How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 385 You shouldn’t doubt the aesthetic taste of the loyal prince, but you should doubt…

Toon had no idea why this thing suddenly appeared. Akuldona's voice rang in his ears: "No, you didn't really go to Istvan III and search the entire planet to dig something like this out, did you?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka rolled his eyes speechlessly: "Of course I didn't, stay out of my business with mysticism."

Thun still didn't react. He didn't quite understand what "Istavan" meant - he knew what the term stood for, but he refused to let that knowledge connect with reality. During this time when he was struggling, the Iron Hand, who obviously had little patience for Thun, had already picked up the box and almost forced it into the arms of the Chapter Master.

"The lady meant to give you something that is more or less related to you. You'd better not bring shame to this gun."

"Uh - I mean, partly this is an apology." There was a little embarrassment in Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice, "After all, I was the first to get into your regiment's kitchen. Although I just wanted to find something to eat, I did get angry when I saw the cold pots and cold stoves... and then there are the usual encouragements and expectations... and, any tool should certainly fulfill its use value in the process of being used, rather than being placed in a stasis field on a shelf, right?"

Toon was confused: "You said this gun has a connection with us..."

"Like Akuldona, its previous owner was also an Astartes of the same bloodline as yours."

Fujimaru Ritsuka had just spoken a little when Akurdona interrupted him: "This man is called Solomon Dmitri. He was my former adjutant, and he became the company commander after I left."

He looked at the box with interest: "This is the first time I have looked at this gun so carefully, so he finally changed it into this shape."

"Dmitri is Akurdona's adjutant, so naturally, his style of doing things is a bit similar to Akurdona's. For example, they are both straightforward, reckless and aggressive, eager to try various challenges, and have accumulated a lot of practical experience in the process." Fujimaru Ritsuka ignored Akurdona's vague nostalgia and continued step by step. "He is indeed more thoughtful than Akurdona, but in fact it is quite limited - specifically reflected in his tactical style of only advancing and not retreating, and his stupid habit of not wearing a helmet on the battlefield."

"In this atmosphere, shouldn't we talk about something nice?" Akurdona said in a very dissatisfied voice, "It's like he is much better than me in command, dispatch and tactical arrangement!"

"That's true." Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled, "But more importantly, Dmitri is a clear-headed and determined person. No matter what the situation, he can quickly figure out what he should do. It may not sound special, but it is actually a rare quality. Many people think they have it for granted, but when the time comes, they will still be at a loss among the myriad of things and completely unable to make the next choice."

Thune's first instinctive reaction was that these were problems that only mortals, who were physically and mentally weaker, would encounter. But then he realized that he had made a similar mistake not long ago. The superhuman functions of the Primaris meant that he had never encountered a problem that was so complicated that he could not figure out the clues in his previous hundred years of life. His life, which was almost completely filled with war, did not require him to think about anything other than tactics and skills. His self-proclaimed arrogance was nothing more than a survivor's narrow-mindedness, which, along with his entire previous life, was shattered by the Primarch Rogal Dorn with just a few words. In the face of such a psychological attack, Thune realized that his performance as a Primaris Space Marine might not be much better than that of a mortal.

He lowered his head in shame, but his eyes fell on the gun case that was stuffed into his arms again. This finely crafted bolter was covered with luxurious purple and gold decorations. There were also many exquisite micro-carvings on the details that would hardly be noticed from a certain distance. The details on the Imperial Skyhawk that were often overlooked on decorations of the same size were also carefully reflected on this gun. This made him couldn't help but be surprised that the exquisite, complex, luxurious and heavy Baroque aesthetics of the Empire could be so vividly displayed on just a bolter.

While he was thinking about this, Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice continued: "I believe that the education you have received also emphasizes qualities such as perseverance and tenacity. In particular, you have considered yourself a son of Dorne for a long time in the past. But have you ever thought about where such qualities come from? When you know that there is no actual blood relationship between you and the rock of the empire, do you think it is natural that you cannot be compared with other sons of Dorne in this regard?"

