Chapter 669

Chapter 53 – Heartbreak Part 2

“Tell me, am I really that stupid…”

The man sat at the table, still smiling faintly as he spoke those words, yet there was an indescribable sorrow in his brows.

I had never seen him with such an expression before.

In my previous impression, this man always seemed lazy and indifferent, as if he did not care much about anything. But when he truly acted, he was more reliable and trustworthy than anyone else.

Because he was Carlos.

He was the silver flash, Carlos Gonzales, the wanderer of the Abyss, the hero in the eyes of countless people. He was a dashing swordsman with extraordinary skills and a heart that was upright and honest, always full of confidence and never doubting himself.

But now…

After he said those words… No, perhaps I had already noticed it when I first saw him tonight, smelling the alcohol on his breath.

This man named Carlos seemed to have lost something from his body.

Perhaps it was his confidence.

It was as if, suddenly, this person who was once dazzling to me, the righteous knight, had become just an ordinary, unremarkable man.

Carlos had lost his confidence.

Or perhaps…

He had lost even more.

I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for him, as if someone had grabbed my chest and squeezed tightly.

[Because I have so many things to do…]

Suddenly, the words he had said to me before flashed through my mind again.

[My teacher dedicated his life to establishing principles for the world and securing the future for its people. Now, at seventy years old, he still stands by the weak…]

[I want to be like him.]

Back then, he was impressive and spirited, with a radiant gaze that was hard to look at directly. I had longed to be like him, but now, looking at Carlos’s weathered face, so disheveled and haggard, his beard curling up, his eyes still lazy, yet only showing the confusion and bewilderment after drinking.

What an incredible man he is…

Just one year…

What kind of experience could have turned him into this?

I pondered deeply.

But the next moment, the words he spoke seemed to answer all my questions.

“It was around the end of last year… In Donghale City, I received news from West Continent. In that historic war… the final conflict with the heretics, someone unleashed a terrifying demon of sins… Ha, at the time, I couldn’t understand what this demon of sins really was… But they told me that you… had died in that war…”

I could hear a slight tremor in Carlos’s magnetic voice: “You eliminated that demon, saving countless lives. Everyone hailed you as a great hero of humanity, but you… never came out of that inferno again… That’s all I heard…”

“I… thought…”

As if trying to hide something, he raised his hand to rub his forehead, his hand trembling, his cracked lips slightly open, his blue eyes staring at me intently, the whites of his eyes slightly bloodshot, reflecting a red glow in the firelight.

“I thought… after that, I would never see you again…”

The man kept smiling.

Slowly, he stretched his trembling hand towards me, seemingly wanting to remove the veil from my face, or perhaps to gently stroke my head as he used to.

He had never smiled so much as he did tonight.

Nor had he ever made me feel so heartbroken.

His smile made me lower all my defenses immediately.

Suddenly, I wanted to rush over.

To punch him hard on his prominent nose until he bled profusely.

I wanted to knock some sense into Carlos and then loudly ask him why he was talking so much nonsense, why he was drinking like this, why he couldn’t be as carefree and invincible as before, and why I had to see you in such a despondent state after finally meeting again!

I don’t want to see you like this anymore!!

I’m not dead!!!

Those words almost burst out uncontrollably.

But as emotions swirled and churned within me, the intense flame quickly extinguished as it reached my brain.

I quickly calmed down, tilting my head back sharply to avoid his reaching hand. The ripples in my heart were forcibly suppressed.

Carlos’s hand froze mid-air.

“Xiao Shi’er…”

“Carlos.”

We spoke almost simultaneously, but I really didn’t want to hear him say more. My tone was firm and resolute, interrupting him: “Why did you come here?”

Perhaps everything he said just now was true… heartfelt…

But perhaps…

Like Angel, he might also be a skilled liar?

I couldn’t be sure of this.

I was willing to believe him, but I really couldn’t be sure… because based on the illogical, rambling words he had just spoken, he must have known about the events that happened in East Continent last year.

