Stray

    The children's laughter was occasionally heard in the small courtyard, and the smell of sweet cookies drifted across the courtyard wall. From this angle, you can see the lush citrus trees in the yard.

    Ann tapped the mud on the toes of her boots uncomfortably.

    "I said, you don't have to follow me." Not far from the courtyard wall, Alban's new queen's face was not very good-looking. She was still wearing the old leather armor, and after knocking the mud off her boots, she began to dust off the leather armor crampedly.

    "This is your first private vacation after you ascended the throne. As your knight, I must ensure your safety." Gallagher Salter pulled his face long.

    "...You know it's a 'private' holiday. I said, Mr. Wild Dog. I'll give you ten gold coins, can you go to any pub for a drink?" Ann tugged at her short hair .

    "No."

    "This is a command."

    "For your safety and Alban's future, I am willing to disobey. If you are not satisfied, you can stab me to death."

    "..." Ann bit her teeth so hard that she really wanted to use someone to grind her teeth. "Yeah, because I'm not thirty-four years old, but thirty-four months. Without Mommy watching, walking a dozen paces, if I'm not careful, I'll be abducted by passers-by—what do you mean? "

     Gallagher rolled his eyes to the sky, remaining skillfully silent.

    "Salt!" I was so nervous that I wanted to vomit, but I, the long-winded knight, never left. Ann touched the hunting spear behind him and was moved by Gallagher's proposal for a few seconds.

    "You shouldn't come to this kind of place. If you want to meet the hostess here, I can arrange the best restaurant in the neighborhood for you." A particularly harsh child screamed through the courtyard wall , Gallagher's face paled a little. "I've inquired about it. These are the children of refugees. Most of them are prostitutes, criminals, and the offspring of beggars. Your identity..."

    "Oh, don't worry, I grew up with them. At least we have a lot in common - we don't have much hope for our biological parents." Ann's tone became cold down. "Listen, Salter. If you say something you shouldn't say later, I don't mind dragging you back on a spear."

    That being said, Ann was still walking around anxiously around the yard, without taking a half step forward, as if being blocked by an invisible barrier.

     Gallagher raised his eyebrows and coughed softly.

    While Alban's new queen was circling randomly, the humble wooden door in the backyard of the small courtyard was pushed open. An instantly straightened his back, locked Gallagher's neck with his arms neatly, and yanked him behind the bushes.

     Gallagher was locked by his neck, and there was a little struggle in his voice: "...I thought you were here to visit an old friend."

    "I am." An nervously looked out through the bushes.

    The last time we met was almost twenty years ago. The nun, who was in her thirties at the time, had most of her hair white now, and there were many sharp wrinkles on her face. Fortunately, there was no puffiness or weight loss, and the nun looked very fit. Ann bit her lip, subconsciously held her breath, turned her eyes to the ground, and began to count the dead petioles in the soil.

    "Your Majesty," Gallagher whispered.

    "Shut up."

    "Your Majesty..."

    "Shut up!"

    "Your Majesty, uh, Ms. Savage."

    "How do you...?" An Gang was about to turn his head and caressed her head with one hand. She finally understood why Gallagher kept calling her, but it was too late.

    An's whole body trembled, but she still didn't dare to raise her eyes. The temperature of that hand was far away but familiar. Before she could regain her senses, the tip of her nose and eyes were full of sourness.

    "Ann? Is it Ann?" The nun's voice didn't change, the smile on her round face was still a little silly.

    Ann gritted her teeth and stood up slowly.

    In her memory, the nun's face always needed her to look up to see clearly. And this time, the grown-up self had to lower his head to see that smiling face.

    "You are so grown up." The nun took Ann's hands enthusiastically. The calloused hands brushed against Ann's skin, and a choked pain crept up her throat.

    An opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word that he had prepared.

    She opened her arms and tightly hugged the tall and strong woman in front of her who seemed to be extremely ordinary now. Ann lowered her head and smelled the familiar butter aroma on the other person's shoulder. The nun laughed cheerfully and patted her on the back.

    "I..." she said with difficulty, "Sister, I..."

    "What's the matter, kid?"

    The nun patted her on the back again. A few seconds later, instead of waiting for Ann's answer, she started to rant.

    "You're finally back. Ann, I used a little of the money you sent back, and I've taken care of the rest for you - look at you, it's not safe Work, do those dangerous jobs every day. If you bump into one day, you can't continue to do that line of work, but the money is a little less."

    "The world has been restless recently, so it's fine to do tasks, don't get involved in wars. Remember?"

    "I heard people say something about your black chapter test. Everyone... ah, you all grew up watching me, if you want to say no, I will say no Exit. I thought at the time, if you come back crying, I can't help but scold you... and then coax."

    The nun stopped slapping her back.

    "The main responsibility for this matter lies with me. You were still a child, and I was an elder at that time. I should take good care of you. It doesn't have to be said - silly child, why are you crying."

     Gallagher, who was half a step away, did not dare to move, trying to reduce his presence.

    He had never seen Ann cry like this.

    This crazy queen can pull out the broken sword inserted into her body while laughing and laughing, and after cutting her biological brother with the same blood, her eyes are only slightly red, and she recovers quickly calm down.

    The lawless Ann Savage never seems to show his weakness.

    Now she was embracing an old man in a faded nun's dress, shoulders twitching and weeping silently. From his angle he could see Ann's profile - tears were rolling down the new queen's cheeks, and she even bit her lower lip out of blood.

     Gallagher took two steps back in embarrassment, half grief and half worry - he had naturally investigated the Queen's past and had a little understanding of what the two were talking about. It has to be said that it is really sad to lose a partner who grew up with me in the test.

    However, in addition to regret and sadness, "Wild Hound" failed to develop feelings similar to pity, and he faintly began to worry that he would be silenced by the angry queen afterwards.

