A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"I guess you don't want to be the last one, do you?"

"No." Luo Shiqi nodded honestly. At thirteen, he only wanted to survive, not to think about so many messy things.

“It’s selfish, it’s normal, it’s reasonable, it’s honest.” Eric wasn’t angry at Luo Shiqi’s answer.

If Luo Shiqi answered yes, Eric knew that the other party was catering to his thoughts.

However, seeing how honest the other party was, Eric's attitude softened considerably.

“As a soldier of the Empire… well, there is no Empire now…” Eric stopped mid-sentence, seemingly considering how best to phrase it.

"I'm not being modest, so I can say that I'm one of the top brains in the safe zone."

Even if they're not particularly smart, they're at least not stupid.

"Unfortunately, I was the last kind of person, so my life was particularly short."

"Look at my pale face, it's the result of taking the drug that made me appear dead."

"I have already shortened my lifespan."

When Eric said this, Alice paused for a moment, but not noticeably, and Eric hadn't even noticed Alice behind him until now.

His attention was completely drawn to that bastard Bray, and he was too annoyed to notice anything else.

“If you want to learn how to survive, I can’t teach you, since I can’t even take care of myself,” Eric said, pointing to himself.

"I don't even know if I can live a normal life and make it to sixty."

"..." Luo Shiqi stared blankly at Eric.

The colonel bombarded the boy with a barrage of words.

Luo Shiqi wanted to live well in this apocalyptic, hellish place, a thought shared by most people.

But the boy never thought of becoming a bastard, or rather, he doesn't have that thought yet. As for whether he will resort to any means to survive in the future, we don't know.

Eric's words made Luo Shiqi regret choosing "wisdom" when answering Bray earlier.

Would it be simpler to answer with "strength"?

of course not.

Admittedly, if Ronaldo XVII wanted to pursue power, Carrasco probably wouldn't have asked Eric this kind of question.

But it's unlikely they'll agree to call the boy that easily.

"Are you very famous? Or do you have a lot of admirers?" Luo Shiqi suddenly asked.

The boy was really quite rude, which was evident from his first encounter with Bray.

"..." Eric also sensed the guy's rudeness, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Luo Shiqi was completely unaware of this; he simply thought that Eric seemed to make a lot of sense and had a strong sense of justice, so he assumed that such a person must be pretty awesome.

He may not be a hero, but he is at least a figure worthy of respect.

A person who is intelligent, has sound values, and is capable is naturally respected—although Luo Shiqi is not fond of such a character.

Why would you ask that?

"It's nothing, I just think someone like you is a bit dazzling," Luo Shiqi said softly.

"Dazzling?" Eric slapped his thigh and laughed.

"Sorry, I'm the kind of guy who occasionally gets rotten eggs thrown at me in this safe zone of the capital."

"..." Luo Shiqi looked at Eric with great confusion, it seemed that he did not understand why.

"Forget it, there's no point in explaining this to you too much, and besides, it's a long story anyway." Eric shrugged.

"I've said enough nonsense, now it's your turn to answer my question."

"If you learn from me, you'll hardly learn anything that will help you survive."

"By the way, I can't give you the survival skills you want." Before he could finish speaking, Eric gave Bray, who was standing to the side pretending to be dead, a very subtle look.

"So you're still planning to be with me?" After wasting so much breath, Eric just wanted to correct this boy's values ​​a little.

As for how much he could exaggerate, he didn't know; he wasn't a specialist in persuasion.

You could tell from Luo Shiqi's expression that he was struggling internally.

Eric could guess what Luo Shiqi was thinking just by looking at that fascinating expression.

He probably really wanted to ask something like, "Can you recommend some people who are smarter than you?"

"I want to learn, I'll learn whatever you teach." After a long silence, Luo Shiqi said this.

Even if this person preaches that they can't use things to survive, the fact that they are still alive is enough to prove something.

“Fine.” Eric didn’t react in any particular way.

"Since you really intend to learn anything from me, let me give you a heads-up."

“These days, you can’t survive on just your brains,” Eric said.

"No matter how smart you are, when faced with absolute power, you can only despair."

"So in the end, you'd better go and learn how to fight monsters."

"You're kidding me. You're just saying you need to learn 'wisdom' to survive. Besides, I always feel awkward using the word 'wisdom'."

"..." Luo Shiqi froze on the spot. What was the point of all those earnest words before?

“Alright, the first step in learning ‘wisdom’ is to go to the Adventurers’ Guild and accept a quest, then go out into the safe zone with this one-eyed guy next to you.” Eric conjured some ice out of thin air, threw it into the water glass on the table, and said this.

That magic-amplifying ring is really useful.

“Me?” Bray pointed to himself, thinking he was hallucinating. “Yes, it’s you. Don’t think that just because you’ve shifted the blame to me, I don’t know how to deal with you.” The soldier’s eyes were full of contempt.

To plot against him? That blind man is far too naive.

“I won’t teach him swordsmanship.” Bray frowned.

