"Uh—better add a few words of greeting first."
"I'll just add 'Hello' and 'I mean no harm'—" he muttered to the air, as if finding an excuse for himself.
As a former "Calamity Priest", he was used to assuming all unknowns were dangerous. But this time, his curiosity outweighed his pure vigilance.
"After all, I just want to find out the truth, not make an enemy of him."
He picked up a coin again and tossed it. He watched the coin spin and stop on the table, heads up. After his spiritual intuition didn't send any more abnormal reactions, Lorne made up his mind, picked up a pencil, and carefully wrote those sentences on the wing of the paper crane.
"I will come looking for you."
Next was the wait.
One minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed—
Everything was calm; no changes occurred.
"Strange, did I overthink it—" Lorne frowned, picked up the paper crane, and examined it repeatedly against the sunlight outside the window.
"Could it really... just be an ordinary relic?"
With a bit of regret and confusion, he put the paper crane back into his storage space.
Just then, Old Kohler's voice came from outside the door.
"Miss Xio and her friend Miss Wall are here to see you."
Xio and Fors? Lorne was a bit surprised but called out, "Please have them come over."
Just after speaking, Lorne suddenly felt a mysterious palpitation.
He immediately activated Spirit Vision and scanned the entire office. After confirming no one else was there, he still felt uneasy and asked the air in a low voice, "Teacher Sharon, are you there?"
"Teacher Sharon?"
The familiar black court dress didn't appear, nor did those cold, emotionless eyes watch him. Lorne inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping.
The pressure of having a "Wraith" teacher is even greater than I imagined—he thought silently to himself.
After two minutes, Lorne saw Fors in a cream-colored chemise and Xio dressed in a capable knight's suit.
Lorne immediately put on a smile and stood up. "Ladies, long time no see."
Xio blinked, looking at him strangely: "Didn't we just meet two days ago?"
"Doesn't that just show how much I missed you? In literature, isn't this kind of exaggeration used often?"
Lorne cracked a joke, while his gaze inconspicuously swept over the two.
Xio's posture was a bit stiff, and Fors's eyes were evasive—Heh, they've definitely run into something. He sat back in his seat, folded his hands, and asked directly, "Let me guess, you two are in trouble?"
"Um—"
Xio and Fors glanced at each other. Then, Xio spoke somewhat embarrassedly, "Scott, could you—lend us some money?"
"Money?" Lorne raised an eyebrow; this was a direction he hadn't expected.
"It's like this—"
"I see. Fors, you found the formula and the main ingredients for 'Sheriff' in a new circle."
"And the price is very reasonable, but you don't have enough money on hand."
Lorne summarized, while complaining in his heart.
How is it that as soon as I have some money, so many people come to borrow it—Danitz was like this, and so are these two ladies.
Thinking of this, he glanced at Fors with slight surprise. Xio was a bounty Hunter with unstable income; being poor might be the norm. But Fors—she was a best-selling Author; surely she had some savings?
"Uh—" Fors's face heated up under his gaze, and she awkwardly looked away. She couldn't say all her money had gone down the drain in the stock market; that would be too embarrassing.
Wait, will I be seen as a woman who can't save money at all—she felt inexplicably flustered.
Actually, they had thought about asking Miss Audrey, but they already owed her a favor because of the Scott matter last time, and they were really embarrassed to ask again.
And the Beyonder characteristic and formula sold at the "Tarot Club" this time were quite a bargain; Fors really didn't want to waste this opportunity.
After much thought, Scott, a friend with a good relationship who seemed wealthy, was the most suitable.
"Alright, I understand." Lorne Nod, "A rare opportunity should certainly be seized."
"You want to borrow 500 pounds—"
"I can lend you the money."
"Really?!" Xio and Fors both showed excited expressions.
"However—" Lorne waved his hand, "I have one condition."
"A condition?!" Their expressions immediately became tense.
"That's right," Lorne explained. "I recently bought a house, so I'm a bit tight on cash, and my disposable liquid funds aren't much."
A house? Scott really bought a house? Was it because of that ball? Xio remembered the conversation from the day she taught him to dance. Scott said he would buy a house when he had time; she didn't expect it to be so soon.
