40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 33 33. About the blade, about the mine (2)

Ghosts can see in the dark.

He had only realized some time ago how extraordinary this thing he was used to was to other people.

For ghosts, darkness is not a barrier that blocks vision. In most cases it is his helper. And, he knew full well that it always would be, as long as he was careful about it.

Therefore, he could easily see the shadow moving not far from the weak light source from hundreds of meters away.

Mine, shadow. It sounds like a perfect match. The ghost thought.

".I only saw one person, Khalil," he said.

"Did you see the dark green tent, Ghost?" Khalil asked.

He did not answer the ghost's question directly, but turned to talk about another matter.

His tone was calm, almost unnaturally calm. The ghost thought.

"No."

Ghost replied, then asked perceptively: "Is this a good thing?"

"The dark green tents are where the miners live."

Khalil said calmly, still not directly answering the ghost's question.

His tone became calmer. Now, it is even so calm that the ghost is slightly uneasy.

"They basically spend their lives underground, and long-term labor will make their bodies riddled with holes. When the mines they are responsible for end excavation, the mine owners will no longer pay any attention to them."

"However, they still have a little bit of use value."

".Use value?"

"There are many butcher shops in Quintus, Ghost."

Khalil said calmly. "The dark green tents that the miners live in are issued by the mine owners and will accompany them throughout their lives. However, in the slang of the butcher shop, this kind of tent is also called a 'goods cloth'."

Ghost remained silent, forcibly resisting some terrible impulse rising from the bottom of his heart.

"Insufferable, isn't it?" Khalil asked softly without looking back.

He was walking at the front and knew the environment here well. His ability to see in the dark wasn't as strong as the ghost's, but his familiarity with the place made up for it.

Khalil walked through dilapidated houses, alleys, and possible potholes on the ground one by one, looking natural and relaxed.

He's even smiling. And this smile was exactly the same as the one he showed on a rainy night. The skin was lifted up by the muscles, and the teeth were slightly rubbing in the air.

"Yes." Ghost replied in a low voice. "But, Khalil, there's someone else there."

"This means that some butcher shops have already come to bring goods."

Khalil said calmly. "They only want dead people. So those who are temporarily alive are left behind and if there are more of them, they come back again."

He stopped suddenly.

"Khalil?"

".I'm fine, I'm just a little sorry, Ghost."

"Feel sorry?"

"Yes. I originally wanted you to meet them, but unexpectedly, it was too late."

Ghost heard a chuckle coming from the front. "Looks like we're out of luck, what do you think?"

"."

The ghost didn't answer.

Next, the whole journey was silent.

They quickly approached the weak light source in silence. It is driven by the wind. From Ghost's point of view, the only reason why the people who come to buy the goods don't take it away is probably because it is on the verge of being scrapped.

He could see the light flickering, and now there was a strong wind. Obviously, the reason why its light is so unstable is not because of energy.

And under that light was a trembling, thin man paralyzed on the ground.

Extremely thin. The ghost thought.

He was wearing tattered clothes. There was a frighteningly numb expression on that pale face, which made the ghost give up the idea of ​​remembering this face.

The man collapsed on the ground, stretching his limbs on the cold and hard ground, lying there like a toy. Ghost realized after a thousandth of a second that he was not lying like this to relax.

The ghost looked away bit by bit.

He didn't want to look at him.

He didn't dare to look.

Khalil was different, he just walked forward and greeted softly, with a natural familiarity in his voice.

"Hakan."

The man's eyes turned around dully, looking at Khalil, silent.

"It's me, Hakan. It's Khalil."

The miner shook his neck sluggishly, and finally a little fluctuation appeared on his numb and dry face. He opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse tone: ".Ka?"

"Well, it's me."

Khalil knelt down and asked softly. "Is everyone leaving?"

"It's a butcher's shop, come here."

Hakan answered Khalil's questions in broken syllables. "The tent, without me, is cold."

Ghost saw Khalil's head lowered.

".Card?"

"I'm here," Khalil responded softly.

"I want to die."

The miner spoke little by little, and the ghost saw that there were faint tears in those dead eyes. "Tired, me."

The ghost heard a sigh, and then Khalil's words. His body was healthy, but his voice was as broken as any sound produced by Hakan's frail vocal cords.

"I understand, Hakan."

".Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm sorry, Hakan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

In the darkness, there was a flash of silver light.

Khalil stood up slowly, and the ghost didn't hear him make any more noise. He saw Khalil helping the miner to his feet, his eyes closed.

