The Book of Hibernation

After leaving the manor, Winter Thistle and Ryan hurried on their way.The place they were going to was a little far away. In order to save money as much as possible, they did not live in a tavern or an inn at all, but borrowed a villager's house outside the city.

The idea came from Winter Thistle.He took a fancy to a family, took Ryan to ask for water, took the opportunity to naturally enter the house to chat, and then borrowed it respectfully rather than obediently.

It's all because of Ryan.He has the holy emblem of the day patrol on his chest, and he is an apprentice temple knight.

In Sandonia, from St. Dilian in the west to Harbor City in the east, most of the residents are believers of the Day Patrollers. They respect priests and temple knights very much, and even take good care of apprentice knights.

After moving in, Ryan whispered to Winter Thistle that although the owner is determined not to pay, we can't really give no money, and we can't take advantage of other people's good intentions.

As the older brother, Winter Ji is the one in charge of money between the two.He weighed the frivolous purse and discussed with his younger brother, explaining that there were indeed financial difficulties.Lane also admitted that they do have to save some money, so they may not be able to pay the homeowner a decent price.

So Winter Thistle came up with a solution.His proposal is: we don't need to pay every day. Since the owner has clearly stated that he doesn't want money, he will refuse it if you give it to him.During the few days we stayed, we could help the owner with some things, such as fetching water and feeding the chickens. When we were leaving, I quietly left a silver coin and put it where the owner could find it. Don't tell him in advance.

By the time the homeowner finds the silver coins, we'll be gone.Although one silver coin is a bit much, if we want to leave, it means that we have been hired by the Ten Sail Street Chamber of Commerce, and we will get paid sooner or later, so we don’t need to care about this silver coin.

Ryan thought it was very reasonable and happily agreed to his brother's proposal.

Today, the two returned to the village, and it was time to part with the owner.The owner and his wife went out to work, and only his two children were at home. Dongji explained his farewell to the older child, and the two packed their luggage and hurried back to Harbor City.

On the way back, Lion asked Winter Thistle if she had left any silver coins.Winter Thistle had, of course, left the silver coins, and he showed his brother the purse, in which there were still some bits and pieces of copper coins.

The combined price of those copper coins is almost worth a few silver coins.In fact, Winter Thistle can promise to give a little less money, for example, using broken coins to make up a price of less than one silver coin.

But there are a lot of copper coins, and there is no single silver coin to hide.What if the owner of the house finds out the money quickly and really catches up with them and wants to return it to them... Dongji is particularly afraid of that nasty scene full of tears,

The two brothers walked very fast, and when the city wall could be seen from a distance, it was still before the sun set.The city gate will not be closed so quickly, so there is no need to hurry.

Looking at Harbor City in the distance, Ryan frowned slightly: "Winter Ji, you said... would the anaconda suspect us?"

"Anaconda" is Aldin's nickname.The origin of the nickname, of course, is the tattoo on his chest.Near Harbor City, as long as you inquire about matters related to the chamber of commerce, you will definitely hear about "Anaconda Aldin".

Dong Ji smiled and said, "Of course a person like Anaconda is not easy to deceive. The problem is, we didn't deceive him at all, so why should he be suspicious?"

Ryan said: "After all, we are different from other applicants. We are not a whim, but we have long planned to approach the Ten Sail Street Chamber of Commerce..."

Winter Thistle said, "Don't worry. Look, I'll analyze it for you. Are we poor? Do we need to make money? Obviously, yes. Are we looking for a chance to get close to the Chamber of Commerce? Yes. To the anaconda Al Ding working, is it close to the beginning of the Chamber of Commerce? Yes. So, our purpose is to go to work, to work for him, and we didn’t lie to him. Since we are telling the truth, what are you afraid of? Doubt? And we just want to inquire about some old things, and we won't harm him, so don't be so emboldened."

These words made Ryan seem to have figured it out, but it seemed that he hadn't figured it out enough. "Also..." he muttered softly.

Winter Ji said: "Don't think too much about it. Didn't we make an agreement a long time ago? You do what you should do, and leave the complicated issues to me."

As he spoke, he reached out and patted his half-brother on the shoulder.

In the old days, when Lane was a teenager, Winter Thistle could look down on Lane and pat him on the shoulder like a real big brother, now that Lane is a good chunk taller, he has to hold his hands up , to touch the hard armor.

===================

Aldin said that he would prepare a small dinner party to welcome the applicants.In fact, his words were exaggerated. It is not called a dinner party, but a dinner party. It can only be regarded as "entertaining acquaintances and arranging a few more dishes than usual", which is not at all the scale of a welcome banquet.After all, applicants are not VIPs.