"--No!" Chapter Master Thun retorted almost reflexively, "I'm sorry, my lord. What I mean is that the Sons of Dorne have certainly proven their perseverance and tenacity in thousands of years of war, but I don't think--I don't think..."

A strong sense of shame spread over him, choking Tuen's feeble defense. He wanted to say that even if the Sons of the Phoenix had no genetic connection with Dorne, their performance would never be worse than that of the Sons of Dorne. But his own and the warband's performance in the past period of time made him realize that he really had no right to say that.

But Fujimaru Ritsuka somehow anticipated what he could not say: "I also want to believe that you may not be worse than the true sons of Dorne in the future. But if you judge from the present, you still have a long way to go. But considering that you are not the true sons of Dorne, you are not born to be more resistant to pressure like them - ah, I don't want to admit it, but the fact is that people start from different starting lines, and some characteristics are innate - I suggest that you still pay attention to some methods in the process."

This sentence made Toon anxious. He was not sure whether he and the regiment still had the so-called "future". He wanted to confirm this question, but Fujimaru Ritsuka did not stop:

"Let's talk about the owner of this bolter. My personal evaluation is that Demetrius is not inferior to the Imperial Fists in this respect, and his strength is also ranked among the Templars. Of course, he is not a son of Dorne like you. What makes him so determined is that he knows very well who he is, what he wants to do, and where his life should end. I don't know the details, but I think he learned this attitude towards life from Akuldona."

The person being mentioned was very confused: "Is there?"

No one cares about him.

Toon realized something and raised his eyes with a hint of hope, but Fujimaru Ritsuka seemed not to notice his little movement and continued, "Back then, he suffered more severe denial and blows on the battlefield than you did, even psychologically and physically at the same time. His body was broken, his comrades betrayed him, and the brothers around him who could entrust their lives died in an instant. All the glory and honor he had earned for himself in the past became a shame in that instant. But after spending a little time, he was reborn like a phoenix from the flames of death under the mortal wound, and he went into battle again, determined to fight to his death*. I admit that the situation was too critical at the time, and the range of choices available to the parties was very narrow, which did affect the final results, but I still think that his clear self-awareness was like a beacon, allowing him to quickly find the direction in the chaos of his entire life being shattered."

Toon didn't say anything, but he instinctively questioned certain things, so he was not convinced, but he didn't dare to express this emotion. However, Fujimaru Ritsuka once again accurately predicted his emotions as if he was using psychic power to read his mind, and responded to his unspoken protest:
"I know it's ridiculous to compare the pain felt by two completely different people in different situations. But, although it's just a superficial standard, it's obvious that Demetrius faced a more difficult situation. Because this incident happened in the fifth year of the 30th millennium. I think no matter how strict the information control of the empire is, the time node of such a major historical event should still be included in the general education of Astartes."

After being prompted so clearly once again, the relevant knowledge finally emerged in Toon's almost stopped mind - 005. M31, Isstvan System, the beginning of the war that destroyed everything at the end of the Great Crusade.

But - but this is unreasonable. It doesn't make sense logically. Thun wanted to turn around to confirm Akuldona beside him, but he found it difficult to look away from Fujimaru Ritsuka's calm gaze. That gaze was not warm, but it was heavy; it did not have any spiritual power, but it was filled with countless meanings -

"Solomon Demetrius, your elder brother of the same bloodline ten thousand years ago, the Second Captain of the Third Legion "Emperor's Children" during the Great Crusade, the former glorious 'Purple Phoenix', and later the fallen Prince of Slaanesh, the son of Fulgrim. He was abandoned by his own Primarch because of his absolute loyalty to the Imperium and the Emperor's great vision, and was killed on Istvaan III as a loyalist in the Legion."

Toon didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. This long-awaited answer was indeed bad enough, worse than all the possibilities deduced by his barren imagination, but strangely, when he confirmed this fact, he was much calmer than he thought.

