The City of Marronligar

No matter what kind of "wrong path" the Bounty Hunter Association has taken as a group, and what price it ultimately paid for it, we cannot easily deny their contribution to the city.Capture fugitives, recover stolen goods, hunt the lightless and beasts that harass the village, and even perform some dangerous tasks during wartime (of course, bounty hunters rarely get involved in war under normal circumstances), they sell their skills and time, will Putting yourself at risk in exchange for a good monetary reward is like every peddler selling his wares.

Because they often deal with people, in order to reduce the risk of being constrained by the world, bounty hunters have also formed a unique set of principles of conduct, and "downplaying emotions" is an important part of it.They just need to do their job well, even if the process and result are cruel.

——Miscellaneous Notes of Silver Bay Tower: Light and Darkness of the Bounty Hunters Association

"Before the incident, did your brother have any abnormal behavior?"

When Louis raised this question, Adrian immediately reacted: Louis wanted to confirm whether Shadu knew that his brother had a doomsday belief and enshrined a heretical idol that should be sanctioned by the religious order.

——If Shadu didn't know, telling the truth at this juncture, wouldn't it cause him more harm?

So, Adrian took two quick steps and grabbed Louis' arm, trying to stop him from saying inappropriate words.

"Abnormal behavior?" Shadu repeated in confusion.

Louis considered the appropriate words, and slowly opened his mouth: "Actually..."

Adrian wanted to interrupt Louis: "Master—"

"We found a wooden sculpture of the Doomsday God of Death under your brother's bed. In the eyes of the church, that is a real heresy." Louis ignored Adrian's obstruction and said the following bluntly. "The repeated superposition of despair and despair may be the opportunity for him to become a lightless person."

Sadhu froze.He stared blankly at the copper thimble in his hand, his body trembling slightly: "How come..." He looked at Louis and Adrian again, hoping that what he heard just now was just his own illusion. "Is what you said true?"

Adrian is not good at lying, all he can do at this moment is silence, but the silence at this moment is undoubtedly affirmative.

Shadu had to accept this cruel truth: "Really...but he never told me this. In front of my mother and me, my brother was always so reliable. After my father died, he became the pillar of our family. I have never heard him complain about anything, and he would comfort us in turn. It has always been like this in the past, and it was also yesterday..." He fell into memories while muttering to himself.

Those warm days have left him; what makes Shadu feel even more painful is that his brother has been using superficial optimism to cover up the despair and pain in his heart, but he knows nothing about it.

"Where is that wood carving you mentioned now?" Chadu asked Louis.

"I can't bring that kind of thing into the temple, it's too inappropriate. I left it in the sewer, let the running water and mud hide it all. Don't worry, no one but us and Judge Sauron Knowing this, he doesn't intend to pursue it." Louis deliberately lowered his voice. "He will arrange a funeral for your loved ones just like any other person."

Shadu sighed bitterly: "I don't know what to do...heretical belief is wrong, but that is my brother after all, I never knew that his heart would be so desperate that he would seek relief from the doomsday god of death. Maybe it is His father's death hit him too hard..."

Sandhu bowed deeply to Louis and Adrian.

"Thank you for being willing to keep this secret, and thank you for telling me the truth. At least I finally know his pain and know that he still has such a secret. But this is too cruel, please leave me here alone for a while ..."

As soon as he left the rest room, Adrian expressed his attitude: "Master, I don't agree with what you did just now." He frowned and lowered his voice, fearing that Shadu, who was alone in the room, would hear him.

Louis responded calmly, "Do you think I should keep the heresy from Sadhu? Even if it's a secret he's supposed to know?"

The two stood on the spiral steps, and the atmosphere was at a stalemate for a while.

Adrian clenched the cold and rough stone handrails, and spoke condescendingly to Louis through the height difference of several steps: "He doesn't need to know this, even the judge promised not to pursue this issue any more. As long as you don't Saying that he didn't know, can also save a little inner torture. What you did just now made him feel unreasonably guilty for his dead brother. "

Leaning against the wall, Louis bluntly pointed out another meaning that Adrian didn't express: "You want me to keep silent so that Sadhu doesn't know anything about his brother's heresy and real pain."

