Chapter 24: The City of Reason and the Weight of Silence （理性之城与沉默的重量）

　　The three days in Theramore passed with a strange, suspended quality. Leon was housed in the barracks, a clean, orderly building that smelled of soap and polished leather. He was given three meals a day—simple, hearty fare like stew and bread—and a cot to sleep on. It was safety and comfort of a kind he hadn't known for weeks, yet it felt more like a gilded cage than a sanctuary. He was instructed not to leave the barracks grounds without an escort. Theramore, for all its reputation as a city of peace and learning, was a place of strict protocols, especially for an unexpected arrival with a story as wild as his.

　　在塞拉摩的三天以一种奇怪的、悬而未决的状态过去了。里昂被安置在兵营里，这是一座干净、有序的建筑，散发着肥皂和擦亮皮革的气味。他一天吃三顿饭——简单的、丰盛的食物，如炖菜和面包——还有一张小床睡觉。这是几周来他未曾体验过的安全与舒适，但这感觉更像是一个镀金的牢笼，而不是避难所。他被指示没有护送不得离开兵营区域。塞拉摩，尽管有和平与学识之城的美誉，却是一个有着严格规程的地方，尤其是对于一个带着如此离奇故事的不速之客。

　　He tried to stay out of the way, spending hours sitting on a bench in a small, walled courtyard, watching the soldiers go about their drills. They moved with a precision that was impressive but alien, a far cry from the desperate, improvised survival skills he and Iris had honed. He felt like a ghost, a spectator to a life that was no longer his.

　　他尽量不碍事，花几个小时坐在一个有围墙的小院子里的长凳上，看着士兵们进行操练。他们的动作精准得令人印象深刻但也很陌生，与他跟艾莉丝磨练出的绝望、即兴的生存技能相去甚远。他感觉自己像个幽灵，一个旁观者，看着一种不再属于自己的生活。

　　On the second day, a young mage's apprentice, a boy not much older than Leon with a shock of red hair and a perpetually curious expression, approached him while he was eating his noon meal in the mess hall.

　　"You're the one the elves brought in, aren't you?" the boy asked, sliding onto the bench opposite him without an invitation. "The one from the wilds? I'm Kaelen."

　　第二天，一个年轻的法师学徒，一个比里昂大不了多少、顶着一头红发、表情永远充满好奇的男孩，在食堂吃午饭时接近了他。

　　“你就是精灵们带来的那个人，对吧？”男孩问着，未经邀请就坐到了他对面的长凳上。“从荒野来的那个？我叫凯伦。”

　　Leon nodded cautiously, his mouth full of bread.

　　"What was it like?" Kaelen's eyes were wide. "The elves? I've only read about them in the archives. They say their magic is tied to the stars and the trees, not the arcane like ours. Is it true? Did you see any of their druids? Did they turn into bears?"

　　里昂谨慎地点点头，嘴里塞满了面包。

　　“那是什么样子的？”凯伦睁大了眼睛。“那些精灵？我只在档案馆里读到过他们。据说他们的魔法与星辰和树木相连，不像我们的是奥术。是真的吗？你见过他们的德鲁伊吗？他们会变成熊吗？”

　　The questions came in a rapid-fire torrent. For a moment, Leon was taken aback. This was the first person who seemed genuinely excited by his story, not suspicious or wary. He swallowed his food. "I... I didn't see any bears," he said slowly. "But the one I traveled with, Iris... she could make plants glow. And she could move through the forest without making a sound."

　　问题像连珠炮一样涌来。一时间，里昂愣住了。这是第一个似乎对他的故事真正感到兴奋的人，而不是怀疑或警惕。他咽下食物。“我……我没见过熊，”他慢慢地说。“但和我一起旅行的那个，艾莉丝……她能让植物发光。而且她能在森林里行走而不发出一点声音。”

　　Kaelen listened, rapt, as Leon shared a few carefully chosen details—the Moonwell's light, the size of the worgs, the feeling of ancient power in the forests. He did not mention the orcs or the Forsaken, sensing that those topics were too dangerous, even here. For a brief time, talking to Kaelen, Leon felt a flicker of the wonder he had experienced, the sheer scale of the world beyond human kingdoms.

　　凯伦全神贯注地听着里昂分享一些精心挑选的细节——月井的光芒、座狼的体型、森林中古老力量的感觉。他没有提到兽人或被遗忘者，感觉到这些话题太危险，即使在这里也是如此。有一小段时间，和凯伦交谈时，里昂感受到了他曾体验过的那种惊奇感，感受到了人类王国之外世界的广阔。

　　But the feeling was short-lived. A stern-looking guardsman approached their table. "Kaelen, stop pestering the guest. Back to your studies." He then turned to Leon. "You. The Lady Proudmoore's aide wishes to speak with you."