    Ann suppressed her crying at first, but then she simply let herself choked out, holding the nun and crying breathlessly.

    It took ten minutes before she could speak fluently.

    "I'm sorry." She choked and whispered, "I took them away, I was too arrogant—"

    "Okay, let's go home and sit down first, then sit down and talk. Don't stand here, it's a little cold here, it's windy here."

    Ann wiped her tears with her sleeve, sniffled, and nodded vigorously.

    The nun patted her on the shoulder, then turned her attention without warning to Gallagher, her eyes lingering for a few seconds on the marshal's dress.

    "Oops." The nun's voice was a little flustered, "My lord, I'm really sorry. I just visited my children..."

    Hearing "my child", Gallagher's eyebrows twitched.

    "Uh." He huffed meaninglessly. "I... don't care about me."

    "How about that! Are you her employer? Ann, did you find someone to work according to the rules? Say it earlier, it's better not to be a black seal, so I can rest assured."

    "No, she..." Gallagher was a little stuck, this dull-looking woman obviously didn't know Ann's identity.

    "Lord Salter is my employer." Ann sniffed harder, glaring at Gallagher with red eyes, squeezing words between her teeth. "Never mind, Sister. He's rambling, but...well, people aren't bad."

    "How can you say that in front of others, please apologize!"

    "It's okay, our relationship is okay. Really don't worry, he won't do anything too much." Hearing the familiar scolding tone, An burst into tears.

    "...Oh." The nun patted her chest quickly. "Well, then I won't say anything. Ann, come here!"

    She turned her back, motioned for An to come closer, and lowered her voice: "The adults are willing to accompany you, are you two... I think that one is not too young, An, you can't do it It's a matter of destroying other people's families. Nobles are not very reliable, I still hope you can find someone who can spend a lifetime together."

     Gallagher coughed unnaturally. He will be silenced, he thought so sadly that he forgot to pat the twigs off his clothes.

    Ann rubbed her nose and scratched her head awkwardly. "He's not married, and neither are we..."

    The nun pouted: "I'm old, I can see clearly! His eyes look like he can't wait to tie you with a rope."

    ...That's right, Gallagher must have wanted to tether himself to the office room in the royal city.

    Ann rubbed her face hard, and finally turned her gaze to Gallagher. They exchanged the despair of different meanings in each other's eyes.

    "Oops, I've been talking here for so long. Quick, come in and have a cup of tea. This big... cough, sir, come with me too."

    "It's not too late to keep up." Anchong's own knight compared his mouth.

    "If you're going to execute me, it's better not for such a horrific reason." Gallagher sullenly compared his mouth.

    "I try my best." An Chang breathed a sigh of relief and replied silently. "…see your performance."

    The sun was about to go down, and the red circles on her face were not as conspicuous as they were at the beginning.

    A warm glow also illuminates the entrance to the abyss.

    The group of strangely shaped stones has been standing here for a long time. The origin of these stones is unknown, and the eyes of living people are embedded in the top, which is horrific. Whether it is mercenaries or local residents, few people are willing to approach this area.

    A figure wearing a Radian monk uniform appeared near the group of stones and stopped in front of one of them.

    "You actually came here." Della Layne took the open book down from her face.

    "I didn't expect to see you here." Adrian Cross responded politely.

    "I'm used to waiting here, and I can't change it for a while." The red-haired youth stood up and patted the grass and dust on his trousers. "It's very quiet here, and it's good for thinking alone."

    "Maybe not so quiet." Adrian looked at the strange stones and shook his head gently.

    "Your reaction... um, spiritual communication is difficult to learn, it is the power of the flesh and blood of gods." The abyss sage touched his chin and glanced at the strange rock not far behind him.

    "Hmm." Adrian didn't deny it.

    When he heard the word "God's flesh and blood", the screams became louder in his ears.

    Spiritual communication must be by mutual consent. That is, these fanatics want him to hear the howl.

    Adrian's expression did not change. Staring calmly for a while at the sky dyed red by the rising sun, he stretched out a hand, slowly pressed the stone closest to him, and closed his eyes.

    "Now I can hear your thoughts." He asked the once-human stone, "…Want to end it?"

     Adrian Cross saluted, waved his hands, and put them into the prepared stone box.

    Then he walked to the next stone.

    After the last rays of the sun faded, he finally circled the group of strange rocks. The number of stones was reduced by two-thirds. The remaining third remained standing, which should have been a refusal.

    Dara Lane snorted in surprise.

    "I thought you decided to forget about it." The Abyss Sage stretched, "Or - I think - kindly set them free?"

    "I just learned how to communicate. If I had decided that all of these people 'want to die'... then I might not be much different from them."

    Adrian calmly put away the stone box and raised his eyes.

    "...As for 'letting them go', the rest of you asked for the same."

    In contrast to the silence that Della Lanene heard, the rejected fanatics were cursing and screaming in desperation—the rasping noises pounding against his eardrums.

    "Everything has a cause and effect."

    Adrian sighed and wrapped the stone box.

    "I'm alive, but I'm dead. It's not everyone's credit that I'm standing here alive - as a former colleague, I will return the remains of these people to the central church . As the one who was killed, I have no obligation to 'forgive' you, that's all."

    "...like I don't think the people I killed with my own hands needed to 'forgive' me," he added calmly.

    "It's so cold." Della Lane shrugged, all he could hear was the wind blowing over the rocks.

    "I wanted to live." With a simple answer, Adrian didn't explain more. He picked up the package and stepped in Hatfield's direction.

    "Hmm." Della Lane patted the nearest stone, "What about next time? When are you going to come?"

    "Now that everyone has made their choice, I won't be coming back."

    The former knight commander shook his head slightly.

    "Farewell, everyone."