Xiao Chen was on the edge of the campfire, using a stone as a cutting board and cutting wild boar meat with a dagger. He had a lot of strength now, and although he had never done this kind of work before, the meat was easily cut into small pieces. Caterina threaded the sliced pieces of meat through the branches, and the children ran around and picked up handfuls of branches for her.

The roast was given to the leader of the squad, one of Roger's soldiers. The meat skewers make a sizzling sound on the bonfire, and from time to time grease drips into the fire, wafting a rich aroma of meat.

The people standing around were all members of this team, and they were all used to it in the past few days, cooking in unison and lining up to receive meals. However, unlike the rest of the team, they are waiting for a meal. The people here are a little nervous in anticipation. Yes, the crowd was eerily quiet.

A sorcerer who roasts meat for everyone! A lord who lives with slaves. Not only is this unheard of, but it is not even possible to appear in a dream.

Xiao Chen also felt this subtle atmosphere, he looked at the people around him, his eyes affected everywhere, and everyone lowered their heads one after another, as if his gaze was under the weight of a thousand catties. The ability to see night vision allows him to see the subtle expressions of everyone at this time, some are confused, some are nervous, and some are puzzled.

O these people, though the body is standing, the heart is accustomed to kneeling. Don't look at them like lions when they riot, but when they calm down, they are more docile than sheep and more timid than rabbits.

The squad leader grilled the first batch of skewers, but no one dared to come up to get it, and some children wanted to come up to get it, but they were stopped by their parents.

"Eat with confidence. This is Lord Xiao's reward. Caterina was not surprised by the behavior of these people, and she beckoned to the children, who broke free from their parents' grip and happily came up and grabbed the skewers. However, after all, it was a child who had been in the slave camp, and after the meat skewers were in their hands, they remembered something, whispered a few words, and under the leadership of an older child, they walked to Xiao Chen's side and knelt down.

"Thank you, Lord Lord, for the reward. The leading child exclaimed, and though he looked sloppy and dirty that he couldn't even see his face, his voice was surprisingly tactful.

However, Xiao Chen listened to it very unpleasantly, when these children were naughty, they were no different from the bear children he had seen, but when they came to him, they made a worldly surrender attitude, and the kind of power that caused all this was disgusting.

He put down his dagger, walked up to the children, and said, "It's not a reward, it's just a sharing." All stand up, I don't like people kneeling. ”

With that, he stretched out his hand and picked up the eldest child in the lead, and the other children looked left and right, and although they didn't know what was going on, they all stood up, and then ran away to eat meat with a smile.

Seeing that Xiao Chen was still pulling the big child, a middle-aged man ran forward with his back on his back, bowed to Xiao Chen again and again, and said, "These children don't know what adults like you, next time they will understand." ”

"You are?"

The man glanced at the child who was being held by Xiao Chen, "My name, my name is Quint Sandro, and in front of you is my son Crete Sandro." ”

"Son?" said Caterina in surprise. She stepped forward and ruffled the child's unkempt brown hair, revealing a rather handsome little face, though it was evident that it was a boy a few years younger than him.

"Yes. Quint slurred, "He has a good voice. But it was also this voice that made the people of the Lynch family take a fancy to him, if it wasn't for Lord Xiao who rescued us that day, it would be a few days...... He's going to be a eunuch. ”

"Eunuch?" Caterina clearly didn't understand the word.

"That is, castrate him before he grows into a man, so that his voice can be maintained. "Although both of us and our father and son have become slaves, our ancestors have been knights, and if that day comes, we will have to die." ”

Seeing the man who had been bending down and bowing before saying the words "I can only die", Xiao Chen understood that he was being forced to the limit, and he also remembered that this Lynch family was not one of the last three families to cooperate with him? It seems that they are still cheap. He assured: "Rest assured, nothing like this will happen in the place we are going, and you can rest assured that little Crete will grow up and let you carry your grandson." ”

Quint thanked him again and again.

Xiao Chen patted Crete on the shoulder and said, "Let's go play with the other children." ”

Unexpectedly, Crete said, "My lord, my father and I will help you barbecue together." We used to do this when we were doing business with caravans. ”

"How old are you?"

"At the age of fourteen, I traveled to many places in the eastern part of the kingdom. Crete replied graciously.

"Okay, you guys come and help, Crete will help Caterina skewer, and Quint will help your captain roast the meat. Xiao Chen also beckoned to the people standing around, "I see that you are also in a hurry, let's have a few more people and barbecue together." Yes, that's it, that's what it looks like to eat barbecue. ”

Nothing increases people's understanding of each other more than working together. When you see a person working hard, there is a natural recognition of him. And friendship arises in labor as naturally as it comes. Because labor is the fundamental driving force of human development, even if we don't realize it in our minds, our instincts know it very well.

Xiao Chen roasted and ate meat with everyone, and naturally blended in with the people around him, and the slaves slowly forgot that he was a lord and a magician, and laughter began to appear in this corner of the camp.

