The City of Marronligar

It was nearly nine years ago that Oshim met Adrian for the first time.

At that time, his life was still in a mess: his stepfather, who was drinking all day long, ignored him, and even allowed his mother to die prematurely from overwork; He packed his bags and left his hometown; after beating his bastard stepfather half to death and running out of the house, Oshim joined a group of equally poor thieves and prepared to live by robbing pedestrians.

In order to pick out lucrative passers-by, they bought eyeliners in hotels at suburban fork roads.

One day, the wine clerk told the thieves mysteriously that a 27-year-old man had stopped in the store to inquire about bounty hunters, and asked if he had seen a man from Mary more than ten years ago. Lunliga ran to the maid near here.He was very dignified in his gestures, looked amiable, although he did not have a domineering style, but the clothes alone were worth a lot of money.

The clerk also said that for some reason the distinguished guest had acted alone, without even a squire with a horse.A pair of beautiful sabers hung around his waist, probably the custom of nobles elsewhere.

The thieves stood ready in their usual ambush.Oshim, who had just joined the gang, hadn't participated in "actual combat" before, and the leader of the thieves urged him to "practice his courage", otherwise he would at best be a miscellaneous job for his companions in the future, even if he would not be able to share the spoils, he would have no future.

"What are you afraid of? It was originally those nobles who forced us to this field. We only expropriated some money from him, but didn't hurt his life." The leader didn't forget to put on a patch worthy of his profession. "Of course, if he resists, there's nothing we can do about it."

Oshim, whose voice change period has not yet passed, is aggressive at first, and has a paranoid and impulsive side in his personality.He didn't need his accomplices to fan the flames, he took a knife and fell behind the bushes on the roadside, just waiting for the prey to come.

The mysterious figure described by the innkeeper came on horseback.The horse is not tall, and its pace is unhurried, as if it is sightseeing.The long wind-shielding cloak covered his figure, and the small half of his face exposed under the brim looked very delicate, but Oshim could only be sure that the opponent was his target based on the suit of the horse.

Two cuckoo cries came from the bushes on the other side of the road, and it was his comrades who were signaling to him.

Oshim wiped his sweat, thinking "Anyway, there will be a day of killing", he clenched the sharp knife in his hand, waited for the person to pass in front of him one by one, counted the blind spot of the other party's vision, and then rushed out suddenly with all his strength. , piercing the torso of the mysterious man from the side and rear.

Thanks to his unknown biological father, Oshim seems to be stronger, more energetic, and quicker than his peers since he was a child. He has always been confident in his "aptitude" in this area, and no one knows how to fight better than him .

But the knife that had calculated the direction and accumulated enough strength failed to hit the target.

Aoshim aimed at the opponent's torso hidden under the cloak, but the blade pierced into the cloak missed nothing, and did not stab anything lightly - the man seemed to have predicted that someone would attack him, so he stabbed him with a sharp knife. The moment he came, he half turned around without looking back, raised his arm slightly to avoid the attack, and then firmly grasped Oshim's wrist through the cloak.

The opponent's next move was so fast that Oshim couldn't react at all, he only knew that with a little force on his right wrist, he was forced to let go of the knife in his hand due to the pain; then, the black cloak fell Like a goshawk fluttering its wings, it flipped in front of Oshim's eyes.

He was hit in the eye by the hem of his cloak and had to squeeze his eyes shut to relieve the burning pain above and below his eyelids.In this brief gap of darkness, Oshim was thrown to the ground suddenly, and his arm was twisted backwards.If he hadn't covered his face with an old scarf, he might have eaten a mouth full of dirt.

When Oshim opened his eyes again, the person he wanted to rob was holding his elbow with one hand, examining him from top to bottom with extremely complicated eyes, but it seemed that he didn't even intend to draw his sword.

And when he saw the face exposed under the cloak, Oshim couldn't help but fell into a moment of trance: It turns out that adult men can also grow such green eyes.

The throbbing that was almost love at first sight quickly gave way to a sharp pain in the wrist.Oshim was so angry at this awkward and humiliating posture, and his excess self-esteem did not allow him to ask for help from his companions, so he could only twist his neck and shoulders all the time, trying to regain the freedom of his upper body.

It stands to reason that his companion should also come out to help, but it is probably because the stranger is so skilled, and the small group of thieves do not have long-range weapons such as bows and arrows, so they dare not act rashly.

While struggling, the moonstone amulet that Oshim stuffed in the neckline slipped halfway from under the clothes, and the strange and beautiful ice blue luster suddenly reflected into the pair of emerald green eyes.

The stranger's expression changed.

He seemed to be in a trance, first he took the amulet out of Oshim's neckline with his free hand, carefully examined the moonstone and the metal base underneath for a week, and then pulled the amulet away from Aoshim's neck. The cloth on the face, pinching Oshim's chin, looked at his appearance with a very focused gaze.

The young man who was prone to anger was irritated by this action - the moonstone amulet was his mother's relic.Before leaving home, it was because his stepfather wanted to sell this thing for wine that Oshim beat him so hard that he couldn't get up for a long time.

