Two Old Men

"Arando, tell me what on earth happened. Don't deny it; I know you. You wouldn't have come to me through such hardship and desperation unless you were truly backed into a corner."

Hearing Kramsh's words, Arando was stunned for a moment before he chuckled.

"What could have happened? It's just that business went sour, and I'm getting on in years. I've seen through the vanity of strife and no longer want to deal with all that chaos, so I came to rely on you. I want to live a peaceful life here and spend my remaining days in quiet. Don't you think that's a good idea?"

"That's not it, Arando. I may not be as clever as you, but I know you. You've definitely run into trouble; otherwise, with your personality, why would you ever want to retire?"

"There's no trouble at all. People change. When I was young, I always thought about achieving fame and fortune and building a great legacy. But now that I'm old, I've seen through it all. I'm nearly in the grave; what use is fame or wealth? Didn't you always used to advise me not to be so obsessed with success? Why is it that now that I've finally figured it out, you don't understand?"

Arando had realized on the road that he could not drag his only friend into the abyss for the sake of his own vengeance, especially after discovering that his old friend was living well, surrounded by children and grandchildren. He couldn't possibly tell him the truth. He knew his old friend too well; if he found out the reality, he would absolutely go seeking revenge.

"Arando, you're still the same as before, unwilling to rely on others, carrying everything on your own shoulders. But listen, old friend! I know you. You wouldn't have swallowed your pride and come to Avalon if you weren't at the end of your rope. I know you didn't think I owed you anything back then, but we Avalon Orcs believe that a debt of kindness is a debt of honor—there's nothing more to say. Your troubles are my troubles, and we will face them together," Kramsh said with great determination.

"Heh, I do have a request: I'm asking you to take me in. As for anything else, I don't want to talk about it." It was useless to talk anyway; the enemy was too strong, and Arando could not possibly ruin his only friend's life.

"What about Lisa? And the children? You wouldn't just abandon them. What happened to them? Did something happen to them?" The old man watched Arando in silence for a moment before speaking slowly.

Arando looked at Kramsh in surprise.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm at this age, too; it's not like I'm still as foolish and ignorant of the ways of the world as I was when I was young."

Arando didn't speak, simply picking up his wine and continuing to pour it into his mouth.

"Speak! What happened to them?" Arando had married early, so Kramsh knew his family and had been on good terms with them. Lisa, Arando's late wife, was a kind woman who had been very much to Kramsh's liking. They had been good friends, too, though they lost touch after Kramsh and Arando had their falling out to avoid awkwardness.

"Lisa passed away a long time ago. She died of illness." Arando said only that, and then refused to say another word.

This made Kramsh anxious. He started with gentle persuasion, but in the end, he simply slammed the table and cursed—orcs generally had very short tempers.

Kramsh's voice grew louder and louder, eventually alarming the rest of the household. Seeing the old man's state, they were all confused; he had been fine just a moment ago, so how did he flip his mood so quickly? They rushed over to mediate, not knowing what was going on.

However, the old man's temper was far from good. He gave his son, daughter-in-law, and several grandchildren a thorough scolding, not even sparing Solam. Great! He was caught in the crossfire again. Although this was the first time for Solam, the others were used to it. Finally, the old man shouted "Get lost!" and chased everyone out.

Once the crowd had slunk away, only the two old men remained in the tent, staring each other down.

In the end, Arando couldn't out-stubborn Kramsh. It had been the same in the past; if Arando was stubborn, then Kramsh was a diamond in a latrine—stinking, hard, and impossibly tough.

"I'll tell you, but I have one condition."

"Speak," the old man Kramsh said, clearly unhappy with his friend's concealment.

"After I tell you, you are not allowed to seek revenge for me. That is my own business. I have my own plans, and I don't need you to interfere."

This condition truly made Kramsh feel miserable, but after thinking for a long time, the old man nodded.

"They are all dead. They were murdered." The old man didn't mention that his family had been killed right in front of him; he knew Kramsh had a violent temper and didn't want to provoke him further.

"..." Kramsh was completely stunned, then asked in a hoarse voice, "Why?"

"I accidentally obtained this thing, and it brought a death sentence upon me." As he spoke, he took out the Arcane Eye and gave it a shake.

"What is this thing? Why do others want it? And who exactly is trying to get it?" The old man fired off a series of questions like a machine gun.

Arando could only shrug helplessly at these questions. "I only know this thing is called the Arcane Eye. I know nothing else, nor do I know what they want it for. I only know they are sparing no cost to find it."

