"Because it doesn't exist, it just can't be seen, so in addition to sending my girls out to try their luck, I can also try to actively observe the door."
"This is indeed a good idea. Do you want to try it now?"
Under the meager sunlight on a rainy day, the bottle of magic potion still had a brilliant luster. Shade asked curiously, partly because he was curious about the door, and partly because he was curious about the potion. As for little Mia, she had already gotten in.
It was in the pocket of Shade's spacious coat. If Shade put his hand into the pocket, he could touch it.
"no no."
But the brown-haired girl shook her head slightly and winked at Shade:
"It took a lot of effort for you to be willing to go out for a walk with me. I don't want to go back right away."
After saying that, he took the initiative to hold Shade's hand. Shade, who felt guilty, also held her hand tightly, which made the smile on Audrey's face become even brighter.
On a cloudy Friday afternoon, the lives of the citizens did not change. The riverside neighborhood where Shade and Audrey chose to take a walk is close to the city center. You can even hear the noise in the distance, probably because people are gathering again.
Rally in front of the city hall.
Children were running wildly on the street, middle-aged men carrying briefcases and looking at pocket watches hurried past, and a woman wearing an apron and a headscarf washing clothes was sitting downstairs in an apartment facing the street, hitting the clothes with a washing hammer.
While washing the clothes, I looked at the sky, worried that the washed clothes could not be dried and my meager income would be wasted.
The policemen who patrolled extremely frequently due to special periods were walking on the side of the street that was not facing the river. Although they looked casual, the uniforms they wore still made ordinary citizens living here fearful. At the intersection not far away,
The newspaper reporter was directing the photographer and the young apprentice, setting up the camera to focus on the cloudy sky and the crowd of people marching at the west end of the street.
The angle he chose is very suitable. The long old street under the clouds is dilapidated. Most of the signboards are covered with dust. Gas pipes and steam pipes are nailed to the walls in strange arrangements. At the end of this street scene, there is a lively scene.
As for the dense crowd, although the crowd in the distant view is only a small part of the street entrance, it can better contrast with the street view and the sky.
When Shade and Meghan passed behind reporters and photographers, they heard them talking about publishing this photo on the front page of tomorrow's "Green Lake Morning News" and naming it "1854 Under the Haze."
Year".
Although the weather was bad, Audrey enjoyed hanging out and dating like this. Even if she didn't take the initiative to talk to Shade and just held hands and walked around like this, she felt that it was a good afternoon.
However, Shade soon saw an acquaintance appearing in front of him. A boy wearing ill-fitting patched shoes, carrying a broken basket with rough weaving, and a small dog was walking along the street with his collar turned up and his head lowered.
While walking, look at the ground.
Soon he found the target. First, the puppy, which had recently gained weight, walked forward happily and barked a few times. Then the boy walked a few steps quickly, picked up the cigarette butts from the cracks in the stone bricks, and threw them into the basket.
inside.
Shade knew about this behavior. In this era, wandering orphans may try various methods to obtain income and food in order to make a living. Picking up cigarette butts is one of the ways. Cigarette butts are discarded by passers-by, and there may still be some unused residue left in them.
Smoked tobacco. Orphans pick up these cigarette butts, collect the remaining tobacco, and sell it to tobacconists or others to earn some meager income.
Of course, this kind of behavior is usually considered extremely dishonorable and is subject to social discrimination. But for children of Little John's age, it is unrealistic to compete with older children for odd jobs and small businesses, so begging, digging through trash cans,
Picking up cigarette butts is a normal part of life.
Even though he could often find food from the garbage discarded in the kitchen of Green Lake Hotel, and even with Shade's frequent help, he still did not give up his living habits.
After all, the trash can outside the kitchen, the occasional kindhearted person, and other good luck may all leave him. Only the puppy and the livelihood of collecting and selling cigarette butts truly belong to him.
After picking up the cigarette butts from the cracks in the bricks, the boy happily squatted there and stroked the spotted puppy's head. The latter responded happily with its tongue sticking out. Shade felt the cat in his pocket move. It was probably
I heard the barking of dogs.
Because Little John kept his head down, he did not notice Shade coming, but he realized that two adults were approaching on the road. The boy picked up the puppy and hid on the side of the street, even
I didn't dare to raise my head and look at the stranger.
But the dog he was holding recognized Shade, who often gave them food. Shade looked the same as he always did, so it barked at Shade twice happily.
"Oh, shut up! Don't get us both into trouble."
The boy immediately turned around and turned the head of the puppy he was holding toward the inside. He walked faster along the street towards the alley, for fear of getting into trouble. But after subconsciously raising his head, he finally saw clearly who was walking towards him.
.
