Gun of Ashes

”Long time no see, Lorenzo!”

Oscar Wilde pushed open the door and greeted Lorenzo.

”Ah, I didn’t expect to have the fortune to collaborate with you all, it’s my fault for not recognizing you earlier.”

Oscar acted like an old acquaintance, and after greeting, he sat down directly without any sense of restraint.

Lorenzo was a bit confused. Unexpectantly, Oscar was the guest from Nordro, but... wasn’t he supposed to be a writer?

”Wait... are you from Nordro?”

”Accurately speaking, it’s one of my professions.”

Oscar replied with a smile, ”You must know, Lorenzo, writing can easily starve you to death, so I need some side jobs to pursue my dreams, right?”

As he spoke, the silver necklace swung around his neck, his gaze turning towards Selyu, as if the girl before him was the main event.

”Of course, we also thank you for your trust, willing to cooperate with us. With your Stuart’s assistance, our routes will be unhindered.”

Oscar said as he flattered Selyu.

Lorenzo still seemed unable to accept it, but the two did not plan to give him more time and directly began discussing matters, about routes, about goods, about many things, with nothing requiring Lorenzo.

”Oscar, what did you hire me for?”

Lorenzo couldn’t help it anymore and directly interrupted their conversation, otherwise, seeing the way they were discussing meticulously, it might not have ended by nightfall.

”Well, please wait a moment.”

The two were acquainted, so Oscar wasn’t angry. After getting a signal of approval from Selyu, he shifted the topic to the hiring issue.

”This cooperation can’t be resolved by just signing some documents. After discussing with Duke Stuart, we also need to get in touch with the Mission and ask about their intentions, which means it’s all uncertain.”

Oscar continued to speak, his demeanor and tone full of discontent towards the Evangelical Church.

”You should know the nature of those priests, right? They are inherently greedy, craving wealth, but always twisting it under some banner of faith.”

Earlier, Nordro had interacted with them several times, but the discussions weren’t very pleasant. We want to take advantage of this Mission’s opportunity to accomplish something, and of course, to make it smoother, we have to cater to their likes, right?”

Lorenzo looked at this familiar friend, just like the word ’Nordro’, where familiarity meets mysterious unfamiliarity.

”Catering to their likes, what do you want to do?” Lorenzo asked.

At this point, Oscar straightened up, speaking seriously.

”Do you know about those exiles who defected from the Evangelical Church?”

Lorenzo was taken aback, not understanding why they came up.

”According to the information I’ve obtained, one of the purposes of this Mission’s visit is to seek collaboration with Ingwig, or rather us in Nordro, to capture these exiles.”

”You all?”

”Don’t underestimate us, Lorenzo. We control the majority of the sea routes and hold absolute advantage there.”

Oscar’s tone shifted, with a strange smile, seemingly having planned all along for Lorenzo to do this; now it was just a matter of formality.

”Of course, if that’s really the case, we wouldn’t trouble you. The primary reason I hired you this time is because a few days ago we caught a group of smugglers.”

Oscar stared at Lorenzo’s eyes, intentionally or not.

”We got some useful information from them. They were responsible for a certain smuggling operation, and on the list, there’s a very important person who is one of the exiles, Shermans Cardinal of the Evangelical Church, and he seems to be in this Old Dunling now.”

”You want me to find him, and preferably, deliver him tied up to the Mission?” Lorenzo asked.

Oscar responded with a satisfied thumbs up.