Chapter 3 The girl

With the plan in place, Zhou Mingrui suddenly found his backbone. All his fear, hesitation, and unease were pushed to the corner. It was only then that he had the presence of mind to carefully examine the fragments of memories left by Klein. As was his habit, Zhou Mingrui stood up, closed the valve of the pipeline, and watched as the wall lamp slowly dimmed until it went out. He then sat back down, absentmindedly rubbing the brass cylinder of his gun while holding his head, lost in thought in the crimson-tinted darkness, like the most attentive audience member in a movie theater. Perhaps due to the impact of the bullet passing through, Klein's memories were like shattered glass, not only losing their coherence, but also missing many details. For example, where did the exquisitely crafted revolver come from? Was it suicide or murder? What did the sentence "Everyone will die, including me" in the notebook mean? Did he participate in anything strange two days before the incident? Not only were these specific memories fragmented and incomplete, even the knowledge he possessed was the same. Based on his current state, Zhou Mingrui believed that if Klein were to return to university, he would probably never graduate, even though he had only left campus for a few days and had not relaxed at all. "Two days later, he was going to attend an interview at the history department of Tingen University..." "The universities in the Kingdom of Rune have a tradition of not keeping graduates on campus directly... The mentor gave him a recommendation letter for Tingen University and one for Beckland University..." As Zhou Mingrui silently "watched," the red moon outside the window sank slowly to the west, until a faint light appeared in the east, coloring the horizon gold. At this moment, there was movement in the room, and soon footsteps approached the isolation door. "Melissa woke up... She's as punctual as ever," Zhou Mingrui smiled slightly, feeling a sense of sisterly affection towards Melissa due to the influence of Klein's memories. However, he didn't actually have a sister... he quipped to himself. Unlike Benson and Klein, Melissa didn't receive her education at the Sunday School of the Church of the Night Goddess. By the time she reached school age, the Rune Kingdom had enacted the Elementary Education Law, establishing a committee for primary and secondary education and providing special funding to increase investment. Within three years, many public elementary schools had been established, incorporating numerous church schools, and strictly maintaining religious neutrality, avoiding the disputes between the Storm Lord, the Church of the Night Goddess, and the Church of Steam and Machinery. Compared to the Sunday School, which only cost a penny a week, the public elementary school's three-penny weekly tuition seemed quite expensive. However, the former only studied one day a week on Sundays, while the latter had classes six days a week, making it almost free when considering the overall value. Unlike most girls, Melissa had loved things like gears, springs, and bearings since she was young, aspiring to become a steam mechanic. Her older brother Benson, who understood the importance of education due to his own cultural disadvantage, supported her dream just as he had supported Klein's university education. After all, the Technical School of Tinggen was only considered secondary education and didn't require further accumulation at a grammar school or public school. Last July, fifteen-year-old Melissa passed the entrance exam and became a member of the Steam and Machinery Department of the Technical School of Tinggen, with her weekly tuition increasing to nine pennies. At the same time, Benson's import and export company was greatly affected by the situation in the southern continent, with both profits and business volume greatly reduced, resulting in layoffs of more than a third of the staff. In order to keep his job and maintain his livelihood, Benson had to accept more demanding tasks, often working overtime or traveling to harsh environments, just like these past few days. Klein had thought about helping his brother with the burden, but as someone born into a common family and admitted to a regular grammar school, he strongly felt his own inadequacy upon entering university. For example, the ancient Gufusak language, which was the source language of all countries in the northern continent, was something that noble children and wealthy children had to learn from a young age, but Klein had only just encountered it in university. There were many similar aspects, and Klein had almost exhausted all his strength, often staying up late and waking up early, just to barely catch up with others and graduate with average grades. Memories of his brother and sister jumped in Zhou Mingrui's mind until he turned his hand and the door of the room creaked open, suddenly waking him up, and he remembered that he was holding a semi-regulated item in his hand - a revolver that could scare children! And there was also the wound on his head! Seeing Melissa about to come out, Zhou Mingrui pressed his temple and hurriedly opened the drawer of the desk, threw the revolver inside, and slammed it shut with a bang. "What happened?" Melissa heard the noise and looked over in confusion. She was in the prime of her youth, even if she couldn't eat anything good and her face was thin and slightly pale, her skin still had a youthful glow, emitting a girlish aura. Seeing her sister's probing brown eyes, Zhou Mingrui forced himself to remain calm, picked up the object closest to him, and calmly closed the