- Hahaha! That's hilarious! Who knew there could be a
[cdb]merc like that?
- Yeah. He'd say it with a completely straight face, too.
"I take my pay in apples."
- This guy would storm onto the battlefield, lugging
[cdb]around a sack full of apples. Truly one of the strangest
[cdb]things I've ever seen.
- I guess you could say he was hungry for battle.
Wish I could've seen that myself.
- He was probably the best smelling guy out there,
I'll give him that.
- That reminds me. Remember when you asked about
[cdb]my past?
- Yeah, sorry if that was out of line. I shouldn't
[cdb]have pried.
- No, it's OK. Actually, I thought I would tell you,
[cdb]if you're still interested.
- Are you sure?
- I'm sure. It's not much of a story anyway. Besides,
[cdb]it's already been seven years.
- I used to belong to an organization that was less a
"group" and more like one giant mercenary state.
- Not the kind of place you go for building bonds of
[cdb]trust and camaraderie.
- Still, there was one person there who I thought of
[cdb]as a partner.
- ...
- As you can probably guess, he was killed. And that
[cdb]was that.
- That's it?
- How awful.
- What, that's it? That's the whole story?
- Then again, I dunno why I would expect otherwise.
- Yeah, that's how these stories always end.
I know it was a long time ago, but I'm really sorry.
- But why'd you wanna tell me all of a sudden?
I thought you hated talking about your past.
- I felt a little guilty. You shared your story with me
[cdb]earlier, but I didn't tell you mine.
- At the time, I wasn't about to go telling some stranger
[cdb]all about my past.
- But now, I think you're at least somewhat
[cdb]trustworthy. So I told you. That's all.
- Seriously? Wow, I'm really happy to hear that,
[cdb]especially from you.
- Why? Everyone here adores you.
- I'm sure you hear stuff like that all the time.
- All the time? Come on, that's an exaggeration.
- I've always felt that you were a more distinguished
[cdb]mercenary than me.
- Earning recognition from a merc I respect is a
[cdb]real honor.
- So if you see me as some sort of senior mercenary,
I guess that makes me the mentor in this relationship.
- Uh...I guess.
- I see. All this time I've been treating you like an
[cdb]equal, but maybe I should've been taking you under
[cdb]my wing instead.
- That sounds good.
- On second thought...
- How would you feel if I took you up on that?
Seems like fun.
- Yeah, well, you know what else is fun? Any person I
[cdb]mentor has to pay for drinks. All of them.
- No way! What kinda deal is that?
- Heh, just a joke, sorry. I have no intention of treating
[cdb]you any different.
- Oh, that's OK. Fellow comrades suits me fine.
Just treat me the way you always have.
- I was kidding. I never planned on treating you any
[cdb]different, whether you wanted it or not.
- I should've known. That's why I like you, Shamir.