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As curfew approached, there were fewer and fewer customers in the tavern, and the mercenaries who were honking their horns in blood came to "my house" in twos and threes, and it looked like they were going to get drunk tonight.

One by one, Dante's greatswords descended from the upper floors, and Louisa and Old Hammer greeted Tails before leaving, while Seaman and McGee ignored him and walked straight out of the tavern.

And as Dean went downstairs, he was stopped by the blood-whistling man.

"Hey, Dean," Ricky snapped his fingers and raised his glass to the bald mercenary, "I heard you're in trouble outside?"

These words attracted everyone's attention.

"In normal times, I would probably say we're 'okay,'" Dean said step by step down the stone staircase, looking rather solemn, "but now...... I guess there doesn't make much sense to deny it. ”

He glanced at the two rather serious mercenaries beside Ricky.

"Yes," Dean said lightly, "we're in trouble. ”

The mercenaries in the tavern were silent, looking at each other in concern or confusion.

Ricky frowned.

"So the rumors are true?"

"Williams and his vicious dogs are out again...... What is this time, the second Purge, going north to fight the Exeters, supporting the Freedom Alliance, or is it that the Star King is not pleasing to the Tower of Endings and is determined to pull them out? Do you think it's possible for them to hire the Centurion to fight? Or just the death squads in the Prison of Bones?"

Tails couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he listened to Ricky's description of the Baron and the Stardust Guard.

Obviously, the mercenaries have limited affection for the Baron of Camp Bladefang.

"I don't know, but if I want to say," Dean shook his head, "they're playing for real this time." ”

"As for employment...... I don't think they're short of major generals, Ricky. ”

With a warning on his face, Dean looked around at his peers who were honking their blood horns: "Even the 'blood horns' can't withstand the charge of a mere ten armed cavalry, and I think they have at least a thousand horses, and they don't care which side you are on when the horses are speeding." ”

Ricky was silent for a moment, then looked at his friends.

"A Thousand Riders......"

"I'll remember that we've all had a bad time lately," Ricky shook his head and gestured to the bar, "What to drink? rye, old beer, blood grapes, don't tell me it's Chaka......"

But Dean just waved his hand and refused, "No, we've had enough of it in the past few days." ”

Ricky lowered his finger.

"Dean, you know, if you think it......" He looked at Dean seriously and curled the corners of his mouth: "The blood whistle welcomes you at any time, we are going to transfer, and there is a shortage of a captain here...... Maybe higher?"

Dean spread his hands, and it was clear that this was not the first time he had encountered this kind of conversation: "Thank you, but ...... I've got a captain. ”

Ricky chuckled.

"At the behest of a woman, Dean," the blood-honking mercenary laughed and poured a sip of wine, "you will die at her hands one day." ”

The mercenaries next to him coaxed one after another: "Maybe he died on top of her?"

"Or 'inside'?"

The whole tavern burst into laughter.

Dean just shook his head nonchalantly, waved goodbye to Ricky, and walked over to Tails.

"Is it over?" Tails asked, putting down his glass, looking up.

Dean sighed and nodded.

'Probably, it wasn't a nice intra-team conversation, we lost so much. ”

"What about you, Wya?" the mercenary asked rhetorically, "Do you have any clues about your family?"

"Probably," Tails replied to him in the same tone, exhaling, "I'll get acquainted with the environment, take care of some things, and set out to find them tomorrow." ”

"Dealing with things...... Sounds good," Dean raised an eyebrow, "And what about tonight?"

"I don't know yet, maybe I'll ask Tampa for a bed," Tails said, glancing at Tampa fiercely, "As long as the money is enough." ”

Tampa happily bared his teeth.

Dean smiled too.

"You heard it, the bloody whistle covers the whole tavern," the bald mercenary looked at the people in "my house", "Come with me, we rented a small house nearby, which used to be a temporary residence for the team, but ...... At least one night to keep you alive. ”

Looking at Dean's expression, Tails' heart moved.

His fists clenched slowly, then loosened.

Tails let out a smile: "Sounds good, anyway, I don't have anywhere to go?"

Dean raised his hand and motioned for them to go.

Tails stepped down from the bar and packed his bags.

"Hey, Dean," Tails shook his head at Tampa and turned back earnestly, "Thank you." ”

"For the sake of ...... Everything from the desert to here. ”

Dean looked at him for a few seconds.

