dedicated to violets

The mercenary employee who delivered the message went out from the back door of the hall and stepped into a pure white corridor.On both sides of the corridor are exquisite marble beams and columns, and in the center of the fountain in the garden is a statue of a maiden.

She folded her hands and held the water bottle, looking down at the lake, the gurgling water poured out of the bottle.

The mellow smell of coffee wafted in the air, and the sun was just right, warm but not too dazzling.

There is a small building by the lake, with a red roof and white walls, and irises are planted on both sides of the lake.The flowering period is approaching, and the flower buds are in bud.The blue sky, white clouds, and small buildings with flowers are all reflected on the water, swaying slowly with the water waves.

"What's the matter?" There was a round table in the courtyard, and a man was sitting at the table, enjoying the beautiful morning time surrounded by flowers.

The man's facial features are handsome, and he can even be called gentle. He is wearing an off-white shirt that is fashionable in the capital recently, with a complicated bow tie on the neckline, a palm-wide waist belt made of tanned cowhide, and close-fitting breeches and boots that make his The good figure is undoubtedly revealed.He has an elegant posture, and his golden wavy hair is tied with a ribbon and pulled from the back of his head to the front of his shoulders.

He held a cup of coffee and sipped it, and there were various pastries on the table. The sweet aroma of cream and the bitter and mellow taste of coffee mixed together, making the saliva secrete unconsciously.

The staff's eyes fell on those exquisitely shaped cakes for a few seconds, and then quickly retracted.

He bowed and saluted, and said, "President, there is a man who calls himself Willie Haydn..."

The elegant man suddenly failed, and with a bang, the coffee cup knocked on the table, and he stood up abruptly: "What's your name?"

"Willie Haydon, Mr. President, he asked us to send you a message—'Your old friend Willy Haydon has come to see you'." The employee finished the rest in one breath.

The head of the mercenary guild, Sean Lucas, was also a person who experienced all kinds of storms. After a momentary gaffe, he quickly calmed down and returned to his previous relaxed appearance.

—at least on the surface.

He adjusted his bow tie, sat back on the soft chair uncomfortably, took a sip of coffee: "Can you describe to me what he looks like?"

"Of course, Mr. President."

Recalling Viri's appearance, the staff considered his words and tried his best to describe his appearance: "Black hair and blue eyes, very handsome, the corners of his eyes are a little downturned, he looks very gentle and upright, he is also carrying a violin, By the way, there is also a proud snowy owl."

That snowy owl is really impressive. Most ordinary magical creatures have dull eyes, but this snowy owl's eyes are vivid and full of emotion, almost like a real person.

Sean's hand holding the coffee trembled slightly. He put down the coffee pretending to be calm, and the hot steam in the cup curled up.

It's rare to see the chairman so unsteady, and the employees already have a bottom line in their hearts. He tentatively asked, "Would you like to go and have a look? Or should I bring him here?"

Sean said resolutely: "Of course I will go and have a look."

As soon as the words fell, he raised his legs and was about to go out. After a few seconds, he stepped back, raised his chin slightly, pulled his tie, and asked the staff hesitantly, "Do I want to change clothes?"

……

Viri was sitting in the hall drinking hot tea. The tea leaves grown on the edge of the Misty Forest smelled a bit bitter, and after a while it began to return to sweetness.The snowy owl also took a sip as if joining in the fun, and was immediately so bitter that it flew all over the hall, dropping fine fluff all over the floor.

"Bah, bah, bah!" The snowy owl narrowed his eyes, closed his beak, and looked funny, as if he was laughing, and he couldn't see the pain of being poisoned by bitter tea at all.

This tea was an unwitting breed of apothecaries.

The Mist Forest is fertile and vast, and there are large tracts of land on the edge of the forest.The mercenaries went deep into the forest to pick precious medicinal herbs, and then the pharmacists cultivated and planted more commonly used varieties.The soil environment at the edge of the Misty Forest is similar to that in the forest. Over the past few decades, some strange new varieties have been cultivated by accident.

For example, this sweet tea.

Willie stroked the feathers on the snowy owl's back amusedly: "So don't eat indiscriminately."

"Hey." It made a cry similar to that of a baby bird, which sounded a little aggrieved.

The staff at the reception desk were friendly and attentive, and even took him to the waiting area to serve him a cup of tea - indeed a refreshing touch.The mercenaries on the other side of the hall have already consciously lined up, and the team is orderly.