"What... what is the condition?" Fors asked cautiously.
"I've recently gotten involved in another mess." Lorne sighed.
Why is Scott always getting into trouble—Xio and Fors thought simultaneously.
Next, Lorne briefly told them about digging up Will Auceptin's body a few days ago.
Of course, he only explained the general situation, saying a friend had a prophetic dream and then dug up a body. After all, this likely involved high-Sequence existences, and he was afraid telling too many details would scare the two ladies.
A little boy in a dream—this is excellent material! Fors's Author instincts were immediately triggered, her eyes sparkling slightly. Forgetting about the loan for a moment, she began to conceive a plot in her mind.
"Anyway," Lorne summarized, "I might be under extra scrutiny by the official Beyonders recently. Combined with my reputation, it's probably not convenient for me to personally attend Beyonder gatherings for a while."
"But I have some items to sell, so I need your help."
"Helping sell Beyonder items? Sure, we can help." Fors agreed immediately, and Xio nodded vigorously. This felt more acceptable to them than just borrowing money.
"Alright, wait a moment." Lorne said, getting up and leaving the office for the side room. He took the opportunity to take a sealed tin box from his storage space, then brought it back to the two ladies.
"Inside this is the 'Fruit of the Elder Tree'." he introduced. This was a Beyonder material obtained on that primitive island; he had spent quite some effort to figure out the types and approximate values of those materials.
"It's worth about 500 pounds."
That's the price at sea; in Backlund, there should be a corresponding markup—Thinking of this, Lorne added: "Considering the market, I hope you can sell it for no less than 530 pounds."
"Taking the potential markup into account, even if it sells for over six hundred pounds, someone will likely buy it. Anyway, I only want 530 pounds; the excess will be your commission."
"No! No need!" Hearing this, Xio and Fors waved their hands repeatedly.
"We don't need a commission or anything."
They were already grateful that Scott was willing to lend them money; how could they be embarrassed enough to take a commission?
Seeing their serious faces, Lorne smiled and didn't insist.
"By the way, Fors," he suddenly remembered something and looked at the Author lady, "how is your Full Moon Speech Disorder? Has it worsened?"
"This—" Fors's expression froze. Seeing Xio looking at her suspiciously, she forced a smile and said, "It hasn't worsened; in fact... the symptoms have lessened quite a bit."
"I see—"
"Oh! Actually, something else happened recently!" Fors, afraid Lorne would continue to probe for details, quickly changed the subject.
"I met... Mrs. Anlisa's husband's brother, a gentleman named Lawrence."
She quickly recounted meeting Lawrence, suspected to be from the Abraham Family, and how he entrusted her with Beyonder characteristics and notes before his death.
"Someone suspected to be from the Abraham Family?" Lorne's curiosity was piqued.
"Yes." Fors nodded. "But I didn't ask much about the details. Mr. Lawrence seemed very cautious about family matters. I only met him twice and was afraid of upsetting him, so I didn't ask much—who would have thought that this time, he would..."
As she spoke, Fors lowered her head, a trace of sadness flashing in her eyes.
Seeing Fors in low spirits, Lorne and Xio didn't ask further.
After another ten seconds, Lorne spoke up: "This request is also an opportunity. Mr. Lawrence entrusted his Beyonder characteristics to you, which shows he fully trusted you."
He looked at Fors and said in a firm tone, "My intuition tells me this request might be of great help to your future."
"Really?"
"Of course. My intuition is very accurate." He looked Fors and Xio over again, then flashed that slightly teasing smile again.
"Alright, ladies, work hard. Don't forget, from now on, I am your creditor."
After accepting the fact that Will Auceptin was dead and going through some psychological counseling, Dr. Allen finally managed to regain a modicum of composure.
"What's wrong?" He heard some movement from the bedroom.
As soon as he finished speaking, his wife walked out of the bedroom clutching her stomach and frowning: "Dear, my stomach... hurts a little."
"Is it a cold?" Dr. Allen asked with concern. It was flu season recently, and many similar patients had appeared in the hospital.
"I'm not sure, it just hurts for no reason." His wife's forehead was covered in cold sweat, "And... I feel a bit flustered."