Chapter 94
Before the heavy snow fell, the two returned to the hotel.
The thick windbreaker that Kono Seiryo wore when he went out had a circle of soft and fluffy fur on the outside of the hood. It was not only windproof but also warm. At this moment, the edges of the fur were a little wet because of the melted snow.
His entire face was wrapped in thick white fur. When he looked up at the people around him, he couldn't tell which color was closer to snow.
"Scotland," he whispered a code name, his eyes as calm as a stream flowing slowly under the ice, "Is there anything you want to do?"
Zhufu Jingguang's mind went blank for a moment, and various thoughts flashed through his mind quickly.
From the outside, this seems like a perfectly normal and bizarre behavior.
He pursed his lips and smiled: "Why do you ask?"
Kono Seiryoshi looked away, squinted his eyes and looked at the artistic chandelier in the center of the hall, and said in a relaxed tone as if he was talking to himself: "It's okay, I got it."
He caught a glimpse of Zhu Fu Jingguang's tightly bound hands, but he pretended not to see it as his attention was drawn to the people in the open lounge not far away.
He stared in that direction, frowning unconsciously, and the person he was staring at seemed to notice something as well, looking over at him through his sunglasses and smiling.
If Rei Furuya was there, he would immediately recognize that person as the blond bartender who was in Vermouth's disguise that night.
Morofushi Jingguang heard the person beside him whisper "You should go back to your room first", and even urged him with his eyes. He had no choice but to ignore the little episode just now, nodded, and walked towards the elevator room unconsciously.
But Zhu Fu Jingguang was not as obedient as he seemed. His finger hovered above the button of the floor he lived on for a while, and then pressed the button for another floor.
Half a second before the elevator closed, he saw the white-haired young man walking in the opposite direction with a purpose.
…
As soon as Kono Seiryoshi walked into the lounge, he saw Vermouth sitting on the sofa leisurely, taking off his sunglasses and sighing softly, "You are in such a good mood. Did you go to see the snow?"
"It was a coincidence," he explained.
He had just sat down when he suddenly felt a resistance behind his neck. Turning around, he saw a handsome and frivolous blond man on his right playing with the fur on his hat.
Not feeling guilty about being caught, Bermode curled his lips and smiled, then calmly withdrew his hand: "You have really changed a lot. You never let anyone get close to you before."
Of course, it's too tiring to maintain the image of a cool and weird scientist all the time.
Kono Seiryoshi said casually: "People always change."
Bermode held his chin in his hand and said, "Some things cannot be changed even if you want to."
She hesitated for a moment, her narrow eyes revealing a probing look: "Just in case, I still have to ask you, have you forgotten what day tomorrow is?"
A question mark slowly formed in Gongye Shengliang's mind, but he didn't dare to say that he couldn't remember anything. He could only lower his head in silence and wait for Bermode to tell him.
In the eyes of others, the white-haired young man's scars were revealed. He lowered his eyes and remained silent as if he was trying hard to restrain something.
Bermode sighed softly.
How could he forget? Every day he spent in this organization and every person he met reminded him why he lived.
She put away her teasing thoughts and handed over a ticket, her tone unable to conceal her fatigue: "The route has been arranged, someone will pick you up after you get off the bus."
"I didn't expect you to stay in Hokkaido for so long. The arrangements are a bit urgent. Is that okay?"
The destination of the ticket was Tottori Prefecture. As soon as Kono Seira took the thin piece of paper, something suddenly flashed through his mind.
...I see. No wonder Vermode came to see him on purpose.
This tradition has continued for more than ten years. The day after the first snow of the previous winter, they would go to visit "that gentleman".
All information about the BOSS is top secret, and even code members have no access to it, so Shirley was not aware of it when she handed over the mission intelligence to him.
It is an open secret within the organization that Vermouth is favored by that gentleman, but almost no one knows that the relationship between Shengjiu and the BOSS is even closer, so close that after the first snow every year he will go to the sanatorium where the BOSS is for a secret meeting, during which even Vermouth has no right to disturb him.
