32 Chapter 32 - A Trial? (5)
Theodore woke up feeling a little bit dizzy; he did not rest well last night.
He got up from his bed to prepare for the regular morning routine before finally looking at his city guard's uniform.
It was only the second day of work; however, he had already lost a lot of anticipation for the job. Theodore dispiritedly sighed before he changed his cloth.
After checking himself and ensuring he was ready, Theodore left the room. When he came out, he saw his breakfast prepared on the table with his teacher sitting nearby again.
This familiar screen made Theodore's lip slightly twitch. He knew that his teacher did not listen to his previous suggestion to take more rest at all.
When Theodore finished his breakfast, he quickly cleaned up the dish, as usual, to prevent Nathan from doing it instead.
Seeing his disciple like this, Nathan could not help but lightly complain that Theodore was too worried.
Hearing his teacher's nagging, Theodore quickly washed his hand and hastily said goodbye to his teacher before departing.
Nathan looked at Theodore leaving; he shook his head and softly chuckled.
...
Theodore soon reached the training ground, the assembling location Lucas had assigned the previous day.
He glanced all over the area and only found a few people scattered around; it seemed he had arrived early again.
Theodore stood in a corner silently, with his back leaning against a tree. He waited for a while before more and more people arrived.
When it was the appointed time, a solemn man in precious-looking armor walked in with a frigid expression.
Theodore looked curiously at the man; this person was not William, who had come the previous day.
The man then introduced himself; he was Ethan, who was the city guard's deputy captain.
Ethan then arranged for a part of the recruit to start the training for the first half of the day. He was one apathetic person; when he completed his task, he left indifferently.
Although the training was difficult, Theodore was one of the people who persisted until the end; his instinct told him that the training would be beneficial to him.
Theodore was grasping for his breath as he secretly sighed. After the experience of patrolling on the previous day, he honestly preferred the tranquil training time in the morning.
Regardless of how reluctant he was, Theodore still went to join his patrolling team on time.
Everyone lightly greeted each other and tactically did not mention what had happened yesterday. The team's members then went to have lunch together despite the somewhat subtle unfavorable atmosphere between them.
Not long after everyone finished eating, Lucas came over.
Lucas lightly nodded in greeting the team. He swept his gaze passed everyone, pausing negligibly at Theodore before he started leading the patrol.
Compared to the previous day, Theodore felt that Lucas was more alienated from his team. At the same time, he sensed that his team leader seemed more amiable to him?
Theodore was confused; he wondered if he sensed it wrong because of his lack of sleep.
He continued thinking about this topic as he silently followed Lucas in patrolling, trying to be obscure.
...
Theodore observed the path he had walked and felt strange; it was not the same path he walked the previous day.
He peeked at the other recruits; it seemed he was not the only confused person.
Seemingly feeling the bewilderment of the member of his team, Lucas still fulfilled his responsibility as the team leader and took the initiative to explain, "The patrolling task of the city guard is just to inspect the assigned area; there are many paths possible to take to complete the job."
'It can also help the city guards avoid sensitive or troublesome situations they don't want to face.' Lucas silently added in his heart but did not voice it out.
It was an unspoken secret that the experienced city guards tactically agreed. If they did not get unlucky and face the situation head-on like the previous day, they could shrink the responsibility by arriving late; it could help them avoid trouble when necessary.
Theodore glanced at Lucas thoughtfully, thinking deeply about the possible hidden meaning from the subtle tone of his team leader.
...
Lucas's patrol team soon returned to the training ground.
Fortunately, the team encountered no unexpected events and completed the day patrol smoothly.
Everyone in the team lightly said goodbye before parting ways to do their own thing.
Theodore went to find Lucas, intending to ask something, after seeing that the others had departed.
Lucas was leaning against a nearby tree as if he could predict that Theodore would come and find him.
Just as Theodore opened his mouth to ask his question, he halted, hearing intriguing news from other returning city guards.
It turned out that a noteworthy event had happened when they were patrolling.
John, one of the victims of the incident he encountered the previous day, bought an artifact from an unknown source and attempted to murder the famous young master Chasin, who had harmed him and his daughter.
Although the assassination failed, it also seriously injured that young master Chasin. Feeling that he was unsuccessful and had no more chance, John decisively ended his life before the surrounding people could capture him.
Theodore instinctively stared at his team leader with doubt; he did not believe that Lucas did not contribute to the event.
He quickly estimated. The approximate location of the incident was originally in the team's patrolling route. If the team had taken the previous day's path, they would be nearby when the assassination happened.
Theodore did not think that there was such a coincidence.
"Did you know this would happen?" After hesitating for a moment, Theodore finally decided to ask.
"Of course... not," Lucas replied as he smiled lightly, thinking Theodore was still inexperienced. For this kind of thing, even if he knew, how could he admit it?
"What is your opinion about what happened?" Lucas smoothly changed the subject.
"I feel that Jasmine and her father did not deserve such an ending. It might differently end if we had helped them." Theodore paused before speaking in a low voice. In his opinion, the two of them were just innocent victims; the one who started everything was that Chasin.
Lucas raised his eyebrow at Theodore's reply. He lightly responded, "No one deserves anything without any reason."
"They might blame the city guard for not helping them, but what can we earn from saving them besides the tricky risk? Why should we endanger ourselves for someone we don't even know?" Lucas continued, not caring about the change in Theodore's face.
He then waved his hand and walked away after leaving behind his last advice, "You don't have to care too much about other people; just living ourselves was already hard enough. The world is not fair, to begin with; don't be ridiculous and think it is."
He looked at Lucas's leaving figure; his team leader's words kept repeating in his mind.
...
Theodore still clearly remembered Lucas's remarks even after a month had passed.
