The guard sighed, then leaned back to stretch. He said, "You know what? You're right, I can't take care of them, but the reason is not what you think. Your hands are covered in blood, almost soaking wet. I can tell. There's a black and violent quality about you, Master Andlox. When you want to hurt someone, you release something dark. I see it very clearly, and so do many people. You think you only care about honor and responsibility, but in fact, all that drives you is anger and pride. So when you say you can't take care of them, you're right. You don't deserve to be a good boy like that. If you leave them here and start your great journey that will be unforgettable, it will be best for them and for you. Let's make sure they grow up to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong. ”

"You misunderstood me."

"Me? That's why you got drunk like a dead man and fell in the center of town at every opportunity? Because how honorable you are?"

"I didn't know the beer was so strong!" It's not right that you don't warn me. Don't blame me. "Andrx was starting to feel defensive, which made him angry.

"You embarrassed yourself by drinking beer because you weren't paying attention. You can't hear right from wrong at all, southerners. All your laws and honors make you forget. You don't even know what you really want. ”

That's enough. Anchors puffed out his chest and crossed his arms, doing everything he could to evoke the strongest murderous intent possible, allowing it to emanate from his heart as his heart focused on violence. He poured out all his insults, injustices, and remorse on them; It is getting stronger and stronger, almost powerful enough to make waves in the air. Every bird stopped chirping; Insects are stationary. It was the glory of a man who had survived a hundred battles, killing every enemy who raised his weapon against him. The glory of a man who stands between the Motherland and the ruins of war. It is an uncompromising force, a promise of overwhelming destruction with substance.

Komen gave him a surprised look, then avoided the power in his eyes. The man was pale and began to sweat, but to his credit, he did not cower or run away as many had done before. Instead, he struggled to keep himself completely stiff, trying to keep his composure. However, when Anders spoke, Doors trembled with every word. "Barbarian, there are things more important than trivial, fickle emotions require. of pride. Honor. Glory. The city. Leave an inheritance to the heirs to worship the ancestors: I am a person with strength, dignity and fame. Don't treat me like a hired hand, or a poor villager. ”

After that, Andlox's murderous intent quickly faded. As soon as it was gone, dozens of birds fled, no longer intimidated by fear. The region has returned to calm, but it is a different kind of calm. He asked, "Now." Do you have a place for my children?"

"Yes," Komen said after a pause, his voice almost like a whisper. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he stared straight at the ground beneath Andlox's feet.

"Good. I'll leave the car to you. It and everything on it was my gift to them. The goods may be disposed of as they wish, or they may be handled by the consignee for their direct benefit. I'll leave tomorrow morning. Andlos opened his arms and turned and walked through the door.

"That's great," Kemen said calmly.

The kids will be taken care of. Andrx seemed like he should have breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't. A little angry, but fading; Maybe at the moment there was only sadness left in his heart. And determination.

As he walked back through the creaky, sloping wooden door, he heard Kemen vomit behind him, which made him feel a little better. When he returned to the old stone ring in the center of the village, he found the knee-high stone crying, and his children, along with the elders, tried to comfort them, all looking worried. There is no doubt that they have tasted his murderous intentions. Maybe he shouldn't have said so much.

When they saw him, his kit ran over, his eyes wide in horror. Flower shouted, his voice trembling with horror, "Mr. Andlox! Any questions? There is a bad feeling. ”

"Yes, everything was fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm really scared." Pepper said, clutching Androx tightly, which surprised him. Pepper is not one of two people who talks about feelings. "It's like that for everybody."

"It felt as if something bad had happened. Or something bad will happen," Hana said, almost trembling. The boy crossed his arms over his chest, almost wanting to hug himself.

A

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Okles sighed. Exactly, he doesn't regret the way his conversation with Komen ended; The man needs to get back to his place. However, he now realizes that he has overdone it, especially with so many children around.

"Kids, everything. I promise. Nothing bad happened and it won't happen. There was a bad feeling, but it's over now, so calm down. Ancrex said softly, stroking the heads of the two boys. To be honest, I haven't washed it in days. Let's go to the bath for a while. ”

Each of them took one of Andlocles' hands, nodded, and then huddled around him, leaving the village to find the bathhouse that Arguna had told them. Flower held Ann A with both hands

d

Okles' hands, the posture is a little awkward, and he feels clumsy when he walks. Androx considered whether to tell them that the feeling came from him, perhaps to scare them and make them lose some attachment, but he decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. Let them remember his courage on the battlefield, and his countenance, and his mercy. There's no need to drown it all in fear.