"You're welcome, I'm planning for myself," Dean said jokingly, looking at him, "You're a nobleman, and maybe you're rich, aren't you?"

Tails smiled.

"But until then......"

Dean frowned and looked to the other side of the tavern, "Why did he drink so much?"

Tails followed his gaze: the fast rope staggered from side to side, stumbling to a table, drawing unkind glances from the guests.

"Desert, we've encountered too much. Tails sighed slightly.

"yes," Dean's brow furrowed, "for a newbie who is joining the group for the second time. ”

As the group of guests were ready to roll up their sleeves and give Fastrope a night of a lifetime, Dean turned and walked over to him.

"Come on, help me. ”

"Can't leave him here. ”

Tails shrugged and followed.

A few hours later, Tails lay upright in the cabin where Dante's greatsword belonged, feeling the slump of the hard bed, staring blankly at the moonlight outside the window.

The mercenaries were not well stationed, with four beds in a small room, clay walls, thatched roofs, sand and cobwebs everywhere, fence doors that seemed to fall apart when pushed and pulled, and even the rudimentary toilets outside the house reminded Tails of the time in the abandoned house.

But at least it's better than sleeping in the wild.

Ten meters away, the sound of the fast rope's heavy breathing came slowly, mixed with some drunken words and dreams from time to time.

Dean slept in another room next door, Old Hammer went to look for his old fellows whom he hadn't seen in a long time, presumably drinking until dawn, McGee had never liked to be in the crowd, and the few and hostile skeletons in the camp had their own place to go, and as for Louisa, according to Dean, she went back to her mother and stepfather's house.

Tails took a deep breath.

Unbelievable, he escaped from Longxiao City, passed through the Great Desert, although it was only a short part of the periphery, and passed through the Black Path, the Starfaller, the Death Crow, and even the hunger, loneliness, heat, cold, orcs and mercenaries, and finally came to the territory of the Star Kingdom.

He's back.

Tails looked at the bleak moonlight over the desert border, feeling the rare tranquility of Camp Bladetooth during curfew.

The fast rope rolled over, and the whole person fell to the bottom of the bed, but he still muttered something and didn't wake up.

Tails let out a sigh of relief and sat up.

In the senses of hell, Dean's breath in his dreams is clearly audible next door.

In the darkness, he smiled and shook his head as he watched the outline of the fast rope spread a complex "K" shape on the floor.

This group of people.

Mercenaries.

What kind of life is that?

Tails thought blankly.

The prince took two breaths slowly, and in the next second, he grabbed the bag and the time crossbow by the wall, and stood up lightly.

He cautiously stepped over the body of the fast rope, pushed open the door without making a sound, walked through the small hall that could be described as simple and dilapidated, and pushed open another door.

In front of him, a stout, bald man with his arms folded, lying on his side on the bed, his chest rising and falling evenly, and his snort brought a slight breath.

He slept soundly, not at all like the fast rope next door.

Tails closed the door and walked over to the man's bedside.

The prince stared at him silently for a long time.

After a long time, the moonlight began to move.

Dean's breath was still deep.

Eventually, Tails' face slowly turned cold.

He looked at Dean's broad back and slowly reached out his hand.

Reach out to your waist.

Pulled out the JC dagger.

The blade emitted a faint cold light, and Tails couldn't help frowning slightly.

It's been six years.

The sharp dagger that Yala had given him had been with him for six years.

Quaid, Bloodline, Dragons, Calamity, Rumba, Great Desert......

For six years, no matter what danger he faced, every time Tails reached out and touched the dagger, feeling its cold and tough texture, a sense of peace of mind for no reason arose.

The force that made him grit his teeth again, stiffen his shoulders, and face everything in front of him.

But it was all self-defense, a forced counterattack and a counterattack.

But this time......

Just today, Tails suddenly realized: when blood flowed through the blade of the dagger, the blade revealed more than its name.

It is also its essence, a murder weapon.

Every time Tails summoned the courage and determination to swing his dagger at his foe, he remembered the feeling he had felt when he had taken his life for the first time with JC: scalding, slippery blood spurting over the gauntlet, onto his forearm, to his chest, to his head and face.

However, none of those feelings were as real as they are now.

How easy it is to take a life.

It's not that I haven't killed people, on the contrary, I've killed quite a few people.

Tails said silently.

From the abandoned house life in the lower city, to the assassination on King Street, and the bloody battle of life and death in the great desert......

But those murderous feelings, for quite a long time, he deliberately ignored.

