Chapter 400 In the Name of Castel
"Lina? Lina!!"
Hodge sat up from the bed, picked up the gun and was ready to fight the monster in front of him.
But his hand was empty, and when he looked up, there was no monster or sister in front of him. This was Castel's church, the dormitory of the Crusaders.
Another nightmare.
Even for the Crusaders, their guns are stored together when they sleep. After all, it is not wartime.
The dormitory door opened a crack with a creak. Kyle glanced at the frightened Hodge and slowly closed the door.
After a while, Hodge put on some clothes and came out.
He sat next to Kyle's post, looking up at the moon quietly.
"Having a nightmare again?"
Hodge nodded, as if he didn't want to talk more about this topic, and asked, "I remember you're not on night duty, right?"
Kyle is the team leader and usually does not have to be on duty, but he needs to be there as soon as possible when something happens.
"Isn't there a mobilization meeting today? Everyone is off. As usual, the captain is on duty."
Kyle poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Hodge, then put the kettle on the stove, opened the lid and stuffed two sweet fruits into it.
The two of them tacitly did not talk about Lina. It was impossible to go to the Rhine now, as there were two entire war zones between the Empire and Castel.
"What do you think of today's mobilization?" Kyle thought for a moment and asked.
"I don't know." Hodge's eyes were filled with confusion. "We were originally from the Rhineland and were exiled to Castel. When we came here, Nora had already left. None of us had even seen her."
"So you don't plan to join the expeditionary force?" Kyle said, stirring up the fire in boredom. "I can understand that you're going to a place you've never been to fight for someone you don't know. Besides, the registration office for the expeditionary force is so crowded that the door is broken. It's impossible to get a spot."
Hodge didn't say anything. He lowered his head and sipped his tea, his face buried in the shadows.
"I have no idea."
"I don't know why. They are not people I know, and they are not going to a land I am familiar with. Damn, the North. The name of that place sounds very cold."
"But I just wanted to go. I couldn't control myself. When I saw those reports, I felt like there was a fire burning in my chest. When the Lord placed Nora's head on the tombstone of the dead, I just felt angry!"
"I want to go to the North and hang those damn nobles on the city gate. I want to avenge Nora, even if I just met her for the first time today."
"I must have gone mad and been possessed by a demon."
"I want to talk to the political commissar, but I don't dare. What if he thinks that I am not firm enough and refuses to let me join the expeditionary force?"
Hodge cursed a few times in Rhineland, but still felt unsatisfied, so he spat fiercely on the ground.
Kyle said nothing, just watched quietly.
Hodge was a short and thin worker who was always a little sly. The factory owner had wanted to fire him several times before, but fortunately his fellow workers guaranteed that he would not be worked less, so they saved him.
He also often brought some snacks made by his sister to thank his co-workers - they were called snacks, but they were just dough baked until it was crispy, and you had to chew it carefully to taste its sweetness.
Later, something happened to Hughes and they were exiled here. Hodge almost collapsed on the road. It was a miracle that he survived.
On the contrary, he recovered in this exile. The manager of the steel plant even invited Sister Chloe to treat him when he saw that he was sick.
Chloe cured him of his illness and said he owed her a large sum of money.
This is normal. Treating an illness always costs a lot of money, and often the money is spent without the patient being saved.
Hotch was grateful to be alive.
He had been trying hard to save every rio, hoping to give the money to Chloe as soon as possible, but in the end, that day never came.
Chloe's name was engraved on the stone tablet.
Hotch didn't care whether she was a nun from the Order of the Candlelight or a cultist from the Fire Moth, he just knew that Chloe saved his life.
He had always been the most timid, but he dragged Kyle to join the Crusaders.
Kyle looked at Hodge carefully. This man was no longer as thin as before. He had recuperated in Castel, and his military career had straightened his back. Now he was a strong young man, with few traces of his previous appearance.
"Why did you sign up for the Skitarii, Hodge?"
Hotch was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously raised the teacup and poured it into his mouth, not noticing that it was already empty.
"I don't know. Is it for that nun? For this job that can make money? For Leo's subsidy in the army? Maybe a little bit of all of them."
"The war situation was urgent at the time and they were recruiting people. It was said that the front line would soon be overwhelmed. I thought: Hey, such a good life, working during the day and going home at night, and eating fish and chips and sweet fruit wine, I don't want to lose these!"
"So I went."
"When I saw those monsters, my legs went weak, but when I thought of the French fries and sweet fruit wine, my hand involuntarily picked up the gun, pulled the trigger, and shot three monsters dead with one shot!"
"Three! I remember them all. Which new recruit can get three kills with his first shot?"
Hotch couldn't help but puff out his chest.
Kyle couldn't help but laugh.
For chips and sweet cider? What a ridiculous reason. Why did I join the Skitarii?
Hodge lay on the ground, put his hands under his head, crossed his legs and looked at the moon.
"Kyle, I still want to join the expeditionary force."
"Honestly, I don't know why. I was born in a village that didn't even have a name. Later, I fled to the Rhine with my sister and came here. I didn't stay here for long."
"But I like it here. Fish and chips, sweet fruit wine, the steel mill, the Holy Scriptures, and Castel. I like them all."
"I don't know who that Nora is, but she's been in Castel, she's shed blood here, and she's stood on the same ground as me."
"Then I am willing to avenge her."
"I can't explain this feeling. I just know that if I die outside one day and someone cuts off my head, there will still be people who will fight for me."
"I don't know them, and he doesn't need to know me. We are brothers and sisters just because we belong to the same land and are willing to shed every drop of blood for it."
"This feels so damn good, Kyle."
"So why not? I'm going to the North to see what kind of bad guys dare to kill us Castel people. I'm not one of those people who likes to reason, and I'm not interested in any trial. I only know that they made us bleed, so we'll make them pay with blood!"
Hodge looked up at the sky, the bright moonlight reflected in his eyes like a quietly burning fire.
"Go to bed early and sign up tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a few spots on the expedition." Kyle lifted the teapot from the fire.
(End of this chapter)
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