"Master Putilai asked me to add some firewood to you, Your Highness." Recruit Willow Ken brought a bundle of firewood and respectfully walked to Thales, who was sitting beside the fire.

Thales nodded numbly, thinking over and over again about King Nunn's proposal.

This was their last stop before entering Longxiao City.

Behind them, under the supervision of Putilai, Huaiya and Rolf, including the veterans of Xingchen, were nervously inspecting their equipment.

The Black Sand soldiers who had set up camp were busy, while the White Blade Guards were still guarding them like prison guards, all of them with alert eyes and unkind expressions.

It seemed as if he really had a life-and-death grudge against them.

"Willow," just as the recruits were about to leave and return to the team, the second prince spoke softly: "Have you ever been scared or at least nervous since our journey began?"

Willow put down the firewood respectfully and was stunned for a moment.

"You know," Thales said slowly, "I struggle with inexplicable dangers every day, worried about the cold, the battle, the enemy, and everything."

Willow was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect that His Highness the Prince would ask him this.

The recruit turned his head and thought carefully before replying: "I was very nervous just before the battle. After all, I'm not as calm as Uncle Genard, who was cut on the head with a knife."

"But I don't feel scared," Willow frowned, thinking carefully, even forgetting his respectful tone: "Although it is very dangerous, I think it is much easier..."

"Simple?" Thales asked.

"I mean, on the battlefield, everything is very fast: I poke the gun out, and there are only two outcomes: life or death. This is good." Willow's eyes fell silent, and his expression became a little desolate: "At least you tried hard.

When the time comes, there will be rewards, and you know what the results will be - then there is no need to be afraid.”

Thales stared at the recruit's face carefully.

"Willow, who taught you how to use two guns? Your parents and elders?" Thales put his hands on the fire to keep warm, and asked with an indistinct expression: "Or some veteran who can use two guns?"

Willow touched the two guns tied behind his back and scratched his face in confusion.

"No one taught me, Your Highness." After confirming that His Highness was indeed just chatting, the recruit slowly shook his head: "As for my parents, they passed away eleven or two years ago."

Twelve years ago.

Thales kept this number in mind.

"So..." Thales said slowly.

"You know, the military disaster in the North..." Willow shrugged, expressionless: "There is no food in the village. My parents followed the people in the village and took their only belongings to the nearest village or town to exchange for food, but they couldn't

did not return."

Thales raised his gaze.

"But I heard from the old people in the village that no matter whether they encounter the Exeter people or our army of stars, there will be no good end - the winner will demand tribute, and the loser will directly plunder." Willow said lonelyly: "

It was very chaotic back then.”

The two were silent for a few seconds.

"Then how did you survive?" Thales said silently.

"A gift from the mountains," Willow sighed: "Although adults say it is a gift from the gods, only travelers can enjoy it."

"But my sister and I were both crazy from hunger." The recruit's face showed regret: "And we were not the only ones who did this. At the end of that winter, even the most remote treetops were robbed."

Post-war famine in the north... Thales thought of Duke Arend's hysteria in the Renaissance Palace.

"But after spring came, there was still not enough food. Your Highness. My sister was so hungry that she bit her fingers..." Willow stared at the fire in fascination, struggling in his memory: "Fortunately, the Mu River flows through our village, so I

Follow everyone in the village and do your best to fish."

"We didn't know how to make nets, and we couldn't borrow fishing nets at that time, and we couldn't find places with fish."

"So I can only rely on the technique of spearing fish when I was a child, and stay by the river every day... I always failed at the beginning and could not find the fish. It was other adults who shared the fish caught with us. Whenever I brought

My sister will be very happy when she comes home with a fish..."

"I go out in the morning and look at my sister's smiling face, but I don't know if I will gain enough today," Willow said in a low voice, "Many times your efforts are in vain."

Thales exhaled: "But you still survived."

