The guard sighed and leaned back to stretch. He said, "You know what? You're right, I can't take care of them, but not for the reasons you think. You have blood on your hands, almost soaked through. I can tell. There's something black about you." and violent qualities, Master Androx. When you want to hurt others, you release something dark. I see it clearly, and so do many people. You think you only care about honor and duty, but In fact, all that drives you is anger and pride. So when you say you can't take care of them, you are right. You are not worthy of such a good child. If you leave them here, start your unforgettable greatness Journey, what's best for them and for you. Let's make sure they grow up knowing right from wrong."
"You misunderstood me."
"Me? Is that why you get drunk like a dead man and collapse in the middle of town at every opportunity? Because of how respectable you are?"
"I didn't know the beer was so strong!" You were wrong not to warn me. do not blame me. ” Androx was starting to get defensive, which pissed him off.
"You're embarrassing yourself with your beer because you're not paying attention. You can't hear right from wrong, Southerner. All your laws and honors make you forget. You don't even know what you really want."
This is enough. Ankrex puffed out his chest and crossed his arms, summoning the strongest murderous intent he could muster, letting it radiate from within him as his heart was focused on violence. He poured all his insults, wrongs, and regrets into it; it grew stronger, almost powerful enough to send waves through the air. Every bird stopped chirping; the insects stood still. It is the glory of a man who has survived a hundred battles and killed every enemy who raised a weapon against him. The glory of a man who stood between his country and the ruins of war. It is an uncompromising force, a commitment to overwhelming destruction of real substance.
Kemen glanced at him in surprise, then avoided the power in his eyes. The man turned pale and began to sweat, but to his credit he did not cower or run away like so many others had done before. Instead, he held himself completely rigid, trying to stay calm. However, when Andros spoke, Comen trembled with every word. "Barbarian, there is something more important than trivial, fickle emotions require. The pride. The honor. The glory. The city. Leave a legacy to the heirs. Ancestor worship: Ancestor worship. I am a man of strength, dignity, A man of distinction. Don't think of me as a hired hand, or a poor villager."
After that, Androx's murderous intent quickly faded away. Once it was gone, dozens of birds fled, no longer cowed by fear. Calm returned to the area, but it was a different kind of calm than before. He asked: "Now. Do you have room for my children?"
"Yes," Komen said after a moment, his voice barely above a whisper. Sweat dripped from his face and he stared straight at the ground at Androx's feet.
"Very well. I leave the car to you. It and everything on it are my gift to them. The goods can be disposed of as they wish, or by the consignee for their direct benefit. I will leave tomorrow morning. "Androx opened his arms, turned around and walked in through the door.
"That's great," Coleman said quietly.
The children will be taken care of. It seemed like Androx should be relieved, but he wasn't. A little angry, but that's fading; maybe all he has left is sadness at the moment. And determination.
As he walked back through the creaking, leaning wooden door, he heard Kemen vomiting behind him, which made him feel a little better. When he returned to the old stone circle in the center of the village, he found the knee-high stones crying and his children, all looking worried, along with the elders trying to comfort them. No doubt they had gotten a taste of his murderous intent. Maybe he shouldn't have said so much.
When they saw him, his kit came running over, eyes wide with horror. Flower shouted, his voice trembling with panic, "Mr. Androcks! What's the problem? There's a bad feeling."
"Yes, everything is fine. Are you okay?"
"I'm really scared," Pepper said, clinging tightly to Androx, which surprised him. Pepper is not one of the two people who talks about feelings. "Everyone is like that."
"It felt like something bad had happened. Or something bad was going to happen," Hana said, almost shaking. The boy crossed his arms over his chest, almost trying to hug himself.
A
d
Okles sighed. Rather, he didn't regret the way his conversation with Komen ended; the man needed to get back to his place. However, he now realizes that he went too far, especially with so many children around.
"Kids, everything is fine. I promise. Nothing bad happened, and nothing bad will happen. There was a bad feeling, but it's over now, so calm down." Anklex said softly, Stroking the heads of both boys. "Honestly, I haven't showered in days. Let's go to the bath and soak for a while."
