The wind and snow finally stopped after raging in the north of the Hawke Empire for nearly four days. But even so, the temperature in the north of the Hawke Empire is still frighteningly cold. Those seemingly bright and warm sunlight cannot bring any warmth to people's bodies at all. However, residents in the north are very satisfied to have such a sunny morning in the cold winter.
As if accidentally glancing at the portrait on the city wall, Kordak couldn't help but pull his hood lower. If it were summer, this move would definitely arouse others' suspicion. But luckily it was late winter, and there were many hooded people like Kordak, so no one noticed him.
"That brat!" Kordak couldn't help but curse again. He had told Regner before that he would join the Stoke Empire. He originally wanted the Empire to focus on finding people in the south. But Kordak still underestimated his status in Regnar's heart. Although the boy was extremely sad, he still did not directly punish himself. He even hid his movements from the higher-ups of the empire, just to keep himself alive.
Thinking of this, Kordak felt a little moved in his heart. He made up his mind that if he could get through this, he would find an opportunity to properly apologize to Regnar in the future.
But now, Kordak has more important things to do. He looked around and then entered a dingy-looking hotel.
The proprietress there is a fat middle-aged woman wearing dark green coarse linen clothes. She wears a white apron, but the piece of cloth that was supposed to be white has now turned dark yellow, with a disgusting yellow-black color on it. Stains. There were already a lot of wrinkles on her face, and her mouth was full of blackened teeth when she smiled.
"Give me a room, and prepare some food, and some more beef. I can eat about two meals for an ordinary strong man by myself." Kordak completely ignored the dirty and noisy environment, and came straight here When he arrived at the landlady's place, he carefully took out a few silver coins from his purse and threw them on the table while talking.
In fact, Kordak still has a lot of money, but in order to avoid unnecessary risks, he must disguise himself as ordinary as possible, and lack of money is the most obvious characteristic of ordinary people...
The landlady couldn't help but grin when she saw the silver coins on the table. She said with a mouth full of black teeth: "No problem, our store has good beef, and the room is absolutely clean and tidy. Your customers will be satisfied."
"I hope so." Kordak nodded. He thought for a while and then added: "Also, give me another small pot of wine, something stronger. This is the only thing you can rely on in this damn weather. Good things to warm you up. The last thing is, from the time the meal is delivered until tomorrow morning, don’t come over to disturb me. I will come down and take care of my needs myself."
"As you wish, your room is in the innermost room on the second floor. We will send the meals there in a moment." After the woman finished speaking, she wrote something in the account book, and finally gave it to a dozen Kordak. Copper Coin: "Here's your change."
"Thank you." Kordak nodded and went up.
The meal was delivered quickly. Although the hotel looked dirty, the food was surprisingly good and the room was really tidy. This still made Kordak very satisfied. He cut two bites of beef and chewed it, then hesitated, and finally picked up the wine bottle and took a swig.
"Ah!" Kordak suddenly felt as if he had swallowed a fireball. He smacked his lips happily, and then continued to eat and drink.
In the end, Kordak ate all the food, but only drank three-quarters of the liquor, which was less than half a catty. He had more important things to do tonight, so he had to keep a clear mind.
The reason why he drinks alcohol is firstly to warm his body, and secondly so that he can sleep more soundly. He was very tired from traveling these past few days, but his highly tense nerves made it difficult for him to fall asleep. Therefore, he needs a little drunkenness to put himself to sleep, but the amount must be controlled to a level that does not affect his state of mind at night.
Kordak glanced at the wine bottle greedily again, then gritted his teeth and closed his eyes and lay on the bed.
The drunkenness of alcohol quickly came back, and the feeling of fatigue spread to every corner of Kordak's body like a virus. After more than ten minutes, Kordak finally fell into a deep sleep.
This was supposed to be a relaxing nap, but maybe Kordak's mind was too cluttered. So he still had a dream, oh, it was more like a memory than a dream, recalling what happened more than a month ago.