　　但这种感觉是短暂的。一个表情严肃的卫兵走到他们桌前。“凯伦，别烦扰客人。回去学习。”然后他转向里昂。“你。普罗德摩尔女士的助手想和你谈谈。”

　　Leon's heart sank. He was led from the mess hall to a more formal office within the keep. A woman in neat, blue robes sat behind a desk, her expression calm but inscrutable. She introduced herself as Magus Anya. She had Captain Valen's report and Priestess Arianne's message from Astranaar. She asked him to recount his story once more, her questions sharp and precise, focusing on the military details: the numbers of orcs he might have seen, the exact location of the Forsaken outpost, the strength of the worg pack.

　　里昂的心一沉。他被从食堂带到要塞内一间更正式的办公室。一个穿着整洁蓝色长袍的女人坐在桌子后面，表情平静但难以捉摸。她自我介绍说是法师安雅。她有瓦伦上尉的报告和阿斯特兰纳女祭司阿里安妮传来的消息。她让他再讲述一遍他的故事，她的问题尖锐而精确，集中在军事细节上：他可能看到的兽人数量、被遗忘者前哨站的确切位置、座狼群的规模。

　　Leon answered as best he could, the words feeling hollow and rehearsed. He was no longer telling a story of survival and friendship; he was providing intelligence. When he mentioned Iris, Magus Anya's eyes narrowed slightly.

　　"This... kaldorei girl. You are certain she was acting alone? That she was not a scout for her people?"

　　里昂尽可能如实回答，话语感觉空洞而像背书。他不再是在讲述一个关于生存和友谊的故事；他是在提供情报。当他提到艾莉丝时，法师安雅的眼睛微微眯了起来。

　　“这个……卡多雷女孩。你确定她是单独行动？不是她族人的侦察兵？”

　　"She was with me," Leon insisted, a spark of defiance igniting in his chest. "She saved my life."

　　Magus Anya made a note on a piece of parchment. "The kaldorei are reclusive. Their reasons are their own. It is... unusual for one so young to be so far from her homeland." She did not say she disbelieved him, but the implication was clear: his judgment, his trust, was being weighed and found potentially naive.

　　“她和我在一起，”里昂坚持道，胸中燃起一丝反抗的火花。“她救了我的命。”

　　法师安雅在一张羊皮纸上做了笔记。“卡多雷是隐居的。他们的理由是他们自己的。一个如此年轻的人远离她的家乡是……不寻常的。”她没有说她不信任他，但言下之意很清楚：他的判断、他的信任正在被衡量，并且可能被认为是天真的。

　　The interview ended with a polite but firm dismissal. Leon was told the ship to Stormwind would depart on schedule. He was to remain in the barracks until then. As he walked back to his room, the brief connection he'd felt with Kaelen evaporated, replaced by the heavy weight of being a pawn in a much larger game. His experiences were being stripped of their personal meaning and filed away as data points on a map of conflict.

　　会面以礼貌但坚定的遣散结束。里昂被告知前往暴风城的船将按时出发。在此之前他必须留在兵营。当他走回房间时，他与凯伦短暂的联系感消失了，取而代之的是成为一场更大棋局中一枚棋子的沉重感。他的经历正被剥离个人意义，作为冲突地图上的数据点被归档。

　　The night before his departure, Leon stood at the small window of his room, looking out at the lights of Theramore. The city was beautiful in its orderly way, a testament to human resilience and magic. But it was also a place of walls and rules, of suspicion and strategy. He thought of the vast, untamed forests of Ashenvale, of the quiet serenity of a Moonwell, of running alongside Iris with the wind in their hair. That world, for all its dangers, had felt more real, more honest.

　　出发前的那个晚上，里昂站在房间的小窗前，望着塞拉摩的灯火。这座城市以其有序的方式显得美丽，是人类韧性和魔法的证明。但它也是一个充满围墙和规则、猜疑和战略的地方。他想起了灰谷广阔、未驯服的森林，想起了月井的宁静，想起了和艾莉丝一起奔跑、风吹拂头发的时光。那个世界，尽管充满危险，却感觉更真实、更诚实。

　　He took the smooth antler from his pocket, running his thumb over its surface. It was a tangible link to that other world, to the girl who had shown it to him. Captain Valen had told him not to let the world harden his heart. But as he prepared to return to the life he had once known, he wondered if it was already too late. The boy who had left Goldshire was gone. The boy returning was a stranger, carrying secrets and a silence that would forever separate him from the simple world of his past.

　　他从口袋里掏出光滑的鹿角，用拇指抚摸着它的表面。这是与那个世界、与向他展示那个世界的女孩的有形联系。瓦伦上尉曾告诉他不要让世界使他的心变硬。但当他准备回到他曾熟悉的生活时，他想知道是否已经太晚了。离开闪金镇的那个男孩已经消失了。归来的这个男孩是一个陌生人，带着秘密和一种沉默，这将永远把他与他过去的简单世界隔开。

　　Tomorrow, he would sail for Stormwind. Tomorrow, he would go home. But as he clutched the antler in the dark, he knew that the most difficult part of his journey still lay ahead: the return.

　　明天，他将乘船前往暴风城。明天，他将回家。但当他黑暗中紧握着鹿角时，他知道他旅程中最艰难的部分还在前方：回归。