They each took one of Androcles' hands, nodded, and crowded around him, leaving the village to find the bathhouse that Aguna had told them about. Flower held Ann a with both hands
d
The posture of okles' hands is a bit awkward, and he feels awkward when walking. Androx debated whether to tell them that the feeling came from him, perhaps to scare them and make them lose some attachment, but decided that this was not how he wanted to be remembered. Let them remember his strength in battle, his appearance, and his love. There’s no need to drown it all in fear.
The road to the baths is rugged and winds through a narrow cleft that leads down to a smaller plain below. The trail was also longer than he expected, as it had to weave around rocks and large trees instead of going straight there. If this was a glorious place, the road would be paved with stones instead of dirt, and there would be steps instead of twists and turns, which would shorten the length of the road, but the smell of trees and dirt in the afternoon is delightful.
The entrance to the spring was a wooden wall with plaster between slats, and two doors, one red and one green. There was a stream beside the path, apparently flowing from a spring. It only flowed a short distance, about twenty paces, before disappearing among some rocks.
But looking at the doors, he couldn't remember which was which. In Dikaia, nude figures are painted on them to keep it simple. "Children, do you remember which door the woman said was for men?"
They thought for a while, but no one could remember. "Little Flower, look at that door, Little Pepper, look at that door. If I do this and see their women, they might be angry, but you are children, so I doubt they will care that much. "
No one was inside either door, so Androx just shrugged and picked the red door. Inside the spring is a row of neat stone basins, each filled with steaming water. Another wooden wall was filled with all the gaps to separate the men and women. A wooden bench seemed the best place to put their clothes, so they took off their robes, folded them, placed their loincloths neatly on top, and then walked down the stone steps to the nearest pool.
The naturally heated water takes some getting used to, which is perfect. The children held hands to keep their balance and shyly lowered themselves slowly into the pool. Their smooth, childlike skin grew redder and redder; Flower especially, for his skin was as pale as marble. Androx, suddenly curious, looked down at his darker olive skin, but no part of him was red, not even the pale scars. He had never thought about this before.
When they finally sat down on a flat rock bench, the warm water was deep enough that they had to tilt their heads back and sit up straight to keep their faces from showing. Once settled, an all-encompassing sense of contentment replaced their previous worries. Their tails drooped, and the children curled them around their waists; Androx wondered for a moment whether they would float.
He unbraided his braids and dipped his head in the water for a moment to let the hair soak. As he climbed up, two boys had jumped on him and tried to push him down, laughing at their own audacity. He growled menacingly and threw each of them back into the water. They tried it over and over with the same result and were clearly having a great time. He let them push him underneath as they maneuvered deftly around him, attacking him from both sides.
After a few rounds, he started tossing them into the air before landing in the deeper part of the pool. He was able to get some impressive height because they weren't too heavy, so he made sure they didn't land on their heads. While in the air, the flower flapped its wings crazily with an expression of fear every time. Pepper grinned, flapped her arms deftly like a bird, and huddled up before falling into the water.
This continued until Androx noticed that they were weakened by the heat and both were now red from head to toe. Then they are cooked. It's time to go out. He instructed them to scrub themselves thoroughly to make sure they were clean, and then left the baths, their skin steaming in the fresh autumn air. He taught them how to wash clothes in the stream outside the bathing place, rubbing different parts of the clothes together to wash away the dirt. It took a while, but in the end he was satisfied with their work.
The three of them returned to the village, wearing their loincloths and waving their robes to dry in the air, although the flower accidentally kept rubbing against his on the ground. Androx decided that this was the memory he wanted—happy, energetic, and peaceful. He would no longer think of them as the hungry, scarred, scrawny men he had seen that first night, but as the scrawny but healthy little boys they were now, each more attractive than the last.
When they reached the village, he took them back to the car, where they spread their robes to dry. Trying to look as nonchalant as possible, he asked them, "Children, what do you think of this place?"
They both looked at the ground; they probably guessed the outcome of this conversation.
"Very good." After a while, Pepper said uncertainly.
A
d
Okles sighed. "I'm glad you think so. I talked to the guard Kaimen and he agreed to take you in. They will find someone in town to take care of you. I will give you the car and its contents and help you settle in Come down."
The children were silent for a moment, their ears twitching nervously. Then the flower timidly asked: "Can't we go with you?"