It was still early winter at that time, and Lanmir had just arrived at his military camp. On the day the two of them met, Kordak learned a piece of news that concerned him very much: Vera was not with Regnar. Where is she now
This incident was like a thorn in Kordak's heart, causing him to have trouble sleeping and eating. He thought about many possibilities and finally decided to ask what Regner was talking about. But the damn thing was when Lanmire said that that brat seemed to have gone south alone, which made Kordak anxious.
On the night when Kordak was about to write a letter directly to Melinder asking about Annelotte, a man appeared in his big tent.
The slight noise instantly caught Kordak's attention. He suddenly raised his head and glared at the uninvited guest with a razor-like gaze.
But after seeing that person's image, Kordak's eyes were gradually replaced by surprise. He said with some astonishment: "You... who are you?"
"You don't recognize me so soon? My brother-in-law?" the visitor replied calmly.
"Are you..." Kordak thought for a moment, and then his pupils suddenly shrank: "Are you Balor?"
"It's me." The person nodded.
"Why did you become like this?" Kordak's voice was a little trembling, but it was not because the person in front of him had full murderous intention towards him, but because of the appearance of the person in front of him.
No, the guy standing in front of him was more like a monster than a human being. Kordak felt that he was more like a monster. His whole body was black, whether it was the things that became his clothing, his skin color, or even his eyeballs. The man standing in front of him seemed to have just crawled out of a pond full of ink. His entire body had no other color except black. This made Kordak feel like a big pile of coal when he looked at the humanoid creature in front of him.
"My appearance can still change, do you want to see it?" Balor said as he changed his shape. Judging from the outline, he turned out to be exactly the same as Kordak.
"What happened?" Even though it was freezing and snowy outside, Kordak couldn't help but sweat broke out on his forehead. What on earth happened to this guy? Could it be that he has practiced some secret method of the Moon Shadow Thieves Guild? Moreover, Regna didn't say he would let him go, so how did he get here
"This is a long story, but there is still time anyway, so it doesn't matter if I chat with you." Balor returned to his original appearance, and he showed a look of memory like a normal human being: "It all started after the duel between Regnar and I. Speaking of which, it was already two years ago..."
…
Let's go back in time to the moment after the duel between Regnar and Balor...
The cold moonlight illuminated the entire forest through the reflection of the sword, but this sword did not bring any blood.
"Are you going to let me go?" Balor was still lying on the ground because of Regnar's poison. He rolled his eyes upward, preparing to see Alex's expression.
Alex shook his head: "That's impossible. The president said that if you choose to leave the guild, then let me take your head back."
"Then why didn't you take action?"
"Do you really want to die that much?" Alex seemed to be suddenly angry. He kicked Balor, who couldn't move, and then said angrily: "I took all the trouble to bring you back. , I took you on various missions back then, and I watched you grow up little by little. And you really want to die so casually now?"
"But I have no choice...Uncle." Balor sighed.
"Yes, I have no choice." Alex was a little helpless: "I have to complete the task of the president, but before that, I can help you complete one thing. You'd better make a simpler request. Otherwise, I may not guarantee that I will agree.”
"In that case..." Balor thought for a moment and then replied: "Just help me release the shadow clone!"
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple!"
"You don't expect to defeat me with this clone, do you?"
"Do you think I'm that stupid?"
"Well… "
Alex walked over and pulled out the shadow spear stuck in the shadow clone. The freed shadow clone walked to Balor's side under Balor's control.
"Can you lend me your sword? I need to do this myself." Balor then asked.
"Okay." Alex nodded. Balor had been seriously injured by Regnar, so even if he stood up again at this time, Alex was confident that he could kill him.
"Thank you." Balor thanked him seriously. He rolled his eyes and looked at Alex, and then said, "Thank you for taking care of me these days."
“…”
After Balor finished speaking, he no longer hesitated. With a thought, he controlled his shadow clone to insert Alex's sword into his heart.
"Ahem..." Blood spurted out in an instant, and Barro suddenly felt that his five senses were filled with blood...