He doesn't have a choice, does he?

Kill, or be killed.

Tails lifted the JC slightly, narrowing his eyes, the tip of the blade aimed at Dean's neck.

In the senses of hell, the blood rushing in his carotid artery was so powerful and vibrant.

Tails continued to hold the dagger, aiming at Dean's neck, his face expressionless.

He didn't have a choice.

He told himself silently.

A simple stab can deny the meaning of the other person, strip the other person's existence, and make the value of the other person's continued existence in this world disappear without a trace: he is gone, gone, dead, and will never appear anywhere, in front of anyone, at any time.

It's like what Fast Rope said: he has no thoughts, no feelings, no consciousness, nothing left, nothing to know.

He disappeared completely, and since then he has lost all possibility, all development, all future.

Tails came back to his senses and looked at the sleeping living man in front of him.

All it takes is a gentle poke.

Everything about the other party will disappear immediately.

And the sword-wielder, he, Tails, he has a lot to gain: revenge, profit, or mere satisfaction?

Or, is it the kind of pleasure that after killing the other person, the unhappiness and frustration, hurt and pain that you feel from the other person are eliminated along with the other person's existence, and the depression is completely vented?

And...... Calculating the pleasure of achieving your goals and making a lot of profits after eliminating the other party?

Or is it the sense of power, power, and dignity that manipulates life and death, plays with the fate of others, and decides everything?

Exercise.

Tails stared at Dean's neck, trembling slightly.

He didn't have a choice.

He told himself for the third time.

Another necessary killing, that's all.

Really?

Refreshing.

Quaid's hideous, hateful face flashed.

Pleasure.

A smile on the hand of Nunn Wang Zhizhu passed through his mind.

A sense of power?

This time, Chaman Rumba's grim expression appeared in front of him.

Tails took a deep breath and moved the dagger to the best angle to stab.

For the pleasure of revenge, for the pleasure of interests, for the power of bullshit, the goddamn ghost cares so much...... With a single tap, it's all over.

Just kill him, and you don't have to worry anymore

That moment.

A pale and frightened face appeared in front of his eyes.

It was a face so long ago that Tails was about to forget it.

It's Kellytt.

One of the people in the sixth room, the poor child, bravely rushed out at the last moment of his life, just to protect the little girl.

However......

Tails shuddered slightly, and it was as if he had gone back to that night: the damned Quaid laughed and slit Kellett's neck, the child's face full of horror, and the murderer's face with ridiculous, disgusting satisfaction and excitement.

Exercise.

It's the same for Quaid, just a little light, that kind of refreshing feeling......

Exercise.

Another face appeared in front of him.

It was a little girl standing in the hero hall of Longxiao City, holding her arms aggrievedly, with a little arrogance on her face, and a little squeamish, which made people quite annoying at first sight.

Alex Walton.

An innocent child born of sin.

Her high-pitched mouth was eventually replaced by painful spasms and distorted cheeks after drinking the poison.

Tails stared blankly at the sleeping Dean, but in front of him was the grim smile of King Nunn, the desperate cry of Mielke, the expressionless indifference of Nicolley, and the frightened sobbing of the little slippery head......

Exercise.

The same is true for King Nunn, just a glass of wine, and the shame and hatred of the past is over, and that pleasure is ......

Exercise.

Tails closed his eyes gently.

Dean's neck disappeared before his eyes, but the dragon city of six years ago appeared from the darkness.

The dilapidated, burning shield area was littered with corpses and wailing.

In such a picture, the terrible man with a cold face, the Grand Duke of Black Sand coldly wears a blood-stained crown.

At his feet, the head of the Born King rolled into the dust, falling into the countless corpses of the shield area, commoners, nobles, artisans, farmers, white-knuckled guards......

[Don't be indifferent, don't be indifferent, don't be indifferent......]

[Humans are animals that will slowly get used to many things, such as indifference, such as some cognitions that we know are inappropriate. 】

[I don't know the smell for a long time, once you relax and get used to it, you can no longer feel the gap between yourself and the outside world, and you can no longer find your original self Hold on, Baoren, don't compromise, don't let the world capture you. 】

[Oh, Miss, why did you suddenly become so ...... So 'Wu Yuren'?]

[Is it really good to complain about yourself...... Besides, isn't this your professional strength? From a perspective that you have never seen before, shake your established understanding, refresh your worldview, break your original unthinking, convinced, and even regarded as the supreme dogma of the wrong and superficial cognition, to discover that something is so absurd, and the way you looked at it before is so unreasonable, to show yourself a whole new world, to discover the truth that you and the world 'use it every day without knowing', so as to sublimate yourself?

