The night before admissions registration.
Nemo tightened the pack on his back again, slung the basket through the crack, and stepped onto the grass with one foot. The crack in the space behind him slowly closed, swallowing up the roaring voices and splendid lights on the other side of the crack.
The broken carriage was parked not far outside Clement City at the moment.
In order to avoid more trouble, the three did not intend to risk going to town early to sleep a night in a roofed place. These days, everything that needs to be prepared has been prepared - Jesse got a blue quill out of nowhere, and the flamboyant bird flaunted its feathers and circled the sky ten times before throwing down the copper mailbox. If he hadn't been able to clearly feel the smell of that thing, Nemo would have thought it was Jesse's own change.
There are two letters in the mailbox. The paper is thick, with gorgeous dark prints, and the incense aroma of the complex composition lasts for a long time. The writing on the paper is beautiful and powerful, with occasional fine gold flashes in the black ink. At the end of the letter is a dragon's signature and seal imprint. The pattern of the seal is a little too complicated, and a rough sweep makes people dizzy.
Nemo silently put away the letter with his pseudonym written on it, trying to ignore the encouraging eyes of An Zhong.
He knew what Ann's eyes meant - Nemo dutifully took over the task of setting off the smoke bombs, and had been busy leaving trails of confusing horizons in different cities in recent days. In the spare time after purchasing the supplies, he took the time to check some information about the nursing profession.
So Nemo knew exactly what he was about to face. Ninety-nine percent of Alban's nursing staff are women, and male nursing is as rare as a spotless ladybug.
Now the last thing he wants is attention.
"Why can't we go to the logistics together?" When Ann decided on a major and planned to contact Jesse Dillon, it was not that Nemo didn't fight.
"Unfortunately, the number of places that a parish can grant is limited. There is only one place left for logistics and nursing, or do you want to pretend to be strangers from different parishes? Can you?"
"… no."
"It's useless. That would require letters of recommendation from two different bishops, and Dylan would probably scold people on the spot. Or are you also biased against the nursing profession, eh?"
"No, I didn't! Wouldn't that be very eye-catching? We're going to hide, if I-"
"There will be troubles, but you won't die, and Lopez won't be interested in this level of gossip." Ann shrugged, playing with the communication crystal in her hand. "They're going to hire hundreds of people? Forget it, there's always one or two men in there anyway. Your luck won't be that bad. Or let Oliver go? It's still too late—"
"...I'll go." Nemo at the time glanced at the pile of books and gave up protesting sadly. Nursing requires a lot of knowledge and complexity - Oliver, as a relatively normal human being, has almost zero chance of being able to master it in a short time. If one of them is brushed off, the fun will be great.
After getting the exact response, Jesse Dillon himself laughed for five minutes across from the communication crystal. To be precise, Dylan was still laughing until Nemo forcibly interrupted the communication—he sounded like he was pounding something, out of breath.
Nemo wiped his face and dragged himself out of his memory of laughter with great displeasure. The wrecked carriage was in front of him, the warm light was shining from the shed, and the Fuller Goat was leisurely nibbling on the grass beside the carriage. It's just that when he opened the curtain of the carriage, the warm atmosphere disappeared instantly, and the cold breath in the air was like cold winter.
That breath was emanating from Ann. The spear was resting on the warrior woman's knee, and she was clenching it and loosening it, and unclenching it again.
"Ramon." Ann stopped calling Oliver by name, not even the head of the regiment, and his face was long. "Again, how do you deal with knuckle lizards during desert marches?"
I don't know if it was his own delusion, Nemo thought, Oliver seemed to shrink himself even smaller.
"Fake, pretend you didn't see it, and then remind the commander to avoid it?" Oliver replied in a low voice.
It's a smug thing to hear, Nemo thought bitterly. He carefully glanced at An's face that suddenly sank, and squeezed himself and his baggage into the corner of the carriage.
"Bone-knotted lizard," Ann repeated, almost growling. "Honestly you have a good mind, Ramon. I've never seen anyone who learns so fast... But the knuckle lizard, why can't you remember this? That's a mid-level demon, not a protection animal! Oh my God."
Maybe because Oliver really wanted to keep him. Nemo squeezed himself into the corner again.
"I'm sorry." Oliver swallowed hard.
Ann took several deep breaths, rubbed her forehead, and finally turned to Nemo: "What about dinner? Let's eat first."
Nemo silently took out some food, handed it to Ann, and sat down beside Oliver, who was holding his forehead with his hands, exuding a rare sullen breath.
"I really haven't experienced this in years," Oliver said blankly, taking the bread Nemo handed him. He bit his mouth mechanically, then fell silent for a while. He tilted his head, and Nemo didn't have time to take his gaze back - after meeting again, Nemo had an inexplicable little habit.
He had to watch Oliver eat. The latter seems to have noticed this, but it doesn't mean to break it, but eats more and more seriously.
"Give me yours," Oliver demanded uncharacteristically this time. "You eat this."
"You took a bite." Nemo protested softly.
"Do you really mind this?" Oliver raised his eyebrows amusedly, trying to grab the bread in the other's hand. As a result, Nemo's reaction was quicker—he nearly teleported to another corner of the carriage.
