Gun of Ashes

”Good morning, Mr. Holmes.”

In a blurred vision, Lorenzo heard someone calling him. The voice was familiar, and he tried to find the direction it was coming from, running vigorously through the kaleidoscope of illusion.

Lorenzo slowly opened his eyes. As the light fell, a slight headache emerged in his mind. He instinctively grabbed the pocket watch hanging beside the bed to check the time; Lorenzo had slept for a long time.

It was strange. Lorenzo was a very disciplined person, always fighting and killing every day. He was so disciplined that even returning late at night wouldn’t delay his morning routine. But it seemed like the fatigue from last night’s thinking had tormented him; Lorenzo’s mind was hazy as he struggled to climb out of bed.

”Good morning.”

He responded casually, but his chaotic mind quickly cleared, his gaze sharp.

He had lived in Old Dunling for so long, but no one had ever called him to wake him up. Even if Mrs. Van Rudd had something to discuss, she would pound on the door rather than come in to call him.

Instinctively reaching into the bed’s gap, where a short dagger was hidden, but his drowsy eyes quickly cleared up, seeing the visitor clearly.

”Yawei? What brings you here.”

Looking at the old butler in front of him, Lorenzo felt a bit surprised. Yawei always found him annoying unless there was a necessary matter; otherwise, he would never appear in front of him.

Yawei kept a stern face, speaking in an unfriendly tone.

”Of course there’s something. You made me wait for a long time.”

Lorenzo glanced at the time again; it seemed Yawei couldn’t wait any longer and had to come in to awaken him personally.

”Get dressed quickly; we don’t have much time.”

Yawei came prepared, tossing Lorenzo a decent set of clothes, judging by the fabric, not cheap stuff.

”What is going on?”

Lorenzo was somewhat bewildered, having just woken up. Another busy day was beginning—perhaps it was his predestined toil.

”After our introduction, someone is very interested in you and wants to hire you to investigate a case,” Yawei explained directly, promptly pulling off Lorenzo’s blankets to wake him faster.

”We arranged to meet at noon, but you’ve slept too long. We’ll have to solve the rest on the way.”

Seeing Lorenzo had dressed somewhat adequately, with matters like tidying up the coat solvable in the carriage, he said so while directly hauling Lorenzo up and dragging him forward.

Possibly still groggy from sleep, when Lorenzo came to his senses, he was face-to-face with Yawei in the carriage, which sped away quickly, leaving Cork Street 121A behind.

”Put this on.”

Yawei said, handing Lorenzo his coat and a comb to tidy his bed-headed hair.

”Where are you taking me?”

”You’ll know when you get there, and aren’t you a detective? Try deducing it yourself.”

Seeing Yawei’s demeanor, Lorenzo fell silent, put on his coat, tidied up his appearance, then took the razor Yawei had prepared and shaved his stubbly beard to avoid looking too unkempt.

”Another big shot? Some noble individual wants me to handle a case for them?”

Lorenzo spoke while cleaning up, his expression still carrying a bit of sleepiness. After all, moments ago, he was in his warm bed.

”You know I don’t care about my image, so all this is for the client to see, right? Also, I’m not a famous detective, and without your referral, I’d have nothing to do with high society.”

Lorenzo preferred using violence to solve his work rather than inferential reasoning, opting to directly apprehend and interrogate suspects. He belonged to that filthy gutter.

”So, this time you’re involved too?”

Lorenzo suspiciously scrutinized Yawei, who didn’t seem like someone who’d find work for him. He should know clearly what kind of things he’s dealing with. If someone genuinely consulted them for detective services, Lorenzo mustn’t be the first choice. Due to his flawed nature, events would inevitably steer toward the worst-case scenario.

”More or less, it’s an opportunity for the Stuart family. Instead of fighting other families, this method is more suitable for us.”

Although Yawei didn’t elaborate, his simple few sentences conveyed seriousness.

With incidents one after another, no time for rest, Lorenzo didn’t rush to dig deeper, as he would know soon enough.

”By the way, you know? The Florentine delegation has arrived.”

Yawei brought up another topic.

”The Florentine delegation?”

This woke Lorenzo entirely; he stared at Yawei, his aura fierce. The sudden change caught Yawei somewhat off guard; he only knew Lorenzo was from Florence and might care about news from his hometown but hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.

Does this detective dislike his hometown so much? No wonder he hasn’t thought about returning after being in Old Dunling for so long.

”What’s the matter?”

”As I said, the Florentine delegation arrived in Old Dunling last night—they were the first. This morning, the Viking countries’ delegations also arrived, soon followed by Leiber and others...”

Yawei explained to Lorenzo, ”They arrived at midnight. You should’ve been asleep by then. Currently, they have settled in their embassy without any other actions.”

”Is that so? Is there anything special about it?” Lorenzo asked.

”Even if there was a special aspect, I couldn’t know, right? If you want to find out, I suggest you visit that mysterious department.” Yawei spoke with reluctance about the Purification Mechanism, wary of entangling with those monsters.