Chapter 370: A Man's Logic·Continued

  "I'll go back to Oufu to make some arrangements first, then I'll come to Ainfast to find you."

  Gru and Lord Bolgan quickly left using teleportation scrolls, leaving only Ethan and Sandro on the treetop.

  "It seems you'll be very busy for the next few days."

  "It seems so." Ethan nodded.

  "So you've long since become a man who no longer needs anyone to teach him what to do. I still remember back in the morgue at the Magic Academy, you were just an ignorant kid who knew nothing." Sandro looked at Ethan and sighed. This old man, who had always been more energetic than anyone else, whose emotions could be more intense than the youngest of youths, finally showed a face full of exhaustion. Getting old is really just the accumulation of countless regrets. "For the past few years, I haven't been able to do anything for you. It wasn't until you were pushed into a desperate situation that I thought of helping you, only to find out you no longer needed it. I truly feel guilty..."

  Ethan shook his head and smiled: "Not at all. In fact, I owe it to you that I've survived until now. And many of the things I possess were gifts from you. I've always been very grateful to you..."

  "No, I owe you too much." Sandro shook his head, interrupting Ethan. His voice was tired but firm, his face full of a helpless loneliness. "It's been this way for a long time, since a long time ago... Actually, that bastard Magnus wasn't wrong. For things to have developed as they have now, for you to be forced to this point, it's all my fault. My reckless actions over twenty years ago and my evasion during these twenty years... that's what I owe you. It's a pity that now, when I want to repay it, I already can't..."

  Ethan also interrupted Sandro. "There's no need to say these things, because saying them is useless. No matter what, I am grateful to you."

  After a moment of silence, Sandro suddenly spoke: "At least you should know the things you ought to know."

  "Ought to know? What ought I to know?"

  Sandro didn't say it directly. He thought for a moment first, then just asked: "What kind of people were your parents?"

  Ethan said lightly: "My father was a blacksmith in the Kalendor basin. He died of hunger and cold over a year ago. As for my mother, I have no memory of her face; it seems she died very early on. They were both very ordinary people, just like all the other ordinary people in Kalendor."

  "Ordinary people? No, let me tell you, your biological parents were not ordinary people." Sandro began slowly, as if every word was a great effort. "Do you want to know who your real parents are? How you were abandoned by them?"

  "I don't want to know." Ethan replied lightly.

  "What?" Sandro was stunned, completely stunned. It seemed that any normal person's first reaction to this question would be great shock. He thought for a moment, then realized: "You already knew about your parents..."

  "Aunt El... Agrael told me a long time ago."

  "What? What... what did she tell you?"

  "She just told me that she was the one who left me at my father's doorstep."

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  "Then, did she also tell you who your biological parents were?"

  "No. But I don't want to know, either."

  "Why?"

  "Because it has nothing to do with me. Who they are, what does that have to do with me? I am still me, and I still have to do what I must do. What difference does it make?"

  Sandro was stunned. After thinking it over, he smiled bitterly and nodded: "Right, it really makes no difference."

  Ethan continued lightly: "My father was a very ordinary man. But he was great. Having a father like him is one of the few things I'm thankful for and proud of. That's enough. Why would I need to know about other things that are completely unrelated to me?"

  "It seems I was meddling, thinking I could give you a surprise." Sandro smiled bitterly. He knew the father Ethan was talking about was the one he had truly considered his father all along. Who his real biological parents were had truly become irrelevant.

  "It's not meddling. In any case, thank you for your good intentions. It's just that I'm very busy now and don't want to know about these boring things." Ethan smiled, a bitter smile. "If there's time, if there's another chance, we can talk again then."

  If there's time, if there's another chance... But would there really be another chance? Sandro could only reply with an even more bitter smile. He looked up at the sky and sighed deeply.

  On the giant treetop, the vitality of the earth was crumbling. This was an irreversible, desperate situation. For a moment, it seemed as if the entire world was filled with this colorful, falling decay and death, and despair.

  A moment later, Sandro lowered his head. The expressions of exhaustion, unwillingness, and more on his face all returned to calm, replaced by a serene ease. After thinking for a bit more, he said: "Alright then, let me tell you a story. This story actually has nothing to do with you, so you can listen to it without worry. I'm just afraid... just in case, a very slim chance, that I won't have a chance to tell you this story later."

