After leaving Mrs. Federman's house, Howard was not in a hurry to go home, but continued to linger outside.
His face was as calm as before, but his heart was filled with unprecedented anxiety.
The invitation letter written by Archbishop Yaconelga to him was still lying quietly in his pocket.
Every word in the invitation letter was carefully crafted and full of politeness, enthusiasm and sincerity. After reading it for the first time, even Howard had to admit that he was slightly moved by it.
But now, after he witnessed the plight of the Federman family with his own eyes, he felt that this invitation letter, including the gorgeous bishop's seal, was as cold as ice.
In this way, under the moonlight that was as cold as ice, Howard walked back and forth in this familiar town.
When he approached the broken earth wall at the end of the road, he turned around and walked back along the way he came.
At this moment, another unexpected scene came into his eyes
It was a woman wearing a dark dress, with her back to him, walking along the same road in the direction of the moon.
She bent over slightly, as if she was holding something in her arms.
Although the light was dim at the moment, Howard could still recognize that this woman was called Julia, a street girl who lived in this town.
"What is she going to do?"
Perhaps because of what happened just now, Howard looked at her back and felt something was wrong.
He hesitated for a moment, and finally followed him out of some ominous premonition.
A street girl named Julia stopped under an elm tree.
She knelt down, took out a shovel from her arms, and began to dig a hole in the ground.
For a while, dust was flying beside the big elm tree.
Beside her, a small mound about a foot high gradually appeared.
Howard watched from a distance and did not get closer.
His lips pursed into a straight line.
A few minutes later, Julia, the street girl, picked up the small shovel again and shoveled the small mound of soil back into the pit.
While doing all this, her body was trembling slightly, along with her shadow in the moonlight.
With shovel after shovel, the mound disappeared and the pit was filled again.
She sighed quietly, stood up, and threw the shovel into the grass.
Under the moonlight, her shadow looked like a ghost.
Then she turned around and continued walking in the direction of the moon, eventually disappearing from Howard's sight.
Howard waited quietly for a few minutes.
Driven by some kind of intuition, he slowly walked to the big elm tree, whispered the "Mage's Hand" incantation, and took out the shovel that Julia had just used out of thin air from the dense grass.
He held the shovel and squatted at the spot where Julia had just dug the hole. He pondered for a few seconds and then started digging the soil in exactly the same position, shovel after shovel.
The soil here is very soft, perhaps because Julia has just dug it once.
And every time the hole is dug deeper, the ominous premonition in Howard's heart will increase.
Finally, he saw Julia's secret hidden in the pit
Buried in the pit was a swaddling clothes covered with patches.
Inside the swaddling clothes was a lifeless creature.
There are wrinkles on the skin, a large head, slender limbs, and wide-open eyes, as if he has been frightened in some way.
a baby.
A dead baby boy.
Howard said silently in his heart.
The baby was less than two feet long, so he was obviously just born; and his body temperature was still there, so he obviously died not long ago.
There is still a purple mark on the baby's neck.
So Howard quickly understood that the baby had been strangled to death.
His movements suddenly froze for a moment.
"Who did this?"
Howard had questions in his mind.
Thinking of the abnormal behavior of the street girl Julia who sneaked out late at night to bury the baby's body, an incredible guess came to his mind.
"Did...Julia did this herself? She killed the baby and wanted to hide the body and cover up the evidence?"
Thinking of this, Howard couldn't help but feel chills in his heart.
In his previous impression, Julia had always been a kind and honest person. He really couldn't figure out why she would do such a thing.
However, at this moment, a crumpled piece of paper fell out of the baby's swaddling clothes.
Howard picked up the piece of paper and looked at it, and saw this line written on it:
"Sorry, kid, taxes have gone up again, and mom can't support you anymore.
"Go find a good family."
Howard stared at the note and read the line over and over again.
Then, a bright star-like flame appeared in his palm, burning the note into ashes.
"May you be carefree, happy and peaceful in the next life." He said softly.
…………
Howard stayed up all night.
After what had just happened, his joy at returning home had long since disappeared. Instead, he felt heavy and worried.
When the sun rose, he finally took a deep breath and walked hesitantly towards his house.
The Howard family's house is the same as the Federman family's house, low, narrow, and extremely crowded; but since Howard remitted the wizard's tower allowance to his mother, her mother has spent money to hire people to tidy up the doors, windows, and furniture in this room.
Clean and brand new.
He stood outside the door for a few minutes, then walked straight in.
An alluring fragrance hit my face.
Howard looked in the direction of the scent and saw his mother preparing breakfast in the small kitchen.
"Mother, let me do it." He walked to her and said softly.
Mother raised her head and glanced at him, obviously a little surprised by his sudden appearance.
"When did you learn to make your own breakfast?"
"When I was in college," Howard forced a smile and replied, "all my friends praised me for doing well."
"Don't brag."
Howard was so upset at the moment that he didn't refute her words. He just silently took the cutlery and ingredients from her hand and started making sandwiches.
He is skilled in technique and precise in his knife skills.
If the food in his hand were compared to an enemy, then every knife he struck would penetrate the enemy's throat.
A few minutes later, a deliciously delicious sandwich took shape in his hands.
"Try it?" He handed the sandwich to his mother's hand.
Mother nodded, took the sandwich with a smile, and carefully took a small bite.
"It smells great," she praised, paused for a moment, and then continued, "But you seem a little unhappy?"
"How did you tell?" This time it was Howard's turn to be surprised.
"Silly boy, I have raised you for twenty years, and I have long known that you will lose your mind when you are in a bad mood. How could you possibly hide your little thoughts from me?" Mother said with a smile, "Tell me, it was because of you.
Were classmates bullied? Didn't do well in the exam? Or confessed to someone and were rejected?"
Howard thought for a while and didn't know how to answer this series of questions, so he simply changed the topic:
"Where are my brothers and sisters?"
"Since you sent the money over, I have sent them to boarding school. You know, the learning environment here is really terrible."
"That's good." Howard suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's wrong with you?" Mother frowned.
Howard took out his pocket watch, took a look at it, and said, "Mom, if a stranger comes to ask about me in the next few days, you must say 'don't know'."
"Why?" Mother's brows furrowed even more.
"Sorry." Howard lowered his head.
He wants to protect his hometown.
He also hopes that his relatives are safe and sound.