Although it was not yet dusk, the sky was already overcast under the thin curtain of snow.

I can't say that it's dark, but if you want to read, you can't do it without lighting the lamp.

An old man sitting at the table rubbed his eyes, put down the pen in his hand, spread the thick book on the table and slowly got up.

He's going to light the candle.

Although this level of darkness was nothing to him, he did not intend to show that he was different from ordinary people in order not to attract the attention of others.

But no sooner had he looked up than he heard a light tapping sound outside the door. The old man couldn't help but have a wry smile on his face.

"Grandpa Edward—"

A crisp voice came from the door, and then two children, a man and a woman, pushed the door in, and said in unison: "We're here to play with you!" ”

"Good good ......"

Edward smiled kindly, took out a box of candy wrapped in an iron box from under the table with a somewhat trembling hand, carefully picked out two different candies from them, and slowly opened the package and stuffed it into the mouths of the two children.

The two children smiled and sat beside Edward with two small stools, one on the left and one on the right.

"Oh? You two little gluttonous dogs, don't you leave after eating sugar? ”

Edward lovingly touched the heads of the two children beside him, and asked softly in an old and kind voice, "What about the city lord?" ”

"Daddy is going to find the fishermen," replied the girl, who looked relatively large, in a voice as crisp as a oriole, "and said it was going to adjust the taxes or something......

"The lord of the castle is a good man."

The old man sighed.

"Of course!"

The little boy puffed up his chest proudly.

Edward chuckled and shook his head, staggering to his feet, staggering to light the candle and straighten it on the candlestick. Then he sat down slowly. It took more than a minute to light a candle.

Then, Edward closed the book in front of him, and then simply opened the lid of the candy box and placed it on the table.

The children cheered happily, and each grabbed a large handful of candy and held it in the palm of his hand.

"You can't eat too much, or your teeth will break."

The old man warned. But judging by the expressions on the faces of the two children, they probably didn't hear it.

"This kid ......"

Edward shook his head helplessly, and asked with a smile, "You came to find grandpa today, won't you just come for sugar?" ”

"Of course not!"

The little boy stuffed his mouth with candy so much that he couldn't speak in a slurred way, so the little girl answered, "We're here to hear your story!" ”

"Oh...... Story...... Grandpa's Story ......"

Edward cleared his throat and dragged out a long note.

So, the little girl respectfully handed over a glass of water.

Edward took the water satisfied, took a sip and put it down. Then, after thinking for a while, he spoke leisurely under the expectant eyes of the children:

"Today. Grandpa will tell you a story about the little crow and the deer......"

Meanwhile, near the cemetery outside the city, Joseph leaned silently against a heavy stone tablet, half-squinted, gazing indifferently and intently at everything in front of him, while the brown-haired young man slept under a shed made of tombstones, wrapped in two pieces of linen with a thick leaf in between.

"Kao."

Suddenly, he called out softly to his companion.

But the young man, who had curled himself into a ball, did not hear his call at all, and slept soundly.

"Kao!"

Joseph cried out a second time.

But the young man still didn't react. Just muttered muttered indistinct dialects rolled over.

At the same time, the faint sound of creaking footsteps loomed nearby.

Joseph took a deep breath. The third time he shouted angrily -

"-Kao!!"

His voice burst through the sky like an explosion, a real echo in the wild.

Joseph's roar even stirred up a wave of air, and a large cloud of white hot air swelled and burst directly in front of his mouth and nose.

His companion awoke with a palpitation.

"About—"

But he was only halfway through his sentence when Joseph interrupted him: "Kao." You hurry up and run, it's still too late. ”

“…… Ha? Kao's expression softened. He stretched out to groan. The groaning voice snorted, "What are you...... Have you had a nightmare? If you look closely, there's nothing. ”

Then Kao pinched his knuckles and gently slapped his face a few times to wake himself up: "Joseph, get some sleep." I'll help you look at the dots. ”

“…… Never mind. ”

Joseph sighed softly and staggered to his feet from the tombstone.

This scene deeply shocked Kao: "Can you stand up?" ”

"Ah, yes......"

Joseph replied flatly, then turned back flatly, and snatched a man out of the empty shadow behind him.

Then Joseph reached out very calmly and crushed his throat and threw him to Kao.

“…… Wait, wait, Joseph, you kill ......."

Kao opened his mouth wide and pointed at Joseph and said in a trembling voice.

But before he could finish speaking, Joseph directly interrupted: "The head of the 'Shadow Crocodile' is worth thirty-seven silver coins. That's about enough for you to get a good job. ”

As if aware of something, Kao's open mouth slowly closed, then nodded heavily.

Then he didn't say anything, so he carried the corpse with the crushed throat on his back, and ran all the way to the city.

Seeing this, Joseph nodded in satisfaction.

Although his talent is mediocre, at least this young man's brain is okay.

By the standards of ordinary people, he is indeed a talent, but his luck is not good. If he is allowed to grow slowly, by the time he climbs to the position where he can show his talents, he will be about old.

I have caused too many sins in the past, and now when I meet this kind of person who can help him, I can help him, and anyway, it won't hurt the interests of Lord Roland and his mentor, so maybe it will be of some use in the future.

However, Joseph had already killed the assassin lurking in the shadows, but he did not relax in the slightest, even though his bandaged face did not show any nervousness.

"Now you can come out."

Joseph half-leaned against the tombstone behind him and muttered to himself, "The unrelated people have already left." ”

"Natural ......"

A clear, high-pitched voice came.

Then, a tall, thin but tall figure gradually emerged from the snow.

Joseph looked at the man fixedly, silent for a long time, but without the slightest fluctuation in his expression.

"Long time no see, Joseph," the man stopped, standing three or four meters in front of Joseph, and after a moment of silence, he whispered, "You...... It seems to be getting younger. ”

Joseph watched the man in silence, and after a long time, he slowly pulled off the bandage that covered his face, and then nodded slowly at the man.

Then Joseph opened his mouth and said softly—

"Long time no see, Kakarite." (To be continued.) )