The others watched it write these words, and their faces twisted for a moment.
Azathoth was also a little surprised. He recalled the first time he "met" the dagger. At that time, it didn't look so lively. Now it didn't look like an ordinary man-made object, but rather like an intelligent creature with its own thoughts.
He thought for a moment, then, ignoring Garcia and Wendy's shocked, frightened, or bewildered looks, calmly asked, "What do you want that finger bone for?"
Azathoth's calm attitude can easily give bystanders the illusion that it's no big deal that the dagger can write, it's just that you're surprised by it.
Therefore, the room remained superficially calm at this moment. He dipped the dagger in water again, and while the water was still wet, he quickly scratched on the dark coffee table: "I'm not sure yet, but there is definitely a connection between us."
Before Azathoth could comment on this, the red light on its body flashed, like a TV with poor signal contact. Azathoth guessed that this should be some kind of "on the verge of running out of power" signal, because the movement of the dagger suddenly became urgent.
"Of course, a great man like you will surely understand how important this finger bone is to me." The words were clearly printed in smooth font, but for some reason they felt flattering. "I swear I will repay your kindness. Although my previous stance had a minor flaw, you are so magnanimous..."
The rest of the words could not be written because the water used to dip the dagger had run out.
It drew a weak tail line at the end of the last word, and it seemed that it did not have the strength to jump up and run into the teacup again.
Garcia coughed dryly.
He waited for a long time but no one spoke, so he had to take on the responsibility of breaking the atmosphere and cautiously commented, "It doesn't look very credible."
Wendy nodded immediately.
Of course, they still had doubts about Azathoth's identity, but no matter what, with Igor here, they could tell the closeness and distance at a glance.
"This dagger belongs to Bishop Gilbert," Wendy said. "Bishop Gilbert always carried it with him. It might be a very important secret weapon of the Vatican."
"Oh, we've actually seen it before." Hugo lowered his head and carefully observed the pattern on the dagger. "At Longman Griffin's house. This dagger caused Bishop Gilbert to bleed a lot."
What caused a lot of bleeding?
The humans who had never seen a dagger before were puzzled and thought Hugo was making an analogy.
But they soon understood the true meaning of this sentence.
After observing without success, the android reached out and raised the dagger. It pulled the scabbard-like metal shell down slightly. Almost instantly, a dazzling red light flashed, and the upper half of Hugo's thumb was neatly cut off.
Azathoth frowned beneath his hood.
The other two humans present opened their eyes wide, for Hugo showed no sign of pain. His finger didn't bleed like a normal person would. Instead, a pale blue filler of unknown material oozed from the edge of the wound. Inside the finger, complex circuits and metal plates could be seen, wrapped in skin.
"The sensor wire is broken." Hugo stretched out his fingers. The other four worked perfectly as usual, but his thumb was stiff and motionless. "Do you have any spare wires?"
Garcia reflexively opened the drawer and handed over the materials.
The bionic man held the material in his mouth as if no one was around, and picked up the "remnant" that fell on the ground with his other hand. He fiddled with it on the port, as if considering whether to press it directly.
After a while, Azathoth said, "At least it is indeed suspicious."
His words broke the tense atmosphere.
Dr. Garcia stood by and watched Hugo's actions. Judging from his expression, he seemed to be reorganizing his worldview.
At the same time, Igor's fingers, who was lying on the side, suddenly moved.
**
While waiting for dinner that evening, Garcia had been staring at the caged San Martin bird, trying to spot any differences between it and the previous one. Igor had just emerged from the kitchen, untying his apron, when he saw his friend squatting in front of the birdcage with a puzzled expression, rubbing his shins, numb from being bent at the knees for so long. Even so, he refused to stand up and sit with Azathoth in the living room.
The bird he was observing was pecking at the clear water beside it, not even glancing at the two-legged beast beside it.
"What are you doing?" Putting aside the apron that looked like it hadn't been touched by fireworks for several years, Igor adjusted the collar of his shirt and walked to Garcia.
Garcia said with a strange awe in his tone: "It's hard to imagine that your soul can fit in such a small body."
"..." Igor paused before saying, "It's just a soul. If you want to try, I will tell Him."
Garcia shuddered.
"No, I'm not interested." He doubted whether the evil god would be willing to put his soul back intact after pulling it out of his body. "Speaking of which, what do you call that person?"
Igor pursed his lips: "It's just as you saw, what's wrong?"
"God," Garcia sighed subconsciously, then quickly zipped his lips. "Sorry, I mean, 'He' doesn't mind?' You all admit that the relationship between you two is closer than that of a normal god and his followers, right?"
Of course Azathoth doesn't mind... probably.
