area51novel Chapter 102 Someone Searching for Lorne
Chapter 102 Someone Searching for Lorne
Backlund.
"Fors, why are you up so early?" Hugh yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and looked at Fors, who was dressed and ready, incredulously.
She recently took on several long-term quests with the guild and didn't get back until midnight last night.
Recently, there have been more and more missing persons cases in the East District, and even the guilds have seen a lot of missing person requests... Xiu recalled what he had seen and heard in the guild recently.
"Is it early? It's already past eight o'clock." Fors pointed to the mechanical clock on the wall.
"Hugh, you're too lazy."
"Lazy? You actually called me lazy? Good heavens, what's wrong with this world..." Hugh stared wide-eyed, as if he had heard something utterly absurd.
She couldn't understand why Fors called her lazy. The moment she heard her say that, she didn't even argue back; her mind completely went blank.
"I didn't get back until midnight last night, and... never mind..." Hugh sighed, "What were you doing in my room?"
"Um... my pen pal still hasn't replied." Fors hesitated, unusually, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. After a moment's hesitation, she finally spoke, "You said before that we could try to find my pen pal..."
"His last letter did not have a return address, but all previous letters came from the same address."
"And right here in Backlund."
"My money was also sent to the same address as before."
"So, I was thinking, could I go and take a look at that address?"
"Hugh, could you...?"
"I'll go with you, right?" Hugh chimed in. Looking at her friend's unusually serious expression, she reluctantly pulled back the covers.
"To be honest, I'm really sleepy right now, but..."
"It's rare for you to make such a big decision, how could I refuse?"
……
"Knock knock knock!"
Hugh knocked on the door of room 69 on Rose Street.
Logically, this should have been done by Fors, but she got stage fright at the crucial moment and is now hiding around the corner, so I had no choice but to knock on the door myself.
"Seriously, it's just a pen pal, what's there to be so nervous about..." Hugh thought to himself.
A moment later, some sounds came from inside the door.
"yawn……"
"Who is it? So early in the morning." Mrs. Griffin, dressed in her pajamas and looking exhausted, opened the door.
Early in the morning? It's almost 10 o'clock now... Hearing the sounds coming from inside the house, Hugh's lips twitched.
"Where is he?" The woman squinted and looked around.
"Cough cough..." Xiu coughed twice.
"Oh, so this is where it is..." Mrs. Griffin rubbed her eyes and looked down to see Hugh in front of her.
"Who are you……"
"Um, I'm a friend of Lorne Disenk. I need to talk to him."
"A friend of little Lorne?" Mrs. Griffin was a little surprised; she had never heard of Lorne having any female friends.
She remembered that Lorne had left Backlund because he had offended a certain extraordinary being, and now suddenly someone claiming to be his friend had appeared.
Moreover, the other party is an extraordinary individual!
"The arbitrator, huh..." Mrs. Griffin glanced at Hugh and muttered to herself. As an experienced veteran, even though she had been retired for many years, her spiritual intuition was still very strong.
She sensed a familiar presence on Hugh, and her expression turned slightly serious.
"Well……"
Hugh unconsciously straightened her back. Even though the other person was just standing there normally, she felt a sense of oppression as if she were being scrutinized.
"Little Lorne, something's happened, he..."
Before he could finish speaking, Fors suddenly rushed out from around the corner, his face deathly pale:
"Did something happen to him?"
"How is he? Is it serious? Is he...?"
……
The scene was a little awkward for a while.
Hugh awkwardly raised his hand to cover his face, while Mrs. Griffin turned her gaze to Fors, looking at her with curiosity.
Fors then realized her blunder and awkwardly explained, "I'm sorry, I'm... um..."
Clearly, her mind was in a complete mess. She couldn't even utter a single, coherent sentence.
The shorter one is probably an industry insider, but this newcomer... Mrs. Griffin glanced at Fors a few times and pursed her lips.
This mediocre demeanor doesn't suggest he's a dangerous individual.
She has always been very confident in her judgment of people.
Seeing that the two meant no harm, she turned slightly to them and said, "Come in and let's talk slowly."
"Sorry to bother you."
Fors practically floated into the house, with Hugh cautiously following behind.
"Would you like some black tea or coffee?" Mrs. Griffin asked.
"No, no need." Fors and Hugh sat on the sofa somewhat awkwardly.
"I am Lorne's landlady, you can call me Mrs. Griffin."
"Um, my name is Fors... I'm Lorne Disenke's pen pal. I haven't been able to get in touch with him lately, so I came to check on him," Fors said.
"It seems that Little Lorne does indeed have a pen pal..."
……
"Oh, it's you!" Mrs. Griffin exclaimed, suddenly realizing something.
"It seems like all the dozens of letters in the mailbox were sent by you."
Dozens of letters! Hugh looked at Fors in shock—how many letters did you write without my knowledge?!
Noticing her friend's gaze, Fors turned her head away somewhat awkwardly.
"I understand the situation..."
"But, unfortunately, I don't know where little Lorne went either."
"Little Lorne went out in a hurry a while ago, it seems he offended someone."
"Really? Who are they? A gangster...?"
In that brief moment, Fors, as a writer, had already imagined a scenario where his friend was being chased by gangsters and forced to flee.
"I don't know... Little Lorne didn't say much because he was afraid of implicating me." Mrs. Griffin did not choose to tell the other party all the facts she knew.
This contradicts the contract she previously signed with Lorne.
Then she said to herself:
"Honestly, I clearly said I could protect him."
Recalling the events of that day, Mrs. Griffin felt increasingly slighted and began to complain.
"He doesn't believe me!"
"When I was young, I was..."
Listening to the landlady's rambling account of her past, Hugh and Fors exchanged an awkward glance.
A dozen minutes later...
"Anyway, I don't know where he went..."
After leaving 69 Rose Street, Hugh noticed that Fors looked downcast and kept muttering to herself:
"What should we do! What if something happens to him?"
Could it be that...?
Hugh opened her mouth to try and comfort the other person, but didn't know how to start. After a moment of silence, she said:
"If all else fails, I'll post a request for you at the guild."
"There are many professional detectives in the guild who are looking for people."