Meaningless, your existence is meaningless. 】

A faint voice rang out, and the man said with some anger.

The old time was brought up again, and in a trance you could see the surging red-hot iron, the roar of machinery staggered, and another voice sounded again at this time.

[What you do is in vain, ridiculous fellow. 】

Then countless mockers rang out, engulfing him like the sea, and he stretched out his hand hard, but could not catch anything, only to sink in it, to the deepest depths.

Until he woke up after falling heavily on the ground, and opened his eyes, he saw the familiar gray-green ceiling, which may have once been bright, but as the owner grew older and declined, it also withered and faded, and became a dead and silent appearance.

Higg rubbed his eyes, paused for a long time, and then opened the curtains beside the bed with his hand, allowing the not-so-strong morning light to illuminate the room slightly.

This is the room where he has lived for many years, this is his home, although it is only a rental house.

As he had repeated many times, he picked up the pillow and put it behind his back, sat up, and then reached out to pick up the newspaper he hadn't finished reading yesterday.

Higg is not very good at communicating, he does not have many friends, and it is difficult for the whole world to have any so-called intersection with him, so in order not to be abandoned by the whole world, he likes to read the newspaper in the morning and care about the world as much as possible.

Sometimes this behavior is like Lorenzo's sitting on the side of the road, and Lorenzo feels that watching pedestrians come and go makes him feel like he is part of the world, even if it is to deceive himself, and for Higg, reading the newspaper is also such behavior.

The news is still that, like another explosion in a neighborhood because of aging steam pipes.

This kind of news is basically every week, the old Dunling is built on the huge steam engine, many steam pipes have been in use for a long time, and because of the huge number, the official can only maintain those important lines on a daily basis, and some edge pipes often burst because they have not been maintained for a long time.

In fact, not only Higg, but also the residents of Old Dunling have long been accustomed to this, and at first everyone will scream when they see the collapsed manhole covers, and the spilled hot steam, but now it is just like an ordinary phenomenon of life, and it is not surprising.

Looking downward, there is news of some recent visits by the mission.

A few days ago, the Viking missions had arrived, and the envoys seemed to be from hundreds of years ago, dressed in animal skins and leather, with long beards, and mottled axes pinned to their waists, and unlike the modern days of Invig, they carried with them primitive and wild powers.

The black-and-white picture shows them when they arrive, and they are more like they are going to attack the land than they are to visit.

By this point, most of the missions had arrived in Old Dunling, where they had discussed with Queen Victoria about interests and politics, but those were not available in the newspapers for the time being.

At this time, a small sound sounded, and a person's sigh could be faintly heard.

Higg looked up at the wall at the other end of the room, and after that was Lorenzo's room.

Although he had been roommates with Lorenzo for so long, Higg never told Lorenzo that the soundproofing of the room was actually very poor, and Higg could always hear strange noises in his room.

For example, strange conversations, about the dukes, about the lower town, about the strange gloom, of course, Higg could only hear vague content, and he didn't know more specifically, and there was the occasional loading sound, and the unsheath of the blade.

In the early days, Higg's fear was not just that he always came back covered in blood, but that Higg was worried about what would happen if Lorenzo ran away one day and a group of thugs broke in to settle accounts with him, after all, he was only a mechanic, and the only thing that was offensive was a wrench under the bed.

The voice next door sank again, and he didn't know what Lorenzo was doing, and Higg returned his gaze to the newspaper and continued reading.

Workers' protests broke out again in Duke Salicado's factory, but this only occupied a corner of the newspaper, and more of Duke Salicado's propaganda for his own industry, he had officially entered the civilian airship industry, and several civilian airships were about to be completed.

According to what was written in the newspapers, the civilian airship will also be incorporated into the Atrium Serpent system, and the course of this civilian airship has also been tentatively set, this will be the first long-distance airship to fly away from Invig, and it will continue to travel south, across the White Tide Strait to the kingdom of Besr on the northern side of the Holy Spirit Evangelical Papal States.

