Temple Sword

Chapter 114
A thin, haggard, bearded alcoholic staggered out of the dark underground tavern, and it was not yet noon.He supported the door frame with his hands, trying to maintain his balance, then took a hard step, and continued walking unsteadily.

He has completely forgotten the name of the cloudy glass of vinegary wine he drank last night. For him, as long as he can get drunk and forget everything, any wine is the same.As long as he throws out a few silver coins, he can forget about everything.

He was once a good hand with the bow, thanks to his good fortune, well, thanks to a kind Templar, he emerged from the ranks of the peasants to become a small groom and then a squire, in Rozgo After the battle of Nepal, he was made a knight by the king himself.

He himself didn't know what went wrong in his path of destiny, which led him astray.He only remembered that after his old friend who grew up with him and became a close companion of the king with him suddenly left the court, he became extremely lonely and desolate overnight, and he felt abandoned.

For a time he tried to make a name for himself in order to gain the favor and respect of the other knights, but since he had not received serious combat training in his youth and was clumsy with all weapons except bow and spear, he Always out early in jousting contests.

No one remembers his name because he was always the first to fall in duels and never made it to the jousting.

Since he has no friends among men, he tries to find peace among horses.The air in the stables had a characteristic majestic smell that had always calmed him since childhood.He loves horses and enjoys taking care of them in his free time.

The grooms in the stables didn't dare to drive the court knight away, but he didn't bother the others anyway, so they let him take care of the animals.

Until one day, drunk, he broke into the royal stables, jumped on one of the gray horses at random, and determined to gallop with it at night, causing quite a panic.

To pay the fine he had to sell his armor gloves and knight's belt, and then began to have less and less: first he drank all the money in his purse, then his ebony saddle, his Grant of arms, and eventually even a small piece of land on the outskirts of his town.

He pissed on a nearby dunghill and wanted to get back to his place as soon as possible: to the infantry quarters in the castle.He walked from the outer city to the busier streets, cursing and pushing his way through the crowd.But he was being jostled and jostled, and people took him for a dirty beggar, a drunkard who came to beg from rich people in Timisoara.

"Don't make me, you idiots!" he muttered, almost biting his own tongue. "If you mess with me again, I'll send you to hell!"

"You are the one who should go to hell!" A burly citizen pushed his shoulder, "Shut up, stinky beggar!"

As soon as the words fell, he grabbed the man's clothes and wanted to punch him, but his feet slipped and he fell directly to the ground.The man who pushed him just now quickly disappeared into the crowd. Passers-by smiled or shook their heads after seeing this scene, and then walked away.No one cared about the unfortunate fellow, except one.

A man in plain clothes blocked the sunlight in front of his eyes. The man's face was shocked, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.The drunkard looked up, for whatever reason, this man's face looked familiar, as if a long memory came alive before his eyes...

"Laszlo?" asked the man leaning over him in surprise, but he could no longer answer.The confusion in his head made his stomach twitch violently, and he threw up everything, including what was left of his self-esteem, before passing out.

---

He woke up in a soft bed, his humming head resting on a velvet-covered pillow of fine feathers.He sat up and looked around the room. He saw a gorgeous green brick oven, a large bathtub, a table, armchairs, and valuables everywhere.

He climbed out of the high four-poster bed and looked at himself in confusion: he was wearing a white shirt and pants, and he didn't smell as bad as before.

He raised his head and grabbed the shoulder-length hair that hadn't been done in recent years, and the thick greasy feeling disappeared somehow.His beard was free of dust and vomit.Laszlo was confused, his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm dead..." he whispered, he had no other thoughts, and believed that he had reached heaven.He was not frightened by the thought, but calmly accepted his fate.

He's been through so much pain over the past few years that this otherworldly feeling is comforting.

On a table in the middle of the room, he saw a large wooden bowl containing some beautiful apples.He approached, wanting to eat some fruit to satisfy his hunger, but when he reached out, his movement stopped in mid-air.

"Wait..." he muttered, looking around suspiciously, "what if this is a trial?"

He suddenly remembered that Adam's trial was also an apple, and the ancestors of mankind failed after taking a bite of the forbidden fruit.If this wasn't heaven, but purgatory, or a waiting room similar to purgatory...then the Lord might be testing him too.

If he took a bite out of the apple, he would not be forgiven, and would go straight to hell, into the fire of eternal damnation.His head was heavy with the thought...

Before he could fully comprehend, the door was opened and two people stepped across the threshold.The person walking in front was very familiar to him, and he suddenly remembered that he had seen that face not long ago, just before he came here.

"Antal!" he gasped, his eyes began to dim, "you died too?"

But the moment he said it, he suddenly understood everything, the mysterious new commander everyone was talking about...the king's deputy who just arrived in Timisoara a few days ago...this is not heaven or purgatory!
"I thought I was dead," Laszlo explained to a frowning Antal, who had brought some clothes and piled them on an oak box.

"I thought I had the wrong guy," said the Cavaliers, clearly in a bad mood. "What's wrong with you?"

