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- Can't breathe? – the guard asked, reluctantly lifting his knee from the suspect’s throat. – Do you know what the fundamental difference is between me and you? I am a Hero of Justice, and you are scum. People like you, I eat for breakfast by the dozens.
The man lying on the floor snorted, or rather gurgled, spitting out a mouthful of blood from his mangled mouth.
- Didn't get it. Did I say something very funny? Huh? - The speaker got angry and slapped the wounded man across the face, then again and again – right on his broken jaw. He howled, curled up in a ball, and tried to turn away his head.
- Damn... - the first one muttered with disgust and wiped his palm as best he could on a rag already completely stained with bodily fluids. – You probably think that all this pleases me? – he glanced around the gloomy little room. – Actually, I do it for the good of society. And to some extent – for your own benefit. The sooner justice catches up with you, the sooner you will return to the straight and righteous path. "Circumstances… My parents didn't love me…" - he mocked the prisoner's testimony. – They didn't love anyone, and no one ever had perfect circumstances. So now, into crime? Let me enlighten you a bit so you understand.
Sitting cross-legged, he cast a disdainful glance at the broken body of his interlocutor, then took a pack of cheap cigarettes out of his pocket, cursed quietly, struck the lighter once, twice, three times until finally he managed to produce a weak flame and lit the cigarette.
"I’ll go home, get a new one. Mustn't forget..." - he thought.
Holding the smoke in his lungs for a while – which, as always, did not bring any pleasure – he exhaled it into the face of the lying man.
- Do you know the saying: it is not the one who gave birth who is a father, but the one who raised him? It was the same with me. Look at me – what a magnificent, handsome man, the pride of our metropolis. Can you tell by looking at me that I come from the backwoods? But that's how it was. My old man lived on the outskirts, herded sheep, but he was an exceptionally strict man. He quickly taught me right from wrong, but it's not surprising, he was two heads taller than me. And there also lived another clan, real scoundrels. And somehow their guy and my guy got into a fight over who would graze on this dilapidated meadow. Words led to words, mine punched him in the nose and killed him instantly. Then everything went to hell – they found out, gathered together, grabbed pitchforks, axes, and pots on their heads, and came to kill us. In the end, only I survived; I ran into the forest. Wandered there for God knows how long, drank dirty water, ate roots, bark. Do you know what bark is? It’s the soft stuff under the tree’s crust. A nasty thing, I tell you, but what else could I do? Do you think it’s easy to catch an animal without equipment or skill? You will chase after it all day, and in the end, you will stumble against some snag and rot there. And then what? Well, I walked around the whole forest, relieving myself three meters away after eating that bark, freezing, being eaten by flies and ants, making cutlets out of mosquitoes, digging a burrow in the leaves. But nothing, I survived and made it back to town. It was hard, but I persevered. And here I am, respected and solid. What am I telling you all this for? So that you learn a lesson: even from the most hopeless situation, you can always get out. And not once did I have the thought to take something that wasn't mine, rob someone, rape and kill. Because I am a decent person, understand? Unlike you, scum.
The storyteller noisily sucked snot into his throat and spat a wad of tarry tobacco phlegm onto the beaten man.
- People pay taxes so that I can protect them from people like you, understand? They greet me cheerfully when I pass by because they know – without me, they are doomed. Such beasts as you would destroy them in an instant if it were not stopped in time. So understand me too – all this is not for my pleasure, but for the common good. There are rules of cohabitation, and we must follow them.
Having smoked the cigarette down to the filter, the speaker weighed it in his hand and extinguished it on the prisoner’s neck, which caused another wave of emotions and sobs.
With a groan, he got to his feet, glanced at the window, and involuntarily yawned:
- I've been sitting here with you for too long; it's already midnight. But about you... The store is closed," he said and frowned, realizing that he wouldn't be able to go buy a lighter.
Stretching and loosening up, he tiredly looked around at the dirty floor of the cell.
- It's probably time for vacation… Okay, let's try again,” he took a pencil and a piece of paper from the table, on which a heartfelt confession was scribbled in many deeds that coincided fantastically with unsolvable cases, and handed the writing to the future convict. - Don't delay yourself or me. I can sit with you until morning, but do you need it?
The prisoner tried to take the pencil with a trembling hand, but it turned out to be difficult due to broken fingers. Then the helpful guard put the object into his hand and scratched some kind of squiggle on the sheet, presumably indicating a signature.
- And what am I doing? You can't even read or write. Well, – satisfied, nodding, the guard folded the statement and put it in his inner pocket. – And why did you make such a fuss? We could have done this earlier during the day.
Gently patting the beaten man on the cheek, which caused him another painful groan, he moved towards the exit, but halfway through threw over his shoulder:
- Do you think I should ever go back to the village and get revenge on those bastards for my father? Shouldn’t a Hero have some high personal ultimate goal?
Standing on this note for a few seconds, but not waiting for an answer, he shrugged:
- What do you know about life? Just "blah-blah." Let me tell you – violence breeds violence, so maybe that's not the way. Sometimes you just have to let it go," and left the interrogation room.
"But still, I love my job" - he thought as he walked to the duty station.
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1. Wood
2. M
3. Kaishi
4. Pantheon
5. Northern Frontier
6. City Guard
7. Seeker, Worker
8. Player
9. One-handed, Armor
10. Blood
11.
Endurance: 2
Strength: 2
Agility: 1
Spirit:
Faith:
Will:
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Happy Life
