Gloria smiled and said, "Good. You slapped that guy hard just now!" Although she was covered in dust, seeing that the arrogant guard was severely punished, she felt extremely satisfied.
The two entered the city through the open city gate and soon stopped. The city of Ventona was quite large and far surpassed Salencia in area. There were complex streets and alleys all over the city. Since it was their first time here, how could they know where to go?
Aurelio said, "We can only go in the approximate direction. Since the flag we saw just now was on the left, going west should get us there."
Gloria nodded and said, "Well, that's the only way. Let's ask for directions as we go. Huh? That guy... is still pestering!" She suddenly turned around and saw that the fat man was following behind them. He had managed to climb out of the moat with great effort and was now completely wet and looked extremely embarrassed.
"Do you want to fight again?" Gloria asked the fat man. Obviously, she had forgotten again that they couldn't communicate with each other.
Aurelio shook his head and said, "He doesn't seem to want to get beaten again. Ignore him. Let's go."
The fat man followed behind them, muttering something. His previous arrogant attitude had disappeared completely. Now he was just very panicked and a bit incoherent. Aurelio could only understand the general meaning: he hoped he could be forgiven and that what he had done wouldn't be known by the king.
Gloria saw his humble appearance and turned to Aurelio and asked, "What is he saying? Begging for forgiveness?"
"Something like that."
"What did you say to him just now? You scared him like this."
"I said I would tell his king. I just wanted to scare him a little and make him stop asking for trouble, that's all." Aurelio replied, "Who knew it would have the opposite effect? Let's go! Can he follow us all the way?"
The two ignored the fat man and walked on the streets of Ventona, but the fat man still chased after them. He followed behind, babbling something.
Gloria was extremely tired and had already reached the limit of her patience. The fat man was so noisy, which exceeded her tolerance. She just felt anger rising to her head. She immediately turned around and swung her right fist, hitting the fat man right on the bridge of his nose.
The fat man was knocked over to the ground by the punch, then rolled a couple of times, and then suddenly jumped up. Both of his nostrils were bleeding and his nose bone was broken. Obviously, he was seriously injured, but it wasn't enough to drive him away. "This is so annoying!" Gloria complained again and then raised her left fist.
Aurelio quickly reached out to stop her and said, "If you hit him again, you might kill him. There will be trouble if you kill him. I'll drive him away." He turned to the fat man and roared, "Get lost, or I'll beat you too!"
"U... understood!"
Just as the fat man left, a voice came from not far away: "Your Excellency Aurelio Malgano! Miss Gloria! You two are okay. That's great!" This sentence was shouted in the Salencian language, attracting the attention of the two.
Aurelio turned around and saw the person who shouted - Baron Carrick, the adjutant of General Corne - had already run up quickly. Behind him were two teams of twelve people each. They were all fully armed and seemed to be going out on a mission.
"Since you two are safe, the general can rest assured." Carrick said respectfully. The other twenty-four people also saluted the two of them.
"Yesterday, when your whereabouts were unknown, the general was very anxious. As soon as we just settled down, he sent me and others back to the camp by the river to look for you two." Carrick continued. After he received the task, he didn't expect that the task would be successfully completed before he even left the city. Naturally, he was very happy. But his expression still looked humble and didn't show any sign of happiness.
"Thank you for your hard work." Aurelio said, "You don't have to be so respectful to me."
Carrick nodded, but his attitude was still modest. "I don't deserve it... This way, we can finally give an explanation to Count Laia and Count Arega." These two lords were undoubtedly their relatives. After the two heard each other's backgrounds, none of them showed any surprise.
"Mr. Carrick, please lead the way for us." Gloria said with a smile, "You don't have to be so polite to me either."
"Please follow me."
The two walked side by side behind Carrick. Gloria frowned and said, "We also scolded and beat him. Why was it useless? You tell me, how could there be such soldiers? I heard before that the army of Westrick was very powerful. Why does it seem completely different from what was said?"
Aurelio replied, "Most of the original elite soldiers didn't want to fight for Finn II and fled. The rest probably suffered heavy casualties. He could only recruit some people temporarily. But ordinary people don't want to fight and don't want to die for a tyrant. The people he could recruit... drunks, desperadoes, unemployed people and opportunists, that's it."
"No wonder." Gloria suddenly realized, "Only rogues and rascals accompany the tyrant."
The two didn't talk for a long time after that. Gloria asked, "What's wrong? You don't want to talk to me on your own initiative? Actually, although I had a faint feeling, I really didn't expect it."
"What feeling?"
Gloria replied, "Knowing that your teacher is Mr. De Leto, I could probably guess that your background must be extraordinary. But I really didn't expect that you are the young master of the Malgano family." After she said that, she thought again: "However... he was sent to the academy when he was a few years old and didn't stay with his father. Leaving home at such a young age, maybe he's not the eldest son? Ah! What am I thinking? Although sons other than the eldest son don't have the right to inherit property... but so what! I'm not a snob! It's just that, as a second son... how much extra effort does he have to make for his goals? What... can I do to help him?" She lowered her head and hid her worried expression.
Aurelio turned his head and stared at her and asked, "You don't think there's a problem after knowing?"
"Of course not. Have I ignored you? The grudges of the fathers are just the grudges of the fathers." Gloria said and then raised her head. She tried hard to smile at Aurelio, and her eyes showed sincerity.
"That's good."
"You're not angry either, right?" Gloria asked in return.
"I don't want the nobles to hate each other either." Aurelio replied, "However, I didn't expect it either. I thought you were from the Molin family."
Gloria smiled again, then picked up a strand of hair and brought it to her eyes and said, "This kind of misjudgment is not the first or second time. People who see me for the first time all think I'm from the Molin family. My mother is from the Molin family, and I have the same hair color as her. Generally speaking, in the Molin family, it's passed from father to children, and mothers rarely pass it on further. I'm such a special case. But thanks to this misjudgment. Your family and the Molin family seem to be old friends, right? If you hadn't mistakenly thought I was from the Molin family, would you have directly criticized the shortcomings of the knight order? If you knew that my father was the captain, you would be even less willing to say it, right?"
"Indeed." Aurelio admitted frankly, "Anyway, I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize. I don't feel offended. As far as I know, my father has long had the idea of improvement. It's just that some old fossils in the order have been opposing. They're old and think they're great. They can't even swing a sword anymore. Why don't they retire quickly! Forget it, let's not talk about this. I'll tell my father your opinion!"
"Thank you. Just don't let them know it was the kid from the Malgano family who said it."
Gloria smiled and said, "I'll tell them it was said by the disciple of Mr. De Leto."
During the war, the originally prosperous streets of Ventona became extremely desolate. Most of the shops were closed, and there were very few pedestrians on the road. It was almost like a dead city. There was a thick layer of dust on the streets. When a strong wind blew, the dust was blown into the air. Aurelio covered his nose and mouth and advanced against the wind.
After walking on the dilapidated streets for about ten minutes, the two arrived at the camp of the Salencian legion.
"The general should be in the temple over here." Carrick said, pointing at the gate of the temple, "Please follow me."