He instinctively wanted to say hello to Shade, but he saw the noble and elegant lady next to Shade. So he immediately lowered the brim of his hat, carried the basket sideways and hugged the puppy, and continued walking towards the alley not far away.
.
Shade knew that the boy didn't want to greet him here, and was worried about ruining Shade's date with the strange lady, or lowering Shade's impression of the strange lady, but Shade didn't care about this. Besides, Megan and Audrey also
Witches will not look down on Little John just because he is an orphan who picked up cigarette butts. Witches hate all men equally.
Audrey also saw that the boy seemed to know Shade, so she squeezed Shade's hand. Shade nodded, waved and shouted:
"John!"
The boy looked up and saw that Shade was really calling him, so he stopped hesitantly. On the contrary, the puppy he was holding had no such worries and barked several times happily towards Shade who was walking towards him:
"Woof woof woof~"
"Meow~"
Little Mia's head came out of Shade's pocket, but as soon as it appeared, Shade pressed it back with a finger. The cat still wanted to struggle, but Shade patted its little head and put it in his pocket sensibly.
No more looking outside.
"John!"
Shade shouted again and quickly came to the street far away from the river bank. Audrey let go of Shade's hand and followed him, but she just stood not far behind him and did not follow him.
"Good afternoon, I didn't expect to see you here."
Shade said with a smile, while the dirty boy said hello timidly:
"Good afternoon, sir."
"Can you please help me? Are you around here a lot?"
Hearing Shade's request for help, the boy nodded immediately:
"Yes, as long as it doesn't rain heavily, we are usually around here."
He glanced at his basket, and Shade also saw that there were a lot of cigarette butts in it. In addition, there were also sundries such as old newspapers and nails, which could play a role in his life.
Helpful.
The boy calmly hid the basket behind his back.
"Has anything strange happened in the shore area recently?"
The boy thought for a while:
"Yes, two of the children who were picking up cigarette butts nearby have disappeared. Adults like to smoke while walking by the river or talking about things, so this neighborhood is a good place to pick up cigarette butts. Originally, there were three or four children on this street.
There are children doing this work, but now there are only two left.”
Shade is interested:
"Oh? When did this happen? Do you know where they went?"
The boy shook his head:
"Probably the ones I haven't seen this week. But there are always some people I know who disappear at a certain time and never appear again. Among the two people who disappeared this time, one is 'Bully Hansen', and he is our
The oldest one among them is the oldest in age and body shape. He probably didn't have an accident, he probably found another job."
Although the boy in front of me is young, he already understands the rules of street life.
Shade thought for a moment:
"Are the two missing children frequented near here? Is there a specific location?"
"Yes, we are all picking up cigarette butts in a designated territory. No one can cross the boundary."
The boy stretched out his hand and pointed out the two areas for Shade, which were in front of the direction where Shade and the witch were walking. However, the total area of those areas was less than a mile along the riverside streets.
After getting the clue, Shade gave the boy another 10 pennies to go to dinner. Even though the boy didn't want it, he threw the coin into the boy's basket.
"Woof woof woof~"
Suddenly the puppy barked again. The boy wearing worn shoes looked up and saw a crowd of people walking in the distance on the riverside street. He immediately held down his hat and said to Shade:
"Sir, I have to leave. The police don't like to see us!"
He bowed as he spoke, then hugged his puppy and ran towards the alley.
Audrey also came over at this time and stood on the roadside with Shade. She saw two police officers appearing first, and then the marching crowd held banners and shouted slogans such as "Long Live Delrayon".
Walking through the streets along the river.
Reporters were taking photos with interest, and there were police officers all around to maintain order. The idle people in the city followed the team and chatted about various things. This city has probably not been so lively for a long time.
They should be the crowd that just gathered in front of the city hall not far away. The young man handing out flyers wanted to pass the flyers to two passers-by, Shade and Audrey, but Audrey took a look at them and stopped.
Instinctively, he retreated into the group in fear.
The two of them just watched the procession passing by in front of them. When the street became empty again, John, who was picking up cigarette butts, had already walked away with the puppy in his arms.
Shade shook his head, not knowing what to say, but fortunately no one forced him to write an 800-word essay to express his emotions or analyze current events.
He reached out and took Audrey's hand again, and he and the brown-haired girl continued walking along the street.
Audrey whispered:
"Look, there are stories everywhere. In fact, there is no right or wrong in this world. There is probably no essential difference between Delarion and Carson Rick."
She thought that Shad lived in Tobesk, so Shad would consider himself a Delarian. But in fact, the outsider didn't care about all this. Of course he knew that the negotiations in the area under his feet had nothing to do with it.
Good and evil are only interests, and because of this, he feels troubled.
After all, this way, he would not be able to find his own position.
