[My name is Charles, and I am a private investigator in the City of Steam, and now my road to redemption is finally coming to an end, but once again I taste the taste of loneliness, an indescribable but very sad emotion, everyone around me seems to be happy, and I am the only one who is sad. 】

......

It's no wonder that the strength of the arm he just strangled me suddenly intensified, it turned out that the big boy who used to look so sunny still had such a past.

"Little lady, you don't always comfort people, so you shut up. Sean, who was full of black lines, immediately opened his mouth to retort sarcastically, and said, "It's better than someone being sold to the church by their own father, at least I can imagine that my parents accidentally lost me." ”

"Huh. ”

Miss Eve didn't refute this, but laughed so hard that I swallowed back the comforting words that came to my lips, and let her drag me towards the inner room.

Nervousness or hope filled my heart again.

Teacher, I'll take you home no matter what.

......

Somewhere in the capital of steam

With a distortion of space, Chris in a black robe suddenly appeared in the room with 3125 in the same attire, and under the bowing gaze of a group of men in suits and leather shoes, he walked into a dark room with a steady step.

Chris looked at the magic array on the ground, took out a black gem from his arms and placed it in the center of the magic array, and in an instant, under a burst of dazzling light, a figure of a man wearing a silver robe appeared in the magic array.

The man looked very old, his whole body was shriveled, he looked like he didn't have any muscles, the skin on his face was wrinkled, his short gray hair, his hooked nose, the corners of his mouth were thin, and his silver eyes flashed with cold light and glared at Chris and said, "Something?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. Chris bowed respectfully.

Say. ”

"Please secondment an Ember Messenger to me, Your Excellency. ”

"Reason. ”

After taking a deep breath, Chris said, "I am ready to spread the gospel of our church in the capital of steam. ”

The hook-nosed old man didn't answer immediately, but looked at Chris deeply for a long time and said, "Okay." ”

After speaking, the figure of the old man turned into a wisp of gray smoke and dissipated, and it was only then that Chris slowly let go of the worries in his heart, turned his head to look at 3125 and said, "This is our secret." ”

3125 burst out laughing and sneered, "You think the Bishop won't be able to guess your intentions?"

Of course he does. Chris explained in a rare voice, "Because he needs me, and I need his power, that's why I agreed to bring you here." ”

"So that's our secret?"

"Yes. Chris nodded, brought his masked face to 3125's ear, and said, "I can't kill you, and I can't kill you, but Bishop Winnick can." ”

Hearing this, 3125 couldn't help but laugh happily, bit Chris's earlobe with his teeth, and said as if teasing, "Obey, Mr. Chris, who made me belong to you now?"

......

Following Miss Eve, I bid farewell to Mr. Sean, who was guarding O'Connor, and with trepidation, I finally arrived in Mr. Hank's room.

The room is not big, and there are not many decorations, in fact, I don't have the heart to look at it at all, because since I entered the door, my eyes have stayed on a test bench in the center of the room, and at this moment the teacher is lying quietly on it and sleeping, there is no trace of pain on his face, only a faint smile.

Looking at the teacher's motionless figure in a daze, I couldn't stop crying, after all, I couldn't observe the ups and downs caused by his breathing.

Teacher, is it dead?

I reached out and covered my lips vigorously to stop myself from screaming, lest it disturb Miss Eve, who was busy.

I saw bursts of green light rise in her hand, and examined the teacher's whole body for a moment, then took out a variety of medicines, and slowly pushed them into the teacher's body with a syringe, and finally in her whispered prayer, a large amount of emerald green light suddenly flashed on the teacher's body, and miraculously began to breathe.

It was faint at first, but gradually it roared like thunder, and his eyes, which had been closed, suddenly opened.

"Teacher...", with obvious crying, I couldn't suppress my inner feelings, and rushed forward to hug the teacher tightly, and big happy tears fell on his shoulders.

"Mr. Charles, Mr. Kobor, you only have five minutes, so let's say a final goodbye. ”

My joy did not last long, and I was immediately shattered by Miss Eve's words, and I looked at her sad expression in disbelief, and then at the teacher's 'spirit' smiling face, and for a moment I could not say anything.

"Teacher?"

