Gun of Ashes

”The time of joy has ended, and the road ahead is full of thorns and hardships.”

The night was deep, and Hebdo sat on the balcony lounge chair, reciting the words from the book under the moonlight.

Nordro gave them the largest suite on the White Tide, and this time everyone could finally stay under one roof without disturbing each other.

Eve and the Red Falcon had already gone to sleep, and Heracles was still in an unknown state. Lorenzo had called for the ship doctor, but after a long examination, there was no result. The doctor guessed it might not be a physiological illness, but rather a psychological issue with Heracles.

”Are you a poet? I thought Vikings didn’t like such gentle things.”

Lorenzo sat on the sofa in the living room, with his cello case on the small table before him, the inside open and full of deadly weapons.

He was wiping the weapons, cleaning them until they shined like mirrors.

”Firstly, the idea that Vikings are rough and fierce is a stereotype of yours, which is not our intention. In such a cold and harsh environment, etiquette can’t fill your stomach. Another thing, these are words from a book I quite like and find fitting for this moment.”

After a total reveal, Hebdo’s attitude became even more relaxed as he continued flipping through the book and reading the stories within.

”Have you read this book?”

”No.”

Lorenzo replied, chatting casually with Hebdo while tidying up the weapons. After cleaning the cold weapons, he checked the firearms, counting the bullets as if he had nothing else to do.

”This ’Victoria’s Secret’ tells a story of entangled love.”

”You actually like this kind of thing?” Lorenzo doubted if he heard wrong.

”Just a bit nostalgic.”

”Nostalgic for what?” Lorenzo asked.

Hebdo paused his reading, gazing at the serene sea ahead, its reflection in the moonlight as white as the snowy plains of the Viking countries.

”Nostalgic for my former woman... Not everyone is like you, Lorenzo. I, too, have a beautiful past.”

Hebdo turned his head and smiled at Lorenzo, then continued with the story in the book.

”The heroine is a member of the royal family, but she fell in love with a commoner.”

”Sounds cliché,” Lorenzo said, ”Just like the usual, blocked by different social statuses, leading to a mess of family drama?”

”No, no, no, if it developed like that it wouldn’t catch my interest.”

Hebdo laughed and said.

”The heroine knew it was an unblessed love, but she didn’t care. That night, she knocked out the guards, escaped the castle with a bag of money and a long sword, and kicked the still-sleeping hero awake, dragging him to escape beyond the city.”

Lorenzo’s expression twisted, and he stopped his work, looking incredulous as he started to find the story bizarre.

”I’m not lying to you, that’s how the story is written,” Hebdo continued, ”Outside the city, under the witness of the moonlight, the girl asked the boy, ’Will you go with me? Abandon your current comfortable life and embrace an uncertain future.’

The boy asked what would happen if he refused.

The girl said if he refused, she’d realize she was a fool for believing in him, this coward, and she’d chop off his head with a sword and take it to her parents to apologize, then become a good girl.”

”Wait, are you sure you didn’t pick the wrong book?”

Lorenzo started to think the author might be a bit off in the head, but Hebdo ignored Lorenzo and continued with the story.

”The boy asked again, ’What if we leave together.’

The girl replied she didn’t know... she didn’t know what the future held.”

”And then?” Lorenzo asked.

”And then? Then they embraced and kissed passionately, embarking on an unknown journey. That sentence was the narrator in the story, saying the boy and girl embarked on an unknown path, with hardships following joy.”

Hebdo closed the book and set it aside.

”What about the ending?”

”That’s the end of the first volume; I haven’t finished the second.”

”It sounds like... this story is quite interesting.”

An obviously somewhat abnormal heroine, and an even more abnormal hero, it felt like someone knocking on your window, asking you in your groggy state.

Today is a good day; if you’re free, why not rob a bank with me!

And instead of refusing, you eagerly reply.

Sure! Sure!

”Full of hardships...”

Lorenzo muttered a few words to himself, reading the author’s malice from the narrator. This trope was too common; if Lorenzo were Hebdo, he would’ve stopped and not continued reading.

However... truth be told, ending on an unknown journey is quite nice. All beauty concluded here, and the so-called hardship vanished like smoke.

”Arthur wasn’t wrong; only demons could make you serious. Before, you felt like a street thug, and now you truly seem like an expert.”

Hebdo sat down opposite Lorenzo, looking at the inside of the cello case, with deadly weapons radiating a cold, deathly air.

”Will all these weapons be used?”

Even if he were a Viking strongman, Hebdo couldn’t help but feel a chilling cold looking at these sharp weapons.

”Depending on the situation, of course, I do prefer using these two.”