Viri raised his head and looked at the huge screen.That is a magic crystal creation. It is expensive to polish such a large piece of crystal into this square shape.

The mercenary guild is indeed rich, and the daily handling fee from the release of mercenary missions is a huge income.

There was a sudden commotion at the reception, and Viri keenly caught the sound of hurried footsteps.

He raised his head and looked towards the back door of the hall hidden behind the wall.A few seconds later, a handsome and elegant man came out from around the corner, with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a shirt and a bow tie, dressed like a dog, he looked like a painter, artist or something.

Willie stood up and smiled brightly at him: "Sean, long time no see."

Hearing his greeting, Sean lost his composure again. His eyes were slightly red, and he couldn't help standing where he was, his nose sore.Afterwards, the same bright smile bloomed on his face: "Long time no see, Viri."

……

The two returned to the previous garden together.

The previous cup of coffee had been blown cold by the early spring wind, and the two servants quickly removed the cold pastries and coffee, and replaced them with brand new napkins, knives and forks.

"What do you want to drink? I have everything here." Sean calmed down his excitement, "Only you can't think of it."

Willie laughed and said, "I want a cup of hot milk and some bacon sandwiches. I haven't had breakfast yet."

Sean told the servant: "Remember, I will take my share according to the usual habits, go."

One of the servants took the order, and the other stood there, waiting for orders at any time.

The snowy owl was flying around the lake excitedly with meat in its mouth, and Willie was sitting among the irises, admiring the lake-view courtyard behind the headquarters.

"You really enjoy it," Viri said. "I was surprised that you didn't accept the canonization after the war. I didn't expect you to become the president of the mercenary guild."

Sean snorted: "Aren't you too? Didn't the IX of Andorra want to give you the title of Viscount? At that time you refused, I thought you would leave the capital with me, but you ended up going to the Tulip Academy to be a teacher. Besides , Before joining the war, my ambition was to be a mercenary, and now I’m just getting back on track.”

The valet brought warm milk in good time, and the bacon sandwich was also hot, and the freshly fried bacon exuded an enticing burnt aroma.After thanking the servant, Viri took a big gulp of milk, leaving a ring of milk stains around his mouth.

After wiping off the milk stains with a napkin, he put down the milk and replied with a smile, "I can't say no to you."

"When can you tell me? Before, girls were only willing to chat with me and kept you at arm's length," Sean said triumphantly, "Are you married now?"

"Why do you always ask this question?" Viri smiled wryly. He touched his face and wondered, "Do I look like I'm unloved?"

Sean's curiosity grew, and he winked and asked, "Who else asked if you were married?"

Willie muttered, "Why are you still so curious?"

"Curiosity is the driving force of human progress," Sean said boldly. "It depends on our curiosity to stand out in the world."

Viri choked on the milk, tears in his eyes from laughing.He covered his mouth, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "I haven't seen you for 20 years, but your skin is getting thicker and thicker."

Xiao En and him looked at each other, turned their heads, looked at the ripples of the lake, and sighed: "Yes, it's been 20 years."

A leaf quietly fell on the water, floating around with the ripples of the wind.

Even though their faces haven't changed much, but they haven't seen each other for 20 years, the gap brought by time still lies between them.As time goes by, many things change.

Sean turned around and leaned over to hug his comrades-in-arms and old friends: "Although I haven't said it, I am very happy that you are alive and well, and you have not been taken to the country of fog by illness or any accident. I used to Fewer and fewer of my friends are still alive, and I’m serious, Viri, it’s the happiest thing I’ve had in the past few years that you took the initiative to come to me.”

Viri was holding the milk, and this sweet drink radiated heat continuously through the wall of the ceramic cup, warming his cold palm.Hearing Xiao En's heartfelt words, Willie was stunned as he didn't know how to answer the words to express his feelings.

He blinked slowly a few times before he could react.

"I'm also happy, you're still alive," he pulled the corners of his mouth, and his smile finally became real, unlike before, always separated by a layer of frosted glass, which couldn't be seen clearly.

The two were silent at the same time, each holding a cup and sipping.

The early spring morning breeze blew between them, bringing the noisy voices of the mercenaries outside. Sean drank the little coffee left in his cup, cleared his throat, and said, "What do you want from me this time?" matter? Tell me."

He is well aware of Viri's character and temper, and he will not take a step out of the capital unless necessary.

