Gun of Ashes

Chapter 329: Chapter 17: Flesh and Blood Heart

Ingwig Calendar, Year 932.

Another year passed, another age added, everything moved forward once again by a fraction.

Traces of the Divine Birthday festivities lingered on the streets; the drifting floral decorations were twisted up by the wind and shattered under the wheels of speeding vehicles.

Although the festival had just ended, people had long since lost their jubilant demeanor. As usual, everyone walked with solemn faces through the misty morning, as if the joy had been nothing but a dream.

Yet amidst them, there was a discordant individual with a sly smile, standing out conspicuously in the crowd.

Taking deep breaths of the unique smog of Old Dunling, Lorenzo looked extremely delighted, but this was his usual appearance as a great detective.

This was already his seventh year in Old Dunling; gazing at this city of steel and machinery, he couldn’t help but lament how quickly time passed.

However, the greater feeling was how Lorenzo had already gotten used to life in Old Dunling. Though days in the countryside were leisurely, he always felt slightly uneasy; returning to this gloomy city, Lorenzo felt like a little fish finding its way back to the pond.

People always need to do something to fill their slightly empty lives. Not long after, Suyalan Hall appeared before Lorenzo. Leaning on his cane, he strode right in with more enthusiasm than even the official employees as an external investigator.

”Morning, Pres!”

The voice cut like a whip, causing Pres at the workstation to shiver involuntarily.

He saw the great detective cheerfully stride over, twisting and turning on the narrow paths between workstations. The young detectives all glanced sideways, and in no time, he arrived at his own workstation.

To give this detective something to do, Lorenzo’s official job was as the external investigator for Suyalan Hall, and Pres served as the intermediary responsible for the connection between the two.

Although they hadn’t worked together for long, Pres already vaguely sensed Lorenzo’s mystery and the secret department with authority above theirs.

However, he wasn’t bothered by any of that; he was merely a detective worn down by life without any ideals of punishing evil and promoting good. Pres just wanted to work well until retirement and then find a small town where he could see the sun to enjoy his later years... commonplace to the extreme.

”Morning, Mr. Holmes, haven’t seen you in ages.”

Pres said, ever since the serial murders, Lorenzo had mysteriously vanished; he even once thought the great detective might have died in some sewer in the Lower City District.

”Any work available? I’ve been a bit bored lately.”

”Plenty, Suyalan Hall is never short of cases.”

Pres said with a hint of weariness as if work had consumed all of his energy.

”You look somewhat rough,” Lorenzo said and crouched down, leaned against Pres’s desk, looking at his eyes from below.

Pres had dark circles under his eyes, his gaze blank, like an old dying tree.

”If you had to work overtime on the Divine Birthday, you’d be just like me,” he said weakly.

”That bad?”

”After all, you have to work to earn your keep; rent in Old Dunling is expensive.”

Pres mumbled.

”Old Dunling is great, they say there’s gold everywhere, everyone comes here, but how many can really have a good life here? When it comes down to it, it’s just working for others, being a small cog in the machine, just spinning and spinning until replaced...”

Visible negativity radiated from him like a claw, recklessly grasping, drawing those around into a lousy mood.

”Alright, alright, I understand your pain. But, you know, if we’re all just tools, we should strive to be the best!”

Lorenzo comforted Pres, though his words of consolation weren’t particularly likable.

In such circumstances, no matter how much passion you have, it would be worn away.

”Ah, it’s alright, as long as they pay,” Pres comforted himself, looking at Lorenzo, trying to display some spirit amid his weary eyes.

”We’re all just wage earners, hoping to save up for retirement; either busy living or busy dying.”

It seemed the overtime during the Divine Birthday really annoyed this detective.

”So, is there a major case that’s kept you this busy?” Lorenzo pulled over a chair and sat down.

The only recent major event was the assassination attempt on Lawrence; however, with the Cleaners handling the aftermath, this matter wouldn’t be publicized at all.

”No big cases, but countless small ones.”

At least on the surface, Lorenzo had reformed, still working as the external investigator for Suyalan Hall, so Pres didn’t hide anything from him.

”Like hallucinogens, no matter how much we crack down on them, they keep surfacing, and then there are the smugglers!”

Speaking of smugglers, Pres’s voice grew louder, showing extreme anger.

”Ah, what’s so great about Old Dunling? Why do people keep flocking here endlessly?”

He had a headache.

According to Old Dunling’s regulations, people without legitimate status could only gather in the Lower City District, meaning those smugglers usually congregated in the filthiest areas, without enjoying a bit of Old Dunling’s glory; yet they still came in droves.

With their legs carrying them, no matter how much police force is deployed, there’d always be those few disrupting the normal order.

”During the days of the Divine Birthday, even though the celebrations have ended, missions from various countries will continue arriving soon. To maintain order, none of us had time off, and we only hope to rest well after everything ends,” Pres said.