Gun of Ashes

Chapter 322: Chapter 14 Divine Birthday

In Lorenzo’s life, which isn’t particularly long or short, he’s seen many strange and bizarre things.

The things he’s witnessed, humans absolutely couldn’t believe.

Weird objects that evoke fear, mysterious peculiarities that ordinary people can’t look at directly, battles far more tragic than what humans know.

But at this moment, nothing is as thrilling as what he sees before him.

Lorenzo had imagined what it would be like to open the door; perhaps Mrs. Van Rudd preparing food, or maybe Hig sitting in the corner staring at the fire... In any case, it would never be this scene.

The small living room was filled with old wooden boxes, stamped with the emblem of a lion. Some boxes had been pried open, inside glimmered with a metallic sheen and a hint of gunpowder scent.

The familiar Mrs. Van Rudd sat on the sofa, holding a rifle that had been out of production for many years, with bullets scattered at her feet and many other weapons around.

”Wait a minute, isn’t this opening method a bit off?”

Lorenzo was taken aback, thinking of stepping out to reopen the door, but Mrs. Van Rudd’s gaze caught him, preventing him from moving rashly.

”Uh... good evening.”

Lorenzo said awkwardly.

This feeling was peculiar. No matter how skilled one is outside, capable of slaying demons handily, coming home to see your mom holding a rolling pin, you’d still instinctively shiver... wait, this is my landlord?

His hand couldn’t help but reach into his pocket to see if he could scrape together rent.

”Lorenzo? I thought you died outside.”

Mrs. Van Rudd glanced at Lorenzo, appearing unaware of the terrifying deed she was doing, then lowered her head to continue polishing the gun in her hands.

She knew Lorenzo’s background and that he was a desperado, so Mrs. Van Rudd never asked what Lorenzo went out to do, instead, as long as he came back alive, it meant someone had died.

The model of those weapons was very old, ones that served during the Radiant War, and now they should belong in a museum.

Lorenzo swallowed, and it seemed that Mrs. Van Rudd’s thoughts weren’t on him, which emboldened him.

”Ma’am, what exactly are you doing here?”

Mrs. Van Rudd shot Lorenzo a glance.

Lorenzo quickly crawled over, carefully avoiding stepping on the weapons on the floor.

”So... you’re really planning on launching a rebellion on such a fine day?”

He seemed fearless, whispering instigations into his landlord’s ear as he lay beside the sofa.

Recalling Mrs. Van Rudd’s previous dissatisfaction with city governance and her fiery temperament, coupled with the weapons scattered everywhere, Lorenzo could already imagine the script of an elderly woman, overwhelmed by her pension, resorting to robbery.

”Honestly, I’ve been irked by those bastards for a while... I can drive you, how about a 30/70 split afterward?”

Lorenzo said animatedly.

Mrs. Van Rudd paused her work and looked at him.

”What are you talking about?”

”Robbing a bank, right?” Lorenzo pointed to the weapons on the ground, ”A bank doesn’t even have a few divisions; you and I teaming up, a male and female thief duo!”

Mrs. Van Rudd seemed even more perplexed.

”Did you hit your head during those days you went missing?”

”Huh? Then what are you doing here?”

Not robbing a bank, then why was Mrs. Van Rudd preparing so many weapons? Today was Divine Birthday, surely she couldn’t mean to set off fireworks with them.

”I finally got in touch with some buyers. I intended to sell these things, but they’re all damp; I’m just searching for anything usable.”

Mrs. Van Rudd said irritably.

These were the arms she had spirited away post-retirement, stored in the basement. Old Dunling was inherently damp, and without proper storage, most of these items were now unusable, leaving Mrs. Van Rudd utterly disappointed.

”And then?” Lorenzo asked.

”That’s it.” She replied.

She pried open another wooden box, and after unwrapping the oiled paper, loaded bullets into a gun, firing at the wall under Lorenzo’s watchful gaze.

”Bullseye!”

The old lady exclaimed joyfully, then moved this box of bullets to another pile, jotting down numbers in her notebook.

Lorenzo found his thoughts hard to untangle, seeing the target almost blown to bits; how many times had the old lady done this?

Or was it that tenants resembled their landlords?

”No rangers showed up?”

”It’s noisy on the street, no one cares.” Mrs. Van Rudd replied. ”By the way, Lorenzo, you’ve returned at the perfect time.”

Mrs. Van Rudd suddenly stood up, seemingly tired as well, stretched and walked toward the kitchen.

”What’s up?”

Lorenzo asked cautiously.

”Today is Divine Birthday... Hig!”

Mrs. Van Rudd blurted out suddenly, so loud that it startled the upstairs occupant. Lorenzo heard the thuds above clearly—it seemed his roommate had fallen out of bed.

Soon after, Hig ambled downstairs. It had been so long that Lorenzo almost forgot he had such a roommate.

Hig’s appearance had changed significantly. Although he still looked a bit sickly, he had gained a bit of color in his face. Lorenzo was a keen observer, especially given his frequent shenanigans in the Lower City District, he’d long detected Hig’s use of hallucinogens, but now it seemed he had it under control.

Even though they lived under the same roof, they didn’t interact much since both clearly understood they weren’t cut from the same cloth.