Artoria wants to read people's hearts

"Because we all know that in this dangerous era, the only way to survive is to stay vigilant at all times, right?"

Patting the other party's shoulder, Arturia sighed in admiration. "You've done well."

Such a young man in his prime gave Arturia a calm and restrained temperament.

Presumably this young man's past life must have been as ignorant of the future and life and death as everyone in his stronghold.

The hardships of life have polished the young man in front of him into what he is now. How can this kind of thing not feel heavy.

A sigh escaped from the corner of her mouth, and Arturia introduced herself to the other party again.

"Let's get to know each other again." She smiled, "I'm Artoria Pendragon, sir, can you tell me your name?"

The character is written on the face, and the character is engraved in the action.

Emotional ups and downs are revealed in the voice, and temperament is reflected in the posture and eyes.

Rick couldn't help but feel at ease, and also laughed.

"Miss Pendragon, my name is Rick, Rick Dora, nice to meet you."

Chapter 13 All for Humanity ([-] in [-])

Rick Dora, a young man who just turned 18.

Although he is young, he is already the leader of a large human stronghold.

The old saying goes that if you don't have hair on your mouth, you can't do things well, but Arturia saw in the other party different qualities from other people.

Sophisticated, mature, with a different outlook and courage than others.

When these qualities are combined, it must be said that it is a very magical thing to appear in a young man who is just 18 years old.

However, Artoria also understands that the other party has grown into the current appearance to a large extent, not because of the charming scenery ahead, but because the reality behind her is cruel, so she has to force herself to move forward.

He is a person who can accomplish great things, the blond king made such a conclusion in his heart.

"Miss Pendragon, why are you here alone?" Rick asked suspiciously, "Could it be that you are a traveler?"

A human being, and a beautiful young girl at that.

Although his skills are extraordinary, there must be a reason why he appeared alone in the goblin mine at night.

After all, it's impossible to come here for a stroll after dinner at night.

Hearing the white-haired young man's inquiry, Artoria just shook her head slightly, and then said to him, "I am not a traveler, and I am here only because of some misunderstanding."

When she said this, she couldn't help but sighed lightly.

So in Rick's sight, Arturia reached out and took out two similar looking machines from her backpack.

"When the hunting team in our stronghold was hunting for prey, they accidentally found an abandoned goblin ruins, and in the ruins group, I found two machines that could still be opened, and on top of those two machines were It shows a map leading here."

As she spoke, she reached out and handed the two machines to the white-haired young man. "Look, these are the things."

When giving something to the other party, Arturia quietly instilled some magic power into it because he could not perceive the fluctuation of magic power.

So from Rick's perspective, the two machines had been turned on all the time, and the map on them was clearly visible.

Reaching out his hand to take it, he lowered his head and looked at it carefully for a moment.

Sure enough, he saw a map on it, and the location pointed to by the map was the goblin mine they just escaped from.

"I originally thought that the workmanship was so good, and when I found them, they were hidden relatively deep, so I thought that the locations shown above were hiding some relatively important secrets, but..."

Arturia took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly.

"...I traveled all the way to get here, but I didn't expect it to be a mine abandoned by goblins."

With a wry smile, she raised her eyes and glanced at the white-haired young man opposite.

"Then what about you? Mr. Rick." Artoria asked the other party's reason, "Why did you come here alone?"

She dared to come here alone because of her audacity, but for Rick...

With all due respect, although the white-haired young man is physically fit, his physical fitness and various indicators are still at the level of normal people.

So this is a bit intriguing.

Just as the other party wondered the reason for his appearance before, it really didn't make sense for him to appear alone in this abandoned mine when the moon was dark and the wind was high.

However, she didn't expect that the smile on Rick's face froze as soon as her words fell.

His expression slowly became gloomy, his lips were tightly pursed into a slit, and a little haze appeared in those beautiful purple-red eyes, and the atmosphere of his whole body visibly sank to the naked eye.

Seeing this scene, Arturia couldn't help being stunned, and a bad premonition began to emerge in her heart.

"........."

After a moment of silence, the white-haired young man seemed to be recalling something painful, and the expression on his face showed some struggle.

His lips twitched twice, and he finally opened his mouth to tell his reason.

"We also got some information from other places, so we came here... thinking that we might be able to find some useful things or information."

Arturia squinted her eyes, keenly aware of the "we" in the other party's words.

"However, this place is an abandoned mine—" he lowered his eyelashes after a sneer, "—not only did we find nothing, but even the two companions around me were killed by those The rising monsters were devoured."

When he said this, his tone didn't fluctuate too much, but Artoria was able to clearly see through the emotions the other party was suppressing at the moment.

Just like the sleeping volcano under their feet, Rick also buried his surging surge as deeply as it did.

Perhaps... one day it will erupt in silence.

However, sorrow and hardship are the highest schools for tempering personality, and the gray-haired youth will grow from it. This may be a good thing, but it is definitely a bad thing in a deeper sense.

After all, if possible, no one would be willing to grow in this way.

Arturia's emerald green eyes were filled with ripples of ignorance of emotion, which was the emotion in her heart silently fermenting.

Suddenly, she took a step forward, then clenched her right fist on her chest and bowed towards the other party in apology.

