Chapter 42: The Dusty Room
Alfred's punctual biological clock woke him up when it was just dawn, and the alarm clock that didn't go off made him lie in bed and think about it for a long time before he remembered that Bruce had gone to Kent Farm yesterday and didn't come back. He didn't know how things were going, he just hoped that the warm family could also warm Bruce's broken heart.
Eventually got up as Bruce. Wayne's butler, he has too many things to worry about. The manor is full of secrets, the cave beneath the manor that holds the hopes of Gotham, and the paperwork from Wayne Enterprise.
Batman is gone, Bruce. Wayne also disappeared from the shareholder meeting of Wayne Enterprises. Although he has always missed some less important shareholder meetings in the past, this is the first time that he has not appeared at a very important shareholder meeting.
Lucius sent a message that next Monday's shareholder meeting will involve some not-so-good department restructuring issues at Wayne Enterprises, and Bruce, as the owner of Wayne Enterprises, must attend.
Got himself a light meal, and after eating, he went about his day as usual, thinking about what reason to use for Bruce to attend Monday's shareholder meeting.
Alfred's day's work, if there is no anomaly, usually begins with the beginning of cleaning the Wayne Manor. The huge manor is really a bit difficult for his old bones, even with the help of Wayne's latest technology with the help of household robots, it can't change much, those antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and precious ancient books all need to be cleaned by people. He was a little nostalgic for the time when Dick lived on the manor, when he would help out in his free time, and of course the child.
Holding a feather duster, carefully bounce the dust off the carved handrails and ornaments, and hand it over to the vacuum robot for disposal.
As he reached the second floor, a crack opened in the door of Jason's room, alerting Alfred.
“... Master Bruce, is that you? ”
Alfred was ready to carefully push open the door, Bruce was in a bad state during this time, and it was not impossible that they didn't notice something wrong with Wayne Manor's alarm system.
Pushing open the door, Alfred breathed a sigh of relief to the figure inside.
"Master Bruce, when did you come back?"
In the room, Bruce was busy packing up all of Jason's belongings and putting them all into a prepared box.
"Just now"
With no intention of stopping, Bruce replied simply.
"Then I'll go and make you breakfast."
"I ate at Clark's house"
Bruce rejected Alfred's opinion on an irrefutable ground.
"Then I'll get you some coffee"
Alfred continued to offer his opinion, and he felt that it was time to find a reason to get Bruce out of the room.
This time Bruce finally stopped what he was doing, turned his head to look at Alfred, and said:
"I'm fine, Ah Fu"
Sunlight poured into the room through the window, and the bright light allowed Alfred to see the expression on the man's face.
With a neat chin, although there are still faint dark circles, but the eyes are very energetic, the whole person seems to be a lot more energetic.
I don't know what happened yesterday at Kent Farm, but it's certainly a good thing.
Such a blues finally made Alfred let go of his inner worries:
"So, I'll help you"
"No, Ah Fu, I'll just come"
Bruce insisted on his decision, and after looking at the stubborn man for a long time:
"Then I'm going to clean the other rooms"
Alfred eventually exited Jason's room, leaving the space to Bruce alone.
After Alfred left, Bruce continued to quietly pack up his things in the room. He realized that Jason had so little stuff. Unlike Dick's room, there are Superman figures everywhere, and a lot of things that fit the needs of a boy of this age.
Jason's room was filled with books to prove his liking, except for a game console that Dick had placed on when he came to play with him.
In addition to those literary books that don't match Jason's background at all, there are more books related to guns and weapons, and sure enough, boys still like guns.
It's a pity that Batman doesn't use a gun, and even Jason, who is Robin, doesn't have a chance to use the gun he likes.
Jason's talent is really high, not only in martial arts, but also in firearms. I remember the first time he disassembled and reassembled a pistol, it only took 28 seconds.
There are not too many clothes in the closet, and boys of this age like to dress up when they like to dress up, and Dick always buys himself the most popular styles at this age, and the rest of Jason's wardrobe except for the uniform is the casual wear that Alfred ordered, and the high-end suits that are specially made for him, I don't know where he threw them.
Jason doesn't like shopping either, and the room is not like a boy's room. There are no stinky socks stuffed everywhere, and there are no snack bags thrown everywhere.
Alfred had lamented more than once that Jason's room was the best to clean up, and he just needed to come in and sweep the dust.
"Master Bruce? Have you already packed it up? ”
Alfred, who was cleaning up in the hallway, asked with some curiosity after seeing Bruce come out of Jason's room.
"Not yet"
Bruce answered as he walked into the kitchen, packed up all of Jason's special drinking glasses and utensils, and put them in the packing box.
When I was packing up, I found out that Jason's things had so many things unconsciously.
He has a special drinking glass, cutlery, clothes, hats, shoes, chairs........ There is also the authorization of his special weapons, systems................
Alfred watched as Bruce packed all of Jason's belongings into the box, including all the pictures with the kid on them.
"Sir, do you need me to put that uniform away?"
Alfred looked at the tattered uniform and asked carefully. Bruce put away all the stuff about Jason, but didn't seem to notice the uniform at all.
“.... No, there's no need for that."
Bruce stopped what he was doing, looked at the uniform standing next to the computer, and finally rejected Alfred's opinion.
The cleaning continued until the sun went down, and when Bruce put Jason's last notes in the packing box, there was nothing to be found in the entire manor that had anything to do with the kid, no clothes, no books, no cups and cutlery for him, no sheets he liked, no photographs, no weapons and props he had made himself, except for the broken uniform in the Batcave.
Glancing at the empty, seemingly completely uninhabited room, Bruce said:
"Shut this room up"
"Okay"
Alfred found a white cloth to cover the dust, ordered everything in the room, and locked the door of the room completely.
He didn't know if it would be good or not, but if this was the only way Bruce could get out, it wouldn't be impossible.
Gotham night fell again, and the conspicuous bat lamp in the sky lit up once more.
"Will he come?"
Gordon's little henchman asked uncertainly, during this time, many guys sneaked to turn on the lights, and then they expelled them, but Batman did not appear once, this time he would accept the call of the bat lamp as usual.
Gordon looked at the dark night sky and sighed uncertainly. God knows if he will come.
Time ticked by, and just as Gordon was finally ready to give up, the familiar shadow reappeared in front of them again.
“.... It's a pleasure to meet you, old man."
Gordon said with a sigh of relief....