He blamed his own lazy master for quieting down, and then he laughed with the servants who washed the floor, decorated the room with reeds, and wiped the furniture with aromatic cleaning oil.

The master of the storm tied a mountain-high pile of quilts around King Creek's body, and at the same time ordered the windows to be opened to allow air to circulate.

She was also unimpressed with all the soot and pots for smoking, and he whispered that it was best to let Vales clean them up himself, as he knew best what kind of herbs were being smoked in the room.

By the time he returned to his room with the bottles and cans, he had transformed into a more docile and docile man, and Filin wondered if he really knew how his smoke affected Creek. But if that's not what he's doing, who would it be?

The servant and Filmin exchanged meaningful, mysterious glances.

The room was cleaned and brightened, decorated with festive candles and flowers, and the hanging evergreen and dead branches were covered with nuts painted in various colors.

All this brought a jolt on the king's cheeks, and then Filin felt Hermes quietly agree.

That night the king went downstairs from his chamber to join the revelers in the hall and ordered his favorite musician to sing his favorite songs, which he regarded as a great personal victory.

There were times when Filin was fully enjoying her moments, and not just the nights she spent with Arianna.

As far as possible, Filin sneaked out of the castle and hunted with Filin's wolf brothers, just because the people were too tightly restrained.

And I've never been completely isolated from it, but sheer heart-to-heart connection is nothing more satisfying than hunting with it.

It's hard to express the fulfillment of two individuals being one, acting together to achieve a single goal, but even if Filmin hadn't seen it for days because he was too busy, it was still with Film, like a perfume that alerted people on first contact, and then melted into the air for breath.

Film's sense of smell seems to be more acute, and that's all thanks to its ability to recognize what the air is sending to Film, and it also makes me more sensitive to the things around me, as if it is using its consciousness to guard Film's behind Film, while warning Filmin of subtle sensory cues that Filmin may have overlooked.

The food became more palatable and the perfume more fragrant, but Filin tried not to extend this logic to Filin's desire to be with Ariana.

Filin knew it was there, but it was as promised not to be there for him at such a moment.

A month after the winter celebration, he found himself on a new errand.

Hermes said he wanted Filin to board a battleship, and a few days later Filin was ordered to come to the deck of the Rox to operate the oars. The captain wondered why, when he needed a strong man, a skinny hairy boy came, and Filin didn't argue about it.

Most of the people around him were burly and sailed regularly, but he could only prove his mettle with every ounce of strength.

At least he knew that he wasn't the only one who lacked experience, as no one was familiar with this type of ship except the Outlanders, although others had served on other ships.

Hermes had to find the oldest shipwrights in the territory and work with those who knew how to build warships.

The Rox was the largest of the four ships to be unveiled at the Winter Festival, with a sleek and curved hull and a shallow draft, allowing it to skim the water as quickly as an insect in a pond or ride the waves as deftly as a seabird in the calm sea.

While the other two ships had thick plates nailed to each other's bone, the Rox and its smaller sister ship, the Kensada, had fish-scale hulls with the thick plates of the hull pressed one on top of the other.

The Rox was built by a carp, and the hull was properly plated to withstand the impact of the sea, and only a small amount of oiled rope was required to fill the gap.

The ship's workmanship was finely worked, with pine masts supporting the linen sails reinforced with ropes, and the stag emblem of Hermes adding to the Rox's sails.

These brand-new ships also smell of planed wood and rope oil, and there are few traces of them on the deck, and the oars are clean from end to end.

The Rox will soon have its own character, with the grommets making the oars easier to master, every line tightly jointed, and all the advantages of a good battleship. However, the Rox is now as young as the people.

When people sail out to sea, he can't help but think of the novice riders who ride on horses that have just stepped onto the greenery.

The battleship moved sideways, shyly undulating through the waves, and then a common rhythm was discovered, slippery as a oiled knife rode the waves.

Hermes wanted Filin to immerse himself in these new missions. Like the rest of the crew, he was assigned to a bunk in the ship's warehouse, and he kept a low profile as much as he could, and actively followed every order.

