A few biscuits didn't take much time for Tuis. The wooden bowl in his hand had been emptied twice and then filled twice.
Lulunaka's strange green soup was more than just a biscuit to Tuis. He seemed to like the soup a lot and was no longer worried about whether it was suitable for him to drink.
Tuis wasn't in a hurry to swallow the biscuits. Instead, he ate them one mouthful at a time. However, he didn't seem to be slowing down.
His mouth moved very quickly, and his throat moved with gurgling sounds.
He didn't even have time to talk to Lulunaka. He was completely focused on eating.
He looked like a starving man who hadn't eaten for a long time. Eating was his only interest.
His left hand seemed to be injured. It looked a little unnatural when he raised it, and it seemed like he couldn't exert any strength. However, he was still able to put the biscuits into his mouth.
Lulunaka sat on the side and observed Tuis as if she was looking at something interesting.
Lulunaka's gaze made Tuis feel a little uncomfortable. The girl kept smiling at him. He didn't know what she was thinking, but the smile didn't seem to have any special meaning.
Perhaps she was simply pleased that he had drunk so much of the marvellous soup she had made? Tuis fancied.
Lulunaka's smile didn't seem strange in the dark forest. Under the light of the bonfire, it seemed warm. Tuis felt a lot more relaxed.
While Tuis was eating, Julius and the others were observing him from the bonfire in front of the convoy.
Olga and Padding were looking at him cautiously. The young man and young girl were looking at him nervously and fearfully.
Tuis could sense their gazes because they weren't trying to hide it. They were looking at him openly.
Tuis could understand their cautiousness and nervousness. No one would be so friendly to a stranger who appeared in the middle of the night like Lulunaka. Moreover, the stranger looked like a deserter.
Tuis wasn't a deserter. However, a deserter was no different from a deserter before the war.
Most of the time, soldiers like them who had fled after being defeated would not be very friendly to the people they met.
Lulunaka was too friendly to strangers, so much so that it was strange. But Tuis was also very strange. After running away from the battlefield, he did not have any ill intentions towards a girl like Lulunaka, nor was he wary of her. He was so honest that it was a little stupid. He accepted her food, and only God knew if she had put anything strange in it. He even enjoyed it and wolfed down a lot of biscuits and soup.
Perhaps it was because he was too hungry, so he didn't care so much.
Or maybe he didn't have the energy to think about Lulunaka's ulterior motives.
In any case, Lurunaka gave him a lot of biscuits that tasted good, as well as a green soup that looked very different from its appearance.
Lulunaka placed a small iron pot over the bonfire. Most of the soup was gone. Only some residue was left.
There were plant branches and fruit cores in the pot. There wasn't anything suspicious. Just like Lulunaka said, it was a pot of harmless stuff. It just looked like poison.
After stuffing the last biscuit into his mouth, Tuis drank the last bit of soup in the wooden bowl. He looked up at the sky and turned the wooden bowl upside down. He didn't miss a single drop of soup.
The green soup was to his liking. It improved his appetite a lot. He ate a lot of rough biscuits that he usually couldn't eat.
Even if this kind of food wasn't filled with wood shavings, it still required a bit of patience and a healthy mouth to eat.
Tuis put the bowl down and patted his stomach.
He had never felt so satisfied before. The fatigue from running for his life for the past few days seemed to have disappeared.
"Thank you for your hospitality."
He said to Lulunaka. Then he scratched his head embarrassedly. "I think I ate too much."
"That's not a problem."
Lulunaka smiled. "The biscuits are a bit too much. Many of them have been stored for a long time.
It's better to eat them now than to let them grow maggots. But that way, the taste will be different. "
Tuis frowned. This wasn't a topic that could make his appetite good. "Oh … Biscuits with maggots. That's a nightmare.
But sometimes, you have to stuff them in your mouth even if you know they have maggots. "
"Mr. Tuis, you seem to have a deep understanding of this.
That's why I think it's great that someone can eat the biscuits before they become moldy. "
This was a new concept for Tuis. A girl like Lulunaka was indeed strange and rare.
There was one more thing that Tuis was embarrassed to mention. It wasn't something that he should be proud of. "There's one more thing that you should know.
I don't have anything on me that can repay you. Not only did Els have no money in his pocket, but he also had a set of broken armor and a two-handed sword that was no different from a piece of scrap metal. He had nothing but his life.
However, it was a little too expensive to pay for dinner with a life.
"Don't mind me. Didn't I just say that?
I'm happy that you can get rid of the moldy biscuits. "
Lulunaka didn't seem to mind what Tuis was upset about. "Or rather, I'm worried that you'll accidentally eat the spoiled biscuits. I'll be sorry if you have a stomachache."
Tuis smiled when he heard Lulunaka's words.
This was the first time he showed a real smile, as if he had finally unloaded the burden on his body.
"You're such a kind person, Lulunaka … But you're a bit strange."
"Do you think so?"
Lulunaka smiled. "My grandmother once said that it's best to be kind to others when you're away from home.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the person has to be as kind and friendly as you, Mr. Tuis.
She also said that you should avoid three kinds of people when you're away from home: fleeing soldiers, traveling nobles, and traveling merchants. "
This was the first time Tuis heard of such an interesting saying.
Fleeing soldiers naturally referred to people like Tuis. Tuis didn't find it inappropriate or humiliating. Fleeing soldiers had no order, and they were no different from bandits.
However, Tuis seemed to be an exception.
Nobles who were on a journey were lofty existences who would not stop even if their horses trampled people to death. Everyone who cherished their lives and was smart would not stand in the way of the nobles' horses and waste their lives.
However, Tuis was curious about the traveling merchants.
"Why traveling merchants?" Tuis asked.
Lulunaka rested her chin on her hand and looked at the bonfire with a sorrowful expression. "Traveling merchants are all people who travel the world, right?
If they could find rare goods in various places or unique items in remote areas, they could pull them over to the Veis Republic, the center of commerce, for profit.
Sometimes, traveling merchants are no different from thieves in order to obtain rare goods. Some of them even use force to rob.
Traveling merchants are more restrained in areas under the jurisdiction of the Chamber of Commerce, but in remote areas, without the restrictions of laws, they become crafty and treacherous … Although they're usually like that. "
Speaking of this, Lurunaka added another sentence, seeming to take it seriously. "A traveling merchant without a bottom line is a thief, a robber, or even a grave robber."
Tuis smiled at Lulunaka's words and didn't say anything.