The road to the baths was bumpy, winding through a narrow cresm that led to a smaller plain below. The road was also longer than he expected, as it had to circle around rocks and large trees instead of going straight there. If this were a glorious place, the road would have been paved with stone, not dirt, and there would have been steps, not winding, which would have shortened the length of the road, but the smell of trees and earth in the afternoon was pleasant.

The entrance to the spring is a wooden wall with stucco between the slats, and two doors, one red and one green. There was a small stream on the side of the path, apparently flowing from a spring. It only flowed for a short distance, about twenty paces before disappearing into some rocks.

But looking at the doors, he couldn't remember which one was which. In Dikaia, nude figures would be painted on it to keep things simple. "Children, do you remember what the woman said was for the man?"

They thought about it for a while, but no one could remember. "Little flower, you look at that door, little pepper, you look at that door. If I do that and see their women, they might get angry, but you guys are kids, so I doubt they'll care that much. ”

There was no one in either door, so Andox just shrugged and picked at the red door. Inside the spring is a neat row of stone basins, each filled with steaming water. Another wooden wall filled with all the gaps, separating the man from the woman. A wooden bench seemed to be the best place to put their clothes, so they took off their robes, folded them, placed the loincloth neatly on them, and walked down the stone steps to the nearest pool.

Naturally heated water takes some time to get used to, which is perfect. The children held hands to keep their balance and slowly descended into the pool shyly. Their smooth, childlike skin is getting redder and redder as they go; Especially Flower, because his skin was as pale as marble. Suddenly curious, Androx looked down at his darker olive skin, but nothing on his body was red, not even a pale scar. He had never thought about it before.

When they finally sat down on the flat benches, the warm water was deep enough that they had to tilt their heads back and sit up straight so that their faces would not be exposed. Once settled, an all-encompassing sense of satisfaction replaced their previous worries. Their tails hang down, and the children curl them around their waists; Androcs wondered for a moment if they would float.

He untied his braids and dipped his head in water for a while to let his hair soak. By the time he climbed up, two boys had already jumped on top of him, trying to push him down, laughing at his audacity. He roared menacingly and threw each of them back into the water. They tried it over and over again, and the results were all the same, apparently having a great time. As they skillfully circled around him, attacking him from both sides, he asked them to push him underneath.

After a few rounds, he started throwing them into the air and landing deeper in the pool. He was able to get some impressive heights because they weren't too heavy, so he made sure they didn't hit headfirst to the ground. When in the air, Hana frantically flapps her wings with a terrified expression every time. Pepper grinned, flapping her arms deft like a bird, curling up in a ball before falling into the water.

This continued until Androx noticed that they were weakened in the heat, and the two were now red from head to toe. Then they are cooked. It's time to get out. He instructed them to scrub their bodies thoroughly to make sure they were clean, and then left the baths, their skin steaming hot in the fresh autumn air. He taught them how to wash their clothes in the stream outside the baths, rubbing the different parts of the clothes together and washing the dirt off. It took a while, but in the end he was satisfied with their work.

The three of them returned to the village, dressed in their loincloths, waving their robes, and drying them in the air, though Hua had been accidentally rubbing against him on the ground. Andlos decided that this was the memory he wanted – happy, energetic, calm. He would no longer think of them as the hungry, scarred, skinny people he had seen on the first night, but as the skinny but healthy little boys he was now, each more attractive than the other.

When they arrived at the village, he took them back to the car, where they draped their robes to dry. He tried to pretend that nothing was going on, and asked them, "What do you think of this place, boys?"

They both looked at the ground; They probably guessed the outcome of this conversation.

"Good." After a while, Pepper said uncertainly.

A

d

Okles sighed. "I'm glad you thought so. I spoke to the guard, Keyman, and he agreed to take you in. They will find someone in town to take care of you. I'll give you the car and everything in the car to help you settle in. ”

The children were silent for a moment, their ears twitching nervously. Then Hua timidly asked, "Can't we go with you?"

"I'm afraid not. I have something to do, it takes a long time, and it can be dangerous. Actually, wait a minute. He looked around and saw that there was no one, so he picked up the jar full of money from the car, walked to the back of the hut, and motioned for the children to follow him.

