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Okles hates being unarmed in a strange place, but he thinks it's too early to start violating local customs. He placed his sword and shield by the door, out of sight. He then watched with interest as the boys followed his example, unbuckling their suspenders and placing them next to the other cargo.
"I guess you want to eat." Agun said.
"I guess you do that a lot here. These boys eat like sacks with holes in them."
"Once everyone is back from the fields, the beer is passed freely around the arena and you can take a swig. All travelers have guests - until we think you're dawdling and kick you out. If you want more than what we passed on, the woman in the ring can be swapped. Is there anything else you need?"
"Thank you for taking care of me, Master Argon. I have nothing else on my mind." The boys looked at the center of the town with obvious curiosity. Maybe they want to play with other kids. "Oh, one thing. Is there a hot spring or bath near here? Please tell me there is, and it's warm."
Agnar replied: "It happens to be, which is good because you smell like a guy who's been pulling a truck for a week." Hot showers are a short walk west. If you go out from the north gate and go around the city wall, you will find the road. Men take the red door, women take the green door. Don't screw it up. "
"If your women see me naked, I won't have to pull the cart. They'll all want to come with me, and they can," Androx said playfully.
Aguna smiled and replied: "Our women are very good at hiding knives, strangers. You have to be careful what you want to put there. By the way, if you want to find a prostitute, it is illegal here. It is illegal to expose babies , the bastards will be eaten. If you need a backup, you're out of luck, so have a backup plan."
Androx was almost humiliated. Even soldiers would make such a joke, but a woman making such a joke in public? Dignity be damned, he couldn't help laughing wildly, and he laughed loud and long. After he regained his breath, he said: "I will behave myself."
She nodded twice and walked towards the city center without saying a word. What a strange man.
As soon as she left, Androx said: "Hey, kids, are you hungry? Or should we go take a bath first?"
"I'm hungry," Pepper said.
"Me too," Flower added, and they went in search of supper.
The farmers are back from the fields and the center of the village is bustling with activity. Androcles guessed that the whole village was more or less like a nobleman's farm in the glory days - everyone worked, everything was shared, and then some nobleman came and took everything that was left and turned it into a farm. richer. Older women and young girls sell baskets of herbs and autumn flowers, and a handful of men sell rows of woolen clothing. There is no blacksmith here, Androx noticed curiously. There has to be one somewhere, though. Maybe he sold the goods in the blacksmith shop instead of laying them out at night.
By listening to their conversation, Androx learned that they were indeed trading, but instead of coins or commodities, they were trading something called "shares." This is probably what Aguna meant when she asked the guard Komen to count her vegetables.
Komon himself was standing near the altar in the center of the venue, making it difficult to miss. He was busy recording stock transactions on a roll of brown paper he had used earlier. He looked overworked but was friendly to the people in line. Androchus decided to wait until he seemed less busy and ask him why he wasn't using coins.
Suddenly, Hua screamed and grabbed Anjax's robe. A
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Okles turned around, stared, and saw two old women reaching out to touch Hua's ears. "What are you doing?" he asked flatly.
"Oh? For good luck," one person replied.
"What do you mean?"
"White animals represent good luck," said another. "If you touch them, you'll have good luck."
"He is not an animal. Orcs belong to the human family. He is mine. If you want to touch him, ask his permission first." Androx said, not sure how harsh he dared to be in this situation. One should not disrespect the elderly. But, the jerseys are still his, and he'll be damned if he's going to ignore his property.
One of the old women snorted and walked away. The other man smiled half-heartedly and asked in a condescending tone: "Can I touch your slave's ear for good luck?"
"Not me. Ask him."
"Boy?" she asked, reaching out to touch his ear.
Hana nodded shyly and leaned his head towards her. She touched one of his ears gently, nodded contentedly, and quietly walked away. Several others took courage from her example, and soon a small line of enthusiastic villagers formed, chatting happily with each other and waiting for their turn. Androx tried not to look impatient, but he was simultaneously grateful and confused that they were lining up instead of grabbing the toolbox together. Pepper was next to her, nervous and protective, holding Hua's hand and glaring at the others. Yet Flower bore the unpleasant attention with an air that was almost noble.
After dozens of villagers ensured their good fortune, they dispersed. Soon everyone started passing around the food baskets, taking what they wanted. Androcks couldn't say exactly whether that was calculated or if the food was free, but he assumed it was. As the basket came toward him, he took out some pickles, bread, and cheese to share with the children, and no one stopped him. He noticed that Flower was trying to be inconspicuous, more or less hiding behind him whenever he could, so he took the children away from the crowd and sat down to eat quietly.
