Shovel digging through the dirt, seventy-one.

Coffin advancing into the tomb, seventy-two.

The stele is erected in front, seventy-three.

"—you have to take a break."

Before he could understand the meaning of the sound coming to his ears, the shovel in his hand was held by the other hand. The other party's original intention was just to stop his movements, but he seemed to be threatened, and his numb mind was instantly filled with anger, and he wanted to break free and launch a counterattack. Fortunately, his stiff and sore joints, which had become stiff and sore from repeating mechanical movements for a long time, slowed down his movements, preventing the conflict from continuing.

"Albert!" Dineen didn't bother to continue snatching the tools from his partner's hand, he let go of his hand and took a few steps back, and whispered.

The bloodshot sea-blue eyes looked at him numbly, and it took a long time for them to slowly focus, as if they finally recognized who he was: "...... Dinein. ”

Hearing the coldness in his tone, Dinen pursed his lips defensively. If he had acted according to his nature, he would have avoided this trouble far by now. But this time he just stood up straight and repeated again, "You need to rest." ”

Before the other party refused, he added: "Look at your hands." ”

Albert lowered his head when he heard this, only to realize that the wooden handle of the shovel was already stained with large patches of coagulated and blackened blood. He tore his hand from it, blood mixed with the muscles that had been worn off the skin, leaving his palms bright red. But he strangely didn't feel any pain.

The paladin looked at his injuries indifferently for a moment, then grabbed the shovel again. Dineen grabbed his wrist before he turned around to get back to work, and let go and backed away before Albert could subconsciously fight back.

"I've seen Sal." He said riskily.

Albert stopped, but remained silent.

He said...... I'm so sorry. ”

"He said he was sorry." Albert repeated in an odd tone, "He said he was sorry? ”

"—did he think that was enough?"

Anger swept through his body suddenly, and the numbness and exhaustion of the previous moment all dissipated. The young man's expression was distorted, and his handsome face was as hideous as a demon.

"One hundred and twenty-seven! One hundred and twenty-seven innocent civilians! He clenched his palms fiercely, ignoring the fact that blood was oozing from between his fingers again, "What did they do wrong?" They didn't do anything! Villages were attacked in their sleep, houses and fields were burned, women and children were slaughtered, there were no survivors, and no one would even remember them! The talking bastard killed thirty-nine children, the youngest of whom was less than five years old — and he told me he was sorry? If he dares to stand in front of me and say that, I'll smash his head and then tell him, 'It's okay!'" ”

His shouting attracted a lot of astonished glances, but fortunately, Korver, who was leading the team, stopped all those who wanted to explore in time and ordered them to go back to work. At the same time, he glanced over to this side worriedly, but finally decided to leave the space for the two of them.

Dineen didn't speak. Just as Thrall was nervous in the face of him, he didn't know how to answer the paladin, who was tormented by grief and anger, and the only thing he could do was to listen quietly to the other person's anger.

Albert trembled and gasped for breath as if he was about to suffocate. He stared at the ground for a long time, then remembered something, and suddenly raised his head and stared at Dineh: "Tell me, is this kind of thing also within the range of your expectations?" ”

Dineen was silent for a long time.

“…… Be. He whispered.

The next moment the shovel flew past his ear, no more than half a palm's distance. But Dinen stood straight, motionless, with no intention of dodging.

He has no such right.

Although he didn't want to admit it, and he never expected to see such a tragedy happen, Dineen did think of such a possibility. In the presence of orcs roaming around with hatred, it is difficult for ordinary human settlements to withstand attacks. But under pressure from the Cursed Sect, he had to put all his hopes on Thrall's personal leadership, hoping to prevent such a thing from happening.

He was wrong, and innocent people paid for it.

He was so angry that he wanted to pay for the blood of the beasts, and if he could find the orc's camp, he would be able to tell Dunhold's army about their movements. Or, by some other means, he could cut off the heads of each orc one by one, take revenge and strangle the Alliance's greatest enemies in the cradle - but then all their efforts would be useless. The uncontained cult of the Damned will gradually recover, and the village's sacrifice will be even more meaningless.

Dinen could not do justice or atone for his mistakes. So he will neither argue nor dodge, because these are what he deserves. He was ready for any consequences.

But to his surprise, Albert did not continue to vent his anger on him. The paladin just squatted down weakly, clasped his head in his hands, and muttered, "We really should go to the gallows......"

The corners of Dineen's eyes twitched slightly.

We.

He said we ...... Even at this time.

Thrall is ineffective in controlling his subordinates, and Dinen is the one who proposes and makes decisions. They are equally responsible for this massacre, so Dinein says to Sal that you and I are complicit. And that's exactly what happened.

But what did Albert do wrong?

This upright young man merely delivered his trust, but he had to bear the same pain as the one who failed him. His future should have been glorious and innocent, and his glory should have been blameless, but the specter of this tragedy would haunt him for the rest of his life. He even had good reason to ask Dinen for justice, at least as far as Dineen could remember.

