Chapter 1215 Has an important task been entrusted to you?
Mitch didn’t know that the young man was already thinking about how to teach him a lesson. He came to Lingge this time, not only to deliver a message for Grayhill Eagle, but also had a little selfish motive. However, most boys of this age are strong-willed, especially those like Mitch who lost their parents at a young age. So he was a little embarrassed to speak up. He always felt that doing so would both trouble others and admit his own incompetence. Of course, he was indeed incompetent. If he had this ability, he wouldn’t have to come to Lingge.

The young man was very thoughtful, had a keen eye, and had a lot of experience dealing with children. He saw the intention behind the boy’s shyness at a glance. He always spoke his mind, so he asked, “I guess you have anything else to say to me, Mitch?”

“Uh!”

The boy’s expression froze, and then he gradually relaxed. He seemed to be caught off guard that Lingge had seen through his little thoughts, but on the other hand he was also relieved. At least he didn’t have to worry about how to start the conversation.

“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.” He muttered, and then sorted out his thoughts a little, and then under the calm gaze of the young man, he slowly told the whole story: “Recently, there are many more children in our camp. Do you know about this, Mr. Ling?”

“Aren’t you also a child?” the young man complained, exposing Mitch’s disguise of being mature: “You don’t need to pretend to be an adult when talking to me, right?”

“That, that’s not important!”

Mitch’s face flushed, and although his voice was loud, it actually didn’t have much confidence.

“Ahem, in short, some of these kids are younger than me, and some are about my age. Of course, they are definitely not as mature as me mentally. In other words, physical age is not the same as mental age. Do you understand?” He deliberately emphasized the most suspicious part. The young man nodded indifferently and didn’t take it to heart. He knew that every child has the dream of becoming an adult, but they won’t think so when they really become adults.

However, he really didn’t notice this, perhaps because he hadn’t visited the Ash Guerrilla camp recently. The young man thought about it and suddenly asked, “Are they all the same as you?”

This question was nonsensical, but Mitch understood its meaning immediately. He nodded slightly, and his voice became a little low: “Yeah.”

They are all war orphans who have lost their loved ones, their homes, and their place to go. They are helpless and wandering around.

“We met some of them during the operation, and felt that we couldn’t just sit back and watch, so we took them in; some of them had nowhere else to go, so they walked into the Black Forest and wanted to join us; some were sent here by other resistance organizations, who took them in but didn’t have enough food to feed them, nor the energy to protect them. They thought that our Ash Guerrillas were in a better situation and should be able to take good care of them, so they sent those children here; and some… were caused by us.” The boy’s voice was so low that it was almost inaudible when he finished speaking.

The young man knew why he said that.

The confrontation between the Liberation Front and the 17th Legion is getting more and more intense. Although it is still limited to areas outside the main cities and the population is not dense, as long as it is a war, it will inevitably cause harm to the residents. Just like the previous operation, the Forest Ranger and the warriors of the Hand of Ashes attacked the town of Emang and destroyed the airship base in the town. Did it have no effect on the townspeople at all? Gray Hill Eagle felt guilty for this because he deliberately contributed to this situation; now, Mitch felt guilty for the same reason because he personally participated in this war. In Ling’s opinion, these two people have a common nature.

He still has faith in the cause of liberating Gray Hill, and feels that it is necessary, and everyone on the land of Gray Hill should enjoy equal dignity and freedom; but he will also feel pain for the sacrifices caused in the process, and although the boy has never pointed his gun at any innocent person, the act of raising a weapon itself is a kind of harm. Contradiction is not the original intention of human beings, but the natural result of the Creator giving them emotions.

Lingge was not a soldier, but he understood the boy’s mood subtly. He sat up from the grass, rubbed Mitch’s head, and comforted him: “Don’t think too much. Although I am not qualified to forgive anyone on behalf of those who lost important things in the war, I can be sure that the desire to end the war and the determination to take up arms for this purpose are absolutely not wrong. The fault lies with those who started the war, those who deprived others of their freedom, and those who hurt others for their own benefit…”

“Is that right?”

Mitch scratched his cheek. The boy didn’t really understand what he said, but he knew that Lingge was a great man. Even Brother Carson praised him as a true believer. He also left many amazing deeds in the Western Continent, which made the cult want to get rid of him as soon as possible, but they were helpless. Since such a great man said that he was not wrong, then he must be right, right?
His mood improved a little, and he continued, “At first, Sister Regina was responsible for taking care of the children, but she has been too busy recently, and the others also have their own tasks, so Brother Carson entrusted them to me, saying that since I am the leader of the Boys’ Army, I must naturally assume the responsibility as a leader and take good care of these children. I think it makes sense, so I agreed, but…”

“But after agreeing, I realized that I don’t know how to take care of others, so you come to ask for my advice?” Ling Ge said the second half of the sentence that the boy couldn’t say because he was trying to be stubborn.

“That’s not entirely true!”

Mitch’s eyebrows were raised. He didn’t want to give people the impression that he was not good at his job, so he hurriedly defended himself: “If it’s just to arrange their daily lives and restrain them from running around, then of course it can be done, but I always feel that… it shouldn’t be just like this. Brother Carson entrusted them to me, it should be more than just for this purpose, right?”

“Oh?” Ling Ge became interested and asked with interest: “Why do you think so?”

“Because those children have experienced war, they are more sensible than other children of their age. Even if no one is taking care of them, they will not run around and cause trouble for everyone.” Mitch said this as if it was a matter of course, completely forgetting that he was their age.