"Mr. Rick, please allow me to apologize to you for one thing."

Rick's eyes widened in surprise at the girl's actions. He waved his hands slightly for no reason, and stepped forward in a little puzzlement to help her up.

but........

The other party's next sentence made his movements suddenly stagnate.

"I'm sorry, although it was not my intention, but the rampage of the demon species in the mine was indeed created by me."

"........"

The white-haired young man was in a daze for a moment, he stopped what he was doing, and his purple-red eyes fixed on the blond-haired girl.

"... What you said is true?" Rick's tail trembled a little, as if he was holding back something.

Arturia could hear the young man's wavering, but she had to admit what she had to admit.

"I accidentally made a loud noise in the mine because I killed a monster, and maybe there was the flesh and blood smell from the corpse of the monster. Started to go berserk."

As she spoke, she couldn't help showing a sorry expression on her face.

"What I just said is not a lie, just because I don't want to hide it, and I also think you should know the truth."

"........."

Due to his height, Rick looked down to see the other person's eyes.

Those were a pair of emerald green eyes, as clear and moving as a lake, reflecting his tired and dusty figure at this moment.

The color of the lake is still as clear as a jewel in the dark night.

No less bitterness, nobility and purity.

The other party's unparalleled beauty, with a breathtaking beauty, moved everyone who saw it.

It's like a city floating in the sky, like a secret, but it can't be told.

He suppressed the sadness in his heart, and reason slowly returned to his mind.

"......I see."

The young man's black soles rubbed against the ground, making a rustling sound.

Rick took a step back, then sat back on the big rock. "I know what you're trying to convey...so I accept your apology."

After he finished speaking, he fell silent again, and it took nearly a minute after that before he continued to speak.

"I know that the rampage of the demon species was not intentional by you. It can only be said to be a tragedy caused by a series of various coincidences."

"Furthermore..." He smiled wryly when he said this, "...the order to send them to death is still given by me."

To quantify human life, everything is measured according to the value that an individual can contribute to the collective.

He is the 'leader' and has the highest value in their team.

So when it was a matter of life and death, he gave the order to let the two companions die, and all this was just to help him buy time to escape.

Abandon the few and save the majority, keep the valuable and give up the worthless.

A cruel and realistic course of action, but this is the reason why their stronghold can develop and grow to this point.

The tone was a little helpless, but it was more of self-blame for myself. After all, such a move would make the person who made the decision feel the most painful.

Arturia wanted to comfort the other party, but she swallowed the words again.

Because in the final analysis, it was her who caused the deaths of his two companions, so how could she be qualified to persuade the other party to look away with such a capacity.

Presumably, what you say is just standing up and talking without back pain, which is futile and annoying.

In the dark night, Arturia could clearly see the folds on the young man's clothes, and the deep shadow drawn by each fold made the other party's figure look extraordinarily lonely.

The atmosphere fell into silence, flickering.

After that, Rick took the lead to break the silence at the moment.

"The hunting party you mentioned...didn't they come with you?"

Changing the subject, he pressed those sorrows into his heart like before.

"No—" Shaking her head, Artoria concealed some information in her words, "—the place pointed to by that map is unknown, and what is here is just my personal guess, saying After all, I can't put them in danger because of this kind of thing."

When the other party wanted to say something, she hurriedly added, "You know, as long as I'm careful, I can still protect myself."

This sentence reminded Rick of the fact that the other party killed the demon species with one blow, so he swallowed and spit, and he finally believed the other party's explanation.

"You are very powerful—" he affirmed this, "—you are the most powerful human being I have ever seen."

As he spoke, he developed a love of talent in his heart.

"Being able to follow a clue that you don't know whether it's true or false and run here without fear of danger, I think you are also a person who is unwilling to accept the future of mankind, and it happens that I am also resentful about this."

He began to try to poach the corner, "Do you want to follow me back to my stronghold? With you here, we can definitely get more information, so as to fight for more living space for human beings."

Hearing the other party's words, Artoria's heart was indeed a little moved.

but..........

Shaking her head, she said to Rick a little sorry.

"Sorry, I can't accept your invitation."

"I have joined a stronghold. Although there are only a hundred people, everyone treats me very well..." The girl's gaze fell on the white-haired young man, and there was a trace of melancholy in the girl's eyes, ". .......I can't and can't abandon them, Mr. Rick, they need me more than you."

From the very difficult time of survival at the beginning, to the current situation where everyone is smiling and can basically eat meat, it took less than a month.

If she withdraws and leaves at this moment, then everyone will return to the previous state.

This is not acceptable, she, Artoria, cannot be so irresponsible in doing things.

However, although she rejected the other party's invitation, she could have some contact in other aspects.

"Mr. Rick—" she nodded slightly towards the other party, "—the survival of human beings is difficult nowadays. If possible, I think our two strongholds can deepen exchanges."

"That's right."

Nodding his head, Rick agreed with the proposal.

"That's how it is." After thinking for a while, he said a location, "This is the range of our stronghold. If you need it, you can come and find me."

When he said this, he paused, then raised his eyes and said seriously, "Please rest assured, for the continuation of human beings, as long as I can help, I will help."