Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 153 Reeds in the Wind
388
Audrey stood by the window, watching the yellowish and iron-black mist quickly dissipate, and watching the heavy rain that did not belong to winter falling heavily, and her mood became much calmer.

After an unknown amount of time, she and Susie finally waited for Earl Hall to return home.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Audrey asked with concern.

Earl Hall handed his coat and hat to the waiter and smiled gently:

"It's solved, but the specific process is still unclear. My little princess, you really helped a lot this time. You deserve a medal weighing a ton!"

That’s good, that’s good… Thanks to Mr. Fool’s reminder, and thanks to his followers who took the risk to investigate… our Tarot Club has once again prevented the evil god from coming, and once again saved the world! Audrey’s heart was filled with pride.

Earl Hall took the towel from the maid, wiped his face, and sighed:
"But this time it still caused serious casualties. The smog in Backlund could actually be so deadly... Although the statistics have not yet come out, I estimate that more than 10,000 people have died in the East District, the Dock District, and the Factory District, and the plague is still spreading. Try not to go out recently."

More than 10,000 people? This was a number that Audrey could understand but could not imagine. Only during the annual Independence Day parade could she see thousands or tens of thousands of people gathered together.

However, this did not prevent her from feeling heavy in her heart and her mood suddenly became depressed.

…………

Daisy stood outside the apartment and watched the doctors and nurses in white coats and large masks go in and carry out body after body.

She already knew the result, her expression was numb, her eyes were empty, and she subconsciously moved towards the door.

At this time, the police in charge of the cordon stopped her:
"Don't go over there. Do you want to be infected with the plague?"

Daisy stopped there and watched the two bodies being carried out, watched her mother Liv hugging her sister Freya tightly, watched them being carried onto a temporarily requisitioned delivery cart covered with black cloth, and watched them covered with white cloth disappear before her eyes.

The carriage moved slowly towards the other end of the street.

At this moment, Daisy seemed to wake up from her dream. She turned around, ran quickly, and chased the carriage.

The ground was extremely muddy after the rain, and she fell and got up several times, leaving stains all over her body. However, she still failed to catch up with the carriage and watched it disappear around the corner.

Daisy slowed down her pace, her body swaying slightly, her expression unusually dull. She held onto a tree beside the street, staring intently at the place where the carriage had left.

Suddenly, she went limp and cried out:

"Mother……

“Freya…”

The voice was thin, low, sharp and weak, lingering on.

At this moment, in the East District, the dock area, and the factory area, tens of thousands of people were also wailing and crying.

…………

After Dr. Black poured a whole bottle of specially prepared spiritual stabilizing potion into his mouth, Sean's pale face finally looked better. He looked at the two people present, one of whom was covered in cold sweat like him, and the other was already sitting in a chair and rolling his eyes. He couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"I've told you long ago that you need to exercise more. Don't rely on taking medicine to recover your strength! Look at my muscles, and your thin arms. You almost exhausted yourself during this visit! Hahaha! You're a Sequence 8 Beyonder, and you almost exhausted yourself!"

After laughing for a while, he patted something in front of him curiously and said, "But Fenuo, why is there a street lamp in your clinic?"

The street lamp spoke: "Mr. Sean, I am Ademisol."

"Your spiritual overdraft is a bit serious, and it seems that you have hallucinations. But there is no danger now, you just need to rest more in the next few days." Doctor Blake wiped the sweat off his forehead. He felt like he had just finished a marathon and was so hot that he wanted to take off his coat and wear only a shirt in the temperature less than ten degrees.

He looked around: "Where is Miss Maria again?"

He asked as he walked upstairs to the clinic. The second floor was already full of patients. The beds and cabinets were all put aside, and the floor, beds and chairs were filled with weak people. Ademisol followed and distributed oral solutions to the patients one by one.

Doctor Black sighed softly:

"With my ability, it is impossible to make a potion that can fight this kind of poison."

"Thanks to you, Admithal! The Path of Destiny is as famous as it is said to be. Those bottles of potions you accidentally knocked over actually worked after mixing them together! If it weren't for you, I would only be watching everyone die in pain. You are really our lucky star!"