"It's okay, I'm already very satisfied to see you again. The teacher smiled and patted me on the shoulder, turned to the remaining two people in the room, and thanked me, "Thank you for the night watchman, and for the opportunity to help take care of Charles, he is a kind and simple child, and it is very easy to suffer if there is no one to take care of him." ”

Eve nodded and agreed, "We will, Mr. Kobor, thank you for your continued help to us, and may you sleep peacefully in the realm of the Goddess." ”

After saying that, she and Mr. Hank stretched out their right hands and gave a solemn military salute to the teacher, then turned and left the room.

After the teacher saw Eve and the two leave, he gently wiped away the tears that couldn't be stopped in my eyes, and said gently: "Don't cry, Charles, every journey will have an end, my journey has been completed, although a little unwilling, but life is wonderful precisely because of the flaws." ”

"But... You haven't done your dream yet, and I haven't..."

Kobol shook his head, and his resolute eyes couldn't help but ripple slightly, as if recalling: "The reason why a dream is a dream is because it can only be imagined, not touched, and my secrets are hidden in the box in my room, if there is a chance..."

The teacher paused for a moment and stared up at the ceiling, "If you have the chance, help me find her, and then tell her that I have followed her all my life, but I don't regret it, after all, I am only a part of her journey, and she is all I have, I must tell her, I hope I will appear in her diary, I hope she will remember me, remember my name, Kobol Ain." ”

"I will, teacher. I gripped the teacher's rough palm tightly and solemnly promised, "I will find her, and I will definitely pass on your words to her." ”

"Don't stress too much. The teacher reached out and took a pair of monocles from his pocket, handed them to me, and said, "This is a gift from her, and now I have given it to you, and you can ask the night watchmen how to use it." ”

I gripped my glasses in my hands and nodded heavily, sensing the teacher who was starting to weaken, and my tears were welling up again.

"Charles, I don't really want you to join them, the magic industry is full of danger and death. The teacher waved his hand to stop me and continued, "I know you've always been curious about my magic items and know that you look forward to these powers, but Charles, remember that power doesn't just help you achieve your goals, it can also destroy you. ”

"I remember, teacher. ”

"Don't be sad, you are alone from today onwards, don't indulge in alcohol, don't haunt bad places, don't forget your goals. The weakness on the teacher's face became more and more obvious, and after a few deep gasps, he said weakly: "And I want to hear you call me father, I have been waiting for this claim for a long time." ”

"Father. The two words full of emotion burst out of my mouth in an instant, and tears completely blurred my vision.

"Don't forget, it's your birthday, keep smiling. The teacher raised his hands with difficulty, wiped away my tears with great difficulty, and smiled: "But I don't have time to prepare a gift for you today, happy birthday, son... I... Forever... Loving you..."

"No... Father. I watched as the teacher's raised arm hung down heavily, his godless eyes slowly closed, and the whole person fell into a quiet sleep as before, only the smile on the corner of his mouth became more profound.

With all my strength, I hugged the teacher tightly in my arms, and my mind was full of pictures of how I had been with him, the joys we shared together, the grief we had spent together, the harsh teachings you gave me, and the harsh reproaches I had for you...

Thinking back to today, seventeen years ago, I went from being a pickpocket on the verge of death at any time to becoming your only and uncompetitive student, because I didn't know my birthday date, so you made this special day my birthday.

It means my new life.

At this time of the year, you will give me different gifts, from toys to suits, from immature to mature, although I am not satisfied with each gift you give, but I am still happy to collect it, after all, I am finally no longer alone, I also have a father who loves me, and I don't have to envy other children.

But what?

From today onwards, I will be alone again, no one will remember my birthday, and no one will give me gifts.

Grief flooded my heart like a flood that burst the embankment, and I held the teacher's corpse for a long time, and it was not until the footsteps of Miss Eve re-entering the room that I gradually calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Charles, I couldn't save him. ”

Listening to her sad tone and the handkerchief she handed to me, I couldn't help but put on a sincere smile, bent down and said, "Thank you, Miss Eve, for everything you have done for me. Also, can I join you?"

"Have you thought about it?" Eve was not too surprised by my inquiry, and admonished with a serious face: "We are not hope, but despair, join us, today's enemy, maybe yesterday's colleague." ”

"Is it so cruel?"

Eve nodded, a faint sadness on her smiling face, and recalled, "I once cleared two colleagues with my own hands, and one of them was my best friend. ”

I didn't know how to comfort her for a moment, and I couldn't help but fall silent as I watched Miss Eve bury her grief deep again, and put a big smile on her face again.

Maybe I'm not ready?

Or am I still hoping for something?