dedicated to violets

Viri put the badge box back into Sean's hand: "Of course I remember, please keep it for me for a while, I don't have a place to put the badge now."

Xiao En snorted dissatisfiedly, took out the badge again, and stuffed it back into Willy's pocket: "If you can't fit it, wear it, and hide it under your vest."

Willie and him looked at each other, seeing his resolute attitude, he had no choice but to lower his head, unbutton the waistcoat, and wear the badge on the left chest of his shirt.

"Listen to you," he said.

"That's about the same. I've already given it away. How can I get it back?" Sean smacked his lips in satisfaction. "I'll have someone take you to the auction house. I hope you catch those robbers as soon as possible."

Willie smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes, heard Xiao En's words, and said with a smile: "I hope so."

Sean turned his head and told the butler beside him, "Mason, take him to the auction house."

The butler Mason moved when he heard the words, walked up to Willy, and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, please follow me."

The auction house is just opposite the mercenary headquarters, across the street.It is also beautifully built, and its grandeur is comparable to that of the imperial palace.

The housekeeper Mason turned and left after sending Vili to the auction house, and the next one who served him was the auction house manager.

The manager received Sean's instructions in advance—just let Viri stay aside, and don't worry about the rest.

The manager is a chubby middle-aged man with a big belly, but he is very well dressed.The leather shoes were polished spotlessly, and they shone brightly when they walked.Not only that, but he also shaved his beard and wore a wig, which was curled into a ball behind his head, and he exuded the shrewd air of a businessman.

"Good day, Your Excellency." The manager full of businessman's temperament greeted him warmly.

The president told him that the gentle and handsome man in front of him was actually the number one swordsman in Greenland who had fought on the battlefield for ten years.Don't be fooled by his harmless appearance.

Willie also politely replied: "Good day."

"The door is not open yet, wait another half an hour," the manager led him to the backstage of the auction house, "usually the most customers are when the door is open, but we will let them line up. You know, mercenaries always make money Quick, it costs a lot of money, once the order is completed, you will squander your wallet, and then leave weapons, gems and other things with us..."

Willie listened in silence and said nothing.

Passing the warehouse of the auction house on the way, you can only see a deep corridor, and you can't see the end at all.There are narrow rooms on both sides of the corridor, and the wall lamps in the corridor are dimly lit, barely illuminating the outlines of the door frames on both sides of the corridor.

Each iron door is pasted with a sign, and the words on it are crooked, like earthworms crawling around.

The steward caught a glimpse of Willy's calm face from the corner of his eye, and his heart was pounding, not sure whether he thought it was noisy or interesting.He has always kept warriors at arm's length—even though he has been in the mercenary business.

Fortunately, after walking a few more steps to the entrustment hall, the manager quietly let out a sigh of relief.

The layout of the hall is similar to that of the mercenary headquarters. After introducing the general process to Viri, the manager hurriedly said goodbye and left.

The decoration here is magnificent, and there are crystal lights hanging from the dome. The lights have not been turned on yet, so I can't appreciate its dazzling beauty for the time being.The heavy door was closed tightly, and the door was carved with complicated and symmetrical patterns.

Viri recalled the manager's introduction that the auction house's auctions are only held at night, and the afternoon is the storage time.

Depositors line up to receive the number and enter the private compartment to deposit the auction item.

If the value evaluation is not high, the auction house will offer a certain price to buy it directly. If the depositor is unwilling, the auction house will not force it.Only when the value assessment meets the criteria will the auction be made public.

The job that Viri is in charge of is to issue numbers, which does not require any brain power, as long as he can know numbers.

After the other reception staff were in place, as soon as the time came, the magic-controlled door slowly opened, and the sunlight poured in, and all of them spilled into the dark room, illuminating a small piece of the floor inside the door.

The crystal lamp was shining brightly under the blessing of the magic crystal, and the wall lamps on the wall were lit up one by one, and the dim hall was suddenly brightly lit.

Not long after the gate opened, someone came to the door. Viri cheered up, greeted the visitor with a smile, and began to identify the desperadoes on the train based on his memory.

