On this peaceful night, Julius was still waving the cross sword in his hand.
He was sweating in the open space behind the church, not far from the end of the promontory.
He was in the posture that Olga had taught him, tightly holding the sword in his hand, stabbing forward, or slashing diagonally. In this dark night, a silver-white light flashed in his hand.
He was very serious about every movement, his eyes staring straight ahead, his ears pricked up to listen to the movements around him.
He maintained a relatively tense state of mind, so that he could concentrate and face whatever might happen.
Of course, there were no enemies here, and there would not be any existence that would suddenly attack him. The only thing that was worth his attention was the surprise attack that Olga and Padding would usually give him guidance, and perhaps the sudden appearance of Lulunaka.
Olga and Padding's guidance to Julius became more and more strict, especially Olga. When there was an opportunity to attack, he would always catch Julius off guard and beat him to the point that he had no ability to fight back.
In the days after he came back, the bruises on his body were a lot more than when he was bullied in the village. It could even be said that it was a ghastly sight.
Although it was just some flesh wounds that did not hurt his muscles and bones, for Julius, it was hard enough to endure. This was much more difficult than fighting with other children in the village.
But these flesh pains were nothing to Julius now.
His body could withstand this degree of pain, and this made him understand how to endure pain to think, so that he would not lose his ability to fight because of some pain — although Lulunaka said that he was still far from it.
Julius was not dissatisfied because of this. Lulunaka's words were not pleasant to hear, and she often mocked Julius, but when he thought about it, she seemed to have never lied to him — at least when it came to important matters.
Because of some things that happened, Julius was far weaker than before in front of Lulunaka, whether in terms of momentum or spirit.
Now, in front of Lulunaka, he was no longer a little mouse, but a little ant.
This invisible pressure made Julius's mind tense up day by day.
While Julius was swinging his sword, Romuiona came to the side and leaned against the wall to watch Julius practice his swordsmanship.
Under the moonlight, there were only two immature children, who could not even be considered young, existing in this space.
The light of the silver moon fell on Julius's cross sword, and also fell into Romuona's eyes.
The shadow of the sword flashed in front of Julius, and in front of Romuona's eyes, the moonlight fell on her clear pupils, and the silver moon's light shone.
Julius noticed Romuona's eyes, but he did not say anything and continued to practice.
If he was distracted at this time, his extra practice tonight would be in vain.
Olga told him that it was important to adjust his state of mind before practice, and that he could not be distracted during practice. After practice, he could not relax immediately. In the words of Lulunaka, who was present at that time, it was easy to understand, "Be as tense as a bowstring. Only when the arrow is released will you have a chance to breathe."
Romuona did not say anything, and only quietly watched Julius sweat.
After an unknown amount of time, when Julius put down the sword in his hand, Romuona said to him, "You've practiced all day during the day, so it's time to rest at night."
Julius wiped the sweat on his face with his sleeve and looked at Romuona.
"Anyway, there's nothing to do at night. It's still early to rest."
"It's time to rest now," Romuona continued.
"But no one is really asleep here, right?" Julius replied.
Romuona did not refute Julius's words, because what he said was indeed true.
At this time, most people would have already gone to bed, but for the guests and the host of this chapel, the night was just beginning.
Lulunaka was not in the chapel at this time, and no one knew where she went. Padding was meditating in the lobby, and it looked like he was asleep. Apo was fishing by the sea, and Olga went out for a walk. At this time, even if Romuona was willing to accompany him, he would not agree to take her to the dark forest.
So Romuona could only walk around the chapel. Just now, she read the book Apo left for her for a while. She was so annoyed that she could not read it anymore, so she came out for some fresh air.
And she happened to see Julius, who was also outside, exercising alone.
For a while, the two had no common topic for the time being.
Romuona and Julius were not familiar with each other. Although they had faced a life-and-death crisis together, it did not mean that they would become friends immediately.
Although they were in a relationship of sharing weal and woe, it had been a long time since the premeditated massacre and murder.
Romuona stayed in the chapel to accompany Apo. Compared with Julius, she was more familiar with Apo. But it was not surprising that Apo was now her teacher in name.
In the end, it was Romuona who spoke, "You seem to be a little too … hardworking recently. What happened?"
She had intended to say that Julius looked quite anxious, but it was not appropriate to say this, so she changed to a more euphemistic way of saying it.
Before he left, Julius had been very responsible with the work that was assigned to him. Occasionally, he would practice and instruct — because he was hanging under the cape most of the time, there were not many of such occasions — and he would also take it seriously. However, after Julius returned, she felt that there was something wrong with him.
Not only him, but also Olga and Padding seemed to have changed. But Romuona could only vaguely feel it, and could not see it by herself.
Compared with Olga and Padding, who seemed to be hiding something, she thought that she could find the reason from Julius.
"What happened?"
Julius did not look at Romuona again, "Something a little frustrating made me feel like an extra person."
Romuona did not know if it was her illusion, but she felt that Julius was not very willing to face her face. He was avoiding her eyes.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
Julius was silent for a long time before giving an answer, "It's just some embarrassing things about me. It's not worth your asking.
If you really want to know, you can ask Lulunaka. "
This was not the answer Romuona wanted to hear, but Julius did not seem to want to continue. He was ready to leave here and return to the chapel. "I'm sorry."
When Julius passed by, Romuona heard this apology, which made her stunned.
Why did Julius apologize? Was it because he did not want to talk about what happened after they left with Lulunaka?
She wanted to catch Julius so that she could continue to ask him, but when she turned around, Julius was already far away.
Julius asked her to find Lulunaka to understand the matter, but it was impossible for her.
If she could do it, she would not need to find Julius.
Whether it was Lulunaka or Olga, there seemed to be a tacit understanding between them. They hid what happened between them very well in front of Romuona, which made Romuona completely unable to get any information or answer from them.
Now it seemed that even Julius could not get any answer, which made Romuona a little annoyed.
Feeling the coolness of the night breeze, she suddenly found that she had become the same as Julius, full of anxiety.
It was only at this time that she felt that she had a sense of resonance with Julius.
Perhaps Romuona did not notice the changes in her body. Perhaps, she did not know that this state might brew a reverse psychology —
"Romuona?"
Lulunaka's voice pulled Romuona back from her thoughts. She realized that she was in a daze, and then she realized that Lulunaka was standing in front of her.
"It's not a good choice to be in a daze in this place."
Lulunaka laughed. "I remember that someone fell into the sea because he was in a daze. You know, the terrain of this place is still quite high. There are always places around that can make you careless. Fortunately, that unlucky guy did not fall at the end of the cape, or he would have died."
"Is that the student here mentioned in the diary you gave me?" Romuona asked.
There was a momentary change in the expression on Lulunaka's face, which was caught by Romuona, but Romuona did not know what kind of change it was. She could not understand it at all, and she could not understand it at all.
"Who do you think it would be?" Lurunaka asked in return.
"Who is he to you?" Romuona asked again.
Lulunaka's face burst into a bright smile. "Who is he to me … Let me think about how I should answer you."
Romuona's heart suddenly jumped. She did not expect Lulunaka to have a clear answer. She thought that Lulunaka would be perfunctory, but Lulunaka seemed to finally have the intention to speak.
However, it seemed that even God did not intend to let this conversation continue.
At this time, Romuona heard Olga calling her. Olga's voice came from the chapel.
"It's a pity, and it doesn't seem to be a good time to make a long story short."
Lulunaka said and stepped away from Romuona. "If there is a chance, let's talk next time."