Gun of Ashes

”I still remember it was a sunny afternoon...”

Lorenzo’s voice was gentle, the memories became slightly unfamiliar, as if he was browsing someone else’s recollections.

”Actually, I don’t remember too clearly, my memory was jumbled for a while, a terrible mess, like your life is a puzzle and someone scrambled it up, completely losing its original form.

But I still remember one scene in my memory, it was a sunny afternoon.

At that time, I wasn’t a Demon Hunter, just an ordinary... Priest? I remember probably a Priest, that period was my leisure time at the Evangelical Church, no physical training, no swordsmanship combat, only reading the scriptures, studying Theology, briefly becoming a Priest.

I remember it was a day off, Florence was in the height of summer, my friends and I stayed in the room, lazily leaning against the side, letting the light shine...”

Lorenzo spoke in a somewhat trance-like state, gazing into the void, as if he could break through the barrier of time and return to that moment.

”A glaring sunlight.

For some reason, this scene is always very vivid, even now, I can still easily recall the musty smell in the room, the fragmented sounds of reading.”

”So, regarding ’life’, is this scene your first instinct?” Left Garrison asked.

Lorenzo nodded somewhat blankly, then shook his head again.

”I’ve said, I don’t know, I don’t understand these things, but if I had to say, it’s many scenes, like a stage play, one after another.”

”Someone told me to go to Old Dunling and start a new life. At first, I didn’t know what to do, so I tried many things, renting an apartment, cooking, working, socializing...”

Unconsciously, Lorenzo didn’t notice that his words had already diverged from the question, continuously speaking self-indulgently.

”I made some new friends, a landlord who was very good to me, and a nice roommate. I remember then I stayed in my room, outside the window was the gloomy Old Dunling, street vendors shouting, my roommate snoring in the next room, a clanging sound downstairs, and the air filled with the smell of food.

Back then, I felt everything was so unfamiliar, as if I had never experienced such things, yet I was very happy... perhaps this is the new life.”

Lorenzo relaxed his body, sank into the soft sickbed, probably too engrossed, the pain from his injuries had subsided quite a bit, almost imperceptible.

”But new life is always difficult, I’m still learning, I even wanted to keep some small animals, perhaps cats or dogs, but once I thought of what if I died and they’d have no one to take care of them, so I decided against it.

Life must go on, after a long time, I made new friends again, though they were somewhat strange.”

”You mean the people from the Purification Mechanism?” Left Garrison said.

”Yes, aside from Arthur, the others are quite nice.” Lorenzo showed a smile, he truly despised Arthur.

”It’s just that new life is not always this peaceful, later some things happened, some friends left, new friends came, recurring cycles, sometimes I’m very sad but powerless.”

Lorenzo thought of some terrible things, his gaze darkened.

”Later... later my roommate and landlord left too, only I was left there.”

Left Garrison didn’t ask what specifically happened, but with his shallow understanding of Lorenzo, he could guess somewhat.

They were all dangerous figures walking on the edge of the Abyss, harvesting life as Death Gods, exuding a thick aura of death which not only could destroy enemies but also instilled fear in those they protected.

Hence, they could only sadly linger outside the crowd, born alone and then leave alone.

”At first, it was hard to endure, but I convinced myself this is ’new life’. It was during this time that I realized the meaning of the term, every person continuously starts new lives, each segment like this punctuates our lives.

I said I would get used to it, just like when I first came to Old Dunling, I would survive.”

”Really surprising, I thought your life was only monotonous killing.” Left Garrison said.

”How could that be, I am living well.”

Lorenzo retorted, he affirmed all this, allowing no doubt.

”I even went to school for a while, Left Garrison. Although I was only auditing classes, I really attended class well, learned those curious knowledge, like an ordinary student, wandering in the afternoon campus. When I was tired from walking, I would sit beside the flowerbed, watching the men and women leave, speaking and laughing. Some whispered, while others silently held hands.

Ah... I thought of another troublesome guy.”

”Who? Your friend?” Left Garrison chatted with him.

”Friend... and teacher? Probably,” Oscar’s face emerged in Lorenzo’s mind, ”he’s an irregular guy. Many times I feel similar to him but upon careful thought, quite different.”

”What’s different?”

”He is an ordinary person, and I am a Demon Hunter, that is the biggest difference.”

Lorenzo lowered his guard, maybe he was moved by Left Garrison’s story or he himself wished to tell this story hidden deep within his heart. In any case, the conversation proceeded smoothly, so smoothly that even Left Garrison couldn’t help but feel a slight joy.