003 Melissa

With the plan determined, Zhou Mingrui suddenly found his backbone. All his fears, hesitations, and anxieties retreated to the corners.

Only now did he have the mindset to carefully examine the remnants of Klein's memories.

As was his habit, Zhou Mingrui stood up, closed the pipeline valve, and watched the wall lamp dim slowly until it extinguished. Then, he sat back down, unconsciously twirling the brass cylinder of the revolver while pressing against his temple. In the crimson-tinged darkness, he reminisced quietly, akin to the most attentive viewer in a movie theater.

Perhaps influenced by the passage of the bullet, Klein's memories resembled shattered glass, losing not only coherence but also significant content in many places. Details like where the finely crafted revolver came from, whether it was suicide or homicide, the meaning behind the sentence in the notebook "Everyone will die, including me," and whether anything strange happened two days before the incident, all remained elusive.

Not only were these specific memories fragmented and incomplete, but even the knowledge he possessed suffered a similar fate. Given his current state, Zhou Mingrui believed that if Klein were to return to university, he would likely struggle to graduate, despite only having left campus a few days ago, and with no intention of letting up on himself.

"In two days, I have the interview for the history department at Hoy University..."

"Hoy Kingdom's universities have a tradition of not retaining graduates directly on campus... My mentor provided recommendations for both Hoy University and Berkeley University..."

In the silent "viewing" within, the red moon outside the window gradually descended to the west, until a faint light emerged in the east, casting a golden hue over the horizon.

At this moment, there was movement inside the room, and soon, footsteps approached the dividing door.

"Melissa is awake... She's as punctual as ever," Zhou Mingrui smiled faintly, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with Melissa, influenced by Klein's memories.

Yet, I do not have a younger sister... he immediately quipped.

Melissa, unlike Benson and Klein, did not complete her primary education at the Sunday school of the Church of the Dark Night. By the time she reached school age, Hoy Kingdom had enacted the "Elementary Education Act," establishing the Committee for Middle and Lower Education and providing special funding, significantly increasing investment.

Within three years, with the incorporation of many church schools, numerous public elementary schools were established, strictly maintaining religious neutrality and avoiding the conflicts between the Storm Lord, the Church of the Dark Night, and the Church of Steam and Machinery.

Compared to the Sunday school, which only cost one penny a week, the three-penny weekly tuition of public elementary schools seemed quite expensive. However, the former only studied one day a week, while the latter had classes six days a week, making it nearly free when considering the overall value.

Unlike most girls, Melissa had a fondness for gears, springs, and bearings from a young age, aspiring to become a steam mechanic.

Understanding the importance of education due to his own cultural disadvantage, Benson, the elder brother, who supported Klein's university education, also supported Melissa's dreams. After all, Hoy Technical School could only be considered secondary education, eliminating the need for further accumulation in grammar schools or public schools.

In July of last year, at the age of fifteen, Melissa passed the entrance exam and became a member of the steam and machinery department at Hoy Technical School, with her weekly tuition increased to nine pence.

Meanwhile, the company where Benson worked, influenced by the situation in the Southern Continent, saw a significant decline in both profits and business volume, resulting in a reduction of staff by more than one-third. To keep his job and maintain his livelihood, Benson had to accept heavier tasks, often working overtime or traveling to harsh environments, much like the past few days.

Klein had considered helping his brother bear the burden, but as a commoner born and admitted to a regular grammar school, he keenly felt his inadequacy upon entering university. For example, the Gufusak language, the source language of all North Continent countries, was something that noble children and wealthy families had to learn from an early age. He, on the other hand, encountered it for the first time in university.

There were many similar aspects, and Klein almost exhausted all his strength, often staying up late and waking up early, just to barely keep up with others and graduate with average grades.

As memories of his older brother and younger sister jumped in Zhou Mingrui's mind, he mechanically turned the revolver's handle. The sound of the door opening in the adjacent room snapped him back to reality, reminding him of the revolver he held.

This was a semi-regulated item! It could frighten children! And there was the wound on his head!

Seeing Melissa about to emerge, Zhou Mingrui pressed against his temple and hastily opened the drawer of the desk, tossing the revolver inside with a thud.

"What's happening?" Melissa heard the noise and looked over, puzzled.

At the most youthful stage of her life, even if she couldn't enjoy any good food and her face was thin and pale, her skin still radiated a youthful glow, exuding the aura of a young woman.

Seeing her sister's brown eyes scrutinizing him, Zhou Mingrui forced composure, picking up something nearby and then calmly closing the drawer to conceal the presence of the revolver, while his other hand confirmed that the wound had healed!

