If he ignored everything that had come before and the current circumstances, Volkov might have thought in his daze that he was speaking with an old knight who had been invested for many years.
When he arrived at the Solar Ship with apprehension and hope, he had not expected such treatment. It was not a warm welcome or hospitality, but recognition and respect as though they had known each other for years.
Huai Shi had not made him lower his head, nor had he given him a chance to beg.
As Bishop Pavel's junior, Huai Shi met another bishop's junior and welcomed another Bestowed Knight with the etiquette of a Bestowed Knight.
Like comrades who had fought side by side, there was not the slightest barrier between them. Amid their reunion laughter, he asked his friend: What can I do to help you?
As though such help was only natural.
Even a knight who was poor with words could feel, from the bottom of his heart, the pure friendship and respect within it.
Only after Volkov followed Huai Shi into the workshop did he set down the case in his hands and push it before him.
As though he had encountered something too difficult to speak of, he opened his mouth again and again for a long time before finally saying, "This is my shield. It was damaged in yesterday's raid.
"I wanted to ask you to take a look and see whether there is any chance of saving it."
After the case was opened, Huai Shi fell silent.
It was a round shield covered in cracks.
No one knew how long it had existed or how many battles it had endured. Cracks of every size and traces of repairs covered the entire shield like patterns.
It had been passed