boy and bone

The ferret was carrying a rattan basket tightly covered with a dining cloth. He pushed open the door of the ward. The season was warm like spring, and there were mostly empty beds in the room, except for the white bed by the window. , the boy lay softly, as if he would never wake up.

"Get up, Gray, stop pretending, you snore while you're asleep." The ferret laughed.

The boy on the bed closed his eyes and replied, "You fart, you grind your teeth while sleeping."

The ferret put the basket on the bed cabinet, and a few bouquets of pure white peonies and a bunch of colorful feathers appeared in the empty vase on the bed cabinet: "...is this?"

"It's fully inserted." Gray sat up from the bed with his arms propped up. He took the feather inserted in the vase and fiddled with it in the palm of his hand: "It's gaudy, it was pulled from some pheasant."

"This is from a phoenix." The ferret couldn't laugh or cry: "The phoenix's tail feathers will be replaced every once in a while. The phoenix inhabits the cliffs, and the feathers it falls will be blown to various places with the wind, so it is very easy to pick them up. Fortunately. I heard that the tail feathers of the phoenix have the meaning of blessing people to live a long life. He has good intentions."

"Okay, I see." Gray saw the basket brought by the ferret at first sight: "What did you bring me?"

The ferret lifted the tablecloth, and a strong smell of roasting came to his face, but hesitantly said: "Your wound has not healed yet, and the doctor said that you should not eat more greasy and meaty food."

"Don't listen to those nuns, every day I eat peas and cucumbers, my face is green." Gray grumbled, taking out a roll of dried meat pancakes that were fried to crisp on both sides from the basket, and took a crisp bite.

Seeing that there was no one else in the ward, the ferret asked, "Did Man leave after delivering the flowers?"

"No, he's gone to the toilet." Gray muttered, the elusive magic bone stuck out from under the quilt and wrapped around the boy's neck, still inseparable.

"Oh... come in later, can you pretend to be asleep?" the ferret asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Gray bit the crispy meat, wondering, "Why?"

"You know it's easy to quarrel with him when you're awake." The ferret said tactfully, "I have something private to tell him."

Gray laughed and said, "You guys have private affairs behind my back? All right, you two can talk slowly, I won't bother you. I just pretend to be asleep? Do you want me to hide under the bed and give the bed to you two? "

"Don't make such a joke," said the ferret.

At this moment, the two with sharp ears heard familiar footsteps outside the door.Gray hurriedly stuffed a few more mouthfuls of meatloaf and swallowed it whole. He quickly pulled the quilt over his head, and buried the devil bone and himself in the quilt.

The ferret appreciated Gray's speed and helped make the bed.

When Man stepped into the room, he saw the ferret standing in front of the hospital bed. There was a small bag on the bed, but no one showed his head.

Man asked, "Where are people?"

"Under the mattress, asleep," explained the ferret.

Consciously walking lightly, but before approaching the hospital bed, he frowned and said in a low voice: "Take off the quilt, aren't you afraid you will fall asleep and suffocate to death?"

"No need." The ferret stopped in time: "Do not let him suffer from the wind."

It was full of strangeness, and because he had other things in his heart, he didn't ask too much.

There was no more conversation in the ward, and it was suddenly quiet.

After a while, the two standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the hospital bed accidentally spoke at the same time:

"Thank you before..."

"Thank you."

The two who had been staring at each other now looked at each other.

"What do you thank me for?" Man asked.

Ferret said: "You chose me in Wind Valley..."

"It's nothing, you saved me so many times. I deserve it." Then, Man took out a delicate wooden box from his arms and handed it to the ferret: "You take this."

"what?"

"The nameplate of the black knight." Man said: "With it, you will not be regarded as an apprentice knight, and if you accept the bounty in the future, you can get the full bounty."

He paused for a moment: "...If you are worried that your ability is not enough to complete a bounty independently, I can complete it with you. It happens that I also need pocket money." His tone seemed unintentional, but his eyes were sincere.

The ferret thought about it seriously, and said, "...are you inviting me to be your knight?"

"I don't think so. I think we are reciprocal. It can also be said that we become each other's knights."

The ferret was slightly taken aback.

Just as he was talking, the quilt on the bed suddenly shrank, and after a while, it shrank again.

A dark chestnut head protruded from the quilt, accompanied by hiccups one after another.

While hiccupping, Gray fetched a cup of warm water from the bed cabinet, drank a few sips to control the frequency of hiccups.

"I choked just now, you guys continue." After saying that, Grai slipped back into the bed.

……

"Get up as soon as you recover! Don't pretend to be dead, the beds in the church are very expensive!" He pretended to lift the quilt.

Grai firmly grasped: "You let go, if you don't let go, I will let go of the magic bone!" Hearing this, a joint of the magic bone protruded.

"How dare you! I'll pay for your board and lodging." Man said, "If you don't listen, I'll throw you back into the garbage dump!"

"You throw it!" Grai was not afraid of wearing shoes with bare feet, and he was completely penniless, so he simply relied on it.

"Impossible. I also made a nameplate for you. Tomorrow you will go out to work to receive orders and earn money to pay back."

"Who are you, I listen to you?!" Gray refused.

"Be quiet, you are not allowed to make loud noises in the ward." The ferret hissed desperately.

into the night.

A breeze blew through the unclosed window into the silent room.

Gray slept soundly, with his eyes closed tightly, kicking a corner of the quilt off the edge of the bed in a comfortable sleeping position.

At this time, one hand gently lifted the soft mattress hanging by Grai's bed, covering his half-exposed belly.

This hand slid along the boy's waist and onto the boy's face, but even though this hand was very close to Grai's skin, it was still separated by an invisible but real air.

His fingers didn't dare to get close, but they didn't want to leave, they just stayed on the top of Grai's forehead and didn't move.

The magic bone hidden under Grai's body sensed it, and it crawled obediently beside the visitor, and quickly merged with the missing part of the visitor, and finally returned to the complete magic bone, covered with a pair of black silk gloves.

The gloved hand turned and quietly pulled over a chair, and a man with red hair and gray eyes sat down, waiting beside the hospital bed, his figure silently like a ghost that did not exist.

The man stared at the sleeping person on the hospital bed, his quiet gaze seemed to be contemplative and empty.