The door was shut. As Broschette and Dahar's footsteps faded away, Luciana stopped what she was doing, sat down lazily in her chair, and let out a relaxed breath. She didn't sit for long, but quickly got up and walked to the bookshelf, examining Brochette's private collection with interest, her slender fingers swaying between the spines.

"Aren't you going to continue?" Aeshu waited for a while, and found that Luciana had no intention of turning around for a while, so she couldn't help but ask.

"The dean said that I can rest for a while." Luciana finally decided on her goal, pulled out a heavy book, and sat back at her desk. Esher glanced at it, and the gilded lines on the cover intertwined several not-so-complicated Noldor runes, which literally translated, probably "The Third Collected Poems of Eraclay - The Splendor and Downfall of the Troubadour". He could recognize it at a glance, but Lucianna had a hard time, muttering to herself for a while, and only a few nouns could be distinguished, and it was difficult to keep the runes that referred to the grammar.

"Are you resting too?" Aeshu sighed, "Forcibly translating those rune collections is more energy-consuming than surgery, right?" Before Luciana could retort, he stretched out his right hand and brought the blade and tweezers on the table to his side. Next, I'll be the main knife, you can always do it. ”

"Can you do it?" Luciana glanced at Essiu, and before she could finish speaking, Eshu had already cut open her arm, and then flipped her palm, and the tweezers were already in her hand. After watching the operation for so long in a conscious state, Esher had some tricks, but his movements in controlling the tweezers were clumsy and rough, and small columns of blood splashed from the wound from time to time, accompanied by a creepy sound of bumping against bones. Estheu's expression was not easy, and the price of his recklessness was more intense pain and massive bleeding. Even when the incision heals, dark bruises appear under the skin. Luciana was so frightened that she finally couldn't help but grab Eshy's wrist and forcibly stop his alleged operation, which was actually self-harm: "If you continue like this, it will only make the injury worse!" ”

"Are you rested?" Eshy glanced at her.

Luciana reacted and asked in annoyance, "You did it on purpose?" ”

"No, if you're bent on competing with that book of poems, I'm going to have to do it myself." Eshy handed the blade to Luciana, "So, make sure again, are you well rested?" ”

"That's it!" Luciana exclaimed angrily. She wanted to push the book aside, but looked at the blood-soaked tabletop and hesitated for a moment before inserting it back into the shelf. "You're in charge of the incision, and I'm in charge of repairing the tendon inside."

"Yes."

So the surgery was back on track. As the cold metal tugged between the tendons and ligaments, correcting the misaligned structures one by one, the sensation returned to Estheu's arm. He was already beginning to feel his muscles, which had been stiff for a long time, gradually regaining their ability to relax. The blood rushed happily again, and the numb, itchy heat spread along the blood vessels.

"Baranduk," the repair of the forearm was almost completed, and Esher replaced it with a new blade, only waiting for Luciana to cut her upper arm after the elbow was finished, and suddenly a sharp question came out of the other person's mouth, "If you really will unify the whole of Pande in the future, as Madigan predicted, then will you take revenge on my country?" ”

"Your country?" Eshyu raised his head and glanced at Luciana, remembering that she was from the Empire, "This kind of question that is distant in time and space, the answer at the moment is meaningless. The surgery is done first. ”

"No, I need to know what you're thinking, it's important." Luciana said stubbornly.

"If you insist." Estheus shrugged half of his shoulders indifferently, "At Marius's behest, the old Pander nobles in Janos were slaughtered by the Shadow Legion, including my father. If it weren't for that drunkard, I would have entertained you until death by performing endless bloody performances in the Colosseum as a gladiatorial slave. With such an experience, isn't revenge a matter of course? ”

"But you certainly wouldn't." Luciana said quietly. She didn't look at Esthe, but her tone was very determined, "Because you are the child of prophecy." ”

"There's no such thing as a necessary connection." Essho frowned, he had never liked to talk to Luciana. From the moment the two met in the Mendelssohn Mountains, Luciana always seemed to have insight into his thoughts, and she never had the self-consciousness to respect the privacy of others

"Exists." Luciana retorted calmly, "Otherwise, you will not follow the prophecy of Madigan and cross the whole of Pander to the north, but you should find an opportunity to sneak back to the empire and launch a series of assassinations against the emperor and the consuls to vent your vengeful anger." ”

"I'm more inclined to lead an army across the empire."

"If the motive is only revenge, then you should now serve Ulrik V on the Silver Throne. The Crimson Lion has always been an old enemy of the Empire. Luciana pulled her tweezers out of Estheau's elbow, "but instead of doing so, you assassinated Ned Grace in front of Duke Brennus at his triumphant dinner." That's how Madigan describes it, 'The Knife of the Maniac' – slice your biceps. ”

The blade just hovered in midair, and Luciana felt the dangerous gaze fall on her. She brushed away the sweat-soaked dreadlocks on her forehead, raised her head and looked at Eshyus: "Eshu Baranduk, I tell you now, my full name is Luciana Justes Dukes, and my father is the Empire's legal consul Behrens Justes Dukes, who participated in the formulation of the regulations against the old Pander nobles. He is also responsible for your father's death. What would you do now? Slit my throat? Or find a chance to take me down as a hostage? ”

"And then face the furious Brochette?" Estheu retracted his gaze, indifferent to Luciana's provocation, the blade fell, and the big arm was sliced cleanly, and the flesh and blood turned over to both sides, "Miss Justus, you are not the pearl of your palm in the Empire, but like me, you have traveled thousands of miles across Pande to this bitter cold land, so what is your motive?" ”

Luciana blinked, "You're answering questions with questions?" ”

"Everyone has their own goals. Since you must want to know about me, maybe you should start by sharing yours? ”