After three hours of busy work, those desperadoes still disappeared.

During a break during a shift change, someone chatted with him curiously. After a quick afternoon tea and lunch, Willie returned to his post.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the target finally appeared.

Two targets, one tall and one short, stepped into the entrusting hall back and forth. Viri raised his eyes and took their clothes into his eyes.

The tall mercenary has a strong physique, and the leather armor can barely cover his tendons, and his hair is cut very short, standing on his scalp like steel needles.This person's face is not very unusual, neither ugly nor good-looking, the corners of his mouth are curved down, it seems that he is not easy to get along with, and he seems to be angry at any time.

As for the other short man—

Willie's eyes, hidden behind the monocle, narrowed. It was none other than his former student, John.

None of them were wearing masks and were carrying packages.

Presumably the contents of the package were the property that was robbed. The mercenary guild never distinguishes between black and white, and walks in a gray area.The treasures deposited in the auction house, whether staffs or weapons, or rare herbs, minerals, or even monster cubs in the Misty Forest, are all taken as ordered, regardless of where they come from.

Only the mercenary guild has such confidence.

Viri's disguise was good. The golden wig and the monocle confuse John's judgment, so that he didn't immediately recognize that the auction house employee in front of him was actually his former swordsmanship teacher.

"Your number plate." Willie said, his voice was different from usual, it sounded a little hoarse, and it was the usual voice of old smokers.

He took out the number plate neatly, gave the number plate to the depositor with one hand, and quickly wrote down the names reported by the guests with a quill in the other hand—most of them were code names or pseudonyms.

"Stoke," John said.

"This is your number plate, please accept it," Viri said without looking up, "Please stand in line and wait for the evaluation."

John frowned deeply, with a bad premonition in his heart.

He felt that the employee who issued the number plate looked familiar, as if he had known him before.

After receiving the number plate, he stayed in front of the reception desk for more than ten seconds. He wanted to ask the employee if they had met somewhere.But his mouth seemed to be sewn up, and he couldn't open it no matter what.

"Do you have any questions?" Viri raised his head, and the doubts in his eyes seemed to overflow.

The mercenaries lining up at the back felt impatient for a long time, and with a wave of their hands, they pulled John aside, and said in a rough voice, "Get out of the way, little dwarf, get out of the way."

John lost his chance to find out.Looking back at the "employee" a little unwillingly, his doubts were even heavier.

After receiving a few more depositors, Willy got up to change shifts.

While he was changing clothes in the locker room, Frank, the manager, rubbed his hands and came out the door, walking anxiously up and down, the floor was stomped loudly.

Viri took off the wig and pushed his long black hair out of the way.

Thick black hair like seaweed slid from his shoulders, and the ends reached his waist, swaying with his movements.The hair was tied for a long time, turning into big winding waves, and a few strands of hair rested on his white shoulders, revealing some inexplicable meaning, which made people's throat tighten.

Buttoning his shirt with one hand, Viri shook his head, and the black hair around his neck fell down.Hearing footsteps outside, he opened the locker room door casually, startling Frank outside: "What's the matter? Mr. Manager."

Obviously the man in front of him was very pleasing to the eye, but Frank trembled as if he saw something terrible, and said awkwardly: "I just want to ask, did you find someone after you changed your shift and changed your clothes?"

"Well, I found it." Viri was in a happy mood, and the ending sound was rising.

"Is there anything I can do for the auction house?"

"No, this is my own business, tell Sean that I won't have dinner with him tonight," Willie carefully fastened the last button, covering his beautiful collarbone, "Thank you."

Mercenary headquarters garden.

After finishing his day's work, Sean came to the garden to bask in the sun.

As soon as he sat down on the recliner, he picked up a cup of black tea at the right temperature, took a sip, and took a bite of dessert.He sighed comfortably, and before he had enjoyed it for a few minutes, the arrival of the head of the auction house interrupted Xiao En's leisure time.

"What's the matter? Frank?" The man put down his teacup and asked suspiciously.