The captain was a true citizen of the Five Duchies, but his first mate was an outlander, and this foreigner was the one who really taught people how to sail the Rox and explained its combat prowess.

There were two other out-island immigrants on board, and they always gathered to whisper when they were learning about the ship, repairing, and sleeping, and Filin really knew if they knew that doing so would only attract the criticism of the people of the five principalities.

Filin's bed was close to them, and Hermes often hurried to inform Filin to listen carefully to the whispers of these unfamiliar languages when Filin tried to fall asleep, and he did so, because he knew them better than Filin.

After a while, Filin understood that their language was not much different from that of the five principalities.

And I can understand some of what they are talking about.

Filming heard nothing of betrayal or rebellion, only heard them whisper sadly about their loved ones being tempered by their fellow citizens, and then swore a vow to avenge them.

They were the same as the men and women of the five principalities, and almost everyone on board had relatives and friends killed in smelting.

With a sense of guilt, Filin wondered how many of those lost souls he had brought to his death, thus creating a small barrier between Filin and the rest of the crew.

Regardless of the strong winter winds, people went out to sea almost every day in boats, constantly waging war drills, practicing the art of catching with a grappling hook or ramming another ship with the bow, and also trying to jump into an enemy ship without falling overboard.

The captains of the ships took great pains to explain the advantages they had, such as that the enemy they were dealing with was far from home, exhausted from weeks of adrift at sea, and that they had been on board for too long, and that they had been tormented by the bad weather, while the people were well fed and clothed every day.

In addition, such a difficult voyage made every oarsman of the red boat have to be robbers, but there are redundant warriors with bows and arrows to jump on other ships to fight, without affecting the complete crew.

Filming often saw the first mate shake his head at these remarks, and privately told his countrymen that the arduous voyage of the raid had forced the crew to become strong and fierce, and how could the gentle and well-fed peasants survive to deal with the robbers of the Red Ship at sea.

With a vacation every ten days, Filmin went back to Fort Buck for a vacation, but it was difficult to get enough rest during those days. Flynn had to report to King Creek, telling him every detail of what Flynn had been on the Rox, and then looked with joy at the excitement in his eyes.

He looked much better, but not quite as he had reverted to the energetic king he had remembered in his youth.

Starstar and Rem naturally asked Filin to visit them, and I didn't forget to pay a dutiful visit to Floya, leaving an hour or two for Nighteye, sneaking into Ariana's room, then taking her leave and rushing back to her room, waiting for Etro to find Filin at night to answer his quizzes.

When dawn came, he went to Hermes to give a brief report, and he touched the film to re-establish the mystical spell between them. And going back to the crew cabin for a good night's sleep is usually a great way to relax.

Winter is finally coming to an end, which gives Filin a chance to talk privately with Crick.

Flynn used to come to his room on vacation to report on the progress of people's training, and Crick's health was much better than before, and he sat upright in his chair by the fireplace.

Valles was not in the room that day, but a maid who pretended to tidy up the room acted as a spy for His Majesty, while the servant still sat at the king's feet, and took pleasure in troubleing her.

Growing up with the servant, Filin had long been accustomed to his pale skin and eyes, but the woman apparently did not think so, and even spied on the servant when he seemed inattentive, and when he found out, she immediately returned an eye for an eye, each time with a more outsole than the last.

At last she became more and more nervous, and at last she had to walk away from the people with the bucket, only to see the servant send the rat on the rat head token to peep under her skirt, causing her to jump up and scream, knocking the bucket of sewage over herself and the freshly wiped floor.

Creek reproaches the servant, but the servant grovels exaggeratedly without a trace of remorse.

Then the king told the woman to leave the room and change into clean clothes, which gave Filin a chance.

The woman had barely left the room completely before Filmin could speak. "Your Majesty, he must ask you for a matter which has been brewing in Firin's mind for some time. ”

There must have been something in Filin's tone that caught the attention of the servant and the king, and the two of them immediately listened to Filin with twelve points of concentration.

Filin glared at the servant, and he knew that Filin wanted him to leave, only to see him lean closer, almost resting his head on Crick's knees, and smirking in anger.