The ghost saw no wounds, neither on his neck nor on his chest - Khalil used to like to create wounds in these two places, but there were no wounds today.

"I'm going to go down to the mine. Ghost."

"Mine?" Ghost asked keenly. "Are you going to bury him?"

"The rats are gone," Khalil said with his back turned. "The mine has been abandoned for at least a week. They are very clever and know where the food is."

"Are you going to bury him?"

"Yes." Khalil said, and then paused for a few seconds. This was unusual for him.

"I want to bury him. A person deserves a little place to live when he dies."

".Do you need help?"

"No, no need. That place is too narrow for you, Ghost. It will be uncomfortable down there when you are not so high. I can just go there myself."

Khalil turned around, and Ghost saw his side face - he realized that Khalil was smiling comfortingly at him.

However, there is no smile in this smile.

He turned around, and the ghost showed a stiff, comforting smile behind him. Khalil didn't see it, and the ghost began to regret his moment of hesitation.

What's wrong with you, Khalil? ——

"Hakan?" the ghost asked.

"Yes, Hakan. A man who doesn't like to talk much."

Khalil smiled slightly and shook his head.

"He doesn't have many friends, but everyone knows him. Because Hakan is a pretty good guy, he leaves half of his food ration every day for those who are being punished so that they don't starve to death."

".do you know him?"

"Of course I know him, Ghost."

Khalil replied in a brisk tone. "Otherwise, how would I know his name and what his personality is like?"

"Have you ever worked as a miner?"

"I did it for a while, otherwise, I wouldn't have met you in that mine."

Ghost nodded silently, he no longer knew what to say.

Before meeting Khalil, he knew nothing about Nostramo. After meeting Khalil, he already knew something about the world.

But just now, he discovered that he actually knew very little about Khalil Lohars.

Apart from his name and personality, he knew next to nothing about him.

“Mining is not an easy job.”

Sitting on the edge of the tall building, Khalil said this with a soft voice.

He was unusually chatty and very talkative. In the past, if the ghost didn't ask, he usually wouldn't talk at such length.

The ghost listened in silence, and he could sense some of Khalil's current mood.

"The underground environment is very harsh. Except for those who are particularly short, almost everyone has to bend down and work in poor light."

"They have a quota every day. If the amount of ore excavated does not meet this quota, they will be punished."

"Adamantine is precious and can occupy a very high level in the indicators. But it is not easy to find. Coal is the most common, but also very cheap, and then iron. Oh, and there is a light blue crystal. "

"It's very beautiful, so it can reach a high level in the indicators. The nobles like it very much. However, most people actually just dig coal and iron throughout their lives."

Having said this, Khalil smiled, and Ghost noticed that he was rubbing the blade of the knife with his index finger in his sleeve, very quickly.

"Ah, by the way, do you know how coal is formed, ghost?" he asked suddenly.

"The plant remains buried underground will form coal under the action of a series of complex crustal movements." Ghost replied in a low voice.

A minute ago, he didn't know about it. But Khalil mentioned coal, and he knew.

These things came to him naturally, like instinct.

No, maybe it's just instinct.

"Yes, the remains of plants. This means that Nostramo was not like this a long time ago."

Khalil said softly. "Its sky should be blue, day and night should be clear, the sun would not be obscured by clouds, and there should be plants. Like trees, like grass. And of course, there are seas and lakes."

The ghost listened silently, and after a while, he asked.

"How do you know this, Khalil?"

"Sometimes, I have dreams. Dreams from the past."

"Dream?"

"Yes, dreams. People can dream, ghosts. And the scenes in dreams usually have no logic. Some dreams are tender, some are absurd, and some are terrifying. However, the word dream is not always Used to refer to dreams produced by sleep.”

".Are you dreaming?"

"Sometimes, ghost, sometimes."

Khalil stood up slowly and shook his head. "Besides, I'm sorry."

Why are you apologizing?

Ghost frowned, and he stood up silently, not knowing what to say. To his side, Khalil continued.

"I was going to go to the mine to see if there was any iron ore left and make a knife for you. But I forgot about it."

".I don't care." Ghost whispered. "Besides, Khalil, forging weapons requires a furnace, which we don't have."

"Yeah, we don't."

Khalil smiled slightly, turned his head, his eyes lit up with a cold blue light: "But we have this."

He slowly took a step forward and jumped off the tall building, with the ghost following closely behind.