Gun of Ashes

Mrs. Van Rudd watched curiously as the figure disappeared up the stairs. It was rare to see Lorenzo in such a hurry. Even when he sometimes returned covered in blood, Lorenzo would still greet her with a smile, but this time he didn’t even realize she was there and went straight back upstairs.

However, she didn’t think too much of it, anyway, Lorenzo was always a hard-to-guess person.

Mrs. Van Rudd’s daily life was quite simple, like that of an ordinary housewife. According to her own schedule, Mrs. Van Rudd picked up a mop and began to tidy up the living room.

Only three people lived here, but in fact, it was often only Mrs. Van Rudd who frequented the living room. Lorenzo spent most of his time wandering the streets of Old Dunling, while Hig usually stayed holed up in his room, rarely coming out. Therefore, it was relatively clean, and there was no need to clean anything. But Mrs. Van Rudd didn’t have anything else to do at the moment, so it was just to pass the time.

Humming a military song from her service days, she occasionally glanced at the strategic map on the wall. Her military career was a good time for Mrs. Van Rudd, but unfortunately, the brutality of war and the passage of time meant that many people she knew were either dead or living far away.

But just then, the door was pushed open. Cold wind and rain poured into the warm living room. The person stood at the door for a long time without moving.

”Hig?”

Mrs. Van Rudd called out hesitantly. The living room lights were off, and the gloomy sky outside only let in dim light, so she couldn’t see the person’s face clearly.

The silence lasted a long time. The person raised their head and said to Mrs. Van Rudd.

”I’m back.”

Hig said as he came inside. He didn’t use an umbrella and was soaked by the rain.

”Why are you soaked by the rain? Quickly change into some dry clothes…”

Mrs. Van Rudd said with concern as she walked over, but as she got closer and saw Hig’s face, her amiable expression gradually stiffened.

”What happened... right?” Mrs. Van Rudd asked.

Hig said nothing, just approached her and gave her a brief hug.

There seemed to be a glimmer of light on his face. It was unclear whether it was rain or tears, but his cheeks were drenched, and his expression was somewhat grim, yet he appeared to be feigning calm.

Countless thoughts surged in his mind, all sounds were drowned by a single noise—the sound of falling rain, endless rain, under the unending rain curtain, in that hometown deep in memory.

Hig was about to go back. He let go of Mrs. Van Rudd and walked toward the stairs, his steps gradually becoming staggered, as if under unbearable pain, with some strange force acting upon him.

But this physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain, the pain of loneliness.

Yes, this pain had lasted too long, long enough for Hig to become numb and unaware of the root source of the problem.

Until Moriarty discovered everything.

That doctor, that devil-like guy, found his weak spot.

Raising his head to look at that familiar spot, the door was slightly ajar, and a glaring white gaze coldly bore down on him. The person’s expression was complex, somewhat disappointed, but also held a trace of self-reproach.

”So, are you going to kill me next, Hig?”

Lorenzo held a folding blade, and he could feel the subtle erosion slowly releasing within Hig’s body. Rationality was continuously being stripped away from this body, and he was soon to become part of that madness.

Hig wasn’t passively accepting the hallucinogen; he longed for it himself. From the day he left his hometown, he was like a kite with a cut string, drifting aimlessly between storms and clear skies, a man without roots.

But now Hig had gotten what he wanted. Lorenzo didn’t know what he saw in those hallucinatory visions, but it was something he had always yearned for, something that could make even this ordinary man willingly fall.

Lorenzo could tell because Hig wore a peculiar smile at this moment—a satisfied yet morbid grin.

”Is it worth it?”

Lorenzo’s knife was quick, and his strength was great, capable of severing a demon’s head in an instant. If they had any semblance of pain, they wouldn’t even feel it before they died.

But facing the increasingly strange Hig, Lorenzo couldn’t bring himself to act.

His face was cold, and the atmosphere was heavy and murderous.

Sometimes, to drive a person insane doesn’t require extreme fear or tragic encounters; just give them the thing they desire most. Like a person in darkness seeing the only light, they will recklessly try to grasp it, even if beyond the darkness lies endless thorns.

What kind of light had Hig seen? That led him into a nightmare, yet still with a smile.

”You need to be careful of him, Lorenzo.”

Hig’s voice was distorted, leaning against the wall. The upward stairs weren’t long, yet it took him a long time without reaching the end.

”Moriarty? That pervert, madman, scumbag.”

The words were said lightly, but his expression was exceedingly solemn, akin to an iron-cast statue.

These are the words Lorenzo often used to describe himself, and they did fit him well. Lorenzo had just killed a whole carriage of people. Perhaps seconds later, he would also kill his long-time roommate, but he felt no moral guilt, instead, he felt rage.