Guo Suo woke up early in the morning, rubbed his sleepy eyes and prepared to go into the kitchen. He found that the light was on in the kitchen and there was some movement coming from inside.
She was horrified, wondering if there was a thief in the house.
There is no way the young lady would enter the kitchen. It would be a disaster if she did.
The tentacles have no eyes and love to make trouble. They smash this and steal that, turning the kitchen into a disaster movie scene in a matter of minutes.
Mr. Gardener doesn't need to eat anything except drinking water, and he never goes into the kitchen.
Before the young lady came, when she was hiding in this yard alone, some thieves often sneaked in, and most of them were quietly scared away by her.
Since the young lady came back, and especially since the gardener came, there has been no thief in the house anymore.
It’s so abominable, there is a thief!
Guo Suo's eyes flashed with ferocity. He mustered up his courage and pushed the door open.
His eyes met with Ni Ji, who was beating eggs at the stove in an apron.
The two looked at each other in shock for a long while.
"Ah... this... you," Xiaosuo frantically gestured for a long time, his eyes widened, "You, you, you, stayed at our house last night?"
Yesterday, she thought the sentinel who went home with the young lady was terrible.
He drew his knife in a very ferocious manner. He stepped on his own legs, flipped over his head, and pinned the gardener to the ground.
Mr. Gardener is already scary enough. This guy must be an even more amazing and powerful sentinel.
They were as powerful as the sentinels who entered the contaminated area and caught him. The little crab was a little scared.
But now, the sentinel stood in her kitchen, wearing her pink apron, holding a bowl and chopsticks in her hands, looking at herself in surprise, her hair a little messy.
It doesn't seem so scary anymore.
Didn't he leave yesterday? When did he come back
Guo Suo looked around and found that the young lady was actually asleep on the sofa in the living room, covered with a thick blanket.
Did these two do something last night that she didn't know about
Last night, Ni Ji was supposed to leave after the counseling was completed.
But it was too cold in Kyoto late at night, and this room was too warm.
The two of them sat on their respective sofas and chatted for a while.
The living room was very spacious, with only a small reading lamp on, the warm yellow light dispelled the darkness in this small area, and enveloped the two incomplete people in the warm light.
Instead of talking about the upcoming dangerous journey, they talked about trivial matters.
Ni Ji talked about life at the northern outpost and some of the people there. Lin Yuan mentioned a little bit about the disaster that happened to his family when he was young, and about his mother.
They were each wrapped in a thick blanket, which was thick and warm, and the air was filled with the scent of roses.
Lin Yuan was the same as usual, with little expression and not much to say, but she was a good listener.
Under the light, the pair of amber eyes were filled with stars, and the head resting on the armrest of the sofa was full of interest.
Instead, Ni Ji laughed several times.
It has been many years since he became the captain of the sentinel and shouldered the responsibility. He seemed to have rarely smiled like this.
He still remembers that many people used to say that he looked particularly good when he smiled.
He hoped that he could look better in front of Lin Yuan.
This little thought is too stupid. It's probably all because of that song that appeared inexplicably at night.
Ni Ji knew that he should leave. It was too late. It was inappropriate and impolite to sleep here.
But Lin Yuan's white little hand stretched out from the blanket, reached over the gap between the armrests of the sofa, and touched his hair - when he mentioned that he bought candy and sent it to the orphanage in accordance with his comrade's wishes.
She did this very naturally, her palms were warm, as if she knew that was a thorn in his heart that he could not get over.
The strong will to leave dissolved.
Amidst the chatter, Ni Ji felt sleepy. She vaguely saw Lin Yuan yawn and narrow his eyes.
Then he fell asleep again without realizing it.
When I opened my eyes, it was already dawn.
Lin Yuan curled up in a blanket and slept on the sofa next to him.
In such a quiet morning, standing so close, the sentry's powerful hearing allowed him to clearly hear every wet breath of the girl and her rhythmic heartbeat.
The guide wrapped in the blanket had smooth, white skin that seemed to glow, and a strand of long seaweed-like black hair was winding outside the blanket.
An arm stretched out from the blanket and fell on the edge of the sofa. Ni Ji's eyes followed the arm down and saw the slightly bent white fingers.
He averted his eyes, remembering what those fingers had done the night before.
It seemed inappropriate to leave without saying anything at this time. He stood up and tidied himself, thinking of at least preparing a breakfast for the guide who stayed up late to help him sort out his mind.
The body feels relaxed, and the mental picture that has been effectively channeled is blue.
The kitchen was filled with abundant ingredients and complete equipment, making the sentry almost want to hum a song.
The unknown tune that had been playing in his mind all night.
A princess who is just beginning to fall in love sings a song to the moon in her heart.
