Gun of Ashes

Lorenzo stood up, and as he moved, he could feel the slight sting spreading through his body, most intensely at the back of his neck.

Within the Black Angel, the extending flesh directly connected him to the armor. Lorenzo gently touched the back of his neck, feeling tiny wounds, not caused by electrodes. The flesh, like dense tentacles, pierced beneath the skin and spread to the nerves, redirecting Lorenzo’s commands to the armor directly.

Although he hadn’t operated the armor many times, Lorenzo could still sense the strangeness of it. However, he didn’t care much, seemingly attributing all this strangeness to the Holy Grail Flesh.

To some extent, Lorenzo and the Black Angel were of the same origin, which might be why he was accepted by the Black Angel.

”Then I’ll be going back.”

Lorenzo said to Merlin, having had enough of this dark underground world. Even though living in darkness, Lorenzo still longed for a cloudless sunny day.

Merlin waved at him, and someone led Lorenzo, guiding him upwards from underground until he returned to the surface.

Carrying the experimental data, Merlin hurried back to his laboratory. Currently, the situation was such that everything was piling up, and they couldn’t afford the slightest mistake; taking a wrong step could mean a disadvantage in their game against the Evangelical Church.

Suddenly, someone stopped him. Gawain still had a determined look, like those faithful knights from a century ago, only he wasn’t wearing ordinary armor, but the Armor of Original Sin, a culmination of modern technology.

”Knight Gawain.”

Merlin said. Although they all served the Purification Mechanism, Merlin wasn’t very familiar with these stationed knights.

”Commander Merlin... You should understand our current stance towards Lorenzo, right? Yet why...” Gawain asked somewhat puzzled, but it seemed more like an accountability question.

”Because we don’t care about these things, Knight Gawain. I know you follow the rules, but some of our rules are... no rules.”

Merlin’s tone turned unusually relaxed, looking unconcerned.

”Of course, I know Lorenzo deceived us in terms of identity, even possessing an extremely dangerous weapon, but for now, he stands with us, doesn’t he? And he has valuable uses for us, doesn’t he?

We benefit him, and he benefits us; this is the strongest form of cooperation.”

Merlin slowly said, if there had been hesitation about Lorenzo’s identity before, after Lorenzo’s ability to traverse through the [gap] for direct reconnaissance of the Static Holy Temple, his value to the Purification Mechanism undoubtedly soared. His presence had more benefits than drawbacks.

”Besides, if we have to scrutinize everyone’s past thoroughly and label them suspicious for any blemish, at least half of the Purification Mechanism would be suspect and untrustworthy, including myself.”

Merlin defended Lorenzo.

”Not everyone is as upright as you, Knight Gawain. My past is filled with blood, Bola, Blue Jade, Red Falcon, even Joey, none of them are ’clean’ people.”

Gawain remained silent; he wasn’t good at arguing with others. At this point, Percival walked over, interrupting the conversation between the two.

”Don’t be so serious, oh, Gawain is just like that, a bit too rigid.”

Percival said, pulling a funny face at Merlin. Compared to Gawain, she was the complete opposite; one was serious as a rock, the other looked utterly joyous.

”Commander Merlin, the reason we can tolerate these ’unclean’ people is precisely because, even if they pose a threat to the Purification Mechanism, it remains within a controllable range, but Lorenzo is different...”

”Don’t worry about that. I also have Arthur; in fact, we were prepared for everything regarding Lorenzo from the moment we contacted him, and it’s precisely because of these various preparations that we’ve reached this point, right?”

Gawain was taken aback, then continued speaking.

”If he truly threatens us, who will be responsible.”

Merlin didn’t answer directly but paused for a long while before speaking meaningfully.

”Someone will.”

...

The carriage stopped in front of 121A Cork Street, and opening the door, the roaring of the bustling traffic rushed into his ears.

Lorenzo stood in front of the door, not in a hurry to enter, but rather looked around, sitting on an old sofa at the entrance.

This sofa was already in disrepair, the leather splitting open to reveal the stuffing beneath. After winter, Mrs. Van Rudd had moved it outside, and it was unclear when she intended to dispose of it.

Lorenzo sat on this dilapidation, observing the familiar street as a bystander.

He enjoyed this feeling, watching the people coming and going, seeing the mist rise and the daylight fade. It seemed that only then could Lorenzo truly feel he was just an ordinary person living in this ordinary world, everything infused with so-called ”life feel.”

Lorenzo thought it wasn’t bad. Actually, the long life of a demon hunter wasn’t all about fighting; thinking carefully, there were still some gentle memories.

For example, during spring and summer, more rocking chairs would appear next to the sofa, along with a parasol on the other side, where Mrs. Van Rudd would place some dessert plates. Lorenzo would spend his leisure time sitting there with her and Hig, wasting time... of course, provided that Lorenzo paid the rent on time that month.

Lorenzo couldn’t quite understand why he suddenly wanted to sit there for a while; perhaps the recent inhuman experience was too intense, and he desperately wanted to blend into this ordinary life, continuing to deceive himself about the beauty of life...

”Lorenzo?”

Someone called softly, a voice full of insecurity.

Lorenzo looked up, then immediately asked.

”Hmm? Hig, you just got off work?”

Seeing Hig return, Lorenzo habitually greeted him, though despite having lived there for so long, his communication with Hig was minimal, and they knew little about each other.

Hig had lost his job due to hallucinogen use, but now he was free from it and seemed to have found a new job.

”No, I just finished attending a mutual aid association.”

Contrary to his usual demeanor, Hig responded earnestly.

He had always been afraid of Lorenzo, although Hig thought he hid it well, it was evident to Lorenzo. He knew exactly what kind of frightening figure he was in Hig’s eyes, but there was nothing he could do about it. Lorenzo didn’t want to come home covered in someone else’s blood all the time either.

”Mutual aid association? Oh, that thing.”

Hearing that, Lorenzo remembered. For mutual encouragement, many people formed mutual aid associations, like alcoholics anonymous or hallucinogen recovery groups.

”You look good, anything happen?”

This wasn’t just looking good. In all these years, for the first time, Lorenzo sensed a bit of cheerfulness in Hig, unsure of what he had been through.

”Not bad, made a new friend.”

”That’s really nice.”

Lorenzo genuinely felt happy for Hig. It was obvious that Hig was a bit of a recluse. He had come to Old Dunling at a young age and settled in the house behind where Lorenzo was, never leaving since.

Hig never talked about his family, always looking at the world with a confused expression. Sometimes, Lorenzo found it hard to understand Hig’s sadness, not knowing why he was like that.

”Aren’t you going in?”

He opened the door, standing at the entrance asking Lorenzo, as Hig tried to accept others, starting with normal conversations with Lorenzo.

Lorenzo shook his head. He wanted to savor the feeling of life’s trivialities a little longer. Though he found it somewhat odd, as he was accustomed to the reserved, silent Hig.