When Benjamin left the station, he didn't take the taxi carriage like Esther did.

He was in a good mood, thinking that it would not matter if he walked some distance down the street, but this good mood was quickly ruined.

Benjamin sensed that someone was approaching, and it was clear that the target was directed at him.

The crisp ringing on the handlebars of two-wheeled bicycles is like the chirping of birds that cannot be idle, and it becomes clear from far and near on the road. Riding was a young man in a plain shirt and dark trousers, with dark curly hair scattered across a wide forehead, thin cheeks, and a smile in his dark eyes.

He didn't wear monocles, but he didn't restrain his "kind" presence in front of Benjamin. The young man was also carrying a dark green shoulder bag, I don't know what it contained, the weight was not light, and a strangulation mark was pressed on the outside of his neat shirt.

"Ben, I noticed something interesting on the way here, do you want to know what it is?" The black-haired youth quickly rolled over and landed on the ground, and he pushed his bicycle leisurely beside Benjamin, maintaining the same speed.

Or should I say that their usual steps are exactly the same, from the amplitude of their steps to the frequency, two people with completely different appearances give people the illusion of two sides of the mirror.

But passers-by did not cast their eyes on them, and at the first sight of the youth, Benjamin had already deceived the presence of the two.

This is different from the effect of psychological invisibility, which is still in the sight of others, but does not attract much attention, only a vague impression remains.

Without hearing Benjamin's reply for the first time, the young man rang the bell again in dissatisfaction: "That's something you've been interested in before, why are you so absent-minded now? The ontology is so stressful of your mission?"

Benjamin lifted the frame of his glasses: "No, I'm just not interested."

"You didn't even ask what I noticed, just like that?" The young man pinched his empty eyes twice, "Ah, I see, it's that you've already been in contact with it, that's why you seem to care so much."

"I still care, she's a really interesting being."

The young man was a little surprised, and looked Benjamin up and down, "It seems that even if you advance to sequence three, you can't completely isolate its influence on the clone?"

"No, I'm just respecting Esther's status as a lady, it's her self-perception, at least we should be more polite, and you'd better too."

"Politeness is to conform to outside expectations and etiquette, I don't think it takes anything to treat it' politeness, according to the ideas of some of us, it is at most an impostor who has taken over Zoya's incarnation."

Benjamin stopped smiling when he saw the youth: "You mean to talk about your ideas."

"That's true, too, at least that's what the ontology assumes." The young man pushing the bicycle sighed, "I also want to remind you that self-perception is not a good phenomenon for us to deviate, and the previous examples are in the memory of each of us."

"I thought you wished I was being recycled by the Body." Benjamin chuckled, and didn't care about what the young man said.

The smile on the young man's face faded and turned serious: "Although I hate your way of acting too inhibitively at times, I don't want you to leave. But it's also because I don't want to take on the task of you. I don't know what it is, but it looks like a nuisance, and you can't even move freely with your appearance."

Benjamin stopped: "What are you trying to do with such frankness today?"

The young man leaned on his bicycle and stopped beside Benjamin, but one step further than him: "Gather intelligence."

Benjamin's mind spun quickly, locking on the guess that had chills in his back: "...... It is a command from the ontology."

The young man smiled very affectionately again, and tapped his temples amusedly, as if to accuse the other party of not being clear-headed: "Otherwise? I've always had a bad feeling for you, and you'd better not get us wrong."

"Then why didn't He come in person?"

When he heard Benjamin's question, the young man's black pupils dilated slightly, and his smile deepened: "He, haha...... You actually use 'Him?'

Benjamin raised his right hand and pressed it against the lens in front of his right eye, but eventually resisted the urge to take it off and put it back on his socket:

"Okay, I kind of get it - this is the process of gathering intelligence, making contact and surveillance, and even observing the changes and conditions of my 'test subject' so that the ontology can analyze and make decisions, right?"

He changed the subtle title and tried to adjust his mentality, but such a simple grooming of himself was far less professional than that of a being, and Benjamin was not even sure of the effectiveness.

The black-haired young man's unsmiling eyes blinked, "Yes, according to the process of 'research, but this proposal is out of paranoia, and the ontology just thinks it makes sense, so it takes it."

"Then why doesn't he come and be the object of observation......" Benjamin sighed deeply, his eyes fell on the shiny frame, and he raised his hand and patted the seat of the bicycle, "This thing looks pretty good, lend me for two days."