Igor thought for a moment, remembering that he had discussed this issue with the other party before. Due to the psychological pressure of calling the god's name directly and his respect for Azathoth, Igor rarely, or almost never, called the other party's name directly. Azathoth also said that this might be the reason why people felt that there was a huge difference in their status.
"But their opinions are none of my business," the god said nonchalantly when the subject was brought up. "They can be quite amusing sometimes. So your feelings are more important."
"Of course, Igor, you can try to learn from Hugo." And at certain inappropriate times, "Since you don't want to call me by my full name, why not try a nickname?"
Igor: "...Now?"
Azathoth's charming human face revealed a smile that no one else could see: "Now."
“…”
Igor promptly cut off those chaotic mosaic memories and said expressionlessly, "It doesn't matter. It's better this way."
Seeing that he was not interested in this topic, Garcia swallowed the rest of his words tactfully and followed Igor to the restaurant to sit down.
Igor was the head chef for dinner tonight, with Wendy helping him. Azathoth was supposed to be helping in the kitchen, but it seemed no one except Igor and Hugo thought he was interested.
Garcia, a bachelor without a family, has never been able to develop his culinary skills, and Hugo is too short to reach the stove (and he doesn't need dinner).
You are discriminating against evil gods.
Azathoth sat beside the dining table, emitting a gloomy aura.
This was obviously one of the daily pleasures in his and Igor's life.
Wendy, however, gradually rediscovered the feeling of being with her brother through the ordinary little things of daily life. A smile still lingered on her face, clearly enjoying herself in the kitchen with Igor. The heavy, calm expression of the past gradually faded from her still young face, making this girl, who looked thirteen or fourteen, but was actually fifteen or sixteen, look much closer to her peers.
**
Another underage girl walked out of the school and gave her friend a gentle hug: "I'm going home."
"Yeah." Annie forced a smile, her red hair looking a little wilted. "It's okay, don't worry about me, I'll be fine in a couple of days."
In fact, the fact that Shirley was still alive gave her great comfort... although the current Viscount Joyce probably did not hope that he could still remain conscious in such pain.
Erica didn't know what to say, so she could only try to help Annie with other small things.
"No one is here to pick you up?" Anne looked around but didn't see Ford Hill.
"Mr. Ford is working overtime tonight, so I'll go home by myself."
"Ah, it's not easy for you either." Anne knew Erica had other 'relatives' in the capital, but none of them could bring an Omega girl home right now, which made her feel a little sympathetic. "I have a speech in two days. They said I look too haggard and won't look good on camera. It makes me sick just thinking about it."
Erica asked, "The Queen's Birthday Celebration?"
"That's it." Annie nodded. "They plan to let me get involved in some planned work this year."
She shrugged, "After all, I'm turning twelve soon."
"I'll prepare a birthday present." Erica said immediately.
Annie suddenly laughed, showing her white teeth, and shook her head like a little lion. "I'm looking forward to it, but don't spend too much. This is the first time I've received a birthday present from a friend, and I'm sure I'll like it no matter what you give me."
"Oh my." Erica pretended to be surprised, "This is also the first time I celebrate a friend's birthday."
The two children who looked out of place among their peers looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.
"Come on, come on, go home quickly. It's almost dark," Annie said, wiping the few tears she'd seen from her laughter. "The person who's going to pick me up is getting impatient, and I haven't even finished memorizing my speech for today."
Erica looked at her sympathetically.
"Don't be like that," Annie nudged Erica with her elbow in dissatisfaction. "Didn't Mr. Anderson give you extra homework? He's counting on your genius to bring honor to the school and win some kind of scientific research award."
"But these assignments are easy," Erica said honestly. "Ms. Anderson recommended that I skip a grade, but I haven't made up my mind yet, so I didn't agree."
Annie immediately rolled her eyes: "Go away, I don't want to talk to you anymore."
The two parted ways at the school gate. Erica wasn't riding the bus home for the first time, so she ignored the surprised looks of others wondering why this little Omega girl was out here all alone. She calmly thanked the person who offered her seat, then looked out the window with her schoolbag in hand.
Half an hour later, she got off the car about 800 meters away from the apartment that Ford Hill had lent to Azathoth and Igor for temporary residence. She could already see the house with no lights on, and it was obvious that the owner was not at home.
Erica was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted and took out her mobile terminal to contact Hugo and ask him what happened.
She brought her own key and was not worried about not being able to get in.
At this moment, a man wearing a black sweatshirt and a cotton hood, who seemed to be passing by in a hurry, suddenly covered Erica's mouth with his hand as he walked past her.
An ordinary-looking taxi pulled up beside them. A man in a hoodie took the little girl, who had temporarily lost her ability to resist, into the car. Soon, the engine started, and the unremarkable hovercar disappeared into the night.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com