"Based on your attitude towards Torresso, I thought you would have sympathy for some heretical beliefs, at least taking into account the excusable parts. Besides, Shadu has suffered enough, at this time Telling the truth will definitely add insult to injury.”

"This has nothing to do with heresy or not. I just lay out the truth in front of him and let him choose how to view these facts and how to live. He has the right to know this."

"But it will do him more harm! We should look for a more merciful approach."

Lewis disagreed: "Is it kindness to conceal the truth from those who should know the truth, or is it a kind of arrogance that thinks it is sympathetic?"

Adrian was in a hurry, but he didn't know how to refute for a moment: "Are you looking for a reason for your inhumanity?"

"Don't yell in the temple." A third voice came from above the stairs.

Louis and Adrian looked up at the same time, and saw Hagrid, who had taken off his armor and put on his robes, walking towards them with a money bag.

"...I'm sorry," Adrian blushed suddenly embarrassingly. "But we didn't yell."

"We controlled the volume, hoping not to disturb the priests and believers downstairs." Louis echoed.

Hagrid had clearly heard their argument, but made no comment, acting as though he had heard nothing.He threw the money bag into Louis's arms, and gestured for the other party to count the money.However, Louis did not open his pockets - there is no need for the religious order of the world to deduct the remuneration.

"There's a total of three hundred Kirills here, counting the third Lightless that unexpectedly appeared. And you," Hagrid turned his gaze to Adrian, and spent two seconds trying to recall his name, but It didn't work out. "I don't know how you and Louis Cormac will divide the bill. You should discuss it among yourself."

"Adrian," Louis emphasized the name again. "His name is Adrian. Anyway, it was a great help. You should remember other people's names carefully."

Louis had just denied his own thoughts, but now he spoke for him in front of Hagrid, which made Adrian feel complicated.

Hagrid glanced at Louis, and said blankly, "Okay. Adrian, I'll remember." His tone was uneventful, and his words were without sincerity.

——Looking at the judge's attitude, he must have turned his head and forgot, and he will have to call me "Samuel's nephew" next time we meet.

Adrian thought.

It was almost dusk when Louis and Adrian left the temple.Winter is coming and it gets dark early.The sewer exit behind the temple has been temporarily sealed with wooden boards. The next day, a craftsman will come to measure the size and build a brand new iron gate.

They did not check to see if Sadhu's house was still open--for the poor novice, that house had been his warm home and was now his sad place.

Because of something on his mind, Adrian walked faster than usual.Louis followed slowly, looking thoughtfully at Adrian's thin back and the bandages on his arms.

"The remuneration given by the religious order, or I will share half of it with you." Louis said. "I can't let you work for nothing, as if I took advantage of you."

Adrian shook his head: "No, just take it as the money for me to buy your crossbow."

——150 Kirill is enough to buy three high-quality light crossbows, or the one with patterns.

Louis smiled: "You really don't see it as a gift."

"I just don't think it's good not to give money..."

"Are you serious..." the bounty hunter sighed.The setting sun has covered half of the sky, and most of the fishing boats at sea have returned to port. "It's getting late, you go back."

Adrian just took two steps, but was stopped by Louis again.He turned around, puzzled: "What else is there, Master?"

Louis pointed to his arm: "Your wound is bleeding again." He took a few steps forward, grabbed Adrian's right wrist and walked towards the market. "Come back with me."

Adrian hesitated.He looked down at the bandage, and there was a little blood under it, and the wound was still painful, but it was not serious: "It's okay, after I go back to the mansion..."

"And that crossbow, you broke some parts when you hit the Lightless with it, I have to take it back and repair it."

"... Huh?" Adrian felt that this was already looking for a reason.

Louis tugged on Adrian's wrist, feeling that the leather glove attached to the wrist was stiff with cold.Thinking of the wind and humidity in the sewer again, Adrian didn't complain—except that it was dirty and dangerous.

If I remember correctly, Heshan Manor is a little southerly than Marenlica, and there are mountains to block the north wind in autumn and winter. The people there should be used to the warm climate, and it is not so easy to adapt to the winter in Marenlica.