Admisol scratched his head embarrassedly, but his mood was a little depressed: "But there are still many patients..."

"That's not your fault (Dr. Black patted Admithal's shoulder). You've done your best. You hit the right potion. Gavin's potions are all perfectly proportioned. He'll probably brag about it for the rest of his life, if he can."

The little monster scratched his head again, thought for a while, and said in a complicated way:

"I wonder how the kingdom will characterize this vicious poisoning incident... Miss Maria said that she encountered a Sequence 4 witch, so this should be a terrorist attack by a cult organization, right? I hope that after this incident, the kingdom can pay a little attention to slums like the East District and the East District... Even if there is no subsidy or compensation, at least a little improvement in the environment would be good."

As he spoke, Dr. Black approached the patients lying on the beds. These were the ones with serious symptoms, as the poisonous mist had severely damaged their respiratory systems. Damage to the organs was fatal, and even the best doctors were helpless.

Unless they can afford the ventilator in the hospital. After Dr. Black checked the conditions of several patients, his mood gradually became depressed.

However, as a doctor, he was used to seeing the death of the dead, especially in the East District. He tried to tell the bad news to several patients who were accompanied by their families in a gentle and calm manner. The patients and their families, who had long been numb to the pain, did not show excessive sadness. In addition to grief, they accepted the death notice from the doctor, and expressed their gratitude and embarrassment that they were short of money and wanted to leave the clinic immediately.

"Lie down a little longer, sir, ma'am."

In this regard, Dr. Black could only sigh: "The patient needs enough rest. You can lie down for another hour. When you have enough strength, go to the nearby church to pray..."

Then, go home and wait to die, or wait to die near the church.

Generally, homeless people would choose the latter, because if they go early, they might be able to queue up earlier for the collective memorial service at the church.

"Admitsol," he called, "go and boil a kettle of water. Make sure it boils. Give the patients some hot water to drink."

"Ok."

Admisol ran downstairs, filled a kettle with water from the tap, and put it on the stove waiting for it to boil.

When a small amount of white steam began to emerge from the kettle, the door of the clinic was pushed open and Maria walked in with her right arm bandaged and splinted.

Her face looked very bad, even worse than Dr. Black's, but the moment she stepped under the light, she still controlled her facial expression and tried her best to put on a relaxed smile:

"Everyone has worked hard."

She turned to look at Sean: "Have you met your wife and daughter?"

The navigator, who was lying on the sofa belonging to Dr. Black, nodded vigorously. "I saw them before I came here! They are all fine. Mira was even very energetic and asked me for candy. I plan to take some candy pills back from Feanor... They are all staying well in our temporary shelter. That's great, that's great! Miss Maria, you are the lifesaver of my family!"

Maria smiled and nodded: "I also want to thank you on behalf of the children in the school who are unharmed."

"Next, we have to help Dr. Black avoid being tracked by the Church of the Storm. We'll close the clinic for a while and turn it back into a grocery store. I'll go talk to him later."

Then, she spotted Ademisol who was watching over here while guarding the kettle: "By the way, it looks like the matter is over. Do you want to buy a ticket back to Tingen now? There's still time."

Ademisol shook his head: "Alia has gone back. I will stay here this year. I think everyone..."

He looked around the room, seeing everyone exhausted.

"I think everyone may still need some good luck," he said tactfully.

Maria couldn't help laughing out loud. The collapsed zombie Gavin uttered some meaningless mumblings, and the atmosphere in the room became much lighter.

The water boiled and the lid of the kettle began to jump. Ademisol quickly took the kettle down and put it aside, and took out a disposable paper cup, ready to wait for it to cool down before serving it.

Alia...Daisy...Maria sighed, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Gavin and Sean had already started chatting, joking about how long the bigwigs would let the East District incident stay on the front page of the newspaper, how many impressive-sounding but meaningless debates the congressmen would use this as an opportunity to launch, how many charitable funds would be established, and how much would be allocated to the East District. Admitsol brought each of them a cup of hot water to warm their hands.

The two grown men were crookedly lying on the sofa, chatting, making the narrow reception area on the first floor of the clinic very crowded. Maria was also ready to sit down and rest for a while, and Gavin quickly moved his legs to make room.

