On the Seven Towers

Kalanda led Luo Ling and Xiao Chen through half of the market and came to a tavern on the edge of the market. The tavern occupies a large area, but it is a bit simple. It is a wooden house, backed by a big tree, and half of it is an open yard, under the shade of the big tree. There were some tables and chairs in the yard, and a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper lay lazily on the counter in the back room. It was daytime now, and there were not many people sitting in the tavern. It seemed that most of them were businessmen and mercenaries from afar.

Karanda found a table under the shade of a tree and invited the two of them to sit down. The tables and chairs were all greasy, with mottled stains on them. If you got closer, a fishy smell of oil would hit your nose. Xiao Chen didn't think much and sat on it, but Luo Ling was sitting on pins and needles.

Calanda said with a smile: "It seems that you are really not ordinary people. This is already the cleanest pub in the city, but you still can't catch the eye of the lady."

After hearing what the other party said, Luo Ling felt calm. She put her hands on the table and said with a smile: "Just get used to it. Miss Kalanda wasn't born to be a mercenary, right?"

Karanda was silent for a while and said: "Some people like the days of licking blood with a knife, and some people don't like it but have to do it. Who knows?"

She walked to the bar and slapped the table with a bang, which made the boss who was taking a nap jump up. Calanda said loudly: "Lazy Robin, don't you see the guest? Give me three "The best ale, and some white bread and bacon."

"God of nature, Karanda, you, why are you here again! I won't sell you wine. Last time you went crazy with alcohol and almost demolished my shop. Look, the tables and chairs that were smashed by you are still there. It's piled up in the corner." The shopkeeper looked like he had a headache, as if he saw a mad cow rushing into his shop.

"That was an accident. You didn't know... You didn't know that Bastian died that day, and Edo also died, in the hands of those horse thieves who should all be hanged..." Calanda exhaled heavily. , took out a gold coin and threw it to Robin who came over, "I drank too much that day. I'll give you this. It should be enough to pay for those tables and chairs."

The boss, Robin, looked at Calanda, shook his head and said, "Let's count the money you spent on the drinks here."

Karanda found that the surroundings were suddenly quiet. The merchants and mercenaries felt the same about Karanda's experience and stopped talking. Who among these people walking outside has not had the sad experience of losing a companion? Memories suddenly came to everyone's mind, and a sad atmosphere enveloped the shop. Karanda saw that some mercenaries had wiped their eyes. She couldn't help but take out a wine bag from her waist and said loudly: "I'll treat everyone to a drink! Here's to our brothers who left first. Maybe they just left first. One step. May they return to the embrace of nature."

The surrounding guests raised their glasses and said in agreement: "May the God of Nature guide their souls."

Kalanda drank the wine in the wine bag in one gulp, threw the wine bag to Robin and said: "Okay, fill it up for me. Forget about the past, there are new friends coming today, so you have to use your best." Take out the things.”

Xiao Chen and Luo Ling looked at this scene with emotion. They never thought that they would encounter such a scene in the tavern. Mercenary sounds like an exciting and passionate profession, and Karanda seemed very cheerful before, but in this tavern, because of the hotel owner's words, everyone was brought back such memories.

The food in the tavern is a bit rough, but the portion is large. The ale cup is as big as half a thermos bottle, and the bread is as big as half a human head.

Kalanda held the wine glass and said to Luo Ling: "This is a mercenary. Everyone is a drunkard. Otherwise, you will not be able to survive the life of living today and dying tomorrow. You will die on the road in the end, after being drunk for a few times. They are buried here." She hit her heart with her fist, and her breastplate made a clanking sound. "Tell me, beautiful female mage. What can you do to condescend to drink with someone like me?"

"I understand you, much more than you guess." Luo Ling rolled up her sleeves, picked up a large glass of ale in front of her, bumped it against Karanda's glass, then raised her head and took a big sip, and then The cup hit the table heavily. The ale here was somewhat similar to beer, but the taste was sharp and heavy. The aroma of wheat was bitter, and it ran down the tongue and into the heart. Luo Ling's cheeks turned red: "This is a homeless person paying tribute to a homeless person."

Kalanda also took a sip and said, "It seems you have quite a few stories."

"Things in the world are nothing but joys and sorrows." Luo Ling said, "I will experience what I should experience. This is my life. If you think about it, maybe you will feel a lot better."

Xiao Chen looked at Luo Ling. When he said these words, he seemed to feel the real sadness in her heart. For the first time, he felt that Luo Ling's heart seemed tangible and visible. But at this time, he didn't say a word to comfort the other person, perhaps because he couldn't comfort himself either. It seems that only by being busy all the time can we temporarily forget the past.

