A month had passed since that terrible storm, and the massive machine of Old Dunling was rumbling again after a few days of shutting down, the stove was lit again, the machinery in the factory was pushing the assembly line, the hot water vapor and ash smoke were rising into the sky again, and nothing had changed as usual.

After a month, people still talk about the storm from time to time, and there are some strange stories derived from it on the radio, such as some rainstorm monsters and the like, but people also look at each other and smile, there are no monsters in this world, it is just people's fantasy.

In the eyes of the townspeople it was nothing more than a rare storm, and they knew nothing of the hidden war that took place under that rainstorm.

The world is still like that, harmonious and beautiful, everyone plays a fixed role and does their own thing, some people are anxious to live, some people are anxious to die.

The old Tunling Central Railway Station is bustling with people, and the warm light falling through the dome paints it with a layer of gold, like a glorious palace.

No one knows how long such a sunny day will last, but everyone has a smile on their faces under this precious sunshine.

Madame van Roode sat down slowly on the bench beside the platform with her luggage, and she looked at her watch, which was still some time before her train arrived.

She didn't look very good, her face lacked blood, as if she had gone through a tired event that had taken all her effort.

As she had told Lorenzo then, she had a good time in a town far from Old Dunling, where she was ready to spend the rest of her life with her savings, where it was sparsely populated and always sunny.

Madame van Loude thought of good things, but she could not laugh, and she had no hope of anything.

"Well, then, I'll send you here. ”

A voice sounded from the other side, and the shrike walked over to Madame vanroode with the rest of his luggage, and he did not sit down, as if in a hurry, and was in a hurry to leave.

"Well, thank you, Shrike? I remember the name, right? Lady Van Roode looked at the shrike and asked.

Madame van Loude knew the Shrike, but the two were not close, he had come for Lorenzo, and if it weren't for Lorenzo, the Shrike would not have been here at all.

"Yes. ”

"I remember that your appearance is very important, and I have made a note of your appearance, so nothing will happen to you?" said Madame van Rood, joking.

"How is it possible, after all, you have helped me a lot as a 'landlord', and we will never see each other again after today, maybe you will die in a few years. ”

Seven years ago, in order to deal with Lorenzo, a stranger, Berau casually left him to Madame vanroode, and he himself did not expect that so many things would happen later, completely beyond imagination.

"Oh, really, I thought there was no such thing as a 'retirement' in your business. Madame van Roode was surprised.

Madame van Loude didn't know the inside story of all this, she didn't even know that demons existed, and in her opinion, Shrike was a gangster in the lower city, managing some mobs, and Lorenzo, although he claimed to be a detective, was also a killer who served the darkness.

Ordinary people may not be afraid, but Madame Vanroude, who was once an air cavalryman, does not care about this, and she finds it amusing.

"I just didn't expect you to see me off in person, after all, you're a ...... Gangster boss?"

"Probably so. The shrike replied.

"Is it Lorenzo's request? Or is it a will or something, this guy has never been missing for more than half a month, and even if he has been missing for more than such a long time, he will leave a note in advance...... I was just kidding, I didn't think that guy really thought I'd throw all his stuff out. ”

Madame van Loude said with some nostalgia that it was just a joking threat, but Lorenzo took it seriously, and every time he went on a long "business trip", he would leave a sticky note and a month's rent.

"But this time this guy didn't leave a note, he didn't leave the rent, he disappeared for a month, is he dead? It stands to reason that he's been in your business for so long, and he's lucky to be able to live safely for so long, right?"

Madame van Loude looked like she saw through everything, and Lorenzo, who seemed to her to be a killer, had failed in one of his actions, and was pierced by a stray bullet and died on the side of the road like a wild dog.

This conjecture is not far from the real situation, but when you think about it, it is not too far off.

"I don't know, maybe he's dead or maybe he's not dead, after all, we haven't found his body yet. The shrike replied.

"Did it happen during that storm?"

"Hmm. ”

"It's terrible, maybe his body has been washed away by the river and is sinking to feed the fish somewhere. That rain was really heavy. ”

It's obviously a very serious matter, but the two can't talk about it leisurely.

"Where's Higg?"

Lady Van Roud asked again.

Shrike fell silent, remembering Lorenzo's roommate and the arrest that took place in front of 121A Cork Street.

According to the records of the Black Mountain Hospital, Higg was eroded, and in the subsequent recovery of the body, the scavengers confirmed the identity of the body, and Higg was alienated into a demon.

Looking at Madame vanroud's old cheeks, the indifferent Shrike suddenly hesitated.

How could he say that, whether or not it involved demonic information.

