At the bottom of the well, by the fire.

The crackling firewood brings enough heat for a fish pierced by sticks, which gradually turns golden from time to time, emitting an enticing fragrance.

Thor and Shogues sat across the fire, sometimes toasting together.

The inferior ale in the glass, the harvest of one of Shogues's outings, was somewhat choking, and the taste was not even as good as the cheap fruit wine that was so popular among the poor.

Thor doesn't really like to drink, he doesn't like drunken lethargy, and he scoffs at drunkards who use this drink to escape reality.

Whether it's pain or despair, Saul thinks it should be sober to bear it. Either they can't stand the pressure and collapse themselves, or they tear and transform in the suffering, struggling to get up.

Only by recognizing the coldness and cruelty of this world with our own eyes can we be qualified to talk about living, and living better.

However, in this bad weather, personal likes and dislikes obviously do not matter, and drinking alcohol to keep out the cold is the first choice.

As Saul expected, as soon as he returned to the bottom of the well, Shogues couldn't wait to lobby. The center of the conversation is nothing more than persuading Thor to help the sisters together, and the style of conversation adheres to his usual set of crooked arguments.

Thor flipped the grilled fish from time to time and listened silently as Shogues was talking nonsense there.

Hughes emphasized that every orphan has his own way of doing things, but each orphan should have his own insistence, and since he promised Cowell to help, then he should fulfill the agreement.

It's just that when it comes to the back, even if he is as cheeky as Xiugus, he can't make it up himself, and he falls into silence.

After all, he and Thor knew very well in their hearts that betraying anyone anytime and anywhere without any burden was the first lesson that every orphan who lived alone in the world and knew himself must learn in his own miserable life, and the so-called keeping the agreement was just a joke after all.

In the silence, looking at Thor's stone-like stinky face across the fire, Shuggs was a little stunned, and he felt that it was unlikely that he could convince Thor.

Recalling the tired eyes that Corvier had looked at him in the snowstorm, Hughes finally threw a dead branch into the fire to put an end to the unsatisfactory conversation, and his tone was filled with an unusual firmness.

"At my age, the fiery feelings in my heart are like a volcano ready to erupt at any time. It would never have been possible for me to silently watch those vivid beauties fade away. Anyway, that's it. ”

Volcanic eruptions?

Thor gritted his teeth, his face trembling with pale, and it took a great deal of perseverance to hold back his laughter and not spray the ale in his mouth on the head of Shugues, who was lowering his head to stir the fire, and his feigned seriousness almost fell short.

The matter of helping the Covill sisters was actually settled in Saul's mind last night.

It's just that he'd love to hear how Hughgos would use his crooked arguments to obscure the essence of things, after all, this is a rare pleasure in the whole winter.

Unexpectedly, this guy seems to have the potential to become a poet, which makes Saul very shocked.

Raising his hand to his side, Thor tilted his chin at the few food that was already piled up in the corner.

"All the stock is here, as you wish. ”

"You agreed?" said Xiugus, his eyes bursting with delight.

"Is it any difference between me and disagreeing with a stubborn freak like you?" Thor squinted at Hughgoth with disdain, a playful smile on his lips.

"You guy, I knew you weren't the kind of unkind beast. Shogues raised his hand over the fire and hammered it on Thor's arm.

"......" Beast?Thor rolled his eyes speechlessly.

It was as if the haze above his head was suddenly lifted, and Xiugus, who was still languishing just now, was instantly full of vitality, and eagerly poured out the plan he had already thought of in his heart.

While Hugues was going to take the sisters to live together at the bottom of the well, and then hand over the responsibility of guarding the puddle of fishing, he and Thor continued to go out in search of food, increasing the scope and intensity of the search.

He also said that men should take more risks and take more responsibility, and asserted how good it would be for four people to live together .......

Staring at the chattering Shogues, Thor suddenly felt a little envious.

It is also a kind of happiness to be able to identify something in this darkness where there is no light and be fanatical about it.

After taking half of the grilled fish in Saul's hand, Shogues clapped his hands and stood up excitedly, apparently ready to go to the sisters as soon as possible to deliver the good news.

Just as Shogues' figure was about to disappear into the corner of the exit, Thor's voice came again.

"On the side of the Thieves' Guild, don't do it again, God's hand will not be on your shoulders forever, no matter how difficult it is, let's figure it out together. ”

Shogues's figure paused, a long-forgotten warmth in his heart, but in the end he just waved his hand into the air without looking back, leaving Thor with a back that he thought was dashing.

Some people are very timid, accustomed to hiding behind secrets and humor, afraid that others will see through them at a glance.

There are all kinds of faces in this world.