"Sorrow, joy, separation, and union." Karanda chewed these words slowly, and finally breathed out: "When I was a little girl, I might have been moved to tears by these words. But. Now, this emotion is too luxurious. All I have to do is lead my team to survive. Some people die, some people are going to die, maybe others, maybe me, but the rest will continue. Our life. If we don’t learn to be numb, we can’t survive.”

Xiao Chen originally wanted to inquire about the old dwarf, but now he found that he couldn't speak, so he simply started drinking wine. The three of them drank for a while and chatted about some experiences and interesting stories about mercenaries, and the atmosphere gradually improved. Xiao Chen discovered that Karanda is essentially a relatively optimistic person, and her stories are very vivid and contagious. What is even more interesting is that when she narrates things, she uses words carefully and her sentences are fluent. This is by no means an ordinary mercenary. It can be done. This woman's background must not be simple, no wonder she can lead a team of mercenaries.

After drinking for three rounds, Kalanda took the initiative to speak: "I have met some magicians before, but there are few like you. Why don't you tell me directly, I think... you found me to find out about Farley. Is it about your father?”

Xiao Chen did not hide it and admitted: "Indeed, we value his ability and sincerely hope to cooperate with him."

Luo Ling said: "Actually, after talking to you so much, our original purpose is not that important anymore."

Calanda raised a glass of wine to Luo Ling and said, "Father Farrell really should have a suitable collaborator. He is not living a happy life in this city of humans. Not only some big businessmen and city owners will bully He and some petty thieves often hit him. I also used your weapons, which are definitely extraordinary. But I don’t know if you can really protect your own skills and protect him."

"Can't the name of a magician stop these people?"

"If there is not much benefit, no one is willing to offend a magician. But if your weapons are combined with Farrell's weapons, it will be hard to say. Maybe the big shots in the kingdom will also take a fancy to these things. I am a mercenary In the past few years, I have seen too many cases of plunder and robbery.”

Xiao Chen and Luo Ling looked at each other and realized that they were a little too reckless in taking out their weapons casually. However, because of this, it is even more important to bring Farrell in to prevent these things from leaking out.

Xiao Chen thought for a while and said, "We have our own castle and warriors, and I also have a good relationship with the city's guardian mage, Master Icasa."

"Master Icasa?" Calanda nodded and said, "He is really an amazing person, he should be able to add some weight to you. However, Father Farrell is an exiled dwarf, and his experience has been very rough. "It's not easy to trust others."

"Exiled?"

"I have vaguely heard about it," Kalanda said. "Dwarves have a very long lifespan. Most dwarves have a lifespan of more than five hundred years. Farrell is less than 150 years old, although I call him Dad. , but among dwarves, he can be regarded as a young man."

Xiao Chen and Luo Ling were both a little surprised. They had never thought that there was such a long-lived race.

"Although the dwarves have few children and grow slowly, their long lifespan means that each of their families will have many ancestors. Therefore, tradition is what the dwarves value most."

"The old-fashioned person he talks about is someone from his family, right?" Xiao Chen asked.

"Yes, Farrell has always been a genius in blacksmithing. He has many strange, dangerous but innovative ideas. This makes some of his elders in his family very dissatisfied, thinking that he is not doing his job properly and blaspheming the tradition."

"Did he get kicked out just because of some new ideas?"

Kalanda took a sip of ale and said: "That's not true. The people in the family are not so ruthless. But patience is limited after all, until one time he insisted on doing an experiment and blew up half of the family forging room. … and then he, his wife, and several young children were banished.”

A name "Nobel" suddenly appeared in Xiao Chen's head. It seemed that this dwarf was really a rare talent.

"Leaving the dwarf kingdom, he wandered to many places with his wife and children. At first he believed in a certain lord, but soon he found that he had become nothing more than a tool in captivity. He could only make weapons all day long, and lost his Basic freedom, he tried to escape. But his situation was no better than before. Every time his employer or master just wanted him to use his powerful forging skills to continue production, so he defected again and again. Leave. His wife died on the way to cover his escape, and his youngest son's whereabouts were unknown. Finally, he and his three remaining sons settled in this city, where there were more mobile traders and more opportunities. I saved the money over the years to open my own shop.”

Xiao Chen could imagine how an unaccompanied dwarf with good forging skills would be in a human world full of feudal lords. It's no wonder that the dwarf immediately turned his back when he saw that he showed solicitous intentions.

"Don't he hate the dwarves who drove him away?" Luo Ling suddenly asked.

"Why don't you hate it? One time when he was drunk, he yelled at me and told me that he would lead a team armed by him in the future and fight back to his hometown to teach those old antiques a lesson." Kalanda He laughed, "But in the end we all laughed so hard that we cried. Everyone knows it's just a joke!"

"Maybe..., not necessarily?" Luo Ling glanced at Xiao Chen, who smiled knowingly.

Thanks to book friends of the leaves of the winter sycamore tree for the tip.