Oshim struggled hard, but he still couldn't get rid of that not-so-strong hand. Instead, his joints that were buckled hurt as if they were run over by a wheel.

Suddenly the stranger asked him: "Do you know Louis Cormac?"

What a strange question.Oshim yelled, "Who the fuck cares about you", and attached a series of curse words accumulated in the streets and alleys, but the stranger ignored it.

"Who gave you this thing?" The stranger called out a woman's name. "Is it her?"

Oshim didn't speak - he didn't understand why a stranger would know his mother.To be on the safe side, he wanted to deny it, but the other party still captured the moment when Oshim was in a daze.

Strange to say, it was clear that he was being suppressed and questioned, but Oshim did not find any hostility in the eyes of the other party, but saw a little nostalgia, just like seeing another person through Oshim. shadow of man.

The extent of Oshim's struggle decreased.He puffed out a pair of bloodshot eyes, and asked viciously, "Who the hell are you?"

But the other party still didn't answer directly: "Did Ling Tang stay in the Flying Lion Mansion in Ma Lunliga? Where does she live now?"

This hit Oshim's sore spot: "...she is dead."

The stranger showed a regretful expression without words.He finally let go of Aoshim, and Aoshim, who got up from the ground, even lost all motivation to fight, just squinted at him.

"I know your real father," said the stranger solemnly. "Do you want to come with me?"

Oshim didn't feel much about this sentence—in fact, he didn't have the slightest feeling for either father.But the black-haired man in front of him looked sincere, and it didn't look like he was joking when he said that he was going to take him away.

He knew he shouldn't agree, but those eyes seemed to evoke some indescribable power deep in Oshim's heart, driving him to nod unconsciously.

The good-for-nothing highway robbery had an unexpected development, and the other thieves were puzzled for a while.

"I won't argue with you, but I want to take this child away."

The stranger's tone was neither humble nor overbearing, and he didn't say a single serious word, but everyone present could hear the faint threat, even the most courageous bandit leader didn't dare to say "no".

After a while, the owner of Feishi Mansion had a boy with a foreign surname of unknown origin beside him.Only then did Oshim realize that this man named Adrian was the new patriarch of a prominent family.As for Louis Cormac, whom Adrian has been thinking about, he is a fugitive who was blacklisted by Maren Liga.

Although somewhat aware of the reason why his degenerate fate was changed, compared with his biological father, Oshim has deeper and more complicated feelings for Adrian, an "elder" who is neither an employer, nor a mentor, nor an adoptive father.

The seeds planted at the first meeting gradually grew in his heart, and he even began to envy the father he had never met.

Now, on the edge of the dunes, two days away from the mouth of the Mount, this dramatic reunion revealed too much at once for Oshim to digest.

If he had to say it, he wouldn't mind even if he didn't know what his biological father looked like all his life. It was better than the three of them sitting around the brazier and staring at each other.

"You described to me the appearance of that token, and I recognized Oshim's identity through it." Adrian was very face-saving, and did not describe the actual situation when the two met.

But Oshim is more concerned about other "trivial" details: just like 16 years ago, Adrian sometimes unconsciously used honorifics to Louis, and that was the "past" that Oshim could not trace back and imitate. ", always implying that the relationship between Adrian and Louis is something he cannot easily get involved in.

Oshim realized belatedly that he himself had never expressed proper respect to Adrian, but had always wanted to get closer to Adrian.

Louis' expression was a bit bitter, and he didn't know which person in front of him to focus on for a moment.

Until just now, he didn't know that he still had a son in this world, but the son didn't seem to want to recognize him as his father.But judging from what Adrian meant, he probably still hoped that Louis could be a father to make up for the loss caused by his absence for many years to the father and son.

However, Oshim was clearly unhappy.He deliberately didn't look at Louis, but kept staring at Adrian, hoping that the other party would give him an explanation.

Although he really wanted to be alone with Adrian, as an "older" elder, Louis held the self-control tempered by time, anyway, there will be opportunities from now on.He stood up, held Adrian's shoulders, and said softly: "I'll go out to check the situation in the camp first, and I'll be back in a while."

Adrian gave a "hmm", and when he looked up to see Louis leave, his eyes were full of tenderness that made Oshim jealous.

Louis raised the curtain, stooped and walked out of the tent.Before the person had gone far, Oshim moved to Adrian's side, with his face blocked in front of Adrian's eyes.He may look very similar to Louis when he was young, but his face is not the calm and free and easy that Louis is used to, but his muscles are tense, and he is aggrieved by what happened just now.

"I won't recognize him as a father," Oshim said through gritted teeth. "Even if that's what you want to see."

Adrian frowned slightly, but he was not angry: "I don't intend to force your father to be kind and filial. How you treat each other and what to do next is your and his freedom."

For some reason, Oshim felt even more panicked: "...At that time, if I wasn't his son, wouldn't you take me away?"

