ACT 8

Babka stepped off the highway onto a side road for a while. After proceeding down the side road for some time, they turned right and arrived at their single-story house with a garage, a bit outside the city. They parked the car in the garage and checked on Bose. Exhausted from the wounds, Bose lay unconscious in the back. They got out of the car, opened the back door, and carefully took Bose out. Slowly, they opened the door from the garage into the house and went inside.It was a house with a large living room, equipped with an American-style kitchen, and a large bedroom. They went to the bedroom and gently laid Bose down on the bed. They checked the wounds again; the bleeding had stopped thanks to the stitches and fresh bandages. However, they needed a long rest.After leaving Bose in the bedroom, they headed towards the living room. There was a desk next to the door with case files they had examined before. They were very tired, but they couldn't relax until they solved the mystery that had caused them so much trouble. Moreover, today had already been as bad as it could get. Bose was being hunted everywhere by the Cotacs. Without their ability to change appearances, they would have been caught by now. They needed to work. They wanted to retire as soon as possible. They had their eye on a house by the shore. They wanted to buy it and watch the sunset live from their front porch, take walks on the beach whenever they wanted. Time had passed, life had changed. But the desire to retire was still just a classic old-age dream.They began examining the case files they had secretly copied from the police station on the desk. At that moment, their eye caught a glimpse of an identity card on the shelf. It read, "Collected on behalf of Babka Silveira by Vril."In the past...While Uncle Apestal was fixing the car, Babka went over and greeted him. He was planning to take the car and move after visiting Bose in the hospital one last time. But it seemed the car wasn't fixed. "I guess I'll have to use the bus," Babka said after joking with Apestal about being too old for this. Uncle Apestal mentioned that he could take Menos Aunt's car and go. "But don't be late for the evening; I don't want to miss the plane," he added. Babka helped Menos Aunt take out her bags and belongings.After the car was taken, Babka headed towards the hospital, but as always, he planned to visit his mother's grave. He stopped by the florist opposite the cemetery, where he always went to buy flowers for each visit. There was always *Asphodelus in a vase at his mother's bedside and at his own clinic. He had never understood why his mother always kept the same type of flower in a vase. Whenever they asked the reason, they either couldn't get a satisfactory answer or were told they would understand it later.It wasn't a widely sold type. None of the others on the way sold it except the florist opposite the cemetery.The etymology of the genus name is unclear. It is an ancient Greek word and a general term for the asphodel plant. The plants were considered the plant of Hades in mythology and therefore were often planted in cemeteries. There is a low probability that the prefix "a-" is added to the word "sphallo," which means to hide, which means that the plants cannot be hidden, as the plants are tall and seen in clusters made up of many individuals. The plant's common name in our language is asphodel, which originated from Persian (سريش). Both Greeks and Romans planted asphodel on graves, and these flowers were considered symbols of the afterlife, and it was believed that the Elysian Fields were filled with these flowers. The hollyhock (Alcea) planted together with asphodel was a measure taken to ensure that the dead did not go hungry in the Elysian Fields. Persephone is often depicted wearing a crown of asphodel. It was planted at the entrances of farms to protect against harmful spells.Therefore, since he came here every time, he was now recognized by the florist.The inside wasn't overly large. There was a large counter across from the door, flowers on the right and left of the counter, and a greenhouse at the back.He went inside and greeted with his head. What caught his attention was that Neumno was always in the shop whenever he came. Neumna is tall. He is a black man with black beards and black afro hair.But this time Neumno wasn't there. Instead, there was a man with short black hair and sword mustaches. Although he had come many times, he had never met this man. The man's name tag read "Ricardo Jefe." He had a black sun tattoo on his arm and a black eye tattoo.Ricardo handed over the Asphodelus directly without asking any questions. When Boze handed him the fee, he received a reaction that he normally did not receive. "Your fee has been paid for the first and last time." Babka couldn't make sense of what had happened. After a while, he reacted by saying, "What do you mean, who paid for it, I couldn't understand." Upon this, Ricardo just nodded his head and went inside and disappeared from sight.Boze did not understand what caused it, but he needed to go to the hospital and leave as soon as possible. It was coming to noon. He wanted to reach without interruption and also wanted to meet with Doctor Riffard. Therefore, without questioning the incident, he left the florist and headed towards the cemetery...