Nolan's clock tower participated in many major events in the year from the summer of 1865 to the spring of 1866. For example, in the vampire incident, the first time the vampires unfolded the mystical chain, they used the clock tower as the center of the ceremony. Later, in the event of "The Duke of Antak attacked Nolan", the clock tower also served as the high point of the city center, and fierce gun battles occurred nearby. Even when fighting against the holder of the skeleton sword, a wall of the clock tower was blown down, but that wall was quickly repaired, and at this point in time, there were no traces of repair.
Jenkins is no stranger to the environment inside the clock tower. Not only did he come here during Mr. Hood's party, but some time ago when he was dealing with the "Doomsday Nolan" who was about to overlap with Nolan, the old man was also in the clock tower. Top Meet Jenkins.
Although the tower guards are not very responsible for guarding work, at least they clean up well. In the process of climbing up from the first floor of the clock tower, you can't see any dust without looking carefully with the naked eye. If you wipe the walls and stair railings with your hands, the dust that your fingers come into contact with is also within an acceptable range.
The tower keeper is not on the first floor, the second floor, or the third floor. After climbing to the top of the tower, you have to go up the escalator to see the tower keeper behind the huge dial and mechanical structure of the clock tower. It smells like oil, but at least it shows that the daily maintenance is doing a good job.
The tower keeper was about forty to fifty years old, and Jenkins forgot his name, only remembering that he was a man who had never married.
When Jenkins followed the Cogman with the cat in his arms and saw him, he was standing on the platform behind the dial mechanism, leaning on the window and looking out. The window is very small, not in the shape of an ordinary window.
Due to frequent maintenance, this space has a very strong smell of engine oil and lubricants. But because the windows are not closed, the cool evening breeze in late summer is really pleasant.
This should have been a very ordinary evening in late summer, but no matter whether it was a year ago in reality or in the current strange environment, it is destined to be extraordinary.
"What's the final goal?"
After looking at the metal parts, various oils, and tools such as screwdrivers and wrenches on the front wall piled up on this floor, Jenkins asked.
"A heart of peace and indifference."
"Peaceful and indifferent?"
Jenkins turned his head and glanced at the gear man. There was no light on this floor, and the moon had just come out, so it couldn't illuminate the place through the small window. With his darkvision, Jenkins was able to see the Gearman's face, which still looked the same:
"Don't criticize human society this time?"
he asked, the latter did not answer.
So Jenkins transferred the chocolate he was holding to his shoulders, and then came to the small window, and saw the tower keeper looking out, with a dirty bottle of wine and a wine glass on the window sill at hand.
This location is quite high, and today's weather is exceptionally good. Even when it was dark, Jenkins could still see the black smoke from the chimneys of freighters on the Westmins River in the distance. Rows of houses are hidden in the darkness, and the streets and alleys are like a labyrinth that accommodates tens of thousands of Norland citizens.
"looking at what?"
Jenkins asked, glancing at the label on the bottle. It was a bottle of 40-proof brandy. Brewed from fruit wine, it is a kind of wine with strong stamina, and people usually drink it with ice cubes or fruit juice. But the tower keeper didn't do this. Although he didn't seem to drink much, Jenkins thought that the tower keeper might not be able to do his due diligence tonight.
"There is no specific goal, just a casual look."
The tower keeper replied casually, speaking with a Nolan accent, he probably never left this city in his life.
Jenkins followed his gaze out, seeing no interesting targets. The Nolan Clock Tower is very high. Looking at everything at this height is like looking at ants, so you can only look at the scenery.
"Do you often look out like this?"
Jenkins asked again.
"Yes, this is one of the few joys of this job."
Some old tower keepers pointed out the window:
"Watching the sunset, and then the lights of the houses come on, is the best way to relax after a day's work."
It sounds like a pretty comfortable life, but since what he is asking for is "peace and indifference", Jenkins doubts what the other party is thinking.
"Do you do this every day?"
"No, only two or three times a week. After all, if you eat too much delicious food, you will feel uncomfortable. When you are in a bad mood, look at the sunset, look at the burning clouds in the sky, lean on the window sill and listen The hustle and bustle of the city, which is nice."
Jenkins was also attracted by the picture he drew, imagining himself holding chocolate, standing here watching the sunset with the wind blowing. At that time, the afterglow of the setting sun will definitely dye the little cat's hair golden yellow, and the fluffy cat fur will be very beautiful.
