The Silver Seer

Chapter 45: Eternally With You

Lars wanders around Bern's base, stopping everyone he knows and asking if they know where Reko is, or has seen the mechanical soldier at all since the events of two days ago.

After the king confirmed Felix was dead, Reko screamed and hugged his body before violently shaking and soon growing quiet and still. Leon came inside the room and picked Reko up, saying something about his system crashing due to the intense emotions the boy was experiencing.

The drive back to Bern was completely silent, and Lars found nothing better to do than sleep, yet he held Reko's limp right hand the entire time. Upon returning to Bern, Berlyn rushed into the library while asking Sigfried to gather all the officers for a meeting in the Grand Room while Leon situated Reko in his dorm.

Lars joined the officers within the elaborate meeting area, and Berlyn stood behind the podium, with an open letter in his hands. He did not even start off with announcing Felix's death- he just read the letter.

It was a declaration, made by Felix himself, of who was to take command of the Swiss military as its Army General should he ever die. He made three nominations- if the first choice was unavailable, it would go to the second person, and if both were somehow unable to assume the position, it would go to the third. Otherwise, the next Army General would be chosen through seniority.

The first person was Reko. Yet he did not show at the meeting, and Berlyn was unsure as to what his state would be upon waking up. The second person was Leon, who quickly interrupted and voiced he was going to leave the military in order to assume command of the knights.

The third person was Berlyn, which the man himself seemed quite shocked upon reading. He just cleared his throat and recited what Lars assumed was the same oath that Felix had to take upon his promotion, as well as all of the previous Army Generals before him, albeit this one was far less formal than what Lars expected it to be.

By the time Berlyn was finished, it was apparent that all the officers knew Felix had died. No one uttered a single word, and no applause or even the slightest smile was given in regard to Berlyn's promotion.

So now Lars walks towards the formal office where the newly appointed General should be, stopping at the top of the marble steps before knocking upon the grand white double doors.

The expected voice from within answers. "Come in."

Lars opens the leftmost door and steps inside, closing it behind him, moving further inside the rather large circular space once the man sitting at the desk near the back of the room gestures for him to do so.

"King Theodor, hello. How are you tonight?" Berlyn's tone is calm and genuine, so Lars finds it easy to fake a smile.

"Fine, thank you, sir. May I ask you a question?" The king continues as Berlyn nods. "Do you happen to know where Re- I mean, where Lieutenant Erkki is?" He quickly corrects himself, unsure if Berlyn prefers more formal titles compared to what Felix (and especially Thilo) preferred.

At his question, he receives a shaking head. "I do not. If you have already checked his dorm, see if he's inside General Adelric's less formal office. He often liked to spend almost all of his free time there."

Lars bows after getting an answer to his question, yet he is stopped before he can leave. "King Theodor, may I ask you a question?"

The young man slowly turns around and hesitantly nods, unsure of what Berlyn could possibly ask him about.

"I do not mean to sound rude in any way, but Knight Commander Adalheid mentioned, in passing, that you wished to go back to the Kingdom of Denmark. Do you still wish to return?" The question comes as a slight surprise to Lars, but he nods after thinking about it for a moment.