It will be the node of trade between Invig and the Holy Evangelical Papal States, and the first in-depth exchange between the two countries.

That's probably all there was to the newspaper, but after reading it, Higg's eyes couldn't help but look again at the workers' protests.

The familiar name appeared on the black-and-white paper, and Higg lost his mind for a moment, then tossed the paper aside.

It was the factory where Higg had worked before, and he had been working there since he had completed his studies until he was fired for hallucinogens, and he didn't expect that after so long, Higg would see this again in this way.

Got up from the bed, repeated the same movements that I didn't know how many times, brushed my teeth and washed my face, and then smiled as friendly as I could in the mirror, soothing my stiff face a little.

Immediately after pushing open the door, Higg could smell the aroma of food, and Madame van Loude was already downstairs preparing breakfast, and at this moment the door on the other side was pushed open with force, and Lorenzo walked out in his white-washed pajamas.

It's been a rare few days...... In fact, it is not leisure, Lorenzo still has a lot to do, such as the mission of the Emerald and the exiled Shermans...... There was so much waiting for him, not to mention the Stagnant Temple, the secret of the new pope.

But Lorenzo is also a human being, and if he is a human being, he will be tired, and when he is tired, he will want to lie on his stomach and remain motionless.

After driving the Black Angel, he couldn't count what the reason was, he felt inexplicably tired, and even today he became unmotivated, if he could, Lorenzo suddenly wanted to have a good rest day.

"Yo, morning. ”

Seeing Higg on the side, Lorenzo took the initiative to say hello.

Lorenzo wouldn't have done this before, he knew that Higg was afraid of him, but judging from yesterday's conversation, Higg's mutual aid meeting had an effect, and this guy was rarely cheerful.

"Early ......"

I could see that Higg was still a little resistant, but he still forced himself hard, forcing himself to be "cheerful", but Lorenzo didn't pay attention to this, and he walked downstairs.

After becoming an outside detective in the Sualan Hall, coupled with his previous hard work, Lorenzo transferred a lot of money from the net removal agency, although it was not a windfall, but after he funded the orphans to pay rent and daily life, Lorenzo still had a lot of money left.

The surplus money was used by Lorenzo to improve his life, and while the witcher could accept the hard life, it was a bit foolish not to have difficulties for himself.

As a result of the improvement in life, Madame vanloude was willing to prepare three meals for Lorenzo, provided that Lorenzo could catch up.

Think about it, you've fought all sorts of demons and monsters outside, you've been beaten to death by the wind and pain, and you've stumbled open the door while someone prepares dinner for you.

Lorenzo burst into tears and hugged the kind but somewhat irascible landlady, who she didn't like very much.

"Lorenzo, don't you have to go out today?"

Madame vanroud, who was busy in the kitchen, glanced at the living room, and normally Lorenzo would simply eat breakfast and then leave in a hurry, but today Lorenzo was wearing pajamas, lazily lying on the sofa with a plate.

"Closed today. ”

Lorenzo replied that it might be the after-effects of the [interval] shuttle, and even after a night's sleep, Lorenzo still felt mentally exhausted.

She asked curiously.

"What are you doing...... Also have holidays?"

Although Lorenzo said he was a detective, they had lived together for so long that Madame van Loude did not believe his nonsense.

"I gave myself time off. ”

That's the advantage of freelancing, Lorenzo says, to take a break when you want, and of course you can sometimes be called a vagrant.

Madame vanloude walked to the parlor with the rest of the dishes, and then yelled at Lorenzo.

"Eat at the table!"

The roar was deafening, this old thing was very old-fashioned, Lorenzo had to sigh helplessly, got up from the sofa, and obediently walked to the table with a plate.

Higg was already seated, eating quietly, and though there was no word to talk to, he handed to her on the other side of Lady Loude what she needed, as if he knew it beforehand.

Lorenzo bit down on the spoon and looked at the two interacting with each other, with a strange thought.

"How long have you been living here, Higg?"

