– You are military? Tan asked, somewhat surprised.

– Once it was, the old man answered.

– How do you understand about me?

– You have a military bearing, a very strong physique, and you also have a special look.

– And which one?

– A look of sadness and valor.

Tan was about to ask him another question, but the old man unceremoniously interrupted him.

I guess you're here to pick up a pair of new pants, not to bang out, huh?

That's right, and he told him about his vision of excellent and quality clothing.

The old man listened indifferently to him, then took measurements and said that by tomorrow morning everything would be ready. Everything will be delivered to his guest house. Athanasius thanked him, paid, and went out with Tin.

– And your uncle is silent, turned to the guy Tan.

– It's right.

– Where did he fight?

“I don’t know, he never talks about it.

– Remind me of his name?

– Uncle Bert.

Clear. Well, come on, I'll show you where you need to bring your clothes tomorrow.

***

That evening, Tan did not abuse alcohol and spent time sharpening his sword. And before going to bed I organized a little workout for myself. As usual, he woke up before dawn after another nightmare. Sitting on the bed, he looked at the ammunition standing in the corner and the sharpened sword standing in the same place. Athanasius thought that he would gladly smash their head, the bastard who constantly came to him in his dreams. Rising slowly out of bed, he went to the window. Looking at the city awakening from sleep, he realized that he liked it more like that. Quiet, majestic and most importantly, without people. Maybe this is due to what happened to him in childhood, or perhaps due to his character traits, Athanasius loved loneliness. Not that he was a hermit of spiritual dreams, but long communication tired him. He loved silence and loved to be alone with himself. Many of his colleagues considered him strange, some rude, some even dangerous, but each of them knew Tan was smart. During the battles, like no one else, he made the right decisions with lightning speed, which helped to save dozens of lives. For this, in the army, Tan enjoyed indisputable authority. Every soldier dreamed of being in his squad, because this at least guaranteed a greater probability of survival.

Even yesterday, Tan noticed preparations in the city for a council of war and the celebration of the union of Arkon and Vauton. The entire elite of the armed forces will gather in the city, in addition, the allies will be present at the council, including King Orme.

There was a knock at the door. Tan had expected this, so not a muscle in his face quivered as the silence was ripped apart by blows to wood. He threw on a towel and walked to the door. Opening it, he found Tina standing near the door, in whose hands were three packages. Without saying anything, Tan walked away from the door and approached the place where his clothes were folded. Putting his hand down to the bottom, he pulled out a bag of coins.

– Put everything on the bed.

Ting did just that. Then Atanasius handed the boy a copper and, patting the guy on the head, thanked him for his work. Leaving the room, Ting was very pleased with himself. You could read it on his face.

Then Tan lit an oil lamp in order to better see what the boy brought him. Opening the first package, he found leather pants with skillfully sewn protection in the form of metal plates. Opening the second package, he found high boots in it. Having examined them better, Tan realized that these boots have several additional details that he did not discuss with the tailor. First, the toe and heel of the boot were reinforced with metal inserts. In addition, the boots had a lacing with three fasteners in the front, along the entire length of the boot and looked very solid. Tan involuntarily smiled, having received aesthetic pleasure from what he saw, and in fact it is very difficult for him to please. Then his gaze fell on the third bundle. The agreement was only about pants and boots, and he could not put his mind to what was in it. Carefully opening the package, he saw that it contained gloves, which were also reinforced with sewn metal plates for the most severe strike in hand-to-hand combat.

“I'll have to bring him a bottle of good ale,” Tan thought.

Without becoming a long wait, Atanasius proceeded to try on clothes, and not finding any flaws, he was satisfied, went downstairs to have a bite of a couple of chicken eggs and blood sausage. However, on the way to meet him, Bercy came across, who had just entered the guest house. Seeing Tan, he stretched out and was about to approach him with a marching step, but Tan, seeing this, immediately stopped him, slightly waving his lowered hand. Then he himself approached Bercy and asked why he was here. Bercy said that before tomorrow's meeting, Duke Erhard is gathering generals for an informal meeting at his estate today. So to speak, a secular evening. The general will wait for Tan at his place, so that he would attend the evening with him as a confidant. Tan rolled his eyes in displeasure, but there was no choice.

“All right, tell the general that I'll be arriving in the evening.

Bercy nodded, pressed his hand to his chest and left, and Tan sat down at the table to satisfy his hunger.

***

In the evening, Athanasius Mirra, in full uniform, including new clothes, stood near the general's carriage. The only thing he didn't wear from his entire arsenal was the gloves that Bert gave him. So it was accepted that a confidant should be staffed both for battle and accompany the general as his warrior at social evenings. Tan looked imposing. The local service staff looked out of the windows to look at this impressive war. The maids crowded at the windows. They winked at Tan and whispered to each other, laughing and biting their lips. And not surprisingly, Athanasius was in great shape as never before. His muscles wrapped around his arms like steel ropes. New, padded leather pants hugged his powerful thighs. He had shoulder-length light brown hair that was slightly wavy at the ends. The small bristles also added a brutal look. When the general went out, his face expressed seriousness, his lips were frowning, and frowning eyebrows stretched to the floor, but when he saw Tan, he cheered up and calmed down, because it was obvious that General Swann was nervous. Such evenings were new to him, but their attendance allowed him to acquire new acquaintances and promote his ideas among all the participants in the evening much more effectively than debates in the council. Swann knew this. Athanasius also knew this, therefore, when the general approached him, he whispered in a whisper, "General, this is like the first battle, you just need to start, and then everything will go like clockwork." Swan smiled and patted Tan on the shoulder.

– Damn, how healthy you are! I myself was not small at your age, but I can definitely say that I am far from you. I've never seen a man of your size, comparable only to a bear, be so fast. Well, okay, the general gasped, let's go to these vultures, we'll show that we are not bastard either. Then they plunged into the carriage and, a procession of a carriage and ten mounted warriors moved towards Erhard's estate.

About a quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the central doors of the estate. Erhard was an extremely influential figure and enormous funds were spent on such a house. To climb from the road to the central entrance, it was necessary to overcome a staircase with massive granite steps, which were polished to a shine. On the sides, which, flaunted the figures of lions frozen in a menacing roar. Along the way, a red carpet was laid along which servants stood with trays on which there were wine glasses with various alcoholic beverages. But Swann and Athanasius did not even look at them, stubbornly moving towards the door.