The tower keeper wore very ordinary clothes, black trousers on the lower body, and a long-sleeved shirt without any pattern decoration on the upper body. He seemed to want to pick up the glass and take another sip, but he moved his palm, but he still didn't touch the glass and bottle.
"That sounds really good. So, how long have you been here, Keeper of the Clock Tower?"
Living from a goal is always useful as a breakthrough.
"I've been doing this job since I was 16."
The tower keeper looked down at the bottom of the clock tower through the window, and of course the people in the square couldn't see the two people in the window. If you look at the high place and look at the low place, there are ants, but if you look at the high place from the low place, it may be just two blurred black spots.
"16 years old?"
Jenkins imagined the first time the teenager stepped into the clock tower.
"Yes, that year my father told me to find some serious work to do. Although I could read and understand some arithmetic, I didn't want to be someone else's apprentice or work. I just wanted a stable life. Some of my friends go out to make a living and want to venture outside while they are young; some are apprentices, thinking that after a few years of learning the craft, they will come out on their own. I don’t want to be so tired. It just so happens that the previous tower guard just died, Nolan City Hall is hiring, so I'm here."
The young tower keeper was able to get this job, not because of luck, but because the job did not pay much and required manual labor. Young people don't want to do it, middle-aged people look down on it, and old people can't do it, so the 16-year-old boy got the position of tower guard in one fell swoop.
This has been done for more than 30 years. For 30 years, he has been watching Nolan from this window, but no one even knows that there will be someone watching from the clock tower.
If you only listen to the narration of the tower keeper, then he is undoubtedly a "hermit" figure. Moreover, the place where she lives in seclusion is in the center of a big city like Nolan, which further reveals her "indifferent and peaceful" mentality. But combined with the requirements of the mission, things will definitely not be so simple.
"So, do you like this job?"
"I like it, why don't I like it? I have lived on this job for 30 years."
The tower keeper replied softly, thinking of the past, of the years he had spent on this clock tower:
"When I first came here, the mechanization level of the clock tower was not so high. I had to ring the bell manually to tell the time on the hour. At that time, there were no gas pipes and steam pipes in the tower, and there were not even tap water pipes. I The first thing I do after waking up in the morning is to fetch water from an alley one street away with a bucket... "
"Thirty years have passed in a blink of an eye, and you are standing here, watching the development in front of you."
Jenkins leads the conversation.
"Yes, thirty years, and I've watched it all. The city, the citizens, everything is changing, and I'm watching the changes..."
"Do you feel that you are isolated, like an audience in a stage play watching, but unable to participate in it?"
The tower keeper pursed his lips, turned his head to glance at Jenkins, and then nodded. He picked up the full glass and drank it down, then choked and coughed because he drank too quickly.
I don't know if it's because he was choked or the wine was on his head, but his face had an abnormal reddish-brown color.
Now that the tower guard has admitted Jenkins' guess, it means that although he is still guarding the tower at this time, he has already thought of leaving.
"My friends when I was young, no matter what choices they made, they all saw the world. Regardless of whether the intentions were correct when they were young, they all experienced their own stories. And I, from my teens here, watched This tower, has always been here... If anyone would write a memoir for me, it would only take one page—he has been guarding Nolan's clock tower."
He was getting a little emotional, which Jenkins was fully convinced was the result of that glass of wine.
"Are you regretting your choices when you were young?"
Jenkins asked again, already holding the cat in his arms, gently stroking the fur on the cat's back. Chocolate narrowed his eyes comfortably, but actually imagined Jenkins' surprised expression after he saved Jenkins for a while.
"regret?"
The old tower keeper laughed dryly:
"Countless days and nights, I have wondered what my life would be like if I had gone out to venture out or learn a craft when I was young like my friends did. Now I am free, but I feel When I was imprisoned by this tower and looked at the outside world, everything had changed in just thirty years. When I stood at this window and looked at Nolan for the first time, I never imagined that there would be such a scene today.
Look at the pillars of smoke in the distance, look at the steam pipes spreading on the walls, look at it all. All this is in front of me, but it has nothing to do with me. I watch the clock tower, but it seems that my own time has also been stopped. My whole life has been here, utter stillness, utter futility. How can I not regret it? "