Lorenzo asked suddenly.

Higg was stunned, he didn't expect Lorenzo to suddenly ask this question, he wanted to answer, but for a while he couldn't remember.

On the contrary, Madame van Loude on the side replied after a short thought.

"It's been almost a decade, I remember when Higg came a little taller than the table. ”

She said with a smile, as she gestured with her hand to the height of the table.

Lorenzo nodded in response.

"It's been a long time......"

It was like mother and son, and perhaps Madame vanloude thought so, the lonely old lady who was too grumpy to be able to do it, and although she often told Lorenzo about her interesting and somewhat frightening love history, she never mentioned the end of her partner, and Lorenzo was also very knowledgeable, and never asked about it.

However, it may be the empathy of human beings, and sometimes I feel sad when I look at the lonely appearance of Madame Van Loude, this old lady who used to be an air cavalry is much stronger than ordinary people, but this is not a reason for her to tolerate those sadness.

It was also possible that human instinct was helping herself, and she felt very sad, she needed a spiritual sustenance, even if it was to talk to her, to make the house more angry, so she took in the young Higg at that time.

"Hurry up and eat, I'll clean it up when I'm done." ”

Madame vanloude said as she ate.

"Is there something wrong with such a hurry?" asked Lorenzo, picking up the day's newspaper from the doorway.

"Go see Seleuc. ”

Madame vanlude said, but when she looked up, she saw Lorenzo's strange eyes.

This...... This old lady is very attentive, and she wants a goddaughter when she has a godson.

"Ahem. ”

Lorenzo coughed a few times and pretended to be normal, but he couldn't say that.

As usual in the morning, Lorenzo handed the newspaper to Madame vanroude.

The class nature of human beings will always be reflected in some strange places, such as the main seat and the second seat, and the daily newspaper, in order to reflect the leadership position in the family, Mrs. Van Loude always has to be the first to read.

The sleeping city is waking up, pedestrians are appearing in the streets, horse-drawn carriages are galloping, and thick steam is rising.

Everything was so calm, Lorenzo even felt a little soothed, there were no demons, no fights, no people with black boxes suddenly knocking on the door, and then saying to himself, "Mr. Lorenzo Holmes, the world is in danger now, we need you" This strange start.

That's great.

I looked at Madame Van Loude, and then at Higg, and it was as harmonious as a badly reviewed family drama.

"Huh, that's fast, the civilian airship will be put into service in the near future. ”

Madame van Loude said expectantly.

"Why, do you want to go?" asked Lorenzo.

"Of course, I'm an air cavalryman, and I've spent the rest of my life in the sky. "Madame van Loude has shown a rare affection for a thing.

"I haven't been on an airship since I retired, and I really want to go again. ”

Higg put down his knife and fork and looked up, "Is it the Duke of Salicado's one?"

"Yes, there are quite a few competing, but Duke Salicado seems to be progressing the fastest...... They have already begun to name the first civilian airship. Madame van Loude said.

Lorenzo lazily stretched his waist and said, "I'm done!"

Looking at Madame vanrude, who was holding the newspaper, Lorenzo asked.

"What's it called? The Great Salikado Airship?"

"How is it possible, they say that this is a monumental airship that will arrive in Besr from Invig and establish a stable trade in Besr as a node with the Holy Gospel Papal States. ”

"It's really monumental. Lorenzo said.

His designer, who happens to be from Beshr, has been given the naming rights, saying that he always misses his childhood play under the waterfall and is ready to name it after his hometown. ”

Listening to Madame vanrude's words, Lorenzo picked up his fork and picked his teeth.

"So what?" he asked lazily.

"Reichenbach...... That's its name. ”

"Reichenbach? Sounds good. ”

Lorenzo replied simply, cocking his chair and shaking the fork in his hand.

At this moment, the doorbell suddenly rang, calling Lorenzo back, who looked at the dark shadow outside the door and window with some nervousness, hoping that his rare rest would not be disturbed by some strange guys.