. He also wanted statues of his father and Trajan to be placed outside, along with statues of particular heroes who had fallen in his service, including Exallos Aetos.
The mausoleum itself was barely more than foundations, but the catacombs had already been sufficiently built to put their dead to rest. And as the last of their dead was brought below the earth, Leon stepped forward to address the crowd of some two or three thousand assembled before the mausoleum.
No one was being particularly loud, but a hush still descended upon them as eyes turned in his direction. Leon even silenced the wind with a quick expression of his power, leaving nothing to interfere with his voice carrying over the crowd.
He assumed a strong, yet not aggressive posture to reflect his attitude toward this address. He couldn’t be too contrite, but neither could he be dismissive of the sacrifices made.
After a deep breath, he began in a somber tone.