As soon as he asked the words, Oshim regretted it—he was afraid of hearing an answer that disappointed him, and he was afraid that the skills Adrian taught him and the care he had given him over the years would be personally confirmed as a transfer of special emotions, which was "a last resort" ".

After a long silence, Adrian said, "Oshim, I never regarded you as his substitute."

"Is it because I'm not as good as him?"

When he grabbed Adrian's shoulders and slammed him down on the sand, Oshim knew that he had done something wrong, but this impulse was a reflection of his sincerity: "I am obviously younger than him, and when I get along with you I don't know how many times longer than him, but why..."

And Adrian just looked at him calmly, didn't stop this unseemly behavior, didn't push away the sullen young man, didn't even flash the slightest resentment and anger, just like the condescending glance nine years ago. Oshim felt guilty after seeing it: "Adrian, I—"

Although there was soft yellow sand under his body, Adrian still felt dizzy for a short time after being pushed suddenly by Oshim.But when he opened his mouth to respond, there was an apology in his voice and eyes that didn't need to be paid: "I'm sorry, Oshim."

Oshim stared blankly at Adrian, knowing that the childish fluke was futile, maybe he didn't take the initiative from the beginning.But without the "first come" Louis, Oshim would have no chance at all.

His Adam's apple rolled up and down for a week, and the fire in his eyes went from fierce unwillingness to finally calming down.While letting go, Oshim's dim eyes finally moved away from Adrian: "...I see."

After Oshim walked out of the tent, Adrian didn't get up in a hurry.Just lying on the sand, he looked at the center of the tent above his head and blinked slowly.

"You've been out long enough, come in," he said. "You should have seen what happened just now."

The person standing outside the tent with arms folded smiled and shook his head: "You really know I'm here."

Adrian finally sat up, with one arm resting on his raised knee, propping his chin to watch Louis lift the curtain and enter: "I can hear someone outside."

Louis sat down opposite him, and straightened the firewood with the tongs: "That kid seems a little worried... I really trouble you."

Adrian laughed: "I thought you would come in and stop him."

"I did have this idea at first. But..."

"but?"

"To him, I'm still an 'outsider'. He won't listen to what I say, but will fight against it. And, I also want to hear your answer."

Adrian was a little surprised: "Do you think I will accept his... pursuit? Probably the only word I can use."

Louis touched his nose, and he seemed a little ashamed: "My age is here, but he is still young. Besides, it has been 16 years. I escaped from Marenliga and left you in that city. I am sorry. live--"

Before Louis could finish speaking, Adrian held his hand.The head of the mercenary group slowly raised his head, only to see Adrian lowered his eyes, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised: "You don't have to feel guilty, and I have never regretted it."

Louis realized that Adrian was as calm as he had imagined all these years.

The two looked at each other for a long time, and finally with a tacit smile to save those endless and inexplicable thoughts.

Adrian then recounted to Louis many of the things he had witnessed.Some that Louis didn't know, and some that he had heard by chance while wandering around.While talking, Adrian unconsciously brought the greenness of his youth, and Louis listened quietly, as if they were still sitting in the tavern in Maren Liga, and the lingering honey fragrance still wafted in the air.

Adrian recalled the snowstorm outside the Winter Valley Fortress, the irreversible decline of the city-state, the beacon fires of the grassland tribes' invasion of the south, and also mentioned the departure and death of the old man.

"Shortly after you left Marunliga, Uncle Samuel was also exiled by the elders of the family. We never heard from him again." He sighed softly. "As for the sect...you should have heard about their situation."

In the turbulent current situation, no precious relic or mysterious doctrine can save the control over the parish.The order eventually fell apart, and most of the clergy returned to the secular world, while a small number of people escorted the assets of the order to leave Marunliga, leaving only a temple that could not be taken away by the city.

"A few years ago, Mr. Huta met Mrs. Bella by chance in a big city overseas. She has changed her name and seems to be doing jewelry appreciation business, and she is doing well. Her daughter has also grown up, and that She was as pretty as the wife at that time. I think it would be best to keep the mother and daughter away from everything connected with Marenliga."

The death of the Governor was undoubtedly the immediate cause of Louis' departure from Marenlica.Whether voluntarily or forced, he took the blame for Mrs. Bella.Hearing the news about her now, Louis felt only relieved that he looked down on the past.

"And General Lucien, who also died not long ago."

From the Torresso family, the Marenlica, to this continent that has never had real peace, so many major events have happened in the past 16 years, so that the personal fate and the emotions that cannot be recorded in the annals of history seem extremely small.

Adrian stared into Louis' eyes and said softly, "I heard about the Greystone Comrades in Kirov. For some reason, when they mentioned this mysterious leader, I thought of someone."

Louis smiled bitterly: "So you went directly to this camp?"

"At first I just wanted to try my luck—I've been disappointed countless times, so I was mentally prepared." Adrian held his wrist, and after a few seconds of deliberation, he spoke again. "I came here with another thing in mind. Would you...would you like to come back to Marenliga with me?"

The author has something to say: Session かない恋-Uehara れな (Bai Xue Divine Comedy!)

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