After the war between humans and orcs ended in a strange way, the elves did not immediately return to the Silvercrown Forest, they used the plants they had spawned to provide food and shelter for the humans of Thundercastle, and the mages focused on burning the corpses of the orcs, which was tedious, heavy, and unusually disgusting, and all the bugs that grew in the hair and skin would fly up with a thud when the fireballs were thrown at the corpses, and they would flutter everywhere, perhaps because the orcs habitually smeared grease on their bodies to keep their hair shiny, and they burned quicklyThe black smoke spiraled into a slender pillar as the thermals rose, emitting a scorching smell that was substantial. The priests of Rosada and Ilmot, on the other hand, were busy treating the wounded, purifying the water, and banishing poisonous insects and pestilences. Despite Baldwin's stern orders, there were still people who risked their lives to run into the collapsed inner city in search of food and clothing, and there were others who crept into the tunnels to try to collect the bones of their loved ones, and they did or didn't, but there were always people who brought back deadly demons, inconspicuous, or just hair-thin scratches, or just a foul cloud of air, but soon someone had fever, skin spots, and diarrhea.

"Adele!"

At first, Kerry had thought it was another misunderstanding caused by eager longing and a faint sense of guilt, but the spirit from the other world didn't make a second mistake, and he grabbed the man's shoulder, ignoring his stinking and filthy body, and the man, after a little hesitation, also raised his hand and grabbed the arm of the black-haired spellcaster - he just wanted a gentle hug, but Cremar didn't seem to think so.

He was even more haggard and withered than the last time he saw him, his hair had completely faded to white, the astringent and dry white of an old man, the corners of his eyes and mouth were densely wrinkled, the marks on his face were twisted and blackened, and his back was overworked, sickness, Poor and cramped, the only thing one could compare to his memories was his bright, warm brown eyes, and at his feet lay a rattan basket with a broken and transparent foliage, second only to his waist and wider than his arms, filled with elderberry and honeysuckle.

Carey didn't hesitate any longer, and he held out his hands to Adair, and Rosada's former servant received a second heavy, warm hug.

The people around him watched all this in amazement, he wrinkled his eyebrows, took two steps back, his head still hurt, he was knocked unconscious when he was evacuating, and when he woke up, he found himself running with a group of soldiers, and the demon knew why he was covered with the smell of stinky salted fish: "Are they your friends?" He asked, wary and exasperated, feeling that he had been deceived, that he thought that Adel was just a sinner with nowhere to go, but that Adel had two friends, one an elf and the other a mage, and they were unattainable men to a withdrawn, gloomy, despised jailer.

"Yes," said Adel mildly, "they are all my friends, just like you. ”

The jailer did not speak, and he continued to look at them with that uneasy and fearful look. Cremar noticed that he was also carrying a whole basket of herbs on his back.

"Where are these herbs going to be sent?"

"To the west, the priest of Ilmot needs these," Adel said, lowering his knees and about to put the basket back on his shoulders when he was surprised to find it light, and he looked at Cremar, who winked at him.

He winked at Cremar as well, then tilted his head at his new friend, and almost immediately, he heard the jailer let out an exclamation of surprise, and the sudden vanishing weight made him stagger, staggering backwards, and nearly falling on his ass. Adel was a little worried that he would be angry, but when he turned to check, he saw that the jailer's face was covered with excitement, "Is this magic?" he asked in a whisper, there was no shortage of mages in Thundercastle, but these mages were not associated with a lowly jailer, he had seen magic, but had never had the pleasure of trying it.

"Yes. Cremar replied, "A little trick." ”

The person who got the answer showed a clean and bright smile.

Along the way, there were constantly shouting greetings to Cremar and Kerryburn, and they were all blessed by both, and there were not a few people who called for Adel and gave him water and food.

"They seem to like you very much. Cremar said.

"No," replied the jailer, "they are so affectionate only because they need free healing and herbs from Adelle, after all, there are still too few priests. He glanced at Kerryben, "...... Are you his friends, if so, take him away, he is a noble man, he should not have been reduced to this, this place is not for him at all. ”

Adel gave a wry smile helplessly, and just as he was about to say something, an owl swooped down and crashed into Kerryben's arms, chirping as he could.

