[Retvodant]

[Officer's residence]

The young man in military uniform walked in front quietly pushed open the door of the first floor bedroom, then turned around, lowered his voice and said apologetically:

"Originally, there were several idle officers' residences, but some time ago, Major Seber and his friends came back from the wasteland and took them all without saying a word. I'm sorry for you, squeeze in with Lieutenant Colonel Moritz first."

Across the shoulders of the young man in military uniform, Axel in Orange looked at the arrangement of the room:

The tables, chairs, doors and windows were wiped clean, obviously, just after some careful cleaning; the bedding was all available and should have been taken out from the bottom of the box. The creases of the bed sheets have not yet disappeared due to the long-term pressure release, and they have a unique smell of unusedness; there are tables, chairs and writing tools in front of the bed, and a small bookshelves filled with books are placed on the desk. The title of the book on the spine should be specially selected by him.

"It's good enough here." Ike felt a little moved and asked quipped: "You should let me stay in a prison cell. After all, I'm a prisoner, aren't you afraid that I will run away?"

The young man in military uniform smiled and gently pushed up the door, whispering: "You live next to Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, which is safer than living in a cell. Moreover, Lieutenant Colonel Moritz is not like another major with a bad personality. He is easy-going and has a good temper. You will not be angry about your military rank when you live here."

Ike didn't quite understand the other person's meaning, but he nodded.

The young man in military uniform remembered something, raised his hand and moved his collar, and coughed lightly: "But one thing to pay attention to - never make too much noise. Lieutenant Colonel... He is in a bad mental state recently and has been meditating most of his day, trying to sleep and sleep. If disturbed, he...he may hurt you by chance..."

Ike listened carefully, but the more he listened, the more he became more confused.

The young man in military uniform blinked his eyes, as if he also noticed that he described the problem too seriously. He waved his hand quickly: "But it's just possible, you don't have to worry too much, the lieutenant colonel is normal most of the time."

"Or else, would you still send me to the dungeon?" After hearing the words of the young man in military uniform, Ike was amused and crying. He couldn't help but lower his voice and asked angrily: "Did you let me live in a room with an out-of-control war horse? Winters!"

"Maybe more dangerous than an out-of-control horse." The young man in military uniform - Winters Montane, the lord of the rebels of the Iron Peak County, was a famous Blood Wolf in the small circle of United Provincial Officers sent to Paratu, and Ike's classmates and friends - looked down and pondered for a moment, raised his head, and answered rigorously and humorously:

"A cannon that is out of control is a more accurate metaphor!"

As soon as these words came out, both of them laughed.

The two looked at each other and felt familiar and unfamiliar. It has been nearly three years since they became trainee officers.

Three years have given Ike the demeanor and temperament of the "upper society", just like carving exquisite and delicate portraits from stone. Axel of Orange also faded away his childishness and grew into a handsome and friendly young man.

The changes in Winters were completely opposite. Three years of hard work almost polished the hypocrisy and artificiality that belonged to the "upper society" and revealed the tough billet inside. Time not only did not smooth out his edges, but instead made his lines more distinct. He became thinner, heroic, capable, and agile, and his every move showed an incomparable wild charm and a strong confidence to stand tall.

Looking at each other, Ike shook his head, poured his head tiredly on the bed, buried his head in the pillow, and sighed comfortably.

Then he turned around, gave a thumbs up to his old classmate, and half-truely praised: "If you haven't seen each other for two years, your sense of humor has improved a lot."

The young man in military uniform unbuttoned the armed belt outside his shirt, pulled out the chair, and straddled his arms in the opposite direction. His arms were folded on the edge of the chair back, tilted his head, and a innocent smile on his face, asking, "Why do you think I'm joking?"

"Hmm?" Ike sat up again with his arms.

"The school official who lives with you in this apartment." Winters pointed to the ceiling, half teasing and half showing off: "It is not necessarily the most powerful caster in the republics, but it is certainly the most dangerous caster in the republics. Do you still think I'm joking?"

Ike subconsciously held his breath, and the hairs on his arms and back stood up, and he couldn't help but sit up straight.

Just as Ike was still digesting the impactful information, the young man in military uniform patted Ike on the shoulder and said optimistically:

"But you don't have to worry. I have taken away all the pointed things in this house, and now there is not even a fork. So even if the cannon is out of control, it is still an out of control cannon without ammunition. And the lieutenant colonel's mental state has improved recently, so it should not hurt anyone."