drawer, concealing the existence of the revolver, while the touch on his temple confirmed that the wound had healed! What he took out of the drawer was a silver-white pocket watch with vine and leaf patterns, and with a light press at the top, the cover popped open. It was the father of three siblings, the most valuable item left by the Royal Army Sergeant, but second-hand goods were still second-hand goods, and it would occasionally have problems in recent years, even if it had been repaired by a watchmaker. This made Benson, who liked to wear it to elevate his status, embarrassed and eventually left it at home. It must be said that Melissa may have a talent for mechanics. After mastering the theoretical knowledge, she began to tinker with the pocket watch using the tools of the technical school. Recently, she even claimed to have fixed it! Zhou Mingrui looked at the watch cover popping open and saw the second hand stop moving. He subconsciously turned the top to wind the watch, but after twisting it a few times, there was still no sound of the spring being tightened, and the second hand remained motionless. "It seems to be broken again," he said, looking at his sister. Melissa glanced at him expressionlessly, walked over quickly, and took the pocket watch away. She stood in place, pulled up the button at the top of the pocket watch, and turned it a few times, and the ticking sound of the second hand could be heard. Normally, shouldn't pulling it up adjust the time? Zhou Mingrui's expression suddenly became dull. At this moment, the sound of the bell from the distant cathedral rang out, six times in a row, distant and ethereal. Melissa listened, pulled up the button at the top of the pocket watch a little higher, and then twisted it continuously to set the time correctly. "Done," she said briefly and emotionlessly, then pressed the top back and returned the pocket watch to Zhou Mingrui. Zhou Mingrui responded with an awkward but polite smile. Melissa looked at her brother deeply again, turned and walked to the cabinet, took the toothbrush, towel, and other items, and left for the communal bathroom. "Her expression just now had a hint of disdain and helplessness." "The look of caring for her intellectually disabled brother?" Zhou Mingrui shook his head and chuckled, closing the cover of his pocket watch with a snap and then opening it again with another snap. As he repeated this action, his mind wandered to a question. Without a silencer, when Klein committed suicide - well, let's call it suicide for now - the noise must have been quite loud, yet Melissa, who was just a wall away, didn't seem to notice. Was she sleeping too soundly? Or was Klein's suicide itself filled with strangeness? Snap, open, snap, close... Melissa returned from washing up and saw her brother unconsciously opening and closing the cover of his pocket watch. Her gaze once again mixed with helplessness, and she sweetly said, "Klein, take out the remaining bread. Remember to buy new ones today, as well as meat and peas. You have an interview to attend soon, and I'll make you lamb stew with peas." As she spoke, she moved the stove out of the corner, lit a fire with the remaining charcoal, and boiled a pot of hot water. Before the water boiled, she opened the bottom drawer of the cabinet and took out a can of inferior tea leaves, sprinkling about ten pieces into the pot, pretending it was real tea. They each poured two large cups, and Melissa and Zhou Mingrui shared two slices of black bread with the tea. There were no wood chips mixed in, and not too much gluten, but it still didn't taste good... Zhou Mingrui was weak and hungry, relying on the tea to force himself to swallow the bread while grumbling in his stomach. After a few minutes, Melissa finished eating, tidied her black hair that hung down to her vest, and looked at Zhou Mingrui, saying, "Remember to buy new bread, only eight pounds. It's hot out, and too much will spoil easily, and don't forget the lamb and peas!" She really is caring for her bookish brother, emphasizing it again... Zhou Mingrui smiled and nodded, "Okay." Regarding the Kingdom of Luun, based on Klayne's memory and his own comparison, Zhou Mingrui believed that one pound was close to his accustomed weight of one kilogram. Melissa didn't say much, got up to pack and prepared to leave for a full day of classes at the Tinggen Technical School. It takes about fifty minutes to walk from the apartment to the school, but there are public carriages available for one penny per kilometer within the city limits, and six pennies per kilometer outside the city. Melissa always leaves early to save money and walks there herself. Just as she opened the door, she paused and turned back, saying, "Klayne, don't buy too much lamb and peas. Benson may not be back until Sunday. Oh, and remember to only get eight pounds of bread." "Okay, okay," Zhou Mingrui replied helplessly. At the same time, he silently repeated the word "Sunday" in his mind. In the northern continent, a year is also divided into twelve months, with between 365 and 366 days per year, and a week consisting of seven days. The former was due to astronomical achievements, which made Zhou Mingrui suspect that this was a parallel world, while the latter was due to religion, as the seven orthodox gods of the northern continent were: Eternal Sun, Lord of Storms, God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Goddess of the Night, Mother Earth, God of War, and God of Steam and Machinery. Watching his sister leave, Zhou Mingrui suddenly sighed and quickly turned his thoughts to the ritual of transportation. Sorry, I really want to go home...