Laszlo came back to his senses in an instant, "It's nothing!" He lied, "Can't I have a little wine? I'm an adult and I don't need your help!"

"You don't look good at all!" Antal raised his voice, "We carried you in like a sack of flour, and you didn't wake up when Simon threw you in the bucket to wash the shit out of you Come here. For God's sake, you're dirtier than a pig! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Of course he's ashamed, his life is a piece of shit, but he doesn't want to show it anyway.

"Where are my clothes?" Laszlo asked rhetorically, while Antal pointed to the stove.

"I've burned the rags you call clothes, here," he pointed to the clothes covering the box, "we brought you new clothes, here, put them on!"

Laszlo looked angrily at his childhood friend, staring at him silently, considering what he should do.Should he refuse this unsolicited gift?Thinking that if he refused, he would go out with bare legs, Laszlo immediately began to dress.

"Your belt is on the chair," Antal pointed, trying to calm himself down, "Your purse is also on it, I didn't touch it."

"Oh, I thought you stuffed it with money, my lord Barto!" cried Laszlo sarcastically, "and you've got me a saddled horse and a Six carriages? Or did it bring me redemption itself?"

"You idiot!" the knight roared at him, approaching him sharply. "Are you trying to drink yourself to death in broad daylight? If I hadn't brought you in, you might already be kneeling in court!"

"The court..." Laszlo smiled darkly, "They have taken everything from me, what else can they take from me, my flesh and blood?"

Simon frowned and watched the scene in front of him.All he knew was that this nasty bug he had to clean up with his own hands had once been his master's friend.But he didn't know why the knight would befriend a man like this, a hairy dog ​​covered in fleas.

The two in front of Simon had already begun to argue, and as usual, he put his hand on the handle of the dagger for immediate action if necessary.He really wanted to stab this guy in the ribs, or at least slash him and teach him some manners.

"You are a court knight," Antal yelled at Laszlo, "I left you here, and Charlie himself sealed you, but look, what have you become in nine years?"

"My poor father was right!" growled Laszlo too. "You defrauded me from my own life when I was a child, and didn't tell me what awaited me. A kind of army life...and I wasn't made for it!
I live in this cold and harsh place, ridiculed and cast aside!Now you appear like a miracle and shower me with your favor...but I don't need you anymore! "

Suddenly the knight's heart sank. His former squire, the man to whom he could confide his most terrible secrets, the man who commanded the best infantry, had become like this now.

Antal had thought it would do him good to keep him at court, and believed he had become a wealthy nobleman, perhaps lord of a castle, and that the knight could send his son to him to learn strict knighthood life, away from the arms of his parents.

But now, he had to doubt whether his approach was correct.Perhaps Laszlo had risen in the army only because he had served him, the Knight of the Lily, and perhaps the life of a warrior was not for him, because he was not brought up as a warrior, but a good farmer, Or groom.

"Maybe I committed an unforgivable sin when I left you here to fend for myself," Antar said quietly, "but you are a free man...why didn't you come to me? You never Come to my house and you are the godfather of my only child! Why didn't you tell me how bad your life has become?"

They stared at each other in silence for a long time, Antal spoke so frankly that Laszlo knew it was time for him to tell the truth, but somehow he couldn't, his pride got the better of him.

"I told you, I'm a grown-up." His voice shook with anger. "It's not your job to help me get home."

"Laszlo, please..."

"After so many years, you show up out of nowhere, out of the blue, trying to save me. You don't ask me how I'm doing, where I live...you happen to see me on the street, at the worst moment of my life , took me away without asking anything, and treated me like a helpless baby! Who do you think you are?" At this time, Laszlo was already yelling, saliva splashing.

He took his simple belt, and fastening it around him, reached into his purse for some broken coins. "You know what, you flawless knight? This is the money I'm paying for my new clothes!" He slapped the money on the table. "Now I'm leaving!"

"The door is open," Simon said in a low voice, he didn't want to wait for Antal to speak, if his master started talking back, no matter what he said, there would definitely be no good results. "You are an adult, let's go."

After Laszlo left with violent steps, Simon walked up to Antal. The knight sighed deeply, trying to force himself to remain calm.

"You must think this is weird," the knight said with a wry smile as if seeing the concern in Simon's eyes, "Why would I have anything to do with such a person?"

Simon was silent for a while, and then said: "He used to be your attendant, I believe he was very different before and now. But my lord, people will change, everyone will."

"He was my best friend and my most trusted subordinate, at least in the past." Antal recalled. "I still remember that he trained for me an elite infantry team, able to resist the heavy cavalry rushing from the top of the mountain, but they all died in Rozgoni, as a living wall in front of the king. He once Get me back together, maybe now it's my turn..."

"Do you wish me to go after him, my lord?" asked Simon.

"I want you to follow him," Antar looked at him, his voice was calm but his eyes sparkled. "I want to know what happened to him and how he got so deep. I want to know where he lives, what his role is, how he spends his days. I want to know everything about him."

"You will know." The attendant nodded and left the angry and disappointed knight without saying anything.

(End of this chapter)