☀️ Arselia and Akonia

- As they say, great Anush, grant me the strength to change what I can, the humility to accept what I cannot, and the wisdom to distinguish between the two,” Gillon smiled.

— Yes, yes, I know... — at first, Alaria wanted to say "in my homeland," — ... a similar expression. That's what she meant.

- That's good. Let it remain for unforeseen circumstances. Although it's your stash, so it's not my place to tell you how to spend it.

— On the one hand, it's mine. And on the other, — the girl remembered her past experience as a mercenary, and not only, — assignments are almost always funded, including from my own pocket. Often, down to the last penny. In Carneol, everything is the same. Not just there. I knew one simply wonderful woman, an aristocratic entrepreneur, who paid for all the preparation for our work out of her own pocket. She bought expensive equipment, various consumables, and in return, she received at most a tenth of the reward. And she even refused my offers to reimburse her from my share of the reward,” she said with a smile, shaking her head, — perhaps with this description, she doesn't sound like an overly enterprising lady, since the investments don't pay off, but that's not quite the case. She invested not in her own pocket, but in the future. I would be very happy to see her again and introduce you, but something tells me that the chances of that are slim. She was a golden person.

- Yes,” Gillon grunted, “it was funny. He deserved it.

— Exactly. It was a very elegant punishment that not everyone is capable of,” she scratched the back of her head, — I just wanted to give him a good kick in the bare ass when he started showing off.

- Yes... I perfectly understand what you mean,” Gillon sighed, looking at Beata. “A person can become so immersed in despair and disappointed in themselves that they don't even realize how wonderful they are and what great things they are capable of. And they bury their best qualities themselves. But sometimes, all it takes is to show the way,” he smiled warmly. “As for what I went through...” he became gloomy, sighed, and shook his head. “I wouldn't wish half of it on my worst enemy.”
“Maybe someday I'll tell this story. But not today. I'm not ready yet.”

— That's true,” she said with a light smile, — it often happens when, as a result of trauma, a person isolates themselves from society. They don't have proper support in the form of friends and loved ones. Or simply lack the strength. Although there are also those about whom doubts arise regarding the possibility of saving them,” she paused for a moment, giving an example, — I once read the diary of a person who achieved a lot but never found meaning in their existence. Nothing in life brought them pleasure. And on this basis, they began to degrade, to commit atrocities. They turned into a monster that, in the end, did nothing good in its life. It only brought countless sufferings and dragged many lost souls along with it,” she smiled again, — it's good that we don't have anyone like that among us. Your life path... — she looked at the warrior thoughtfully, — ... sounds difficult, since your usual misfortunes don't bother you as much against that background. Probably,” she thought again about her potentially true nightmares, — it's harder than mine. If anyone ever needs to talk, I'm here. Just so you know.
“It seems that only Erefir had an easier life than mine. And the others have suffering upon suffering. Perhaps this is an extra motivator not to wallow in self-pity for no reason.”