He couldn't help but feel a tangle in his heart, if it weren't for Lorenzo, Beroe really didn't want to be here, but he couldn't help it, maybe this old man knew some information about Lorenzo's disappearance, but at the moment it seemed that she was a complete outsider and didn't know anything.

"I don't know. ”

"Is that so......"

"Then it's time for me to go, goodbye. ”

Shrike nodded at Madame van Roothe, he didn't want to ask anything more than to get out of here quickly, he didn't know what was going on between the landlord and the tenant, he just felt that the atmosphere was very painful for him.

Madame van Loude did not say anything more, in fact, she had a premonition in the heavy rain, the perverse Higg, the serious Lorenzo, she wanted to ask what had happened, but the two of them left the house and never returned.

She was old, but she wasn't stupid, she waited a month and no one came back, and as if she had accepted it all, Madame van Loude just wanted to get out of the city as quickly as possible.

There was a scene when she was separated, but she couldn't imagine that it would be like this, so abruptly, that she didn't realize that they had been separated until a month later.

A melodious whistle sounded from the end of the horizon, and at the same time there was the sound of footsteps, and the man came and sat down on the bench, leaning against Madame vanroud.

She turned her head and looked at the somewhat annoying face.

"You're not dead. ”

"I almost died, but I'm strong, you say. ”

Lorenzo smiled at her, flexing his muscles as he spoke, but his arms were wrapped in clothes and he couldn't see anything.

"So what's going on this month. ”

Madame van Loude was not surprised by Lorenzo's appearance, on the contrary, she was still a little disappointed, in her opinion, Lorenzo might appear in some very cool way, after all, this is in line with his somewhat narcissistic personality, but this time his appearance is too mediocre, it is simply negative.

"It's a lot, kill some damn guys, and then go out for a walk, take a walk, and think about life for a while. ”

Lorenzo asked, suddenly remembering something.

"So you're retiring?"

"You're a detective, don't ask such stupid questions, can you?" said Madame van Rood unceremoniously.

This made Lorenzo a little embarrassed, indeed, he just didn't know what to say, so he talked about something useless.

He returned early in the morning to 121A Cork Street, but the doors were locked, the furniture was covered with a white cloth to prevent falling dust, and Lady van Loude's clothes were gone.

Lorenzo naturally chased here, and then found her preparing to leave, Madame van Loude mentioned her plans for the future, Lorenzo knew very well.

"And how have you been missing for a month?"

Lady Van Roud asked again.

Lorenzo fell silent, a little hesitant, but finally laughed awkwardly and said helplessly.

"It sucks. ”

Madame van Loude said no more, and usually the conversation between the two of them was nonsensical and funny, like comedians on stage, talking about boring things together.

But this time none of them could laugh, everyone knew something terrible, but none of them wanted to say it, it seemed to be a terrible wish, and if it was said, this terrible wish would become a reality.

"So, what about Higg?"

Finally, it was Madame van Loude who asked. Reading nests

The train appeared at the end of the horizon in a roaring steam, and it began to slow down and lean towards the platform of the station.

"Went back to the place he had been longing for, that small town by the sea, and because he was so happy, he didn't have time to say hello to you, bought a ticket for himself and left. ”

Lorenzo lit a cigarette for himself and talked nonsense.

"Is he happy?"

"I don't know. ”

"Far from home?"

"It looks a little far away, so far away that you might never see him again. ”

"How he died. ”

"I don't want to remember that. ”

The atmosphere fell silent, and in the warm sun, it was like an ice cellar.

After that storm, Lorenzo found his true self and true authority, and in the long month he did a lot of things, including the use of power Gabriel.

This is a wonderful power, generally speaking, the power needs to be triggered by directional guidance through the alchemy matrix on the witcher's body, but the power Gabriel is different, Lorenzo is obviously carrying the alchemy matrix directed to the power Medanzo, but he can still use this mysterious power.

This is a different power, a deliberately forgotten power, and Lorenzo's knowledge of it still needs to be slowly excavated by himself, and with the help of this power, Lorenzo easily invaded the inside of the purification mechanism by virtue of the [gap], and also obtained a series of information about the future.

"Sorry, I brought trouble home. ”

After a few more moments, Lorenzo whispered.

Although he didn't say it, Lorenzo cherished the part of his life that he could live as an "ordinary person", just like an ordinary person, with a strange landlord and strange roommates, and from time to time they had a supper and a holiday.

Lorenzo cherished them, so he never brought any trouble home, and it was his first mistake and the last.

"Say something, Madame vanroud, whether it's scolding or reprimanding, say something. ”

Lorenzo had no emotional ups and downs, clenching his palms tightly, clenching the cigarette butt that had not yet been extinguished, and a faint pain flashed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry......"