A strong curiosity surged in Ike's heart: "Uh, this...Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, what's wrong with him? As for what you said..."

He instinctively wanted to find out, but suddenly remembered his captive identity and stopped immediately - because he did not want to use his friendship with Winters to inquire about the rebels.

"You'd better not tell me." Ike shook his head: "I won't ask again, either."

"It's okay." The other party's attitude was so frank that Ike was incredible: "Lieutenant Colonel was trying to quit drinking. I heard that it was horrible before - but I was not there during that time. He has improved a lot recently."

"The more you explain, the more I am afraid. Otherwise, you ask me to live in your place?" The more sincere the other party was, the less Ike wanted to listen. He changed the subject and deliberately dragged the long voice and said, "Oh, I forgot, you already have a wife!"

"Fiancée." The young man in military uniform suddenly turned red, and he explained embarrassedly: "Fiancée."

"But a great beauty!" Ike said enviously.

"Ha." The young man in military uniform unbuttoned the collar and said indifferently: "It's just that."

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Ike couldn't help but sigh: "You are a horse racing but don't know how hard it is to pick up a horse! I heard that you have a wealthy beauty who takes the initiative to pay you, and everyone is jealous of you! When we were in Guitu City, let alone a beauty who paid for her, even if she was invited to the dance party occasionally, she could only watch others make the ladies giggle."

"You can't call me a back-up, to be precise..." The young man in military uniform held his forehead and thought hard: "I don't know how to describe it. I'm in love with each other?"

"Tell me." Ike became interested: "Tell me, why do you 'emotional' and let me learn some experience."

"It starts with a slap in the face."

The young man in military uniform was quite interested at the beginning, then he tilted his head and looked at the ground to ponder. He seemed to be recalling the little things and sorting out his language. After a while, he sighed and said with a smile: "I will tell you a long story later."

"Okay." Ike vaguely felt that his friend seemed unwilling to tell his fiancée story with a frivolous attitude, so he stopped asking. He once again pulled the topic and deliberately blamed him: "But if you are engaged, don't tell me, is it too much? How difficult can it be to send a letter? Winters Montagne, I didn't expect you to be such a cold-hearted person."

"Actually." The young man in military cleaned his throat awkwardly: "I'm not engaged yet."

"Before you got engaged, have you taken the other person together? Me, I..." Ike's eyes widened at first, then fell softly on the bed like a water bag that had broken his mouth, and whined unwillingly: "I really envy you!"

"You are in Guitu City." The young man in military uniform asked: "Have you heard about me?"

Ike did not answer. He sat on his knees, looked straight at his friend, and said seriously: "Winters, please don't ask me any military information about the United Provinces-I won't answer either. At the same time, I won't inquire about your military information. Is it OK?"

"No problem." The young man in military uniform smiled heartily: "You are my prisoner, you are my classmate and good friend, there is no conflict."

Ike breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, from the moment we meet, a faint gap spreads between the two. It is invisible, but it is real.

How could there be no barrier? Even if you are close relatives, you will inevitably feel unfamiliar after seeing each other for many years. Not to mention that Winters Montagne and Axel Orange are not only friends, but also enemies, and each shoulders different responsibilities and missions.

So Winters Montagne and Axel Orange, who met again, were working hard to maintain the atmosphere of the conversation, tacitly not asking about things that might cause the other party to dislike, and carefully looking for "safe topics".

Because they value this friendship and do not want it to be defiled, destroyed and blasphemed.

However, this "deliberate pleasing" and "careful" way of getting along is precisely the main source of the "sense of estrangement".

After Ike pointed out the bottom line, the invisible sense of estrangement disappeared, and the two returned to the past when they were inseparable and talked about everything when they were in school.

"Actually nothing." Ike sat back and said with a smile: "Many classmates know about you."

"Oh?" The young man in military uniform was surprised.

"After learning that you were sent to Paratu and that Palatou's classmates were sent overseas, everyone was very angry and felt that this was not glorious and unfair." Ike sighed: "Everyone cares about you very much, so he tried every means to inquire about your situation. If anyone has any new news, the students of the 21st period will know quickly. When they learned that your military rank was promoted quickly, everyone joked that you were blessed in disguise."