"Do you remember what this place is?" He asked, pointing to what might have been dirt at the back of the hut. They nodded.

"Good. I don't want you to touch this, and don't tell anyone — no one—— until you're old enough to get a wife. If you decide you don't want to live here, this money will help you go down, and if you want to live here, this money will also help you start a family. Do you understand? The money is to be used when you grow up. He dug a hole as he spoke. He'll get the water thigh-deep, just in case.

"Why did you leave?" Pepper asked.

"Why can't we go with you?" Flower asked.

It didn't hurt if he wanted to tell them. It would be much easier if they could understand. "Kids, I told you I was a soldier, right?" Yes, I am, and I'm a good friend. I lived in the army for twenty-five years and then I retired. I'm in the army, if you live to retire, they will give you a lot of money, much more than that. While they gave me the money, we were still fighting a series of battles. I didn't want to leave before the war was over, so I sent the money home to my wife. ”

The rocky dirt was hard enough to dig a hole deep enough with that little shovel, but he had nothing else to work with. He tried to hurry up so as not to be discovered by passers-by. "It's just that when I got home, she was gone. She took all my money and went back to where she was born, somewhere north of here. She even sold my house and the contents inside. I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing. ”

"Why would she do that?" Flower asked.

"We don't have children. She thinks it's my fault, maybe it's my fault. But the note said she was leaving because of this, which was the reward she had wasted so many years. He replied. He found himself dirty again, just after taking a shower. He should have planned it well.

"So you want her to come back so you can have children of your own?" Pepper asked.

"No, I just want to get my money back. If I let her live, she deserves it. But I had to find her first, I didn't know where she came from or where she went. Not really. I knew I was following her because people saw her bodyguards, but that's about it. He restrained himself from telling them that her guard was Skywalker, as it might make them feel guilty or responsible. He continued: "Once I have seized her, I will go back to my people, buy a beautiful farm, manor and some slaves, and take a new wife, and my father's descendants will not end up with me."

Since he dug as fast as he could, he had made a lot of progress. It's almost deep enough. The children stood for a moment, looked at him, lost in thought. Flower lazily reached for Pepper's hand, and Pepper grabbed it. Behind them, they wrap their tails together. Then the boy cautiously asked, trying to make himself sound less emotional, and not looking at Andrks, "If you marry another wife, how are you going to raise children?"

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Okles frowned. A month ago, he might have snapped "With her, have a baby, you stupid little man!" But now, he is slowly turning into a man and does not want to hurt the feelings of this poor boy. "I know what you're asking, Flower, but it's impossible. I may never find Della and my money again, and I may die. I don't even know how to keep warm in the snow. Don't waste your life waiting for me to come back and pick you up. Once I leave, I will never come back. Do you understand? You two must have a good time here. ”

Pepper drooped his black ears and looked down at the ground, listless, as if defeated. Hana wiped a tear from his cheek with his empty hand. His white hair was almost glaring in the direct sunlight, and Anjex had to look away. Hua said, "Can't you use this money and stay here too?"

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d

Okles sighed again. The boy repeated his thoughts, but to no avail. He thought for a moment how to explain it, and then said, "When I was ten years old, my father lost everything in a bad land deal, and I was a little older than you. When he found out, he committed suicide in shame. I've been mad at him, really not. My mother took my sisters back to her parents, and I never saw them again. I attended the army training school.

"But the problem is, my family used to be rich and respected, going back more than a dozen generations. Now their graves are not mine. I owe it to them, to give them peace, to immortalize their names. Fix everything my father ruined and maybe give him a break. So many noble people, so many. They deserve everything I have. So I swear, finish or die. A person's oath is everything. I'd rather die than break my oath like that. No matter how much I want to stay here with you, or take you with me," he said after a pause. His voice was choking, but he didn't want to lose his composure in front of them. This is ridiculous. How he longed for love, and he was fascinated after only a few days with them. "I must leave you and do what I can for my father."

"But why can't you come back to us?" Pepper asked, wiping away a tear from her own eyes.

"Like I said, I can't guarantee I'll be back. I don't want you to think of me and be unhappy here. So I'll never come back, whether I can find the money or not. Tomorrow morning, when I leave, it's goodbye forever. ”