Late at night, especially in the hours leading up to dawn, is the darkest and coldest time of the day.

The wind and snow howled in the Far North Ice Field, and the soldiers stationed in the frozen fortress patrolled the city walls in thick winter clothes, as usual.

Some of these patrol soldiers were meticulous in character, and even though the commanders at all levels had long since fallen asleep and no one was supervising the troops in the middle of the night, they still stood like flagpoles, motionless, allowing the thick snow to fall on their shoulders.

Of course, there are also people who are slippery in life, or have served in the frozen fortress for a long time, and have figured out the "tricks" of garrisoning early on, and they can fish as much as possible.

No, there were two soldiers at a post in the middle of the city wall, among which the new soldier stood upright by the stone pier and looked into the distance, and the other veteran put down his weapon early and sat under the snow shelter to nap.

Falling asleep, probably because it was too cold, the veteran wrapped himself in clothes and woke up in a daze, he saw the recruit standing in the wind and snow, he couldn't help but smile softly, yawned, and teased slowly: "New here? ”

The recruit didn't move, just hummed.

The veteran beckoned: "I saw you standing there in the first half of the night, and you haven't moved until now, hurry up and come over and sleep for a while, otherwise you will be sleepy during the day tomorrow." ”

The recruit was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting to accept this kind of invitation, he quickly shook his head: "I have a garrison mission, I can't slack off." ”

The veteran chuckled, got up and patted the snow on his pants, walked over to the recruit, pointed to the thick night outside the city walls and asked, "What do you see?" ”

The recruit observed for a moment and asked bluntly, "What do you mean?" ”

The veteran said slowly: "How many trees did you see? Is there anyone in the woods? ”

The recruit was stunned: "It's so dark, how can you see it." ”

"That's right!" The veteran patted the back of the recruit's head and scolded with a smile, "The night is so dark, we can only see something one or two meters in front of us, what can you see when you stand here?" If you can't see anything, what's the use of standing like a log? It's better to catch up on sleep quickly, and wake up to deal with it if you really have something. ”

The recruit was speechless for a while, but still said silently: "The task is the task, and you can't slack off." ”

"Sick." The veteran didn't want to continue to persuade him, so he hid back in the snowy bunker and looked back at the recruit, "How long have you been in the frozen fortress?"

Recruit: "It's only been a month. ”

"No wonder, the new recruits are like that." The veteran yawned and asked with interest, "Seeing that you are quite young, why don't you stay in the interior and serve in the frozen fortress?"

The recruit pondered for a while, as if considering whether to answer truthfully, and finally felt that there was nothing to hide, so he said: "Because according to the royal military order, those who have served in the frozen fortress for 10 years or more can be exceptionally promoted, and I want to be an officer." ”

The veteran smiled slightly: "Everyone's reasons seem to be similar, you should also be a civilian family, right?" Children like us, who are from noble families who can't rise to the top by the normal path, can only grit their teeth and come here if they want to have a chance to get ahead. ”

"But then again, I've seen too many people come for this reason, but very few can persevere, most of them apply to return to the inland after one or two years, and those who can persist for three or four years are very powerful."

The recruit asked suspiciously, "Why?" Because it's cold here? ”

The veteran shook his head: "Because of loneliness." ”

"Lonely...," muttered the recruit.

The veteran's gaze deepened, and he said slowly: "The most terrifying thing in the frozen fortress is not the cold, nor the barbarians outside the wall, but loneliness. It's a place of seclusion, and it's just a few people who come and go every day, and there are a lot of topics to talk about at first, but then we don't know what to talk about. ”

"At this time, loneliness will slowly seep into my heart, and I will start to miss my friends, parents, and relatives in the hinterland. When a person is consumed by loneliness and homesickness burns, nothing can suppress it. ”

The recruit thought for a moment and whispered, "But if I remember correctly, we can take our families to the Frozen Fortress, and the Legion will be responsible for providing them with free food to live in and living with us." ”

The veteran smiled helplessly: "There is such a rule, but how many people are willing to do this?" Not to mention how cold the climate is here, the frozen fortress is the front line of the war, facing the invasion of barbarians, how many people will bring their families to such a dangerous place? ”

When the veteran said this, he glanced at the recruit meaningfully, "Speaking of which, are you married?" ”

The recruit nodded slightly.

Veteran: "Wife came with you to the Frozen Fortress?" ”

The recruit continued to nod.

The veteran showed emotion and sighed: "She is willing to abandon the comfortable life in the interior, abandon the prosperity and liveliness, just to accompany you in this ice and snow, you have to cherish such a good woman." ”

The recruit pursed his lips and smiled a little embarrassedly: "Actually... Not married yet... We are private for life. Her father was an officer, and he didn't look down on me for any meritorious service, so I applied to be transferred to the Frozen Fortress in order to prove myself and not be looked down upon by him. ”

The veteran pouted, patted his chest and said, "This old man who looks down on people... You tell him to wait, wait until you have served here for 10 years, and let General Larsen write a wedding letter for you. I'd like to see how the guy would react when he saw the signature on the end of the letter. ”

The recruit hurriedly shook his head and said cautiously: "General Larsen is so busy, how can he pay attention to such a trivial matter. ”

The veteran laughed and said, "You don't know the general, he likes to help his subordinates come out and slap those who think they are noble in the face." To tell you the truth, my father-in-law is also a nobleman, and he looks down on me very much, and the reason why my beloved girl can successfully become my wife is that General Larsen came forward to help me win it. ”

The recruit asked tentatively, "She's also in the Frozen Fortress." ”

"Yes, all the children are born here." The veteran seemed to remember some sweet memories and said with a smile, "When she said she was willing to stay here with me for 10 years, I knew that she would be the only one for the rest of my life." ”

The recruit couldn't help but wonder: "We are all lucky to have met someone worthy of our love." ”

The veteran sighed: "Yes, in a few months, my 10-year service period will be over, and then I will be able to return to the interior in style." The gods are above, and I swear that I will give her the biggest wedding ever! ”

The two chatted and chatted, and slowly became acquainted, and the topics became more and more.

And the night before dawn is still as dark as ink, the cold wind is howling on the city wall, and all the laughter and laughter are melted into the more and more violent wind and snow...