Sunday, December 26.

Hugh Dilcha opened the reply sent back by Audrey Hall, regretting that Russell's notes were bitten by her golden retriever, Susie, and that the commission for "Hamel" did not go as smoothly as Hugh had expected.

Foirth Wall was lazily leaning against her desk and staring out the window at the rain, the scratch paper in front of her was blank, and she would rather watch the droplets race against each other than pick up her pen and write a few lines.

Hearing the movement of someone walking in, Foirth subconsciously stuffed the cigarette that had just been lit back into the cigarette case, and then she noticed that her friend and roommate had a look of embarrassment on her face, and immediately asked casually, "What trouble are you in?" ”

"I recently received a commission from someone who asked me to collect the notes of Russell the Great. I would have liked to ask Miss Audrey if her collection was still there, but she said it had all been bitten by Susie. ”

Firth was extremely surprised in her heart, of course she quickly thought of the Tarot Society, Mr. "Fool" has been searching for those "Russell Diaries", could it be that the person who entrusted Hugh is also a member of the Tarot Society?

If the other party is not a member of the Tarot Society, does he want to use this to test Hugh, or even want to test me? It seems that someone has been looking for "fool" believers all along, so it can't be that someone is eyeing us!?

Furth's inner thoughts turned sharply, and he asked in a hesitant manner: "However, is the other party bidding very high for this commission you are talking about?" Are there any requirements for notes? ”

"She didn't say how many she wanted, but the bid was twelve gold pounds."

"Huh? Is it a lady? ”

Hugh noticed that he had accidentally exposed the human scale, and scratched his straw-like yellow hair vigorously, and had to admit, "Yes, she is also an extraordinary, and the sequence should be a lot higher than all of us." ”

Furth quickly went through the Tarot Society members in his mind, and he was not sure whether they would be "justice" or "lovers". However, Miss "Justice" does not seem to be short of money, and her social circle should be in the aristocratic class, so she will not secretly buy Russell's diary with bounty hunters, so it is more likely to be Miss "Lover......

"I asked a friend to collect two of them, and I'm going to send them to her today."

Foirth didn't tell Hugh about his collection of Russell's diary, and secretly hid it from her, and it was impossible for her to hand over the Russell diary she had at this time, so she only comforted Hugh and became extremely curious about the client.

"But you also have to be careful when trading, since the other party is higher than us, maybe there will be a move of taking something and not giving money."

"I know that while she doesn't feel like some bad person to me, I have to be careful." Hugh replied, and she put Audrey's reply and packed up her belongings again, this time leaving the house where they lived.

Furth took out another cigarette, lit it, and took a puff of pleasure.

Wouldn't it be safe to go alone, do you want me to go too? If you see each other, Bacheng Neng is indeed not a member of the Tarot Society. The image of Miss "Lover" is much clearer than everyone else, and you can recognize it at a moment's notice, and the difference between her and Miss "Justice" is quite big.

Even if the other party is not a member of the Tarot Society, I don't seem to have much to lose, but I just wasted a lot of time......

I'm too lazy to go, and if I admit my mistake, it will only be more embarrassing.

Furth frowned, took another drag on his cigarette, and continued to stare at the blank scratch paper, aimlessly considering whether or not to join in the fun of the evening.

No, I really don't know what to write about this issue of the serialized story, or just drag it out for another week and wait until the New Year? Yes, you should give yourself a holiday. Everyone has a New Year's holiday, and of course I can enjoy it, but that's okay.

With this in mind, Furth stretched and left his desk and went back to the couch.

——

Esther came to the East End with her cloak on, and as soon as the harmonica of "Hamel" sounded on the street corner, the attracted children quickly passed the news to each other and soon arrived.

A lark flew down from the top of the building, and stopped curiously on Esther's head, not at all afraid of her, and even chirped twice from time to time to the sound of the music.

However, the lark was quickly driven away by the dissatisfied Xiao Qi, and it looked very reluctant when it flew away from here, but in the face of Xiao Qi's sharp beak, claws, and larger size, the little lark did not have the courage to compete with it.

After driving away the lark, Xiao Qi flew back to the roof of the building next to him, looking at the "followers" who were gathering below.

After the harmonica stopped, the street children had gathered quietly and obediently in the alley, and the boy, nicknamed "Rabbit", squeezed through the crowd in front of him, he seemed to have run a long way, panting slightly, and the bangs on his forehead were scattered in front of him.

After Esther had finished distributing the bread as usual, the children recounted what they had seen and heard during the time, a process they were familiar with.

Esther listened silently, barely out of the news in the corner of the newspaper, but the Aurora Society's activities seemed to be becoming more and more frequent, and several children said they had encountered people sneaking around the neighborhood to preach.

Perhaps because the New Year is approaching, there is nothing particularly new happening, and people are busy with their lives, hoping for a new year.

After saying goodbye to the other two light nursery rhymes, the children sensibly dispersed, leaving only the rabbit standing aside.

He was very silent today, and did not say anything to Esther, except nervously clasped his hands around his chest, and stood in the closest place to her, rolling two pebbles on his toes.