Lin Yuan slept too late last night and couldn't wake up in the morning. He drooped his head on the dining table weakly.
Someone placed breakfast in front of her: a cup of freshly made caramel egg pudding, freshly baked red bean French toast, and a small plate of red apples cut into the shape of rabbits.
The sweet aroma awakened Lin Yuan's stomach. She immediately became alert.
The pudding is a mixture of the aroma of milk and eggs, smooth and delicate, with a layer of golden caramel on top, which makes a crunchy sound when you bite it, which is the finishing touch.
The French toast is soft inside and sweet on the outside. When you take a bite, the hot red bean paste slowly flows out.
Finish with a few slices of refreshingly sweet apple.
The perfect breakfast for those with a sweet tooth.
Lin Yuan finished his breakfast in no time. When he licked the syrup off the spoon, he realized that the breakfast was made by Ni Ji.
The sentinel's own breakfast was simple, just boiled eggs and toast.
However, a large basin of washed and opened oysters was placed in front of Guo Suo, also accompanied by a plate of cute rabbit apples.
Guo Suo held the knife and fork, his cheeks were round, his eyes were shining, and he no longer cared about talking to Lin Yuan.
On Lian Xunhua's seat, the golden exclusive water cup had been washed and filled with mineral water.
When Xunhua entered the room, she saw the water cup in front of his seat and was slightly stunned.
"You've only been to our house once, right?" He sat down, picked up the cup and took a sip of water. "You have such good observation skills. I almost thought you were the guide."
Guo Suo really wanted to express his opinion at this time.
This house is so big that it can accommodate more people. Since we already have a maid and a gardener, we can definitely have a cook. She tried her best to hint to the lady with her eyes.
Unfortunately, the young lady was a piece of wood, and the gardener was also a piece of wood, and no one understood her hint.
After breakfast, Ni Ji and Lin Yuan asked Xun Hua to teach them some skills that no one had ever encountered before, the cooperative combat skills between guides and sentinels from hundreds of years ago.
The two men had a remarkably consistent and amazing passion for improving their combat capabilities.
"The common way of coordination at that time was for the guide to control the situation and the sentinels to fight in close combat," Xunhua said.
A small character in the game starts running, and different screens light up at the same time, allowing you to see the scenery from different perspectives.
"It's like a multi-screen game." Xunhua pointed at the moving screen, "The guide is separated from the outside and connected to the senses of the sentinels. They can better observe the battle situation from all angles and detect danger. At the same time, the information can be transmitted to the sentinels synchronously."
"It seems that the more sentinels there are, the better the cooperation will be." Lin Yuan discovered a problem.
Xunhua looked at Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan usually looked a little cold and dull, as if he didn't care about anything. But every time it came to fighting, he had a natural keenness.
If she was not born in this era, but was born hundreds of years ago, she would have already been a world-famous warrior.
"You're right." Xunhua said, "The more sentinels a guide can coordinate at the same time, the better. Compared to verbal commands, the transmission of information through thoughts only takes a split second, and it is a very efficient way of teamwork. In that era, multiple sentinels and one guide were the best combination, and those who served as captains were mostly mature and powerful guides."
"But Her Majesty the Queen seems to want me to choose an exclusive sentinel," said Lin Yuan.
"Your Majesty is right," Xunhua explained. "On the battlefield, guides have a heavy responsibility. Not only do they have to control the situation, disrupt and attack the enemy, but they also have to observe the conditions of the sentinels at all times, adjust their emotions, reduce their sensitivity, and even directly control the sentinels in times of crisis."
"It's not just about having strong mental strength. It requires a lot of running-in and training. Almost everyone starts with one-on-one training."
Lin Yuan understood, "I see."
Meticulous teamwork, rather than individual efforts, is indeed an area she is not familiar with.
"Speaking of which," Xunhua thought of something, "it seems that Her Majesty the Queen is now very familiar with the cooperation between sentinels. She knows the term "exclusive sentinel" and seems to know how to start with one-on-one cooperation."
Lin Yuan propped up his chin with his fingers and expressed his intuitive impression of the queen, "Well, Your Majesty is a very gentle person and is very good to me."
Xunhua asked her, "Why do you think she treats you well?"
Why
Lin Yuan thought for a long time and found that he couldn't answer this question.
Objectively speaking, she had only met His Majesty once.
Her Majesty the Queen assigned her the task of going to the contaminated area and equipped her with a dedicated sentinel to go with her.
There is nothing else. There are no rewards or medals for unlocking the Golden Tree Contaminated Area, and there is not even any information or equipment for new tasks.
Thinking about it this way, there is nothing particularly good about it.
Why did I have a deep impression in my heart that His Majesty was very kind and good to me
Ni Ji interjected at this time, "The Pupilless Land is a very dangerous place. Especially according to your majesty's order, we need to go deep into it to search for the Nether Stone. The danger level is no less than that of the Golden Tree."
