The Law of the Silent Gentleman

General Suweita did not restrict the personal freedom of the guests, but Giuliano didn't want to leave for a while. He wanted to stay and observe Suweita's next move. The general left the mansion early in the morning, so the guests visited the whole house under the guidance of the butler after breakfast. The Suweita family is a famous military family in Zanodia, and there have been several generals and consuls. Consciously or unintentionally, the steward always showed pride, implying to them: General Suveta has brilliant military achievements, is well-respected by everyone, and is very hopeful to be the next consul, and he will be the steward of the consul by then.

After lunch, Giuliano returned to his room and was just about to take a nap when a servant suddenly delivered a letter. The letter was placed in the center of the tray and sealed with wax, but there was no seal on the wax, and it was unknown who sent it. Giuliano dismisses the servant and opens the letter.

"At two o'clock in the afternoon, please go to the gazebo in the middle of the geometric garden alone."

There was only one sentence written in the letter without a signature. Giuliano couldn't read the handwriting either. He wanted to call the servant back and ask who the writer was, but the servant had long since disappeared.

So mysterious, could it be a trap? Do you want to call Enzo together?

But the other party asked him to go alone, and bring someone else, maybe the other party would not show up. Giuliano is not afraid of any pitfalls. This is the home of General Suveta, who will harm him? Unless it's Suveta himself. However, he still has key evidence in his hands, and Su Weita dare not act rashly.

He decided to meet the mysterious letter writer for a while. When the appointed time was approaching, he slipped out of the house alone. There is a courtyard on the west side of the mansion, and several fountain statues surround a green geometric garden. The tall hedges are neatly built, and must be a very symmetrical geometric figure from a height, but in the garden, it is like being trapped in a maze, and it is easy to get lost. In the center of the garden sits a white gazebo. It is built so high that as long as you look up, you can see its dome and the rooster weathervane on top.

Giuliano walked into the garden, heading towards the gazebo. The green labyrinth was not complicated, and with the weather vane as a guide, Giuliano soon came to the center of the garden.

A lady was sitting in the gazebo, holding a lyre, playing a sad piece of music. Giuliano recognized the lady as Teacher Theodora. He stopped to listen, and did not dare to step forward until the end of the song.

"Teacher." With his hands behind his back cautiously, he bowed respectfully to the teacher just like the young schoolboy back then.

Theodora waved him to sit down.

"Are you the one who wrote the letter?" Giuliano thought the question was silly as soon as he finished speaking. Isn't this obvious?

"It's me." Theodora put down the lyre.

"You have something to do with me?"

Theodora didn't talk about business, but talked about other things first: "How do you think I play this piece of music?"

"Uh, it's pretty good."

"You know this song?"

"The title of the song is "Elegy for Myself"."

"Then do you know who the songwriters are?"

The teacher wants to test him. Little problems did not bother Giuliano. "The composer is Nevon, a blind poet who lived in the late Second Empire, that is, Grand Duke Nevon of 'reigning for seven days'. The lyricist is the female scholar Alice Iniesta. It is originally a poem, in Nevon composed the music long after Iniesta died."

Theodora sighed: "It seems that after I left, you have not been lazy and have been studying hard. Your parents found you a good teacher."

Giuliano rubbed his nose. In fact, after Teacher Theodora "returned to her hometown to get married", her parents invited another teacher. That is an old pedant, very learned, but not very good at controlling children. This knowledge was not taught by that teacher, but from Enzo. The assassin loves Iniesta. He has read this "Elegy for Myself" countless times. Giuliano's ears are numb when he hears it, and he can recite it backwards in his dreams.

"No, no. It would be great if you could keep teaching me."

Theodora touched the lyre: "Then... tell me now."

Giuliano was taken aback: "What?"

"About your family. How did you escape, and why did you appear in Xanodia? What happened?"

Giuliano bit his lip. If he could, he would not have told Theodora any of these things. He was afraid of implicating the teacher, and he didn't want the teacher to worry about him. Wouldn't it be good to let him bear the burden of this **** feud alone?

"Why don't you talk? Because it's a secret, so it can't be revealed?"

"I'm not…"

"Or are you afraid that I will get in your way and hinder your plan?"

"not like this!"

"Then why don't you say it?"

"I don't want to implicate you!"

"You don't have to worry about this! Even if I'm implicated, there are ways to protect myself! I just want to know everything!" She grabbed Giuliano's hand, "Why don't you tell me? Do you think I'm an outsider?"

"No, I just..."

Great sorrow seized Giuliano's heart. He covered his face, tears burst out like a bank, the salty taste spread from the tip of his tongue, and his heart was so sad that he couldn't express it. None of his family members are here, but he was able to meet his teacher in a foreign country. The teacher is like a golden thread that connects him to that long-dead family. As soon as he heard the teacher's voice, he seemed to return to his childhood. His teacher Theodora is young and beautiful, intelligent and quick-witted, always full of witty words, and so knowledgeable, strict with him, but very gentle. He thought of his parents. Thinking of his home in Vanessa, thinking of the country house, thinking of their summer activities. That means countless golden days. That meant he had been the happiest, most carefree Giuliano Sacon living the world. But he never went back. However, through the teacher, he glimpsed the golden phantom of the past. Like the sunlight reflected on the water, he stretched out his hand to grab it, but he couldn't catch anything, it would only shatter the phantom.