The young man gripped the handlebar tightly and deliberately flicked the bell: "Impossible, this is my new purchase, I brought it all the way from Beckland."

"I'd like to give it a try," Benjamin bent down, his finger on the chain, and flipped the pedal around, "very clever conduction...... Really? I think it's very convenient for later actions."

"Absolutely not, you should have a more reasonable excuse if you want to trick it."

Benjamin observed the structure of the bicycle for a while, and when he stood up again, his expression was serious: "Isn't it convenient to get closer to my target because it can effectively improve the efficiency of my meeting and traveling?"

After the two met, for the first time, an expression other than a smile appeared on the young man's face, because of the strong dissatisfaction, which made the emotion in the young man's eyes more humane: "Don't you think, I still have to step on it to deliver a letter!"

The young man turned over and stepped onto the brand-new bicycle, quickly kicked the pedals, and rushed straight to the end of the street without looking back, almost stepping on the wind, leaving only the back of his black head for Benjamin.

Benjamin chuckled, but as he walked on, the look on his face kept pace with the sky, becoming dark with the passage of time.

The other Amun clone was given clear instructions, not just to tell Benjamin on the surface - "Something is wrong with you, and we will keep an eye on you", but also a warning from the ontology in disguise.

Benjamin took off his disc glasses and hung them around his neckline, and the world beyond the lenses was still clear, no different to mythical creatures.

The dim gas lamps illuminated the chauff marks left by the carriages, the shadows of the lampposts cut neatly through the ground, and the voices of passers-by mingled with the aroma of stewed vegetables wafting from the houses, which became more intense as the night darkened.

She seemed accustomed to the ordinary way of traveling, steam trains, horse-drawn carriages, and walking...... She really lives from the perspective of an ordinary person.

Thinking of this, Benjamin's backhand is a grab, stealing the distance.

He was all too familiar with Port Prieze, having been stuck here for hundreds of years, and he could accurately reach the house he currently owned, no matter how far he stole it from any direction.

He didn't expect to hide the encounter with Esther for long, and he didn't even plan to hide it, but when did he start to put it on hold when he had planned to report it to the ontology?

Benjamin lowered his eyes slightly, and a hint of exhaustion came to him, which made him feel incredible.

Standing in front of the house with the ghost orchid totem in front of the door, Benjamin shook his head slightly, like the other Amun, he also preferred his own family's totem - an irregular dial full of ordinary shadows and black hands.

Benjamin pushed the door open, reining in the jumbled mood.

——

Esther and the rabbit found an inn near the west, and after setting up the boy, Esther went to tell the "hanged man" about it

This is also a tavern, so

Esther didn't come directly with the rabbit, but went out alone.

The huge wooden sign at the door, with the name "Pelican Bar" written on it, was not going to make Esther go to the wrong place, and there was a loud shout from inside the door, and she tightened her black cloak and pulled the brim of her hat lower.

As soon as she opened the front door of the tavern, Esther saw the boxing ring facing the door, and the crowd of spectators gathered around her, many of whom shook their glasses and laughed as one of the fighters threw an uppercut that missed.

Esther had to make her way around the crowd to the bar and spell the bartender the code, "Any recommendations for today?" Forget about rye beer."

The bartender glanced at the cloaked lady and doubled the counter: "South Wales, Lierangzi, or wine?"

"Half and half, Enmat beer and wine." Esther also raised her hand and tapped it four times on the counter.

The bartender nodded, "Fivepence."

Esther was stunned for two seconds, then smiled and rummaged through the coins in her satchel, "I thought it was just a process."

"If it weren't for the money, I wouldn't have deliberately made them make the slogan 'Half and Half,'" the bartender took the tipped-up sixpence and smiled and blew on it before putting it away, "If you can make money, why not?"

It wasn't until Esther's order was quickly brought up that the bartender pointed to the stairs in the corner: "Second floor, the first room on the right, Jonas is inside. You don't have to knock on the door, just go in, and if he's sleeping again, wake him up."

"Thank you." Esther took a sip of the wine in her glass and tasted it before walking up the stairs with her glass.

"Remember to tell him who recommended you, so he'll be complaining about someone else, not you." The bartender shrugged, giving Esther an extra penny.

Esther nodded thoughtfully, it seems that the gentleman recommended by the "Hanged Man" is very angry when he gets up.