But... For Winter Thistle and Ryan, this welcome banquet has far exceeded their expectations.

In front of them are mussels, grilled chicken, smoked fish, oyster soup, maple syrup with buckwheat cakes, various fresh fruits and liqueurs...the sumptuousness made them dizzy.

Winter Thistle and Ryan returned to Anaconda's mansion on time, while Aldin and Kanai were busy with other affairs and did not show up for the time being.

The servant took the luggage of the half-elf brothers, took them to the banquet hall, and told them to rest and wait here.

Winter Thistle and Ryan stood at the door of the banquet hall, next to some servants who were still busy making arrangements.There were many chairs around the long table, and the brothers didn't know where to sit, or even if they could sit down casually.

Winter Thistle asked Ryan in a low voice: "It's fine if I haven't seen the market, even you don't know what to do? Didn't you learn noble etiquette in the temple?"

Ryan said: "I have learned a little bit, but...but it's different here. Look at this table, it's actually not the style used for banquets at all. I think it's more like the table used for our knights' tactical deduction."

Winter Ji shook his head: "I see they are all similar."

"Also, in the etiquette class, it is said that at a formal dinner, the people sit down first, and the host may have to talk or something, and then the servant will deliver the food to everyone one by one, and give you another after eating one. But look at them Here, they just put the things on the table, but the owner hasn't come yet...Look at these things, there are meat and fruits..."

When speaking, Ryan still stood upright, reflecting the etiquette and rules of the Knights of the Temple.He glanced at the burnt-yellow grilled chicken, and there were red and yellow fresh cherries in the rattan basket next to him... After just one glance, he quickly looked away, for fear of appearing rude.

A maid walked past Winter Thistle, put the glass flask of wine on the table, and turned to leave.One after another, the other servants were busy elsewhere, leaving only Winterthistle and Ryan in the banquet hall.

Winter Thistle lowered her voice even more: "Ryan, have you seen that plate of meatballs? If you're really hungry, you can sneak one first. It's very close to you, and you can't tell if there's one less. I'm standing here just to block you hand, even if someone passes by outside, they won’t see it.”

Ryan shook his head again and again: "That's okay, we still have to obey the rules." After finishing speaking, he secretly swallowed.

Just when the two brothers were whispering, suddenly a force approached from behind and patted the two on the back.

Winter Thistle was startled, and Lion reached for his waist with fighting instinct, but his sword was not on him.After returning to the manor, their luggage and weapons were left in the guest room.

It was their employer Aldin who suddenly slapped them on the back.

"I've been waiting for a long time." Aldin hooked the little knight's neck with one hand and the half-elf's shoulder with the other, and poked his head between the two with a smile on his face, embracing left and right.

After saying hello, he let go of the two of them, went to pour a glass of wine, pulled the nearest chair and sat down casually, and picked up a meatball that Ryan had just watched.

"Sit down too, sit whatever you want," Aldin raised his hand, "I don't have so many rules here, take what you want to eat, and stand up if you can't reach it."

Winter Thistle and Ryan looked at each other, and sat opposite Aldin.

Ryan's complexion became a little heavy.Winter Thistle understood what Ryan was thinking: Just now, Aldin suddenly appeared behind them, which surprised them.That's all for Winter Thistle himself. He doesn't have the talent for vigilance, but Ryan is different. Although this kid is young, he has already received several years of combat training. Usually he can find someone approaching and quickly judge whether the other party is there or not. Malicious, but this time, he was unaware of Aldin's approach... I don't know if it was because Aldin's steps were too light, or because Ryan's attention was attracted by the food.

Winter Thistle gently touched Ryan's wrist when he was seated, signaling him to restrain his emotions. Ryan understood Winter Thistle's meaning and nodded slightly.

At this time, Kanai walked in and greeted briefly, picked up an empty plate, randomly forked some food from the table, put it in, took a bun, and left in a hurry.

Aldin said to the guests: "You don't need to worry about him, he is like this when he is busy, and he thinks eating well is a waste of time."

Winter Thistle asked: "It seems that you said at noon that you and that Lord Kanai are brothers?"

"Yeah, we're brothers. Do you think we don't look alike?" Aldin said. "My brother and I are four years apart. We lived apart for a while and then reunited. I worked as a servant." Bing, worked as a caravan bodyguard for several years. Kanai was a scribe at first, and then went to learn basic arcane characters, and not long after that, he went to that so-so academy."

"Hilda's Academy?" asked Winter Thistle.

"Hey, it seems that you understand this," Aldin smiled, "Kanai is a mage, and you should have a common language. What a coincidence, we and you happen to be two pairs of brothers. Maybe this is the arrangement of fate. We It will be a pleasure to work together.”

