"Vaal?"

"It took so much effort to come to Xifeng County, but as a result, all the time was wasted on Fenghua Town, if it weren't for the fact that I still have a little self-consciousness as an adventurer, I almost forgot the intention of coming here in the first place......

"Why? What do you want to do with Val? ”

"Inquire about an incident a few years ago."

Lowering his eyebrows and tapping on the dilapidated table in front of him, Duan Qing's gaze kept swaying on the wine glass in front of him: "If I'm not mistaken, I was introduced to you in Fenghua Town when I was a novice general, so you, the leader of the Shadow Society branch in Fenghua Town at the time, should know very well about that deserter, right?" ”

“…… I do know some things about him. ”

As if born with a love for shadows, Wiesel, who had deliberately hidden himself in the corner of the tavern, replied in a low voice, "But...... I'm just a trafficker who secretly sent him and his wife away three years ago, and I don't know what else is going on. ”

"So...... Could you please tell me where he is now, or contact him? Duan Qing smiled and gestured outward: "I can ask him about related things in person, but my current identity is very ...... Sensitive, you know. ”

“…… He is indeed in the city now. After staring at Duan Qing for a long time, Wiesel's voice became melancholy: "At that time, he came here with several other villagers from Greenstone Village, and mixed with refugees from other areas of the Fenghua Plain, and later we worked hard to secretly settle them. ”

"So ......"

Taking a note from Visel later, Duan Qing got up and saluted, and then left this gloomy and gloomy place under the gaze of the surroundings, and the depressed scene belonging to this county town then continued to pass in front of Duan Qing, sending him around most of the city to the northwest of the snowy and dusty town, his gaze continued to patrol the passers-by in front of him occasionally, and finally stopped at the gate of a compound near the corner of the street: "......"

"That's you."

He looked down at the map in his hand, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he let go of his grip on the hood and then reached forward, pushing the broken wooden door open completely. The sound of hammer knocking that was originally faintly revealed from the crack in the door then suddenly amplified in Duan Qing's ears, and at the same time, it also blew a scorching feeling different from the cold outside on his face, and he involuntarily took a step back with his eyes slightly closed, and then completely pushed open the door: "Uncle Val...... Hello. ”

“…… It's you. ”

Slowly lowering the hammer he had just raised, the bald uncle named Val was slightly stunned, and the square side face hidden behind the splashing spark finally put on a kind smile: "Why are you here?" ”

"I inquired a little, and then I found this place." Duan Qing, who walked into this blazing room, looked around here: "What about the little boy?" ”

"He was quite frightened during the previous war." Val's face sank slightly: "The environment here is also relatively unfamiliar, so ......"

"Xifeng County is close to the northwest of the Fenghua Plain, and it is a transit point between Xifeng County and Talong County." Duan Qing sighed helplessly: "Presumably, there should be a lot of fleeing villagers passing through here during this period of time, right?" ”

“…… I don't want to go to that city. ”

Bowing his head and silent for a while, Val's reply was again accompanied by the sound of hammering iron: "I don't want to go anywhere else, if I can't return to Greenstone Village...... Then I'd like to stay here. ”

“…… Is it because of the principality? Duan Qing asked tentatively, "Because...... You used to be a soldier in the principality? ”

“……”

This time, Vaal's hammer came to a complete stop: "...... What do you want to say? ”

"My companion and I came to Fenghua Town to ask you about something."

Amid the crackling sound of the fire at the back of the room, Duan Qing gradually walked in front of the bald blacksmith: "Although I don't know if it's appropriate to ask this question now, but ...... Can you tell me a little bit about how you became a deserter? ”

“…… Hmph, I see. ”

Looking at the hammer in his hand, Val's voice became deeper and deeper: "Presumably, even if there is no war this time, you will find my head, right?" ”

"Perhaps." Duan Qing replied with a smile, "But...... My companion and I don't have any penchant for prying into other people's privacy, and we don't want to expose other people's scars for no reason, and we want to know about these things......"

"Of course, there's some kind of investigative element in it."

“…… All right. ”

The starfire's intertwined gaze finally disappeared as the bald blacksmith bowed his head, Val let out a long sigh, and then dropped the hammer in his hand, along with the work he was doing, "It's not convenient to talk here, how about we change places?" ”

“…… Random. ”

"So...... Where to start? ”

"Let's start with the people I know."

The temperature around him dropped suddenly as the two of them walked out of the room, and at the same time sent silence and cold air to them, Val, who was only wearing a shirt, did not feel the slightest sense of coldness, but frowned slightly when he heard Duan Qing's words: "...... I don't know how much you've heard before, but few people probably know about it, and now ...... Except for that Yang Fat Man, there should be few people alive. ”

"Fat Yang?" Duan Qing, who also walked into another room, immediately asked out loud, "Is it the Minister of Intelligence of the Principality, Lux Young?" ”

"That's right, he was the captain of one of the squads at the time."

With a look of remembrance in his eyes, Val's voice became clear: "Of course, in the previous years, we were all members of a small team, and in addition to Yang Fatzi, the people on the same team as me were Dusk Adorian, Rikas Van Heim, and ...... Vladimir Flo, a total of five. “

"Sure enough, they are all familiar names."