"Gavin, how much money do we have left for this year?" she asked.

The zombie who was not responsible for accounting but often asked for expenses scratched his head: "Shouldn't we ask Ms. Yalian about this?" "..." Maria's lips moved, "I gave her a holiday. She and her little grandson died of illness at home."

"Uh……"

"Forget it, I really shouldn't ask you."

Maria sighed and looked at Admisol again: "Mr. Machine, do you remember how much money we have left this month?"

Admisol immediately reported a string of numbers: "There are still forty-five pounds, six soli and two pence left in the funds this month, and it is estimated that there will be three and a half pounds left after all salaries are paid." He hesitated, "But I don't know...how many people will get these salaries..."

Maria didn't respond: "How much money is left in total?"

Admitsol calculated in his mind for a few seconds: "The last cooperation with the Aurora Society earned us a large sum of money. Now we have enough money on hand, with 1,600 pounds left, but this is also our basic funds for the next two months."

"Okay, first allocate 600 pounds for the pension." Maria's face no longer showed much sadness, as hard as stone. "Rest for two hours, and after dinner, we will start counting... the number of casualties."

"Start counting the casualties within the Foundation."

The three of them responded in silence, and Admisol picked up the warm, slightly hot boiled water and went upstairs.

"Have you heard of any extraordinary items that can change people's minds?"

Maria said thoughtfully to Sean and Gavin: "Looking back on it now, it always seems a little strange to me."

"Why didn't I recite the Honorable Name to summon the leader right away, but instead thought about saving people first, recited it twice, and then ran into the witch?"

The three of them looked at each other, all revealing a confused look.

Upstairs, Dr. Black had just finished visiting the last patient and was thirsty, so he hurried downstairs to make a cup of tea. Admitsol handed over the medical records and medicines to him and went upstairs to take care of the patients.

He poured hot water for those who were closer and awake, and received some tired responses.

There were many elderly patients who did not have family members to accompany them. Admisol always had to cautiously observe whether their chests were still rising and falling. He did not have the heart to wake them up, so he would wipe their lips with a wet tissue soaked in boiled water.

During the process, he occasionally went downstairs to get a clean disposable cup and heard Dr. Blake discussing with Maria whether to leave tonight or tomorrow. Sean, who had regained some strength, had already begun to remove the sign outside the door and replaced it with a grocery store.

Before five o'clock, the patients will be cleared out and the beds on the second floor will be converted into shelves.

Dr. Black decided to leave now. He was single, without a wife or children, so he could leave without worries and come back in a few weeks.

"Your water."

"Thank you."

Admisol handed the last cup of hot water to the patient's family, a young girl whom Admisol had seen before. She was a small tailor in the East District who often mended clothes for people near her residence.

The girl was holding a paper bag in her arms. It looked heavy and I wonder what was inside.

She was talking quietly to a middle-aged man lying on the bed. The man had a smile on his face and kept saying thank you to the doctor to his daughter. However, he would start coughing after he said a few words, and it seemed that his respiratory system was damaged.

"Doctor, I want to take my father back." The tailor girl stood up holding the paper bag and lifted up the middle-aged man's upper body. Admisol hurriedly put down the tray and helped her to help the man get off the bed.

The man looked very thirsty. He drank the water his daughter handed to him in one gulp and gasped as if he was scalded.

He kept thanking him, which made Admisol feel embarrassed. He quickly asked him to sit down and rest for a while, and took the tailor girl downstairs to tell Dr. Black that they were leaving.

Downstairs, Dr. Black, who had already started packing, saw the tailor girl. After listening to her story, he was surprised and said, "Miss Taylor, won't you let your father rest for a while? Are you leaving now?"

The girl named Taylor shook her head, and her eyes turned red before she spoke.

"Dad said he wanted to go home and eat the broth I cooked." Taylor rubbed his eyes and said, "He said he just bought a big ham and wanted to eat some quickly, otherwise he would never be able to eat it again..."

Seeing this, Dr. Black didn't know what to say. He could only shake his head, sigh, and say:
"After we get back, tell him to have a good rest, drink plenty of water, and exercise less. Mr. Kohler said he just made a small fortune, enough for you and your daughter to have a warm and comfortable winter. After that... Taylor, you must be strong."