"Later I gradually became more proficient and could find fish schools," Willow looked down at his hands and frowned: "In winter, when the river freezes, we can catch more fish, and the fish schools are too cold.

Huddled together..."

"When you grow up, you can no longer just eat, but you also have to catch more fish and exchange them at the market. Sometimes you can even get copper coins back."

"I started trying to spear fish with two hands. After a long time, I could even stab through the ice with one hand - so on the battlefield, I always like to have an extra gun."

So that’s it, Thales sighed:

"But you responded to the call this time," the second prince said calmly: "What about your sister? Stay at home?"

Willow's face darkened.

"No." The recruit tried his best to smile, but in the end, he could only show a bitter expression.

"She got typhoid last year. We had no money and no place to buy medicine - medicine that is only available in big towns." Willow said tremblingly: "I can only feed her hot water over and over again."

Thales frowned.

Colia - the little girl with typhoid fever appeared in front of her.

"Finally, my sister said she wanted to eat fish."

"But when I come back..."

Willow fell silent and stared at the fire.

Thales didn't speak either.

After several seconds, the two could only hear the sounds of people around them and the explosion of the fire.

Until Willow, who looked lonely, spoke again:

"I buried her by the river."

The recruit blinked hard, as if some foreign object had invaded, and he only heard him whisper:

"I really hope there are fish in the prison river, Your Highness."

Willow silently made a less than standard salute, turned and left.

At this moment, Thales stopped the recruits.

"Willow."

"There are fish in the prison river." The traveler looked at Willow who turned around and smiled: "I read it in a book."

————

"Are you worried about what's coming?" Putilai stood beside Thales and looked at the backs of the departing recruits.

Thales, who was sitting by the fire, raised his head.

"You know, Putilai," Thales said in a daze: "The recruit just said that he thinks life is very simple now."

Putilai raised his eyebrows.

"Put the gun out. There are only two consequences: life or death. That's good. That's what he said." Thales turned around and said.

"But my life is very complicated," Thales' eyes darkened, "It's so complicated that it makes me feel tired."

"I originally thought that the politics in the Star Country were complicated enough, but I didn't expect that Exeter, who is known for his rough and heroic character, would be no less sophisticated."

A grand duke with ulterior motives, a king bent on revenge, and a subject with sharp words.

Everything was not in line with his imagination of Northland and Exeter.

That cheerful country where people drink and drink amid the falling snow and cold wind.

"It's only the people from the North who are rough and heroic," Putilai also sat down, took out his pipe, shook his head and said, "But what you are facing are those nobles, those rulers, those who hold power."

Thales frowned: "King Nuen, the Grand Duke of Lombard, and the five Grand Dukes I am about to meet, they are all from the North."

"They are another kind of creature." Putilai lit his pipe and said silently: "Ordinary people live on food and air, but they live on power."

"The new recruit just now is also from the North. Although he is very humble, at least he doesn't have to live in fear and caution every step of the way." Thales said dullly: "As for those nobles and lords, don't you think that living like this Is it sad?"

"You occupy a more prominent position, and every move you make has wide implications and far-reaching influence," Putilai exhaled a puff of smoke: "And this is the price and sacrifice of power."

"God, how long did it take for me to regain my identity as a prince," the seven-year-old prince sighed like a little adult at this moment: "But I am already a little tired of this kind of life."

Maybe I'm just not used to it.

He said silently.

Maybe this kind of life can last a little longer, maybe this kind of experience can last a little longer...

Can I just...?

"The life you are tired of is what many people dream of," Putilai frowned and replied to the previous contemptuous address: "Little prince, go and see the lives of common people and see those **** who live for three meals." Busy people, think about this sentence again."

"Think about the village before we entered the northern border...the bumbling baron and his subjects."

Thinking of Willow's experience, Thales hummed softly.

"Of course," Thales smiled bitterly: "I hope I will have such an opportunity to see the whole world and contact different people, whether it is two continents or countless islands."
To be continued...