The atmosphere at the scene was stagnant.
The three people fell silent, each with their own thoughts.
"Anyway, I think this Majesty might be a very powerful guide." Xunhua finally said.
"Her control over people's mental power has reached the point where it is so subtle and silent that even a guide like you can't detect it."
Lin Yuan and Ni Ji, who opened the door to a new world in Xunhua, began combat training for several consecutive days.
When Roy came to visit, he saw a courtyard that was so messy that it was unbearable to look at.
"Where did you hire a gardener? He's not worth it. You should find someone else."
Roy walked through the courtyard with difficulty, stepping on the broken branches and weeds all over the ground. He only nodded reluctantly when he saw the roses in full bloom by the window.
"Only these few flowers are pretty."
As soon as he sat down, he asked Lin Yuan what he thought of being summoned by the Queen, "How was it? How was it? Is Her Majesty particularly gentle, wise, and beautiful?"
Lin Yuan gave him a positive answer, "She is very beautiful and very powerful."
Roy was very happy, as if just hearing the queen's name could make him excited for a long time.
After a moment, he turned worried again, "I heard that your majesty sent you to the Land of No Pupils. Why did you send you there? It's a very dangerous place."
Lin Yuan asked him, "Roy, has my mother ever been to the Land of No Pupils?"
"Your mother, Senior Lin?" Roy thought seriously for a moment and shook his head. "I don't remember. I was just a clerk who had just joined the company. I don't know where they went."
"Our Special Research Department is directly under Her Majesty the Queen. I only know that most of the areas where these powerful sentinels go are assigned by Her Majesty." He thought for a moment and added, "By the way, we have information about the Pupilless Land in our data room. I'll send it to you when I have sorted it out."
Lin Yuan hummed and stopped talking.
That pale little face was the same as always, plain and expressionless, with no special expression.
Roy became more and more worried, and rubbed his hands anxiously. "Although Her Majesty must have her own intentions, and I shouldn't question it. But I really don't understand why Her Majesty would send a guide like you to the contaminated area."
"Guides are so rare, and the number of guides in the empire has been decreasing year by year."
Ni Ji was walking on the way back to the dormitory. His steps were fast and his body was relaxed.
Although every day was very busy, these few days were probably the happiest days he had since returning to Kyoto.
When I went up the stairs, I met the little girl delivering coal briquettes again.
Her grandfather didn't come today, and the little girl, who was only six or seven years old, couldn't lift a whole box of honeycomb coal briquettes by herself, so she could only carry them upstairs piece by piece.
She ran many times, and her cheeks and nose were stained with black coal dust. Sweat flowed down, making her little face dirty.
Ni Ji helped her carry up the whole box of coal briquettes.
"Which floor?" Ni Ji asked her.
"Eight...eighth floor. Thank you, brother." The little girl followed him and ran upstairs.
She was very thin, with thin arms and legs and dry yellow hair, and it was hard to tell whether she was six or seven years old. She was definitely a child who shouldn't have to take on such heavy work at this age.
"Where's your grandfather?"
"Grandpa is sick and can't get up at home." The little girl spoke clearly, with a maturity that did not belong to her age. "There is no one else in my family. It's just me and grandpa. I will take good care of grandpa."
Ni Ji looked back at her. In this world, there are too many difficulties and hardships, and almost every ordinary person has an extremely difficult life.
"Sentry brother." Halfway through the journey, the girl called out to Ni Ji.
Ni Ji held the black coal box in one hand and turned to look at the little girl who was not even as tall as his legs.
"Brother Sentinel, I want to ask you something. Is it true that after the age of seven, ordinary people can no longer differentiate into Sentinels and Guides?"
"Most of the time, that's the case." Ni Ji answered him.
The sentinels and guides in the empire were all differentiated from ordinary people. Most children would complete this transformation before the age of seven.
After this age, there is basically no possibility of differentiation into sentinels or guides.
"Then as long as I'm over seven years old, no one will come to check whether I have differentiation or not, and I'll just live an ordinary life forever, right?" the girl asked, looking up at her dark little face.
Ni Ji raised his eyebrows slightly, "Are you afraid of becoming a sentinel?"
The little girl lowered her head and rubbed the corner of her clothes. "I, I'm afraid of becoming a guide. I heard that once you become a guide, you can only live in the White Tower and cannot leave until you reach adulthood. Then... Grandpa will have no one to take care of him."
"It's very rare to differentiate into a guide." Ni Ji comforted her, "The number of guides differentiated from ordinary people every year is very small. It's not easy to meet, so you don't have to worry too much."
The little girl hummed softly, lowered her head, followed him, and carried the coal briquettes upstairs.
(End of this chapter)