  "Alright, go ahead." Ethan nodded.

  "I once knew a woman... well... speaking of which, you actually look a bit like her, which is really strange. But that kind of look on a man's face isn't very attractive, so I often called you a sissy."

  "Tch, just say you think I'm ugly." Ethan laughed and patted him. Just like in the capital city, not long after they first met, during those short but peaceful and stable days.

  "Haha, this woman was very smart, but unfortunately, if a person doesn't have a big enough heart, a clever mind can only be a burden, it can be counterproductive. And besides, women, their hearts are usually not very big. At most, they just look bigger on the outside. You know. Hehe." Sandro smiled easily, a bit sneakily.

  "Hehe, of course I know." Ethan also laughed.

  "When a person is too smart, they look down on others, even look down on the world. So this woman constantly pursued things, pursued everything, tried everything. But as it happened, this woman was also a very beautiful woman. A restless woman is trouble by nature, because she can easily drag other men into her troubles. All the troubles eventually gathered together, and finally, things became untenable. This woman also died..."

  "Fortunately, none of the women I know are like that." Ethan shrugged. "A restless woman is more annoying than anything. But a man who gets tied up by a woman can't really be considered a great man either..."

  "That's why I've always said, the biggest trouble with women is that they make you know it's trouble, but you still can't help but provoke this trouble." Sandro shook his head and sighed. "Before this woman died, she had a son... though I also heard it was two. But coincidentally, the men in this woman's life were all guys with special identities, not one of them could be considered normal, and none of them paid any attention to her son. In the end, no one knew where this baby was abandoned, whether he was alive or dead. But before this woman died, she said that her son would surely be drawn into this trouble in the future. She gave birth to this baby just to continue that trouble. As a result, it made a bunch of old fellows suspicious and paranoid. Truly laughable..."

  "Yeah, fucking hilarious." Ethan echoed, but neither he nor Sandro had much of a smile on their faces.

  "Sigh, yeah. If, by some slim chance, this baby is still alive, he would probably hate this woman and those men, any one of whom could be his father." At this point, Sandro's expression turned a bit unpleasant again.

  "Was the baby a boy or a girl?" Ethan suddenly asked.

  Sandro answered without thinking: "A boy."

  "Oh, then he wouldn't." Ethan shook his head and said lightly. "Although this has nothing to do with me, I do know that, as a man myself, he wouldn't blame anyone."

  "Oh?"

  Ethan spread his hands and said lightly: "Because blaming others is meaningless. It doesn't change any reality. Blaming is just an excuse to escape, a sign of weakness. Therefore, a true man doesn't blame anyone; he only focuses on what he has to do. Besides, everyone has their own reasons for what they do, and regardless of whether those people are connected to him or not, there's no reason to blame them. At most, if you don't like the look of someone, you beat them up or kill them with a single strike. What's the point of blaming them?"

  Sandro was stunned. After a long while, he took a deep breath and shook his head as if somewhat unwilling to admit it: "Damn it. Why have I lived so many more years than you, you brat, with a much longer beard, and yet it seems you understand what it means to be a man better than I do."

  "It must be because you're still young. Don't be angry, I mean psychologically. Hehe."

  "You damn sissy of a kid, when did you become a man who even surprises me?"

  "I don't know either. It seems it happened without me realizing."

  "But I still have to thank you for helping me find clarity. This story has bothered me for a long time." Sandro smiled.

  "It's a very interesting, good story." Ethan also smiled and nodded.

  "Alright, since the story is told, I won't disturb you anymore. I know you'll be very busy. I'm leaving."

  Ethan looked at him and nodded: "Mm. Talking and listening to your story was very interesting. If there's a chance, let's talk again next time."

  "Ah. Alright, no problem. Goodbye." Sandro took one last, deep look at Ethan. In that instant, there was a radiance on his face that had never been seen before.

  "Goodbye."

  "Can we really meet again?" When he watched Sandro's back finally disappear beyond the range of his vision, Ethan felt a pang in his heart. He understood that there would be no next time.