Chapter 998: Chapter 53 Golden Friendship_2
“What did I just say? Seeing with one’s own eyes is different from hearing from others.” Winters patted Caman’s shoulder with pity: “Given the opportunity, I’ll take you to see the ocean yourself. But… didn’t you take a sea vessel to Paratu? Didn’t you first dock at Inner Sea before entering Paratu?”
“I traveled overland, through Monta to reach Paratu.” Caman explained helplessly: “The land route is slower, but it’s much safer than taking a ship, so I try to avoid sailing whenever I can.”
“Before coming to Paratu? You had never seen the ocean before then either.”
“As soon as I was old enough to rember, my sister handed over to the clergy, and I’ve lived in Saint Michael’s Monastery since I was young. How could I have possibly seen the ocean? The Monastery had only stone walls, corridors, tunnels, prayer rooms, a library, and the Altar of Divine Grace…”
Without any warning, Caman’s voice abruptly stopped.
Listening with keen interest, Winters didn’t understand and looked at Caman enquiringly.
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Caman abruptly stood up, staring intently at Winters, with his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white from the force.
“I thought… we were friends.” Caman said through gritted teeth.
Winters had already sensed Caman’s change; the Caman before him was no longer the cold outside, warm inside priest of Wolf Town, but rather a wound-up fierce beast, ready to pounce.
Two wolfhounds bristled at their necks, flanking Winters on both sides, baring their teeth at Caman.
But the wolfhounds had their tails tucked between their hind legs, their chests nearly touching the ground, and they dared not make any barking noise—this was the posture of the weak, as the spiritual wolfhounds knew that the erect beast before them was far more dangerous than they were.
Winters’ instincts were also sounding a wild alarm, his intuition telling him that any slight movent could provoke Caman to lose control.
“We are friends.” Winters said in a calm tone, trying not to agitate Caman.
“Friends? Is this how you treat a friend? With deception? Trickery? Sches?” Caman’s chest was heaving with a fury he had never felt before, his eyes nearly blazing with tangible flas. At that mont, when he believed he had a true friendship with Winters, he encountered what he saw as a vile “betrayal.”
Winters understood Caman’s thinking: “You think… I was trying to trick information out of you.”
Caman’s body was tense, staring hard at Winters without saying a word.
A vow of silence, he had broken the absolutely unbreakable vow of silence. An indescribable loathing swelled within him; he detested himself for breaking the vow, even more so due to Winters’ “betrayal” fueling his uncontainable anger.
Winters stood up, eting Caman’s gaze squarely: “I indeed hoped to learn about the Divine Arts through you, but only if you were willing to provide help. In our recent conversation, I had no intention of extracting information, nor did I use any lures or deceit. I was just chatting with you, asking questions out of curiosity, not about the Divine Arts…”
As he spoke, Winters realized he had fallen into a quandary: he had never intended to trick Caman into revealing secrets—Caman hadn’t shared anything significant—but he couldn’t prove it.
Winters didn’t want to fight Caman; a battle between Spellcasters was like using a sledgehamr to crack eggs; at least Winters knew no spells for non-lethal combat.
He needed to de-escalate the situation first, at least so that Caman would be willing to hear his explanation.
So Winters sat back down, adopting a completely unguarded posture: “There were actually two reasons I asked you to hike with .”
Winters glanced down at the village in the valley, decisively avoiding eye contact with Caman—eye contact could also provoke a sense of threat.
“The first thing is to say thanks. I didn’t drag you to et Mr. Carlo Aide for no reason.” Winters said with a bitter smile, calmly explaining:
“Carlo Aide is a partner at Navarre Comrce, and I was worried he might convey Mada Navarre’s attitude, which is not very friendly. But she has a sore spot—secrecy. Mada Navarre doesn’t wish for more people to know about my relationship with Anna.”
Caman gave no response—which was a good sign to Winters.
Winters continued: “That’s why I needed an absolutely trustworthy third party to be present. If there’s an ‘outsider’ present, Mada Navarre’s ssenger would be cautious; and if the ‘outsider’ is also a clergyman, even if Mada Navarre herself ca, she wouldn’t be overly aggressive. Just in case, I also had a final contingency plan—to have you officiate at mine and Anna’s imdiate wedding. So, your presence was crucial for to face Mada Navarre’s envoy without future troubles.”
“Of course, Mr. Ed’s unexpected tolerance… those are all details for later.” Winters glanced at Caman: “All these reasons, I can’t discuss in front of Anna, nor in the camp. That’s why I had to express my gratitude to you alone, in a setting with just you and .”
Winters nodded his head in a greeting: “Thank you.”
The wind surged into the valley, fluttering through the coniferous forest on the hillside, with the rustling sound of swaying branches echoing among the mountains.
The wind also passed between Winters and Caman, caressing Caman’s cheek, ruffling Winters’ hair, and departed with a laugh.
“The second matter.” Caman’s voice was hoarse.
“The second thing is even simpler.” Winters stretched out his arm, opened his hand, and the peculiar bone whistle fell down: “The way the [Spirit Talkers] from the Shaman Hurd command beasts.”
“You’re telling for free?” Caman asked sarcastically: “Not making a trade? Not exchanging secrets for secrets?”
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