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Okles hears his children at the bedroom door, but he pretends to be still sleeping. For a moment, he remembered the days when he was in charge of his own affairs, when his children were not yet in control of his schedule. Pepper and Flower wake him up through the door! It's time to watch the bulls! But he knew it was too early to start the festival. He was tired after all, because he was sore from training recruits with spears. Some of the injuries were not bad, he had multiple bruises on his body.

So he ignored them for the time being, even though he knew they would find a way to get in sooner or later. But he heard the voice of a little girl. Oh yes, his daughter. She wanted to go too. She shouted louder and louder through the door, "Wake up! Please don't die. Please wake up. Then she appeared in his room and shook him awake.

As he began to wake up, his room began to slip away quietly, and he realized that he wasn't in the room at all. He's alive. What is he talking about? The ground was hard, except for his lower back, which felt like a broken leg. He sat up in horror, confirming that all the parts were still there. Yes, thanks to Sewell. The place is dim, but not too dark to see. He seemed to be in a cave. Or more precisely, in a pit behind the cave. He could see light coming in from above, illuminating the ceiling of the rock. It flickered in the breeze like the light of a lantern.

He looked back and found himself lying on top of a rotting horse. He was startled and quickly ducked, only to realize that part of the dream was real: he was indeed sore. It's no wonder that, after being held by a cyclops, it's like a doll being held in the arms of an enthusiastic child.

A faint voice said, "You're alive!" Oh, you're alive!" He turned around in amazement and saw a little girl, with light-haired shoulder-length hair, wearing a shabby wool blouse, dirty from head to toe. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alive!" She said, putting her hand on top of her head. Then she folded them over her chest. Then she knelt forward and placed them on the ground. She couldn't sit still, this little thing.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ga

Bi, seven years old, is a girl, I've been in this pit for a long, long time, I'm in it because of ta

Talo put what he wanted to eat later, so he put me here, but he couldn't reach me, so he couldn't eat me. Whenever he came to me, I had to hide. ”

"I see. I am the son of Paramonos of Dikaya, and I am here at the southernmost point. ”A

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Okles doesn't have much experience with girls, especially little girls. Are they all like that?

She continued: "I could see your chest moving when Tataror put you here, so I knew you were still breathing, wolf sca

Said you're still alive, so I made this for you when you woke up, but it took a long time and I felt like you'd die anyway. But here's what I did for you. As she spoke, she handed the astonished Andruk a small necklace, made of some kind of hair, with stones tied to it, probably the stones of a dead horse. It wasn't big enough to go around his head, so she wore it like a garland in his hair.

"I did it so that you could save me," she said. She looked at him expectantly, her eyes blurry.

"I see," he said. The gods haven't finished playing with him yet. Even though he was sure he knew the answer, he asked, "Where are your parents?"

"It ate them." She whispered. Then she kept staring at him, her eyes wide in horror, not knowing what he was going to do.

Anchors glared at the ceiling and the gods above, muttering, "This is my life now?" Destitute filthy orphans?" Then he inadvertently gave the little girl a mean look.

When she saw it, an expression of utter defeat swept over her face, and she slowly hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry to them.

Andlos immediately felt like a complete bastard. "Wait, calm down, calm down. Of course I'll help you. I didn't mean to look at you that way. It's just that I've done it once before. I feel like the gods are playing games with me. But I'll help you. ”

She looked up, breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded. "I prayed to the orphan over and over again that he would send me someone. I knew he would," she said. "But I'm still worried." Then she reached out and stroked the ring of horsehair on his head, as if to remind him that the horsehair was still there.

"What did you eat?" He asked, looking at the rotting animal carcasses in disgust.

"Wolf scars bring me food. Sometimes he couldn't find it for a while, or he forgot about it for a while, so I had to wait hungry. But I once tried to bite a small animal, but it was so disgusting that I couldn't eat it. So I thought, if he didn't bring me something to eat, I'd starve to death, but he did. As she spoke, she kept fidgeting and moving. Keep looking at him, then quickly look away, over and over again. He thinks she looks healthy.

"Wolf sca

Who is it?" He asked.

He ...... Uh-huh," and then her eyes widened as if she had just remembered something, "he, uh-huh...... It doesn't matter. ”

Andex gave her a stern look and said, "Really?"

He ...... Oh, he'...... Hmm...... "Okay......"

"Listen, I'm going to get you out of here, whether you're being honest with me or not. But if you're honest with me, I'll like you more. ”

She thought as she frowned deeply. She said, "Well, he'...... He made me promise not to tell anyone about him. He's also a friend of mine. But...... I think I have to tell you because you can save ......"

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Okles interrupted her. "Wait. Have you sworn by your honor? Did you really promise not to mention him?"

She nodded.

"Then don't say anything. I like people who keep their promises the most. Do something for me: The next time you see him, make sure he introduces himself. Do you understand? And not, you know, with his teeth. ”

She breathed a sigh of relief, then sat up and shook a little. She also gave him a kind smile, which he found charming. He wondered what she would be like after she took a shower. The wolf scar could be some kind of animal, most likely a large dog, as you can guess from the name. Hopefully it's friendly and not ripping his throat as a greeting. But he'll have to deal with it later.

"So is the Cyclops up there now?" Is he here? He asked.

"You mean tartare pie?" I think so. I didn't hear him leave after he threw you down, but I didn't hear him do anything or hear him sleep. He snores while sleeping. Sometimes I can't hear him for a long time," she said.

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Okles stood up silently, looking around the pit. His scabbard was empty, and his sword was gone. His shield and the bag of cargo were gone. However, he still has his coin purse with him, as he keeps it next to his waist cloth. Most of the ties on the robes were torn off and barely hung over the shoulders. But the belt was still tied around his waist; This may come in handy. His sandals were also not damaged.

