588 Redemption Part 2 (2/2)
…
With Charles gone, the whole room fell into silence.
”Go back to do your work, everyone. Please keep what happened here tonight secret.” Gauis said, ”As usual, everyone will be inspected for related matters. Thank you for your cooperation. Maksim, please stay a little longer.”
Pretty soon, guided by porters, the old men left, leaving only Maksim and Gauis in the room.
Maksim was a little nervous. ”Mr. Gauis, is there anything else?”
”I felt that you had something to say just now.” Wrapping himself tightly with his coat and getting closer to the stove for the warmth, Gauis said, ”Now no one is here. You were the first engineer in the Revolutionary Army. You may say what you want.”
After a moment of silence, Maksim said with a hoarse voice, ”I'm not sure if it is right or wrong for us to do this.”
”Why?”
”It will change a war, sir.” Maksim answered, ”Not only one war, perhaps. You can see that, right, sir? Once deployed, this will change wars into utter slaughter. The whole world will be shocked. The way of fighting wars will be completely changed. We are to be cursed by what we start.”
”Cursed? By whom? Victory?” Gazing at the fire in the stove, Gauis said casually, ”Humans should take care of their own business and God will decide who will ascend to heaven and who should burn in hell.”
Maksim smiled bitterly and lowered his head, looking at the holy emblem passed down from his ancestors that hung on his neck. It was tied to a thin rope, shining silver.
”God?” Shaking his head, he heaved a sigh. ”Who knows where this sort of thing is.”
Gauis laughed. He stood up and patted him on the shoulder. ”Don't be silly. He was standing right in front of you just now, wasn't he?”
…
Back in his room, Charles saw Wolf Flute drinking wine by the stove. Wolf Flute lifted his legs up to the fire to warm his feet, which filled the room with their stinky smell.
”You came back at the perfect time. I've just put on the fire. It must be deadly cold out. Get yourself warm.”
Charles smiled and got himself a stool to sit on. He pulled up his cotton coat and took off his heavy boots. The air quality in the room deteriorated instantly. In no time, Wolf Flute's face turned purple as he could not bear with the smell in the room anymore. ”Let's open one window,” he suggested.
”All right.” Too lazy to get up, Charles raised his feet and kicked the frozen window beside him open. Freezing wind whirled in. The life of a mouse which was almost suffocated by the foul air in the room was thus saved.
”You scared the hell out of that bunch of old men.” Wolf Flute said, ”That thing of yours, is there really no problem with it? It could destroy a wall with one shot…”
”Problem?” Charles looked at him absent-mindedly. ”Is there any problem?”
”You must have considered the consequences of what you are doing, Charles?” Wolf Flute said, ”I don't know much about mechanical engineering, but I can see by the drawings of that thing that it has been carefully designed and is in no way something that popped out of your head on the spot. You finished the design a long time ago, right? You are not the sort of nerd who knows only research but nothing about application. You know the consequences of using this thing, don't you?”
”Yes, I know it perfectly well.” Charles nodded and lowered his eyes. ”Maybe a lot of people will die because of it. There will be more to die, thanks to me. I'm fully prepared for that.”
Wolf Flute withdrew his gaze from Charles.
”Don't worry. This is the choice I've made myself.” Charles shrugged, smiling. ”The only benefit of being the Holy Son is that there is no one calling tp convict me, right?”
Wolf Flute didn't reply, but lied on the chair, looking at the snow flying in through the window. A long while later, he suddenly asked, ”That thing you designed, have you named it?”
Charles thought about it for a while and answered, with a smile, ”I'll name it 'Redemption'.”