Taylor wiped her tears again, borrowed some warm water to clean her face and wipe away the tears. She waited until her red eyes returned to normal before she went upstairs and helped her father down.

Mr. Kohler will not survive this winter... Admisol suddenly realized something.

He thought about the recent events, the lives of ordinary people that were as worthless as grass, the crisis in which even extraordinary people could not protect themselves, and the people who died in various postures... At this moment, he looked at Taylor's back as he pushed the door and left, and suddenly he had some inexplicable feelings about fate.

"Can we let her come to work at the foundation?" he quickly asked Miss Maria. "I heard that she has great craftsmanship and is very good at making clothes."

Maria looked through the member list silently, crossing out some with a pen from time to time, then raised her head and said in a cold and light voice:

"Okay, I have this idea."

"And Daisy...if she doesn't get an allowance big enough for a little girl to live on, I'll take her in as a clerk."

"We need more manpower. We need... a lot of people."

She sighed, continued looking through the list, and stopped talking.

389
Only after it became completely dark did Klein say goodbye to Azik.

After a confusing conversation, Klein felt that the haze that had always existed in his heart - he had to deceive others in order to hide himself - had dissipated a lot, and he felt much better.

Although this sudden desire to talk is not necessarily a good thing, Klein felt that when he woke up tomorrow morning, he would wrap himself in the quilt in embarrassment when he thought about the nonsense he was talking about. But he still chose to talk, because he had been suppressed for too long and remained silent for too long. The vivid past was gradually buried under the current dangerous and strange world, getting farther and farther away from him.

The situation with Azik was a little more subtle. Azik was very interested in Klein's real home, and was curious about the "flying machine", "four-wheeled iron box", "barbecue" and all kinds of things.

At the same time, he also seriously discussed with Klein the possible reasons why "Zhou Mingrui" came here. As a person with fragments of Quaternary memories, Azik denied Klein's speculation that "maybe the Sefirah Castle is hidden in Antigonus's notes." He believed that those few ancient Chinese spells were connected to the Sefirah Castle.

And the honorific name that Klein, who was fearless and unafraid of a tiger, came up with just happened to point to Sefirah Castle - this is something worth pondering. If the "mysterious master above the gray fog" has a direction, then is it pointing to Klein, or to the "yellow and black king who controls good luck"?

The suggestion of this idea made Azik and Klein sweat profusely and they quickly ended the topic.

In addition, "Klein" had once come into contact with the fortune-teller angel, Antigonus' notes, so Azik strongly suspected that all of this was the plan of a great being!

"Klein" died, "Zhou Mingrui" descended, "Zhou Mingrui" contacted Sefirah Castle, and "Zhou Mingrui" became the current Klein... But Klein is now the follower of the Goddess of Night. I wonder what role the Goddess of Night plays in this process...

When Azik thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a little resentful.

However, he subjectively felt that they were all victims who shared the same fate. Klein, a young man who didn't even have the intention to harm others, couldn't be one of the schemers.

"Actually, I don't recommend you to pray to the Goddess of Night to protect your brother and sister." Azik said before leaving.

"The favor of the gods is like a lottery ticket. They spend a few pennies and soles to give you a lottery ticket called favor, but when you redeem the prize, they will take hundreds or even thousands of pounds from you. I don't know what the goddess of night wants from you, but putting your family under the eyes of the gods may not be a good idea."

"But this should be the only way."

"I don't know what the Night Goddess' attitude towards me is. If I go to protect your brother and sister personally, it might backfire."

Klein couldn't help but sigh: "I know, Mr. Azik."

"Thank you, thank you for listening to me for so long."

Azik put on his hat, picked up his cane, and gave one last warning: "Since you have made up your mind to leave Backlund, make all preparations before you go. Make good use of 'Creeping Hunger'."

"I don't want to lose my students again, Klein."

TBC
------

Richard: Teacher, what is a human being?
Decline: reed.

Richard: I am strong. I have knowledge and practical ability. So I should be a strong blade of grass, right?
Decline: Still a reed.

(End of this chapter)