As Agen said, it didn't take long before buckets of drinks were passed around. He grinned from ear to ear when he realized it was real beer and not the horrible watery cider he'd drank at the hotel a few days before. It's thick, frothy, golden, and delicious. Strong too, very strong. He only took a few sips before he could feel Dionysus' touch. The nobles of the Legion of Glory tend to look down on beer, thinking it is a barbarian drink, but everyone who has served in the army knows better: the Legion of Glory does not have all the best things in the world. Most of them are like this.
Blossom and Pepper weren't sure how they felt about the beer, and they didn't drink much. Still, they devoured every morsel of food Androl had eaten, and then sat there looking very hungry. He sighed, stood up, and came back with more, which they ate greedily. At this rate, they could be back to normal in a week at most.
As the villagers begin to make and tune instruments, the children's ears light up like cats hearing birdsong. They both stood up, getting as close as they could to get a better look, but not too far away from Anchorex so as not to appear disobedient. Applying one of the most useful skills he had learned in the military, he drank a bottle of beer in one gulp, sighed contentedly, then stood up and said, "Let's go listen, shall we?"
Their music was in an unfamiliar scale and sounded strange, but the drums kept an uplifting rhythm and the bagpipes played beautiful harmonies. Their stringed instruments looked similar to lyres, but were louder and had only five strings instead of nine. The music continued, and men and women gathered behind the altar, holding hands and standing patiently. The crowd began to press toward him, squeezing him out. A
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Okles' height allowed him to see the tops of all their heads, but the boys couldn't, so he carried them on his shoulders instead of pushing them to the front.
Androx couldn't hear the music going on in any way, but suddenly it stopped. Then, after barely a moment to breathe, the choir, drums and instruments reunited in a roar. Even compared to the drama in Glory, it's pretty impressive. They appear to be singing several songs at once, making it difficult to discern the lyrics, but it appears to be a hymn dedicated to the gods, or perhaps their one and only goddess. The singing went on and on, and he began to wonder if they were improvising, but suddenly the music seemed to calm down, playing the last note clearly, and then falling silent again. Everyone who wasn't in the choir started clapping, including the boys. Flower, in particular, slapped him so hard that he lost his balance and almost fell off Ankrex's shoulders. A firm pinch under the ribs gave it just enough encouragement to calm it down.
After walking for a while, the choir began another song with a much slower tempo, telling the story of a pair of lovers who had been killed in the war. They sang a third song, which seemed to be about a god's proposal, but it was hard to tell what it was because people kept clapping at the rude jokes. After singing the fourth song about the hero Androcles had never heard of, the choir and accompanists separated and dispersed among the crowd. However, the music didn't stop; instead, the singers and musicians tried to space themselves out so as not to drown out the others, and everyone started playing what they wanted.
Hua patted Ankeluo's head gently, pointed to a group of children singing in unison and asked: "Master Ankeluo, can we go there? Please?"
In most Dikaia
He was always bored by the children's choruses at festivals, but the beer was in the process of making him happy, so he chose to indulge the boy.
"Let's go see them!" Why not? he said, a little louder than he intended.
The children of the village were so distraught by his approach that their songs fell apart. The tallest man they had ever seen, muscular and scarred, wearing brighter clothes than anyone else, holding two Skytha
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Kit – This will definitely distract them.
He sat down, and Hua and Pepper jumped down and looked at the children with eager expressions on their faces. An older girl, perhaps ten to thirteen years old, with a long brown braid down her back, led the small choir. She said with authority: "Let's do it again!" She clapped her hands loudly twice. The children began to sing again under her leadership. It sounded a bit like part of the first song sung by the adult choir, But it's hard to tell. The lyrics are simple,
Mary, the mother, guided storms, grew crops, and tamed animals. Most merciful Goddess, praise her name!
Flower moved closer and closer to them, as if he couldn't get enough. By the time the song ended, he was almost standing close enough to reach out and touch the older girl. She turned to him and said, "Would you like to try singing with us?"
He nodded, lowered his head shyly to prevent others from seeing his grin, then walked over and stood next to a long-haired boy. Androx noticed Flower blushing, but he didn't know if it was because he was too happy, too nervous, or both. Even ignoring Hua's cat ears and tail, his bright red and yellow clothes, white hair, and yellow eyes look out of place. The boy does look a lot like a flower; it's hard not to laugh. The adults around him pointed, chatted with each other, and secretly looked at Androx with curious eyes from time to time, but no one came to talk to him.
The girl made a sign and the children started singing again. Flowers connects with them perfectly, not missing a beat or hitting a wrong note. Androx wasn't even sure she could hear him because the device's sound was mixed so well. After eating, the girl said in a condescending tone unique to a child: "That's great! You did a good job."
Xiaohua blushed and said, "Thank you."
She asked: "Do you know skyha
d's song? Can you teach us? "I don't know any of them."
Hua thought for a while and then said: "I know a song from "Glory". Can I sing this one?"
"Of course. Just you?"
"It's good. I'm used to it."