Cynicism is the mask of Hughes.

As for when he put on this mask, Hughes has forgotten.

Back on the ground, the brisk expression on Shogues's face instantly turned solemn.

He knew in his heart that the food shortage was almost insoluble, but Sol was fighting the predicament with reason and persistence, while he himself habitually hid everything behind his mask.

Having to take care of the sisters in this difficult time is no different from dragging Thor to death with him, but the fact that the guy would agree to his wayward request made Xiugus feel guilty.

Thankfully, Thor is a good guy after all.

From the initial enemies, to the purpose of testing and using each other later, and now they are quite dependent on each other, Xiugus classified Thor as his own.

It is not easy to find a person of one's own among the special group of orphans, who are sensitive and hostile to everything.

Perhaps the biggest reason why their relationship can improve is that he and Saul are truly lonely with each other.

Saul's loneliness is always alone. And the loneliness of Xiuguers is that the more you are in the crowd, the more lonely you become.

I can't drag Saul down anymore, I have to do something, Shogues said to himself.

Shogues, who had tossed and turned as he fell asleep with Chlowell in his arms last night, had secretly decided that if he had convinced Thor to help the sisters today, he would have a big vote.

So even though Thor had solemnly told him to stop, this determination had not changed.

As for why he stubbornly wanted to help the sisters, and why he cared so much about Covier, Hughes himself couldn't tell why.

Or, it's not that it's inexplicable.

It's just that the awkward personality of orphans makes them never take the initiative to admit those positive emotions, such as friends, feelings, or kindness to help others.

Because those that are contrary to their orphan creed must be kept away, otherwise they will become vulnerable and make their already dark lives even more uncomfortable.

And if you put these aside, there will be no answer to this question.

There are still skeletons roaming the cemetery.

A snow-covered skeleton just walked up to Shogues and stopped, its head slightly bowed, its two empty eye sockets staring at a tombstone on the ground and falling into deep thought, as if even the cold winter could not stop it from thinking about life.

Shoggus glanced over the side of his head at it, and subconsciously followed it towards the tombstone on the ground.

It was a newly erected grave with a simple line of small letters on the tombstone.

"Jenny, Jack's wife, died of the plague, but Jack had already taken my heart with her. ”

Shogues knew some words, not because he had much interest in the words themselves, but because he thought that if he wanted to be a good thief, he had to distance himself from the goofy country thieves in the guild in various realms.

Staring at the small print on the tombstone, there was a faint doubt in Shogues's heart.

He walked a few steps with a frown, and finally found another old tomb in the corner of the cemetery, which had been buried mostly in the snow.

The surface of the stele has long been full of cracks because it can't bear the footsteps of the years, some rotten leaves and dry vines are stuck in the cracks, and there is also a line of small characters on it.

"Here is Jack asleep, dying of the heat and cold. Also, I don't accept flowers, unless they are from my wife, Jenny. ”

Hughes laughed silently, not knowing what he was laughing at, but remembering Covier's snowy eyes again.

In fact, Shogues had met Kovel more than once before, and at first he didn't know the other party's name, but as a qualified hunter in the dark, he stayed far behind the other party.

Silently watched her carefully search and grope in the dark, watched her slip and fall in the snow, watched her long hair fall out as she climbed, swaying to her waist.

Sometimes, Hughes would sneak up and feel her breath through a door.

Shogues himself couldn't tell, and at some point, his search range that had been all over the town began to shrink inexplicably, and he involuntarily circled around the edge of the rich area.

Every time Shogues met her, her search would be more or less rewarding, and then she would swing her fist in the dark for those small discoveries, and let out some childlike low-voiced cheers, except that she would never know that the scattered food was actually placed by Shogues in advance.

She still seems shrewd, always stopping and stopping on the way back, using a few turns and acceleration to shake off her imaginary enemies.

Although Shogues knew where she was going, he didn't see her very often. Sometimes it's three or five days, sometimes it's hard to meet once a week, sometimes it's another girl, maybe it's her sister.

The timing, route, and probability of her going out are always difficult to grasp, and then Shogues finally made up his mind and created a chance encounter, thus knowing her name.

In order to get close to Coveville, the despicable excuse of exchanging food for his body obviously did not come to the table, and Shogues despised himself for it.

But he really didn't want to dwell on it any longer, and his name as a thief was about to weep over such indecision.

So Shogues decided to go back to his usual style, exchange for exchange, first turn her into my woman, and then give her her life, so be it.

I don't know if she'll hate me in the end.

Clumsily and stubbornly, Hughes set a goal for himself, and also planted hope in his sensitive heart.

He had never told anyone about it, including Thor, who must have known nothing about feelings in his eyes.