Aldin swung his wine glass and pointed to the flask.Seeing this, Winter Ji quickly poured wine for himself and Ryan.

The three toasted and drank at the same time.Aldin asked about the situation of their brothers, whether they lived together since they were young, etc. Dongji also briefly talked about his own situation.He didn't talk about it in detail, he just talked about the two brothers who had half fathers, their relatives died young, and only the two brothers were left to support each other and so on.

Winter Thistle and Aldin had questions and answers, Ryan just ate in silence, rarely spoke, and occasionally made a little polite response.

Aldin glanced at it by chance, and noticed that the pointed ears of the winter thistle were tinged with a little red.The half-elf didn't actually drink a few sips of wine, but just took a few sips after raising his glass.This rosé wine is not intense, and for someone like Ardine, it's just a little sweet water.

Aldin suddenly asked: "Winter Ji, how old are you?"

"About 37."

Aldin said: "Oh... I also know other half-elves. Maybe you have heard that one of the managers of the Chamber of Commerce is a half-elf. He is about 60 years old, but his age looks about the same as me. So In comparison, you are so small."

He intentionally let his gaze rest on Dong Ji's face for a while longer.Winter Thistle's hair color is not very beautiful, so his attention is always drawn to the red pointy ears.

Winter Thistle maintained her smile, thought for a while and said, "Master Kanai is younger than me, but as a spellcaster, he must have accomplished more than me."

If you don't understand the intention of the other person's words, you don't take it directly, but avoid it skillfully... Very cute, he is a person who can chat.Aldin thought silently, with a smile on his face, and took another sip of wine.

During this dinner, the three of them talked about polite greetings, travel knowledge, local scenery, etc. Aldin didn't mention the tasks after hiring them, and Winter Thistle didn't ask about it.

Not only that, Aldin took the initiative to bring up matters related to the Ten Sail Street Chamber of Commerce several times, but Dongji only responded and never continued to inquire along the topic.

This way of talking looks enthusiastic, but in fact it is extremely polite and cautious.

Judging from Aldin's previous experience, whether it is a long-term employee or a short-term cooperation, people will always be somewhat curious about the chamber of commerce.People who understand the rules will not ask nonsense, but if Aldin takes the initiative to talk about various things, people will follow in order to learn more about the chamber of commerce.

Some people want to broaden their horizons, some people want to gain experience, some people want to accumulate conversation resources, and very few people have a more secret purpose... Anyway, no matter what the purpose is, it is normal to have this kind of curiosity.

Winter thistle was too cautious, which made Aldin find it unusual.

After a meal, Aldin was still very energetic, but the half-elf and the little knight looked drowsy.The two of them ran around during the day and had a full meal with wine at night, so it's no wonder that they quickly fell asleep.

Aldin told them to go back and have a good rest. Today they only catch wind and don't talk about work, and they will talk about serious business during the day tomorrow.

After the two greeted each other politely, Ryan left the banquet hall first.Winter Thistle was late on purpose, and he glanced around the seats, as if to make sure they hadn't messed up anything or left anything behind.

Seeing him like this, Aldin found it funny.

This half-elf brother and his younger brother are ten years apart. The elder brother is not only a brother, but a combination of mother, father, attendant, and speaker.

After Winter Thistle checked, he just went to open the door to leave when Aldin followed him, stretched out his hand from behind him, and pushed the door back again.

Aldin propped one arm by the door, temporarily trapping the dazed half-elf in front of him.

He lowered his head and said softly: "Go back and have a good rest. The bed in the guest room must be more comfortable than the bed in the post station. If there is anything, you can talk to any servant."

"Thank you." Winter Thistle nodded.Maybe it was because of the alcohol... At such a close distance, he could feel the heat emanating from Aldin's body.

Because of Aldin's tall stature, Winter Thistle lowered his eyes slightly, and was facing the snake head tattoo on Aldin's chest.Winter Thistle looked away quickly, not to appear impolite.

Aldin smiled, relaxed his arms, and opened the door again: "It's a pleasure chatting with you. I will chat with me more when I have time."

"Of course. As long as you don't find me boring." Winter Thistle said.

"How come. You are very interesting, and I like you."

Winter Ji froze for a moment, but the smile on his face remained intact.He said "See you tomorrow", bowed slightly before turning his head and leaving.

Aldin stood at the entrance of the banquet hall with arms folded, watching Winter Thistle pass through the stone corridor and disappear into the vine garden after nightfall.

Because of the alcohol, Winter Ji's cheeks were flushed, so it was difficult to detect his real expression.

It's a pity, Aldin thought.