He already clearly knew that Angel had betrayed him.

Carlos was drunk.

He was never good with words to begin with, and after drinking, his speech became even more incoherent, but his purpose was very clear. He hadn’t lost his train of thought; he still retained a considerable amount of clarity. He just wanted to tell me that Angel had deceived him as well.

Carlos never expected to see me tonight. He thought I was dead, and perhaps that’s why he drank, but it wasn’t the only reason.

In fact, I have been “dead” for almost a year now.

And Carlos has known about this for half a year.

For half a year, could he have been…

Stuck in that emotion, unable to move on, so he resorted to drinking to escape?

Clearly not.

Because not long ago, he was still with that red-haired woman and two other companions… one of whom was a fat old lady, and another… no need to guess, we know who it is now. They were four in total and recently went to the western cave to kill most of the lizards there — they obviously didn’t go there just to kill lizards.

Back then, Carlos should not have been like he is now.

He was still doing things.

Perhaps he is still doing those things now.

And those things…

Maybe they have something to do with me?

For example…

They know I’m still alive and came looking for me.

They even found Messer Town.

They almost found me.

Now, Carlos and that woman have found me.

If this is indeed the case, what is their purpose in finding me, where did they get the information from, and who instructed them…

I don’t know.

But I have another guess…

When Carlos saw me, he realized I was still alive, he was initially stunned and couldn’t react immediately, so he didn’t dare approach rashly. He didn’t know I had lost my power, so he couldn’t just grab me in town. Instead, he chose to follow me from afar until he figured out a plan.

Then, he started to cautiously talk to me.

Carlos is very smart, always has been.

He didn’t show any sudden surprise or panic, nor did he explain anything hurriedly. Along the way, he chatted aimlessly, trying to understand my thoughts, but I said nothing. He was at a loss and didn’t dare act rashly, so he tried an old method — the one he thought would work best—

First, he tried to stabilize me with food.

Then, as wished, I followed him here.

Now, crudely speaking, he chose to play the sympathy card with me.

Carlos is really smart.

He first told me that Angel was his brother… whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, and I don’t want to ask. I don’t want to hear anything about that person anymore. Perhaps Carlos even understood this, he knows me too well and isn’t afraid of upsetting me because he has already planned the twist…

The twist is what he meant later.

Although he didn’t say it explicitly, he wanted to tell me that Angel had deceived him too.

He and I are both fools who were deceived.

This is his position.

When Carlos takes this stance, he can instantly stand on the same side as me, narrowing the distance between us… As a matter of fact, I almost couldn’t control my emotions just now.

His sympathy card worked.

He knows what to say to make me empathize immediately… to let me drop all my defenses… What does he want to do next?

I don’t know.

But I must be cautious.

Especially with Carlos, he knows me too well…

Unfortunately…

I am not the person I used to be.

I won’t trust anyone easily again.

I didn’t want to think of him this way… I didn’t want to think everyone was evil…

But…

It’s not impossible.

It’s not impossible…

A flicker of light in my eyes, when I suddenly understood the key point, I lifted my head again in the flickering candlelight, meeting Carlos’s gaze once more. The complex emotions in my heart had dissipated, and the expression on my face was as cold and resolute as before.

“Tell me, what are you doing?”

I rested my chin on my hands and closed my mouth after saying this, staring intently at the man’s facial expressions with a slightly scrutinizing look.

I saw a hint of shock flash in his eyes.

But before I could think further, that hint of shock quickly softened.

Carlos retracted his frozen hand.

He kept smiling at me, but finally, a trace of sadness or resignation appeared in his smile, accompanied by a slight smell of alcohol.

“Are you no longer Kakarot or whatever…”

The man suddenly said this, leaving me momentarily stunned.

What…

It took me two seconds to realize what he meant.

At this moment, for some reason, my heart suddenly ached again, and my breathing quickened.

“How nice, little Syl…”

“You’ve grown up.”

The swordsman said this.

But suddenly, I found myself no longer daring to look into his eyes.

”