Amid the interplay of fireworks and magic, the airship slowly descended. Before it had reached the ground, Hao Ren heard grand cheers rising from below. Looking at the surging crowd that resembled a colorful ocean, he could not help muttering to Sir Morian beside him, "Looks like Veronica is quite popular among the commoners."
"The commoners may not necessarily know what great achievements Her Highness the Princess has accomplished abroad," Morian said with a shrug. "They each get a sweet flatbread, though."
Hao Ren: "..."
After a slight wobble, the airship finally came to a steady stop beside the edge of a rectangular platform built from white stone. The strong and burly mountain warriors pushed the heavy gangplank from the platform onto the airship's side and secured it with locks. The royal honor guard then fired a twenty-two-gun salute from both sides of the red carpet, and only then did Veronica and Morian appear before everyone.
Hao Ren stood on Veronica's other side, even half a step ahead of Morian.
The twenty knights who had lived and died alongside the princess and ultimately returned victorious marched in formation behind the three of them. They had not changed out of their battlefield attire. They still wore armor riddled with scars and stained with blood, while the longswords at their waists were covered in the devastation left by the Great War. The twenty knights descended the gangplank with an aura that seemed to belong to hundreds or thousands of people, instantly igniting the enthusiasm of the watching commoners. Even more thunderous cheers erupted like an avalanche, and the people began shouting the name of the kingdom's Battle Rose. The cheering was deafening.
Veronica waved to the crowd below the platform. Her gaze lingered briefly on several specific points in the crowd, and