"So, we are..." He didn't realize that he had spoken, but heard his hoarse and untuned voice saying, "We inherited the genes of the rebellious primarch..."

"Belisarius Cole is a pure scientist. That is to say, before he puts his ideas into action, he doesn't think too much about other irrelevant things, such as ethics, except 'what can I do'." Fujimaru Ritsuka did not answer this question directly, but the meaning is still very clear, "However, just like 'choice' does not mean many things, 'genes' will not completely define your life.

"The education you received may make it difficult for you to reconcile with this fact, but I still want to provide another perspective: No one can choose their own origin, not the Sons of Phoenix, and not Solomon Demetrius. But what about other things? You can still choose what you want to believe in, what you want to stick to, what you want to shed blood for, and what you want to die for. You have been forced to bear the shame that does not belong to you without anyone knowing. Of course, you can lead your chapter to wither and let the 'Sons of Phoenix' and the names of all the brothers in it disappear in the historical records. However, you can still choose to prove it with your actions and wash it away - you know, lotus flowers will bloom in the dirty mud.

"Oradar Toon." Fujimaru Ritsuka asked this question in the most serious manner in this conversation, "How do you choose to define your own name? How will you lead the name of your chapter?"

The war captain didn't know. This question was too complicated for his life experience, which was almost entirely filled with iron and blood, fighting and sacrifice. He had never thought about this kind of question before, so naturally he couldn't make a judgment immediately after hearing this question.

But he spoke.
-
"That's not even an answer!" Santo said angrily. Almost as soon as they left the Phoenix Sons temporary regiment station and walked out of the range where even the Primaris soldiers standing guard and patrolling at the gate could not hear them, the captain of the Iron Hands company could not wait to impeach Fujimaru Ritsuka in person: "'I don't know, but I will find out' what does it mean?? The artillery is about to fire before you remember to check the status of the ammunition fuse and barrel?? Solomon's pistol just fell into the hands of such a person?"

"I know you must be very dissatisfied as a Medusan, but don't be too harsh on them, Captain Santo." Ritsuka Fujimaru, who was sitting in the back seat of the scooter, looked a little depressed. He must be really tired. "No one can be born knowing everything. At least now, they know where the problem lies and in which direction to work hard. Have a little faith in Akurdona and Dmitri's little brother ten thousand years later."

"If Solomon knew——"

"——I think he will be very happy." Akurdona, who was basically sure that things would go smoothly, now even spoke like singing, "My gun can help another group of confused brothers find their direction ten thousand years later. If it were me, I would do the same."

In the driver's seat, Santo cursed Medusa in a bad mood, then turned around and retorted: "What if it's a sword instead of a gun?"

"Of course you can!" Akurdona replied inexplicably. He could understand from the other party's tone that this was an attack, but he couldn't understand what the other party was attacking. "And you have the scarcity of the two sides reversed: I only have one bolt pistol as a spare, but I have 360 ​​different sabers in my collection room."

With only his own people around him, Fujimaru Ritsuka no longer had to be on edge and simply laughed out loud in the back seat. Akurdona still looked puzzled and didn't think there was anything wrong with his logic, but Santo had already been so angry that he uttered a long string of noisy binary codes.

"He thinks that you like swords so much that you have a collecting habit, so of course you don't want to give your sword away." After catching his breath, Fujimaru Ritsuka explained to Akurdona. By the way, he climbed forward a little, reached over the seat and knocked on the power backpack behind Santo. "See, a true master doesn't pick and choose his tools. This is how it works."

"Well, of course I like swords, but that's just my liking," Akultona explained. "The two things are not on the same level of importance. There's no comparison."

As the two men made sarcastic remarks and explanations, Santo became more and more angry. But at the moment, he really had no reasonable outlet to vent his anger, so he could only mutter darkly: "If Solomon and Amadeus were not still in charge of the affairs of the Webway, this warband should be eliminated..."

