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"Ow! That was a nasty hit I took." Erbrand examined several bruised knuckles. "Fights are no fun unless you win them I guess. I am luck that he did not break my fist. Did you brawl much, master Hildernic, in your youth?"
Hilderinc's eyebrows rose slightly at the question, but it was only a very small change in his expression, otherwise, his face betrayed nothing of the emotional response inside him. So this man really seems like a brawler, after all, he thought to himself. So much for a quiet bard.
But then, the guy was not an obvious ruffian-type person. In the worst case, he could be one of these unpredictable types - as Hilderinc was sort of suspecting from the beginning - kind and mild with his fiddle-playing and tanning, but with a bit of a hidden violent nature which sometimes erupted and made him join the nearest brawl, or start one himself.
But his question did not sound like a provocation - it was however possible that the fellow was "gathering information" for later to see whether Hilderinc was an easy target. But in a way it sounded more like genuine curiosity - so perhaps the man was trying to look for potential companions among the new soldiers? Maybe someone he could recruit to his "gang"? Maybe something like that has been already existing here, Hilderinc had encountered these things few times on some of his stays: a group of soldier pals formed a sort of bullying squad - and then they were making trouble among the others. Of course, if something like that existed here, this guy might have understandably felt uncertain with the arrival of the new soldiers, not knowing whether his gang is not going to face a similar gang of the newcomers, possibly stronger than the original one. Trying to fish for friends among the new people would be the most clever way to try to cope with the issue.
Nevertheless, Hilderinc never had any intentions in joining any of these internal fights. He preferred to stay out of any groups like that.
"I haven't really been into brawling, if you ask me, mister..."
"It's Erbrand."
"Erbrand, all right... Well, like I said, I have never been much into that kind of things. Or, maybe better said, I have never been much on the good side with troublemakers. Honestly, I think there are better ways for a man to spend his time," Hilderinc said these words with all attentiveness, prepared to dodge if the man became angry at these words and attacked him. "Like tanning or playing fiddle," he added calmly, to sort of soften his response if it has been taken as a provocation - and to possibly encourage Erbrand in focusing more on other things than brawling.
"Maybe this is why I became a soldier," Hilderinc decided to finish his speech after a short pause. "I think fighting needs a cause."
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