The eyebrows were raised again and again, and Duan Qing couldn't help but shudder: "Plus Slanco Fez...... That's your squad of six, right? ”

"I have to admit that it was a relatively good time." Val replied in a low voice: "But this team didn't last long, Dusk was promoted to other places, Yang Fat also became the captain of several other teams because of his achievements, Rikas was wounded and pulled away from the front line, Flo that guy became a direct blacksmith in the army, although he didn't stay forever in the end, but ...... His name should now be the loudest in the Duchy's army. ”

"The only ones who didn't leave were me and Slanko, and together we became part of the Border Guards." Looking into the distance, Val's eyes were filled with memories: "The members of the Guardian Regiment came and went during that time, and the last ones remained...... It's just the two of us. ”

"Have the soldiers of the iron-beaten battalion been changed to the members of the iron-beaten camp now?" Duan Qing sighed and said, "You didn't think about making a request to your superiors, and then ...... Tune out of there like them? ”

"Of course I did, but it all fell to naught." Val let out a sneer: "As for Captain Slanko...... His home is in Edda, so why would he ask to be transferred? ”

“…… Well, well, I remembered. So Duan Qing knocked on his head: "Please continue." ”

"As you should have known, Eddar County has been invaded by the Empire." Val withdrew his raised arm: "That encounter was very hasty, and we weren't the Empire's opponents in the first place, so we ......"

"We were later broken up, and only a few minions followed me with Captain Slanko."

He looked at Duan Qing's eyes and said word by word: "That's right, it was the battle of the Elan Hills that became famous on the continent later, and the definition that the Duchy gave us at that time was...... We are all destroyed. ”

“…… If I'm not mistaken, I've read the accounts before, and that battle was the trigger for the capture of Edda. Duan Qing recalled and said, "What, is there anything else in this?" ”

"If you say 'greasy', you mean the inside story...... Yes. Val propped himself up on the table with one hand: "Someone led the battle, and deliberately provoked the relationship between our Border Guards and the Imperials, whose temperament and strength did not force them to pay attention to these details, but we have suffered a catastrophe...... Eventually, some clues were discovered. ”

"I walked around the hills with Slanko for a long time, and finally found the men." "They are dressed in the uniforms of the Principality Army, and they carry standard weapons marked with the Principality's emblem......"

"Mole?"

"It's not that simple."

Clenching his fists, Val's eyes sharpened, "I know a few of those people, they ...... It should be some of the previous batch of recruits who have just joined us. ”

“……”

It seemed that he could imagine the anger in the hearts of the bald blacksmith and Slanke in front of him when that scene happened, Duan Qing was very sensible and did not reply immediately, and Val, who was silent for a while, took a long time to calm down this unstable emotion: "Although I and Slanco were already scarred at that time, we were still determined to kill these people who were deliberately provoking the Empire and then luring the Imperial troops to our side." Duchy's soldiers, but the rest of the people who were also recruits in the group objected to it, and they couldn't even believe it...... Those comrades who came with them to the convoy would have been accomplices in their fate. ”

"In the end they chose to surrender and, at the instigation of those men, began to attack us." A little sadness began to appear in Val's eyes: "A person slashed the captain's back in the chaos, and it also completely aroused the captain's ferocity, but the Imperial people were nearby, so I could only grab the body of the captain, who was already mad, and drag the broken body to flee to the depths of the hills." ”

“……”

"Later, we were rescued by a group of civilians passing through."

Looking at Duan Qing's face that was also silent, Val continued in a low voice: "Unlike the cowards in military uniforms just now, those civilians showed extraordinary courage, they were not frightened by our presence, but took good care of us, but because they didn't have any experience against the Empire, they soon found out by the patrol, in order not to harm their lives, Slanko proposed that they leave us behind......"

"Well, I seem to have guessed the result." Duan Qing sighed and said, "They...... They're all dead, aren't they? ”

"That's right, that includes me."

Pointing to the scar on his chest, Val replied in a bitter voice, "When I woke up from my mortal coma, I saw a few adventurers searching the battlefield, as for the civilians...... After inquiring about the general situation, I chose not to return to the army, but became a deserter, and then wandered into the village of Greenstone. ”

“……”

"Soldiers who have turned their back for their lives, and civilians who have died trying to protect us." Looking at Duan Qing, who had fallen silent again, Val continued in a heavy voice, "What a stark and ironic result...... And until now, I don't understand what caused those soldiers to make such a choice, whether it was the mind that easily listened to the slander of outsiders, or the heart that did not hesitate to give up everything in order to survive? ”

“…… Maybe it's under the influence of psychic magic. Duan Qing asked in a deep voice, "Is their mental state normal?" ”

“…… I do not know. Val replied in a low voice, "I wouldn't be surprised by the expressions on the faces of a group of recruits who have been frightened, even if there is something abnormal at that time, I am afraid I can't see it." ”

"Do those guys who pretend to be soldiers of the principality have anything in their hands?" Duan Qing's question became more and more strange: "For example...... Green stones or something? ”

“…… No. Val looked at the other party suspiciously: "Why do you ask that?" ”

"I'm sure you've heard about the assassination that took place in Tania, the capital of the principality."

In the small room, Duan Qing's voice began to echo in a low voice: "Many people in the principality have investigated the young man who caused Pamir's serious injury, and the final conclusion is that he has traces of spiritual magic on his body, and judging from the time span...... This is not accidental. ”

"That's why I'm here to ask about it." He pointed to Val's chest, but it seemed as if he was pointing further away, "You, Fat Yang, Ricas, and the dead Slanco...... Have you ever experienced a similar anomaly in your unit? ”

"Well...... this"

Looking up at Duan Qing's face, the bald blacksmith's gaze then turned to another corner of the room: "I didn't have any doubts before, but now I ......"

"I might believe it a little bit."