Two heavier knocks were transmitted to the power backpack on his back. "I told you not to be too harsh on them, but no one has ever taught them these things that you take for granted."

"Do I need to be taught this thing?!" Santo roared.

"Of course, you just don't feel like you've learned anything." Fujimaru Ritsuka said calmly, retracting his hand and returning to his most comfortable position on the chair. "There's something called 'teaching by words and deeds', or 'learning by osmosis', or 'influence by subtle influence'. This kind of 'life experience' that is mostly theoretical and emotional cannot be taught using brainwashing devices or books. They have just realized that they are lacking in this area and have begun to explore related fields. You have to give them some time - at that time, with the guidance of trustworthy people, it took me a month or two to achieve logical consistency and self-reconciliation."

Santo obviously wanted to say something reflexively, but he immediately swallowed the words back, turned his head back and stopped talking, just driving in silence.

This conflict, which was not really a conflict, did not ruin Akurdona's good mood. After Santo died down, he seemed to feel that he could speak again: "Little lady, I really want to thank you so much - without you, I really don't know what I would have done!"

At this point, Fujimaru Ritsuka's mood actually dropped: "There's nothing special to be thankful for - in fact, according to my standards, the signs of rushing this thing are quite obvious, and the result is just so-so."

"You said that as if Akuldona was saying that his swordsmanship was mediocre." Santo's voice sounded dryly, "Sometimes excessive modesty is also a form of arrogance, and this kind of arrogance is even more annoying."

"I'm serious! In order to shorten the construction period, I arranged the schedule and even started a human nature test in the conversation just now!"

"Ah?" Akurdona was confused. "I don't feel anything?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka was annoyed and showed a look of disappointment to Akurdona: "Why do you think I was trying so hard to give them a way out before telling them the truth? Is it because I have a good temper that I am particularly tolerant?!"

"Do you have a bad temper?" Akurdona's confusion was genuine. "And you are indeed quite tolerant!"

It was obvious that Fujimaru Ritsuka was defeated by this sincerity. She let out a long breath to calm herself down, which made her look as if she had literally "deflated" - this time, it was Santo's turn to laugh out loud in the driver's seat.

Then, not surprisingly, he soon heard the sound of cushions slapping from the back row, accompanied by the girl's shrill, kitten-like scream: "Akuldona! You shouldn't be the only one with mediocre swordsmanship!"

"But I really don't realize what you are testing!" In order to continue speaking without being affected, Akurdona had to stretch out his hands and make some defensive movements whose form far outweighed their meaning.

He still didn't grasp the first point that Fujimaru Ritsuka wanted to make, but he skipped this conclusion and inexplicably went straight to the second one: "But it is true that human nature tests are not good. I can understand why you feel that you didn't handle this matter well enough."

The clapping sound of the cushions stopped immediately, and Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice suddenly became full of emotion: "Wow! Akurdona! You are the first person who understood this before I explained why! I am so touched!"

Santo didn't say anything, but he made some binary code noises. Considering the context, Fujimaru Ritsuka decided to interpret this incomprehensible noise as the objection reserved by the person concerned. Coincidentally, Akurdona had an idea at this time - he obviously thought so too:

"Humanity testing is bad, Santo," he stressed seriously, "because human nature is fragile and cannot withstand testing."

Santo snorted coldly, and finally repeated what he had to say before because of the identity and achievements of the target of his attack: "There was such a saying in Ancient Terra because most mortals' minds are stupid and weak. If they can't even withstand this test--"

"--The same goes for the Astartes, Santo." As a son of the Emperor, Akurdona's voice was tinged with bitterness. "We may be more resolute than mortals, but we cannot withstand too many tests."

After a delay of half a beat, Santo suddenly realized what kind of experience and experience the other party had formed this idea. He clearly realized that his evaluation was indeed arbitrary, but before he apologized, Akurdona's narration continued:
"In this respect, you and I are the same. Even the Primarch is the same."

(End of this chapter)