Chapter 45 Why apologize? I don't accept it, and I don't care. ...
Unfortunately, moonlight was a very vague and ethereal thing for Reinhardt; the wind was far more tangible.
Shortly after Buster left, the muffled sounds of battle from afar, along with the tremors of the earth, could be heard.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" Budney asked naturally. "Of course, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just asking to get a general idea of the cause and see if I can help. I have a friend who is a world-renowned healer. He can even bring the dying back to life."
"And what about the deceased?" Reinhardt asked, sitting up slowly as he heard the description, clearly interested in the conversation.
Budney laughed and said, “You’ve really given me a good problem. The dead are gone, and the boundary between life and death is not something that ordinary living beings like us can cross. Perhaps only gods have the authority to transcend life and death.”
"Is that so?" Reinhardt said calmly. "You also believe that gods can bring the dead back to life?"
“Also?” Budney seized on the key point. “It sounds like there are many stories to tell.”
This was clearly a trap set with platitudes, and Little Potato immediately sensed something was wrong.
He wasn't interested in explaining, but Reinhardt responded anyway for Buster's sake.
“I don’t have any story, it’s just that the journey was long, and I’ve heard similar prayers before.”
The flames cast a warm glow on the beautiful, high-mountain flower. Budney's gaze was drawn to the wispy bangs on the flower's forehead, but he murmured in admiration.
"This world is constantly in a state of suffering. Even if the gods and demons were to disappear, the world would still remain the same."
"Gods are nothing but ancient legends; the present age belongs to the living beings of this world," Reinhardt said indifferently.
Budney was mesmerized. He seemed to have never met such a calm fellow before, as if his soul had settled down, solemn and dignified yet gentle.
He is now genuinely curious about Reinhardt.
“You sound like an atheist,” he said, first explaining his own beliefs. “I am an orc, and I believe in a nature god. Perhaps He has vanished as you say, but even as a psychological comfort, I still feel awe and reverence for Him.”
Reinhardt said calmly, "Faith has no substance. Whether it exists or not, as long as it makes you happy, it has meaning."
“That’s an interesting point of view. I feel valued.” Budney raised an eyebrow. “Before this, I thought faith was about providing a source of divine power for the gods, you know, like how a spacecraft needs a power source.”
Reinhardt felt a slight stirring in his heart. For a moment, he seemed to understand why he could generate divine power even after losing his eyes, and how he could rely on that little bit of divine power to survive until the Storm Leader broke him out of prison.
Perhaps in some corner of this world, there still exists a trace of faith among some living beings.
But does anyone really want him to live?
I don't know if the head nun has any expectations, but at least there's a Storm Bandit Group.
Reinhardt added an answer, albeit with a self-deprecating tone.
His posture as he sat there was quiet and upright, like a statue polished by time, its inherent brilliance undiminished even when covered in dust.
The campfire crackled and sparked, occasionally casting a deep hue across Reinhardt's calm face—a detached serenity tinged with an unspeakable loneliness. At that moment, Budney sensed a profound and ancient soul dwelling within this seemingly ordinary traveler.
Boudni couldn't help but admire it.
"Do you know? You are like a neat scroll, quiet and composed. The cover is drawn with beautiful quill and snow water, but the contents are very mysterious, making people want to turn the pages and explore your personal chapters."
“I used to treat you like a puppet, manipulated by my blood brother, with no independent thoughts. But now, I want to apologize to you; my opinion of you has changed.”
Reinhardt remained calm, as calm as a stagnant pool, only his verbal replies revealing a hint of his current doubt.
"Why apologize?" he said calmly. "Whether you change your mind or not, what your opinion of me was before, or what your thoughts are afterward, it has nothing to do with me."
"You don't need to tell me. I don't accept it, and I don't care."
At that moment, Budney seemed to feel his spirit soothed, and his soul stirred. His refined gaze deepened, and a spark of life ignited in his pupils, which reflected Reinhardt's face.
If his previous statement to Hart that he wanted to pursue him stemmed from affection and a test, now he is indeed somewhat serious.
Lowering his head, Boudni wore a smile that suggested he had found release after the conversation.
“It’s a magical feeling. Just talking to you and sitting together makes my soul feel purified,” he said. “You are so pure that it makes me feel a different kind of desire for you, as if I were to blaspheme the Son of God, and I feel guilty.”
"..." Reinhardt didn't understand what he was talking about.
But that didn't stop Budni, who considered procreation a sacred act, from having wild fantasies, especially when he saw Reinhardt sitting obediently in place with a sullen face.
A mischievous thought suddenly arose in him. He rested his chin on his hand, leaned close to Reinhardt, and whispered devilishly to the innocent child.
"Have you ever dealt with your desires? Tsk tsk, do you even know what desire is?" Before Reinhardt could answer, he continued, "I bet you haven't. With an older brother who can control you all the way to the beach, are you still a virgin at this age?"
Reinhardt sensed that he wasn't saying anything good, so he remained silent.
This was interpreted by Budney as tacit agreement.
Do you want to know?
He moved closer to Reinhardt, his voice gradually slowing and deepening.
"Your brother won't be back for a while, perhaps I can show you around..."
The second half of the sentence was cut off by the perceptive Reinhardt, who abruptly turned his head, like a statue, to gaze into the depths of the dark forest. Budney, thinking Buster and the others had returned, also turned to look in that direction.
"What are you looking at?" After waiting for a while and still not seeing the captain and the others, Budney took the initiative to ask.
He was just waiting for his inspiration and intuition to be suddenly triggered!
Budney's pupils constricted sharply, and he instinctively stretched out his arm, pulling Reinhardt into his embrace, and rolled rapidly towards the other side of the fire. The very next second they were gone, the entire protective barrier surrounding Reinhardt and Budney was shattered by a gigantic claw large enough to cover the entire barrier!
With his extensive combat experience, Budeni quickly summoned his combat aircraft and pulled Reinhardt onto the disc. He knelt on one knee at the front, maneuvering the aircraft to rapidly retreat into the sky.
The fierce wind and moonlight nearly tore apart all the warmth and protection they wore, but that wasn't their biggest concern at the moment. Budney steered the aircraft to a halt high in the air, and after seeing the attacker's face clearly, his breath almost froze in the cold wind.
Even though it was unbelievable, Budney still got the answer he least wanted from the other person's crimson eyes.
"A demonized wolf king?!"
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Author's note: Budney: How beautiful! I've fallen in love with your soul!
Thinking he was being praised, Reinhardt was bewildered: ...Thank you?
Buster [angry]: I need to find a way to kill him!
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