[Hey, when I say it to you so vividly, I suddenly feel that I am so great. 】

[Alas, there is no way, after being with me for a long time, even if you are stupid as SpongeBob SquarePants, you will slowly sublimate it...... Isn't it......]

[So can we go, don't touch my head again, your cat is in your own home, you don't have to tiptoe to touch it for free, we've already donated, so there's no need to stand in front of this donation box for five minutes, right?]

[Ahh

Tails snapped open his eyes!

In the silence, Tails gasped softly, sweating profusely, his expression struggling.

JC is just a palm's throw from Dean's neck artery.

The handle of the dagger clutched tightly in his hand, the tip of the blade trembling.

Exercise.

Exercise!

It feels like a long time has passed.

He took a strong breath and exhaled slowly.

No.

The prince put down his dagger wearily.

Tails touched his wet forehead and bit his lower lip hard and painfully.

Eventually, he put away his dagger and took one last look at Dean in his sleep.

Like an ascetic who had gone through great hardships, the prince slowly turned and headed towards the door, his expression bitter.

However, just as Tails took the first step to leave

"Why?"

The sudden sound made Tails' hair stand on end!

"Why did you give up?"

Tails closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

He turned, and in the moonlight, he vaguely saw Dean sitting up, leaning against the wall, staring at him coldly.

"A stab in the back and take out the enemy before they see you is always the best option. The bald mercenary said lightly.

He bent his leg and stepped on the edge of the bed, his right elbow on his knee, and the axe at hand.

"Or ......"

"You have to capture me alive?"

Tails looked at the mercenary with difficulty.

"You're awake. He said bitterly.

"Do you think I should let my guard down and give you my life?"

Dean sneered, "Who the hell are you?"

Tails opened his mouth, not knowing where to start for a moment.

"I, you......"

"Or maybe I'll be more direct," Dean flicked the axe in his hand, his eyes sharp, "Who sent you?"

Tails looked at him steadily.

Eyes struggle.

Eventually, Tails exhaled slowly.

He put away his complicated face and returned to the most indifferent expression.

"Dean, right?"

"You were rescued from the desert by old Dent a few years ago and have been one of them ever since, and before that, ......"

Tails looked back at Dean coldly.

"An ordinary mercenary, but he is both literate and knowledgeable," said the prince softly, "you are from the Northlands, and you wield your axe just right, and when you face the orcs, your feints and false movements always remind people of Exeter's other famous white-edged guard." ”

Dean didn't speak, his eyes focused on the axe at hand.

The houses were silent in the moonlight, and the curfew on the streets made the surroundings so quiet that it was not like the Western Front, but a rural idyll.

"Not only that, but you also know a lot of orc language, and it's nowhere near the level of 'hello, damn, kill you' that soldiers learn when they meet them," Tails continued, "It takes quite a bit of time to learn systematically. ”

"You also shaved off your own hair, as if that would hide the color. ”

Dean's face was expressionless, and he raised his left hand and touched his head.

Tails stared straight at him.

"Your opinions and reserves on national affairs and the political situation are far from being known to a stunned soldier who only travels between making ends and doing business. ”

"Even Tampa is saying that it's such a waste that you're a mercenary, and even the people who whistle the horn of blood want to recruit you. ”

Tails took a deep breath, and with difficulty and slurred, he expressed his greatest suspicion:

"Dean, mercenary Dean, don't you think, these traits ...... Is it too obvious on a person's body?"

The sound echoed through the small room, clearly audible.

Time as if

Dean looked up, unflinching, meeting Tails' questioning eyes.

"Obviously?"

Dean's face turned into disdain and anger: "Hmph. ”

"So, who sent you?"

He asked bluntly:

"Lisbane? or the White Guards?"

Tails' gaze froze in midair.

"Or is it someone else?"

Under the moonlight outside the window, Dean spoke slowly, his eyes becoming more and more serious: "The order I received is to find me...... Or kill me?"

Tails frowned deeply.

He remained motionless and stared at Dean.

"Even McGee said that it was wrong to follow Tom Ding this time, he was not a good deal, and the lockdown order of the stars showed that it was inappropriate," Tails did not answer, but continued softly, "but you came out anyway, with mercenaries, why?"