The merchants of Dylan Donclay arrived, and they brought with them slaves, thousands of them.

The elves decided to return to the Silvercrown Forest the day after the slaves arrived, and the elves hated slavery and torture, but this was not something they could interfere with.

Adel did not leave with the elves as his jailer friend had assumed, and stayed in Thundercastle, but the lord of Thundercastle, Berdwin, gave him the status of a medical officer, lived in the fortress with the soldiers, and received a fixed monthly salary.

"I don't quite understand what you mean," said the Baroness, who lazily buried herself in a pile of fluffy velvet pillows, and pulled her robe up, exposing her ankles and knees in a very rude and seductive manner, "haven't you been able to get out of her heart? What a disappointment, oh, think of how many little girls have drowned in your blue eyes and sweet words—I don't want to repeat their names one by one." But now," she said, lifting her toes, and poking the supposedly Earl in the chest with the shiny nails of her shiny feet rubbed against the fur of the antelope, "and tell me that you are helpless against a stupid spinning girl?"

"Not to that extent," said the young Earl, smiling and kissing the balsam-smeared foot, "I just want it to be perfect." ”

"Have you kissed her?"

"Except for the lips," said the Count, "which was reserved for her husband." ”

The Baroness let out a sharp sneer: "Only lips?"

"I'm a good man who keeps his word. ”

"Did you hug her, did you touch her? did you have a ...... with her? Let's enjoy the beauty that Flo has bestowed on the laity?"

"There is no doubt about it. ”

"And what are you hesitating about?" the baroness looked at him strangely, "Isn't that enough for her to die for you in a daze?"

"She is now willing to die for me," said the Count proudly, "but we don't need a dead village woman, you know, ma'am." ”

"She still loves her husband?"

"Perhaps as much as I am," said the Count, gently massaging the Baroness' toes and soles: "If you give me time......

"How long?"

"It's been so long that my host is impatient. "The young earl," said Dylan's nightingale, lamented, "he will surely punish me." ”

"Oh," said the Baroness, "not necessarily, you still have a knighthood after all." ”

"A title without a fief is like a seat in mid-air," he playfully squeezed the crook of the baroness's knee, "and if I really wanted to sit on it, I would be thrown to death." ”

The Baroness was amused by the true quip, and to her delight was that the young Count did not come empty-handed, and evidently he had a pretty accurate grasp of the rules and the game—he took out from his bag embroidered with small blue roses, a mother-of-pearl fan, inlaid with pearls and ruby sapphires, and a golden bird.

"Well," said the baroness, opening the expensive and heavy fan, and holding it in front of her delicate red lips, "let us give you some leverage—if you don't mind...... Poor Penny, she went crazy and wanted a child. ”

- You sit under the glittering silver tree,

The west wind will rattle the dense leaves,

Right next to this babbling stream, my lyre

It will urge you to close your eyes and fall asleep.

"Although I have not touched the citara for a hundred years," said the king of the silver-crowned forest, calmly, "but I suppose my technique has not regressed to the point of being unbearable, or am I singing out of tune again?" he asked gently, but solemnly, "but believe me, my son, I have practiced many times before. ”

"Your skill won't be matched by anyone in another 10,000 years," Kerry vaguely avoided the off-tune part, "but now even my Ji Zhen is asleep." ”

"Gausula is asleep, but you are not," said the elven king, who was as tall and graceful as a silver-crowned tree, "I hear you sighing, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. ”

"What makes you uneasy?" asked the King of the Silver-Crowned Forest, "My son, you have returned to the Forest, but as far as I can see, your heart is still in Thunder Castle, on the battlefield, what is it that makes you unable to break free?"

“...... Every friend or loved one who didn't make it back to the jungle," said Kerryburn after a brief silence, "They are the ones who make me miserable." ”

But not all, a voice in the depths of Kerryben's heart said, not all.

"They have returned to the temple of Angres, where we will eventually return. The King of the Jungle said, "You have not been bothered by the same problem since you were two hundred years old, my child. ”

"Maybe it's because I've seen too many deaths. ”

"Perhaps. ”

Kerry knew that he had once again received forgiveness from his father, not the king of the Silvercrown Forest, "Can you play another song for me?" ”

"Of course. ”

;