“I don’t want you to teach him anything so complicated, and besides, I don’t think he can learn your swordsmanship,” Eric said leisurely, taking a sip of chilled water.

Do you think you can just learn a sword technique like Dead Fish Eyes, which can even kill demigods? Don't be ridiculous, it's not a skill you get for free.

"Following an adventurer who can roam freely outside the safe zone will definitely teach you something useful."

"..." Bray remained silent, lost in thought.

"Okay." After a moment's hesitation, he replied dejectedly.

It's not unreasonable to shift the blame to Eric and take some responsibility ourselves.

Since it's not about giving instructions, it doesn't really matter. At most, it's like taking a newbie to explore the map outside the safe zone.

"I almost forgot to ask something important." Eric suddenly stopped drinking water and glanced at Luo Shiqi.

"How did you end up finding a kid in the ruins?"

“There should be a safe zone near the capital that has been taken over by monsters, and this child escaped here,” Bray replied.

"What good luck," Eric couldn't help but glance sideways.

Although it's unknown how far it is from one safe zone to another, it's very difficult to survive traveling in lands infested with monsters and demigods.

“I think so too.” Bray nodded, admitting that Luo Shiqi’s luck was somewhat extraordinary.

I wonder who's luckier, Nia or I?

It must be Nia. What am I thinking?

“A safe zone has fallen. I need to tell a certain former emperor about this,” Eric said, his hands behind his head and his head tilted back.

Then Eric's expression froze.

"Captain Alice, when exactly did you stand behind me?"

"Colonel, I was there the moment you started talking to Mr. Bray."

"Please be more mindful of what's behind you in the future." Alice casually straightened Colonel Eric's disheveled collar.

"..." Eric vaguely felt that he had said a lot of strange things before, and wondered if Alice had heard him.

"I'm taking this kid with me. I'll throw him back to you after I'm done with the job." Bray decided it was best not to be a third wheel, so he prepared to leave.

But even though Bray left, not much actually changed.

Because this is not a personal workplace.

"What exactly were Eric and that adventurer talking about just now?"

"No, shouldn't we be paying attention to Eric and Alice's little interactions?"

"Are we being third wheels?"

"It has a slightly sweet feel to it."

"Huh? Is this sweet? Why can't I tell?"

"You can't even see the details, no wonder you're single."

Eric listened to the whispers around him, feeling conflicted.

Alice didn't care; she was much more open-minded than Eric.

No one calls Eric and Alice "colonel" or "captain" anymore.

However, for some reason, when the two addressed each other, they still used "colonel" and "captain" even though they were no longer in a superior-subordinate relationship.

However, despite their different ways of addressing each other, there was no sense of distance between them.

It even sounds more natural than when others call it that.

"Colonel, it's rare for you to take on such a troublesome task." Alice looked deeply at Luo Shiqi's retreating figure and sighed.

"Am I not the kind of guy who always takes on all sorts of troublesome things?" Eric scoffed, thinking, "Haven't I caused enough trouble for myself?"

The worst part is that I get scolded after I finish doing it, which makes me want to die. I often wonder why I would do something so disadvantageous.

Eric may seem to be shifting the blame back to Bray, but that's not actually the case.

Ultimately, his action implicitly acknowledged that he was already prepared to teach Luo Shiqi something.

It might teach you how to think, or how to balance "reason" with other things.

"It reminds me of a long time ago, when I asked you, Colonel, to join the team. You also put your feet on the table first, and then said a bunch of things to discourage people from joining." Alice lowered her head and met Eric's gaze as he looked up.

"In the end, they recruited me into the team for a trivial reason."

"You only intend to do one thing from the beginning, yet you talk so much. Colonel, this habit of yours will never change in ten years."

“I am the ever-present ‘Colonel’,” Eric replied.

“Hmm, ‘The Colonel of Ten Thousand Years’.” Alice smiled serenely.

Even though the title is no longer used, Alice will still remember it.

The "perennial colonel" who was unwilling to be promoted, unwilling to abandon his principles, and unwilling to change his original aspirations.

It's like a piece of ice that never melts.

"Look, it really is sweet!"

"I really don't understand. Eric has done so many outrageous things, yet Alice is still willing to follow him."

"Who knows? Maybe love is blind."

People around were still whispering and saying things that would make others feel awkward.

But suddenly, Eric felt that none of this mattered anymore.

Eric casually propped his legs up on the table, opened the thick stack of documents in his hand, and began adding things to them.

“Captain, I need to find a way to have my own office from now on,” Eric said as he wrote.

"I don't want to be a secretary," Alice said calmly, her smile fading.

“I didn’t intend to either,” Eric said irritably.

"A nearby safe zone has been occupied by monsters, which is something to be wary of." Eric compiled as much information as possible from what Luo Shiqi had just told Bray.

Although Luo Shiqi didn't say much to Bray, Eric was still able to glean a lot of useful information from it.

Well, His Majesty the Emperor, who is on the verge of dying from overwork, is about to have his workload increased again because of Eric.