"This is not in keeping with your usual shrewdness and sagacity. ”

Dean clenched his fists.

"Is it because you know about the Freedom Alliance, because you know about the storm that Exeter and Longxiao City are experiencing, because you are worried about your hometown and country, so you venture north, and you just want to confirm it?"

Dean didn't speak.

So Tails spoke again.

"Answer me, Dean," Tails sighed, "are you him?"

This time, Dean slowly looked up.

"Him?"

Dean said lightly: "Who?"

"You know who I'm talking about. ”

Dean smiled.

He slowly raised his arm and pointed at Tails.

"You. ”

"You're suspicious, aren't you?"

"A man came from the north and fell in the desert," Dean tilted his head and glared at Tails, "holding in his hand a military crossbow that at first glance would not be owned by a common man, and a sharp dagger with iron as clay." ”

Tails felt his back and waist tighten in a trance.

"Your words and deeds are very orthodox, very polite, very attention to details, at first glance you are a well-educated person, which is also the reason why no one else wanted to talk to you in the past few days Well, except for the fast rope, he is a stunned young man who is frightened by the sea. ”

"And you are very smart, at least the life experience you made up has to be said to be very consistent with your words and deeds, at first glance, it makes sense. ”

Dean sneered.

"But what makes me strange is that you are different from most nobles. ”

"Whether it's hot sand or cold rock, you can lie down and fall asleep without any problems, and you can eat dried meat that has been dried for months, coarse bread that is hard to bite, stews that smell fishy, food that is baked mushy, no matter how unpalatable. ”

"It's like you're used to it. ”

"At least, not like the grown-ups in the castle that I know. ”

"So, either you come from a nouveau riche family, and you don't have time to become one of those stupid and selfish bastards in the castle from generation to generation," Dean narrowed his eyes with a solemn expression:

"Either there must be someone in your family who is wise and wise, who has been precipitated by experience or knowledge, time or experience, and who chooses to mold the next generation into men with cruelty rather than raise you into a fattening pig with food and fences. ”

Tails didn't move, but listened quietly.

"And Waiaccasso?"

Dean sneered, looking at Tails with a cold gaze, "Next time, when you tell another Northland name, it's best not to use the same surname as 'Star Fox' Gilbert Casso." ”

Tails moved slightly.

"Back then, in the Broken Dragon Fortress, the star man came alone, and under the indignant gaze of the king and the six archdukes of Exter, he talked eloquently, debated back and forth, and when the peace treaty was finally signed, he was quite famous. ”

Dean curled the corners of his mouth.

"I'm sorry," Tails shook his head regretfully, "The first time I ran away from home, a lot of things happened suddenly, and I was a little nervous. ”

Dean's eyes flashed.

"So, who are you?" he whispered.

"I'm a teenager, but I have unusual agility and sharp reflexes, I suspect it's the 'Rite of Passage Killer' who can hold on to his pants when facing terrifying orcs for the first time, Saika?"

Dean lowered his head and drowned his expression in the darkness that the moonlight could not reach: "According to what Tom Ding said, those star cavalry, are they chasing you?"

Tails breathed slowly.

He clenched his fists and lowered them gently.

"Listen, I didn't want to make things so complicated," Prince Xingchen said in his calmest and most serious tone, spreading his palms, "I could have found the army at Camp Bladetooth early enough for them to do it...... But I didn't, I waited until now. ”

Dean nodded slightly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"So you do have a lot of identity, and you have a lot to do with this official," the bald-headed mercenary scoffed: "But you have been incognito until now, just for me?"

Tails ignored the other man's words.

"I just need you to answer me a simple question, Dean. He said lightly.

Dean stared at him with interest.

"Coincidentally," the mercenary nodded, "Me too, Wya." ”

Silent.

In the suffocating silence, the two stared at each other silently in the dimly lit and closed room.

Until Tails spoke again.

"So, Dean," the prince of the stars cleared his throat, and finally asked the final question with seriousness and caution:

"Are you Moral Walton?"

"The wayward prince who escaped from Longxiao City six years ago?"

Dean didn't answer, didn't move, didn't even give a hint of superfluous expression.

He just stared at Tails coldly.

"What about you, Wya," he said slowly, looking up slightly, letting the moonlight shine on his angular features:

"Should I call you Tailsparkle?"

Tails tensed his muscles.

"The culprit who made the entire Exeter land shake and changed the heavens and the earth in Longxiao City?"

"Bookmark for easy reading"