Gongye Shengliang struggled to keep his breathing rhythm steady.
In other words, he has to prepare the year-end report with his boss early tomorrow morning, but he has been slacking off for so long that he hasn't even made a PPT.
Let's take a closer look at what he did during this time: one mission failure, one trip to the solitary confinement room, N conflicts with colleagues (especially gin), and N times of spending public funds;
According to incomplete statistics, the institute burns a minimum of 3 billion US dollars in funding each year;
Zero research results.
Kono Seiryoshi: “…” It would be strange if the boss didn’t fire him on the spot!!!
His fingers holding the ticket trembled slightly, and it felt like the end of the world.
[…System,] Kono Seiryoshi closed his eyes and said slowly, [If I am really fired, can the mission still be successful?]
The light ball stretched out Erkang's hand: [Don't do this, at least fight a little longer!]
The light ball trembled its wings, and tried to calm him down: "You won't be fired. It's been so many years, doesn't the boss know what your performance level is?"
Kono Seiryoshi: “…”
I felt scolded, but I couldn't refute it.
He knew in his heart that Shengjiu held a special position in the organization, and unless he defected, it would be difficult for anyone to threaten him. But theory is one thing, and practice is another... It is impossible to say that he does not feel guilty, and Gongye Shengliang now wishes he could go back to the confinement room.
Bermode hurried over, handed him the ticket, and returned to her temporary residence. Her ticket was scheduled for another time period, so the two of them were not traveling together.
It was the same before. When Shengjiu and the boss had a secret meeting, Bermode could only stay outside the sanatorium. In other words, no third person knew what he and the boss talked about.
Now, even the foreign aid is gone.
Kono Seiryoshi searched through all his memories, but still found no clues about the BOSS.
He was helpless. Did he have to see her in person to trigger her memory? Wouldn't it be a bit late by then?
Unfortunately, the harsh world line could not hear his appeal. After he reluctantly fell asleep, he woke up again before dawn. He had been sleeping for an unusually long time in the past few days, but today he simply could not fall asleep.
Even though he was awake, Kono Seiyoshi edited a timed text message, which basically told Scotland to ignore him and take the exorcist mask back to the base first, and he would deal with it after he returned.
Although it was a strange feeling to be with Morobushi Kagemitsu, in the face of the unknown and uneasy situation ahead, Kono Seiryoshi subconsciously wanted to rely on someone he trusted. Unfortunately, the boss was too cautious and killed any possibility of being exposed, so he could only go to the appointment alone.
Before setting off, there was a layer of snow on the ground, reflecting the dawning light.
Kono Seiryoshi took off his gloves and held a small ball of snow. When the snow in his palms began to melt with his body temperature, his fingertips had already turned red due to exposure to the cold.
This body is so fragile that it is difficult to even scoop up a handful of snow.
He shook his frozen wrist, looked back and thought to himself that it was a good thing he brought medicine with him this time.
…
There is no direct route from Sapporo to Tottori. You will have to stop and transfer along the way, and after exiting the station, you will be taken directly to the nursing home by a designated car.
Kono Seiryoshi didn't want to deal with motion sickness again, so he let the system hang up all the time on the plane and in the car. He adjusted the pain to 20% and then took a nap in the system space.
About four hours later, the car stopped and I opened my eyes.
The private nursing home where the gentleman was staying looked like a wealthy man's secluded villa, with a western style. The large pine forest around it not only ensured the beauty, but also greatly increased the privacy.
The maids of the nursing home had been waiting at the door for a long time. Almost as soon as he got out of the car, a young maid in a neat uniform came to take him in.
The dome of the courtyard is transparent, and small pieces of fallen pine branches can be seen from time to time on the stone path. The temperature is warm and comfortable, contrary to the season.
After passing through the maze-like roads, he finally entered the inner room of the nursing home. The maid took his coat from him and whispered, "Please wait a moment."
After the maid left, Kono Seiryoshi looked around carefully. It looked familiar, but he felt something was not right.