"Actually, after all, I'm still a human being, no matter what kind of strength I have, I still can't change the essence of my heart, I'm a fragile human being, I try my best to isolate emotions from this kind of thing, because it will make me vulnerable, but like you said, living together for so long, even if it's a dog, more or less has feelings. ”

Lorenzo muttered like an old woman with a mother-in-law.

It was a really bad feeling, he could endure the scorching heat of the fire, the swing of the sword, but the pain from his heart was extremely unbearable.

"Did you kill him, then?"

"Who?"

"The culprit. ”

Lorenzo's mind remembered Moriarty, the guy who was still crazy until death came.

"Well, I killed him," Lorenzo replied, "but sadly, it didn't make that guy feel more pain...... But for that kind of person, torturing him would be boring. ”

"So you've been hiding from me for a month?"

"Sort of...... One of the many reasons. ”

Madame van Loude didn't look at Lorenzo, her eyes were fixed on the front, but there was nothing.

"I'm going to retire, in fact, I originally wanted to leave the house to you and Higg. ”

"Hmm. ”

It really didn't seem to know what to say, and the two of them said without saying a word.

Lorenzo couldn't stand the depression any longer, he took a deep breath, took a paper bag from his bosom and handed it to Madame vanroud.

"What is this. ”

"Sort of...... Some goodbye gifts for me. ”

Lorenzo pondered what to say, he had always been a flamboyant guy, but now he was talking dryly.

"Actually, I was preparing for this when you mentioned it to me at the time, but I didn't expect it to be given to you in this way, I thought it would be more joyful, such as pulling a banner or something. ”

"You know I'm in a high-risk industry, but the rewards in this industry are quite large, plus the money I saved in some weird ways when I worked before...... The orphanage I had been sponsoring went out of business. ”

Lorenzo was as happy as he could.

"Alas, the house prices in this hellish place of Old Dunling are really expensive, and those nuns can't run it anymore, and it won't be long before the church there will be torn down and a factory will be built...... For people like me, money didn't mean much, so I took out all the savings and helped them move the orphanage to a small town.

So nominally, I'm still a dean now, with a few nuns and a dozen children under my hands. ”

Lorenzo felt inexplicable as he spoke, this kind of thing had nothing to do with him.

"People always need to rely on something to survive, and I won't talk about what I live on, it's all bad things anyway, but you're different, Madame van Loude, you're so old, you have no children, no husband...... What you need is a loved one. ”

Lorenzo stopped halfway through the sentence, this kind of thing is really hard, he wanted to say sorry a few more times, but he stuffed it back into his mouth.

"With your character, you probably wouldn't like a monotonous retirement life, right, that's just waiting for death for you, so I thought you could go and be the dean for me or something.

Many children need to be cared for...... It's just a house full of children and grandchildren. ”

Lorenzo spoke, but this time he couldn't laugh as much as Madame vanroud.

The train stopped in front of the platform, thick water vapor gushed out, and in the fog, people leaned towards the train, carrying their luggage to different distances.

Madame van Roude let out a long sigh as she took the bag of papers that Lorenzo had handed her.

"Thank you. Lorenzo said.

She picked up her luggage and stood up, but did not rush to leave, looking at the endless sky behind the glass dome.

"It's a shame that I still couldn't get on the airship, and I really want to touch the sky again. ”

"Do you mean the Reishingbach?"

"Hmm. ”

"Actually, that thing was blown up by me, and it was blown apart and fell on the ridge. ”

I don't know if Lorenzo is serious or joking, but it seems that there is more of a joke.

She knew the guy well, and whenever something sad happened, the guy liked to joke and talk bad things, trying to wash away the sadness a little, but this time they were like a torrent, and Lorenzo's bad words were meaningless.

Madame van Loude never looked at Lorenzo again, she picked up her luggage and walked towards the train, leaving in silence.

"Will you hate me? ”

Lorenzo looked at her back and asked suddenly.

Madame van Roude stopped, and it was a long time before she slowly turned around and looked at Lorenzo one last time.

"Just like you said, everyone is human and emotional, and after living together for so long, I can't hate you even if I want to. ”

"I don't hate you, Lorenzo Holmos, I'm just ...... I just don't want to see you anymore. ”

Lorenzo hung his head like a trained child.

"The keys are in the mailbox. ”

The last words came from the wind, and Lorenzo jerked his head up, only to see a pale white mist and a closed door.

The train slowly departed from Old Dunling and disappeared below the horizon, leaving Lorenzo alone on the platform, the wind blowing up discarded newspapers, and the glorious sunlight looked desolate.