Frank, the director of the auction house, was out of breath, his fat belly bouncing up and down.He walked in a hurry, his fat face was flushed red, and he was panting like a plowing cow.He took out a handkerchief, wiped the sweat off his brow, and then said: "That Mr. Haydn—"

Sean: "What happened to him?"

"I seem to have found someone, but he didn't move. He said he was going out for a stroll," Frank wondered. "He asked me to come over and let you know that he might not come back for dinner. Does the mercenary guild need to intervene?"

When Xiao En heard this sentence, he knew that Viri had obtained the information he needed.

So he shook his head: "Don't worry about him, this is a personal enmity, the guild should not interfere."

The guild will never intervene in the private enmity between mercenaries.

The guild is like an intermediary platform - a place to post and receive quests, and provide badges to prove the strength of mercenaries.As for other things, it has never been involved.

Whether it is seeking revenge or being robbed.

At most, like helping Viri, doing a little insignificant favor.

Xiao En thought optimistically, anyway, even if he didn't help, Willie could still squat outside the consignment hall of the auction house and wait. At most, he would save Willie from the sun for a day.

"Sit down and rest for a while," Sean said warmly, "Would you like something to drink?"

The butler Mason directed the servants to bring chairs and serve hot drinks. As soon as Frank sat down, the chairs creaked under the weight.Frank's face froze, and he wiped his sweat faster.

"Otherwise, I'd better not sit." Frank said with a bitter face, "If a chair is ruined by you, the rest of the guild may laugh at me."

Sean shrugged: "Then you should consider reducing your weight appropriately. In the guild, only your figure worries me the most. A former comrade in arms of mine..."

Frank sweated profusely, and quickly stopped: "President, don't talk about it, I will consider losing weight."

Sean laughed out loud, and even the butler standing beside him couldn't help laughing.

"President, your friend, I mean Mr. Haydn, he—" Frank hesitated.

Sean raised his eyes: "What happened to him?"

"He doesn't seem to be as talkative as he looks on the surface," Frank held a cup of coffee with a lot of milk and honey. "When I was talking to him, there was a voice in my heart that kept calling, stay away, stay away."

Sean: "Then it looks like you're alert."

This inexplicable compliment made Frank puzzled: "What?"

Sean raised his head and looked at Butler Mason standing aside: "Mason, do you think Willy is that kind of gentle person?"

The butler said with a smile: "Your Excellency, it is not a gentleman's behavior to talk about others behind their backs."

"You're so boring, and it's not like you don't know. I'm just dressed like a gentleman, but I'm not a gentleman in my bones." Sean waved his hand, "Why can't you cooperate with me?"

The butler smiled and said nothing.

Frank blinked blankly: "So Mr. Haydn—"

Xiao En comforted him and said: "Don't worry about him. Anyway, when he comes back, you should stay away from him. When he was still fighting, he had bad habits. He would go crazy when he saw blood. He was like a mad dog. You can't stop him." Stop." He paused, then spread his hands indifferently, "But you shouldn't see him, don't worry."

After Frank drank the sweet coffee, he left in a cold sweat.

He couldn't help but start worrying about his auction house.

Watching Frank's back disappear behind the statue of the Maiden's Fountain, Sean said to the housekeeper, "Do you think Willy will go crazy when he comes back tonight?"

The housekeeper: "Mr. Haydn should not let himself see blood, he is a very self-controlling person."

Xiao En was choked by his words, thought about it for a while, shook his head and laughed: "That's right."

The wind passed through the garden and swirled in the corridor, the treetops swayed in the wind, and the small sound of leaves rubbing against each other echoed in Sean's ears.He looked up at the high blue sky, and thought back to the time when he first met Willie Haydn 30 years ago.

At that time, Willy was thin and immature, with an indifferent expression, his beautiful blue eyes were dead silent, no light could be seen, and there was no vitality that belonged to a child in his body.

30 years rush by.

He and Viri spent ten long years at war.After the war, they were separated again because of their different ambitions. One settled down in the capital, while the other took risks everywhere. Another 20 years passed in a blink of an eye.

"So it's been almost 30 years." Sean sighed.

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