Dawn Redemption

Finn knocked on the door, and he pushed open the heavy wooden door and walked in after hearing the human voice inside say "Come in".Every step of the thick-soled military boots on the smooth floor is deliberately light.

The clock struck one o'clock in the morning.Noah raised his head from the piles of documents, frowned and looked at the wall clock on the wall.The study room was brightly lit, and the huge floor-to-ceiling windows were blocked by curtains.Behind the desk on one side, Noah sat in a black armchair with a high back, looking at the documents in his hand.

"Sir," Fein stood by the desk, and put the white porcelain cup in his hand on the table, "your coffee."

Noah responded lightly, picked up a small silver spoon to stir the steaming hot coffee, brought it to his mouth to take a sip, but never took his eyes off the document in his hand.

Finn gently sat down on the working seat beside the table, his back straightened so mechanically.The handsome face under the bright yellow light is as delicate as a delicate ice sculpture, cold and inaccessible.He straightened his sitting posture, and swiftly began to organize the shuffled documents on the table with Noah's reading habits, annotating them from time to time.

Noah raised his head, rubbed his frowning brows, and looked at a form pressed under the glass partition on the table, without raising his head, he said, "Second Lieutenant Fein, how is today's progress?"

"The five people who conspired last time were hanged today. There are two batches at the gas chamber." It was reported like a machine.Finn's clear blue eyes still looked straight at him unnaturally, "The torture report has been sorted out and handed over to you, sir."

Noah pulled out the report from many documents. The handwriting on the paper was very neat, and the content was carefully organized and listed in sections, concise and focused. "Well, well done." Noah praised. "Thank you, sir. This is my responsibility." Finn continued, his tone still lacking frustration.

Noah buried his head and continued to work.He took the pen next to the decorative quill standing on the table and began to write documents.Take a sip of coffee on the table from time to time to refresh yourself.

People are numb when they work hardest.Therefore, even though the gorgeous hour hand of the wall clock has turned between the Roman numerals one and two, Noah did not feel tired at all.

He works very hard on any job, because any job that contributes to the country is as sacred as a sacrifice in his eyes.He doesn't believe in religion, but the country in his heart is a belief crowned by the holy light made of steel.

Because, as a German, he has dedicated his soul to live and die with the country.

From the day when he entered the Litschfeld Military Academy in Berlin in 1923, he was destined to follow the country illuminated by the Iron Cross all his life, whether it was the Weimar Republic or the later Third Reich.The gunpowder of every bullet burns for the Iron Cross, every word makes a sound for the Iron Cross, even, every drop of blood boils for the Iron Cross.

It doesn't matter good or bad, good or evil.

At that moment, the eyelids dropped for no reason.Finn blinked hurriedly and sat up straight again.

The sound of the clock hands was distracting, echoing empty in the office.Occasionally, there was the sound of Noah flipping the paper.There is a dead silence outside the window, and You Ye seems to be in another world.

Another one, an era without war and gunpowder.

My mind could no longer maintain the original blankness and high sensitivity to instructions, and fragments of chaotic dreams flooded into my mind unstoppably.The picture in front of me gradually became blurred and fell...

Finn shook his head violently to wake himself up, and stood up from the seat "teng".At the moment when the vision was clear, Noah looked at himself with a strange look, and quickly said: "Sorry, sir, I will stand for a while."

After getting tacit approval, he raised his eyes and continued to look straight ahead at nothing.I thought that leaving the comfortable seat would make me more awake, but the pattern on the huge curtain began to gradually blur and turn into a piece of warm yellow.

When Finn finally found that his sight could no longer focus on a fixed point, he realized that he was facing a fact that he didn't want to admit but had to accept.

Oneself, is, is, committed, sleepy.

He blinked his eyes hard, and slightly adjusted his loose military posture.However, after standing still again, the irresistible tiredness surged up like a tide.Everything in front of him slowly sank into the darkness, turning into fragments of memory that the shrewd brain was unwilling to recall.

The light came on, looking at the little boy with neatly combed blond hair in the mirror, the delicate clothes on his body were a little dirty.He hugged his knees and stared blankly at the blue eyes that were exactly the same as his own in the mirror, and there was a lonely look on his immature face that appeared prematurely before his age.The indifference that is used to seeing this situation is faintly shining in the beautiful eyes.In short, it lacks the innocence that children of the same age should have.The emotionless voice behind him called out his name, the boy turned his head and slowly raised his beautiful eyes to take a look.Those eyes were already as cold as frost.

"Fin?"

I can't distinguish the memory from the reality, but the cry is not as ruthless and mechanical as in the dream.But it contained concerns that had never been heard before.

"Lieutenant Finn?"

Finn suddenly raised his head and opened his eyes. Although his eyes were still blurred, he could vaguely make out the outline of Noah.After realizing that he almost fell asleep while standing up just now during the office, he was immediately unable to utter a word with a mixture of shame and embarrassment.It's just that Noah didn't seem to care too much. He turned his head to look at Fein, tilted his head slightly and said, "Second Lieutenant Fein, are you sleepy?"

"...No." My mind became a little dull due to exhaustion, but I still spoke vigorously.After another long silence, I remembered to add a sentence. "Sir."

Perhaps it is because of the lack of the high-intensity, almost cruel and hard training in the military camp, it is no longer difficult to maintain the mental state of staying up for several consecutive nights without feeling tired.Looking at the man in front of him as an officer, he could only say something that went against reality and thought at the same time.Even though he was so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open.

