Alice and Vanna hid in a dark corner of the street, where they would wait for instructions while paying attention to the movements around the building.
Duncan and Morris came to the building with the black door.
The building is very quiet - this is natural, after all, the sun has not risen yet, and the night in this world has never been suitable for ordinary people's activities. Most normal people have little nightlife after dark, and it is normal to go to bed early and wait for dawn.
But will the "replicas" who return from the deep sea live and rest like ordinary people?
Duncan raised his head, noticed the eye-catching button on the corner of the door frame, and reached out to press it twice.
Faintly, the sharp and urgent sound of the bell could be heard coming from the building - in this silent night, the sound of the bell seemed particularly abrupt.
"Perhaps we shouldn't visit during the curfew," Morris said, rubbing his forehead with some hesitation in his tone. "It would arouse suspicion if we alert the neighbors."
"But your friend probably won't be able to wait too long. It would be better if he could do it earlier," Duncan said calmly. "Don't worry about anything else. Arousing suspicion from the church or alarming the city-state authorities are all part of life. You should adapt to your mistakes.
The identity of a member of the township."
Morris opened his mouth, but said nothing. At this time, Duncan reached out and pressed the doorbell twice.
Finally, they heard a rush of footsteps inside the building, and along with the footsteps there was the sound of something being knocked down - then the light in the living room was turned on, and soft light shone through the window next to it.
on the street.
The door lock clicked, and the black door opened a crack. A vigilant eye looked outside through the crack. At the same time, a young and nervous voice came: "Who is it?"
That sounded like a young woman.
Duncan and Morris looked at each other. The former was a little surprised, while the latter was thoughtful and seemed to have thought of something.
"Is it Garoni?" Morris asked tentatively. "Is Mr. Brown Scott at home? I am a friend of your teacher."
With that said, he turned to Duncan again, lowered his voice and said quickly: "Maybe it's Brown Scott's student, I heard him mention it."
Duncan nodded clearly. At the same time, the owner of the young voice behind the door obviously hesitated for a while after hearing Morris's words, and then hesitantly said: "Sorry, it's too late, and the teacher is also sleeping.
Is it okay to talk about anything tomorrow morning?"
Morris frowned. The situation was different from what he expected at first. He didn't expect that six years after Brown Scott's death, his students would still live in this house. But after a brief thought, he
Then he organized his language: "We arrived too late, and we haven't found a place to live yet - besides, your teacher wrote me a letter before, and he invited me to come."
As he spoke, the old scholar paused and continued: "My name is Maurice Underwood. Your teacher should have mentioned it to you."
The sound inside the door became quiet, and "Garoni" seemed to be recalling and thinking. After a few seconds, her voice sounded again: "Then... you guys wait a moment, I will open the buckle."
The sound of metal collision and chain friction sounded in the night. The person inside the door opened the safety lock hanging on the inside. The door finally opened. In the warm and bright light, Duncan saw a...tall and a little weird person.
figure.
That figure was only a few centimeters shorter than Fanna, and her height of nearly 1.9 meters was particularly eye-catching. And unlike Fanna, who was tall but still slim, the young lady standing at the door could be seen to be strong and powerful all over.
The outline of her muscles - but what is more concerning is not just her height, but her rock-like gray-white skin, as well as the faint golden lines on the surface of the skin.
But apart from these striking non-human features, her face is no different from that of an ordinary young human woman, and she even looks a little... delicate.
Because she woke up late at night, this stone-like young lady was only wearing a loose nightgown. Her long brown hair was slightly messy and scattered behind her head. She held her hand on the door frame and looked at her with cautious eyes.
Two uninvited guests stood at the door.
Just as Duncan was looking at her curiously, she was also looking at Duncan curiously - a burly visitor wearing a black trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat. There were no facial features visible between the gaps in the clothes, only layers of bandages.
Even if the Frostmen are accustomed to "bandages", this visitor's appearance is a bit too oppressive.
Her muscles were visibly tense.
