Chapter 129: Return Special Effects |
Looking at his own house number, Samuel clicked his tongue.
Celt and Evina had already synchronized information with him, which naturally included their speculations about the "flower."
They were already quite suspicious to begin with, but looking at it now, it seemed even more problematic.
Bypassing the outer courtyard that had no gate installed, Samuel walked into the small front yard of his house. Standing in the yard, he carefully examined the flowers within.
Indeed, these flowers were blooming far too beautifully.
So beautifully that they shouldn't be blooming during this time of year.
He bent down, reached out to pluck one, and casually picked a tiny blue flower from the yard—only the size of his thumbnail. He held it in his hand, playing with it as he pondered something.
At that moment, the front door of the three-story townhouse opened silently. A maid stood behind the door, welcoming him.
"Welcome back, Master Gavries." The maid bowed forward, performing an elegant curtsy.
"Yes, Master Samuel," the maid replied.
"No need to call me master. It's pretty weird," Samuel said with a slight curl of his lip.
After a pause, Samuel continued.
"I remember you're Alia Iris, right? I shouldn't have appeared before you before, should I?" Samuel asked, looking at the flower in his hand.
"Yes, my name is Alia Iris." Alia answered Samuel's question. "I've seen your portrait, so I could recognize you."
"Don't use 'sir,' just use 'you,'" Samuel casually corrected.
"Huff..." He blew a breath toward his finger. The tiny blue flower in his hand immediately caught the wind, drifting toward the garden.
Whoosh...
An even stronger wind suddenly came, originating from behind Samuel, following the direction of his breath.
The wind caught the hem of Samuel's trench coat, sending his hat brim, coat corners, hair, and the entire garden billowing in one direction. Many flowers in the garden were directly swept up, swirling diagonally upward into the high sky.
The wind continued for several seconds before stopping. One hand on his hip, the other still extended forward in the same gesture, he looked up, watching the flowers being carried far away.
"Ah..." Samuel's mouth parted slightly. He let out a confused, hesitant "ah."
Was this really coming with a return special effect?
He straightened the top hat on his head and lowered his gaze to the small garden before him.
A few seconds later, Samuel pressed down on his hat and withdrew his gaze. Smiling, he turned his head to look at Alia, who had been waiting patiently by his side.
During those few seconds when he had been looking at the flowers, Alia had already stepped out from behind the door, come to stand beside Samuel, and waited quietly for further instructions.
"There should be one more, right? I remember there was a butler named William," Samuel asked with a smile.
"Yes, Mr. William went to the Theater with Master Celt, Miss Sereia, and Miss Evina. He's helping out there for now."
"Is that so? Then he must be working hard." Samuel nodded, then stepped forward, walking toward the front door of his house.
Alia silently turned after Samuel walked past her and quietly followed behind him.
"Really stiff, huh," Samuel said as he walked ahead. "Didn't Celt tell you all to loosen up?"
"He did," Alia replied in a very soft tone.
Entering the house, the living room's decor looked no different from when Samuel had left. There was no dust either—it had been cleaned very thoroughly.
"Then why are you still so stiff?" Samuel walked to the living room sofa and sat down.
"This is our duty." Alia stood firm behind Samuel.
"Duty... that's true too." Samuel leaned back, resting his head on the sofa, tilting his head to look up at Alia behind him.
"Speaking of which, you're called 'Iris Housekeeping Services,' right?"
"Yes," Alia nodded.
"Ah, that really is a good name." Samuel closed his eyes.
....
Meanwhile, inside the Public Security Bureau.
Grill suddenly appeared in the archive room on the underground first floor, still holding his service pistol in his hand as he instinctively looked around.
Familiar surroundings entered his view, leaving the deputy chief of the Public Security Bureau stunned for a moment.
He was back? When? Why?
A dazed confusion arose in his heart, but he quickly suppressed it.
In his perception, he had been wandering around Liant Town when he suddenly felt the temperature around him drop rapidly and experienced a sense of oxygen deprivation. His intuition told him he had instantly been transported to an altitude of ten thousand meters.
Detecting something abnormal, Grill's first reaction was to rush back to the hotel and protect the civilians.
Although the only "civilian" he had found over the past week was Falson.
But one person was still a person—he wouldn't ignore them.
Even though Samuel was at the hotel, there was no guarantee he was on-site at the time.
After all, Samuel was always running around everywhere.
He was on the other side of the city at the time and needed to cross the municipal square to reach the hotel.
But just as Grill was halfway there, before he could even reach the municipal square, his body suddenly stiffened. The instinct from "Savage" screamed a frantic warning, telling him there was tremendous danger in the direction of the municipal square.
The danger was so immense that he couldn't move at all. He could only stand frozen in place, his mind going blank.
He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything—couldn't even think.
It was like having the common insect defense mechanism of playing dead suddenly activated.
By the time he regained consciousness, he was already back in the Containment Object storage room on the underground first floor of the Public Security Bureau.
His first thought was that he had fallen into an illusion.
But he quickly remembered that Samuel had said he could leave Liant Town within today.
Grill stood there, silent for several long seconds.
Finally, he lowered the hand holding his gun and holstered it back into the underarm holster.
He couldn't sense any immediate danger. It seemed he had truly returned to reality.
He took a deep breath and forcefully exhaled, opening his senses to their maximum capacity.
"Huff..."
He silently perceived his surroundings until he was certain he had indeed returned to reality.
Grill's body instantly relaxed. He confirmed that he had truly left Liant Town and returned to the Public Security Bureau.
"Ah..."
Grill vigorously shook his messy hair, tugged at the dark blue double-breasted coat he was wearing, and unbuttoned half of it, revealing the white shirt collar underneath.
"Great... came back just as the cigarette ran out." A smile spread across his face. He pushed open the door and strode briskly toward the stairs.