Not knowing whether to see through his superficial lies or simply not caring about the truth of his words, Noah turned his gaze back and took out another stack of documents from the table to review, and at the same time said: "Second Lieutenant Fein, have a good rest at night."

"Okay, sir," Finn replied quickly.At this time, he found that the coffee cup on the table was completely empty.The man in the high-back arm office chair is meticulously reviewing the documents, with a serious profile and a tough profile.The short chestnut hair is neat and there is no trace of mess.

After staying awake for a moment, his mind will fall into drowsiness again.At this moment, Noah suddenly asked, "Who are they today?"

Quickly mobilizing the data in his brain, Fein quickly said: "Half of them are Jews, there are also most of the Soviet prisoners and...and some homosexuals." After speaking, he swallowed his saliva and kept standing still.

"Homosexuality." As if chewing the word, Noah frowned and wrote down the sentence on the paper before speaking.

Everything returned to the silence in the night wind, silently.Finn struggled to hold back a yawn, and then fought back the tears from the yawn.Fortunately, none of this was seen by Noah, who was buried in his work.

Noah let out a long breath and buckled up the cap of the pen. He looked up at the clock on the wall. It was almost 02:30.In addition to the faint turning sound of the second hand "click, click", the breathing of the two became clearly audible in the empty office.

He turned his head to look at the adjutant standing by the table.The originally tall and straight military posture has become so loose that it is out of shape.The eyes under the long eyelashes were slightly closed, and the head drooped naturally.Some thin shoulders in the military uniform package slowly rise and fall with the long breath.

Noah didn't call him, and didn't even feel a little unhappy.

This shallow dormancy is instantly broken by the slightest disturbance.However, Noah did not wake up the adjutant who fell asleep during the office.He looked up at Finn's face carefully.

The iceberg-like indifference has faded from the fair and beautiful face at some time, as if the ice melted in the early spring flowed into the depths of the greenery with the stream.It was as if he had uncovered his face that had been deliberately hidden on weekdays, and only now did he restore his original youthfulness.A youthful expression that is no longer mechanical, as soft as a flower bud.

So what kind of heart is hidden by the cold eyes.

I am standing in the current position because of my passion for the nation back then.Even if it's like working until late at night today, I don't have any complaints because of the faith I hold.

But this enthusiasm is not so obvious to Finn.Perhaps because all his movements are too mechanical, the naked/naked person after his military rank has been retired has always been an obscure mystery.I don't understand why I am loyal to the empire, I don't understand why I am so cold-blooded.Sometimes, the pitch-black flame read from his eyes seemed to be able to devour everything at the moment of burning, and it was by no means like the flame ignited by the loyalty to the empire.

No matter how you look at it, they are not people walking on the same road.But it happens that they come to the same goal by different routes.

Finn's body trembled for a moment, and then he opened his eyes suddenly, meeting Noah's gaze at that moment.After realizing what he did just now, his pale golden eyebrows frowned, revealing a guilty expression.

"It's nothing." As if seeing through the guilt, Noah said lightly, stood up from the chair and gently patted Finn on the shoulder.

"Sorry, sir." Finn lowered his eyes, "I am willing to accept your punishment." "No, no, I said nothing." Noah waved his hand indifferently, and looked up at the clock again to confirm the time.

"It's late today, stay here and rest."

"Sorry, sir, I'm still going back to the barracks—"

"The barracks has already turned off the lights. Besides, there are no street lights on this road, and there is no car to take you back." Noah's tone is beyond doubt, "There are still many empty rooms on the second floor."

Finn bit his lower lip, but quickly returned to a mechanical facial expression: "I can't, sir. Those rooms are for entertaining more senior officers. I don't deserve it."

Said this kind of words very plainly, but it made the listener feel a little unhappy.Noah glanced at Finn up and down, and said in a relaxed tone, "Okay—then, there is a sofa in the living room, so you can sleep there." After a few seconds, it seemed that he couldn't think of other ways.Finn raised his head and said, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I am honored. Sir."

The two walked out of the office one after the other.Finn turned back and closed the door carefully.Noah pointed to the couch that looked comfortable.Fein nodded slightly after understanding, and Noah stopped talking, and went straight to the wooden stairs leading to the second floor.The empty sound of leather shoes stepping on the stairs was especially loud in the silent house.The top of his head was already covered by the ceiling, he paused for two seconds and then lowered his head, looking at Finn's still clear starry eyes in the unlit living room.

"Ann, Lieutenant Finn."

The sound of footsteps walking on the second floor gradually faded away.Finn moved his stiff joints and sat down on the sofa.

The velvet satin sofa is surprisingly soft, and the moment you sit down, your whole body is about to sink into it.Finn raised his head and exhaled a long breath, then put his slender and fair fingers into the soft blond hair and combed it.

He took off his calf-length leather military boots, placed them neatly in front of the sofa, untied the military belt that was tied tightly around his body, and took off his coat.Move your body and lie down on the sofa, and the moment you sink into the warm sofa, it seems that your whole body will melt.It felt like a warm embrace.

Although, no one has ever given a real hug.

The length of the sofa is not as long as the height, so you have to curl up slightly, but it is still a very comfortable posture.There is an inexplicable comfort in the general uniform jacket covering the body.Even if there is no pillow, the conditions in the barracks are much better.

Maybe he was really too sleepy, Finn grabbed the collar of his coat and pulled it to his chest, then closed his eyes and fell into a drowsy sleep.