What he took out from the drawer was a silver pocket watch with vine patterns engraved on it. With a gentle press on the top, the cover popped open.

It was the most valuable item left by the three siblings' father, a royal army sergeant. However, second-hand goods were second-hand goods, and in recent years, it had occasionally malfunctioned despite being repaired by a watchmaker. This had caused embarrassment to Benson, who liked to use it to elevate his status, prompting him to leave it at home.

It must be said

 that Melissa might indeed have a talent for mechanics. After mastering the theoretical knowledge, she began tinkering with this pocket watch using the tools from the technical school. Recently, she even claimed to have repaired it!

Watching the cover pop open, Zhou Mingrui noticed the second hand had stopped moving. Subconsciously, he twisted the top to wind the watch.

However, after twisting it several times, there was still no sound of the spring tightening, and the second hand remained still.

"It seems to be broken again," he said to Melissa without much conviction.

Melissa glanced at him expressionlessly, quickly approached, and took the pocket watch away. Standing in place, she pulled up the button at the top of the pocket watch and, after just a few turns, the ticking of the second hand resounded.

Normally, shouldn't pulling it up adjust the time? Zhou Mingrui's expression turned blank.

At that moment, the distant sound of the cathedral's bells echoed, six times in succession, distant and ethereal.

After listening to the bells, Melissa pulled the button at the top of the pocket watch a little higher, then continued to turn it to set the time.

"Done," she said briefly, devoid of any emotion, then pressed the top back down and returned the pocket watch to Zhou Mingrui.

Zhou Mingrui responded with an awkward yet polite smile.

Melissa cast another deep look at her brother, then turned and walked to the cupboard, taking toothbrushes, towels, and other items before leaving for the communal washroom.

"Her expression just now had a hint of disdain mixed with resignation."

"Looking after her intellectually disabled brother?"

Zhou Mingrui shook his head, chuckling softly, and snapped the pocket watch shut with a click.

Repeating this action, his mind wandered to a question.

In the absence of a silencer, Klein's suicide, well, let's temporarily call it suicide, would definitely have made a considerable noise. Yet, Melissa, just a wall away, seemed completely unaware.

Was she sleeping too soundly? Or was Klein's suicide itself filled with strangeness?

Click, open. Click, shut... Melissa returned from washing up, only to see her brother unconsciously opening and closing the cover of the pocket watch.

Her gaze once again tinged with resignation, she spoke sweetly:

"Klein, take out the remaining bread. Remember to buy new ones today, as well as meat and peas. You have your interview coming up, and I'll make you lamb stew with peas."

As she spoke, she moved the stove from the corner and lit a fire with the remaining charcoal, boiling a pot of hot water.

Before the water boiled, she opened the bottom drawer of the cupboard, took out a tin of inferior tea leaves, sprinkled about ten leaves into the pot, pretending it was real tea.

Two large cups were poured, and Melissa and Zhou Mingrui drank them with the tea, sharing two slices of black rye bread.

Though there were no wood chips or excessive bran, they still didn't taste good... Zhou Mingrui was weak and hungry now, relying on the tea, grumbling silently as he forced himself to swallow the bread.

After a few minutes, Melissa finished eating, tidied up a bit, packed the last slice of bread for lunch, put on the worn-out bonnet left by their mother, took her bag filled with sewing materials she had made, and prepared to leave.

Today wasn't Sunday; she had a full day of classes ahead.

It took about fifty minutes to walk from this apartment to Hoy Technical School. There were public carriages available, charging one penny per kilometer, with a maximum fare of four pennies within the city and six pennies in the suburbs. To save money, Melissa always left early and walked there herself.

Just as she opened the door, she paused and half-turned back, saying:

"Klein, don't buy too much lamb and peas. Benson may not be back until Sunday. Uh, remember, the bread should only cost eight pounds."

"Okay, got it," Zhou Mingrui replied helplessly.

At the same time, he repeated the word "Sunday" in his mind several times.

In the North Continent, the year was divided into twelve months, with the number of days ranging from 365 to 366 each year, and the week consisted of seven days.

The former was based on astronomical achievements, making Zhou Mingrui suspect this world was a parallel universe, while the latter originated from religion, as the seven orthodox gods of the North Continent included: Eternal Sun, Storm Lord, God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Goddess of the Dark Night, Mother Earth, God of War, and God of Steam and Machinery.

Watching his sister close the door and leave, Zhou Mingrui sighed deeply, quickly shifting his thoughts to the transference ritual.

Apologies, I really want to go home...