“That makes some sense. In that case, what do you think they need?”

“I, I don’t know.” Mitch said with some shame. For a boy of this age, this is a very rare emotion: “That’s why I came to ask you because I don’t know.” “But, you are the one Mr. Carson entrusted to you. In this case, don’t you have any ideas at all?” Linger pinched his chin and gave a suggestion that sounded more reasonable: “For example, recruit those children into your youth army, train them to fight, and cultivate them into qualified soldiers… and so on.”

“No!” Mitch blurted out without even thinking.

“Why? I thought you would be happy.” Linger glanced in the direction of the church. The laughter of the young soldiers could be heard faintly from behind the door: “There are more companions fighting side by side. Isn’t this a good thing?”

“…”

Mitch pursed his lips, his voice somehow sounded a little low: “If it were before, I would indeed be very happy, and would do as you said, but it’s different now. I won’t let them fight, even if they insist!”

“What’s the reason?” Ling Ge’s eyes showed a hint of smile, but he still pretended to be puzzled and asked: “Since the previous and subsequent thoughts are contradictory, there must be a reason for the change, right?”

Mitch didn’t say anything. He just looked back at Tianxin Church like Ling Ge did. After a long while, he looked away and said to the young man, “Because of Kadora.”

Without waiting for the young man to ask, he began to talk on his own. It can be seen that this passage must have been brewing in his heart for a long time, but he has never found a suitable person to confide in. As a result, when he spoke out today, the boy who has always been proud and strong gave people a feeling of chattering: “Before, I always thought I knew Kadora very well, because we are partners, and I can always guess what the other is thinking. Even Brother Carson said that we have a tacit understanding. But later I found that she still had a lot of things hidden in her heart. It’s not that she didn’t want to tell us, but she didn’t have to tell us, because it would be impossible to understand even if she told us. Just like becoming a believer of the goddess, although we don’t object, but in fact no one knows What exactly did she want? Everyone thought she was just impulsive, and she was good friends with Metien and didn’t mind the teachings of the goddess, so she made such a decision. I knew it wasn’t the case, but I couldn’t think of any other reason, so I asked her directly. She smiled and told me that one day you would understand. I asked her, which day was that? She was still mysterious and said, “It could be tomorrow, or it could be a day a long time later.” It sounds weird, right? I was not convinced, so I decided to find the reason, so I paid a little more attention to her, really just a little, just a little more than usual, it’s definitely not what you think.”

He emphasized deliberately, and the young man looked strange: “Okay, I know you usually pay attention to her, so what is your conclusion after observation?”

“I’ve already told you it’s not what you think! Forget it, I can’t explain it to you. Anyway, just because I paid a little more attention to her than usual, I discovered many details that I would never have noticed before. For example, when we were on a mission, Kadora never smiled. She didn’t smile before we set out, and she was always very serious; she didn’t smile during the battle, but made people feel very sad; after the battle, when everyone returned to the camp and chatted around the campfire, she didn’t smile either, and always silently helped us check our injuries and bandage our wounds. But in my impression, Kadora has always been a very loving person. The one who laughed, did I remember it wrong? Later, I continued to observe and confirmed that my impression was correct. Kadora really loved to laugh. She laughed more often than she didn’t laugh. She just didn’t like to laugh on the battlefield. But when she met someone she knew in the camp, she would smile and say hello. When she accidentally bit her tongue while eating, she would laugh foolishly. When she listened to the preaching of Sisters Metien and Livia, she would laugh. When everyone played games, although she never participated, she would sit by and watch quietly, and then smile. At that time, I suddenly understood Kadora’s choice. “

At this point, the boy lowered his head in frustration: “If only I had noticed it earlier, but I’m actually an unqualified partner. I thought I understood her, but I never understood what she wanted.”

Lingge reached out and gently patted the boy’s shoulder to comfort him.

A topic that was a little heavy for a kid of his age. He shouldn’t have had to face it so early, just like Karado shouldn’t have realized so early that the world was cruel, but he still endured everything with strength and told those who were worried about him with a smile, “I’m fine.”

It was the war that changed all that.

And Mitch doesn’t want the war to change more people.

He wanted those children to have more choices, instead of being forced by reality like Kadora, walking on a path where she couldn’t smile. Although she smiled more often after meeting Linger and others, getting to know Metien, and joining the Holy Goddess Church, the boy could still sense the slight loneliness hidden deep in her eyes.

“I’m glad you think this way, Mitch.” Linger said with deep emotion, “This shows that you are more mature than most adults.”

Thinking of others is a precious quality, but unfortunately adults often don’t take it seriously. They clearly understand other people’s emotions, difficulties, and the many helpless things in the world better than children, but they are too selfish to share some of their empathy. In this regard, children are much more generous.

“Really?” Mitch was a little excited and raised his chest unconsciously, probably trying to show his mature side.

This time, Lingge did not expose his childish mentality, but nodded seriously: “Of course, Mr. Carson is right about you. You will definitely become a qualified leader, for these children now, and for more people in the future. Of course, limited by objective conditions, there are some things you really cannot accomplish alone, so if you have any ideas, you can speak out boldly, and we will help you.”

“…Um, thank you.”

Mitch thanked him uncomfortably. He did have an idea, but it required the cooperation of the young man in front of him. “Actually, I heard from Metien that you used to be a… teacher?”

“Ok?”

Give me some meow