The boss lives deep in Japan, but this nursing home is completely Western-style. There are patterned protrusions on the wall, and he traces them with his hand. It looks like a huge and exaggerated funnel.
He walked to the other side of the hall unknowingly, and suddenly heard voices coming from the corridor. Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw the maid who had just spoken to him lowering her head in guilt and panic, and in front of her stood a doctor in a white coat, holding a bronze-bound book in his sterile gloved hands.
Unlike the servants with black hair, black eyes, and low brows, the doctor had a standard white female appearance that matched the style of the nursing home. When she saw Gongye Shengliang, her surprised expression instantly disappeared, and she said something to the maid and walked over with a smile.
The doctor's name tag read "Hopetz".
Waving her hand for the maid to leave, the female doctor said apologetically, "Zhihui just came here half a year ago. She is not familiar with the room layout and took the wrong book. I have already reprimanded her."
She spoke fluent Japanese and seemed to know him.
Kono Seiyoshi frowned. He had no impression of this at all.
But if he has met someone before, his memory should be triggered when he meets them again. Is it because he can't remember them because they are not important?
The female doctor didn't wait for his answer but didn't care. She handed him the book with an eager and pious look in her eyes.
"That gentleman has been waiting for a long time. Please follow me up."
Gongye Shengliang hesitated for a long time before taking the book.
The thick cover of antique bronze paper only has one line of cursive words "Divina media".
The original name was "Comedy", but it was later given the title of "sacred", and its more popular name is "Divine Comedy".
He remembered what the relief on the wall downstairs was. The book had described a nine-story funnel that was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. It was a schematic diagram of the structure of hell.
…Carving the word Hell at the door of my house, is the boss being too harsh on me? Isn’t he afraid that he might curse himself to death by accident?
The people here don't look normal, is the boss doing something?
He looked at the female doctor leading the way, "How is that gentleman's health?"
The doctor didn't look back: "It's still the same. Nothing has changed at all."
The atmosphere unknowingly grew colder, and the doctor took him to the innermost part of the third floor, bowed towards the door, said "I'll wait for you downstairs", and left briskly.
Gongye Shengliang was not in a hurry to go in. He first flipped through the book. The content and impression were basically correct, but there was a metal bookmark stuck on one of the pages. It seemed that the bookmark had been there for quite some time, and its shape had been imprinted on the pages.
…Looks like it was put in there when I came here last year.
Bookmarks used once a year, yellowed papers of considerable age, a quiet and secluded nursing home...
A guess came to his mind that he himself did not quite believe - the so-called secret meeting could be reading a bedtime story to the boss?
Kono Seiryoshi was embarrassed by this cold joke.
He calmed himself down, shook off irrelevant thoughts, and touched the doorknob with mixed feelings.
I just touched it lightly without applying any force, but the door opened backwards a crack on its own.
The scene in the room suddenly appeared before him.
The windows were sealed shut, and apart from the wall lamp in the corridor, there was only the faint blue light of the ECG monitor. A dead rose was placed in the vase on the bedside table, and through the curtains on all sides, the shape of a bulge on the bed could be vaguely seen.
Suddenly, there was a sharp stabbing pain in my brain, as if countless hands were vying to tear at my nerve fibers. The moment the memories flooded in, my eyes were instantly filled with a bloody mist, and I almost passed out from the headache.
…
My vision was spinning, and the pain was so powerful that my fingernails left scratches on the floor through my gloves.
The system's urgent calls were completely drowned out by the alarm.
[Warning! Warning! Current mission progress is 90%, 78%, 60%, 42%, 30%——]
[Warning!! Warning!! The mission progress has been detected to be extremely rapid! Please log out immediately if necessary!]
【warn--】
The alarm was abruptly cut off. Gongye Shengliang opened his mouth, but no words came out. He could only taste the strong smell of rusty iron.
He seemed to have died and come back to life, and his shirt was soaked with cold sweat.
His messy hair covered his eyes. He used up his last bit of strength to stand up and walked towards the bed, staggering as if he would fall to the ground at any second.
Under the low-hanging curtain, there was a skeleton of a person who had been dead for many years.