"I'm afraid not. I have something to do that will take a long time and might be dangerous. Actually, please wait a moment." He looked around and saw no one, so he picked up a bag full of money from the car. Jar, walked to the back of the hut and motioned to the children to follow him.
"Do you remember where this is?" he asked, pointing to a patch of dirt behind the cabin. They nodded.
"Good. I don't want you to touch this, and don't tell anyone--no one!--until you're older and ready to find a wife. If you decide you don't want to live here, this money will help you go Go down, if you want to live here, this money will also help you start a family. Do you understand? This money is for you to use when you grow up." He said as he dug a hole. He would get the water thigh-deep, just in case.
"Why are you leaving?" Pepper asked.
"Why can't we go with you?" Flower asked.
He wanted to tell them as well. It would be much easier if they could understand. "Kids, I told you I was a soldier, right?" Yes, I am, and a good friend at that. I served in the Army for twenty-five years and then retired. The military I'm in, if you live to retire, they give you a lot of money, much more than that. When they gave me the money, we were still having a series of fights. I didn't want to leave before the war was over, so I sent money home to my wife. "
The rocky dirt made it difficult to dig a hole deep enough with the small shovel, but he had nothing else to use. He tried to hurry up so as not to be noticed by anyone passing by. "Only, when I got home, she was gone. She took all my money and went back to where she was born, which is somewhere north of here. She even took my house and everything in it Sold. I have nothing but the clothes I'm wearing."
"Why did she do that?" Flower asked.
"We don't have children. She thinks it's my fault, maybe it's my fault. But the note says she's leaving because of this, and this is her reward for wasting so many years," he answered. He found himself dirty again, just after taking a shower. He should really plan something better.
"So you want her to come back so you can have your own child?" Pepper asked.
"No, I just want my money back. If I let her live, she deserves it. But I have to find her first, and I don't know where she came from or where she went. Not really. I Knows I'm following her because people see her bodyguards, but that's it." He restrained himself from telling them that her guards were Skywalkers because it might make them feel guilty or responsible. He continued: “Once I capture her, I will return to my people, buy a beautiful farm, estate and some slaves, take a new wife, and my father’s descendants will not end with me. "
Now that he was digging as fast as he could, he was making great progress. It's almost deep enough. The children stood for a moment, looking at him, lost in thought. Blossom lazily reached for Pepper's hand, and Pepper grabbed it. Behind them, they wrap their tails together. Then the boy asked carefully, trying not to sound too emotional or look at Androx, "How are you going to raise your children if you take another wife?"
A
d
Okles frowned. A month ago, he might have snapped, "Have a baby with her, you stupid little runt!" But now, he's slowly transformed into a man and doesn't want to hurt the poor boy's feelings. "I know what you're asking, Flower, but it's impossible. I might never find Della and my money again, and I might die. I don't even know how to stay warm in the snow. Don’t waste your life waiting for me to come back and pick you up. Once I leave, I’ll 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, listlessly, as if defeated. Flower wiped a tear from his cheek with his free hand. His white hair was almost glaring in the direct sunlight, and Anjax had to look away. Hua said: "Can't you use this money and stay here too?"
A
d
Okles sighed again. The boy repeated his thoughts, but to no avail. He thought for a moment about how to explain it, and then said: "When I was ten years old, my father lost everything in a bad land deal, I'm a little older than you. When he found out, he committed suicide out of shame. I was always angry with him, really not. My mother took my sisters back to her parents and I never saw them again. I attended Army training school.
“But the thing is, my family was once rich and respected, going back more than a dozen generations. Now none of their graves are mine. I have a responsibility to them, to give them peace, and to immortalize their names. To repair what my father destroyed, and maybe give him a break. So many noble people, so many. They deserve everything I have to give. So I swear, finish or die. One man's vow is everything. I 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 about to choke, but he refused to lose his composure in front of them. This is ridiculous. He longed for love so much that he was fascinated after only being with them for a few days. "I must leave you and do what I can for my father."
"But why can't you come back to us?" Pepper asked, wiping a tear from her own eyes.
"Like I said, I can't promise I'll come back. I don't want you to be unhappy here thinking about me. So I'm never coming back, whether I can find the money or not. Tomorrow morning, when I leave, That's goodbye forever.