Since Sean pointed it out straightforwardly, Willy didn't hesitate, and said straight to the point: "I need to ask you for a favor, find some mercenaries."

Sean pressed down on the table, and became interested again. He leaned forward slightly, and asked in a low voice, "How did you become enemies with the mercenaries?"

"I left the capital this time because I wanted to go back to my hometown."

"Fryer?"

"Yes," Willie nodded, "Someone sent me a letter, and it happened that I haven't been back for a long time, so I thought about going back."

"It should be a one-sided enmity. When I came here, I took the steam train, and I changed to the magic crystal energy train at Pence," Viri said lightly. "In the end, I was robbed by a group of robbers in the middle of the night. If you jump off the car nearby, I’ll come to you for help.”

Sean: "...I think ordinary mercenaries should not be able to beat you."

"That's the case. Unfortunately, there were a group of little nobles in the carriage at that time. I can't let them die in vain," Viri said. Find them."

Sean looked at him teasingly: "Help! How could you not help? With such a trivial matter, you are so sure that they will come to the auction house?"

"According to the number of gems they robbed, if you want to quickly convert them into currency, the only option is your mercenary guild headquarters." Viri said affirmatively.

After all, the auction house in the mercenary headquarters accepts everything, and no one is rejected.

……

After eating sandwiches and milk, the two basked in the morning sun for a while, then got up to arrange matters related to pretending to be employees.

When passing through the corridor, Sean said, "I'll give you a mercenary badge later. If you need me next time, just show the badge. You don't need to waste time waiting for someone to summon you."

Viri changed into the staff uniform of the auction house - shirt and vest, which was no different from the uniform of the royal capital.He adjusted his bow tie in front of the mirror and fixed the blond wig on his head.

Snowy Owl squatted by the mirror, looking carefully with a pair of oval golden eyes, as if admiring it.

"Does it look good?" Seeing the snowy owl's serious eyes, Willie couldn't help laughing, and stretched out his fingers to stroke its feathers.

The snowy owl was trembling comfortably, even the tips of its feathers were trembling. It nodded its head purring, and whispered, "It's beautiful."

"I need to camouflage, so that the robbers can't recognize me at a glance," Viri picked up a gold wire monocle, put it on his right eye, and put a chain made of gold wire on his shoulder.

He looked at his brand-new look and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad."

Sean outside waited a little impatiently, and raised his voice and called, "Veri, are you alright?"

"Okay." Willie brushed back his hair on both sides and walked out of the locker room.

With his right hand behind his back, Sean stood upright like a javelin. When he heard the movement from inside, he turned his head and saw Veri walking out of the locker room.Slim shirt vest, gold chain monocle, good-looking is good-looking, but it doesn't seem to fit well with Willie himself, and there is a faint sense of discord.

Sean said with a strange expression: "You are quite suitable for wearing a monocle."

"Thank you for your compliment," Willie accepted the "compliment" unceremoniously, picked up the snowy owl on one side, and held it in his arms.

Sean: "Before I say it, don't ruin my auction house."

"Of course not," Viri said calmly and calmly, "When did I take the initiative to destroy other people's buildings?"

"Well, I can only choose to believe you," Sean sighed, and took out his right hand behind his back, "I will give you the badge now, remember to keep it safe, there are only two left in Greenland, if you Lost it, I can't get you a new one, and I can't fake it."

He held a delicate box wrapped in velvet on his right palm, "Here, I put away your violin case for you, why didn't I know you can play the violin?"

"Thank you, there are too many things you don't know. If you are interested, I will tell you one by one when I am free from work." Willie picked up the small box in Sean's palm.

Sean shrugged: "I'm not interested in another big man's secret."

The corner of Willy's mouth curled up, showing a shallow smile: "I knew you would say that, mind if I open it?" He pointed to the flannel box.

Sean: "Of course you don't mind, please."

"Then I won't be polite." Willie opened the box carefully. The inside of the box was also stuffed with fluff, and the outside was wrapped with a layer of soft cloth. A crystal clear badge lay quietly inside.Like crystal, but more magnificent than crystal, it shines brightly under the light.

There is a relief of a flower on the front of the badge, and the four petals just form a cross.

"This flower is—" Willie frowned suspiciously, feeling that the badge was somewhat familiar.

"Single-petalled violet, this badge is a trophy I got when I fought against the Holy See of Auger," Sean said, "Do you remember? It was in that battle."

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