Seeing that everyone was gone, and the boy was still leaning against the wall and not moving, Esther had no choice but to call out to him: "Rabbit, are you in trouble?" ”

The rabbit raised its head, its lips open and closed, but it didn't make a sound.

"If it's difficult, you don't need to tell me, you have to put your own safety first." Ace nodded his forehead, "It's time for me to go, see you next time?" ”

"Wait, Hamel! I have something very important for you! ”

Before Esther could disappear around the corner, the rabbit summoned up her courage and rushed forward, pulling her back into the alley by tugging at her cloak.

"What do you want to say?" Esther smiled, the rabbit's determination was also expected.

The rabbit gripped Esther's cloak so hard that the hood slipped off top of her head, revealing her hair and face covered in a silver mask.

"I—I've gone to see Penny, Hamel," the rabbit seemed to realize that he was pushing too hard, and quickly let go of his hand, "she's doing well now!" There is food to eat, a place to sleep, and even a place to study the scriptures with the priests in the church...... She already knows how to write a lot of words! ”

Esther still had that gentle smile and no change.

She seemed to know what the rabbit was trying to say.

"I told her a lot of things, she said they saw the 'Black Emperor,' the church helped the girls who had families to go home, and many more...... Then I told her that maybe that 'glossy thief' was you, Hamel! ”

The rabbit pulls out a thinly folded newspaper from his bosom, a torn corner of a report, with the victims' fantastic descriptions of the "glossy female thief" and the "black emperor of the grand thief".

As the rabbit said these words, he carefully looked at Hamel's expression, but could not see anything.

"She probably doesn't remember me."

“…… Why, was she erased? Is it the church that did it!? The rabbit cried out sadly, "It's not fair! ”

"No, rabbit, it's not them, it's me." Esther whispered, piercing the truth in the boy's heart that he refused to face.

"But you don't have a reason to do that! How could you do such a thing? ”

Esther pressed the rabbit's shoulder and crouched down so that she could look at the boy level, "Even if I didn't want to, she'll forget about me, including you and you." ”

The rabbit's eyes widened in horror.

Esther withdrew her right hand from his shoulder, shook it one by one, and said what the boy wanted to ask: "'Why did you make us forget about you?'" It's not something I can decide, the world is so inexplicable, you've seen so much injustice in the East End. ”

Only then did the rabbit realize that his thoughts had been stolen, and he stepped back in fear: "You, how did you ......?"

Esther straightened up again, "You're a very shrewd child, you should have noticed my specialness a long time ago, didn't you?" Those gangsters didn't bother me, they didn't bother you, they just forgot about it. ”

The rabbit didn't speak, he was shaking at the unreasonable development of things. "Hamel" exhibits abilities that clearly do not belong to the category of ordinary humans, including the magic that attracts them in her performances, and the leader once warned him not to get too close to "Hamel", and the rabbit always does not take it to heart.

He'd always known it, he just didn't want to think about it.

Esther held up a finger and aimed at her temple, "One day, you'll forget about me, too." ”

It's a pity that this line of intelligence can't be wanted. Esther swallowed a little bitterness and turned to walk down the alley.

The fragment torn from the newspaper fell to the ground.

The rabbit caught up again, and he grabbed Esther's wrist sharply:

"I don't want to forget you! If Penny had a choice, she wouldn't want to forget about you either! She's always wanted you to teach her how to play the harmonica! ”

Esther's eyes suddenly turned red.

Isn't she used to this kind of thing? This has long been the "parting" she is accustomed to, except for the fellow who also does not belong to this world, no one can remember the existence of "Esther".

"Hamel! You can't just leave everyone alone! I know you may not belong here, you don't belong to the East End, you seem to be in two worlds with us, but you can't just disappear......"

Esther wanted to laugh at the childish and wayward words, but wanted to cry because of the rabbit's lame excuse, and she calmed down before she spoke: "I was a passerby. It's me who has been taking advantage of you, Bunny, and you should face that up to you. ”

"I know! We all fucking know! So what!? ”

The rabbit's angry roar slammed into the ground, shattering almost all of Esther's disguises, revealing her weak heart.

Esther turned around, and the look in her eyes was so complicated that the rabbit couldn't continue to ask "Hamel" more questions, and couldn't beg her to stay.

The boy let go of Esther's wrist and took two steps back, but "Hamel" walked up to him and picked up the scrap of newspaper from the side of the boy's shoe.

Esther plucked a few strands of hair, and her fingers quickly braided them in a light ball, tied them in a knot, and folded them up and wrapped them in the old newspaper.

She grabbed the rabbit's hand and placed the paper bag on the boy's palm:

"If you have a very, very urgent desire, pray to it, anything. Maybe it will bring you good luck. ”

"Hamel ......"

"Don't call me 'Hamel', my real name is 'Esther'."

The rabbit clenched the paper bag in his hand and nodded vigorously.

Esther patted the kid on the head one last time, knowing she wouldn't be coming back: "Goodbye." ”

May fate bless you.

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