He cried for a long time, and Theodora handed him a handkerchief distressedly. He held the handkerchief tightly, and after the violent fluctuations in his mood, he gradually calmed down. He wiped away his tears, choked up and said, "They...they are all dead..."

Theodora patted him on the back like she comforted him when he was a child when he was crying, waiting for him to continue.

Giuliano sorted out his thoughts, and told Theodora in detail what happened the night the family was wiped out. But he didn't reveal Enzo's identity. He only said that Enzo was a businessman who sympathized with what happened to him. He used his social connections to help him sneak out of the city, and then took him to the manor on the border of Lorran for refuge. Later, they came to Ponto due to business needs, where they met Lech and Antoine, and the four went to Mount Chevignon together to destroy the conspiracy of Viscount de Ranchocourt.

When Giannis was mentioned, Theodora's expression became very painful. Giuliano remembered that Giannis was also a student of Theodora, and the brother of that Miss Constanzia. Losing a beloved student must make the teacher feel like a knife.

He told Theodora that they encountered an army of spiders on Mount Chevignon, and the viscount's party was slaughtered by the spiders. The four of them rescued the hostages and then parted ways. Giuliano decided to take revenge, starting with Fernando, so he came to Zanodia with Enzo, and met Rexi by accident. They simply asked Leixi to help them sneak into the dance.

Giuliano scrupulously avoids all details related to "The Reticent". He would rather let Theodora think he was a hateful avenger than let her know that he was an apprentice to an assassin.

After hearing his experience, Theodora didn't say a word. Giuliano couldn't figure out what she was thinking. The two sat under the gazebo in silence. After a while, Theodora stood up, leaned on the pillar supporting the gazebo, put one hand on her forehead, and said with an extremely painful expression, "That Enzo...is he a 'Silent One'?"

Giuliano was shocked. He obviously didn't say a word, how did the teacher guess it?

"You recognize that song." Theodora burst into tears. "You know it was written by Alice Iniesta. I never let you read Iniesta because I thought she was a A lunatic to the core, don't let her heresy poison your mind. Your parents also decided to let me be your tutor because I opposed Iniesta's ideas. But you know that song is Iniesta wrote it...only the 'reticents' would honor Iniesta as their forerunner."

"No, no, it's not him..." Giuliano stammered to defend, completely forgetting the restriction of the rule "can't tell a lie". "It was taught to me by the tutor later..."

"Impossible!" Theodora shouted hoarsely, "Because your parents hate the Reticents, it is even more impossible for you to have access to Iniesta's works!"

She turned around with tears in her eyes: "At that time, you were too young to know about it, but I knew it. At that time, their business was booming, and they were jealous of their competitors, who sent assassins to assassinate you." Parents, but accidentally killed a relative who was a guest at the house. In order to retaliate, your mother Olya decided to hire an assassin to assassinate the opponent, ending this struggle. But it was a last resort. Since then They hated assassins from the very beginning. In Vanessa, even three-year-olds knew the horrors of the Reticents, but Vito and Olya never let you in touch with them. I told you about the Reticents privately. Existence. I know very well that even if I no longer serve as your tutor, Vito and Olia will never let you learn Iniesta's poetry. Then there is only one possibility: you did it after you left the family. The one who came into contact with Iniesta. Only that Enzo, it could only be him."

"No! That's not the case!" Giuliano still had a chance.

"You concealed the details about the Reticent, which made many parts of your story unreasonable. For example, why a businessman is so skilled in martial arts, for example, why a stranger who met by chance helped you so much just because he sympathized with you. There is only one possibility : He's a reticent who gets paid for everything he does."

Theodora walked towards him, stretched out her hand, and wanted to touch Giuliano's head, but before she touched his hair, she withdrew her hand in fear as if she had been pricked by a needle.

"The Reticents never help others for no reason. Their help always comes at a price. What did you give, Giuliano? What did you give the Reticents for their loyalty? Money? The Reticents are all about money Do things. You promised to give him enough reward after revenge? Or reputation? Status? Some treasure of the Sacon family? Or did you agree to his conditions?"

It's me. Giuliano thought bitterly. I have no money, no reputation, status and treasures to buy people's hearts. I gave myself to Enzo, first for my life, then for the skills of an assassin.

Seeing that Giuliano didn't answer, Theodora grabbed Giuliano's hands forcefully, checked his right hand first, and then his left hand.

"Both of your hands have calluses from martial arts." She announced her findings in despair, "If you're only learning ordinary swordsmanship, there's no reason why your left hand will have calluses like this, unless you're learning assassination techniques. "

She took a few steps back. Giuliano's heart clenched tightly.

"And Iniesta." She collapsed on the bench under the gazebo with a broken heart. "You are still learning Iniesta. You are going to become a silent person..."

"Teacher!" Giuliano knelt at Theodora's feet, holding her hand, "Enzo is indeed an assassin, but he is a good man. He is willing to help me. I beg him to teach me the skills of an assassin, so that I can take revenge with my own hands. Don't imagine him so bad!"

