"A friend...... Fudin smiled, folded the letter and stuffed it back into the envelope, silently dragging it up with all his might.

Shia didn't ask much.

When the room was almost finished, Phodin beckoned Thea to sit down.

Half-groaning, Foding spoke slowly. "Shia, would you like to hear a story?"

Thea was keenly aware that perhaps the next story she would hear might be the story of the mysterious uncle in front of her. She replied with a smile. "Okay."

Ferding smiled wryly and began to tell the long story.

What is the beginning of the story? Let me think about it, maybe it's been too long since I've told this story, and I don't know where to start for a while...... Well, the Valley of the Hearth, that's the beginning of all the joy and sadness. The Plague Lands weren't like that back then. At that time, the sky was blue, the land was fertile, and the people lived and worked here in peace and contentment. Everything is so beautiful and harmonious. The first orc war did not have any impact on the lives of the people here.

To the west of this place was a territory called the Valley of the Hearth, whose lords, like so many lords of his time, loved his people, guarded their realms, and adhered to the rules of knighthood.

Until that day...... he met a lone orc in the wild. Sitting in the knight's code and in the position of a human, he launched an attack on the orc. The orc was undaunted.

You come and go, and the two fight very fiercely. No one noticed that under the influence of their battle attack, a ruined tower next to it began to crumble.

So, when the tower fell, the lord was caught off guard and fainted by a large amount of masonry, rubble, and wooden beams. And when he finally regained consciousness, he thought he should still be crushed under the rubble, but in fact...... He lay in his warm and comfortable bedroom, his dear wife and children tearfully holding his hand, and they were ecstatic to see him awake. The priest on the side once again performed the Holy Light spell on him, and concluded that his body was fine and that he would soon be healthy.

His young lieutenant stepped forward and asked, what was going on? When they found the lord, he was lying unconscious on his horse. Fortunately, the loyal horses carried him back to the castle unharmed.

The lord struggled to remember what had happened in the previous moment when he lost his memory......

Fight...... Collapsed Ancient Tower...... In fact, he came to a conclusion that he couldn't believe - it was the orc who had been fighting him a moment ago who had saved him.

At that time, humans and orcs were in a hostile relationship, which is why the lord attacked when he saw the orcs.

But...... The orc saved him.

Hostility to orcs and gratitude to his lifesaver collide in his mind, and should he choose to tell the truth?

In the end, he decided that he wanted to find out the truth of the matter himself. He chose silence.

A few days later, the lord again came to the place where the battle had been. There was a mess of bricks and stones under the tower, and he turned the ruins with all his might, becoming more and more sure that it wasn't for the orc who had rescued him. He will surely die.

At this point he had seen the orc again. His name is Itrieg. That night, the two had a long talk. Etreig's high-spirited words and deeds overcame hatred and prejudice, and won the sympathy of the Paladin, who also had the same honor above all else, and the lord swore that he would keep the freedom of a hermit and never reveal his whereabouts to the outside world......" said this, and Fordin fell silent.

Thea thoughtfully poured a glass of water for Ferdin. "And then?"

Old Ferdin, rubbing the warm cup in his hand, continued.

What the lord didn't know, however, was that his young lieutenant had been following him. Soon after he returned, his lieutenant grabbed the poor orc with his hands. They escorted him back to the city and beat him...... Yes, inhumane beatings. All this was seen by the lord, who angrily attacked his men.

Then he was brought to court by his former deputy for treason and put on trial.

Although he told the whole story in court, nothing could be changed. At that time, after the two orc wars, the people hated the orcs too much.

The lord was expelled by the Knights, stripped of the power of the Light, and exiled.

And the orc Itreig, was sentenced to death.

Although the lord decided to save his savior even if he risked his life. But having lost the power of the Light, he was subdued by numerous guards. ”

Thea let out a low cry and covered her mouth. "And then?"

"At that moment, an orc force rushed in and released all the orc prisoners of war. The lord also carried the scarred Itreg on his back to break out of the siege. The force that rescued the orcs was led by Thrall, the new chief of the tribe at the time, who brought ittrag back to a new tribe that had been freed from demonic control.

And the lord did not want to go to the tribe to live, but still obeyed the judgment, and self-exiled to the land to live a secluded life...... He left his hometown, his wife and children, and did not want to go back, because his actions were insane, dishonorable and ridiculed in the eyes of most people. ”

"The lord...... Is that you? Uncle Ferdin. Chia asked, sneeringly.

Furding smiled, "Yes, that's me, but I'm just a bad old man now." ”

"Actually, at first, I probably didn't understand why my uncle saved me, but now, I seem to understand." Thea looked down and wrung her fingers.

"Race is not an indication of glory, and one should not make rash judgments about one's own different existence. -- I said it when I was judged, and I still believe it to this day. "Ferdin." Although the Forsaken are mostly ruthless guys. However, everything should be decided only after one's own judgment. I also think that Thea, you are a good girl with a kind heart. ”

Xia lowered her head embarrassedly, "I'm not as good as you say, uncle." ”

Fording smiled too. Actually, the place where they rested yesterday was not far from the hut, and he wasn't really too tired to walk, and he didn't really fall asleep at first. He just wondered if the bereaved girl would be as ruthless as most of her kind, though he didn't believe she would.

And in fact, Shia did not disappoint him. Again, Fording felt that perhaps it was the essence of a person that mattered, not race.

There are such ruthless madmen among human beings. Thinking of that person, Fordin's heart began to ache violently again.

"But the story doesn't end there." Maybe it was because he hadn't talked to anyone for too long, maybe it was too painful to hold it in his heart, or maybe it was the kind and warm smile of the bereaved girl in front of him, and Fording suddenly wanted to tell everything.

The pain in his heart weighed him down, he could not expose his weakness in front of his loyal men, the pain that he had nowhere to confide in, and at this moment, clamoring for an outlet. So, he continued.