He folded his robe into a peasant triangle, draped it over his shoulders and draped it diagonally over his chest. So be it for now. "Did that thing throw anything around me?" Xiphos, Shield? Cloth bag?"

"Is a sword a sword?"

"Yes, it is a sword, shaped like a long, narrow leaf. Is it down here?"

"No, I just thought I knew that a sword was a sword. I don't think he threw anything here. But I didn't look, so maybe. But if he had, I'd see. ”

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Okles sighed. What would he do without a sword? He carefully walked around the corpses on the ground and groped along the walls in search of the best place to climb. However, he found almost nothing. Every time he tried to hold on tightly, the smooth stone walls became fragile. If he ran at the beginning, he might be able to run to the wall and jump high enough to grab the edge of the wall, but he didn't want to try until he knew that thing wasn't sitting there waiting to eat him.

"Has anyone ever come in with you?" He asked her.

Gabi replied, "Not since Mom came back." When he pulled her out and ate her, it was just me and the wolf sca

。 But he wasn't here all the time. ”

"That must be scary," he said, looking at her intently. She ...... Did you make a lot of noise?" He could imagine the little girl curled up in horror, screaming in pain as her mother was torn to shreds and slowly eaten. It will be a memory she will remember for the rest of her life.

"No, because when it brought us here, she said it didn't hurt, it was just another way to approach the gods. May the gods welcome us home and all will be all right there. So when it grabbed her, she just said, 'Remember what I said.'" It doesn't hurt. I love you,' and I could hear it chewing, but she wasn't screaming like Daddy. ”

The girl is a good match for the boys. With the blessing of the god Sulos, how did Andelos keep finding these orphans? "It sounds ...... It's hard to deal with. ”

He didn't expect her to answer, but she said, "Well, at first I was scared, I couldn't even think or move or anything, I thought I'd die before it ate me." But then Wolf Scar found me, and he did something. Then I can. I feel better, even though I'm still sad. Sometimes I still feel sad because I miss my mom and dad. I felt very lonely. ”

The girl has courage and perseverance. She didn't lean on his shoulder and cry like some other people he could think of.

"I think I'm going to have to get you out of here so you don't have to be so alone," he said. "But for now, I guess we'd better wait so we can leave while he's gone."

Gabby thought for a moment, then said, "Well, I think that's a good idea. Because if we go up while he's there, he might catch us. So let's wait. ”

Andrew looked around, looking for an open space large enough to sit on. He swept some bones and old skin from a good place, then crossed his legs and relaxed.

"I dare say it must be boring here," he said after a moment of silence, not understanding why he felt obligated to entertain her. Habit, no doubt.

"yes, but sometimes I can sca

Play the game. Sometimes I practice how long I can stand on one leg," she demonstrated, her arms and the other leg outstretched, "and I do it, like a dancer." Sometimes I practice dancing. I sing. ”

He noticed that she was actually very well balanced. She barely moved and remained impressively steady. This gave him an idea, and he stood up.

"Come here, I want to try." He said, beckoning to her.

"What's the matter?" She asked. She jumped a foot at him, ready to listen to him.

"I bet if I lift you up, you can stand on my hand and you can see the rest of the cave. Come here, let's try. ”

"Can you lift me up?"

"Of course I can, you stupid little thing. Look at me. Let's go now," he said, beckoning to her again.

She jumped up to him and stretched out her arms, not knowing what to do. He knelt down, stretched out his hands and said, "Grab my head for balance, then do a handstand." I'll slowly lift you up, and you'll let go and stand still. Do you understand? Once I lift you up, you can look around. ”

She complied and stood on his hand. When he started lifting weights, she almost lost her balance, so she bent over and squatted still. As he stretched his arms all the way above his head and lifted her as high as he could, she slowly stood up, barely shaking.

"First time and everything. Well done, girl. Now, tell me what you see. Tell me everything. ”

She took a moment, probably deciding where to start; Andlos was sure he would get everything. "I see Tatalo. He wasn't looking at me. He was sitting at the table in a chair, facing the wall, and I felt like he had a pole on his back, but I didn't know what it was. He didn't have it before. He had some bones on his table, I think some stones, and he had some gold cups. He had a bed, and some wood, and a lamp, and actually a lot of lights. There are six lights. He had a big shield, big enough for him. Or that could be a table, but I think that's a shield. I thought there was more, but I couldn't see it clearly because there were rocks blocking the way. ”

"Good. Are you ready to come down? He asked.

She didn't answer for a moment. He guessed she was admiring the fresh scenery. Finally she said, "yes." Then I looked down and seemed nervous about how to get down the mountain. He lowered her, grabbed her armpits, and put her down.

"Can we do it again?" She asked. She thought for a moment and then said, "After a while? Maybe...... Tataro will move around. She looked up at the windowsill with longing and remorse on her face. She had been here for so long that she couldn't see anything but the pit, and he gave her a brief experience of freedom.

"Of course, I'll carry you up in a moment," he said. When the time comes, how is he going to get her out? The wall was too thin for her to hang around his neck while he climbed out. Will he still be able to jump out with her on his back? He'd have to try once or twice without her to be sure, but he was skeptical. Maybe he could throw her out, or lift her somewhere else and let her climb out.

Alternatively, the cyclops may have a rope to work with, or a long plank or piece of furniture that he can use to make a ramp. He didn't expect a table, so who knows what else was on it? Maybe for some reason it has a ladder. But if he can find the hammer and the nails, he can ......

"Did you know I could dance?" She interrupted his thoughts and asked.