"Ah, I forgot to mention it," Maurice's voice suddenly sounded, breaking the somewhat awkward and tense atmosphere in time. He turned to Duncan, "Brown's student Garoni is a Senjin - it is true that in the northern city-state
Not very common."
Then he looked at Garoni who was standing at the door: "This is Mr. Duncan, he is..."
"Mr. Morris's friend, a traveling explorer, was very interested in Mr. Brown Scott's research, so he dropped by for a visit," Duncan said proactively. "I hope this does not trouble you."
"...The teacher is resting. I don't know when he will wake up, but he did mention that Mr. Morris might come to visit," Garoni said. In sharp contrast to her tall and strong figure, her voice always seemed a little soft.
She hesitated slightly, with a sense of fear-like unconfidence. When speaking, she didn't even dare to look at Duncan and Morris. She just muttered and stepped aside, "You guys come in first, it's very cold outside."
.”
Morris thanked him and stepped into the house with Duncan.
The sound of the door shaft turning broke the silence of the night, the black door closed, and the street became quiet again.
Entering the door, the first thing you see is a rather simple living room. The furniture in the living room looks like it has been used for ten or twenty years. One side of the living room connects the kitchen and the dining room, and there is a passage on the other side.
Going up the stairs to the second floor, you can see a narrow door under the stairs, which may lead to the basement or wine cellar.
Under the bright light of the electric lamp, there are no suspicious dark corners in this living room. Everything you see is very warm and... ordinary.
Duncan and Morris did not show excessive curiosity. They simply looked around and sat down in the living room under Garoni's leadership. Then the tall Senkin lady walked into the kitchen and started cooking busily.
Tea and snacks prepared.
"Would you like some sweet pancakes and sausages? This is all we have now..." Garoni called to the two guests from the kitchen, with a hint of apology in her voice.
"Just a cup of hot water, no need to bother," Maurice waved his hand, and when Garoni came over, he casually asked, "By the way, have you always lived here?"
"Well, I have been living here," Garoni nodded. "The teacher went away for a while. He gave me the key and asked me to help him take care of this place. I just moved from the place I rented before.
He came here until now. He came back recently, and I will continue to live here and take care of him."
"Have you been away for a while?" Morris frowned subconsciously, "When did it happen?"
"...it's been five or six years," Garoni thought for a while and said uncertainly, with a somewhat ashamed expression on her face, "I can't always remember the time accurately. The teacher often said that to me."
Morris and Duncan exchanged glances.
"When did Mr. Brown come back?" Duncan asked as if casually.
"About a month," Garoni didn't seem to think too much, and just answered the guest's questions in a chatty manner, "He suddenly came back and said that he was very tired from traveling and wanted to take a good rest... Oh, that's when he
Mentioned inviting Mr. Morris to our house."
"I was very surprised when I first received his letter," Morris continued. "He has not contacted me for many years. The last time I heard from him many years ago was when I heard that he was going to take a bus.
The ship goes out to sea...ah, it seems to be a small cruise ship called the 'Obsidian'?"
As he spoke, he calmly paid attention to the reaction of the person in front of him.
However, Garoni didn't react at all when she heard "Obsidian". She just recalled it and shook her head: "I don't know about that. He didn't tell me much when he went out..."
There was nothing wrong with the tone and demeanor of the female student when she answered.
However, her answer itself was obviously not quite right.
She didn’t know which ship her teacher took when he went out!
If it were an ordinary master-student relationship, this would of course be nothing, but the relationship between her and the folklorist was obviously beyond an ordinary master-student relationship - Brown Scott could hand over the keys to his residence to this student.
The latter has lived here for six years, and took up the responsibility of taking care of the teacher without hesitation after he "came home". With such a close and mutually trusting relationship, it is impossible for Brown to leave without informing him.
Garoni's own itinerary.
Garoni met the visitor's gaze calmly, with a calm and calm expression on her face.
It seemed that everything that happened around her was taken for granted.