A week passed by very quickly. All the family members of Duke Hanz and Renault were tied up on a high platform. Other than the servants, there were a few hundred people tied up in the city square, awaiting the execution.
Locke and Clifford were very sympathetic toward them, but it was not worth their pleading. They only took one look before the execution and left the square to return to their residence.
Just as Locke returned to his room, Green's call connected.
"Hey! I haven't seen you for a few days. How have you been?"
Even though there were dangers along the way, this mission was definitely much more troublesome than the one involving the necromancer and the bone dragon.
Seeing Locke's serious expression, Green stopped joking with him.
"The King and the Senate sent a message! You can come back after receiving the rewards from the queen. Please treat this period of time as a long vacation!"
Upon hearing this, Locke let out a sigh of relief. If they were to give him a few more missions now, he would really die! After the previous battle, it was impossible to recover without half a month of rest!
Seeing Locke's solemn expression, Clifford walked over.
"Is there a new mission?"
Locke hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "The King wants us to accept the queen's rewards before leaving. We get to treat this period of time as a holiday!"
Clifford immediately found a place to sit down. "I can finally rest!"
Due to this battle, much of the city had been blown to ashes.
Meanwhile, the fire in the square had burned for more than ten minutes, and all the family members of Renault and Hanz that did not manage to escape were burnt to ashes. No one felt any pity toward these family members of the traitors. Everyone was extremely enraged because the city they loved was reduced to ashes due to the war, and it was all Renault and Hanz's fault.
Many people fueled the fire with firewood. This unforgettable hatred was deep-rooted in the hearts of the city people, and many stayed on the sidelines to watch until the sinners on the wooden stakes were reduced to dust, only then were they willing to leave and continue with their daily lives.
After resting for half a day, Locke brought Clifford to the main street. When he saw the scene, he could not help but feel pity for the dead souls burning in the middle of the fire.
"Even though I'm not against this, this is too much!"
Clifford rubbed his hand over his empty chin and thought for a moment.
"Even though I don't agree with this, there's nothing we can do about it! Do you see those angry citizens? They saw their home and family die with their own eyes. Even though the people being burnt in the square have already been reduced to ashes, they were still filling the fire with firewood! Their pain is just too immense and hard to forget!"
Just as he finished speaking, a man in a guard uniform came from behind and stopped them.
"My Lords, please wait for me!"
He ran over from afar.
"Queen Melissa has been looking for you for a long time! Please follow me back to prepare for tonight's glory award ceremony!"
The two of them immediately got on the Earth Dragon chariot that the guards had prepared earlier and returned to the castle.
The evening banquet thrown on their behalf was an important one. Hence, when they returned to the castle, there were several people who were on standby to take their measurements and prepare new outfits for them.
Half an hour later, two sets of clothes were ready for them. The clothes were very luxurious, and they were made according to the standards of Stonolo's noble attire.
Before leaving, Locke could not help but ask Clifford, who was beside him, "Is there a mistake with the style of the clothes given to us?"
"It shouldn't be wrong! We're enjoying the treatment of heroes! Looks like tonight's ceremony is way more important than I thought!"
"No wonder Green told us to attend the award ceremony before going back!"
This time, not only would they receive Queen Melissa's glorious award, they would also receive the Dunmei Medal of Heroes when they returned!
After the conversation ended, the two generals pushed open the door and invited them into the queen's palace. Seeing that the two of them were very reserved, Queen Melissa did not pay much attention to their etiquette issues. She immediately read out the rewards for them.
"Reynolds Locke and Aldrich Clifford from the Kingdom of Dunmei played a crucial role in this counterattack. They brought a new hope to Stonolo! For this, I will award them the Honorary Knight medal of the Kingdom of Stonolo!"
"With the award of this honor, we will strengthen the unwavering alliance between Stonolo and the Kingdom of Dunmei!"
Everyone present was shocked. They had never thought that the queen would award them the Honorary Knight Medal! Not one, but two! This had never happened in the hundred years of history in the Kingdom of Stonolo.
The last time a Honorary Knight Medal was awarded was 20 years ago. The person who received the medal of honor was Duke William of Stonolo!
Clifford felt that something was strangely wrong after receiving the award. He had not expected things to turn out this way. After the two left, Clifford ushered Locke into a separate room.
Seeing how nervous he was, Locke asked, "Did something happen?"
He pointed at the medal on Locke's chest and explained, "This Honorary Knight Medal is only bestowed to one who deserves the highest honor in Stonolo! In other words, you now have the power equivalent to a Duke of Stonolo!"
Upon hearing this, Locke did not think much of it. "I'm the captain of the fourth team of the Demon Dark Blade Dragons. I'm also a recipient of the Magic Dragon Cross Medal. With the authority of a duke here, wouldn't it be much more convenient for me to come here for missions?"
Hearing Locke's twisted logic, Clifford was almost convinced. However, he couldn't shake of that nagging unease that he felt.
Locke immediately patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don't think too much about it. The king has already given us permission to return. This is reasonable! Who knows, I might even receive a higher-level medal from the king!"
At these words, Clifford seemed to recall something. Indeed, something like this could happen.
With the current situation in the Kingdom of Dunmei, their alliance with the Kingdom of Stonolo was very important, because the two kingdoms spanned the north and south of the middle west parts of the Dragon Faust Continent!
Clifford heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, it seems like I was overthinking things! This incident is most likely because the king wants to establish a closer alliance with Stonolo through the two of us!"
In fact, he guessed half of it correctly, because other than wanting to ally with Stonolo, King Dunmei wanted to use Locke to further restrain Queen Melissa. This was because Queen Melissa had included a very special condition in the secret agreement with him! The King would have to agree to a secret marriage agreement between Queen Melissa and Reynolds Locke.
Initially, upon hearing the condition Queen Melissa had set, the king of the Dunmei Kingdom was stunned. What kind of condition was this?! However, he quickly guessed Queen Melissa's intentions and felt that she had definitely seen something in Locke!