"Don't you feel cold?" Louis asked casually.

Adrian's answer was quite honest: "A little bit." For the convenience of movement, he was not wearing thick clothes, and he was soaked in the humid air underground, so it was really uncomfortable when the evening wind blew.

Louis snorted: "If others don't ask, you won't take the initiative to tell."

"It's just a little cold, not to the point of being unbearable..." Adrian explained.

"Enough is enough, I know what you think." Louis interrupted Adrian helplessly.

Samuel mentioned in that letter that Adrian was similar to him, and they both belonged to the inconspicuous collateral line of the Torresso family.Unlike Samuel, who has a strong personality since he was a child, Adrian has always been under the control of the elders. He is used to observing other people's faces before making appropriate responses, and he is not willing to actively express his true feelings.

What a poor child—Louis almost exclaimed.He thought about it again, why was he not like this in the past, it's just that he escaped from the cocoon earlier than Adrian and lived alone.

When he arrived at Louis' home, Adrian had given up thinking about what to do when he returned to the Flying Lion Mansion.Although they belong to the same big family, everyone has their own priorities, and some injuries are inevitable, which can be explained clearly in a few words.

After entering the bedroom on the second floor, Louis first lit the brazier, and the small room was quickly filled with warm and dry air.Afterwards, he "directed" Adrian to sit on a chair, and added an extremely flat sentence: "Take off your clothes."

Adrian wanted to say something, but saw that Louis had turned away and was busy rummaging through the closet for suitable clothes and medical supplies, so he had no choice but to give up.

Put the unloaded weapon on the table, untie the strap on the wrist, remove the gloves, use a knife to cut the bandage wrapped around the sleeve with one hand, and then take off the coat and shirt one by one.Thanks to the warm source of the brazier, Adrian didn't feel cold.As men, they have nothing to worry about, but Adrian still feels very uncomfortable.

The young body is warm and flexible, and the skin and flesh extend along the perfect skeleton. Underneath is the vitality that is particularly active in a certain age group, which is as pleasing to the eye as a work of art.Louis does not deny that he likes this kind of young and healthy body | Of course, it has not reached the point of being very ambiguous. Who doesn't like to see beautiful things?

During the process of re-binding the wound, neither Louis nor Adrian said a word, even breathing very lightly.It wasn't until the clean bandage walked around the wound a few times and tied it into a proper knot that Louis breathed a sigh of relief.He pointed to the clothes thrown on the bed: "I'm afraid your previous clothes will be scrapped, so put on these first to deal with it."

After all, Louis took out a toolbox from under the cabinet and began to repair the broken light crossbow.

Adrian put on the slightly loose linen shirt and continued to sit quietly beside Louis.Louis didn't let him go, and he didn't know if, or when, he should.Green eyes looked around the room, just like the night they first came in.

Louis seemed to be aware of Adrian's complicated emotions.Without raising his head, he asked, "Why, you don't seem to want to stay by my side for a second."

Adrian froze for a moment.He lowered his eyes and said softly, "I don't know either." He immediately changed the subject. "Judge Sauron will reward you quite handsomely."

"It is indeed a bit higher than the average price."

"Your income is enough to buy a better house," Adrian sighs. "Although it's not bad here, it gives people a feeling of...well, Maren Riga."

The movement of Louis' hands paused for a moment, and then quickly returned to normal.He still lowered his head, and his voice was lower than usual: "This is the house left by my mother."

Adrian realized that he might have poked the other person's wound: "...Sorry."

Louis shook his head, and threw the replaced old parts into the toolbox: "No, I don't mind. She has been dead for many years." He looked at Adrian's apologetic eyes, and couldn't help but feel moved: When he became an adult, he It has been a long time since I talked about my mother.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door downstairs.

This is not unusual.Except for Adrian and Mrs. Bella who occasionally appeared in the middle of the night, almost no one knocked on the door of Louis' house, and most of the clients found him in the tavern.

Louis sighed helplessly: "Adrian, you go and open the door first, and I'll come as soon as I fix this part."

Author has something to say: WalkBlessed - Marvin Kopp

Choosing to tell the truth/lie should be regarded as a routine operation of the plot to the game...