The young man in military uniform listened attentively and nodded constantly. Ike stared at his friend's expression - the latter seemed to have many questions to ask.

But the young man in military uniform didn't ask anything in the end, just laughed and laughed and laughed and said, "I just said, when did I become so popular? But, if I have the chance, I would like to thank everyone for me."

"Your information is the most popular." Ike was recalled, pulled the blanket under him and leaned on him, changing to a more comfortable position, and said enthusiastically: "Everyone thought you were dead in battle, and even held a memorial service for you. Someone else cried at the memorial service. Do you remember Danilo Alsper?"

"Of course I remember, but isn't he a cavalry department?"

"He said that although you are not likable, you are not a bastard either." Ike imitated his classmate's tone: "So, 'I died so unknown, died under the horse's hooves of the barbarians, and even the body cannot be retrieved. It's not worth it! It's not worth it! Why?!'"

The young man in military uniform subconsciously touched his nose: "Why do I feel...he still remembers the hatred of me hitting his nose so hard that he had been bleeding for three days?"

"Didn't he beat you up to the point of black eyes?" Ike asked sneered and said, "Then you two swept the toilet for a month?"

"I want to clarify." The young man in military uniform said righteously: "It was you who provoked us first and scolded us Venetta's profiteer, and we beat you up. And I was forced to help. The first one was obviously Andre! He was the one who planned to fight! In the end, I swept the toilet for a month."

Ike's mouth was filled with a smile that only when he recalled the past: "The fight between each other without a chance of winning or losing can't be called a 'beat', right?"

"Anyway, your vocational students bullied our Venetta students the most back then." The young man in military uniform couldn't help laughing: "In the end, he would have fought a few more fights."

"It's not that it's good to fight," Ike corrected: "It's because the intensity of courses and training is too high, and the instructors hate it very much. In the end, everyone is united in opposition to the instructors, so naturally there will be no conflicts."

"Yes." The young man in military uniform sat sloppyly against the desk, and his face showed the lazy smile that was worthy of beating when he was a student.

Both of them seemed to have thought of something, and the small bedroom fell silent.

"By the way." Ike tried to break the silence with a new topic and said, "I met Andre. It was the big guy in the Cavalry Department, the stupid one...ah, you shouldn't need me to explain."

"Is that true?" The young man in military uniform responded in cooperation.

Ike said lightly: "If he hadn't confirmed my identity, I would have been in the prisoner-of-war camp for a long time."

"Have he said anything strange?" The young man in a military uniform asked curiously: "Or some sarcastic words to you?"

"No, he said nothing. He also comforted me a few words - although in his tone, saying anything sounds a bit ironic." Ike squeezed out a smile: "So I think he is not as annoying as before."

"oh."

Another silence.

"Bad is in the south, and he will soon come to Revodan." The young man in military uniform raised his tone: "He must be surprised to see you."

"Ah, Mr. 'Bissar'-I would love to see him, too."

Another silence.

Although both of them were trying to find relaxed topics, the atmosphere inevitably became heavier and heavier.

"Wentes." Ike hesitated for a while, and chose to speak. He sat up, leaned forward, and looked at his friend earnestly: "There are many bandits and evil people in the militia in the Shaved Port, which I know very well. But there are also many of them, ordinary civilians - desperate tenants, farmers who were forced to recruit, and refugees who just wanted to ask for a full meal."

The young man in military uniform listened without saying a word.

"I know the losers are not qualified to make any requests." Ike's Adam's apple flipped. He knew he was interfering with other people's actions with his personal friendship, but he felt that he had the responsibility to do so. He asked with difficulty: "Can you let them go home? You can rest assured that they will no longer have the courage to resist you."

After a moment of silence, the young man in military uniform spoke: "Sorry, I can't agree to your request."

Ike endured the disappointment and nodded thankfully.

"But I promise they will be dealt with fairly." A smile appeared on the corner of the young man in military uniform: "In fact, I plan to incorporate the tenants, farmers and refugees you mentioned."

When I first heard what my friend said, Ike was caught off guard, so although the other party's pronunciation was clear, he still asked subconsciously: "What did you say?"

"I want to incorporate the 'good parts' of your troops and include them in my troops." The young man in military uniform repeated calmly.
To be continued...