— but he still said "we".

Dinen lowered her gaze to the ground. One moment he remembered something, but the next moment it made that memory pass away as quickly and without a trace.

"I'm with Sa'...... He said, "We're going to Stratholme." "But if you want to stay......"

"-No."

Albert blurted out without even thinking about it, and only then did he realize what he had said. He looked up at Dineen with a complicated expression, then looked away again.

"Nope." He repeated.

After a few more seconds of silence, Albert added, "We must settle the Cursed Sect matter first. ”

They all know that's not all. But no one wants to think about it anymore. Dinen nodded silently, turned and picked up the shovel that had nearly hit him in the head, but it didn't reach Albert's outstretched hand.

"You need to rest." He repeated again, with a rare pleading, "Let me do the rest." ”

Albert looked at him in silence for a moment, then lowered his hand.

"Seventy-four." He said. Noticing Dinein's confusion, he repeated, "Seventy-four. ”

Dineen stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

He glanced back as he walked to the row of erected tombstones. Albert did not summon the light or move the bandage placed beside him, but sat motionless with his bloody hands open.

Dineen twisted his head back and plunged the shovel deep into the earth.

***

Sal had never been in such pain.

Not when he was beaten and insulted in Dunhold, not when he challenged the entire Frostwolf Clan in disappointment, not even when he had made his leadership clear in front of everyone half an hour ago.

But now the young chieftain, feared by the orcs, sat in front of Drektar with his frostwolf, hunched and head bowed, frustrated and frustrated like a cub who had just left the nest and had fallen hard.

"It's all my fault, Drektar." "I've always taken it for granted," he said tiredly. The stories they tell are full of hatred, they polish their weapons and wait for battle, and they no longer fall into despair but turn to anger...... I should have found out, but I didn't. I thought they would learn from our clan those ancient ways of life, learn the ways of the ancestors to restrain their anger and hatred, but they didn't ......"

Thrall stopped talking in despair, and there was silence in the tent for a few moments.

“…… I'll admit, it's rare for that human to get it right. The old shaman reluctantly said, "We've been telling you about the Frostwolf's way of life and values, but the Frostwolf clan is only a small part of the orcs. Other clans do not fully identify with and understand our philosophy, just as we cannot fully understand them. And such differences have caused contradictions between the various clans. When the idea of a coalition was proposed, many people could not have imagined that kind of scene. ”

"But you eventually formed a tribe." Sal said. As the teacher spoke, he put his hands on his knees and straightened his waist slightly. Xue Ge took the opportunity to stuff his head and rubbed the back of his hand with his chin.

"Yes," Drektar admitted, "but that's against a common enemy... Or rather, we thought it was the enemy. ”

"Draenei." Sal said immediately.

This race was not strange to him. As the three of them wandered around the Alterac Mountains, Dineen would sometimes pick them up at night's campfire. After all, it's much more comfortable than telling the history of war between humans and orcs.

Drektar let out a long sigh.

"It wasn't a glorious day." "But even I sometimes recall the scene in my dreams—when everyone roars in unison, the whole world seems to tremble." ”

Salmer listened silently. He used to be shaken by such descriptions, but now the haze of fear had taken over, and all that was left to his mind was a pair of red eyes and blood-dripping weapons in the darkness.

It was the last thing he wanted, it meant that his fellow siblings had once again succumbed to the curse of the devil, and it meant his complete defeat.

Ask them—the golden pupils stared at him, the voice sounded again—and asked them if they regretted it?

He couldn't help but shudder.

"We should be united." Drektar looked at the cloudy faces of his students, "We need to unite, Sal. ”

"I've been trying to bring them together." Thrall couldn't contain the disgust in his voice, "But how do they do it?" They—"

Xue Ge raised her head and gently grabbed his fingers, stopping him from clenching his fists. Sal was stopped like this, and the subsequent complaints could not be spoken, he could only helplessly glance at his frost wolf, and at the same time fell silent while flattening his palm.

"It's not surprising that you just said they didn't learn our way of life." The old shaman said suddenly, and Sal looked at him in surprise, "Because they are not, and cannot become, the Frostwolf Clan, they are War Songs, Black Stones, Chewing Bones, Blood Rings, and Mocking Skulls...... And these clans are united and are tribes. ”

"If you want to lead each clan, if you want a united and glorious tribe, Thrall. You have to understand them all. ”

"Including such a glorious massacre?" Sal blurted out.

"Including the causes of the massacre." Drektar said firmly, "So you can stop the next massacre." ”

Thrall was silent, and Drektar continued, "To understand them, Sal, to respect them." You have to know that every clan has a commendable part. You're going to let them do what they need and what they need, just as Orgrim Doomhammer did—just as the Great Chief should do. ”

Thrall jerked his head up and looked at his teacher in disbelief. But Drektar had already stood up and walked out on steady footsteps. Sal watched him leave in a daze, but forgot to twist his head back.

“…… Strength. He muttered, "and understanding." ”

"—Which one should I choose?"