At this, Arando picked up the Arcane Eye again and looked at it deeply. It was a massive black gemstone carved into the shape of an eye, with a cluster of red in the center that looked like a pupil. In truth, it was a ruby, but it was so deep a red that it appeared black. Yet, there was no energy reaction from it; otherwise, Arando wouldn't have mistaken it for a rare piece of jewelry back then.

"The ones hunting me are the Arcane Brotherhood. They care deeply about this Arcane Eye. Before I entered the Spine of the World, I heard they had already dispatched a legendary mage to search for it. This thing must have great significance to them."

"The Arcane Brotherhood? Those scumbags!!!! I'm going to grind them all into meat paste. Let's go, Arando, we leave now. We must make those bastards pay." Kramsh smashed the table in front of him to pieces with one punch, then jumped up, ready to go seek revenge with Arando. Kramsh had spent quite some time in Canlus with Arando and knew exactly what kind of organization the Arcane Brotherhood was.

Seeing that Kramsh was indeed intent on revenge, Arando felt a wave of relief. It was fortunate he had made the agreement beforehand, or he truly wouldn't have known how to end this.

"Kramsh!!! What did you promise me? This is my business; I don't want you to interfere."

"Your business? Is that how you handle things? Instead of seeking revenge, you're hiding here shivering like a terrified quail??? Aren't you afraid Lisa will come back from the afterlife to find you??? Did your family die in vain???" The old man was now consumed by rage, seizing upon Arando and berating him relentlessly.

It had to be said that the old man's tongue was truly venomous. Arando had already calmed down significantly, but hearing this, he was furious, raising his fist and punching Kramsh right in his old face.

"I'll show you a sharp tongue, you bastard!!!"

"You coward, you actually dare to hit me? Go to hell, I'm going to teach you a lesson for Lisa's sake, you jerk." He then swung his own fist, refusing to be outdone.

The people outside heard the fighting start inside. Just as they were hesitating whether to go in and help, Solam held them back. Although Solam didn't know what had happened between them, he felt nothing truly terrible would occur. Besides, who would he help if he went in? Help the old man? Please! The old man was a legendary warrior. Even though Solam knew Arando was an Arcane Knight, if he went into melee combat with a legendary warrior like his grandfather, even a dragon would likely be beaten half to death. As for helping Arando...

Although Solam had gotten along well with him during their journey, there was no reason to help an outsider fight his own grandfather, so he figured he should just look out for himself. That was our Solam—always favoring family over logic. Furthermore, he knew his grandfather too well; despite the shouting, the old man knew how to pull his punches, and nothing serious would happen.

Sure enough, in less than 20 minutes, the sounds of fighting in the tent ceased, though the two were still loudly cursing at each other. They sounded full of vigor, so it seemed they were fine. Everyone went back to their own business; Solam hadn't even eaten yet.

Half an hour later, the tent was a mess, and both old men were bruised and battered. They weren't arguing anymore, but they were still glaring at each other like fighting cocks.

Finally, the old man Kramsh softened first.

"So, what are your plans?"

Seeing that Kramsh had calmed down, Arando gave a bitter smile.

"What plans could I have? I just want to wait for death here. Besides, as long as the Arcane Eye is here, the Arcane Brotherhood will never get it. Even if I can't get my revenge, I won't let them have their way."

I'll help you. The sentence rolled around in Kramsh's mouth before he swallowed it back down. It wasn't out of fear; Avalon Orcs were famous for valuing honor over life, and dying to avenge a friend was considered a glory. The old man wasn't afraid of death at all, but he knew his friend too well. If he said those words, it wouldn't be helping him—it would be an insult. His friend possessed an unimaginable amount of pride; otherwise, they wouldn't have parted ways back then. He knew better than anyone how much pain Arando was in right now. To have a blood feud he couldn't avenge and to be forced to live in hiding—what kind of torture was that? At a time like this, how was pity any different from an insult?

Watching Kramsh's hesitant expression, Arando knew exactly what he wanted to say. However, Kramsh had misunderstood; Arando didn't think it was an insult. He wasn't a child anymore, and he didn't have such dramatic, adolescent thoughts. But there was one thing Kramsh had guessed correctly: Arando would rather die than let Kramsh be dragged into this. He was already ruined; even if he got his revenge, could his family come back to life? More importantly, he knew clearly that they couldn't possibly succeed. The most likely outcome was that they would be killed. The Arcane Brotherhood had three legendary mages. As a caster on the arcane path himself, he understood better than anyone just how powerful a legendary mage was. It could be said that unless a god descended, legendary mages were the strongest group of people in the world.