"Okay, go ahead." Then she stepped back a little, signaling that he should start.
Flower looked at Androx, who nodded reassuringly. The boy then sang:
Live and shine; don't suffer. Life is short and time has its price. Dance your heart out, sing your heart out, drink your heart out, eat your heart out, for death will come one day.
Andrew had never heard anything like it in his life. The boy's voice was sweeter than the greatest choir he had ever heard. He sang high, evenly and clearly, somewhat like a woman. His voice is pure, innocent and absolutely captivating. Androx's jaw dropped, and he didn't even care who saw it.
After the song ended, Flower fell silent and the crowd didn't applaud for a few seconds; long enough for the poor boy to start to look unusually uneasy. Then, as if realizing where they were, everyone within earshot began to applaud enthusiastically, and some even whistled. Flower just put his hands behind his back, played with his toes in the dirt, and looked at the crowd out of the corner of his eye with a relieved smile on his face. He didn't seem to know how to respond to their attention. The boy sang like the muse and later became meek and humble. incredible.
Now, Androcks has another reason to justify saving his kit. Another reason is that when he finally finds a place for them, it will be painful to give them up.
Gods, he felt he needed a saint or priest to see if the boy had been touched by a god or a muse. It was almost supernatural.
He turned to Pepper and asked, "Can you sing like that? Is that a bolt from the sky?"
Toolbox replied, "No, Mr. Androx. I can't sing at all. My dad used to say I sounded like a frog, but he was joking, not mean."
Despite Flower's shy attitude, the audience kept clapping and shouting for more songs, and Little's demure smile turned into a proud grin. His self-esteem visibly rose a few inches and he stood straighter and proud, although he seemed a little surprised. He nodded a dozen times, trying to hint that he would sing another song, and when the crowd finally understood what he meant, they fell silent.
He took a deep breath and tried to start again, but somehow his smile disappeared. Tears welled up in his eyes and he began to shake, and Androx wondered if he was going to cry. Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to lose his composure. He sat on the ground, folded his arms and cried softly. Androx walked over quickly, took his arm, and Pepper followed, leading them back to the unfinished cabin where they parked the car. He got a lot of curious looks, but no one stopped him.
By the time they reached their destination, Flower had gone quiet, sobbing and wiping his smooth, red cheeks over and over with his sleeve. A
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Okles sat down and took the boy on his lap, hugging him tightly. He realized that the beer was making him too sentimental and too happy, but he didn't care. Flower said: "I'm sorry, Master Androx. I didn't mean to cry. I'm sorry," he said.
"It's okay. Everyone can tell you're a kid and they'd do something like this. What made you cry?"
Kit thought for a moment and then replied: "I'm so happy because no one has ever liked anything I did before. Dad used to laugh and throw little pebbles while I sang. But this time everyone liked it, You like it too. And then when I think about it, I start crying and I can't stop." He stared at the ground for a moment, looking ashamed, then meekly asked, "Did I embarrass you?"
"What? No, for God's sake! I've never heard singing like this. It's one of the best things I've ever heard! Why should I be embarrassed by your singing?" A
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Okles knew what the boy meant, but he pretended not to know.
"No, I mean I cried and you had to save me again."
"Nobody cares about that. Everyone knows it's hard for a scrawny little thing like you to stand in front of people. I'm not embarrassed at all, and neither should you. You'll be stronger next time."
The flower thought for a while and then said: "I will, Mr. Androcks. Do you like this song? This is the song you sang once."
"Of course I do. You should sing more."
For a moment, Ankles continued to hold the small tool box, and Pepper gently patted Flower's head. Pepper seemed eager to help, but he wasn't sure exactly what he was suited to do. After a while, the dark-haired guy asked, "Can we go practice slingshots?" Then, looking at the flowers, "Do you want it?"
Flower nodded, and Androids agreed; it seemed a lot better than letting them just sit there and wait. Flower unexpectedly kissed him on both cheeks, as a son would kiss his father. This both fascinated and bothered Androx, as he didn't want them to get too close. Still, it's pretty good. Made him wish he had a son countless times. Pepper took Flower's cue and did so.
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Okles rubbed his hair and said: "Don't go far, just get out of the gate. If anything happens, like these barbarians catch you or something, scream as loud as you can. I think I'll get another beer." , I’ll come back to you later.”
The children hesitated for a moment, but he urged them forward, and they left hand in hand, eagerly picking up stones as they went, as if there was nothing outside the gate, and looking back at him every fourth step. He waved and walked towards the center of the village. The beer was so strong that the path kept swaying from side to side, making him stagger.
He'd love to socialize and his kids will be fine. After all, soldiers usually fight deep inside jars, so if they need him to cut something open, he's fine. It wasn't long before he found another jar and emptied it. Several onlookers watched in amazement as he drank the entire contents.