"It's not that I think bad of him, but you think too good of him. You don't know what kind of people they are - they are not human at all! Iniesta taught them to be ruthless swords, to teach They become tools for others. I used to love Iniesta, and I thought she was the most talented woman in the world. Which of the scholars of all ages can compare to her? But the more I study, the more I feel Her theory was so ridiculous that in the end I couldn't agree with her point of view at all. I couldn't even go to university, so I had to drop out of school and become a tutor. In Iniesta's eyes, assassins are not people at all, but weapons. What' Assassins are weapons', it's nonsense! They are real people! Treating assassins as weapons is just the arrogant idea of ​​those big people who want to kill people but don't want to dirty their hands! It's not scary for others to think that way, the most terrible What's more, they think so too! They don't even think of themselves as human beings! How could I just watch you become like that!"

"It's not like that! Enzo is not a cold weapon. He also has feelings, emotions, emotions, love, and hate. He...he is not the kind of person you said!"

"Don't you understand? Everything they do is not from the perspective of 'people', but for their 'God'! The 'God of Truth and Fake' they believe in is a double-faced god, both He advocates the glitzy enjoyment of the world, and advocates that death is the only truth. His teachings teach people that the enjoyment of life is false. Since it is false, then pleasure and abstinence are actually the same thing, so it is better to enjoy a luxurious life until the The only truth that comes to us is death. The Reticents are His most loyal and fanatical followers, and their actions are in line with the standards of the "God of Truth and Pretense". They enjoy a luxurious life, but not for their own pleasure, but It is their **** who advocates it. They bring death to others, not because they enjoy murder, but to spread death. They would rather keep silent than lie, for they are the mouthpieces of death, and death is the only truth, It is eternal silence. As long as it is to serve the gods, they will do anything! If one day he has to sacrifice you in order to fulfill the duties given by the gods, he will do so without hesitation. This is the silencer!"

Giuliano was speechless. Is Enzo the kind of person the teacher said? He didn't want to think about it, but he had to. Enzo likes gold, silver and jewelry, and he cares about wealth, but he is not greedy like a miser; Enzo likes luxury and luxury, loves squandering and enjoying, but he is not the kind of extravagance like a poor boy; Enzo likes lazy and comfortable life. In life, you can sit and never stand, but you are not lazy like an incompetent lazy man; Enzo likes sweet and fiery kisses and hearty sex, and he is always eager for Giuliano's body, but he is not the kind of prodigal son Enzo likes to kill and shows no mercy to his enemies, but he is not crazy like a perverted murderer. Enzo likes these things to such a degree that it is hard to believe that this is his nature. It seems that he became like this in order to achieve some invisible and intangible standard, because this is the only way to be perfect and correct.

This is not man's standard, but God's standard. Giuliano has long noticed. Because the messenger of God must be like this, so he will become like this. Some gods require believers to be abstinent, some gods require believers to be debauched, and the "God of Truth and Pretense" requires believers to enjoy the good life in the world, but they always keep in mind that all these are false. Enzo's every move shows that he is a perfect reticent, and a perfect reticent must be like this. He wears a mask called "The Reticent" from beginning to end, and even Giuliano, who is closest to him, does not know his true face. Maybe he had worn the mask for so long that he couldn't remember his true face.

He even nearly sold Giuliano to Reich for help. Of course, he regretted it, he was duplicity, and the holy emblem left him a mark of punishment. At that moment, there was a crack in his perfect mask, and Giuliano caught a glimpse of some humanity in it. If he abides by the requirements of the gods in everything, then he will agree to Leixi without hesitation. A perfect reticent would use him as a bargaining chip in exchange for favorable conditions.

Giuliano shivered as if falling into an ice cave. He wanted Enzo to be a perfect mute so that he could teach him the best skills, but he was afraid that Enzo would become a perfect mute, because then he would have to give up the human part. What he fears most is that he may become like that one day.

But he had no choice at all.

"Teacher, I... I have no choice... What else can I do? Apart from seeking his help, I have no other way to get revenge... Do I have to give up?"

Theodora squeezed his hand. "I've never objected to your revenge. Rather, in the Yoder cities, revenge for the family is commendable. But there are many ways to revenge. If you want to be at the hands of the Reticent, then at least..." She paused After a pause, he let out a sad sigh, "At least you don't want to become a silent person. You can promise him money, status, reputation, and promise him favorable conditions. You can spend your whole life working hard to earn money to pay off his debts, but don't become a silent person. Silent person! Don't give up your dignity as a human being, don't treat yourself as a ruthless weapon. You are not anyone's **** or tool, you are you!"

But Enzo didn't think so. Enzo wanted him to be the Reticent. Now he's an apprentice, and one day he'll don a mask like Enzo and become a shadow in the night.

"I don't want that either..." Giuliano whispered, "If I had a choice, I wouldn't be the Reticent..."

"Then do as you wish, my child." Theodora embraced Giuliano's shoulders, "My child, you have suffered so much and lost so many precious things, do not Don't even give up your last dignity, don't take that dark path... Promise me, don't become like that!"