In the wilderness, there is nothing else to do after eating. Naturally, everyone sat around the campfire and chatted about gossip, and Xiao Chen was surprised to find that Crete was really a good little fellow, and when he told the story of his business with his father, he was much better than his father. When he was asked, he learned that at the age of seven or eight, the little guy was already in charge of bargaining with customers, and his father was more like a delivery man than a delivery man.

“...... The robbers surrounded the caravan, and they drove away those who tried to flee on horseback. The cowardly mercenaries, seeing that the robbers were four or five times more numerous than themselves, surrendered without firing a single shot. "Crete is cold when he tells his story, like a storyteller telling a story, but he doesn't have many mood swings. It's as if the past has nothing to do with his life.

"Damn these mercenaries! It's a shame for the mercenaries. Those robbers are actually like rats, as long as you shoot a few of them, they will scatter and flee. Katerina's eyes widened, fully absorbed into the tragic story.

"Sister Katarina, it's a pity that there was no one like you among the mercenaries at that time. Otherwise, my mother probably wouldn't have died, she was trying to push me away when she was hit by a robber who rushed at me on horseback. When I have nightmares, I always see her being knocked into the air......" Crete's mood finally fluctuated, "I rushed over and threw myself on her, her body was still warm, but she couldn't wake up." I wiped the blood from her mouth with my sleeve, but I couldn't finish it. I can only shake her all the time, and keep shaking her,...... Crete said, as if recalling the scene again, and was stunned.

"And then?" asked Caterina with red eyes.

"Ah, then...... Crete came back to his senses, "and a robber took me." Because I wanted to bite him, I was slapped and knocked unconscious, and when I woke up, I was locked up in prison with my father. ”

"We became the coolies of the robbers. Quint sighed and said on behalf of his son, "Some businessmen with rich families have been ransomed one after another. But our family's property was robbed by robbers, and we had to do hard labor for them. Crete and I had to carry water and chop wood every day, and we had to cook it all day before we could get a little bit of black bread...... I was like this for more than ten days, and I thought we would soon die of exhaustion there, but I didn't expect the lord over there to send an army to exterminate the bandits. ”

"Are you saved, then?" asked Katarina, who came to her senses, "I'm stupid, if I had been saved, you wouldn't be in the slave camp." ”

"Alas, everyone knows that the nobles had an inexplicable relationship with the robbers, who had long since gotten the news and fled before the army arrived. But we, the laborers, were thrown into the camp by them because of our weak health. When the knight who led the team saw that not a single robber was caught, he began to kill us people!"

Xiao Chen found that when Quint said this, there were some bits and pieces of discussion around him, but most of the audience was not too surprised, it seems that killing good and risking merit is not a new thing in this world. Even Caterina didn't say anything, just clenched her fists tightly, probably in her opinion mercenaries were much more reliable than the lord's army.

Quint lovingly touched Crete's head: "Speaking of which, it was Crete who saved me. When he killed us, he said to the knight, 'Master knight, I will sing a very good song, and I beg you not to kill us.' You can sell us for a good price. The knight put the sword on my neck and told him to sing, and if he didn't sing well, he would cut it down. Crete wanted to turn his back and not let me see the knife against his neck, but the bastard ...... But he forced him to watch me sing. Crete sang a song called 'Shepherd Maiden,' which was his mother's favorite song. He sang in a trembling voice, but it was as beautiful as an elf singing, and I had never heard such a good song, and that bastard certainly didn't. In the end, maybe it's the heartbeat, maybe it's enough head. Anyway, he left us dead, and then we came here......"

Crete, who had been quiet all along, heard this, but his eyes were red, and he hugged his father, buried his head in his shoulder, and sobbed in a low voice.

The people around them let out a sigh of embarrassment, and the story of the Quint family made them feel the same way, and finally they would appear in the slave camp, who didn't have a few miserable situations? Many people stood up, and the men went to pat Quint on the shoulder, or touched Crete's head, and a few girls went over and hugged Crete with tears. Even Caterina hugged him for a long time, and secretly took out a piece of chocolate that someone had given her and stuffed it into Crete's hand.

When Xiao Chen saw this scene, he pondered for a moment and said, "Crete is really a brave and good boy, we will protect him, and we will let him learn to protect himself in the future." When I have time, let him do something with me. ”

Quint was stunned by this sudden decision, and the insight of the trader made him know what a great opportunity it was to serve a magician. He was stunned for a while before he rushed to Xiao Chen and shouted, "Thank you, sir......! We can't thank you enough. ”

However, Crete was very calm, stood up, and bowed deeply to Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen picked up Quint and said to the others, "Since we are all sitting here today, let's each tell our own stories." I've heard a saying that if you share your pain with others, you'll only have half of your pain left. Today, we share each other's pain here, and tomorrow we will be closer brothers and sisters. ”

Brothers and sisters, these four words were shouted out by Xiao Chen with a loudspeaker in the afternoon, but the feeling of saying them at that time was so different from when they were said by the campfire now. At this moment, these four simple words shook Caterina's heart. She looked at Xiao Chen in a daze, his face was calm and firm, and his eyes were full of encouragement and hope, which made her suddenly feel that today's bonfire was very warm.