"Hand over it, Nemo." Oliver's eyebrows rose higher.
"Eat yours," Nemo responded grumpily, intending to devour his own dinner quickly, but the other hand came faster, and he was unprepared.
Anri quickly grabbed the bread and sniffed it under his nose. Then she frowned and quickly broke it apart. After a slight tearing sound, turquoise mold was exposed.
"That's what you eat?" The female warrior sounded a little annoyed. "Nimo, seriously. If you're really short on money, you can tell me—"
"No," Nemo quickly denied. "I'm… uh, for personal reasons."
Oliver's face was not very good-looking. He lowered his eyes and broke his own. The aroma of fresh wheat diffused into the air instantly, and there was a portion of butter in it.
"One and a half," he said simply, without a smile on his face.
An Ze sighed, she didn't say anything, but threw the book on her knee directly to Nemo. "That's it, Oliver can't always memorize it. Come on, I'll go out and get some fresh air."
Nemo had to take the book honestly. He thought for a while, then leaned over to Oliver.
"Sorry," he said, without trying to defend himself. "I didn't mean to hide from you."
Saying that, he untied the wrapping behind his back and carefully lifted the fabric on it. "I've been wandering outside the past few days, taking a few part-time jobs in my spare time... But the money is just a little bit short, and I can't ask for it. After all, this... "
Oliver picked up the oddly shaped white ukulele and said nothing.
"But I can't play." After a while, Oliver whispered.
"I know." Nemo scratched his head, "but I think you need something to hide your sword, and I found a good piano shop that can accept this kind of customization. Come on, try it."
He took the lightweight instrument out of Oliver's hands, fiddled with the headstock, and the neck slid a little, revealing a scabbard-like socket. Oliver silently drew out the Sword of Rest, and tried to probe inside, the size was just right.
And Nemo adjusted the mechanism on the headstock again, the neck closed again, and there was no sign of any engagement.
"I drew the drawings myself." Seeing that Oliver didn't speak, Nemo summoned the courage to continue. "It's just a bit of labor, so it's not expensive, just… well, you know. Almost all of the money for the wanted mission was spent on prep work, and I still want to give you something. It's okay if you can't play, I'll see. I used to play Uncle Ramon in the tavern, remember how he played, I can teach…”
Jyn was placed on the unwrapped wrap, and before Nemo could question him, Oliver almost hugged him fiercely.
"Thank you," Oliver murmured. "Thank you, I love it."
The gold pendant was still hanging on Nemo's chest, pressing against his chest under the squeeze of the hug. Nemo knew it wasn't a good time, but now that he's started the conversation, it's going to continue anyway.
He kissed Oliver's auricle lightly, then broke free of the hug and undid the gold pendant from his neck.
"Oli." Nemo said softly, sending the pendant in his palm forward. "I've been looking for time to tell you... I've recovered a little bit of memory from the skull fragments of the Church of the Abyss. Now that I remember, it's your father's thing. The woman inside was your mother, when-"
An index finger touched his lips. Oliver did not pick up the pendant, but made a silent gesture.
"Do you remember what happened?"
"...don't remember." The finger moved away, and Nemo subconsciously licked his lips.
"Then don't tell me." Oliver finally smiled, "It's not that I don't believe you, Nemo. My father never told me about my mother, and I believe he has his reasons. As for what happened that year, I I said that I will find the answer with you."
Nemo was stunned for a while. He didn't want this pendant to be the trigger for the rift. Ben was going to tell Oliver about the tin soldier's memory. Among them, of course, is the chatter of Oliver's father, Flint Lopez, about his fiancée. Once listening, exploiting and killing. He wanted to confess all the fragments he remembered to the other party, even if Oliver would feel disgusted with him because of it.
He remembered everything Oliver had said when he first fled in the frontier forest.
I know that the appearance of Sonia Ramon is in this pendant. As for the story between Oliver's parents, when Ulysses was guiding Flint Lopez back to the team, he probably heard him repeat it nearly twenty times at the bottom of the abyss.
He believed that Oliver wanted to know this, which was perhaps one of the biggest regrets in Oliver's life, and he never thought that the other party would refuse.
"I don't want you to regret something that isn't clear yet, Nemo. This is not the intelligence we need right now, and incomplete information may lead to unnecessary misunderstandings." Oliver nibbled at the bread. "I'd love to hear anything from you when it's all clear. So don't make that look--the look that seems to owe me."
Oliver leaned forward, took the violin in his arms, and then grabbed the book that Ann had pinched a little out of shape.
"Let's continue," he said briskly. "This is the last book, and I want to finish it as soon as possible—if there is time left, would you like to teach me to play a little?"
"Okay." Nemo squeezed a single voice out of his dry throat, only to feel his feet finally hitting the ground. Happiness, which had been illusory for so long, became all the more real.
He picked up the thick "Logistics Instructions: How to Deal with Intermediate Demons" and grabbed the other half of the buttered bread. The sound is a little muffled. "Then let's start."
,Wonderful!
(m.. = )